madrid week 5 (tbt)

1. What did you do?
1. M/T With team Spain: Translation! That was a lot of fun. I really enjoy translation. The only annoying part was when someone wrote it very formal Spanish and I then had to, in my head, translate it to regular Spanish, then to English, then to formal English, which was a pain. But other than that it was interesting to see the differences between American and Spanish letters of recommendation. 
2. W/Th With Team USA: I helped make more grant authorization letters for the Americans going to Asturias, and updated them all in the system, then I read through the Pedagogy guide that they give to the TA’s to see how it flowed (as it used to be 2 parts and the merged them together this year). And now I am imputing information into the healthcare system. She apologized and said I have to jobs for you to do in the next week, one really sucks, and the other is okay, which do you want first? Haha, it’s not that bad. But it is basic, but someone has to do it, and it might as well be me. 
2. Who did you interact with?
1. I have been getting to know the other intern (who works with the high school students wanting to study in the US) and Laticia (who starting working part time at the office a few weeks before I showed up). We all work in the same office and are about the same age, so it is fun to get talking about see the differences between life in Boston, Provo and Madrid. I still work closely with Clara (and now McKenna as well now that she is back from vacation) from team USA, and Michelle from team Spain. 
3. What went right?
1. All of it. I really am loving it here! I can tell they trust me more and I feel comfortable.
4. What went wrong?
1. -
5. Any new responsibilities?
1. Translation! I like that Clara asked for my opinion on the Pedagogy guide, rather than just having me check it for flow and typos. My opinion is valid and valuable which is fun to see coming out.
6. What kinds of professional competencies are you developing?
1. Translation, ability to read documents with a critical and non-scholarly eye. When I usually read education information, sadly, I try to find the most important information to hold onto and things that will be on the test. With this is was all just very informative, and I felt that if I were a TA I would read through it all and feel like it was all useful, and I would turn to the document when situations arose. 
7. What cultural experiences did you have?
1. Laticia and I have become breakfast buddies, we usually finish, pay and walk back together (a whole 30 yards), and it’s fun to speak up more in the conversations. Little by little. We went to the prado this week with Dr. Rosenberg, that was pretty incredible!