Running of the Fulbrighters: Pamplona Mid Year 2011

So we may have been a little early for San Fermin, (which occurs early-mid July), but that did not stop us from enjoying Pamplona.
This year the Fulbright program held their mid-year meeting in Pamplona, in the province of beautiful Navarra. They were very generous by boarding us in a nice Hotel, and feeding us really delicious food and giving us lots of receptions filled with pintxos (tapas on bread, aka art)
The government of Navarra and the Universidad Publico de Navarra was very supportive and gave us places to have meetings, and gave us tours of the archives, ayutanamiento,  and the palace, as well as more yummy receptions.
It was really nice to see all the Fulbrighters again since many times we miss each other trying to visit each others' cities.
One of the highlights of the week was definitely the presentations given by fellow Fulbrighters. Some were extraordinarily interesting. I loved Kelsey's presentation on teaching Shakespeare to her students, Kathleen's pronunciation tricks, Lyla's art, Nora's Music, Stephanie's work with Amnesty International, Dan's Running through Europe,and many more! There were 18 all together and many also consisted of researcher's presenting what they've been doing. Although some of them (ahem science/biology/chemistry related projects) were hard to follow and comprehend, it seems like everyone is making the most of their time here
We also got a chance to air some things out, and share some stories at the conference. Although sometimes it felt like we were all a bunch of Debbie Downers, I know our "complaining" will help the program in future years. The Spain ETA program is only 6 years old, and they will, like teachers and our students continue to grow and improve.
One subject kept coming up: What is our role as ETA's??? We gave lot's of suggestions to help them establish a written description of our jobs, as well as ways to make ourselves more useful in our classrooms, since every school handles their TA differently.
On more positive notes: We shared lots of laughs about our experiences, Pamplona is beautiful, filled with lots of green (yes, Spain can be greeeeen!) and parks and curvy cobblestone streets with delicious food. And I'm hoping to go back in July to watch the Running of the Bulls!

Ernest Hemingway and I

view of a bridge in Pamplona

One of the many "running of the bulls" i took this weekend

Inside the Palace- gorgeous!

animal pit: containing mule/deer, black swans, peacocks, goats, and many more

nothing like an elevated speech about greatness

Sidenote: It's moments like this last picture that make me really sad about not being in Madrid! I love hanging out with the Madrid kids, they are always having fun, laughing, and enjoying life to the full extent!  But even though I am a bit triste about not being there, there's always next year, and maybe its best for my liver, gut and health that I am not living there? At least its a short commute away!