I’ll tell you what’s up.
Before I came to Spain I had been wondering what a typical day would
look like. And one would think that
after being here for más o menos a week I would have a pretty good answer to
that question. However, as I have come
to find out, it seems that there is no typical day in Spain at all. As I learned in Sweden last summer, Europeans
seem to “go with the flow” and just take things as they come without any major
schedules. Whether my host mom is
staying out until 6 in the morning at a surprise birthday party, or we are having
a 3-hour dinner, it seems that Madrileños don’t think that nighttime is for
sleeping in the least bit. Where the
idea of a siesta after lunch around 3 or 4 used to sound like an excuse for
laziness, I know see it as absolutely necessary, and I must say that I kind of
like it ;).
But what have I really been up to? Let’s see… We had our program orientation on
Thursday, and there are around 40 of us “Dukies” (the people here love to use
that word for some reason) here to study in Madrid for the next 5-6 weeks. After the orientation, my hermano Pedro/Tyler
and I went to a store called Corte Inglés (like a mini-mall in itself) to
purchase European phones. I don’t know
if the Spaniards have a business secret or some plan that Americans have never
heard of it, but purchasing a phone was one of the most difficult things I have
done thus far. There were four phone
carriers at the store, and three of the vendors more or less told us not to buy
from them or told us to look elsewhere because they didn’t want to deal with us
(our Spanish is not that bad; I promise), so good luck making money with that
business strategy… We finally settled on the company Movistar, and I am now the
owner of a phone that does fewer things than the phone I had in 9th
grade. I guess we can call it a “Dumb
Phone.” Later that night my hermano
Pedro/Tyler and I went to explore downtown Madrid (we live in a peaceful,
quieter barrio that is home to most of the schools in Madrid). After taking the advice of our host mom and
her sister, we found a bar off the beaten path and ate bocadillos de calamares
(calamari sandwiches), and before you say that is disgusting, I’d caution you
to try one and then complain.
I spent the next two days on a trip to Segovia and
Salamanca. Segovia is the typical,
quaint European town with a rolling countryside, a huge church, an impressive
castle, and its own trademark- an aqueduct built by the Romans in the first
century AD. The cool thing about the aqueduct
is that the stones are not held together by cement or mortar or anything at
all; instead, they are held together only by the pressure of the other stones
on top of and next to them. Check the
picture below. ATTENTION PRATT STARS:
You guys are always saying that you “work harder” and “have tougher classes”
than Trinity kids… Figure out how to build an aqueduct that is 17 km long from
the mountains, over many hills, with winding turns, that varies in height
constantly, and is over 28 m tall at its peak to the center of a city using
only technology from the first century, and then I might believe you. Anyways, after a brief stay in Segovia, we
took a bus trip to Salamanca, during which pretty much the entire bus took a
siesta… It was glorious. When we
arrived, we explored the town for a bit (much larger than Segovia) and then
left for dinner at a Spanish restaurant at 8:45. No joke we did not leave the restaurant until
midnight. Dining in Spain is such a big
deal. The next day we explored
Salamanca’s two cathedrals and the Roman bridge. Salamanca was a gorgeous town with many
attractions, but I must put in a disclaimer:
DO NOT EVER EAT AT A RESTAURANT CALLED “CUATRO GATOS.” My friend Max ordered spaghetti for
lunch. Let’s think… spaghetti is a
pretty simple dish… it’s not too difficult to make and is pretty difficult to
mess up… so a pretty safe decision, right?
Wrong. Max got spaghetti all
right, but what they didn’t tell him was that their spaghetti had the flavor
and pungent aroma of cigarettes. Need I
say more? Don’t eat there. Just don’t do it. After lunch we left Salamanca and returned to
Madrid where I watched the Champions League Final. Soap box again… BOO CHELSEA BOO DROGBA BOO
JOHN TERRY BOO FERNANDO TORRES… need I say more? Then, I spent the next day at el Palacio
Real, which is the palace for the Spanish monarchy, with some friends. It was gorgeous as I am sure all the palaces
in Europe are, and I took a couple sneaky photos (cameras weren’t allowed), so
take that Madrid (you can see the product of my toil below). Afterwards, I had my first chocolate con
churros (don’t say cha-ca-let. Say
cho-co-latte), and it was incredible.
Later I went for a run throughout Madrid and found an abandoned track
covered in graffiti that made for a good break from running the hills of
Madrid.
That brings us up to speed to today. We had our first day of class, and I think my
conversation with Pablo (my host mom’s daughter’s fiancé) sums it up pretty
well. English translation: “How was your
first day of class.” Response: “It was
class.” Nothing special but going over
the syllabus, etc. After buying our
books, we took a stroll through el Retiro (like Central Park) and then we came
back to our local Metro stop (Guzmán el Bueno), and I went to a small park
filled with dogs to watch the sun set and start some homework (which I should
be doing now).
Moral of the story: Life in Madrid is good (well except when
you have to hop the apartment fence at 2 am because your key is broken or you
are followed for five minutes off the metro being asked to buy weed from
someone who immediately knew you were an American…hope you didn’t read that,
mom and dad). The people here are great,
and my Spanish is improving at a rate that just doesn’t happen in the
classroom. My host family is beyond
amazing, and it was quite the sight to see my real family and host family
interacting on Skype last night. I
recently learned that mi madre, Chelo, owned two restaurants for 15 years and
has so many cooking awards that she uses them as door stops… que suerte tengo!
I’m off to do some reading before bed, and then I will go to
my second class tomorrow and see how that goes.
I miss all of y’all so much, so keep in touch and just let me know if
you want to Skype or anything (dare I say google+??).
Some things I forgot and don’t want to go back and find
where they go…
Favorite meal so far: Arroz milanesa
Favorite local fare: Cochinillo (warning: vegetarians don’t
look this one up)
Also, we tried to get tickets for the Copa del Rey Final…
they are 600 Euros for the cheapest… so much for that. I will be watching from the city.
Like I said, I miss you guys and hope to hear from you
soon! I know this is probably too long,
and you probably didn’t make it thus far, so I’ll be shorter next week! Check the photos below.
-Cam
My Favorite Bible Verse This Week:
Psalm 9:10
“Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord,
have never forsaken those who seek you.”
Simple but powerful.
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