A short account of this weekend´s activities. Pictures are already up on my Flickr page, although I still didn´t manage to snap off quite as many as I would have liked. Oh well.
Friday I had a test for language class, which I think went pretty well. I may have messed up bit on the essay part, but only because I didn´t use a ton of subjunctive tense like the teachers probably wanted us to. Otherwise, I think it was pretty coherent and complete.
Afterwards, I hopped on for my free bus ride to Madrid. We arrived at the hotel and I began to scavenge around for lodging. I was extremely lucky to find that Anastasia and Tyler´s room had -for no apparant reason, whatsoever- an extra cot already set up in it. Needless to say, I was extremely psyched to have my own bed to sleep in. That night, hung out with some people and we went out and got some really good Japanese-style food. They had sushi which we tried, although it wasn´t terribly impressive and cost a lot. We went back to the hotel to get ready to go out, but took our sweet ass times doing it and didn´t manage to leave until 1:30 or 2. We only had enough time for one drink at the Irish bar we went to, then they began to close.
It´s interesting to notice how much more strict Madrid -the country´s capital- is about enforcing the new laws concerning bars and public drinking. As of January 1st, there were put in place regulations on how late a bar (although not a club) can stay open and serve alcohol. Apparantly that time is 2am in Madrid (I think it´s later down here by an hour). These laws are carefully enfored by the police, as well. Alicante, a relatively podunk resort city is way more lax about almost everything in this department. Cops don´t seem to mind public drinking, bars aren´t held at gunpoint to close at the 2 or 3am cut-off time, etc. I think generally I´m used to the idea that the bigger it is, the less these kind of things are enforced (New York being a perfect example). In Madrid, packs of motorcycle cops were combing the streets busting up any sign of botellon, while the botellons in Alicante are always left alone, not to mention the fact that the city willingly cleans up after them.
Anyway, since all of us were too tired to hit up the clubs (and there were plenty to choose from), we decided it best to head home and get some much needed sleep. I was happy to be able to do so in my sweet cot.
Saturday, I fully intended to get up early enough to join the group for the tour of the Senate, but I realized that sleep mattered a whole lot more to me. The report from those that was that it wasn´t anything special so I didn´t feel too bad about missing out. I opted to walk around by myself and enjoy the city, which I did indeed do. I found a very cool park that had a hill offering an excellent view of the Palace and the outer portions of the city. It is known to have a breathtaing view of the sunset, but unfortunately we never had time to get up there and see it. I also walked through a park that had a statue of Don Quixote. After that I wandered over to Plaza Mayor to try to find some friends. I met up with Ana and we went to El Museo de la Reina Sofía, which is (awesomely) free on Saturdays after 2:30. Now I thought the Prado (a classical art museum) was pretty cool, but I was totally stunned at how amazing the Reina Sofía was (a modern art museum). It has astounding collections of Picasso, Dalí, and Miró. We opted to get the audio headsets for 3€ (the usual price for admission), which I´m glad we did. Being able to see Guernica (it´s gigantic) was intense, and the goes for the Dalí paintings, which up close in their original glory was beautiful. They put those behind glass so you can get up really close and notice all of the crazy detail put into each of Dalí´s insane creations. The dude was definitely tapped. There was also a showing of some of the early movies of Luis Buñuel (the father of Spanish surrealist film) that he did with Dalí. The one I caught a piece of was also pretty tapped, but extremely interesting to watch.
The idea behind surrealism in movies was to convey a point through intensely visual metaphors. The result can being extremely unsettling at times, and it isn´t always immediately apparant what the director is trying to convey (especially if one is unfamiliar with the context of the film). Surrealism in Spanish cinema became extremely common once Franco was in power, since the only way films would be approved by censors was if they contained nothing that was easily discernable as contrary to the ideals and policies of the regime (thank you Profesor Rose and Spanish Civil War on Film). Buñuel had many followers and imitators, so seeing some of his early, pre-Franco work was cool.
We walked around and kind of ran through the top floor which was all modern art from 1940s and up. This was cool, but after having already spent 2 hours looking at "classic" modern art, our brains were beginning to overload a bit. When trying to leave, we managed to stumble into all of the museum´s temporary exhibits as well, which were also extremely cool, but we just didn´t have the mental capacity to handle more art at that point. We must have spent almost 3 and a half hours in the museum, and I really would have liked to go back again another day just to be able to digest everything more fully.
Saturday night was to be my birthday celebration, but it was notoriously difficult to round up any formidable number of people, nevermind the fact that it´s a huge pain in the ass walking around a gigantic (uber-bustling) city like Madrid with a big group. Instead, I ended up going out with a group of 7 or so people that happened to all be chilling in the same place at the same time. We lost a couple of heads early on because of disagreements over dinner (someone always wants to eat at TGI Friday´s when there´s one around for some reason). We ended up getting a kebab and watching the second half of the R. Madrid-Barça game, which I would have liked to have seen all of. It ended in a disappointing tie (not disappointing if you´re a Barça fan though). After that we pretty much just wandered around a particularly buzzing neighborhood stopping in for a drink here or there. I was happy to be completely lost and then suddenly look to my left and see the same microbrewery I had visited the last time I was in Madrid. We stopped in and topped the night off with a thirst-quenching, ultra-fresh beer. Once again, we opted not to go to clubs, which suited me fine. Instead, we just walked back to the hotel which at this point was quite close. Ana and I chilled out on the balcony for a bit (we had an incredible view of the Gran Via) and then turned in.
About 3 hours later we were awake and packing up to check out. Everybody piled onto the buses and we headed over to the Prado which I skipped out on since I had been the last time, and was in no mental-state to walk through again anyway. Instead I sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful day. Headed over to the park soon after and tossed the disc around until it was time to get on the buses and head back to Alicante. Regardless of the fact that I should have just gone to bed right after dinner, Eric insisted on taking me out for a few birthday drinks, since Sunday was my actual birthday, and he wasn´t in Madrid to celebrate the first time around. I couldn´t really say no.
So all and all, it was a very fun weekend. I´m quite happy I decided to go back to Madrid, and would highly recommend it to anybody who is interested in visiting Spain.
I wanted to go to Granada next weekend because it seems like a place I really need to visit while in Spain. Everybody that goes says they love it. Unfortunately, I don´t think going will be the greatest idea since I´ll be leaving for Spring Break 3 days later. Maybe I can squeeze it in at the end of the program.
I have more I could write about, but I have much to do on the computer while I still have time left.
Thanks to everybody that sent along birthday wishes through facebook/email/text message/otherwise.
Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease
Monday, April 03, 2006
Thursday, March 30, 2006
My Weekend: Madrid, Pt. 2
Quicky, cause I´m at an internet salon with some pretty trash rates, and I need to get home, study and pack.
So I´ve decided to definitely head back to Madrid as outlined in my previous post. The weather is looking to be gorgeous, so this pleases me greatly. Muchos amigos have been kind enough to offer me up bed spaces, so I don´t have to sleep on the floor. Plus my now advanced knowledge of the city (ha) will make me a popular guy to follow around for the weekend. Also, it´s my birthday weekend (22 on Sunday) so I´m gonna have to drag people around to buy me drinks. Hopefully I won´t smash my face open on a table this year (if you don´t know the story, i´ll explain some other time).
Anyhow,
Had my Literature midterm today, and I don´t think it went exceedingly well. It wasn´t anything catastrophic, but I´m not expecting much above a 6.5 (that´s B-/C+ territory I think). Oh well, I tried my best. I just can´t analyze poetry en español. I have another test tomorrow for my language class, but it isn´t quite so major, and shouldn´t present too many problems.
We had daylight savings time last week, which is frustratingly difficult in the mornings, but excellent in the evenings. I love it when it´s light out until 9pm. Days are only getting longer too at this point.
Went out to an open mic night this week and saw something I figured I´ll never see in the States... Acoustic covers of Bon Jovi songs. Yeah, you could smell them from the back of the room they were so bad. Not that there exists such a thing as a "good Bon Jovi song," but these guys were playing the drivel from the newest album, and doing it extremely poorly. I´ve seen plenty of bad open mic in my college days, but this really takes the cake. I had to mention it because was bothering me so much.
Speaking of my college days, they´re almost over. I just picked the classes I´ll be taking for my (hopefully) last semester: An AVID (post production) editing class, Spanish Seminar, and an Advanced TV Studio class to learn goodies like directing, scriptwriting, and lighting. I´ve taken a class like this before, but it was more cursory in nature, and this will round off and augment what I already know. Looks to be promising. I register on Monday, so hopefully I´ll get everything I need so I can peace the hell out of NU and stop handing over piles and piles of money.
Alright, I´ll cut it out before I start ranting about the evils of American higher education in the 21st century. Maybe in a later post after I come back home...
Next time you hear from me, I´ll be one year closer to death. Sweet.
Paz
So I´ve decided to definitely head back to Madrid as outlined in my previous post. The weather is looking to be gorgeous, so this pleases me greatly. Muchos amigos have been kind enough to offer me up bed spaces, so I don´t have to sleep on the floor. Plus my now advanced knowledge of the city (ha) will make me a popular guy to follow around for the weekend. Also, it´s my birthday weekend (22 on Sunday) so I´m gonna have to drag people around to buy me drinks. Hopefully I won´t smash my face open on a table this year (if you don´t know the story, i´ll explain some other time).
Anyhow,
Had my Literature midterm today, and I don´t think it went exceedingly well. It wasn´t anything catastrophic, but I´m not expecting much above a 6.5 (that´s B-/C+ territory I think). Oh well, I tried my best. I just can´t analyze poetry en español. I have another test tomorrow for my language class, but it isn´t quite so major, and shouldn´t present too many problems.
We had daylight savings time last week, which is frustratingly difficult in the mornings, but excellent in the evenings. I love it when it´s light out until 9pm. Days are only getting longer too at this point.
Went out to an open mic night this week and saw something I figured I´ll never see in the States... Acoustic covers of Bon Jovi songs. Yeah, you could smell them from the back of the room they were so bad. Not that there exists such a thing as a "good Bon Jovi song," but these guys were playing the drivel from the newest album, and doing it extremely poorly. I´ve seen plenty of bad open mic in my college days, but this really takes the cake. I had to mention it because was bothering me so much.
Speaking of my college days, they´re almost over. I just picked the classes I´ll be taking for my (hopefully) last semester: An AVID (post production) editing class, Spanish Seminar, and an Advanced TV Studio class to learn goodies like directing, scriptwriting, and lighting. I´ve taken a class like this before, but it was more cursory in nature, and this will round off and augment what I already know. Looks to be promising. I register on Monday, so hopefully I´ll get everything I need so I can peace the hell out of NU and stop handing over piles and piles of money.
Alright, I´ll cut it out before I start ranting about the evils of American higher education in the 21st century. Maybe in a later post after I come back home...
Next time you hear from me, I´ll be one year closer to death. Sweet.
Paz
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Time Flies (bzzzzzz)
Wow. My program is almost over. I´m not supposed to return to the States until May 31st, but school ends only half way through the month, and I just realized half of between now and then is actually vacation. I have mixed feelings about this...
I mean, it´s very cool to have so much free time coming up, but I´m going to be spending a chunk of it out of Spain, probably getting by on English, and maybe a few phrases I learn of Dutch or French or whatever the situation calls for. Then there is pretty much an extra week without classes where my Spanish will probably be kept to a minimum, since I´ll be lying on the beach the whole time not thinking about much of anything really. And then almost immediately after that we have our finals. Ech.
I hope I´m not too rusty by then.
So yeah, my thoughts on the program thus far...
I find it sort of frustrating how many Americans there are here. Besides my program, which is inordinately large this semester (115 students), there are like 3 other programs here as well that are full of Americans. Needless to say, it makes it real easy to stick with Americans all the time. Also, we do a ton of activities and trips with only Americans. I wish there was more integrated activities that sort of "forced" us to meet Spaniards. We have the intercambio projects, which are fine, but my intercambio doesn´t live in Alicante, so I only see her once (maybe twice) a week for an hour or so on campus. That isn´t to say I haven´t enjoyed making lots of new American friends. I´m finally at the point where I´ve figured out the truly quality people in the program that I´ll be in touch with for years to come, but I wanted to also make friends from lots of other places. I know that I´m not at all free of fault for not having made more international friends at this point, but I sort of wish our program wasn´t so structurally isolated. Well, there is still time left, and new places to see, so I haven´t given up hope. For now, I´ll just stay away from the Beer Pong and Flip Cup Nights at their respective American-college-student-pandering bars.
My Spanish Lit. professor is finally back. She had disappeared for 2 weeks because she had bronchitis and pneumonia and had to go to the hospital. While I have no ill will towards her (I´m happy that she´s fully recovered), I can´t say I was disappointed when we didn´t have class for two weeks. I really really can´t stand going and I´m dreading having to write a 15 page paper (1.5 spaced, not double) and take a final in May. She really is a godawful teacher. Also, I can´t imagine she´ll be in the most chipper of moods when she hasn´t been able to smoke a cigarette for over a week or two. Maybe she´s recovered enough to start smoking again. One can only hope.
I´m debating about whether to return to Madrid or not with the other group in my program. I´d be a sort of interloper, as CIEE only allows for us to take two weekend trips on their budget. I was told that I can hop on the bus for free though, since there will be enough space, and I´ve already had friends offer me up room to sleep in their hotel rooms. I won´t be able to go on the guided tour stuff (which I already saw the first time around) and they won´t give me €35 for food, but since travel and accomodations are taken care of, It´d still be a really good opportunity to take advantage of. This way, I can hope for better weather and will be able to just walk around the city at my own pace during the day chilling out, not worrying so much about this museum or that palace tour. I´ll also be able to take some half decent pictures which I completely failed to do the first time around. I´ll just eat calamari bocadillos (€2 a pop!) and kebabs all weekend to keep the cost of food low, and I should be golden. Hmmm, writing it all out and reading it over has pretty much made me convince myself I want to do it.
This weekend was one of pure relaxation. Friday and Saturday were spent mostly at the beach, with some frisbee and a lot of sleep thrown in for good measure. Sunday I lazed around the house and poked at my homework bit by bit ´til it was done. Saturday morning I awoke to this short, round, loud guy sitting in the kitchen, crackin´ wise and all but chugging wine. It turned out to be my madre´s primo (cousin) who was in from Barcelona for god knows what reason. Apparantly he´s a rich decorator who owns four different houses across Spain. Who knew there was so much money in decoration? He immediately starts pouring me a glass of wine (I´m still wiping the crusty gunk out of my eyes) and wants me to tell him my life story. We ate a kickass meal of lamb chops and murcías - weird brownish/black pig sausages that tasted slightly spicy and were completely delicious. It was a great way to start my day, and it ended up being a great weekend all around.
Can´t think of much else that´s going on at the moment, other than the fact that Spring Break starts two weeks from Wednesday - something I can hardly wrap my head around. Almost time to go home for comdia anyway, then I think I´d like to just lay on the beach til the sun goes down or until somebody comes along to play frisbee. Gotta enjoy it while I can...
Paz
I mean, it´s very cool to have so much free time coming up, but I´m going to be spending a chunk of it out of Spain, probably getting by on English, and maybe a few phrases I learn of Dutch or French or whatever the situation calls for. Then there is pretty much an extra week without classes where my Spanish will probably be kept to a minimum, since I´ll be lying on the beach the whole time not thinking about much of anything really. And then almost immediately after that we have our finals. Ech.
I hope I´m not too rusty by then.
So yeah, my thoughts on the program thus far...
I find it sort of frustrating how many Americans there are here. Besides my program, which is inordinately large this semester (115 students), there are like 3 other programs here as well that are full of Americans. Needless to say, it makes it real easy to stick with Americans all the time. Also, we do a ton of activities and trips with only Americans. I wish there was more integrated activities that sort of "forced" us to meet Spaniards. We have the intercambio projects, which are fine, but my intercambio doesn´t live in Alicante, so I only see her once (maybe twice) a week for an hour or so on campus. That isn´t to say I haven´t enjoyed making lots of new American friends. I´m finally at the point where I´ve figured out the truly quality people in the program that I´ll be in touch with for years to come, but I wanted to also make friends from lots of other places. I know that I´m not at all free of fault for not having made more international friends at this point, but I sort of wish our program wasn´t so structurally isolated. Well, there is still time left, and new places to see, so I haven´t given up hope. For now, I´ll just stay away from the Beer Pong and Flip Cup Nights at their respective American-college-student-pandering bars.
My Spanish Lit. professor is finally back. She had disappeared for 2 weeks because she had bronchitis and pneumonia and had to go to the hospital. While I have no ill will towards her (I´m happy that she´s fully recovered), I can´t say I was disappointed when we didn´t have class for two weeks. I really really can´t stand going and I´m dreading having to write a 15 page paper (1.5 spaced, not double) and take a final in May. She really is a godawful teacher. Also, I can´t imagine she´ll be in the most chipper of moods when she hasn´t been able to smoke a cigarette for over a week or two. Maybe she´s recovered enough to start smoking again. One can only hope.
I´m debating about whether to return to Madrid or not with the other group in my program. I´d be a sort of interloper, as CIEE only allows for us to take two weekend trips on their budget. I was told that I can hop on the bus for free though, since there will be enough space, and I´ve already had friends offer me up room to sleep in their hotel rooms. I won´t be able to go on the guided tour stuff (which I already saw the first time around) and they won´t give me €35 for food, but since travel and accomodations are taken care of, It´d still be a really good opportunity to take advantage of. This way, I can hope for better weather and will be able to just walk around the city at my own pace during the day chilling out, not worrying so much about this museum or that palace tour. I´ll also be able to take some half decent pictures which I completely failed to do the first time around. I´ll just eat calamari bocadillos (€2 a pop!) and kebabs all weekend to keep the cost of food low, and I should be golden. Hmmm, writing it all out and reading it over has pretty much made me convince myself I want to do it.
This weekend was one of pure relaxation. Friday and Saturday were spent mostly at the beach, with some frisbee and a lot of sleep thrown in for good measure. Sunday I lazed around the house and poked at my homework bit by bit ´til it was done. Saturday morning I awoke to this short, round, loud guy sitting in the kitchen, crackin´ wise and all but chugging wine. It turned out to be my madre´s primo (cousin) who was in from Barcelona for god knows what reason. Apparantly he´s a rich decorator who owns four different houses across Spain. Who knew there was so much money in decoration? He immediately starts pouring me a glass of wine (I´m still wiping the crusty gunk out of my eyes) and wants me to tell him my life story. We ate a kickass meal of lamb chops and murcías - weird brownish/black pig sausages that tasted slightly spicy and were completely delicious. It was a great way to start my day, and it ended up being a great weekend all around.
Can´t think of much else that´s going on at the moment, other than the fact that Spring Break starts two weeks from Wednesday - something I can hardly wrap my head around. Almost time to go home for comdia anyway, then I think I´d like to just lay on the beach til the sun goes down or until somebody comes along to play frisbee. Gotta enjoy it while I can...
Paz
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Briefly...
Excellent news in Spain! ETA officially declared a ceasefire! ETA, if you are unaware, is the Basque seperatist group that was blowing up innocent Spaniards in a bid to gain independence from the Spanish government. They have become an extremely unpopular entity since the fall of Franco back in the 1970s as nobody could quite figure out why they thought terrorist acts would convince a democratic government to grant a people total autonomous rule. Back when Franco was in power and forced a culture of homogenity and repression, their struggle for independence was one shared by all the communities of Spain. Once the dictator died, and each of the autonomous communities were allowed to resume the practice and celebration of their respective cultures (like speaking their own languages for example), it seemed odd that ETA was resorting to terrorist tactics in an effort to gain further independence. Zapatero, the president of Spain, has said that negotiations are now a possibility since the ceasefire has been declared. Everybody wins, in other words... at least for now. This wonderful news has been blaring across the country all day, and there will surely be a great deal of celebrating everywhere this week. Spain is most certainly a safer place now.
In other news, got a few pics up from Madrid, but after doing some quality control and deleting of doubles, there really aren´t many at all (like maybe 12). The one´s I do have aren´t terribly good, but they are there for the viewing. Flickr link is to the right where they may be viewed.
Gave my presentation on Sevilla in History today and I would say I fairly killed it (that´s a good thing). The teacher told me she said it was really interesting and I had even taught her a few new things she hadn´t known. I´m pleased with this. I still have a midterm coming up, and two huge papers looming over the horizon. It´ll be tougher than ever to concentrate, however, as literally half of the time left I have in Spain is breaks. No joke, we have a TON of time off coming up, even though it is technically the busiest time of the semester for us. ¡Uf!
I suppose there is more to discuss, but I´ll have to get to it later, perhaps tomorrow, as I need to run for now.
Out.
In other news, got a few pics up from Madrid, but after doing some quality control and deleting of doubles, there really aren´t many at all (like maybe 12). The one´s I do have aren´t terribly good, but they are there for the viewing. Flickr link is to the right where they may be viewed.
Gave my presentation on Sevilla in History today and I would say I fairly killed it (that´s a good thing). The teacher told me she said it was really interesting and I had even taught her a few new things she hadn´t known. I´m pleased with this. I still have a midterm coming up, and two huge papers looming over the horizon. It´ll be tougher than ever to concentrate, however, as literally half of the time left I have in Spain is breaks. No joke, we have a TON of time off coming up, even though it is technically the busiest time of the semester for us. ¡Uf!
I suppose there is more to discuss, but I´ll have to get to it later, perhaps tomorrow, as I need to run for now.
Out.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Madrid y Valencia: Packed Weekend
What a weekend! I´m exhausted by it, but it was a lot of fun. Rather than doing homework, I´ve decided to tell you about it. I have pictures of Madrid, although they aren´t posted yet on my Flickr page. I decided against bringing my camera to Las Fallas, because I didn´t want to have to worry about it getting stolen or broken, which I found to be a very real possibility once I got there. Still a shame, since there was plenty that was picture-worthy in Valencia.
On Friday I went to Madrid with the group. I ended up going with the Liberal Arts group instead of the Culture and Context one because originally I had plans during the week of our trip. It was cool though, because I got to hang out with a group of people I generally never see (Liberal Arts kids are in different classes, and our groups aren´t mixed a lot for activities and field trips). I was able to make some new friends, which is refreshing halfway through my trip. The bus ride wasn´t as bad as the one to Sevilla, but it was still pretty long. Unfortunately, the weather was shite all weekend (rainy and cold), so we didn´t end up going out all that much for individual exploration. The first night I met up with Laura (from NU), who is studying/working in Madrid for a year. She took us out to an Irish bar to celebrate St. Patrick´s Day. The place was extremely crowded, extremely Irish, and it was tough to get a drink with the throngs of people swarming around the bar. In the States, I always hear "Everybody is Irish on St. Patrick´s Day," but in Spain that just isn´t the case. I was very evidently not Irish (except for my rusty red beard), when I couldn´t shout Irish folksongs with the rest of the lads. Everybody was still friendly enough and didn´t exclude me from the excessive backslapping and general drunken good tidings. Ended up heading back to the hotel pretty early because Eric, Lauren, and I were all pretty beat. We meant to go out again to a more low-key spot, but it just never happened.
Saturday, we were up early to get some sightseeing done with the group. We skipped the tour of the Senate because it was at an ungodly early hour, but hopped along for the tour of the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) where the king and queen live. I have to say, it was a much more extensive tour than the White House one in DC, but it also started to get really repetitive and kind of boring around the 20th room we walked through (we walked through 40 total they told us). I mean, it is impressive how ridiculously lavish everything was decorated, but there´s only so much one can handle. After that, we hopped in and out of la Catedral de la Almudena, which seemed like it was pretty cool, although cathedrals have never really been my style. Next, we checked out the Plaza Mayor, and ate calamari bocadillos, something Madrid is famous for. It was probably the best fried calamari I´ve ever eaten, although I think I would have preferred it on a plate, with some sort of sauce, rather than plain in sub form. After lunch, we took a siesta, then woke up to go on a tour of el Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. That´s where Real Madrid -the Yankees of Spanish soccer- play. Needless to say, their trophy room was absolutely ridiculous (they were dubbed the best Spanish futból team of the 20th century), and the stadium itself was pretty cool. I got to finally sit in one of those uber-comfortable looking chairs the players get to sit in while they aren´t playing, and they were even more comfortable than they look on TV. I can´t figure out why they make them so comfy, since it´s hard to compel yourself enough to get up after you´ve been in one. After that, we had free time so we went out and got some amazing tapas from a place that was brimming with Spaniards. I tried pigs ears for the first time, and aside from unnervingly chewy texture, they were extremely delicious. After that we got a beer from a microbrewey (these are all but non-existent in Spain), and it was easily the best beer I´ve had since I´ve been abroad. It got me really excited for Spring Break in Belgium. We went back to the hotel with intentions of going out, but never quite made it. It was raining pretty hard at that point, so we couldn´t muster up the desire to stomp around and get soaked.
Up early again Sunday morning to check out of the hotel, after which we visited the Prado Museum. It was impressively large and held many famous paintings I had previously only seen in books. There was a lot of dark, twisted stuff in their which appealed to my devious sensibilities. I´m not generally big on art museums, but this one really pulled me in. Maybe I´m finally starting to appreciate fine art a bit more as I get older. We checked out the beautiful Parque del Retiro. It reminds me a lot of Central Park in New York, since it´s sufficiently massive enough to make me forget I´m still in a major city. We sauntered about there for an hour, then Eric and I split from the group (which was going back to Alicante anyway) and headed to the train station... Next stop: Valencia for Las Fallas.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I didn´t bring my camera, which I regretted almost immediately when I stepped out of the train station. There were so many friggin people everywhere it was absolutely ridiculous. There was lots of music on the streets and at every semi-major intersection there was gigantic papier-mache and wood floats (Las Fallas). I really wish I had pictures of these because they were absolutely beautiful. They were generally topical, addressing some sort of theme or issue, some serious, some not at all so. Every year there is a competition for the best one, which gets placed in Ayuntamiento Square (where town hall is. every city has one). The winner this year was a tall skinny lady with a Peace sign medallion, holding a baby, with some other naked ladies around her and a bunch of other smaller crap going on around the bottom. I can´t even begin to understand what the theme was, but it sure did look cool. We walked around for a while and then watched the Fire Parade, which was a large procession of people dressed in red with many forms of spark-producing devices. Basically it was a sulfurous mayhem. Very cool. We chilled in someone´s hotel for a bit (a few people in our program got hotels, but we thought it too expensive and not worth the trouble), then went out into the night to find food and celebrate. Around 10 or 11 they started going from intersection to intersection burning down each Falla. The Bomberos (firefighters) sprayed water around the edges so the fire wouldn´t spread, but these things sure did burn fast! We caught a couple of them, but they move fast from one to the other down the street. I think I was reading that there was somewhere over 60 Fallas total spread across the city. After that, we headed back towards Ayuntamiento Square and waited for the burning of the winning Falla. It started with a crazy fireworks display, and then all of a sudden the whole thing was up in flames. It was claustrophobically crowded with people pushing from all sides, but it was still a spectacular sight to behold. Things started dispersing soon after, and we took to the task of keeping ourselves awake until we had to catch our bus at 6:15 (AM). We followed some Puerto Rican friends around for a while, although it was getting tough to find stuff to do as the early morning crept on. It was Sunday night/Monday morning after all. I guess the bus ride back took 3 hours (much longer than it should have), but I wouldn´t have known as I was dead asleep from the minute I sat down on the bus until we arrived in Alicante. I proceeded to sleep through most of today.
So that was my weekend. I´d post more about other stuff, but the computer lab is closing soon and I wanna get home for dinner anyway. I´ll try to get back on and post more general reflection stuff in the coming days, although I have a presentation to prepare for my history class on Wednesday, so I have a lot to keep me occupied at the moment. I´ll try to have pictures of Madrid up ASAP, although they aren´t terribly exciting to be honest.
Rosen out.
On Friday I went to Madrid with the group. I ended up going with the Liberal Arts group instead of the Culture and Context one because originally I had plans during the week of our trip. It was cool though, because I got to hang out with a group of people I generally never see (Liberal Arts kids are in different classes, and our groups aren´t mixed a lot for activities and field trips). I was able to make some new friends, which is refreshing halfway through my trip. The bus ride wasn´t as bad as the one to Sevilla, but it was still pretty long. Unfortunately, the weather was shite all weekend (rainy and cold), so we didn´t end up going out all that much for individual exploration. The first night I met up with Laura (from NU), who is studying/working in Madrid for a year. She took us out to an Irish bar to celebrate St. Patrick´s Day. The place was extremely crowded, extremely Irish, and it was tough to get a drink with the throngs of people swarming around the bar. In the States, I always hear "Everybody is Irish on St. Patrick´s Day," but in Spain that just isn´t the case. I was very evidently not Irish (except for my rusty red beard), when I couldn´t shout Irish folksongs with the rest of the lads. Everybody was still friendly enough and didn´t exclude me from the excessive backslapping and general drunken good tidings. Ended up heading back to the hotel pretty early because Eric, Lauren, and I were all pretty beat. We meant to go out again to a more low-key spot, but it just never happened.
Saturday, we were up early to get some sightseeing done with the group. We skipped the tour of the Senate because it was at an ungodly early hour, but hopped along for the tour of the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) where the king and queen live. I have to say, it was a much more extensive tour than the White House one in DC, but it also started to get really repetitive and kind of boring around the 20th room we walked through (we walked through 40 total they told us). I mean, it is impressive how ridiculously lavish everything was decorated, but there´s only so much one can handle. After that, we hopped in and out of la Catedral de la Almudena, which seemed like it was pretty cool, although cathedrals have never really been my style. Next, we checked out the Plaza Mayor, and ate calamari bocadillos, something Madrid is famous for. It was probably the best fried calamari I´ve ever eaten, although I think I would have preferred it on a plate, with some sort of sauce, rather than plain in sub form. After lunch, we took a siesta, then woke up to go on a tour of el Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. That´s where Real Madrid -the Yankees of Spanish soccer- play. Needless to say, their trophy room was absolutely ridiculous (they were dubbed the best Spanish futból team of the 20th century), and the stadium itself was pretty cool. I got to finally sit in one of those uber-comfortable looking chairs the players get to sit in while they aren´t playing, and they were even more comfortable than they look on TV. I can´t figure out why they make them so comfy, since it´s hard to compel yourself enough to get up after you´ve been in one. After that, we had free time so we went out and got some amazing tapas from a place that was brimming with Spaniards. I tried pigs ears for the first time, and aside from unnervingly chewy texture, they were extremely delicious. After that we got a beer from a microbrewey (these are all but non-existent in Spain), and it was easily the best beer I´ve had since I´ve been abroad. It got me really excited for Spring Break in Belgium. We went back to the hotel with intentions of going out, but never quite made it. It was raining pretty hard at that point, so we couldn´t muster up the desire to stomp around and get soaked.
Up early again Sunday morning to check out of the hotel, after which we visited the Prado Museum. It was impressively large and held many famous paintings I had previously only seen in books. There was a lot of dark, twisted stuff in their which appealed to my devious sensibilities. I´m not generally big on art museums, but this one really pulled me in. Maybe I´m finally starting to appreciate fine art a bit more as I get older. We checked out the beautiful Parque del Retiro. It reminds me a lot of Central Park in New York, since it´s sufficiently massive enough to make me forget I´m still in a major city. We sauntered about there for an hour, then Eric and I split from the group (which was going back to Alicante anyway) and headed to the train station... Next stop: Valencia for Las Fallas.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I didn´t bring my camera, which I regretted almost immediately when I stepped out of the train station. There were so many friggin people everywhere it was absolutely ridiculous. There was lots of music on the streets and at every semi-major intersection there was gigantic papier-mache and wood floats (Las Fallas). I really wish I had pictures of these because they were absolutely beautiful. They were generally topical, addressing some sort of theme or issue, some serious, some not at all so. Every year there is a competition for the best one, which gets placed in Ayuntamiento Square (where town hall is. every city has one). The winner this year was a tall skinny lady with a Peace sign medallion, holding a baby, with some other naked ladies around her and a bunch of other smaller crap going on around the bottom. I can´t even begin to understand what the theme was, but it sure did look cool. We walked around for a while and then watched the Fire Parade, which was a large procession of people dressed in red with many forms of spark-producing devices. Basically it was a sulfurous mayhem. Very cool. We chilled in someone´s hotel for a bit (a few people in our program got hotels, but we thought it too expensive and not worth the trouble), then went out into the night to find food and celebrate. Around 10 or 11 they started going from intersection to intersection burning down each Falla. The Bomberos (firefighters) sprayed water around the edges so the fire wouldn´t spread, but these things sure did burn fast! We caught a couple of them, but they move fast from one to the other down the street. I think I was reading that there was somewhere over 60 Fallas total spread across the city. After that, we headed back towards Ayuntamiento Square and waited for the burning of the winning Falla. It started with a crazy fireworks display, and then all of a sudden the whole thing was up in flames. It was claustrophobically crowded with people pushing from all sides, but it was still a spectacular sight to behold. Things started dispersing soon after, and we took to the task of keeping ourselves awake until we had to catch our bus at 6:15 (AM). We followed some Puerto Rican friends around for a while, although it was getting tough to find stuff to do as the early morning crept on. It was Sunday night/Monday morning after all. I guess the bus ride back took 3 hours (much longer than it should have), but I wouldn´t have known as I was dead asleep from the minute I sat down on the bus until we arrived in Alicante. I proceeded to sleep through most of today.
So that was my weekend. I´d post more about other stuff, but the computer lab is closing soon and I wanna get home for dinner anyway. I´ll try to get back on and post more general reflection stuff in the coming days, although I have a presentation to prepare for my history class on Wednesday, so I have a lot to keep me occupied at the moment. I´ll try to have pictures of Madrid up ASAP, although they aren´t terribly exciting to be honest.
Rosen out.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Showers are for Ignorant Americans.
Time to pinch a quick one out, since I´m off for a long weekend adventure tomorrow.
Had my language class midterm, and it went rather well, yo creo. Wednesday we had the long form writing section which consisted of me talking about my intercambio and the intercambio program in general. I hammed it up, which probably wasn´t necessary since we´re being graded on our ability to form coherent thoughts on paper, not kiss ass. I figured it couldn´t hurt to talk up something that my teacher associates herself with though, and I really do think it´s a good program. Today was the grammar part of the exam, which I studied a lot for, but still found to be a pretty big challenge. They threw in a lot of tricks to trip us up, but I think I was wise to most of them. If I had to guess my grade, I´d say 7´3 or so which translates to about a B. I´m still clueless when it comes to differentiating when to use the future imperfect, future perfect, or conditional tenses, but that´s just because my teacher isn´t very good. Ho hum.
Only one other midterm left and that isn´t for a week or two. I´ll be sweating pretty hard, as it´s for Literature class, which I´m
1) not a fan of (mainly because of the teacher)
2) not doing very well in from what i can tell
Not that we´ve actually had any assignments yet (one, but it hasn´t been graded yet). I just have a really hard time understanding the nuances of poetry when it´s in Spanish. This is likely because I´m struggling to understand the literal words themselves, nevermind the deep metaphorical craftwork. I feel like I´d do a lot better in this class if I had an extra semester and became better acclimated with the language first. In conclusion, I´ll worry about the mid-term as it approaches.
Had my language class midterm, and it went rather well, yo creo. Wednesday we had the long form writing section which consisted of me talking about my intercambio and the intercambio program in general. I hammed it up, which probably wasn´t necessary since we´re being graded on our ability to form coherent thoughts on paper, not kiss ass. I figured it couldn´t hurt to talk up something that my teacher associates herself with though, and I really do think it´s a good program. Today was the grammar part of the exam, which I studied a lot for, but still found to be a pretty big challenge. They threw in a lot of tricks to trip us up, but I think I was wise to most of them. If I had to guess my grade, I´d say 7´3 or so which translates to about a B. I´m still clueless when it comes to differentiating when to use the future imperfect, future perfect, or conditional tenses, but that´s just because my teacher isn´t very good. Ho hum.
Only one other midterm left and that isn´t for a week or two. I´ll be sweating pretty hard, as it´s for Literature class, which I´m
1) not a fan of (mainly because of the teacher)
2) not doing very well in from what i can tell
Not that we´ve actually had any assignments yet (one, but it hasn´t been graded yet). I just have a really hard time understanding the nuances of poetry when it´s in Spanish. This is likely because I´m struggling to understand the literal words themselves, nevermind the deep metaphorical craftwork. I feel like I´d do a lot better in this class if I had an extra semester and became better acclimated with the language first. In conclusion, I´ll worry about the mid-term as it approaches.
So yeah, Madrid tomorrow after class. Weather doesn´t look like it´s shaping up to be terribly pleasant, but I suppose there´s not much that can be done with that. We have a pretty full schedule planned, so it´ll be a hectic weekend. Sunday, Eric and I are breaking off from the group to head down to Valencia for the last day/night of Las Fallas. I´ve mentioned Las Fallas in former posts, but it´s basically one of the largest festivals in Spain (possibly THE largest). It runs all week (although festivities seem to leak over both ends), and culminates with the burning of giant floats Sunday at midnight. This last night isn´t quite as rampantly debaucherous as the Friday and Saturday night leading in to it, from what I´ve heard, but I can imagine things will be still be plenty wild enough for me, especially after a weekend of sightseeing in Madrid. If I bring my camera I´ll try to take lots of pics, although pickpockets are at the top of their game during the festival (not sure the same will be able to be said about me), so I might leave it behind.
One more thing before I leave you. It relates to the rising temperature... again. Now I complained about the no shorts thing last post, which really isn´t a very big deal. It´s mostly just annoying how I get dirty looks from old people for deciding to wear shorts when its warm out. When I think about though, sometimes I get dirty looks from old people in the States for wearing shorts, so no big deal. Now I want to talk about the issue of the B.O. Spain, from what I´ve always heard, isn´t known to be a smelly country, and for the most part it isn´t... most of the year. I mean, when you hear of smelly Europeans, you hear about the French, right?. Well, Spain ain´t so peachy fresh either. I haven´t figured out yet if Spaniards wear much deoderant or not, but my observations (visual and otherwise) point to a resounding no. I´ve already figured out that Spanish people have a generally laid back attitude about showering. They do infact shower, but they don´t care enough to do it every day or even every other day if they don´t feel like it or don´t feel they have time for it. The combination of these two facts (the former having been recently discovered), and the recent spike in hot, humid weather has wound around and hit me squarely in the nose in an unpleasantly surprising manner. Right now, the computer lab -where there is the added heat of the computers and ventilation is apparantly non-existent- smells only slightly better than a typical (well-ventilated) gym does in the U.S. Don´t bother asking what gyms here smell like, use your imagination. In all honesty, this is only a minor gripe, as I´m sure my nose will become accustomed to that sour grapefruity underarm stench. I thought it worth mentioning only because it is my first experience -exception taken to Florida flea markets- with an entire culture that can reek pretty bad and not care one tick about it. Good for Spain and its water conservation efforts (or something). And good for me, since now I have an extra excuse not to shower regularly. SWEET.
Well, time to be off and into the day. I will return with stories of the weekend sometime in the coming days, but until then, you´ll have to occupy yourselves with less viscerally stimulating activities. Ho hum.
Hassaloowayohhhh
(that´s, phonetically, how Spaniards say "hasta luego")
Monday, March 13, 2006
Bodegas, too Much Pants, and The Beach
Nothing terribly new to post on, but I´ll try to pinch one out anyway, since I´ll be busy studying for a midterm the rest of the week.
The weekend was mostly a laid-back affair, starting with a typical Friday night. Saturday we went to the bodega-laden pueblo/city of Jumilla (believe me, city is a big stretch). A Spanish bodega is not a small convenience store as is the case on our side of the Atlantic. A bodega here is where they age and process grapes, and eventually bottle them as wine. The vineyard is usually in another location altogether (the first bodega we went to had many of its grapes flown in from Iraq, interestingly enough). Anyway, I´ve been on vineyard tours before in the States which included all the fermentation and bottling process with it, so it wasn´t a terribly interesting time as nothing new was really learned. The first bodega we went to bottled real cheap wine, so I didn´t bother buying any, but the second one had some decent stuff so I picked up a bottle. I took some pics, but I may not even post them since they aren´t terribly cool. Maybe a few...
After returning from Jumilla early in the evening I had a fairly typical Saturday night as well, without much interesting stuff going on.
Sunday was cool because I discovered the group of kids that play ultimate frisbee on the beach several times a week. My ankles feel like hell today, and every muscle in my leg is sore from spazzing around in the sand for 2 hours straight, but at least I have a new (fun) form of excercise. Plus, I can sharpen up my ultimate skills up while abroad.
I have a midterm this week for my language class, which is making me kind of nervous. It takes two days to complete, which is a bit on the daunting side (what the hell is the final going to be like?!). Concentrating on school is getting more difficult with the nice weather calling me every day. I can already see Alicante beginning to metamorphize into the tourist-laden werewolf-beast it inevitably turns into every summer. It´s not an atmosphere that is terribly conducive to being productive in school.
Oh, and this is kind of bothersome to me. Spaniards don´t wear shorts. They just don´t. They wear bathing suits to the beach, but other than that it´s pants, pants, pants. Not only that, but they give us dirty looks for wearing them. I´m guessing they assume all of us shorts-bearing folks are just tourists here to get drunk off their cheap beer and puke on their sidewalks, but there´s also a bunch of us here to take in real Spanish culture and not stick out so rudely. Just because we don´t have the gene Spaniards do that makes them not sweat while they walk around in black pants and winter coats in 75 degree weather doesn´t mean we should have to suffer just to look like we aren´t tourists. I can´t imagine this incessant pants-wearing going on when it starts climbing up into the 90s and above, but I´m waiting to see for myself. Gah.
I´ve been feeling a little frustrated lately with language. My language learning feels a lot like a roller-coaster sometimes, because I´ll have a week where I feel great and I can communicate and understand really well, and other weeks where I feel completely stupid, like everything in my brain has shut down. I think part of this might be because in classes we keep forging ahead with new stuff (now mostly stuff I won´t even use in conversation), while I want to spend more time on the useful things I do use everyday. Also, it just feels like stuff leaks out sometimes. I only have so much room for new vocab in there, so less-common or highly situational words that I learn escape me often unless I make it a point to pound them into my head. I really wish I had an intercambio that lived in Alicante (rather than a 45 minute busride away from Alicante) so I could hang out more often and get more practice in with people my age. I guess it´s just something I have to keep working at.
On a more positive note, I´m psyched to go to Madrid this weekend, then on to Valencia to catch the last night of Las Fallas. It´ll be nice after my week of mid-term stress, and I´ll finally get to see some real hardcore Spanish partying. Awesome.
Must run now, I have a bus to catch, and a subsequent lunch to eat. Gonna try to get the mop cut later today, hopefully into a quasi-mullet (I still have a long way to go before I´ll have a real party in the back). Next I´ll just need to cut the sleeves off my t-shirts, then go shopping for flood pants. Then I´ll be Spanish. Yeah, that´s the ticket.
Hasta luego
The weekend was mostly a laid-back affair, starting with a typical Friday night. Saturday we went to the bodega-laden pueblo/city of Jumilla (believe me, city is a big stretch). A Spanish bodega is not a small convenience store as is the case on our side of the Atlantic. A bodega here is where they age and process grapes, and eventually bottle them as wine. The vineyard is usually in another location altogether (the first bodega we went to had many of its grapes flown in from Iraq, interestingly enough). Anyway, I´ve been on vineyard tours before in the States which included all the fermentation and bottling process with it, so it wasn´t a terribly interesting time as nothing new was really learned. The first bodega we went to bottled real cheap wine, so I didn´t bother buying any, but the second one had some decent stuff so I picked up a bottle. I took some pics, but I may not even post them since they aren´t terribly cool. Maybe a few...
After returning from Jumilla early in the evening I had a fairly typical Saturday night as well, without much interesting stuff going on.
Sunday was cool because I discovered the group of kids that play ultimate frisbee on the beach several times a week. My ankles feel like hell today, and every muscle in my leg is sore from spazzing around in the sand for 2 hours straight, but at least I have a new (fun) form of excercise. Plus, I can sharpen up my ultimate skills up while abroad.
I have a midterm this week for my language class, which is making me kind of nervous. It takes two days to complete, which is a bit on the daunting side (what the hell is the final going to be like?!). Concentrating on school is getting more difficult with the nice weather calling me every day. I can already see Alicante beginning to metamorphize into the tourist-laden werewolf-beast it inevitably turns into every summer. It´s not an atmosphere that is terribly conducive to being productive in school.
Oh, and this is kind of bothersome to me. Spaniards don´t wear shorts. They just don´t. They wear bathing suits to the beach, but other than that it´s pants, pants, pants. Not only that, but they give us dirty looks for wearing them. I´m guessing they assume all of us shorts-bearing folks are just tourists here to get drunk off their cheap beer and puke on their sidewalks, but there´s also a bunch of us here to take in real Spanish culture and not stick out so rudely. Just because we don´t have the gene Spaniards do that makes them not sweat while they walk around in black pants and winter coats in 75 degree weather doesn´t mean we should have to suffer just to look like we aren´t tourists. I can´t imagine this incessant pants-wearing going on when it starts climbing up into the 90s and above, but I´m waiting to see for myself. Gah.
I´ve been feeling a little frustrated lately with language. My language learning feels a lot like a roller-coaster sometimes, because I´ll have a week where I feel great and I can communicate and understand really well, and other weeks where I feel completely stupid, like everything in my brain has shut down. I think part of this might be because in classes we keep forging ahead with new stuff (now mostly stuff I won´t even use in conversation), while I want to spend more time on the useful things I do use everyday. Also, it just feels like stuff leaks out sometimes. I only have so much room for new vocab in there, so less-common or highly situational words that I learn escape me often unless I make it a point to pound them into my head. I really wish I had an intercambio that lived in Alicante (rather than a 45 minute busride away from Alicante) so I could hang out more often and get more practice in with people my age. I guess it´s just something I have to keep working at.
On a more positive note, I´m psyched to go to Madrid this weekend, then on to Valencia to catch the last night of Las Fallas. It´ll be nice after my week of mid-term stress, and I´ll finally get to see some real hardcore Spanish partying. Awesome.
Must run now, I have a bus to catch, and a subsequent lunch to eat. Gonna try to get the mop cut later today, hopefully into a quasi-mullet (I still have a long way to go before I´ll have a real party in the back). Next I´ll just need to cut the sleeves off my t-shirts, then go shopping for flood pants. Then I´ll be Spanish. Yeah, that´s the ticket.
Hasta luego
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