I´ve decided to take this short amount of time that I have before I begin my Spanish night to answer a few of what I´m sure are your burning questions, that you would have sent to the ¨burning questions¨section of this blog if indeed that section even existed. You will just have to take my word that these are the questions you wish I would answer about Spain.
Do Spaniards tailgate?
Why yes, yes they do. It´s called a Botellón, and basically it´s a pre-game in a park or some big open space. And it´s huge. Think tailgating minus the trucks and a football game. Oh, and also minus the beef. They do ham here, always.
Are man bags really ok over there?
If by ok you mean totally hot right now regardless of sexual orientation, then yes.
What are the Spanish men like?
Shorter. I´m at eye level with at least half of them. Walking around with my tall blonde American friends is really fun, because everyone knows we´re not from here. According to one Spaniard, this lack of height is due to the fact that ¨we don´t eat the Wheaties or the corn flakes in the morning.¨
Does the siesta exist?
Good luck trying to buy stamps or go to the bank or do anything important between the hours of 3 and 5.
Does the rain in Spain fall mainly on the plains?
I will kick the next person that asks me that.
Well, that´s all the questions I have time for today. I hope you all feel a little bit more cultured now that you know these important things.
26 October 2007
23 October 2007
Man, this blogging thing is hard.
Three weeks in. It´s gone by so fast.
So, the highlights:
Portugal! I went to Lisbon the weekend before last with two friends via a travel agency that caters to foreign students (read, makes sure you experience the night life). Lisboa is gorgeous, this city on the sea. The streets are all narrow and there are trolleys and outdoor cafes everywhere. Think San Fransico with more history and less Chinatown. Actually, don´t think San Fransico. Think of your ideal seaside city, with the best views and cobblestoned, hilly streets and big catholic churches, smelling like chestnuts everywhere. That´s Lisbon. And yes, I swam in the Atlantic ocean in October, because I am a landlocked desert child and I freak out wheneverI see water. It´s a natural reaction for us desert folk.
Last weekend I went on an excursion with ISA to Grananda, Spain. The Alhambra. Flamenco. And this religious procession that I´m pretty sure was for the Virgin Mary except that among all the Catholic stuff were all these stars of David, which the last time I checked is a Jewish thing. The only answer we could kind of come up with after asking several people was ¨gypsies.¨ Ah yes. Gypsies. That explains everything, thank you. In fact I think that will be my new excuse to throwing together any culture I want. Gypsie, sorry. And people will be like, ooh, ok. Right?
But unusual religious processions aside (which was really fun, actually), I enjoyed Granada a lot. It is probably the best place around here to see how all of the cultures that have come to Spain have converged in their history and religion. One room in the Alhambra will be totally Arab with the other one is most definitely trying to be Catholic. There are narrow streets lined with tea shops and hookah bars and arabic vendors, while on the next street over there is a gypsie procession going on, while at the Cathedral down the street you can see the tomb of Juana la loca and her mean husband. Flamenco is unlike any other type of dance I´ve ever seen, beautiful in its somber, regal, yet very raw form. I would recommend seeing it as we saw it, in a hole-in-the-wall tavern with low, rounded ceilings and one room big enough to accomadate (very intimately) 50 people. To see flamenco on a stage is not nearly as moving as being close enough to feel the guitar and the stomping and clapping and the singing.
What I´m loving about Spain is that I´ve never gotten to see history or cultural intertwining like this before. Everything goes back so much further than we´re used to in the states.
As for my life in the city, all is well, finally calming down. I´ve been running through El Parque Retiro the past couple of mornings (read, 9:30 AM, which is an ungodly hour for Spanairds and no one is really around) and enjoying the quiet Spanish mornings. Last week I took a ten hour course on teaching English and am about to begin the internship portion of the class, where I´ll be taking on some Spanish students to teach English to. After my internship is over, I´ll be getting paid (¡in Euro!) to continue teaching. Should be interesting.
Meeting Spaniards is proving to be really hard. Just like anywhere else, everyone sort of already has their own group and would rather not go out of their way to talk to foreigners who can only halfway understand them. Then again, I haven´t really had time to make a huge effort on my part either. I did meet a lot of very cool Mexicans on the trip to Portugal, though, and found that their accents were much easier for me to understand than the Spanish accent. Spanish español sounds much different than the stuff they teach us in the states (if what they do in the states can be considered teaching a language, which is hard to judge).
The upcoming weekend is the first weekend since I´ve been here where I´ll be in Madrid. I plan on actually exploring the city, finally.
Hope that covers everything. ¡Hasta luego, chicos!
So, the highlights:
Portugal! I went to Lisbon the weekend before last with two friends via a travel agency that caters to foreign students (read, makes sure you experience the night life). Lisboa is gorgeous, this city on the sea. The streets are all narrow and there are trolleys and outdoor cafes everywhere. Think San Fransico with more history and less Chinatown. Actually, don´t think San Fransico. Think of your ideal seaside city, with the best views and cobblestoned, hilly streets and big catholic churches, smelling like chestnuts everywhere. That´s Lisbon. And yes, I swam in the Atlantic ocean in October, because I am a landlocked desert child and I freak out wheneverI see water. It´s a natural reaction for us desert folk.
Last weekend I went on an excursion with ISA to Grananda, Spain. The Alhambra. Flamenco. And this religious procession that I´m pretty sure was for the Virgin Mary except that among all the Catholic stuff were all these stars of David, which the last time I checked is a Jewish thing. The only answer we could kind of come up with after asking several people was ¨gypsies.¨ Ah yes. Gypsies. That explains everything, thank you. In fact I think that will be my new excuse to throwing together any culture I want. Gypsie, sorry. And people will be like, ooh, ok. Right?
But unusual religious processions aside (which was really fun, actually), I enjoyed Granada a lot. It is probably the best place around here to see how all of the cultures that have come to Spain have converged in their history and religion. One room in the Alhambra will be totally Arab with the other one is most definitely trying to be Catholic. There are narrow streets lined with tea shops and hookah bars and arabic vendors, while on the next street over there is a gypsie procession going on, while at the Cathedral down the street you can see the tomb of Juana la loca and her mean husband. Flamenco is unlike any other type of dance I´ve ever seen, beautiful in its somber, regal, yet very raw form. I would recommend seeing it as we saw it, in a hole-in-the-wall tavern with low, rounded ceilings and one room big enough to accomadate (very intimately) 50 people. To see flamenco on a stage is not nearly as moving as being close enough to feel the guitar and the stomping and clapping and the singing.
What I´m loving about Spain is that I´ve never gotten to see history or cultural intertwining like this before. Everything goes back so much further than we´re used to in the states.
As for my life in the city, all is well, finally calming down. I´ve been running through El Parque Retiro the past couple of mornings (read, 9:30 AM, which is an ungodly hour for Spanairds and no one is really around) and enjoying the quiet Spanish mornings. Last week I took a ten hour course on teaching English and am about to begin the internship portion of the class, where I´ll be taking on some Spanish students to teach English to. After my internship is over, I´ll be getting paid (¡in Euro!) to continue teaching. Should be interesting.
Meeting Spaniards is proving to be really hard. Just like anywhere else, everyone sort of already has their own group and would rather not go out of their way to talk to foreigners who can only halfway understand them. Then again, I haven´t really had time to make a huge effort on my part either. I did meet a lot of very cool Mexicans on the trip to Portugal, though, and found that their accents were much easier for me to understand than the Spanish accent. Spanish español sounds much different than the stuff they teach us in the states (if what they do in the states can be considered teaching a language, which is hard to judge).
The upcoming weekend is the first weekend since I´ve been here where I´ll be in Madrid. I plan on actually exploring the city, finally.
Hope that covers everything. ¡Hasta luego, chicos!
11 October 2007
Long Overdue
Second week in Madrid. Finally starting to get my feet on the ground and actually experience what the country has to offer.
Madrid is an incredibly lively city. I feel like I´ve only visited the places that are teeming with tourists (Latin American and English speaking), so I´m ready to get going on exploring some lesser frequented parts of the city.
This weekend, though, I got out of the city for a bit.
First, on Saturday, the program took us on an excursion to Toledo, just outside of Madrid. The town is beautiful, old, with these narrow streets and painted buildings that look like a movie set. It was one of those places where you feel bad shuffling around in a big group of tourists. It felt more like a place that deserves to be found. Anyway, on our tour, we got to see some pretty amazing things. There´s an incredible mixture of Christian, Arab, and Jewish culture in the history and architecture. Saturday was also one of the special days a year (I think there are two) when the convent in Old Toledo is totally open to the public. What I loved was how excited our guide got when he found this out as we walked by, excited enough to risk not making it to the other places on our tour to show us this. The weather couldn´t have been more perfect for a visit to a town like this, either.
Sunday my señora took my roomate and I out to Cercedilla, which is about a 40 minute train ride west of the city. Cercedilla is one of those little Spanish mountain towns that you imagine, with the winding streets and red rooftops...even the mountains are postcard-worthy. We took about a 3-4 hour hike, ate our sandwhiches at the top where you can see all the way down into the valley and the town, and I explained Ultimate frisbee to my señora (of course I brought a disc up the mountain with me...you never know). Belén is a fun woman. She´s done a part of the Camino del Santiago (which is one of my dreams), and gives me a lot of advice about how to meet Spanish boys, and how to be more like a Spaniard. I have yet to ask her why I see so many Spanish guys at the bar, but not many Spanish chicas...it´s a curiousity I´m trying to figure out right now.
Sunday night I took myself to Parque Retiro, which is Madrid´s equivalent to central park. The thing is gorgeous and huge. Keeping with the Madrid mood of a constant party, every Sunday night, in this circular-columned place by the lake, there´s this massive drum circle. People bring their african drums, beer, and friends and dance around and listen to music. It´s such a blast.
I still have yet to find the Ultimate team here. I´ve found their website, and I know they´re called Los Quixotes, which I love. But they´re as elusive as any other team, and I doubt that their website has been updated in the last 6 months. I´m sure I´ll find them soon.
I´m of to Lisbon, Portugal this weekend by a stroke of luck--a spot opened up at the last minute on a trip for international students, and two of my friends are already going. I´ll try and post some of their pictures (since I don´t have a camera anymore, I´ve been guilting my friends into taking pictures of me in cool places).
Last week was rough, yes, but I always, always am trying to remember this: Should I have stayed home and thought of here?
The answer is obvious.
Madrid is an incredibly lively city. I feel like I´ve only visited the places that are teeming with tourists (Latin American and English speaking), so I´m ready to get going on exploring some lesser frequented parts of the city.
This weekend, though, I got out of the city for a bit.
First, on Saturday, the program took us on an excursion to Toledo, just outside of Madrid. The town is beautiful, old, with these narrow streets and painted buildings that look like a movie set. It was one of those places where you feel bad shuffling around in a big group of tourists. It felt more like a place that deserves to be found. Anyway, on our tour, we got to see some pretty amazing things. There´s an incredible mixture of Christian, Arab, and Jewish culture in the history and architecture. Saturday was also one of the special days a year (I think there are two) when the convent in Old Toledo is totally open to the public. What I loved was how excited our guide got when he found this out as we walked by, excited enough to risk not making it to the other places on our tour to show us this. The weather couldn´t have been more perfect for a visit to a town like this, either.
Sunday my señora took my roomate and I out to Cercedilla, which is about a 40 minute train ride west of the city. Cercedilla is one of those little Spanish mountain towns that you imagine, with the winding streets and red rooftops...even the mountains are postcard-worthy. We took about a 3-4 hour hike, ate our sandwhiches at the top where you can see all the way down into the valley and the town, and I explained Ultimate frisbee to my señora (of course I brought a disc up the mountain with me...you never know). Belén is a fun woman. She´s done a part of the Camino del Santiago (which is one of my dreams), and gives me a lot of advice about how to meet Spanish boys, and how to be more like a Spaniard. I have yet to ask her why I see so many Spanish guys at the bar, but not many Spanish chicas...it´s a curiousity I´m trying to figure out right now.
Sunday night I took myself to Parque Retiro, which is Madrid´s equivalent to central park. The thing is gorgeous and huge. Keeping with the Madrid mood of a constant party, every Sunday night, in this circular-columned place by the lake, there´s this massive drum circle. People bring their african drums, beer, and friends and dance around and listen to music. It´s such a blast.
I still have yet to find the Ultimate team here. I´ve found their website, and I know they´re called Los Quixotes, which I love. But they´re as elusive as any other team, and I doubt that their website has been updated in the last 6 months. I´m sure I´ll find them soon.
I´m of to Lisbon, Portugal this weekend by a stroke of luck--a spot opened up at the last minute on a trip for international students, and two of my friends are already going. I´ll try and post some of their pictures (since I don´t have a camera anymore, I´ve been guilting my friends into taking pictures of me in cool places).
Last week was rough, yes, but I always, always am trying to remember this: Should I have stayed home and thought of here?
The answer is obvious.
05 October 2007
Tuesday
Rank this among worst feelings ever--getting your stuff stolen. Add ¨in a foreign country¨in parentheses.
Gone. Adios. Hasta forever. All of it. Everything you need. You turned around for one second and it´s gone.
Teléfono, billeta, tarjetas de credito, tarjetas de debito, efectivo, licensia de manejar, identificaciónes, llaves, camera digital, libro, abono transporte, varios cosas pequeñas, un poco basura...
Phone, wallet, credit card, debit cards, cash, drivers license, IDs, keys, digital camera, book, metro card, various small things, a bit of trash...
In spanish. In english. Over the phone. Electonically. And once more, for posterity, with feeling. It´s all gone. Not coming back.
But thank God or Allah or whatever that your passport wasn´t in there, or any copies of your passport, and that you have a little extra cash. Thank god you´re with people who are going to buy you food, lend you a phone, some money for the taxi ride home (because once you get everything sorted out, it´s too late to ride the metro).
Try not to think about how almost everything, everything, was in there. Try not to think about how you´re going to have to tell your señora, whom you met three days ago, that some creep has her keys, that you were stupid and didn´t watch over it closely. Try not to cry. And when you do cry, to your señora at three in the morning after you get home, try to cry in Spanish. Try to explain everything in broken spanish between shaky breaths.
I´ll be fine. I´ll be fine. I´ll be fine. Actually, everything worked out pretty quickly. They tell me that sometimes a theif just takes the money and chucks the bag and that later the police will find and that sometimes, sometimes, it just shows up at the office one day, with your things in it.
So I´ve pretty much resigned myself to the fact that i´m not getting it back.
Other than that, now that it´s Friday and classes have started and I´m finally getting my bearings, Madrid is fantastic.
Gone. Adios. Hasta forever. All of it. Everything you need. You turned around for one second and it´s gone.
Teléfono, billeta, tarjetas de credito, tarjetas de debito, efectivo, licensia de manejar, identificaciónes, llaves, camera digital, libro, abono transporte, varios cosas pequeñas, un poco basura...
Phone, wallet, credit card, debit cards, cash, drivers license, IDs, keys, digital camera, book, metro card, various small things, a bit of trash...
In spanish. In english. Over the phone. Electonically. And once more, for posterity, with feeling. It´s all gone. Not coming back.
But thank God or Allah or whatever that your passport wasn´t in there, or any copies of your passport, and that you have a little extra cash. Thank god you´re with people who are going to buy you food, lend you a phone, some money for the taxi ride home (because once you get everything sorted out, it´s too late to ride the metro).
Try not to think about how almost everything, everything, was in there. Try not to think about how you´re going to have to tell your señora, whom you met three days ago, that some creep has her keys, that you were stupid and didn´t watch over it closely. Try not to cry. And when you do cry, to your señora at three in the morning after you get home, try to cry in Spanish. Try to explain everything in broken spanish between shaky breaths.
I´ll be fine. I´ll be fine. I´ll be fine. Actually, everything worked out pretty quickly. They tell me that sometimes a theif just takes the money and chucks the bag and that later the police will find and that sometimes, sometimes, it just shows up at the office one day, with your things in it.
So I´ve pretty much resigned myself to the fact that i´m not getting it back.
Other than that, now that it´s Friday and classes have started and I´m finally getting my bearings, Madrid is fantastic.
02 October 2007
Vale, pues nada, guay
Where to begin?
The plane ride? Bumpy.
Madrid? Bumpy also.
Everything is pretty crazy when you first arrive. To be honest, I really haven´t had time to slow down and enjoy most of the city, but I´m sure that will come once I get settled. I live in a small flat with one other girl from the program and a señora, who speaks no english, which is what I was hoping for. But zero is zero. As in nada, meaning no little english words, no figuring out what I mean when I say an english word with a spanish pronunciation (although it´s pretty funny the first time you hear an english word that is unrecognizable in it´s Spaniard-ized form). I think half of the conversation on my first night here was spent nodding at things we didn´t understand.
I came here determined to speak as little english as possible, which is proving to be difficult. English is easy. Familiar. Everyone in the program speaks it, and not everyone is at the same level of spanish. Some people (who are also living with non-english-speaking families) have never spoken the language before. I can´t imagine.
If I could think of a good story right now, I would write it here, but my brain is on low. I´ll explain--yes, the Madridleños stay out until all hours of the night. How do I know? I got home at 7 this morning.
And the three words in the subject line? Three words you need to know for a conversation with a Spanaird--in order: ok, anyway (?I think), cool (only used by the younger people, as far as I can tell).
¡Ciao!
The plane ride? Bumpy.
Madrid? Bumpy also.
Everything is pretty crazy when you first arrive. To be honest, I really haven´t had time to slow down and enjoy most of the city, but I´m sure that will come once I get settled. I live in a small flat with one other girl from the program and a señora, who speaks no english, which is what I was hoping for. But zero is zero. As in nada, meaning no little english words, no figuring out what I mean when I say an english word with a spanish pronunciation (although it´s pretty funny the first time you hear an english word that is unrecognizable in it´s Spaniard-ized form). I think half of the conversation on my first night here was spent nodding at things we didn´t understand.
I came here determined to speak as little english as possible, which is proving to be difficult. English is easy. Familiar. Everyone in the program speaks it, and not everyone is at the same level of spanish. Some people (who are also living with non-english-speaking families) have never spoken the language before. I can´t imagine.
If I could think of a good story right now, I would write it here, but my brain is on low. I´ll explain--yes, the Madridleños stay out until all hours of the night. How do I know? I got home at 7 this morning.
And the three words in the subject line? Three words you need to know for a conversation with a Spanaird--in order: ok, anyway (?I think), cool (only used by the younger people, as far as I can tell).
¡Ciao!
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