spt

Spanish People Time.

If you make plans with people here, say, at 10am, they will come at 10:20am earliest. This has been explained to me as a "cultural thing".

Classes at the UAM start 15 minutes after their list time.

The program bus to Toledo took 20 minutes to actually leave.

The jazz concert last night had us sitting for an hour before anybody even got on stage.

I'm okay with how nobody cares about time. I knew there must be a reason why I walk about twice as fast as anybody else on the street. I might have resembled a loca who was very determined to shank someone from behind. Speaking of which, I bought a switchblade in Toledo! It is a very touristy thing to buy there, that and marzipan.  I also bought a beautiful suede backpack a few days ago in Madrid. The suede is like butter to the touch and has become an obsession.

Toledo was rainy and cold when we went yesterday, so the trip was a downer in general. Nonetheless, I loved walking on the cobblestone and exploring the medieval town. I am no history buff, so the day was more enjoyably spent as practice for learning manual exposure on my camera.

A street in Toledo.

The painting gallery in the Cathedral of Toledo.

After returning from Toledo a couple of friends and I went to Lavapies to eat Indian food and go to a jazz concert. For any of you who are interested in eating in Madrid, Lavapies/La Latina is the place to get supercheap and delicious ethnic food. The Indian food is not as spicy as it is in the United States, and that might be because Spanish people really don't eat spicy food that often and ethnic restaurants are not as popular here. The waiters are of course happy to give you extra picante if you so choose to ask.

The jazz concert was at Cafe El Despertar after dinner. I heard about the Ander Garcia Quinteto from Blanca, who is best friends with the bassist and the guitarist. The group was very talented, and it got me super interested now in jazz. The trumpeter told me he didn't think New York had a good music scene, which I have to agree with very much. Thankfully I get paid by my program to go to shows and events--otherwise I'd be broke.

Because I want to dance and bad dubstep is funny and I just bought a knife and I miss Williams:

things that happen to americans

Today I had no classes and I got ready to explore the trails and castles at Manzanares el Real, which is 45 minutes outside of Madrid. Unfortunately the interurbano schedule didn't work out for me, so I thought next best thing was to take a walk in the Casa de Campo, Madrid's largest green space, and maybe visit the zoo inside. Still dressed in my very American-looking hiking outfit.


Morning
When I got there, I noticed a bunch of old men walking around, and I assumed it was a regular neighborhood joint for old people to exercise. So here I was in this great public park, taking pictures like this:

Casa de Campo.

Then this old guy in a suit comes up to me and says, "Walk with me?"

"Uhhh...no..."

"Well it's dangerous here. You need to walk with someone else. There are maricas here doing each other in the bushes."

"Uhhhh...."

"Here, come into these trees with me."

"No..."
"The maricas are very dangerous. Here, let's go now."

"No...I'm going to the zoo."

(pretends he can't understand me) "What?"
"The zoo. I know where I'm going. Bye!"

"You don't need help?"

At which point I do the "gracias, no, adios, hasta nunca" and walk away as quickly but calmly as possible. (Apparently straight into some prostitutes in the zoo's parking lot)

Early Afternoon

It was impossible to get past the zoo's parking lot because there were no clear signs directing traffic to the actual zoo, plus I was scared of having another situation with a sketchball, so I gave up and walked back to the metro and went to the Principe Pio neighborhood to take a a walk in the Campo de Moro instead or visit the Temple Debod. Well, the Campo de Moro was closed for no discernible reason and the Temple Debod was unfindable. I think I walked past this glorieta in the center of Principe Pio 5 times today:

My last time walking past it was to get to the bus stop on the other side in a novel approach to finding the Temple Debod. And then the bus I climbed onto just busted out of the neighborhood entirely and I died a little bit.


Afternoon
I was so sad on the damn C2 bus, I really was. I rode until I felt like getting off, which was the Atocha station. Here you can take a light rail anywhere. I went up to a billete machine to find inspiration, and I found a cheap train for Alcala de Henares, which I got excited about because it was the birthplace of Cervantes. And so I was reading every button on the machine and trying to figure out where/when I should insert the money, and then ANOTHER GUY comes up to me, and oh god I am of course dressed in my extranjero clothes with a bewildered look on my face, and inserts himself into the process with his helpful hints and unsolicited whatnot, and while he's staring at me the whole time I get really annoyed, so I refuse to give him his tip.

I'd never been targeted as a foreigner until today. It shook me a bit, to feel like I would be actively sought, and because of the way I dressed.


Late afternoon
The rest of the day went much better. Alcala de Henares is a small town, but the Calle Mayor was great for shopping (yes! American instant gratification!) and sightseeing. Honestly I was just super interested in Cervantes' life there, and visited a few cultural sites like the University de Alcala and the Catedral de los Santos Ninos just because I was in town. I wish I could take pictures in Cervantes' house--it was two stories high with a central courtyard setup, unfortunately drastically renovated recently, but nonetheless still filled with special prints of Don Quijote and marble cabinets decorated with scenes from the novel.

Cervantes' birthplace.

In conclusion, a looong day but I am glad I had my adventures. Right now I'm watching "Tu si que vales" with my host family, have been since 10pm, just found out it goes until 5am. Soo I'm going to pass out instead because I am a weak little American.

missing EEUU

I'd started feeling homesick around day four, to be honest. Spain is wonderful and is more than everything I had mentioned before. I had never thought of myself as afraid of change, and I certainly wouldn't say that now either, but I miss the comforts of friends, family, and some nice big Amurrican sky (the Madrid sky is wide and empty): 

Estados Unidos (EEUU).

A city is a city is a city. Madrid is so much like New York, it's crazy. It surprised me that life and food are generally the same for "normal" people in both cities, despite what I'd mentioned in previous posts: they go to "normal" supermarkets and make "normal" food like sandwiches and salads (or is my homestay just very Americanized?). The greatest difference is the treatment of time, as everything is pushed back in the day (for example, lunch is at 3pm). On the other hand, tourists do exist to maintain the pickpockets at Puerta de Sol. I do consider myself a tourist still at this point, so I do strange and cool things like going to the popular tapas bars that are tailored for foreigners. And who shall I kid about my appreciation for art...I won't stop going to El Prado and such, but I get more excited thinking about green, really.

Palm tree.

Look at this palm tree at the Museo Sorolla. I couldn't tell you what it is, but it has a disease or infection that gives it a furry trunk. Isn't this wonderful? I'm dying to explore the Sierra de Guadarrama for some vistas and senderismo, which I'll do pretty soon because it's basically springtime already (except note: 12 celsius is still really cold for people here, ha, I'll get to explore Cercedilla without the crowds). I've decided that for my twelve days after the program ends, I would like nothing more than to explore a few rural, little towns throughout Europe.

My first day of university classes is tomorrow. I wish I'd had enough guts to take a biology class at the UAM, but talking science in Spanish scares me. Boring details about my semester: I'm currently registered for a seminar on the history of Spain, a lecture on contemporary art history, another on contemporary Spanish literature, and an internship at a children's attention-deficit clinic. I'm scared and I don't know why.

muchas cosas 2º parte

I lose my sense of time here because everything is so hectic. I mean just orientation. There are about 2 meetings a day for mierda.

What I mean is excuse me for not updating this blog as much. I will be more alive once the real semester begins after the weekend.

Last Friday I went to the Museo Sorolla, which is close to the Insituto Internacional (home base). Sorolla was an artist who is very famous for his impressionist interpretations of beach scenes and landscape, especially the city of Granada.

The Museo Sorolla next to a residential buildling.
The building has been  conserved since Sorolla's time as a family home and then museum.

Exterior detail of the museum, in the garden.

In Sorolla's lifetime, this was where he worked and displayed his paintings for  sale. 

The stairs to the second floor. This baby is so funny.

On Wednesday I went to Principe Pio, which I was told was going to be a huge centro comercial. It was, except it sucked and there was nothing memorable or Spanish about it. So I walked around the neighborhood in frustration until I ran into this beautiful chapel. It is the Ermita de San Antonio, which features Francisco Goya's ceiling frescoes, which were spectacular, and I wish they allowed pictures inside. Goya's body was moved here in the early 1900s so people might also refer to this as Goya's Tomb.

La ermita de San Antonio. Front view.

La ermita de San Antonio.

muchas cosas 1º parte

Estoy encantada de la ciudad. Bear with me if you do decide to read abajo, todo es muy boring pero el blog funciona para mí también, como una manera de recordar todas mis adventuritas con el programa. Escribo ciertas cosas en inglés o español simplemente porque no merece la esfuerza de traducir todo, y ciertas cosas me parecen mejor dicho con ciertas palabras.

Bueno, let’s start con el vuelo. Madrid es estupendo desde el asiento en el plane. Vi los shrublands alrededor del Aeropuerto Barajas desde el aire y me encantaron los lollipop trees y las montañas secas. Es un medio ambiente diferente de los Berkshires, pero para mí con la misma charm y mágica. Fui la primera to get through la aduana y sacar el equipaje, así que sentaba sola por treinta minutos en el autobús al Hotel Regina, awkwardly esperando al grupo. Durante la experiencia del viaje sí mismo, tenía unos pocos nervios pero nada grave; I was just so cansada por la falta de sleep on the plane.  Sin pausa ninguna, así era como comenzáramos la orientación. Puntos interesantes (solamente para mí! a vosotros no les prometo nada) del Madrid que conozco for now:

- Madrid is really clean. It’s sparking clean because of the people en verde brooming all the time, every side walk and alley. Me gusta el Metro muchísimo, es bastante barato y very efficient. También viven aquí las mismas pigeons y sparrows que tenemos home en Nueva York, pero en Madrid eses animales son más attached a la naturaleza, así que se los ve nesting in trees y buscando comida entre la vegetación urbana.

- Todo el mundo vestido en black. Black pants, black top, black leather jacket, black hair, black eyeliner. Vale. Fine. Y no solo los punks (quienes me encantan) sino todo el mundo: los children, estudiantes, y viejos también.

- Es como si I had traveled back in time to the 1980s. Hay graffiti everywhere, y existe un ambiente de melancolia-rencor que me acuerda de la decada. Aunque I wasn't born hasta los 90, he oido mucho de una Nueva York relativamente reciente de leather y pickpockets. I walked past an anarquista party/protest of sorts at the Universidad de Autonoma, donde estudio, y me fije mucho en la expresion de los ideales de los students aqui in this country.

Old magazines

What in the world, why?

I need more space for my books. I've been clearing out my semi-unintentional collection of old-ish magazines, most of them pre-recession actually, as I began to zonk out during 2008. I amused myself with the fashion magazines and remembered why I got so mad at Time (it would be because of its unapologetic partisanship in the heat of presidential elections...eh, Time?). Halfway done, and I've accumulated some greatest hits clippings from 2004 to 2007 because I'd rather do this than pack my bags. Ad-wise: