Las clases presenciales vuelven en EEUU la proxima semana tras año y medio de inactividad. Asi lo vive la comunidad educativa.
I returned to the United States a week ago last Tuesday. I always come back with mixed emotions, this year much more than in the past. It is comforting being back in your own home with familiar surroundings. The “culture shock” though, is always much more noticeable when I return to my home country than when I arrive in Spain.
Here are my impressions this time around…
QUIÉN SOY.- Un profesor norteamericano en Sevilla. Eric Fried, es de Lubbock Texas, profesor de música en la Texas Tech University de Sevilla. Cada primavera desde hace doce años no ha dejado de volver a Sevilla porque ama la ciudad, el campo, la gente, y sobre todo el arte, la cultura y la música. Cada semana nos cuenta sus impresiones y opiniones sobre vivir en Sevilla y Andalucía.
Caveat: This article will be opinionated, but it is honest, with hopes for positive change…
In my West Texas city of Lubbock, over 300 miles from the next largest city–the High Plains, the Llano Estacado, the land of wind power, cowboy boots, cowboy hats, and pick-up trucks with gun racks, as well as the birthplace of rock and roll legend Buddy Holly, fine symphony, ballet, and theatre companies, and a new world-class concert hall–the Wild West mentality is still prevalent. “Personal freedom” abounds, sometimes with little regard to the freedom of others.
Now this city has many assets, a top-tier university, many educated professionals, a fine arts community, and more. That’s why I become frustrated and even angered when I see ignorance and partisanship endanger the well-being of the community without regard for the greater good.
Most troublesome is that many people still don’t want the vaccine and refuse to take it. The misinformation that proliferates is usually fueled by partisan politics, despite legitimate data and pleas from both local and national health experts. Hardly anyone is masked now despite many dangerous outbreaks, even amongst those fully vaccinated, of the Delta variant. On my university campus, in stores and other businesses, in my gym, and of course outside, there are very few people with masks. Exceptions do exist; in my university faculty meetings today nearly everyone was masked. Almost all of my family, friends, and colleagues are doubly vaccinated, but are still being socially cautious out of concern for their health and for those around them. I have to admit that I don’t always wear my mask everywhere either, taking calculated risks with an effort not to endanger others.
Many gigantic windmills dot the flat countryside outside of Lubbock
A flea market in Lubbock, January 2019
The governor of the state of Texas was diagnosed with Covid last week, even though he was vaccinated, but he still refuses to allow local communities, schools, universities, and other entities to regulate their own masking policies and do what they feel is safe and in their best interests. Hospitals in the state are again overwhelmed with new Covid cases, almost all amongst the unvaccinated. I see numerous appeals from my friends and acquaintances in the health professions, including doctors, nurses, and their spouses, to get vaccinated and to demand that the state of Texas change the laws to make it safer as their children return to school. So far it hasn’t happened. *Update: Coincidentally, as I write this article, I just received a news alert that the Texas Supreme Court has intervened and, against the governor’s wishes, ruled that local public school districts can enforce mask mandates. Unfortunately, it appears that our local Lubbock school district still will still not enforce one. I’m not sure what this means for universities like mine, as our classes start next week.
Lubbock’s newly opened Buddy Holly Center for the Performing Arts and Sciences, a world-class facility, both architecturally and acoustically
The Spaniards seemed to take masking and the pandemic more seriously. Granted, there was not consistent masking everywhere in Spain this summer, but my impression is that it is not political. Instead of being a public health issue, as it should be, in the US it continues to be much more political and partisan, with most Republicans/Conservatives opposing masks (and many opposing vaccination) and most Democrats/Progressives vying for greater safety through masking and vaccination. This is very disturbing to me.
Even as the Biden administration is doing everything it can to thwart this world-wide pandemic, many Republican-controlled state governments are resisting, to the detriment of their constituents. Due to politics and misinformation, many more people continue to die than is necessary.
I recognize and appreciate the fact that the leadership of my own university seems to be doing everything in its power to keep its community safe and healthy. In my mind they are being blackmailed, though, by the state government, that has pretty much threatened to withhold funding to many government entities if they don’t adhere to the dangerous regulations that the state has demanded.
The beautiful Texas Tech University campus, with over 40,000 students, is the second largest by area in the US, and its buildings are influenced by Spanish Renaissance architecture.
I return to teaching face-to-face next week with trepidation. It will be wonderful seeing faculty colleagues and students in person, but the governor of Texas has stated that neither masking nor vaccination can be required, even as he remains in isolation with the disease himself. As I will confront over one hundred students seven times each week in closed spaces, it seems the chances of multiple infections will be high. Transitioning back to in-person classes is a much more involved and stressful process that it would seem on the surface. Classrooms and physical spaces need to be set up, audio and video facilities have to be working after a year and half of dormancy, and course policies and syllabi have to be updated in accordance with state and university pandemic policies, which are continuously evolving.
As I returned to my university office, it was truly wonderful seeing the faces of faculty colleagues, staff, and students, some of us even feeling comfortable enough to hug again! Most seemed to be glad to be back, and I am thankful for that. Wandering down to the student union for lunch, the differences between Spain and the US smacked me in the face once more. I coughed up over $12 USD for a sandwich and Coke, the price and the portion size were about double what I usually paid in Spain for similar fare. And as usual, I noticed that the size of many of the people were, if not double, considerably larger than most of the Spaniards I see.
As more populations receive the vaccines, and with the encouragement of the vaccination booster shot for those already vaccinated, I have hope for a brighter and healthier future for all of us worldwide.
Waiting for the booster, better health for all, and a safe and healthy return to Spain next summer,
Eric