After several surprisingly cool and
rainy days spent meandering through the streets and eats of Madrid, I was eager
to meet with my internship coordinator and discover how I’ll be acquiring hands
on experience within the field of Psychology.
As my classmates and I waited for our separate coordinators to arrive,
two University of Minnesota students from a separate program here in Madrid
entered the room and informed us that they would be accompanying Mariah and I
for the duration of our internship experience at the Psychoanalysis Center.
Much to our surprise, both students spoke fluent Spanish, which has been particularly
helpful.
Finally, the director of our
program, Pedro, arrived and led us to private room in which he attempted to enlighten,
entirely in Spanish mind you, us all upon the central topics and themes in
which we would cover for the following six weeks. In addition, we were given a
stapled pamphlet that described the lesson plans and the various coordinators
teaching them for everyday of the week. I found this process beneficial, for I
felt better assured in the Center’s organization and time management skills
than expected. After our twenty-minute or so program synopsis ended, Mariah and
I felt confident in our ability to converse at a decent pace in Spanish,
although much to our dismay, we couldn’t have been more wrong.
When I first entered the
Psychoanalysis Center, I was shocked by how unbelievably quiet the clinic was.
With so many conference style rooms and libraries, I assumed there would be
patients, employees, or even a janitor around somewhere, but no. The only other
trace of human life besides our daily coordinator and was and continues to be a
sole receptionist.
Although our lesson plans are laid
out and organized to the tee, our coordinators are not. Every morning we are
greeted by an unfamiliar face that proceeds to lecture us for 3 hours straight
on the same Freudian principles we learned from the day before, only applying
it to an alternative population such as cannibals or babies, or even cannibal
babies’ (yes someone tried to argue this).
Although Mariah and I have decent Spanish comprehension abilities, our
speaking abilities are subpar. As a result, some lecturers discourage us from
attempting conversations in Spanish, and order the other two fluent students to
translate for us every three minuets despite our constant nods and “sí’s” of reassurance.
I do appreciate this gesture, however I sometimes feel it as a slight stab at
my competence.
All in all, although I do find some
of the lectures interesting, my time thus far at the Psychoanalysis center
feels more like a seminar than an internship experience, but I’m hoping that
Tania can somehow assist me in changing a few things.
