There are many things Adrian Martinez likes about the United States – light beer not being one of them.
“Light beer should be a crime,” Mr. Martinez said. “It should be illegal.” “I can drink regular American beer,” he added with a laugh, “But it’s not very good. It’s very mild.”
Beer potency aside, Mr. Martinez has been enjoying his four weeks in the states as one of two Spanish Interns for the Modern Languages Department. Mr. Martinez is a Foreign Fulbright Fellow, a grant received through the Fulbright Scholarship program Sponsored by the United States Department of State.
“I wanted to go abroad, and teaching Spanish is a good way to do that,” he said. “There are lots of opportunities teaching Spanish in the States and all over the world. It’s a very popular language right now.”
Mr. Martinez was born in La Roja, a province in northern Spain. “It (La Roja) is the smallest province, but it’s the one with the best wine of all of Spain,” he said.
Mr. Martinez was educated at Complutense University, the largest postsecondary institution in the Spanish capital of Madrid. He graduated in 2005 with a degree in Spanish which is, according to him, essentially equivalent to an English degree in America – encompassing not only the rich heritage of Spanish literature but also analyzing the language itself.
In-depth instruction in his native tongue would serve Mr. Martinez well as an educator in Spanish. As an intern at Wabash College, he is responsible for just that – educating Wabash Men through the Spanish tutorial sessions.
Tutorial sessions are, according to Mr. Martinez, organic - they evolve to match the needs of the students. “I don’t have a clear direction on how to teach the tutorial,” he said, “which is good. I am not the teacher – I do not have to follow a syllabus. My job is to talk and to give the students experience with the language.”
Although there is no clear outline as to how the tutorial is conducted, Mr. Martinez does have topics he likes to incorporate in the sessions. “I’d like to talk about my country,” he said. “In the class we do talk about Spain. It gives the students a perception of my country – to give them more than just language. It gives them an experience with the language.”
“They can do writing as homework or in class,” he added, “But in the tutorial it is very important that they talk in Spanish.”
Even though Mr. Martinez asserts the inferiority of American alcohol, there are many facets of living in the States that he enjoys – not the least of which is the Socratic way of Wabash education. Each intern is required as a part of the Fulbright Scholarship program to take a course in American Studies at the postsecondary institution that they work. Mr. Martinez is in both an American Foreign Policy course and an African History course.
“They (the courses) are more participatory and you are encouraged to say anything,” he said. “That does not happen in Spain and in Europe in general. When you go to class in Europe, the teacher speaks and you listen. At the end of the semester you have a test and that is usually all.”
Mr. Martinez said that Europeans have some certain stereotypes about Americans “I think in Europe there is some anti-Americanism,” he said. “Many people react without going deep. There is a kind of paternalism there too. There is the mindset of ‘we are old Europe, we are more complex and more sophisticated.’ ”
Being assigned to a small all male school in the middle of Indiana by the Fulbright Program elicited some jokes from some of his friends back home. Mr. Martinez, however reveled in the possibility of coming to Wabash.
“Being here is a good opportunity for a foreigner to know what the real America is,” he said “This [Indiana] is like most of America. Most of America is like this or similar to this – at least, this is my perception. When you are just a tourist or when you go to a big city you don’t get into common life.
Wabash is a good opportunity to see what many foreigners never see.”
Mr. Martinez also holds a distinction that none of the other three interns share – he is the only male living with three females.
“I feel like I’m in a schizophrenic situation,” he laughed. “I work at an all male college, and when I go home, there are only women.
“It’s good,” he smiled. “They take care of me.” Martinez concedes that this is probably why he is invited to so many fraternity parties.
After working at Wabash for a year, Mr. Martinez hopes to go to work for the Spanish Foreign Office – Spain’s equivalent to the US State Department. “I want to work in an embassy in the cultural department,” he said, “which works in collaboration with local universities and local Spanish departments.”
He said those departments spread Spanish all over the world – “not in an Imperialist sense” he added with a laugh.
Regardless of his future plans, Mr. Martinez will hold the dual titles of educator and student while he spends his year at Wabash College. After only four weeks in the states, Mr. Martinez already has been educated - his palate for American beer has emerged.
“I do like Samuel Adams,” he wryly conceded.