Matthew Tree at Manuel de Pedrolo

The writer Matthew Tree at the Institut Manuel de Pedrolo

The Department of Foreign Languages ​​in our Institut Manuel de Pedrolo organized a lecture in English by the British writer Matthew Tree for students of Batxillerat on February 6. The English writer settled down in Catalonia, opened the conference with a quotation from the novel 'Saturday' by Ian McEwan to illustrate his own experience in the search for a voice in his writing.

In this process, Matthew Tree explained that he found his own voice in Catalan after overcoming the obstacles of the social class framework in English language. After that, he read an extract from his first novel in Catalan. Finally, he finished reading the first chapter of his next novel 'SNUG' which is about to be published in the UK. Then he suggested a question-and-answer session where students put him some questions in English as well. We all enjoyed an anglophone day.

Working in Azerbaijan

Donna, the language assistant at Pedrolo last year, has sent us a short text to let us know how her experience in Baku is like. Here you have her words:

This year I am working in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a country of nine million located in the Caucauses. It borders Armenia, Russia, Iran and Georgia.

I work in Baku, the capital, which has about two million people. I am teaching English at Khazar University and the Dunya School. I like my students here and teaching has been fun.

Azerbaijan has rich history and there are plent of places in Baku to experience some of Azeri culture. The Old City is a walled complex that has a famous tower and palace. Azerbaijan is often said to be "where the east meets the west" and you can see this in the architecture of many of the buildings around town. Baku is located by the Caspian sea and there is a very nice bulvard to walk near the sea.

The langauge spoken is Azeri, a Turkik language. Many people also speak Russian because Azerbaijan was part of the Soviet Union until the early 1990s.

The food is great! Azerbaijan has really tasty cuisine. Some of my favorites are dolma, a dish made with meat and grape leaves, and marci -- a lentil soup. The local fruits and vegtables are cheap and very fresh. The best thing about the food here is that my favorite fruit--pomegranite--grows abundantly here and is pretty cheap. You could say I've eaten quite a few of them so far!

The people here are warm and hospitable. I've met and made friends with many lovely people and have found Azeris to be very eager to show me their culture and help whenver they can.

In addition to teaching I'm working with an animal rights group and a non-profit that assists Azerbaijani lawyers. I have also started an oral history project that aims to capture stories from the Nagorno-Kharabakh war.

Living here has been rewarding, challening and fun. I have often thought about my experience living abroad last year and look back on it with very fond memories. I miss everyone at Pedrolo very much, and I can't wait to come back to Tarrega one day!
                                                                                                                           Donna Raef