Madrid: Yes, I do Actually Still Live Here...

Looking back on all of my posts, it dawned on me that I have very little on here about Madrid as I have been mostly talking about my travels to various other locations.  I do, however, spend most of my time in Madrid but I figured countless blog posts about my classes would result in losing my small but loyal following.  Finally, I have some points of interest from my "hometown" to talk about though so here goes.

So, for a few days I had been passing the Palace on my runs and I noticed that they were building some sort of temporary clear building outside it on the plaza and I was thinking that maybe there was going to be a concert or something but I wasn't sure.  Then, one night we came home from class and the building was finished and there was a red carpet rolled out down our street from said building into the Opera house which is across the street from us.  There was a large crowd outside despite the rain and a lot of police and guards at all the doors and lining the gated red carpet.  We had no idea what was going on until we asked our host mom who told us that the event being hosted was the Premios Goyas which are the Spanish Academy Awards, the biggest film award show in Spain and all of the famous actresses and actors and such were there.  So, from our balcony we got to watch all of them walk down the red carpet and even though I didn't recognize a single one, it was still really cool to witness just knowing that everyone else knew who they were.

The Academy Awards!
Couldn't get great shots from the balcony, not that I would have recognized anyone anyway...

On Thursday, I went to my first European futbol (soccer) game- Real Madrid vs. Malaga.  We got the cheapest nosebleed seats we could get which were still 20 euro but it was something I was told I had to experience and I am very glad that I did.  Now Madrid has two futbol clubs, Real Madrid and Atletico, and you support one or the other and by support I mean you are a die hard fan with a bitter rivalry against whichever Madrid team you don't support.  My knowledge really only went about that far, but it was explained to me that Real Madrid is like the Yankees of Spanish soccer.  They are very commercialized, wealthier, and more well-known but in general I guess their fans are pompous and obnoxious.  I, however, had a fantastic experience at my first game and loved all of the chants and cheers of the fans.  Despite being in the fourth tier, I got to watch Cristiano Ronaldo score a sweet goal on a penalty kick.  At another point, he got a goal off a header and my roommate Liz turns to me and goes "DID YOU JUST SEE THAT? HE HEAD-BUTTED IT IN FOR A GOAL!!!?"  I thought that was pretty hilarious, needless to say, she had never played soccer before.  Madrid won the game 7-0 and the bantering from Madrid fans to the Malaga fans was ruthless but very entertaining.  The atmosphere was super energetic and everyone was so into the game, I now hope to make it to an Atletico game to see for myself the difference.

Cristiano Ronaldo (my future husband) #7 on the field but #1 in my heart..

"He headbutted it in!"

No mercy.

Malaga made a valiant effort but it's hard to keep up with the big leaguers.

Real Madrid C.F.

While my friends back home were busy celebrating Mardi Gras this weekend, we here in Spain were celebrating Carnaval which is essentially their version of Mardi Gras mixed with Halloween.  All weekend, there are crazy festivals and everyone from kids to adults are dressed up in costumes from Disney princesses to witches to Mardi Gras-esque jokers.  On Saturday, we went to a huge parade in Parque Retiro and saw some really cool floats and costumes.  Our favorite by far was this crew of kids from age like 12 to 16 dressed up as nuns and priests and cardinals doing a fantastically choreographed dance down the street to "Everybody Dance Now" blaring from the truck.  From there, everyone goes out to this huge night club in Casa del Campo (a park on the outskirts of town) and that was fun but a little overwhelming in sheer size and number of young adults all in one place.  On our way back, we finally caved and got our first Spanish McDonald's meal, only because everything else was closed.  I had my first Happy Meal since I was about eight years old last night, but at least I got a water with it!

Flipping over five men, no big deal.

The dancing nuns! 

Space creatures emerging from the smoke

All done..Feliz Carnavales!

Today, I finally took some time to recover from the stress of all the traveling and midterms and escaped for an afternoon to go meander through another park by the river and just hung out with my roommate Stephanie laying in the grass, a very precious commodity here in urban Madrid.  That is one thing I do miss, seeing grass and yards is a foreign concept here.  If you you go off the beaten path though, it appears greenery does exist...in beautiful, yet generally crowded parks.  I also realized today that I am about halfway through my time here which is insane! Time is flying over here across the Atlantic, I'll be back home before I know it. So until then I will do my best to make the most of my experiences and share the best of them with you all, or if people have given up on this blog then it will at least make for good documentation for my own personal reflection in the future : )