A Glimpse at La Cultura Española

So, because I will be spending a lot of time traveling I decided to dedicate this post to describing my impressions of the Spanish culture to serve as a reminder to everyone, including myself, that this is my home base while abroad and travelling Europe.  As I attempt to illuminate the differences that I have experienced these past three weeks, I would also like to note that they are subjective to my own personal experiences as seen through my lens coming from St. Paul, Minnesota.

For starters, the first thing that I had to do to adjust to the Spanish lifestyle was to throw my entire time schedule out the window.  Spaniards operate on a much later schedule than we do in America.  Everything is much later here, about 2-3 hours later.  Generally, people will wake up around 9 or 10am and eat a very light breakfast consisting of a small piece of toast or fruit sometime before noon.  They are then good to go until lunch which is around 2:30pm and also the biggest meal of the day.  Dinner is then generally not served until around 10:00pm at night.  To tide them over between this large gap between meals, Spaniards will generally go out for tapas or little snacks and a drink at some point in the early evening.  Luckily, our host mom, Mar, had a little mercy on us Americans and serves us dinner at 8:30pm by which time we are all more than ready for our "early" dinner.

The next notable difference would probably be the street life.  The streets are the most active that I have ever seen at almost all hours of the day.  This is because people walk everywhere or take the public transportation via the underground metro.  Very few Spaniards brave the traffic with cars and the ones that do are more often than not yielding to the constant flow of the pedestrians.  The pedestrians themselves are super hard to navigate, because there are no rules such as stay on the right side.  I have learned that you have to assert yourself and just plow through like the rest of  the Spaniards or you'll be Dipping, Ducking, Diving, and Dodging forever and never get to where you need to go.  The streets are least active early in the morning (early being any time before 10am) and during siesta which is between like 2:00pm and 4:00/5:00pm when literally almost everything closes for this little nap hour.

The lone metro rider, a very rare sight! - only because it was the last stop before it closed.

Now this idea of a siesta leads me right into my next key note difference which is the idea of when exactly the typical Spaniard actually works.  If I were to go based on what I've seen, I would say the answer to that is never.  There are a few explanations for this including the fact that Spain does have one of the highest unemployment rates in the European Union and one of the least amount of work-week hours in the world.  They take work a lot less seriously than we do in America, as my host grandma Tata puts it, "you live to work and we work to live."

The last truly notable difference that I have come across is the home life.  Families are super close and eat every meal together barring school/work schedules.  When they greet one another or say goodbye or even sometimes if they just leave the room, they give each other "dos besos" (two kisses) one on each cheek.    Also, it is very uncommon for kids to move out before they are married, even in college most Spaniards live at home.  The grandparents almost always live with one of their kids rather than in their own home or a nursing home.  Kids here don't really have friends over or play dates like they do in the U.S., the homes are mostly just for family unless a scheduled, more formal invitation is extended.

While just a general overview, these are the main differences that I have observed thus far and I'm sure as I get to know more of Spain, I'll learn some more details that separate the States from España and until I return I will be embracing them all to the fullest!

A Weekend in Sevilla: Don't Eat the Oranges!

This past weekend, Kenzie, Stephanie, Liz, and I ventured out of Madrid by ourselves for the first time and it was a great success!  Our destination was Sevilla, Spain which is in the south and about a 6 hour bus ride from Madrid.  We decided to leave on the 1:00am bus in order to avoid paying for an extra night at a hostel and still have two full days to explore the city.

We anticipated that we would sleep on the bus but needless to say, a crowded, bumpy, drive through the Spanish countryside was not exactly prime conditions for a good night's sleep and I got maybe one hour.  When we got off the bus six hours later, we were all exhausted and had little idea where to go.  We ended up walking to the wrong bus stop and had to turn around with all our bags in the dark, early morning and finally we found the right one.  After asking the bus driver which stop to get off at, we finally figured that out too and got off.  From here, we had directions to the hostel but in Spain there are virtually no street signs except occasionally on the buildings in discrete places, so at this point we were all tired, crabby, cold and a little lost.  Luckily, a nice Spanish woman was able to help us out and showed us where to go.

The hostel we stayed at was called The Garden Backpacker and apparently it was rated the #9 hostel in the world.  It was my first hostel experience so although I don't have much to compare it to, I had a fantastic experience there.  The workers were very nice and helpful and the rooms were nice, prices were pretty good and they gave us free breakfast and free sangria at night (sangria is a Spanish drink like fruity wine for anyone who hasn't had it, it is very good.)

Anyway, at this point it was about 8:30am so upon checking in, we went upstairs and took a siesta to warm up and hopefully improve our moods before going out to explore the city.  Needless to say, we were in much better spirits after sleeping and grabbing some breakfast and were ready to see the sights of Sevilla, so we grabbed a few maps and set out for the day.

Beautiful orange trees of Sevilla!

Stephanie's reaction to trying an orange

We meandered through the streets for awhile and really just tried to enjoy the experience and take in the differences between the cultures of the south, as the different Spanish autonomic states are very, very different from each other.  Sevilla, in the South, is generally much warmer and Friday was very nice and sunny, a beautiful day to enjoy the sights.  We noticed right away that there were these orange trees everywhere which were really pretty to look at and looked delicious.  However, further proof that looks can be deceiving, Stephanie grabbed an orange to try it out and nearly threw up.  I can't give any personal testimony but she claims that it tasted like battery acid.  Lesson learned... if the locals aren't eating them, there is probably a reason for that.

We went through the parks and side streets for awhile and saw a lot of stores dedicated to flamenco which is a huge part of the culture in the south.  We really wanted to make it to a flamenco show while we were there, but the shows are pretty expensive and sadly it didn't work out, but hopefully at some point we'll get to one!
Anyway, at this point, we were getting hungry again and we decided to go get some food along the main plaza.  We wanted authentic southern food and we found some at this little outdoor tapas cafe.  We ordered Tinto de Verano with our tapas to share which is a red wine mixed with Coca-Cola and although it sounds weird, it is actually really delicious.

Catedral

El Real Alcazar

One of the Gardens

After re-filling our stomachs, we were ready to continue with our tour of the city and wound up at Real Alcazar, a famous palace in the city and the most beautiful building and gardens I have ever been too.  It literally took our breath away with the intricate Moorish architecture that covered every wall and ceiling and the gardens that were straight out of paradise.  This, we all agreed, was the highlight of the trip and would recommend it to all of our friends.

That night we had paella night with our hostel and had more food than we knew what to do with along with our sangria.  We ate with some people from the hostel and met some interesting people from Holland who we talked to for awhile.  We turned in early that night so we would be ready for the next day.

The next morning was wayyyyyyy colder than the day before and also overcast which was a bit of a bummer, but we were still excited to continue our adventures.  So Saturday, we rented bikes for 5 euros each and took off to explore the further sites of the city.  We passed a government protest in the street which was interesting to see even though we didn't really understand what they were protesting.  Anyway, continuing on, we went to the Plaza de Espana which was a really big open plaza with a moat-like thing where you could rent row boats, but it was too cold for us so we skipped out on that part.

Hopping on our bikes!

Protest blocking the streets

Plaza de Espana

The children were feeding the birds! 

This one was yelling for help to his dad.

After grabbing lunch at a fancy Italian restaurant, we began to bike our way back toward our hostel and stopped at El Museo de Bellas Artes which is an art museum that had some really cool Spanish art.  After spending a good while meandering through various centuries of artwork, we finally biked it back to the hostel and managed to not get lost.

That night, we decided to do a night life tour with our hostel as we had heard good things about it from some people we had talked to.  We joined up with a large group from our hostel and met some of the most interesting people and got to hang out with them while touring the night scene of Sevilla.  We met a group from Scotland, a few from Germany, Australia and a girl from New York who is living in Madrid who we hope to meet up with for dinner sometime while we're all here.  I loved meeting new people in new places and talking to them about their experiences and getting their advice on Europe.  It was a fantastic wrap-up to a fabulous weekend spent in Madrid and hopefully an indication of great trips to come!

Toledo

Today we participated in the SLU sponsored day trip to Toledo, Spain.  We took a big tour bus into the city which was about an hour away.  We could hardly see anything coming in because it was only 10am and super foggy since the city is built in the hills above the River Tajo which encircles the whole city.  We began the day with a walking tour and got to see some really old Gothic churches and cathedrals that have been around since the 14th century.  We also went into a small museum and got to see an original Greco painting entitled The Burial of the Count of Orgaz which was huge and so amazing to see in person.  For anyone who isn't familiar with Greco, he is a very famous Spanish 16th century artist who was famous for his use of color and the elongation of his human figures.  He painted his most famous paintings and lived out the end of his life in Toledo.

After the walking tour, the fog cleared up to reveal a clear blue sky and a lot of sun.  So, we took the opportunity to do the bus tour and circled the city on the bus and got to see the overview of Toledo which was absolutely gorgeous.  Sadly, at this point, my camera died and so I will have to steal some pictures from my roommates camera.

At about 2:00pm we were set free to do whatever and so after getting lunch at one of the local cafes, we decided to explore the hills and river of Toledo.  I can honestly say I have never seen anything so pretty.  The hills were green and rocky and expansive.  We walked through the hills down to the river and took the same path that Don Quixote took in the story by Miguel Cervantes which was pretty cool.  There were ruins and castles up in the hills that we got to see pretty closely on our hike.  We spent the entire afternoon exploring the natural side of Toledo and I would say it is a must do for anyone who makes it over to Spain.

Overall, fabulous trip and well worth every penny.  I wish I could do it justice by describing it, but I'll sort through some pictures and post them as soon as possible, hopefully I got a few good ones before my battery died.

First Week

Once again, I find myself writing an expansive blog entry as I have been confronted with numerous glitches in the week since I've been here.  The internet was down for awhile but it is back up so here is what I've been up to!

View off my balcony, essentially the Royal Palace is in my backyard.

On Monday, we had orientation which was just like any other orientation I've ever been to, very long and boring.  After they made us sit through a presentation, they brought us on a tour of the campus (which consists of  maybe three buildings) and the neighborhood, for which we were all way too tired and hungry to pay any attention to.  However, once they fed us, I was ready to go again and so I went out with some girls I met to a shopping plaza closer to my metro stop.  After a siesta and dinner, we went out for our first real night out on the town.  We went to a few bars and met up with some other kids from SLU and just took in the scene, which for a Monday night was surprisingly very lively.  We met some people from all over including Chile, Egypt and France which was pretty cool.  We went home at around 3:30am which for Spain is very early, most people don't come home until around 6:00 or 7:00am when the bars and clubs close and the metro re-opens.

Nighttime in Madrid

On Tuesday, Kenzie, Stephanie, and I decided to skip the second day of guided tours and decided to walk back from campus going only on a map of a the city.  The walk which was supposed to be about 45 minutes ended up lasting over 4 hours mostly because we got distracted by all the stores and buildings and very rarely actually checked the map.  Also, the only street signs in Madrid are actually on the buildings and are very hard to see, it's super confusing but we did eventually make it home.  Hopefully the next time I decide to hike it home from class I make better time, but with my sense of direction the chances are not great.  We went out again that night and just chose a random bar to start off at.  We found it a bit odd at first when it appeared that everyone in the entire bar seemed to know each other and was casting us weird looks.  We soon found out from the bartenders, however, that the bar we were at was an Argentinian hot spot so they all did know each other.  We left shortly thereafter and went to a different bar/discoteca (club-esque environment) that we had heard about.  Shortly after arriving, I look over to see Peter White come in and just about died.  Peter is a friend from high school who has been studying in Toledo all year and just happened to be passing through Madrid and wound up at the same bar as us.  Funny how St. Paul can still be St. Small even on another continent.  It was fun catching up with him though and overall a good night out in Madrid.

Here is some of what we saw:

Wednesday was our first day of classes and I only had one class which was Spanish Literature and over half the class consisted of kids from Madrid who were obviously fluent, which was a little intimidating, but I met some very nice girls. (The girls in my program outnumber the guys by about 5 to 1).  At any rate, my professor seems very cool and I am actually excited for this class.  We sort of pulled a crash and burn at this point in the week and ended up not doing anything other than eating and going to bed.

Thursday was my first full day of classes, so of course I woke up sick.  I toughened it out, however, and went to my first class which is Spanish Culture and Civilization.  Many of the same people from my previous Spanish class are also in this class and being that it is completely in Spanish I found myself not being able to zone out even for a minute or I would be lost as to what we were discussing.  Right after this class I go to Spanish for Business.  From what I can tell, this is going to be my most challenging class.  It is going to be a whole bunch of new terminology and from what I gathered, the teach expects near fluency and perfect grammar in our papers, so that should be interesting.  I would consider myself proficient but definitely not fluent yet.  I'm hoping that this immersion will help though so it's sink or float from here I guess.  After my second class, I have a three and a half hour break before my final class so I got lunch and went to the nearby park with some friends and just explored which was really pretty.  Finally, I went to my last class at 5:30 which was Theology 210 Old Testament.  Being that I have studied the Old Testament since grade school and the nature of the first day, I am inclined to think that this class will be my easiest, not to mention it's my only class in English.  After being sick and having such a full day, I ended up being smart and didn't go out with my roommates that night but rather went to bed and got a full 13 hours of sleep.  My body was definitely grateful for my decision the next day.

Steph, Kenzie, and I outside our school

All of my classes are in  this one, tiny building

Terrace on top of our roof

The view from the terrace

On Friday, we don't have classes so we decided to go shopping a little and find the main park, comparable to Central Park or so I hear, that we had heard about called El Parque Retiro.  I will admit to buying and wearing a fedora on the way there, I guess you could say I'm becoming super Euro, but hey, when in Rome!  Anyway, we walked the approximately 20 minute walk to the park and it was absolutely gorgeous.  It was 65 degrees and sunny and the walk there was nearly as scenic as the park itself.  There is this big lake or some sort of body of water in the park where you can lay out by as it appeared many of the locals like to do or you could rend a row boat which looked enjoyable.  Although, I'm thinking that like those family sized bikes we rented at Virginia Beach, it's one of those things that is not as fun as it appears, but I'm sure I'll try it anyway at some point.  We also saw the Crystal Palace which is used to be a green house I believe I read somewhere and that was pretty cool.  Another interesting thing was that instead of squirrels being a common sight like in Minnesota, you literally see stray cats.  It was the goofiest thing at first but they are literally everywhere.  

...Now is where things get interesting.  On the way out of the Park, we were stopped by these females with petitions on clipboards.  Now, being the sympathetic person that I am, I agreed to signing a petition to make the park more handicap accessible.  Little did I realize, however, that while one woman distracted me with the petition signing, the other one pick-pocketed me for 100 euros of cash.  Now, of course you are probably thinking how dumb this was of me for many reasons, but I can explain!  First and foremost, I admit to being a total sucker.  I once got suckered into buying $50 face lotion from a kiosk at the mall with a good sob story.  But in my defense, I am not used to needing my guard up and also I must admit I would have been more wary had they been men and not women.  As for having $100 in cash, I was planning to buy a cell phone that day and they only take cash for some reason.  So, at any rate, I hope the money they stole at least went toward the handicap cause they were petitioning for! As for me, a lesson learned in street smarts will hopefully prevent any more incidents like this.

Last night, we went on a "pub" crawl for 10 euros we went with a big group of SLU kids to four different bars and discotecas and met a lot of locals which was fun.  There was a lot of dancing and a lot of the same songs played in every disco which consisted of songs that are months old in the U.S. and way overplayed and no longer popular such as Rihanna and Usher songs.  However, this almost made it more entertaining as they were current hits with the locals who were loving it and at least we knew all the words.  We got back at about 5am and I truly felt like a Madrilenan for the first time!

That brings me up to today finally!  We didn't do much, just some shopping and walking around but we stayed pretty close to our area.  Tomorrow we are going to Toledo for a day trip with SLU, so we have decided to take it easy to better enjoy tomorrow.  

Thanks for bearing with such longs posts, I'll try to do better at keeping this updated! 

Arrival in Madrid

This entry is going to be a little lengthy, as I just figured out how to really work it. But here is my first documentation of my semester in Madrid!

So Kenzie and I arrived in Madrid on Sunday at about 11:00am Spain time or 4:00am St. Paul time.  We finally figured out how to snag a taxi and were on our way to our home stay in the center of Madrid about a 15 minute cab ride from the airport.  This gave us a chance to get a first impression of the city and it reminded me a little bit of California, the greenery was amazing to see after leaving behind the mounds of snow in Minnesota.

We arrived at our host family's flat and our host mom, Mar, met us at the door.  Like my last experience in Spain, I felt a little claustrophobic as everything is built up and not out.  The elevator was similar in size to the "chokie" in Matilda without the nails (Maureen and Monica you should understand this reference.)   Right away, we met the rest of our host family, the dad's name is Nando and is a French professor at a local high school.  The grandma's name is Tata; she is about half my size and the cutest little woman I've ever met.  When I gave them the gift a brought, Tata loved the handmade cross and questioned me about my religion and invited me to attend la misa (mass) with her.  The boys are Luis (12) and Miguel (10) and are super bubbly and continuously babble to us in Spanish and run around with the Nerf guns that they got for Christmas.  No one in the family speaks any English, besides Mar who just started taking lessons.  

I am sharing a room with Kenzie and the other girls are Stephanie from Texas, Liz from St. Louis, and Dani from Miami.  Thus, the 45* temperatures here are feeling tropical to Kenzie and I, while the others are shivering.  It's all about perspective I guess!  The girls are all super nice and right away we went out to explore a little bit around our part of the city.  We are right in the heart of the city and our balcony overlooks the Royal Palace which is very pretty.  Also, our flat is right above the Opera and so there are consistently musicians playing on the street, including our favorite accordion player who serenades us during the siesta hours.  We first went to this Mercado that was huge and filled with people and food and drinks of any kind you could imagine.  We were pretty overwhelmed at this point and got a Spanish quiche and then it started to rain so we went back to our flat.  We broke the jet lag rule and took a nap after unpacking everything.  Later on, we had dinner, pasta and salad, then instead of going out like we had planned just went straight to bed.

Today, we had orientation at the St. Louis-Madrid campus and took our first Madrid metro trip there.  We navigated the metro just fine, but when we got off we walked the opposite direction of campus and had to stop and ask for directions from some locals.  Nevertheless, we made it to orientation on time and sat through a typical orientation session with FAQ's and whatnot.  Then we went on small guided tours and ate lunch.  I had ended up in a different group from my roommates and without any form of communication I couldn't get back with them.  In which case, I struck up conversation with a group of girls from Boston College and one from Loyola and we all went out together to the Corte Ingles which is like a Nordstrom's mashed with Target mashed with Best Buy mashed with a grocery store mashed with everything else you can think of.  It is beyond huge.  We all picked up some random items we needed and then since we were right by my place I just went back and met my roommates at the apartment.  

Now we are all napped and fed and it is about 10:00 so we are about to get ready to go out for our first time to a tapas bar called El Tigre which serves tapas or little snacks with every drink you order.  Tomorrow we will get our cell phones so hopefully that will make things a little easier...