Who We Are



In this blog, I refer a lot to "us" and "we" but who's that??

I'm Jessie. I teach 6th grade Spanish at the Curtis School, an independent day school in Los Angeles that serves students in grades DK-6. When I am not teaching Spanish, I like to travel, hike, cook and play the guitar. I've dreamt about hiking the Camino since I lived in Spain eight years ago. 













My husband Tim is taking a vacation away from  space craft and computer programs at NASA-Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), to accompany me on this journey through northern Spain. He and I will be hiking the final 210 km of the Camino Francés from Ponferrada to Santiago de Compostela.

Thanks for following along with us!
  


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Oda al presente by Pablo Neruda (poem)

Image
This poem "Oda al presente" ("Ode to the Present") was written by Pablo Neruda (Parral, 1904-1973), a Chilean poet,  diplomat, politician, and Nobel Prize winner. My high school English teacher, Ms. Hepburn, and my high school Spanish teacher, Ms. Cavo, did a collaborative poetry unit where they read Pablo Neruda's odes to us. I fell in love with this one and wanted to share it with you. It inspires me to seize the day and to savor the present moment which I intend to practice on the Camino.  Oda al presente by Pablo Neruda  Este  presente  liso  como una tabla,  fresco,  esta hora,  este día  limpio  como una copa nueva  — del pasado  no hay una  telaraña —  tocamos  con los dedos  el presente, cortamos  su medida,  dirigimos  su brote  está vivente, vivo,  nada tiene  de tiene de ayer irremediable,  de pasado perdido,  es nuesta criatura,  está creciendo  en este  momento, está llevando 
Read more

Adios rios, adios fontes by Rosalía de Castro (poem)

Image
The Galican poet, Rosalía de Castro (Santiago de Compostela, 1837-1885) was a pioneering female voice whose poetry and fiction addressed topics like the lack of women's independence and the plight of migrant workers. Today, she is considered a literary heroine in her native Galicia* with several museums dedicated to her life and work; however, during her lifetime, she was disregarded and her work unvalued. Since we will be walking through Galicia on the second half of our Camino, I wanted to share her voice in this post. How did Rosalía de Castro experience her homeland of Galicia and how might I experience it today?  Below you will find her poem in its original Galician ( gallego ) followed by the English translation.  I chose this poem because 1) The poetic voice is expressed in gallego, 2) It is characteristically melancholic, 3) It reflects a major theme of Castro's work which is love of her homeland, Galicia, and 4) It paints the kinds of rural landscapes I expect to
Read more

Caminante no hay camino by Antonio Machado (poem)

Image
As a student of Spanish literature, I was first introduced to this poem "Caminante no hay Camino" by Antonio Machado (Seville, 1875-1939) in my graduate studies and it has stayed with me. In fact, it was read at Tim and my wedding! I'm sure I will think of this poem on my Camino journey because of the beautiful message it imparts: we each create our unique destinies and legacies one step at a time. Caminante no hay Camino  by Antonio Machado Caminante, son tus huellas el camino y nada más; Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar. Al andar se hace el camino, y al volver la vista atrás se ve la senda que nunca se ha de volver a pisar. Caminante, no hay camino sino estelas en la mar.  ------------------- Traveler, your footprints are the only way, nothing else. Traveler, there is no way; you make your way as you walk. As you walk, you make your way, and when you look back you see the way you will never
Read more