A message from Spain...

We met Jesuias when Jim was presenting a paper at a conference in Almeria, Spain, in November, 2010. He is a professor of English at the University of Almeria. We stayed in Granada at the Alhambra Palace Hotel which is about a 5 minute walk to the Alhambra...fabulous place to stay. (Bill and Hilary Clinton thought so as well). Jesuias  showed us all around the region and and also gave us a tour of the Alhambra which was a good thing since I got a little claustrophobic at one point and really needed to get out into the air. It's a bit of a maze in there and I don't think we would have got out quickly on our own.

We knew things weren't so good in Spain and hope they improve.  Jim is really looking forward to being involved with his students!

Jim and Jesuias

Hola Jaime, 

Thanks for the update! Sorry for such a long silence from my side. I have been really busy with red tape and being adapted to the new "normality" of this dystopian pandemic. We have been giving lectures and conferences and classes online all the time. The situation is getting worse here in spite of the hot summer weather. There are not so many dead, but there are lots of people infected with the virus as more people are being tested.  We think this horrible virus is going to stay with us for years, I personally think that we will not be able to overcome it in less than 5 years. We have to survive and go through it. But our lives have changed and things are not the same, regarding the Huxley Symposium, I think that if everything is better for next spring, maybe I could register and try to attend and offer some contribution. We shall see. 

With concern to your work on The Road to Wigan Pier, I congratulate you, it is one of the most convincing and brilliant Orwell's memoirs. 

Thank you for telling me about the audios and videos on MSOffice, I will try to take advantage of them even today. I haved checked your two documents, they are awesome! Thanks a lot. Yes, you can keep sending me more of your analysis and short lectures for students as I can use them for my next online classes the following course 2020-21, as most classes will be online again. Obviously, if you do not mind, I would like them to be in touch with you and to do so, I could ask you to give them some email to stay in touch with you in case some of them want to ask you some questions. I hope that due to these "online classes" in all Spanish Universities there will be more chances of collaboration with teachers and colleagues from different countries. We have a very ambitious "Aula Virtual" that works very well and it comes out with a very good "blackboard" with online videoconferences.

 I am thinking of certain possibilities, such as, for example, including you to give us one of our lectures for the Master Degree in English Studies we have. I am teaching a subject titled "English as an Intercultural Vehicle: Literature and Society", and I devote three sessions to the following: Aldous Huxley, George Orwell and Ray Bradbury. You could offer the session devoted to either Huxley or Orwell. Such Videoconference is about 2 hours and students participate and ask you some questions and finally there is a debate with the whole group on some topics we have previously arranged. 

As you are about 10 hours behind us, you could record your videoconference on our platform beforehand and then I would be conducting the session. Well, this is just an idea. We will start these videoconferences in the first week of November. 

Let's stay in touch and see what we can develop. 

Give my regards to Janice and a hug for both of you with my very best wishes, 

Jesuias, un abrazo

Nota Bene: Si quieres, podemos hablar mediante una videoconferencia directa cualquier día de septiembre (Skype, zoom, etc.).