Capítulo Tres: Lost in a Portrait

"Once you do something, you never forget, even if you can't remember."
- Zeniba, Spirited Away

Ended up not going to El Museo Reina Sofia -- we'd thought it was free from like 2-9, but apprently it closes early on Sunday. We accused our CIEE Agenda sheet of providing us with false information, but taking a second look, we realized that those hours were for Saturday. It had been a pretty hot day, so we just went to a cafe, sat, and chilled for a while. Still, lesson learned from this excursion: read things more carefully.

El Encierro de los Toros (running of the bulls) yesterday morning was a bit on the disappointing side in my opinion. Maybe it was just because we didn't have a good view of it (it can cost over 1000 Euros to get a good spot), but it really happens so fast -- we were only staying for the initial release of the bulls and watching the crazy runners flee for their lives from these enraged animals -- and if you think about it, what inevitably happens with the bulls is just sad. Do animals really need to die for a tradition? Still, it was neat to be part of a very important cultural experience that only happens once a year. One of the bulls actually wiped out pretty badly when it was turning the corners. Now that is something you do not see everyday.

Visited La Universidad Carlos III de Madrid today. I was under this impression that this was going to be a huge public university. Turns out that this school is about five times bigger than Illinois Wesleyan...which isn't saying much. Carlos II has about 14,000 students, which in comparison to other colleges, is tiny. The campus isn't that big, either, which I'm not complaining about at all -- I like small campuses; it's one of the reasons I chose Wesleyan.

We took a tour of the campus (which has some pretty neat artwork all over), ate lunch, and had some presentations about how to activate the email account, look up classes, and a program about teaching Spanish students to speak English. Also had an 'examen oral', which really was just a conversation with a professor to assess you and how you speak. It was pretty simple actually, though I can think of a few places where I could have done better. Then again, we weren't allowed preparation for it, but oh well.

But some good news: La Universidad never has classes on Friday! So hurray for three day weekends!

Just a thought:

I have a bitter-sweet feeling about classes. On one hand, I am very anxious to start them. I mean that's the real reason I'm here: to learn. I'm interested in everything Spain, and I know the classes are only going to make me more enthusiastic. Not to mention that, as much as I've enjoyed the bit of down time, I'm ready to get to work and have a set schedule.

On the other hand, I'm nervous about them. I don't think they're going to be extremely difficult, but my Spanish isn't as great as I'd like it to be at the moment. My ultimate concern, though, is commuting back and forth between the University and my apartment. I know it's going to drive me nuts to do have to do that almost everyday of the week, not to mention my utter fear of missing my tren or going to the wrong place or something. I guess I'm going to have to leave extra early or something, and really memorize locations.

Alright, I posted some pictures below! Those of you on Facebook have probably seen these already. These aren't all of them, but there's only so many this blog'll let me post. I'll probably have a post with just pictures later. Still, I need to take more...hopefully this weekend before classes begin.

Heading back to la universidad tomorrow, so I need some rest (not going to bed, just kind of relaxing).

Hasta luego.

~ LSquared

Capítulo Dos: It's Everything that is Connected and Beautiful

"Two worlds, one family."

- Phil Collins

Mom's going to be so proud of me, because as of a couple days ago, I have decided that throughout most of Spain, I will be carrying a purse.

You heard me right. And I bet no one saw that coming, right?

With all honesty, though, it's just more convenient to do that here. I don't like keeping too much in my pocket, especially when going to very busy places, out of the fear of getting pickpocketed. That and at this point, I just have so much else to carry that I don't just want in my hand (camera, wallet, maps, etc.).

But mark my words: I'll return to my normal self once I get back to the states.

Now something to make my sister happy: I'm drinking a lot of water, and very little soda.

In bigger news, I moved in to my new apartment con mi anfitriona (host) yesterday afternoon. Se llama Susana, and she works in some sort of traveling business. Her origin is Argentina, actually, and she's pretty young (early thirties). She's a very organized person, liking to keep the house clean and having a pretty laid out schedule (remind you of my sister, anyone?), so I am going to try to keep my room and belongings sorted, which I'm normally okay at especially when need be. She's very, very generosa though, and very thoughtful. She gives me a lot of independence, gives me suggestions on places to go, and cooks for me. She even bought me Coca Cola! What's also nice is that we have quite a bit in common, like music tastes and religious views. Overall, I think she's much girlier than I am, but that's very okay. I think I'm becoming girlier by the day, to be honest. I mean I'm already carrying a purse and admiring los vestidos (dresses)...

We walked to the apartment, which was only a few blocks away from Hotel Sancho. The apartment I'm staying in is fairly small, but since it's maintained so well, it's a cozy place to live. My room is probably no bigger than what my room was in Dodd's last year, except now I'm not sharing it with another person, which makes organization and what not a little easier (it wasn't a roommate issue at all; it was just that the room was small). I've got a desk, a bunk bed, and a really big closet with a dresser on the inside. It's a yellow room, and I've got a cute fish-shaped hamper! Then there's a living room with a small TV, radio, and desk for Susana to work or check email.

I'll have pictures of the apartment up soon so I don't have to bore you by explaining ALL the details.

But as of right now, I am content with my housing situation. I am a little bit more south than what I'd like to be, but still, I can't complain because I'm really close to all the convenient stores, like the supermarket and pharmacy. Robby and Trinity also live right up the street, so I can go and meet up with them when need be.

Last night, a group of us from CIEE went out and walked around the city. The original plan was to La Kapital, a seven-story discoteca that has different types of music on each floor to dance to. None of us, however, were wearing the appropriate attire -- this place is really fancy! So instead, we walked around in search of bars, and we finally ended up at the bar in which Trinity's anfitriona works, which was really neat. It was a lot of walking, and we probably got lost more than a couple of times, but that made it kind of amusing. We looked like a bunch of n00bs, carrying our maps, but better to have one that to get COMPLETELY lost.

On the topic of walking, I no longer think I am going to get fat here; I'm doing so much walking that I'm really just working it all off, and the hilly roads...

Headed to El Rastro (market) this morning. That was really intersting to explore. There are so many little stands with a bunch of unique little gifts, as well as clothing (I was actually admiring the dresses and will probably buy one the next time I'm around). And almost everything had pretty good prices! So just so y'all know, when it comes time for gift buying, you can expect lots of them to come from there.

And tomorrow, we get to see the running of the bulls! AND eat churros y chocolate! We're only seeing the beginning (which apparently is very quick), so basically it go, take pictures, leave. It should be a sight to see, though I'm kind of glad I'm not watching all of it.

So, some other notes:

I feel really tall here. Most of the Spaniards are really short, and every time I'm walking through the city, I feel like a tree in some areas. It's kind of a new feeling for me, because I'm about an average height, and thin, but sometimes when I'm here I feel like a giant. I should play basketball here -- I bet I could pull off being a center.

(hey, if Ben Wallace at a shrimpy 6'9 can play the center position in the NBA among trees that are over 7' tall, I'll bet I could pull it off)

(ha, shrimpy 6'9...)

I'm noticing the differences in speech here, too. No, not just the language obviously, but speech patterns, like telling the difference between Mexican (or Latin American) Spanish versus...well, Spanish Spanish. The Spanish have the 'jota' and the lisp when they pronounce the letter 'c' like an 's'. Latin America sometimes doesn't pronounce the 's' at all, and, to be perfectly honest, they speak much clearer than the Spaniards do. Spaniards combine words and speak very much so together, but Mexicans tend to spread it out a bit, which makes them easier to understand. Because of this, I can tell that mi anfitriona is from Argentina. I'm also grateful for her in the fact that she's very patient with me -- I'm nowhere near as good as she as at Spanish, and I definitely need to practice. But hey, that's half the reason I'm here.

So I'm doing okay in the city life so far, but school hasn't started yet, and when it does, that's when things are going to get much harder and complex.

Y ahora, voy al museo Reina Sofia! Que bueno!

Hasta luego.

~ LSquared

Capítulo Uno: New Beginnings

"It's the world, dear. Did you expect it to be small?"
- Mrs. Beaver, The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Here's the edited post; I didn't feel like leaving whatever it was I wrote yesterday, which was nothing.

So, what have I been up to the last day in a half?

After Robby woke up from his nap, we took a walk up and down the street to see if we could find some food as well as just take a look around. Our location doesn't have anything too memorable, to be honest, but it did give us a very rough idea of the life in city of Madrid. We ended up not finding anything on the street, so we just ate in the hotel's restaurante instead. We had this sandwich tropical, which was basically some toasted bread with mayo, a small piece of ham, and pineapple. It was edible, but, and this is fortunate, it was the most disappointing meal I've had so far.

The next day comes, and people from the program start getting in. There were actually a couple of people who had came in early as well, but one of them was sleeping the entire time (that person happens to be my temporary roommate in the hotel, sleeping for a whopping 22 hours!) and others stayed elsewhere. Anyway, I meet my hotel roommate, Trinity, and then I take her down to meet Robby. Do people remember my freshman year of college when everyone would just naturally gather in Kristina's and mine's room? Yeah, that's what happened with Robby's room this time. His roommate, David, came in, and nearly half the CIEE-Madrid program participants slowly did the same. It was actually a really nice get together, so we could properly introduce ourselves and have small bonding time. We all seemed to get along pretty well. Around noon, we migrated from Robby and Dave's room to the courtyard of the hotel, where we met the rest of the participants and began Orientation.

Most of the things we did for the first half were the basic introduction activities: introduce yourself (name, school, major, something interesting about yourself), explained the layout of the orientation, some rules to follow, distribution of packets, etc. After that, it was already time for lunch.

Entonces, we headed back to the hotel for a two-hour 'siesta (nap -- there is a period during the day called 'siesta', usually from 1-3 where lots of shops close and the city is fairly quiet)'. Most of the people that had come in that day were suffering from jetlag, understandably, and needed a rest. Afterwards, we continued Orientation stuff, going over safety measures, information about the huge metro that runs underneath the city (very similar to Washington DCs), and social laws. Then, dinner time. After that, we got the choice of exploring the city at night (with one of the CIEE Advisers) or going back to the hotel. I'd say the majority of us went around the city. We explored one of the busier parts, where there were lots of bars and the seven story discoteca...

Today was about the same. Got up for breakfast, went through some orientation stuff, and headed out for lunch. Actually, the orientation activities were pretty entertaining -- we had to make skits which compared Spanish social life with American. Ours was about dating and asking someone out for a drink or a meal, and it shows how forward the Spanish are. And Robby was Tom Cruise in his skit (hurray, Scientology!).

Okay, some things I've noticed about this city:

First of all, it's definitely a city, and what I mean by that is that, in comparison to US cities, it's very similar in the sense that there are lots of people, big buildings surrounding you everywhere, and there's even that wonderful city stench. You know, that sewage smell...yeah, it's unpleasant, no matter what city you're in (I've noticed it in Chicago particularly). That being said, there are lots of differences. This city is BIG! I mean REALLY big. Most of the roads are stone and brick, as opposed to concrete. The architecture of the buildings are completely different. Lots of them seem to be connected together, stretching down alleys. But the structure of these buildings, plus some of the statues we passed, is absolutely beautiful. You can really tell the time and effort put into the making of these buildings and statues. Not that the skyscrapers in lots of the US cities aren't gorgeous in their own way, but I feel as if I appreciate these buildings moreso because they're not only efficient, but they're also very artistic. Another thing that I noticed that's different about Madrid is that there are lots of dogs in this city, as in people that own dogs (and multiple, might I add), which seems strange to me, because I've always felt that it's difficult to raise a dog in the city.

Here's a big thing: the night in Madrid is significantly different than the day. Madrid during the day isn't dead by any means (even during 'siesta' there are still people out and about), but the city literally comes alive once the sun's down and dinnertime rolls around. Hundreds among hundreds of people are out socializing, getting drinks or something. Even children probably not even in their double-digit years are out playing on the playgrounds, or skateboarding.

Oh yeah, we tend to draw a lot of attention. Both when Robby and I went walking as well as when the group was walking around anywhere, we clearly got a lot of stares. Personally, I found it amusing -- do we really look that much like tourists? Oh wait, we had to wear nametags during all of Orientation...hola, David! Ha.

Finally, the food. Oh my God, the food! Meals are done a bit differently here: they have a fairly small breakfast in the morning (9-10:30ish), a huge lunch (usually around 1 or 2), and a decent sized dinner (9 and beyond). The bigger meals are set up as three parts: Primeros (a small, opening meal, kind of like a salad or something), Segundos (the main course), and Postres (Desserts). The first place we went to was Ene Restaurante, where I had a salad for Primeros (they don't use dressings there, so it was mainly just greens, some oil, and some really interesting cheese), escoloton (which is some sort of beef, with a small line of chocolate sauce, which was surprisingly scrumptious), and mousse chocolate for dessert. I also tried 'tinto de verano', which is a red wine mixed with sugar water. I usually don't like wine at all, but this stuff was pretty good actually, though it's probably because it watered down the wine taste. For dinner, we went to Kubic, where I had tostado con chorizo (toast with sausage -- the sausage had a sweet taste to it, though, and mixed with nicely toasted bread made it amazing), pollo con BBQ (it wasn't the typical BBQ sauce, though, and holy cow, that chicken was cooked perfectly, so moist and yet had plenty of meat on it), and sorbette (con vodka...not very much, but I could taste it, and yeah, it was really damn good) for dessert. Today, we went Nina, where I had another ensalada, scalopines (which I thought were scallops, but was very mistaken and instead ordered a fried-steak like food, which was really good, though, so I lucked out for my mistake), and really rich helado vanilla for dessert.

So as you can see, I'm liking the food over here thus far. =] I must say, though, it's hard to find Coca Cola here. I've been living off of water (which is really good here, actually) and tinto de vino thus far, so who knows? Maybe this is where I'll break my Coke addiction...

Yeah, who am I kidding?

I did take a few pictures, but I only like to upload pictures where I have an abundance to upload. Right now, I don't have too many, but give me a few more days, and I'm sure I can come up with more than enough!

We meet our hosts tomorrow, which I'm kind of nervous about, though I'm sure all will be well.

I've talked too much now...I'm thinking a quick siesta in my downtime might be a good idea.

Adios, amigos!

~ LSquared

Prólogo: On the Wings of a Dream

"The Road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, and I must follow, if I can, pursuing it with eager feet, until it joins some larger way where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say."
- J.R.R. Tolkien

The little bit of sky hardly visible to those who wander in the shadows of the long, massive buildings shines bright blue on a warm day.

I've arrived safely in Spain. I'm in the hotel of the CIEE - Madrid Orientation and trying to relax. I'm running on little sleep due to the wonderful conditions of airplane traveling as well as trying to readjust my body to a clock that's seven hours faster than what I'm used to. But nevertheless, I'm alive and well, and trying to take in this big new world and this completely different situation I've put myself in. Don't mistake that for fear necessarily, but it is a little bit overwhelming.

So, my first day adventure. How did it go?!

Well, there was this really long plane ride from Memphis to Amsterdam, which was treacherous. First of all, we flew over Canada, which little did we know was the home of Big Foot! He attempted to attack our plane by hiding in the midst of tall trees and then leaping high into the air with his paw above his head ready to swipe at one of the plane wings! Luckily for us, the pilot maneuvered us away from Big Foot's assault, and we made it to soaring above the Atlantic. But then that disturbed The Kraken (yes, it lives in the Atlantic; trust me, I didn't know that, either!), and it attempted to destroy us by creating a huge monsoon and then grasping us in its tentacles! Though it was a bumpy ride, we somehow managed to fly through the storm, escape the grasps of The Kraken, and arrive safely in Amsterdam.

And then after that, there was another plane ride! Shorter (from Amsterdam to Madrid), but still a wild ride from the takeoff! We flew above an active volcano, which conveniently decided to erupt right as we flew by. With the help of Matthew McConaughey, we dodged flaming rocks and lava waves, and finally made it to Madrid.

...Okay, so I'm slightly over-exaggerating. But we really did fly over 100 miles of Canada, and the pilot seriously looked like Matthew McConaughey (no complaints here). Mainly, it'd been a long time since I've been in an airplane for five hours or longer - I think the last time was the family vacation to Cancun, which was right before my sophomore year of high school - so I was a little nervous. But all in all, the flights went pretty smoothly, with the exception of this woman who would be playing with her bag most of the time and therefore continuously elbowing as she was doing so, and this wild little girl sitting in front of me who would proceed to whip her body back into her chair, making it shake and knocking my food off the fold-out table and onto my lap. But I guess neither one of them is Big Foot, The Kraken, or a volcano.

Amsterdam had kind of a neat airport, actually -- it's enormous, and there were so many different little shops (more than what you'd normally see in an American airport, I guess). They must have spoken at least four other languages there (English, Dutch, Spanish, and I think I heard some French in one of the announcements). Even on my flight from Amsterdam to Madrid, the captain made sure he made the same announcement in English, Dutch, and Spanish, which is kind of neat.

It was pretty straightforward from there. I found my enormous duffel bag (full of a semester's worth of clothes and other things), got a taxi, and headed for the hotel. The taxi ride was alright nice; I was kind of timid, but the driver was fairly talkative, and even though I felt that my Spanish speaking was broken at time, he was generous and talked kind of slow; I was able to pick up on most of the things he said. We actually ended up discussing 80s music for a little bit(after a Lemonheads cover of "Mrs. Robinson" came on). Then I got to the hotel, got into my room, and woke Robby up from his deep slumber, a slumber which he would return to after I stopped in to say hello. Te he.

As I was sitting in the cab, though, I just kept on looking at the city, and realizing how huge it really is. It's a different type of big in comparison to US cities, but I felt like it just stretched on forever, kind of like when you see a really flat cornfield go on for miles on end, and feel like it's at least a hundred miles long. There's just so much to see in this city, and that's both exciting and scary at the same time.

So yeah, not too much for a first day (and I managed to write that much? Yeesh). I'm very tired and need to just sit back for a little bit. It's all a little bit crazy right now, but I'm certain that this is going to be a great and beneficial experience. Things will come together in a few days, and even more exciting things are to come from there.

Hasta luego. Adios, amigos!

~ LSquared