Segovia y Otras Experiencias

A lot has happened in Madrid this week. We've finished our Midterms, stumbled upon great cultural experiences, and been treated by the Fundacion to great sights and sounds. Before my hectic month of March, which includes a crazy amount of traveling and projects due for class, begins, I thought I'd write a bit of an update...

On Wednesday, Carnaval was coming to a close. The Carnaval parade I mentioned last Saturday had been a lot of fun, and a little crazy. People had been wearing costumes all week, and randomly participating in traditions that I didn't quite understand. For instance, the transition to Lent is greeted here not only with the normal Ash Wednesday services, but also with an event called "El Entierro de Las Sardinas." That's right, The Burial Of the Sardines. Apparently, Madrilenos all dress up in mourning clothes and carry a large fish on a platter through the streets, before burying it to represent the end of the festivities. I wanted to make an effort to see this, so I headed to Plaza Mayor, where I had heard it might happen. One wild goose-chase later, I still hadn't seen the Burial of the Sardines. I'm still not really sure where it took place.

I had, on the other hand, run into the biggest crowd of Liverpool fans I've ever seen. It turns out that Wednesday evening also happened to be the Liverpool v. Real Madrid football match for some championship. It was a huge event. Plaza Mayor was entirely packed with Liverpool fans, drunk, singing, playing soccer on top of all the trash, and cheering in preparation for the game. It was ridiculous. After we had observed for a while, my friend Claire and I continued exploring, and ended up sightseeing around Plaza de Espana, with its Don Quixote statue. No Sardines, but still a great time. We even tried roasted chesnuts from a street vendor, just to embrace the city a bit more.

Thursday evening, the Fundacion took us to a theater show called "La Gran Via... Esquina a Chueca." In all Spanish, it was hard to follow, but the general spectacle and the music were very entertaining and humorous. From what I gathered, the plot was an adaptation of an older play. In this version, the government of Madrid is rumored to be planning developing over Gran Via, Madrid's main street. The citizens of Madrid dress up as the various surrounding street names and protest, and end up saving La Gran Via. It had a huge cast, crazy costumes, and seemed to epitomize the lively nature of Spanish music and dance. Not to mention how willing Spaniards seem to be when they need to take to the streets in protest for any cause. It seems as though nearly every week one of my friends or I run into one protest or another. We've seen "manifestaciones" about labor unions, football matches, separatist autonomies, ETA, the war in Israel, communism, etc. In some ways, Spain is a very politically active country, in spite of its stereotype of apathy. A huge corruption scandal is currently uprooting members of the PP, Spain's opposition party, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a protest or too surrounding these headlines as well.

After a fun night of theater-going, we had to wake up Friday morning bright and early for a day trip to Segovia. We started out with a tour of the Royal Palace there, built by Spain's first Bourbon king. It's much more similar to Versailles than the stark Escorial, the last royal palace I went to. We also saw Segovia's famous aqueducts, which are beautiful and impressive, and date back to the Roman era of Spanish history. Then, we had some free time to sight-see around Segovia's Plaza Mayor, with its beautiful Cathedral. A smaller town, it reminded me of Toledo with its winding, narrow streets. (I'll have pictures up on Picasa soon....) It also had a spectacular view of the mountains. Toward the end of the day, we were really able to appreciate this from the top of the tallest tower of Alcazar, a fortress/castle that is old enough to have Muslim and Christian influences. It was very popular as a place of residence for Castile-Leon's royals. Segovia was a relaxing trip, and I liked the city very much. We had a chance to soak up some of the beautiful springtime sun for part of the afternoon, and try Ponche de Segovia, the city's most famous pastry. Que rico...

After getting home Saturday night, we headed out for a relaxed evening at Txoko, a new favorite bar near my house. The free tapas (appetizers that come with your drink) were delicious, and the staff was friendly, explaining various Spanish customs to us in both Spanish and English. The owners come from the Basque Country, one of Spain's northern autonomous regions with its own language, customs, and sense of nationalism. We talked with them about their culture, and realized we were benefitting from at least one element of it: Basques are famous for their delicious cooking. It was a fun night.

That brings us up to date on some of the fun little moments that remind me how different and exciting this country its. The weekends haven't had the best weather lately, so although we were planning on taking a rowboat out on the lake at Retiro, it seems like a cafeteria with a good book and some homework will be a better option for today. Especially now that I know the other Wesleyan kids better and the weather has allowed us to really take advantage of the city, the more I explore and see of Madrid, the more I love my life here. Next weekend I'm headed to Portugal, followed up quickly by a week in Andalucia. I'm sure I'll have even more to write about those amazing things, but until then, que lo paseis buen dia!

Vida Diaria

A friend of mine, after reading my blog, told me it sounds like I'm on a four-month vacation over here. To be honest, in some ways he's right. It doesn't quite seem like I'm a part of the real world when I'm here, because of how many opportunities I've had to travel each weekend and see amazing things. This weekend, however, I'm staying in Madrid, so I thought I'd blog about what my life is really like over here between all the travels and fun.

Classes here are very interesting, but probably not as hard as my usual coursework at Wesleyan. I'm finishing up some gen. eds, and taking some courses required by the program, so not a lot of what I'm doing pertains to my major. It's nice to think about other things for a while and have a break from the inevitable heavy reading that comes with history and political science classes. Right now, I'm in a Spanish course, a cultural anthropology course, an international business ethics class, and a philosophy class about Jose Ortega y Gasset, the founder of the Fundacion. I enjoy them all, and I've been able to do tons of reading, writing, and exploring on my own, since the workload isn't too intense.

In between classes, homework, and teaching English lessons, we find time to do some pretty fun things. After school, we often head over to Cafeteria Tana for lunch or cafe con leche before going home. Each night, dinner with Isabel takes some time, and we tend to get into great discussions during sobremesa, Spain's traditional time for sitting around and talking after ever meal. The weather here in Madrid has started to truly feel like springtime. I like to go for walks to Parque del Retiro, Madrid's verison of central park. Sometimes I take my homework there and sit on the bank of the Estanque, the row-boating lake, for the whole afternoon. There's so much to see around town, and some evenings we head to cafe's or bars. One of our favorites has a quiz night on Wednesdays, which we tried out for the first time this week.

From time to time, we also get the chance to experience Madrid's traditions and Spain's culture without traveling too far. Today, we took a short busride to a pueblo ouside Madrid called Chincon. A medieval marketplace festival was taking place there to celebrate Carnaval, the Mardi Gras type celebration that covers Spain throughout this week. Costumes are popular, and Carnaval has become a bit like our Halloween. In Chincon today, the marketplace was full of artisans with awesome handmade products, a falcon trainer, and a band of wandering minstrels. A medieval jester kept trying to joke around with my friend Emily and get her to buy him things. It was hilarious. Then, we took a short donkey ride around town on the "Burro Taxi." After seeing the sights and walking around for a couple of hours, I was hungry enough to try the Sopa Castellano (Castilian soup, consisting more of fat than meat, I think) that they were selling in one-euro bowls from one of the tents. It wasn't bad, as long as I didn't look at it. It was definitely a fun day trip.

Tonight, there's a parade here in Madrid to celebrate carnaval. The sightseeing today has been a welcome change from studying all day yesterday, since midterm exams are coming up this week. It's hard to believe my time in Spain is nearly half-way over. Every day in Madrid makes me enjoy thesubtle aspects of the lifestyle here in different ways. Daily life in Spain provides a completely different perspective than just traveling as a tourist, and it's wonderful.

La Ciudad de Luz

So this weekend, we went to Paris. It's still amazing to be able to just hop on a plane for a three-day trip... to France! Paris was a beautiful city, and I really enjoyed it. The historian in me loved all the sights I'd heard about in textbooks for so many years, and everything was beautiful. Although we didn't have the best weather, we still managed to have a great time.

Our trip started Thursday after school, when we set out for the airport. By the time our flight got in and we checked into our hostel, we decided to simply get dinner and turn in for the night. One of our friends, Ally, who is studying in London this semester, met us there, and it was awesome to see her.

Friday was a day packed with sight-seeing. We saw everything I had always imagined seeing in Paris. Here's the list:

-the Bastille monument, where the French Revolution got its popular start
-the Pantheon, where some of France's finest are buried. This includes Voltaire, Rousseau, Hugo, Dumas, and Marie Curie, among others. Also, Foucault's pendulum is located here.
-the Catacombes, where the bones of plague and Terror victims have been placed. It was pretty creepy to see the well-organized femurs and skulls arranged in patters, lining wall after wall of this former quarry.
-Notre Dame, which doesn't need much explanation. It was beautiful.
-the Arc d'Triumph and Champs d'Elysees, Paris's famous monument and main street
-the plaza where all the guillotine executions took place during the Revolution and Terror
-the Louvre, where we saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, Hammurabi's Code, and tons of other amazing art
-the Eiffel Tour, where we went to the top at night for a beautiful view of the city as midnight came and it became Valentine's Day

Then, on Saturday, we spent the day at Versailles. It absolutely lived up to all the stories of its opulence and beauty. It was a beautiful day, too, if a little cold. After Versailles, we had a few more hours in Paris before we had to head back to the airport, and we did some eating, exploring, and resting.

Since our return to Madrid, things have been great. Catching up on school work has been necessary, but Emily and I sat in a cafe all Sunday afternoon to finish things up. Thanks to one of my Spanish class assignments, I got in a conversation with the bartender about immigration in Spain. It's so fun to actually be able to communicate with real people in this language... what an awesome opportunity.

To top off a weekend filled with dozens of wonderful things, Em and I attended a new church. It's an English-speaking church, and their traditional Anglican services come closer to the Lutheran church I'm used to than anything I've run into so far. After the service, we chatted with some of the members. As an international church, it pulls English-speakers from all over the world together in fellowship, and we had the chance to talk to people from England, New Zealand, and even Nigeria who currently call Madrid their home. I can't wait to get to know the people better and go back to the church. Jumping around between Spanish masses has been interesting, and in many ways an awesome experience spiritually, but the great sermon and hymns at St. George's hit a little closer to home.

Other than that, we headed back to class today, where great discussions in my Ethics and Philosophy courses have been keeping me on my toes intellectually. As midterms approach, I might have to start working a bit harder, but I'm looking forward to it. It's hard to believe we're almost half-way through the semester. With Lent, lots of travel, and a visit from my mom and aunt just around the corner, I have so much to look forward to. As a whole, life couldn't be better.

Barcelona: Més que una Ciutat

This past week, the Fundación took us on a trip to Barcelona. It's hard to know where to begin, after a week packed full of amazing sights and experiences. I'd have to say that Barcelona was my favorite place yet. From its unique culture, to its appealing tourist attractions, to the relaxing moments I spent near the Mediterranean, I have one great memory after another of my time in Barcelona.

We started the week on a school trip. It was wonderful to hear the professors explain aspects of the sights and the Catalan culture that I never would have known. Barcelona is located in one of Spain's autonomous regions, and has its own language (Catalan, as opposed to the Castellano Spanish I've been learning), history, and political culture. I loved learning all of this, although the touristy nature of our trip made it more difficult to be submersed in culture and really experience all of these things. We stayed in a nice hotel for the first half of the week, and after the school trip ended, some of us decided to stay through the weekend, so I had my first experience in a hostel as well. Overall, it was a pretty nice place, and being in the city with all my friends from school made for some awesome memories.

I took over three hundred pictures on the trip, so it goes without saying that we saw amazing things. The works of Gaud í, a famous modern architect, were a theme throughout the trip. We saw his Iglesia Sagrada Familia, a beautiful church, as well as two houses he designed, and Parque Güell, all in his very unique style. He used inspiration from nature, the sea, and light in most of his works. He also often featured mosaics and amazing stylistic and functional details. Picasso and Dalí were also influential in Barcelona, and we saw a Picasso museum and ate lunch at Picasso's favorite cafe, Cuatro Gatos.

We also took a trip through the city's beautiful Gothic neighborhood, saw the Cathedral and another beautiful church, great parks, and a Roman excavation site. Other highlights included a tour of the Frexienet Cavas vineyard, Spain's biggest sparkling wine producer. We had fun seeing the special traditional facilities and getting free samples of the cava. Also, because Barcelona hosted the Olympics in '92, we saw the stadium and experienced beautiful views from the mountaintop near the Olympic museum.The city seemed more open and clean than Madrid in places, but above all, I loved having the chance to be on the edge of the Mediterranean. We went to the beach, picnicked on the port with fruit from the enormous Boquería (fruit market), and even took a boat tour of the coast. We also got to witness a tradition that happens each Sunday in Barcelona. Locals meet in the square outside the Cathedral, and perform a group dance called Sardanes to live music.

One more cultural experience that we had was the chance to go to a futbol game. F.C.Barcelona is Spain's other big team. Although they have an enormous rivalry with Real Madrid, I couldn't quite pass up the opportunity to see a pro soccer game for only 18 euro. Don't worry, though, Mark... I'll still be wearing my Real Madrid jersey with pride. Most Spaniards would call this insanity, based on the political and cultural implications the teams have. Spaniards really pour all their passion into their teams. The motto for Barcelona is actually "Més que un club," which means "more than a club" in Catalan. On the other hand, I just called it a very fun time. It was great to see Barça beat Mallorca 2-0, and get into cheering along with the rest of the crowd.

All in all, the week off from classes, exploring the city and growing closer to my friends, was a welcome break. I loved Barcelona, and I'm even more excited for future travels now. We head to Paris on Thursday. It's still hard to believe that this is really my life this semester. My memories of Barcelona will always be great-- es más que una ciudad.

¿Fotos Aquí?

As I get more used to blogging, I've decided to add a few pictures here and there. If you want to see the rest, though, feel free to check out my Picasa album. :)

Las Cosas Pequeñas

This week, I don't have a lot to report. Life has been great, and day-to-day existence in Spain is definitely fun.

I started spending more time with some of the other Wesleyan kids, and I've loved getting to know them better. I played soccer in a park for much of Saturday afternoon with some friends. A group of us also went to hear Emily, my roommate, play guitar at an open mic night in an international bar last night. She was great, and it was one of the most fun evenings we've had in Madrid.

Class continues to go well. On Tuesday, we took a school trip to the Prado. Although we didn't see it all, since it would have taken days, we did see a good bit of the art of Velazquez, Goya, and El Greco. A lot of the artwork I'd seen in history textbooks was there on the walls, and it was spectacular.

We spent some time focusing on Catalan culture in class this week, because next Tuesday begins our six-day trip to Barcelona. Cataluña, or Catalonia, is one of the autonomous regions in Spain that is pushing for independence. With a different language and a strong pull toward Mediterranean culture, the Catalan state certainly has its differences with Spain. Throughout its history, especially during times of repression under Franco, this aggression was focused into its futbol teams, and an enormous rivalry has developed between Real Madrid and Barca, Madrid and Barcelona's clubs. I can't wait to spend some time in what looks like a beautiful coastal city, full of culture, architecture, and art.

Right now, Madrid is seeing quite a bit of rain and snow. It's definitely perfect weather for some "chocolate y churros," one of my new favorite treats. (The hot chocolate here is ridiculously thick... think pudding heated up.) The snowflakes are enormous and beautiful, but it's warmer here, so nothing really sticks. It's still enough, however, to cause plenty of excitement and chaos to the Madrileños, who aren't quite used to what I would actually call winter. Little things like this are what keep reminding me of our cultural differences. Another example came today during lunch. Emily and I spent over half an hour trying to explain Groundhog's Day to Isabel. Not only did we start out not knowing the word for groundhog, but once we established this vital information, she still couldn't understand why we would have a tradition celebrating "marmotas." Then again, I guess I can't argue there, it doesn't make much sense to me either. But it was fun to try to explain it in a different language...

So overall, these little incidents keep daily life interesting. Between the great friends I'm making, the wonderful food I'm trying, the moments when I see similarities and differences between my two cultures, and the times when I just enjoy the little things, life is wonderful.