Lo siento!

A quick note - I have a post written and ready to go but I also want to add the pictures to make everyone's (whoever you are out there) reading experience more enlightening. It takes awhile to load the pictures and this week was a bit hectic. I'm off to Italy tomorrow to ring in my 21st birthday with some girlfriends but I PROMISE I will post my adventures from last week on Monday and get to work on writing about the Amalfi coast (where I just heard it is in the low 80s and sunny all weekend...)

Adios - or should I say ciao!

To Be Or Not To Be... A Tourist

With the exception of a Monday night that was better suited to be a Saturday night, and a rough Tuesday morning to follow, Madrid has treated me well! This week has been an excellent balance of feeling like a tourist and a budding madrileña. 

Ah, tourism. A delight because I never feel awkward snapping photos of the big sights, but a bummer because I want to be able to feel at home here. But I guess there's nothing wrong with feeling amazed by beautiful paintings and architecture when it's in your own city! (Obviously those who have ever been to the Varsity in Atlanta know what I'm talking about.)  

We went to the Prado on Tuesday and, unfortunately, we all had eyes more glazed than a baker's dozen of Krispy Kremes. Our tour guide spoke really quickly (in Spanish) and while we only looked at about 15 paintings, we stood at each one for what felt like a week. But we did get to see a lot of Goya's work, including El Dos de Mayo and El Tres de Mayo, both of which I was scared to take a picture of. I attempted to take some photos in the Prado, but by the time we went to the Thyssen Museum on Thursday, I was so sick of being yelled at by guards that I just decided to enjoy the art. The Thyssen and I got along much better because I could actually understand our tour guide. (Hola... clase...Me... llamo... Laura...¿Me...entiendes?) 

El Palacio de Comunicaciones

El Prado Museo from the side

Entrance to the Royal Botanical Gardens next to the Prado.
(We're planning on checking it out when it cools off a bit.)

In another big time tourist move (without any prompting from our school, mind you), our group decided to ride the Teleferico this week, an aerial cable car ride that takes you away from Madrid so you can see the whole city. There's not as much of a skyline as I thought there would be, but there was a gorgeous view of the royal palace and cathedral so it was well worth the trip. Not to mention the stylish free hats Tyler and I received with the beer we purchased at the halfway point.

These cable cars have been in use since 1969.
The words "Well, it's been a good life" went through my head when I learned this fact. 

The view from the top

El Palacio Real y El Catedral 

View from the halfway point

Find me an Atlanta girl and a Houston boy that can resist a free cowboy hat when they purchase beer and I'll... well, I don't know, but I don't think you could find them.

So while we've been Touristy McTouristers this week, we've also had some moments to integrate fully into Madrid culture! Mary Jordan and I went to El Parque de Buen Retiro last week to write some postcards and sip some sangria, and after the Prado on Tuesday, the whole gang joined us! The park is 350 acres and has a plethora of attractions, including the lake I posted pictures of in my second post. This week we found the Palacio Cristal! I'm not sure what the function this crystal palace has in a park, but apparently there is also an art gallery and a fake mountain which we have yet to see, so you never know what you'll stumble upon.

We watched some sweet little boys feed the ducks in this lake! 

El Palacio Cristal

In addition to frequenting Parque de Retiro, we also went to el mercado. It's not a "market" that we normally think of, like a farmer's market, but more like a bunch of different deli stations at a normal grocery store, but more specified and varied. For protein, there's fish counters, chicken counters, meat counters and, of course, ham counters. Notably, the Spanish eat ALL of pigs, and we had the delight of seeing pig kidneys, pig brains, pig ears and a grand finale of a gutted suckling piglet that was about the size of my dog Chester. It was freakish. I decided not to take a picture. However, we also saw fruit counters, cheese counters, drink counters and a delicious pastry and bread counter that Mary Jordan and I had jamon y queso croissants. In addition to typical foods, there is also a section for clothes, shoe repairs, alterations, a florist, and school supplies. Each little counter/shop is rented out by a different owner or family, and they all have their names above their products. After walking around for a bit with our teachers Rosana and Alicia, they left us and we had to complete a worksheet with questions like "What is the difference between jamon iberico and jamon serrano?" and "What are the advantages and disadvantages of shopping in a mercado as opposed to a typical grocery store?" We had to approach the owners of the shops as well as shoppers and chat with them in Spanish in order to get the answers we needed. (Maybe that's a little touristy, but we were speaking completely in Spanish so I felt quite immersed.)

One of the meat counters

The delicious pandería!

So I didn't take a picture of the suckling pig or the brains,
but here is some delicious conejo.

Everyone was incredibly friendly and one owner let us sample some amazing sheep's cheese from Salamanca. Another man let me try a tiny Spanish plum, and when I said, "Es más dulce que en los Estados Unidos," ("It's sweeter than in the US") he responded, "Si, son más pequeños en Espana pero mucho más dulces." ("Yes, they are smaller in Spain, but they are sweeter") and winked at me. At first, I didn't quite understand what he was implying but my friend Drew quickly explained. I guess innuendos are harder to pick up in a different language!

The fruit counter with the infamous winking.

In addition to our touristy/non-touristy activities, our group has been hanging out at Pool and Beer and we're definitely speaking Spanish more with Pedro and Mario!

Sarah, Mary Jordan, Me and Jennifer

Finally, Mary Jordan and I helped our host sister, Ana, with her English homework this week! Hey, if I can teach English as a second language and then speak to her in Spanish, I might actually be getting somewhere after taking Spanish since I was 8. Here's hoping that Ana will like English as much as I love Spanish and she'll have the opportunity to travel somewhere as beautiful as Madrid! 

Mary Jordan and our sweet student!

Off to a tapas bar tonight, then we're checking out the Madrid discoteca scene for the first time! Hasta lunes! 

Un beso! 

Possible Slogans

Hola de Parque de Buen Retiro en Madrid! The adventures have continued and I now have two trips outside of Madrid checked off the ever-growing travel list. I don’t know if y’all have heard, but there are some pretty breathtaking places to check out when one is in Europe (who knew??) and I intend to get my cowboy boots in as many cities as I can! Right now, we’re taking an intensive level Spanish course to review grammar and practice speaking in order to prepare us for regular classes that start on September 22. In addition to our academic lessons, Alicia and Rosana have taught us some important Spanish norms, like not to tip more than 5% and to just pass on running with the bulls at the Festival de San Fermin if you haven’t been in training with the NFL. 

However, Rosana randomly said something last week that could permanently define my trip: “Para los jovenes, el viajar es crecer.” (“For young people, to travel is to grow.”) I wrote it in all caps and spaced out for a few minutes to reflect on this serendipitous moment. How delightful that Rosana just gave me a tangible way to epitomize what I want out of this trip – but it sounds so much better in Spanish. (I’m beginning to think everything sounds better in Spanish: chupito, guay and tiquismiquis are some of my favorite words at the moment.)

Needless to say, hearing this phrase pleased me immensely, and I thought about it several times as I surveyed the sights of Segovia last Tuesday, including el Acueducto, el Catedral de Segovia y el Alcazar. I sampled some pastries and we had our lunch in the plaza in the shade of the enormous cathedral. I had only arrived in Spain four days before, and already we were taking two-hour breaks to drink sangria on our school trip. So where do I apply for the lifelong scholarship??

The Aqueduct - I'm loving the panoramic function on my camera!

La Catedral de Segovia

Un grupo fabuloso!

El Alcanzar

I almost passed out climbing the stairs to the top.

My love for Spain grew as we checked out the sights of Madrid in the afternoons after class last week. The big highlights were the Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol y el Palacio Real, but as Rosana said, el viajar is where the growing comes in, and while we haven’t been getting out too far into Madrid, we’ve definitely improved our navigation skills in our neighborhood. (Case in point: Although MJ and I can now get to our bus stop in under 10 minutes, we randomly wandered into the strongly gay neighborhood this afternoon, la Cheuca. It looks like they have some raging bars and they had great gelato, if you’re interested.) Pool and Beer is our favorite local spot in our neighborhood, where we speak Spanish to Pedro and Mario, the bartenders, and they speak English and give us a good price. (We’re working on upping the ante to fully Spanish. Patience is a virtue.) 

Plaza Mayor

  

El Palacio Real

Only picture in the entrance of the Palacio Real before a guard screamed at us.

Pool and Beer - neither are featured in this picture, but I promise they have both. 

So not only have I adopted Rosana’s excellent expression, I’ve picked up two others: “¿Porqué no?” and “No pasa nada.” Porqué no means “Why not?” and relates immensely to us jetting off to San Sebastian last Thursday, while no pasa nada means “no big deal” and I use it in every context I can. Should we go to the beach this weekend? Why not? It will take seven hours on a bus and we’d leave tomorrow. No big deal!

In San Sebastian, I responded “¿Porqué no?” to climbing up a mountain with a gorgeous view of the city and the ocean, going to a club right on the beach and tasting mini appetizers called pintxas. And when I realized I forgot my camera battery pack and enough clothes for the weekend, I said no pasa nada! San Sebastian was the perfect way to take a vacation from my vacation.

I stole these pictures from Mary Jordan's facebook. 

Playa de San Sebastian - one of the best city beaches in Europe!

Amigos!

Back in the “real” world, our intensive class continues to be supplemented with trips to the museums, el mercado and the movies! This week will be the only 5-day week I have all semester; I’ve arranged my schedule so I only have class Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Looks like I’ll be saying porqué no to a lot of places where I can continue to viajar y crecer. Will it be hard to keep my head from exploding as I keep taking in as much of Europe as I can? Posiblemente, cariños, pero no pasa nada!

Un beso!

Day 3... or is it Day 300?

No puedo creer es el dia tercero de nuestra viaje! (Baxter, you know I don't speak Spanish.) 

Silly me! It slips my mind every now and then that I wasn't born and raised in this amazing city... but when my eight-year-old host sister tries to tell me about her weekend, and I only understand "Mi padre y yo...", I snap back to my American "Yo no speako Espanish" self. 

That pretty much sums up by three days here - feeling like I've been here a lifetime and not knowing how to ask for something like a fork. 

Lack of vocabulary of silverware aside (HIES, take note), Mary Jordan, my roommate from Birmingham, Alabama, and my host family have been integral in my easy and comfortable assimilation to Madrid. MJ and I discovered that we share loves of overpacking, fairly priced beverages and croakies. It's a match made in roommate heaven. Cuca, my host mother, is an absolute doll. She has been so welcoming and incredibly laid back except for one thing: we have not had a meal without her telling Mary Jordan and I that we didn't eat enough. I guess the mom nerves are imbedded internationally. Cuca has four kids - Maria (20), Alberto (19), Luis (17) and Ana (8). We've only met Maria and Ana because the boys are at their dad's house for the week, but the girls are just as sweet as their mom. 

Their house (but it's more like an apartment or condo) is large by Madrid standards. There's an open sitting room/dining room, four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms and a large kitchen.

Mary Jordan's bed

My bed - Mary Jordan is hiding. 

Truly, an unnatural feat - a shared closet between two Vandy girls. 

 From the outside, the building does not convey the cozy atmosphere that the house embodies. 

"It looks like an insane asylum!" - Mary Jordan. Well said.  

Our building is convenient to several Metro (subway) stops, so it's been easy to get around, especially since we have a month-long youth pass. 

"We're not tourists!!!"

The neighborhood consists of similar (but prettier) buildings with small shops on the ground floors. 

Mary Jordan creeps on Jennifer and Sarah.

The street next to ours. 

The businesses around here close for the afternoon siesta, around 2-5 p.m., but then reopen until 8 p.m. Getting used to the Spanish schedule has been the biggest adjustment thus far - they eat a small breakfast, a large lunch (called la comida) around 2 or 3 p.m., then have a small meal at around 9 or 10. Also, "snacking" is not a verb. If you're hungry, you have a small snack, and that's it. Languishing in front of the pantry and making the decision to eat Cool Ranch or Nacho Cheese Doritos isn't really an option. 

However, taking your time while you are out drinking with friends is an entirely different matter. One of the highlights for me thus far was going to the small pub right next to the building of Drew and Tyler, who are bravely representing the male gender on our trip. The four of us had a few beers worthy of a Super Bowl halftime ad, and we met some exciting characters like Martin from Ireland ("This is the best f@#$in' bar in Madrid... Sorry do you mind if I curse? No? Ok, well it's the best motherf@#$in' bar in motherf@#$in' Madrid!") and Agnes from Latvia ("Girls, you can't let the men be in charge!!! Haven't you ever heard of feminism?!") These cats could have chatted with us for weeks, but I don't think we're quite used to the marathon dialogues yet, so in typical ADD fashion, we went to a new bar. It wasn't quite as exciting as the Christopher Guest movie starring Martin and Agnes that we fled, but we did get to witness the exciting Spanish cultural norm known as Excessive and Overwhelming Public Displays of Affection. I thought that they were going to knock over the table. 

Now those are cervezas.

And a fitting segue to that is my other highlight of the adventure so far - an afternoon in El Parque de Retiro that was filled with children and families! (Cue ba-dum-chhhh drum noise.) Mary Jordan and I met up with the 6 other Vanderbilt students in our group, as well as the two directors of the program. After enjoying some limonada and getting to know each other, the girls decided to continue to explore the park. Since it was a gorgeous Sunday, the park was quite packed, but the vibe was mellow. Children and adults alike would stop to watch jugglers and puppet shows, and some were definitely eligible (read: weird enough) to compete on Spain's Got Talent or whatever the equivalent may be. 

Bob Esponja and Mary Jordan! 

Yay!

Children watching a fascinating French puppet show! 

So gorgeous. We're going to rent boats next time! 

Perfection!

Children chasing bubbles!

This morning was the non-highlight for sure - a typical orientation in the building where all our classes will take place. 

It looks like the dorm building from hell but don't worry - it's just the classroom building from hell.

Starting Wednesday, we'll start a two-week intensive Spanish class to prepare us for our other classes, but tomorrow we are taking a day trip to Segovia! 

Stay tuned for my abilities to ask for utensils...  

Besos :) 

American Honey

She grew up on the side of the road
Where the church bells ring and strong love grows
She grew up good
She grew up slow
Like American honey

Steady as a preacher
Free as a weed
Couldn't wait to get going
But wasn't quite ready to leave
So innocent, pure and sweet
American honey


It seems that the shuffle Gods have been casting their karmic powers onto my iPod. In the past few weeks, as I've traveled from LA to Athens to Nashville to Atlanta, frantically saying ecstatic hellos and too-soon goodbyes, this Lady Antebellum song has been constant. I took my first deep breath in about 2 weeks in the shower this morning and right as I did - wouldn't ya know it - it came on again, and I actually listened to the lyrics. I teared up.  Damn you iPod cosmos. 


But I was glad that it did. For the first time in a while, I thought about how appreciative of the time I've had here. I printed out a bunch of pictures earlier this week (project #1,943 that I somehow managed to complete) and I looked back on all the wonderful times I had this year and the years before. Twelve pictures of my sister and I on our first days of school, and dozens of smiling faces from middle school plays, high school dances and Vanderbilt vacations tugged at my heartstrings. 

I tried to brush it off at the time. Hmm, I can't really think about that - I have 19 pairs of shoes to pack and a new continent to invade. Emociones, adios!   


Naturally, the iPod deities intervened. I hummed along, trying not to let the words sink in, because I knew a bout of tearful and exhausted nostalgia was coming on. When the words "couldn't wait to get going, but wasn't quite ready to leave" played through my bathroom, I couldn't accept that as coincidence. Here I was, telling everyone with a huge smile that I am so excited to get out of Atlanta and jetset my tush off to Madrid, but the truth is that the nerves haven't settled all summer. The pictures I looked at this week, the high school football game I attended, my bed that I slept in - everything is comfortable. Breaking the cycle of familiarity is a tough one, and while I think I've talked the talk, I've never really walked the walk. 


Yet here I am. I'm trying to realize that I'll always have the memories and the relationships of my sweet American honey in the good ol' U S of A, but I need a little spice right now. I've had my share of Georgia peaches this summer, walking on Saturday mornings to the farmer's market with my so-amazing-it's-just-pointless-to-describe mom... and I wouldn't trade that sweetness for the world. But on the edge of 21, I'm getting ready to whip up something a bit more savory and a lot more complex. It might not be as simple as the life I've had here, but I'm willing to bet that by the time I bring some paella recipes back to the South, I'll be bringing a little Spanish honey with me - and all of the sweet things that I discover along the way. Adios Atlanta! Madrid, hasta manana!