SiS Newsletter - November 2011
Article Index
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Recent News November, 2011
• Foreign Students Making an Impact in Your Neighborhood
http://blog.nafsa.org/2011/11/18/global-connections-in-the-west/
• Educational cooperation agreement between Spain and USA
http://www.eduespa.org/en/boletin.asp?idb=140#f
• Europe still the top destination for US students
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=418116
SiS Student Ambassadors
• Diana Waldron
SiS on the road
• Study in Spain will be traveling throughout the US again this academic year.
Amigos del español
• Robert Rodriguez
Institution Profile
• Malaca Instituto
Interview Lounge
• Joshua Buland | Coordinator of International Student Services
Diana Waldron
¡Hola!
My name is Diana Waldron and I am a Study in Spain Student Ambassador at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
I was sitting in the airport in my hometown of Orlando, Florida, in January 2011, holding all of the possessions I would need for the next six months in two giant duffle bags. I was on my way to study in Alicante, Spain for the semester. I felt so nervous and uncertain, and scared to be so far away from my family and friends. I questioned if I made the right decision, if I was going to be homesick, and if I was going to be happy in my new city. I didn’t know it then, but I was setting out on the most exciting and rewarding journey of my life so far.
Studying abroad in Alicante is the best decision I made in my entire college career. I had the great fortune of living with a wonderful Spanish host mom, María Ángeles. I was her first host student, and she opened me into her household with open arms and a warm heart.
Every Sunday, María Ángeles would take me for a drive in her car to a new part of the city, or to one of the neighboring towns. She introduced me to her family and friends, who were all so kind and welcoming to me. She helped me with my Spanish, correcting me when I was wrong but always encouraging me to keep trying. She made me feel so comfortable and cared for in a very far away place, and inspired in me the love she felt for her country.
I am extremely happy I made the decision to study in Alicante. I learned so much not only about the people and culture of Spain, but I also learned a lot about myself. I cherish the time I spent there and with my Spanish familia, and will never forget the experiences I had and friends I made.
Spain is a part of me now, and according to María Ángeles, I will always be an Alicantina.
Study in Spain will be traveling throughout the US again this academic year
Following the path of 2011, in 2012 Study in Spain will keep its participation in the most important education fairs and events.
Since its opening, the Embassy of Spain-Trade Commission Miami, with the support of ICEX (Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade) and EDUESPAÑA have carried Study in Spain all across the US in an effort to promote international education in Spain.
The rewards have been undeniable, as Spain is the third preferred destination for American students worldwide.
This is a brief preview of the projected participation of Study in Spain. The dates and/or events may be subject to changes.
DEC
EDUCATION ABROAD WORKSHOP AND NETWORKING
DEC 12-18
MADRID, SPAIN
FEB
AIEA - Association of International Education Administrators
19-23 FEB
Washington, DC
MAR
Central Conf. Teaching of Foreign Languages
08-10 MAR
Milwakee, WI
MAR
FORUM of Education Abroad
21-23 MAR
Denver, CO
MAR
JTEC I
MAR 26 - APR 01
Madrid, Spain
APR
NECTFL, Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Laguages
21-22 APR
Baltimore, MD
JUN
NAFSA
27 MAY-01 JUN
Houston, TX
Robert Rodriguez
Director
Robert Rodríguez is the director of El Mariachi, Desperado and Planet Terror, a man who lives for his roots and now comes back to the big screen with the fourth Spy Kids. Rodríguez is an American from San Antonio, Texas, with a family heritage from Mexico. Loyal to his roots he always shows where he is from in all his movies. In his Troublemaker Studio in Austin we talked with this man who showed up with a cowboy hat, cowboy boots and delighted us with a typical tex-mex lunch with tortillas, ribs, corn and Apple cake.
(In Robert’s office there is a window that opens directly to the recording studio) It seems that you like to control everything.
Are you proud of the success?
I don’t know if any other director has a studio in his house. I think that Peter Jackson in New Zealand and I are the only ones, because in the studios of Lucas and Coppola there is not sound center. When those two came here told me this was their dream.
As a director seems that you want to show the Spanish culture in all your movies
I’m Mexican-American, a fantastic thing to be because I’m part of two cultures. As a director I can travel between two worlds, in one hand I can do a movie very American as Desperado or to tell fantasy stories close to the Mexican culture. I’m going to keep making movies where I utilize at the same time both languages, as I did in “Once Upon a time in Mexico” and as I’m doing in my next science fiction movie that actually I’m shooting in Ciudad de Mexico. My idea is to show Mexico in a futuristic way.
Did you change your process as a director having your own studio at home?
I always shoot in a gorilla style. Since I started with the Mariachi and put in all my money, seven thousand dollars. I’m in charge of everything from the special effects to the sound effects, to the editing and the script. For me there is nothing more rewarding than to develop my creative vision.
Are you still out of the Hollywood Directors Guild?
I’m not in the Guild. I can’t be part of them because I’m not a director that you can put in a box. Look around in Hollywood here we are ready to shoot a movie in any given moment. When I start shooting a movie always there is somebody who comes to me and says “you are not doing the things are it should be done”. To me that is rude. The way they do the things there don’t have any sense that is why I left the Gild. I don’t follow the rules that is why I’m out.
That way you will never win an Oscar
As long the big studios want to distribute my movies I don’t care. I just want to make a good movie for the audience. My movies are not Oscar movies. You can still work with unions. I’m in all the other unions because I’m the cinematographer and the editor. I have all these union cards. I’m not in the Writer’s Guild or the Director’s Guild because they don’t like hyphenates. They get mad at each other, all the time. There’s too much in-fighting. I live in Texas, so it doesn’t apply to me. I left the Writer’s Guild even longer ago, after Spy Kids. Rather than them having to change their rules for me, being such an oddball, I thought I should probably just go play in a different sandbox. If I did a big studio movie, I might have to join, or at least it would be under the rules that they have for personnel and credits, but I haven’t had to join.
Do you feel proud of being independent away from Hollywood?
It helped me to make my first movie all for myself. I paid for everything and I learned all the tricks to make a movie that it seems expensive but it isn’t. I like to have control of all the risks, because at the end is a business. Now I’m free and is a wonderful feeling I follow my own rules. I tell the stories that I want and I enjoy doing that.
You’ve got this pattern of doing an adult movie and then a kid’s movie, I’m curious, when you’re on set, how does your approach change? Or it doesn’t?
It doesn’t sometimes, I get in big trouble, and I start cussing at the kids. “Wait a minute; I’m not around adults...” It’s a different sensibility. I compare it to if you have kids, you know, if you hang out with your buddies you talk one way, then when you’re hanging out with your kids you have a different voice on, you have your dad voice, you’re very appropriate. It’s two different; everybody has those sides to them.
there are a lot of Mexican-American families, they are a part of the American psyche, and you don’t feel like trying to push that too much?
It was always like that. In the Spy Kids series they were Spanish, they spoke Latin. For people who were Latin it was a cool thing, for people who weren’t it was just like, you know, James Bond is British. It gives them an ethnic specificity. It’s very specific and made it more universal because of how specific it was.
Malaca Instituto
Name: Inge Groeneveld
Position: Marketing
Address:
Calle Cortada, 6
29016 Málaga
Tel: + 34 95 229 3242
Fax: + 34 95 229 6316
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web : http://malacainstituto.com/
Description:
Malaca Instituto has an ideal location in a residential suburb of Malaga, 15 minutes bus-ride from the city centre and 10 minutes walk to the beach. The school and its on-site residence create a minicampus with outstanding leisure and learning facilities. We have been teaching Spanish for 40 years and are regarded as one of the leading schools in Spain.
We produce our own textbooks and most of the teaching materials used in the school. With a minimum of 45 staff we provide a very high level of service in all areas.
For these reasons we receive clients and students from diplomatic corps, top companies and prestigious universities from around the world. Our membership of EAQUALS and IALC and the Instituto Cervantes and CEELE accreditations confirm this quality.
The Malaca Instituto-Club Hispanico mini-campus includes 102 bedrooms, 25 classrooms, multimedia study centre, cinema, bar, restaurant, swimming pool, dance studio, multi-activity room, student lounge, mini-gym, 3 terraces and gardens.
Our students come from over 40 different countries and can be aged from 16 – 90! This produces a truly multi-cultural and exciting environment.
Courses
- Intensive/Super Intensive: 20, 24, 26 or 30 lessons/week
- DELE preparation
- University Access
- Spanish for Academic Purposes
- Hispanic Studies: cultural gap-year
- Spanish for International Trade and Commerce
- Spanish for Tourism
- Spanish for Business
- Spanish for Teachers
- Master Class (50 years+)
- Spanish + Cookery
- Spanish + Dance
Summer Course for young adults
Spanish + Internships
The vast majority of our college-aged US students get academic credit for their studies with us.
Individual students arrange this with their University/College international office in advance or, in the case of groups, the University itself gives credit to all their students based on our transcripts. This implies that our programmes have been evaluated by senior faculty from many US universities and approved as worthy for credits.
Individual students join our standard open-enrolment programmes detailed above, while we also create closed-group programmes for those Universities/Colleges who have groups with special requirements.
Contact details
For further information please use one of the following ways to contact us:
- Inge Groeneveld at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Visit our web site at www.MalacaInstituto.com
- By phone: + 34 95 229 32 42
- By Skype: Inge.Malaca or Lisa.Malaca
Joshua Buland
Coordinator of International Student Services
When was the last time you have been to Spain?
This was my first visit to Spain.
What do you enjoy most about Spain?
I enjoyed the many cultural activities available, along with the warmth and openness of its people.
What do you think are the advantages of Spain as a destination for American students?
Exposure to not just a new language and culture, but also a new method of teaching and learning.
Could you describe the Study Abroad programs your university has with Spain?
We are looking to develop our first study abroad program in Spain after this visit.
How satisfied are, in general, American students going/studying in Spain?
I believe American students would return from a study abroad experience in Spain extremely satisfied and having a more global and well-rounded outlook.
