El Escorial, Nights Out, and Other Adventures

Today, we visited this place called El Escorial which was a monastery built by Felipe II. It's a really interesting building because there is both a palace and a monastery but the palace is built like a monastery and the monastery is built like a palace in terms of simplicity/complexity and money spent on construction. The place itself was really beautiful, the outside looks like this (according to google images...):

The inside has a really cool layout. The rooms for the king and queen are both really simple but are also side by side next to the altar so that they could technically hear the mass being said from their beds. There was also this really cool room where if you stood in opposite corners you could talk into the wall and hear each other as if it were a telephone. There was something about the way the room was built that the sound traveled up with the curve of the ceiling and down to the other corner. 

The church itself was really, really beautiful. Here is a picture (again, from google. you couldn't take pics inside):

It was absolutely enormous and also built in a way that you could give 4 masses at the same time. There was also a really cool library with books even from the 6th century, one of the oldest copies of the Qur'an, and musical compositions. Also, very cool. Here is yet another google image:

On Thursday night, we went out to this club in the center of the city. We originally wanted to go to this salsa club so we were meeting people up in Sol, one of the neighborhoods. We ended up seeing a club promoter and instead went to this club called Moonshine. It was a lot of fun and there was a lot of dancing. Here is an example of dancing:

The club was actually really fun and surprisingly played a lot of American music including Spice Girls, Beyoncé, and this throwback 

We made a lot of friends with some of the people in Taj and Antonio's program through Middleburry College and it was fun! The next day Zulayne and I had to get up super early to go see some museums aka El Prado y La Reina Sofia. They were both really cool museums but I think I liked La Reina Sofia better because it was more contemporary and it was easier for me to interpret the paintings. The social and political and emotional messages conveyed through more contemporary paintings can be so much more powerful. The tour guide was explaining how artists these days often feel like they have more liberty and freedom of expression and artistry in order to change things up and get the audience to think about something in a different way (especially since we have movies and film to capture life in a more direct way). 

I've been having some issues with my host mom and I am going to change houses. I don't think that it will be in the center of the city any longer but ultimately the change will be for the best because I think I'll be much happier. Tomorrow I have to meetings with families so hopefully everything goes well! 

First Classes At Recoletos!

Yesterday, we had out first classes at the program site, Recoletos. I'm taking Sketchbook and Imaginando Las Americas. They are both actually really cool classes.

The sketchbook class is going to basically take us on a tour around the city throughout the semester and we'll draw different elements of Madrid. Anyone who really knows me knows that I can barely even draw a stick figure. Laura Panadero and I (really since day 1 of kindergarden) have been drawing... she has progressed and I have barely progressed passed butt puppies, "doob" men, and (YES!) stick figures. She is teaching us a lot of techniques and tricks though and you don't need any experience to take the class. Our first class, we began to learn how to really look at an object, in a way that your eye doesn't trick you, so that you can draw it. We drew a few things, including a chair. Here's a picture with me creeping in the background:

I'm actually really proud of it seeing as I couldn't draw almost anything before and can at least draw a chair that looks like a chair.

The next class that I had as Imaginando las Americas which is a history class and shows Spain's perspective of the colonies in Latin America from the times of Christopher Columbus to the times when they are no longer colonies. I thought that it was going to be a complete dominant narrative history class and that it wouldn't really show the perspective of "the other" but, at least from the first day, that's pretty much what it showed. A student in the class even raised his hand and said that up until that point in time he thought that the conquistadores were heroes but clearly, they were not. Comments like this tend to make me really mad. Not necessarily at the person who says them, but generally at the schools that purposefully omitted these truths from the student's education. We'll see where this class goes. Apparently there are going to be a lot of discussions and debates....

Night out in Tribunal and Plaza Mayor!

We went out for the first time in Madrid on Friday to this bar in Tribunal and then later to a club. The bar was really interesting, I don't know exactly what kind of message they were going for or who owned the bar but there were pictures and paintings of Native Americans every where. The drinks were pretty good, there were these giant plastic cups of drinks for pretty cheap. We had a lot of fun and we danced and hung out with some of the program people as well as some of the Spanish interns from the program.

We went to this club pretty close by afterwards. The club it's self was really cool and played pretty good music. It was here that I heard the techno remix of "Smells Like Teen Spirit." I thought that this was a little weird but otherwise the music was pretty cool. Spanish guys are pretty forward. I think they "have" to be because Spanish women are notorious for being really hard on them but they can definitely be more aggressive in the pursuit of a dance. I just walked away though lolol We ended up getting back at like 6:30am which is apparently really typical in Spain. Everyone goes out later and then begins the journey back when the Metro reopens, around 6am. I never feel scared or anything being out late because like EVERYONE is out late. Even like old ladies walk the streets late at night.

The next day I didn't wake up until like 3:15pm, thank God I did though because I was supposed to meet my dad's friend Mariel for a quick tour of Plaza Mayor at 4pm. It was really, really cool! She took me to this indoor market called Mercado de San Miguel. Here is an example of one of the counters:

Basically, they sell like wine, cheese, olives (stuffed with EVERYTHING YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE i.e. fish, cheese, peppers, etc), toasted bread with things on top of it, and even more.  It definitely reminded me of something my Aunt Jenn would totally love. Jenn, if you're ever in Spain, let me know, you need to go here!

We also visited Plaza Mayor and saw some other really cool statues and monuments. All of them had really interesting but totally weird stories. There was this one about a noble man who fell in love with this servant woman his dad forbade him from marrying her and sent her back to the town she came from. After the dad died, the man went and found the woman, married her, and she became pregnant. Later they find out that the dad was having relations with the woman's mother aaaaaaaand the man and the woman were really half brother and sister! Wooops.

There was also this really cool fountain that we took a picture in front of. Apparently it was really hard to make because the horse is standing on it's two back legs (engineers/physics peeps can probably explain better but basically they had to figure out a way that it wouldn't just fall forward). Here is a pic of most of the group and the statue:

Yay!

I'm going to see Biutiful, this movie with Javier Bardem, tonight. Hopefully it's good :)

Cuatro Caminos

We started off this morning with Spanish class which is basically introductions to the random slang that Spanish people use or other words that are different from Latin American Spanish. For example: tio/tia means dude/man/etc and mono/mola/guay can mean cool.

After had class we had a break and then a lecture in the afternoon. After the lecture, Zulayne and I want to Cuatro Caminos AKA Dominican Central! We walked around and spotted mad Dominicans. We still don't know where the hot spots are but we're going to figure them out real soon.

Racismo en España

I am super excited because I think I'm going to have the opportunity to intern for SOS Racismo, an organization in Spain that obviously works against racism and discrimination. It's been really interesting to see the functions of racism within Spanish society and the ways that they are very similar but very different from the United States. I can't wait to see the way that it's studied and the work that the organization is doing!

Some of the customs here are so different from those in the United States. Here, it is perfectly acceptable to stare at someone and not break the stare even after the person notices. I think that was really difficult for me in the beginning (and still is...) because I'm not used to being stared at in that way. Sometimes it definitely oversteps the curious, "I'm staring at you because I'm Spanish and that's my thing" kind of thing and is more inappropriate because of facial expressions or catcalling. It's interesting though... I'm going to investigate....

Host Fam-Bam, Autonoma, and more!

On Sunday, I met my host family! I have a host mother who lives by herself in an apartment in Salamanca, one of the barrios of Madrid (think like the Sacs 5th of Madrid. Super cool). I was uncomfortable at first but that was mostly because I didn't know if she liked me. When I mentioned that I was Dominican she and her son, Antonio -- who is really awesome and lives/works pretty close by and comes to visit, didn't seem as receptive as I thought they might be, given I am a native Spanish speaker and had a lot of the same interests. Things are much better now. She reminds me of a Spanish version of my grandmother. She feeds me in the same way but also has just as many rules, if not more. It's good though because we are getting along pretty well and we talk a lot about different things. She has also been giving me tips as to how to get around the neighborhood, which has been really helpful.

Today, we visited the university, Universidad de Autonoma en Madrid (or UAM, pronounced WAM!). It's built like a prison because the architect that built it designed prisons. It was during the time of the civil war, and the authorities wanted it to be riot proof. It made me laugh because Medford High was also built by a prison architect, is almost as if I have never left Medford! The campus is fairly easy to get around and really beautiful. The people seem really nice! I'll only be taking classes there once a week, it's a little bit of a trek to get there but it won't be that bad. This semester will be super relaxed, I'm taking 4 classes: Salud Laboral (Worker's Health), Sketchbook (drawing things around Madrid. I am super nervous but Kai says he is going to help me out :) ! ), Yoga, Salsa, and Imagining the America's (about the "discovering" of Latino America from the perspective of the Spanish...interesting.). 

It's been pretty hard being away from home so far. It's been getting much better though. I'm much more relaxed and open to the experience. I still miss home but I'm also feeling good about learning things here and coming home to lots of awesomeness. Zulayne and Sabrina have been super awesome and super supportive here, which I really appreciate. We hung out tonight after we finished picking classes. It's so great that we get along so well and can be really good friends :) We definitely had some really great convos/memories from tonight!

I'm excited to go to the museum tomorrow, lots of updates to come!

here is a video from our orientation: http://www.tufts-skidmore.es/archives/3268

Orientación

So, today we had orientation after lunch and a relaxing morning. We played a lot of fun icebreakers including one where we laid down on the floor in lines and bounced giant yoga balls back and forth. Zulayne made the comment "I've never had so many balls coming at my face!"

They went over the basic stuff: don't speak in English because you'll get targeted/robbed, be respectful to your host family, don't be obnoxious, etc. The program also FINALLY gave us information about our host family and I am living with a single woman right in the center of Spain, about a 15 minute walk from the university. Zulayne, Sabrina, and I all live relatively close together, which is really nice. I'm excited to explore Madrid once we get there tomorrow.

Last night, we went out for dinner and to a few of the places around the city. There were some really cool bars all down one street. It's so much more relaxed here than it is in the US. There were no cover charges for the bars, everyone just kind of did their own thing and wandered around from place to place. No one goes out until like 1 or 2am. When we went to the bars at like 11 or 12 there was almost no one there but it did fill up around 2am. We did met these really cool older women in one of the bars who gave us tips on places to go when we got to Madrid. It's really awesome how open everyone is here and how willing everyone is to help.

We're trying to find a Karaoke bar for tonight or the near future, we need to get our American Idol on...

I still haven't bought a phone but apparently you can have your cell phone unlocked and buy a European sim card so I might do that instead.

The Spanish accent is getting on my nerves a little bit. It's kind of cute but at the same time, I miss the accent at home. There is of course the lisp but also the tone/inflection of the words is a little bit different. It is really nice to hear Spanish being spoken all of the time though. I missed being surrounded by it.

I think I'm starting to get used to being here and skyping in order to be able to communicate with the family back home. I think it will be much better once I get settled in with my host family tomorrow!

First Day in Spain!

I arrived in Spain at 7am. Both of the flights, from Boston to DC and then from DC to Madrid, were really quiet and ran on time. I even got to Spain 30 minutes early. It was so weird because it was pitch black outside and the sun didn't actually rise until 8 or 8:30. I guess that is what happens when you don't have daylight savings time?

We took a bus together to the hotel and got settled in before exploring a little bit and eating lunch. It's so weird because the city reminds me of Santo Domingo in some places. Obviously, there are huge differences, but there are buildings and some of the architecture that makes me feel like I am walking through the conde.

I am really glad that Zulayne, Sabrina, and Amira are here. It was really hard leaving the airport. I probably cried the entire way here, i'll never again make fun of anyone crying in the airport! This is going to be a great experience, it's just a little hard being away from home and the ones I love. I need to get used to this lifestyle I guess...


Lunch was good. We ate for 3 hours (the meals here are apparently really relaxed and long-winded) and then went back to the rooms. I slept for a few hours and woke up a little while ago. I didn't want to sleep for too long and mess up my sleep pattern. I'm super excited to skype with Kai in 45 minutes and I think I'm going to try and skype my parents around 6. The internet connection is a little sketchy at this rando hotel though so I hope that it works!


Tomorrow is orientation! Hopefully, I'll have more exciting things to update....