Tim's Visit to Spain

This weekend was a blast. Tim came to visit me in Spain, and I had a lot of fun showing him around. Plus, I finally got to see all the stuff in Madrid that I hadn't gotten around to.

The weekend started out on a bad note, as Tim's flight landed late and caused a chain reaction of problems that ended with him spending the night in a bus station and me spending the night worrying about him. When he finally made it to Alcala in the morning, we ate some tortilla (my first time making it by myself!) and took a much-needed nap.

In the afternoon, we explored Alcala. I took him to the botanical gardens, which have gotten a lot prettier since the weather has cooled down. In town, we walked around the historic buildings, ate some kebabs (still probably my favorite food in Spain) and visited la Casa de Cervantes, where we saw some neat old and foreign editions of el Quixote. We also tried Rosquillas de Alcala, a sort of tiny layered donut smothered in orange frosting. Apparently they are only made here, and I've been meaning to try them for weeks. In the evening, we visited the medieval Murallas and the Museo del Toro Bravo, one of my favorite places in town. There, this old man with a mile-long beard has filled a shop floor to ceiling with hundreds of his own colorful paintings.

Friday night, we came home and played Hoteles with my roommates. They are such fun kids. It's a pretty fun game, very much like Monopoly, and I won! Muahahahaha...

Saturday morning we took a train to Madrid and set out to run the gamut of historical sights, all of the various Puertas and Plazas and Iglesias. Some highlights: la Catedral de Almudena, where we climbed up in la cupula for a spectacular view of Madrid; la Basilica de San Francisco el Grande, a HUGE domed church; and el Rio Manzanares, which turns out to be a very sad trickle of water. We also visited el Palacio Real, which is mind-blowing. Much of the palace is decorated in the Rococo style, which means that everything is decorated, opulent, shiny, and overdone. It is also absolutely enormous.

In the evening we walked up to el Templo de Debod, which was pretty neat. How often do you get to see an Egyptian Temple in Spain? (Also, no, the Spanish did not steal it. It was a gift in return for aid.) After walking all across the city, we were pretty tired, so we decided just to have a quiet evening in and get up early the next day.

On Sunday, I was thrilled to return to both la Reina Sofia (in the morning) and el Prado (in the evening), where we spent hours poring over paintings. It was fun to see how much I could remember from art class, and even more fun to see beautiful masterworks in person.

In the afternoon, we headed to el Parque de Buen Retiro, which was decked out in some splendid fall foliage. We took a rowboat out on the lake to enjoy the scenery and watch the park-goers. I even got to row for a while! :-) We also stumbled upon la Rosaleda, a large round rose garden that I had completely missed on previous visits. It seems like every time I go to the park I discover new things to like about it. It's still my favorite place in Madrid.

That night, after some tostas, we headed up to the Nuevos Ministerios station to go our separate ways. It's always a little sad to say goodbye, but it was a great weekend!

White Night

Last night a bunch of us international students went to La Noche en Blanco, or White Night, in Madrid. Basically, everyone stays up all night long and there are many free cultural events throughout the city. There were street musicians wherever we went that ranged from harpists to jazz bands to a guy with a huge set of water glasses playing Beethoven.

We also went into what we thought was going to be a tour of the Royal Palace but turned out to be a tour of the Royal Kitchens (yes, really). It was still neat, though, to see where everything happens behind the scenes. We saw an entire pig being dried on one wall, and there was a whole room full of cheese. I was also picked by one of the chefs to take a cheese on a walk with a sausage leash while he made barking noises. I guess if you're down underground cooking all day, you're bound to become a little strange.

Last, we walked down Gran Via, one of Madrid's largest streets, which had been converted into el Camino de Luz for the night. The city blocked off the street, so it was full of people instead of cars, and then shut off the normal building lights, replacing them with colorful projection lights. It was like walking through a movie set.

Classes, Madrid, and a Barbecue

Well, the first week of classes is over, and I think they are going well. After a brief freak-out because one of the classes I needed was cancelled, I found out that I can retake a class I took last semester for a different credit (weird, I know, but they seem to be fairly different so far). So my final schedule is now:
Spanish Civilization and Culture
Latin American Civ. and Culture
Latin American Literature
Grand Masters of Spanish Painting
The literature class looks to be very interesting because there's a strong focus on women writers, of whom I have seen nothing in previous literature classes. I know I'm going to love the art class. However, there is one weird glitch in my schedule - I now have the same professor for three out of four classes. As he said, "You're going to hate me!" Oh well, que sera, sera.

Yesterday, three of my friends (Morgan, Sky, and Christina) and I went to Madrid to explore a different part of the city. After a ride on the train, we walked up America Avenue to Main Street, taking in the sights.
We stumbled upon the Reina Sofia art museum when we saw some big glass elevators and decided to investigate to see if we could take a ride in one. Turns out, we could, and the museum was great! We saw original works by Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, and Francisco de la Goya (my personal favorite). We didn't have nearly enough time to see everything, but admission is free for students, so I expect we'll be back.

After the museum, we browsed through various shops and sampled Spanish foods. I tried a small chocolate mousse pastry at a Pasteleria, and we shared a Tortilla Española, the famous Spanish omelet full of potatoes. Both were beyond delicious. All in all, it was a great trip, but we had to head back at sunset because we had been invited to a barbacoa, a Spanish barbecue.

A few guys who live in our apartment complex were having a barbecue on their patio. They dragged all their sofas and chairs outside and grilled up some Spanish bacon (which is nothing like American bacon, to my dismay) and some Pincho Moruno, which was possibly the best thing I've tried in Spain so far. It's basically small chunks of pork rolled in spices and grilled on skewers. Mmmmmm....

...This country is going to make me fat. Oh well.

After dinner, the guys turned on some music and the barbecue turned into a dance party. The whole fiesta was great fun, and I made some new friends, including Maryana, a Russian girl studying Spanish to become a translator. She and I got to talking, and I hope we can meet up more in the future, because she seems really sweet.

Well, Adios!

Orientation and the First Weekend

Well, the bus system isn't nearly as difficult as I feared. Sometimes the lines are a little bit confusing, but once you're on the bus it's fine, and most of the bus drivers and passengers are happy to answer questions and explain if you ask them in Spanish.


After wandering around to various academic buildings, Ashley and I managed to find the IUIEN (now called Instituto Franklin) building and our orientation session. Orientation was really helpful in explaining how things work around here, the placement exam was pretty easy, and I was able to sign up for all the classes I need.


On Thursday afternoon, we took a tour of Alcala, which turns out to be a very pretty city (although much larger than I thought - about 200,000 people live there!). Cervantes is everywhere in the city - I have already seen two or three statues of el Quijote, and there's a big one of Cervantes himself in the middle of the main plaza (aptly named la Plaza de Cervantes). The Alcainos have also preserved the house where Cervantes was born and the church where he was baptized. For lunch, we went to a bar and ordered sodas that came with tapas (small portions of food). My delicious lemon soda came with a bowl of sausage and potatoes and a piece of bread - all for only 2 euros!


On Friday, we had more orientation sessions and then took a trip to Madrid! I had never been on any train except the zoo train before, so I was pretty excited to ride on one. I like train travel - it is nice and smooth. In Madrid, Carlos (our tour guide and also the professor of two of my classes) led us around the city showing us the sights. The architecture in Madrid is absolutely beautiful. The old part of the city is mainly from the 13th century, and the new part is ultra-modern and chic. The main plaza, la Plaza del Sol, is shaped like a sun with streets shooting out of it in all direction like rays. I can't wait to go back and explore more of the city.

On Friday night, Alcala held a huge party in honor of "Los mayores" (the old people). There was live music and dancing in the Plaza, and the whole town was out eating, drinking, and strolling.

Yesterday was pretty quiet during the day. Ashley and I went to el Corte Ingles, the Spanish equivalent of Wal-Mart, and bought some stuff for our dorm. Then, at night, I went out with a big group of new friends (Americans and Spaniards) and walked around to various discotecas (including one that played the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears!). I am actually sore from dancing so much.

Things I have learned:
1. In Spain, a kebab is not something that is eaten on a stick. Kebab is actually the Turkish word for grilled meat. This meat is usually cooked on a rotating spit and then shaved off and served on pita bread. My Spanish roommates were really confused when I told them that in the US, a kebab is skewered on a small stick. Also, kebab sandwiches are really, really delicious.
2. The Spanish really do like to stay up late, including old people and little kids.
3. Many Spanish women carry fans to stay cool in the hot sun. I bought one and I plan to use it even after I come back to the US (Texas is hot, too!).