I was an interpreter!

You know what? Last week I was an interpreter. Not a professional one, since I wasn’t paid, but I was a real one. And it felt so good!

You all know I’ve had some training on interpreting, and I think I did quite well, considering that it was reverse interpretation into French.

So I went to the Valporquero Cave with my family and a friend from France who happens to speak many languages including French, Portuguese, English, Italian, Luxemburgish, German and others… but she doesn’t speak Spanish. And in the cave we had a guide who spoke kind of quickly, but very, very clearly and spontaneously, so I thought it was my moment!

I stood next to my French friend and I practised chuchotage from Spanish to French. I chose this language because it’s the one I feel better with when it comes to reverse interpreting. The speech had many specialized words related to the rock formations in the cave, but I think I could cope with them quite well. I did not say everything, but I transmitted the most important parts and I felt proud. There was also a little girl looking at me while I interpreted and I think she liked it. Maybe I was able to awaken her curiosity! (?)

So that’s all. I have to admit that it feels calmer when you’re not being judged by a professional interpreter like in class, although I know that those kind of things are not usual in the interpreter’s world, as they’re people who commonly work together in booths!

You should totally visit the cave. It is amazing!

Keep interpreting!

Nerea.

Back to normal life… or almost

I'm back in Salamanca after three months of holidays.

Even though this is meant to be just “my student life”, it is also “my normal life”, as I live here for nine months a year.

So everything is back to normal. I’m living again in an apartment full of dictionaries, interpretation notebooks, German books, dancing clothes and ballet posters (if I ever buy a house, the decoration will absolutely be based on this), full of precooked food and technologic devices… and wild animals. Eh… what? Yes, wild animals are back! Right now, I’m living with a huge moth, which decided to come inside my flat on Saturday evening and we are becoming friends. Anyway, I hope it leaves soon, or I will have to start with “aggressive negotiations”.

Getting to the “pointe”, I’m officially enrolled in the Translation Itinerary, which is full of hours related to translating specialized documents FR>ES, ES>FR and ES>EN… (I liked the teacher I met yesterday; she was so French, and had such a lovely accent!) And I’m also going to some hours of Interpreting a week (two, I think). By doing this, I’ll enjoy interpreting (no matter what, I keep saying that this is what I like most), but I will not be so much stressed. I really have to find a solution for that. I can’t be an interpreter if I’m not able to cope with my own mistakes or with my shyness.

Also, I’m preparing a planning for the semester related to my free time at home. I will probably use it for reading or for interpretation, focusing mostly on English to Spanish speeches and I will also do some stretching (both things at the same time… why not?).

As regards my dancing, yesterday I went to my studio twice. The first time I just asked when classes started and if I needed to enrol myself again. The answer to first question is next week (ZOMFG, YAY!), and to the second, nope. Also, I liked that everybody in there remembered my name and everything about my dancing studies.

The second time I went to my studio was five minutes later, because on my way back home I remembered that I had bought some pictures of the festival in June, and I hadn’t picked them up yet. So I’m back to the studio, right when a class is finishing… and I see my teacher (I missed her so much, for realz! She’s so lovely, you guys. So lovely!) And she asks me about my summer and if I am going to do flamenco this year too (obviously she doesn’t ask about ballet, because she already knows I will.) I tell her I won’t, because there’s been a change on the timetables. She looks at me and says that it’s not true; that for me, it’s the same as last year. So I show her the timetable and say: “look, flamenco for beginners! See? It’s one hour later!” And she says: “my dear, you are not longer a beginner! You have to be on intermediate level this year!” And I’m all open-mouthed and say something like “OMGWHAT!”, which I don’t really remember now. So I get enrolled right away and leave the studios happily happy.

Get that, y’all!! I’m a flamenco intermediate dancer!!! Did you read that!?! I am a freakin’ flamenco intermediate dancer! In just one year! HA!

I just wish I can ask her: “hey, lovely Mrs. C! Can we have a talk about pointe shoes?! Las puntas, pa’ cuando las dejamos?” Because I so want to be on pointe again.

Still, I am freaking excited about the new subjects that I will discover during this week, and so, so happy about next week, when I will start ballet again after three months.

It’s a happy week in Salamanca. Everything is back to normal… or almost everything!

The city where I study is lovely, innit!?

Nerea.

First pair of pointe shoes

I thought you would like to see my first pair of pointe shoes; the ones I used when I was eleven!

I used to have very little feet for my age (I still do actually, although not as much), so… my first pair of pointe shoes is kind of tiny. It’s a European size 33, which, according to a chart I just found, is like an American 1,5Y (I don’t even know if that’s right). They are almost the size of my hand, look at them!

Also, I like Corella Ballet. A lot.

As you can see, they seem to be almost unused. Actually, I wore them for a really short period of time (I would say… four or five ballet lessons), because my feet grew a little bit and then it was painful to even walk normally with them on, so I had to buy some new ones!

Nerea.