Voyage to the Peninsula: Fulbright Midyear Conference 2k19

#valencia #fulbrightespaña #masqueunabeca

Last week, I and 250 other Fulbrighters came from all around Spain (and Andorra!) to gather at our Midyear conference, a get-together we have every grant year that includes presentations about building community, side projects, overcoming challenges, and all sorts of other interesting topics.

Midyear this year was in Valencia and it was quite a journey getting there! A couple of months ago, I went through every travel website in the world (like one does while living on a tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic) and booked all my flights well in advance and with ample layover time, like a good quasi-adult. However, on the morning I was meant to fly out of El Hierro, the dreaded calima rolled in. Calima is a very Canarian phenomenon: the fog, blowing sand, and poor visibility that is a result of sand from the Sahara Desert being blown west. And since El Hierro's airport is tiny and relies on planes landing on a tiny dark rock and a very small runway, the poor visibility was a real problem. Early that morning, one plane flying in from Tenerife couldn't even land! It had to turn around and go back! D: So there was no plane for us to leave on :(

Air shot of the calima

After a couple hours of delays (without any info about when any planes might depart), the airport staff finally made the awful but expected announcement--all flights to and from El Hierro had been cancelled. For the whole day. So, along with the other 90 people in the airport, I rushed to the counter, got a certificate I will need when I call in to beg for a refund, and dashed to the port--it was time to take a boat.

Like any good herreño, I made friends in order to make it to the boat on time (only one leaves a day, at 2pm sharp). One of the problems is that there are only 5 cabs in our whole province--and everyone wanted to go to the port. So, the second I saw one arrive, I went up to the nice middle-aged couple getting in and asked to go with them. We had a great dash down there and it was one of my favorite taxistas, a very enthusiastic and friendly father of one of the kids I teach at school. I also had to have a long and rather confusing phone call with my other flight, from Tenerife to Madrid, and change my flight reservation. But at the end I was successful! Nothing improves your language like logistical phone calls. :D

This was actually my very first time on the ferry. It is the second of two ways off the island and pretty popular because, as a resident, it is quite cheap. However, it also takes nearly three hours and only goes to the south tip of Tenerife, not anywhere near the main airport. :/ But it is pretty spacious for a boat, with cushy seats and great views of the expansive Atlantic. It even has a café on board!  The ferry only goes one place from El Hierro—Los Cristianos, on the south tip of Tenerife. The problem with that is that it is just about as far away from the biggest airport, Tenerife Norte, as you can be while remaining on the same island. I had thought that I would be able to catch a bus directly from the ferry, sin problema. But alas. It turns out I had to walk around fifteen minutes, across the beach and across town, to the bus station, and then the only direct line wasn’t leaving for an hour. D: So I had to pay for a cab and sprint through the airport. But, al fin, I made it to the last plane of the night! 

I made it to the hotel Fulbright had set up for the small island folks just before midnight. I was worried my roommates would be sound asleep, but it all worked out! The grantee on La Gomera was just getting in from dinner, and the grantee on La Palma wasn't even able to make it to the peninsula until the next day! The hotel was quite nice, and happened to be almost next door to my apartment from last year. It also had lovely sunrise views of the city.

The next morning, the La Gomera Fulbrighter and I went to the train station for the final leg of our journey to Valencia. We joined the Madrid Fulbrighters for the high-speed train, which is still one of my favorite modes of transportation, a smooth ride with lovely views of the Spanish countryside. At the conference, we heard from post-doctoral researchers, pre-doctoral researchers, other teaching assistants, Fulbright commission representatives, Foreign Service Officers, and Spanish government officials about a range of interesting topics. There were talks on conservation wildlife research in Andalucía, urban planning in Madrid, bringing data science into the class room, neurobiology research, translation of Asturian poetry, socio-tech entrepreneurship, and more! I also gave a presentation about life on little El Hierro :) It was a great chance to learn a ton from other grantees while enjoying beautiful Valencia.

Food highlights of Valencia: horchata (a very sweet Valencian drink), salad with actual lettuce :O, patatas bravas (one of the Spanish tapas), delicious paella with chicken and green beans, grilled shrimp, and a yummy cream puff-like dessert.

Cocktail hour: featuring the ever-present photo corner, yummy tapas like cheese and stuffed tomatoes, and Spanish wine. Pictured below: grantees of El Hierro and the small-islanders (La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro).

We also got some photos of all the Canarias grantees together!

As part of the midyear conference, the Fulbright commission also organized a great tour of La Albufera, a natural park about 10 kilometers from the city, and where paella was invented! We saw a traditional neighborhood, complete with fishing nets, paintings of oranges, and a cross on the roof to fool Spanish Inquisitors and make them pass by this home in their search for heretics. We also had a lovely ride on a rowboat, watching the sunset turn the water a stunning orange and red.

On my last day in Valencia, some grantees from La Rioja and I toured around the city a bit more. We saw the cathedral and climbed the tower for a breathtaking view of the city, tried horchata at the oldest place in the city ("with two centuries of tradition"), and wandered around the city taking in the architecture.

It was a lovely trip to the peninsula, but I am glad to be back home in little El Hierro.

¡Hasta la próxima!