2-7
Last night we went out to the Ballet Folclórico de Madrid, which was a sampling of folk dances from all around Spain. It was amazing! There were so many different kinds, and yet all of them were distinctly Spanish. Each region had its own costume, with lots of bright colors and fringe that fanned out when they spun. There were also tons of castanets (I think they call them castañuelas or something); almost every dancer had them in every dance. I’m still trying to figure out how they play them. There was such control with the precise rhythms, and everyone played exactly in unison. Patricia told us the theory behind how to make a sound: you hang them from your thumb and shake your had to get it to click, I guess. They also made a sound like a drumroll, where you run your fingers along it really fast, which sounded really cool. But she said it’s really hard to master. All I know is that every time I’ve tried I haven’t been able to do it. Maybe now that I’ve seen it done and tried to study the technique I’ll be able to do it better. There was a group of musicians along the back wall of the stage that played for all the dances. It was mostly guitars and bandurrias, which are lute-like instruments, and a regular lute, but there were also accordions, drums, tambourine, a string bass, and singers. It all sounded very Spanish. There was one set of dances that used a bagpipe band! It was so cool, albeit unexpected. There were two bagpipes, but they weren’t the traditional Scottish kind with three drones and all. These had one drone that stuck up over the shoulder, and there was one thing that looked like a drone that came off near the chanter part on the bottom. I don’t know if there’s a specific name for that kind of bagpipe. They were fantastic, though. I’ve never heard bagpipes play so well in tune, whether they were playing unison or harmony. They played with a drum and . . . and . . . oh, what was the other instrument? Crap, I can’t remember. Maybe some kind of stringed thing. That along with the castanets, of course. It was really cool.
The first half we had to sit up in the nosebleed section (which actually wasn’t super high because it was a pretty small theatre) because we came in late. This makes me mad: we were waiting on one of the girls, Katie, who’s always late. We were supposed to meet at 7:45 for an 8:30 show, and by 8:30 she still wasn’t there. We actually forgot about her at first and started walking to the theatre, and then someone realized she wasn’t there, so Patricia and a couple other people went back for her and the rest of us went on. Around 8:30 Katie called one of the girls in our group and said she was at the metro station but didn’t know where Patricia and the others were. She said she was late because she was drinking with a guy who kept begging her not to leave. And she said she hadn’t taken into account the time it would take to travel to the theatre. My two cents: if you get lost or something that’s one thing. But if you’re going to be late because of something like that you need to call so that the rest of us can go in and watch the show. It wasn’t fair for her to ruin it for everyone else because her drinking buddy didn’t want her to go. So we called Patricia and she came on back with the tickets so we could all go in, and then I think she waited for Katie outside. We were only about 5 or 10 minutes late, but it was still frustrating. And then we got stuck up at the top. Which was actually not too bad, because we could see all the cool formations of the dance. It seemed like a lot of it was based on different shapes. There were some that worked primarily with circles, and different ways of manipulating the circle while still all holding hands. Another dance involved mostly straight lines and squares. That was the set with the bagpipe band. We were still close enough that we could see most of the details, but far enough away to see the big picture, too.
The second half we went to the seats on our tickets, which were first and second row! I was in the front. It was harder to see the formations from there, but it was really cool because we were probably 10 feet away from the stage so we could see everything! The stage was low enough that we could see the dancers’ feet and everything, along with the details of their costumes. I spent a lot of time trying to see how they played the castanets, but it mostly just looked like they were flicking their hands around.
At the end of each dance, or even in the middle of them after something particularly good, people in the audience were shouting things like ‘ole’ or ‘guapo,’ just like all the stereotypes of bullrings and stuff. It amused me. Also, sometimes the dancers would shout things too, while they were dancing. It gave it a very informal, folksy feel. Which I guess is the intention.
So after this night of amazing dancing most of the group decided to go to a black and white party that someone’s friend was having. I was the only one who didn’t want to go, so I got to take the metro home all by myself at like 11:30 at night. The theatre is at the north end of the city, so it took like an hour. And all the while, there were getting fewer and fewer people and I was getting more and more nervous. Finally I got to the last time I had to change metro lines, and the sign that normally says how long until the next metro said the next metro will not admit passengers. Oh no! So I wasn’t sure if there was going to be another one after that that would, but there were a few other people waiting so I decided to wait. No metro ever came that wasn’t admitting passengers, so I don’t know what that was about. But I had to wait about 15 minutes for the next one to come. I was so relieved when it did, let me tell you. There wasn’t really anything shady going on, and there were enough people waiting that I didn’t feel really uncomfortable, but I was so ready to be home. And then of course when I got off there was a guy puking in the metro station. Gross. Anyway, it wasn’t a pleasant metro ride home.
Today I’m going to the Royal Palace with Katie. (Not the same Katie that was late.) I’m excited; I’ve seen pictures and it looks beautiful. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Bethany
Monday, February 9, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
February 6
Hi
I just got my final(ish) schedule for classes. I´ll put it on here in case anyone cares to know.
Monday I have Spanish Literature from 4-6 and History of Spain from 6-7.
Tuesday I have Cultural Studies from 12-1, Language from 2:30-4, Film from 4-5 and Spanish Literature from 5-6.
Wednesday I have Cultural Studies from 11-1 and History from 4-6.
Thursday I have Language from 2:30-4 and Film from 4-6.
Friday I have completely off!! Except if I decide to join the college choir, which meets from 6-10 Friday nights. I ´m going to go this Friday to check it out and see if it´s something I want to do.
So that´s my week. It´s nice I won´t have to wake up early any days, but it kinda sucks that they all go into the evening. Oh well, you can´t have it all.
Tonight we´re going to a show that includes a lot of different types of Spanish dances, including Flamenco, Fandango and some others I don´t remember. It should be fun.
Tomorrow night we´re going to this club that has 7 floors and is supposed to be really cool. It´s for Jeannette´s birthday. I was under the impression that we had celebrated her birthday last weekend, but she was like: I´ve been telling you about this! I don´t remember ever hearing about it. Anyway, we´re not meeting until 10, and she doesn´t know how long she´ll stay. If it´s past 1:30 when the metros close I´m leaving early, because I´m not taking the late bus home! She sort of said ´you´re coming, right?´ as if it were assumed, and I felt weird saying no, especially since it´s for her birthday. And she´s one of my friends, so I want to celebrate with her, just not really in that way. Hooray, another club. . . .
I´ve been thinking about spring break the past couple days. Jen´s pushing us to make plans, and I´m having a hard time thinking that far ahead already! I want to see some of the Spanish celebration of Holy Week, but maybe only for a day or two. I was thinking it would be a great time to do some traveling around to places we´re not going to in May, or to places where we were going to go mainly for me that the boys aren´t as interested in. I was thinking maybe I could go to Austria then, and maybe the Neuschwanstein castle and Munich. Jen was trying to get a group together to go to Rome, which would be cool, but that´s one of the places we´re definitely going to in May. So I kinda want to go somewhere else. But I also don´t want to go by myself. So I´m trying to find out what other people are doing.
I finally got both my Carlos III and Ripon emails working!! I had 81 new emails on my Ripon one!! I guess that´s what happens when I don´t check it for two weeks!
Well, I guess that´s all for today!
Bethany
I just got my final(ish) schedule for classes. I´ll put it on here in case anyone cares to know.
Monday I have Spanish Literature from 4-6 and History of Spain from 6-7.
Tuesday I have Cultural Studies from 12-1, Language from 2:30-4, Film from 4-5 and Spanish Literature from 5-6.
Wednesday I have Cultural Studies from 11-1 and History from 4-6.
Thursday I have Language from 2:30-4 and Film from 4-6.
Friday I have completely off!! Except if I decide to join the college choir, which meets from 6-10 Friday nights. I ´m going to go this Friday to check it out and see if it´s something I want to do.
So that´s my week. It´s nice I won´t have to wake up early any days, but it kinda sucks that they all go into the evening. Oh well, you can´t have it all.
Tonight we´re going to a show that includes a lot of different types of Spanish dances, including Flamenco, Fandango and some others I don´t remember. It should be fun.
Tomorrow night we´re going to this club that has 7 floors and is supposed to be really cool. It´s for Jeannette´s birthday. I was under the impression that we had celebrated her birthday last weekend, but she was like: I´ve been telling you about this! I don´t remember ever hearing about it. Anyway, we´re not meeting until 10, and she doesn´t know how long she´ll stay. If it´s past 1:30 when the metros close I´m leaving early, because I´m not taking the late bus home! She sort of said ´you´re coming, right?´ as if it were assumed, and I felt weird saying no, especially since it´s for her birthday. And she´s one of my friends, so I want to celebrate with her, just not really in that way. Hooray, another club. . . .
I´ve been thinking about spring break the past couple days. Jen´s pushing us to make plans, and I´m having a hard time thinking that far ahead already! I want to see some of the Spanish celebration of Holy Week, but maybe only for a day or two. I was thinking it would be a great time to do some traveling around to places we´re not going to in May, or to places where we were going to go mainly for me that the boys aren´t as interested in. I was thinking maybe I could go to Austria then, and maybe the Neuschwanstein castle and Munich. Jen was trying to get a group together to go to Rome, which would be cool, but that´s one of the places we´re definitely going to in May. So I kinda want to go somewhere else. But I also don´t want to go by myself. So I´m trying to find out what other people are doing.
I finally got both my Carlos III and Ripon emails working!! I had 81 new emails on my Ripon one!! I guess that´s what happens when I don´t check it for two weeks!
Well, I guess that´s all for today!
Bethany
February 5
2-5
Hi everyone,
I’ve been slacking a bit on the blog front. There hasn’t been much to tell the last few days. I had my oral placement exam yesterday and it went pretty well. It was really easy; just ten minutes or less of her asking about me and my Spanish experience. Patricia sent an email with the results of our placement testing, but obviously I didn’t get it. One of the other girls told me I´m in the high advanced level. The different levels are intermediate, advanced, high advanced, superior, and 2 levels of bilingual. I’m going to the university tomorrow to get the schedule for classes. I’m also having trouble activating my Carlos III email, so I’m going to try to figure that out too.
Yesterday afternoon I didn’t have any plans so I popped Shrek into the computer and watched it in Spanish. It’s funny to hear how they try to get the voices close to those of the original actors. Shrek was pretty good, but Donkey was kind of annoying. After that I started reading Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal. That’s right; I have Harry Potter in Spanish. I am just that awesome. I was going to buy the other ones when I was at a bookstore here, because I only have the first one, but the only ones I could find were in English and French. I suppose that’s because I was in the international section. It doesn’t make much sense to look for Spanish books in the international section of a Spanish store . . . . Oh, I did find them in another place, too, but they were hardback and too expensive. So I’ll have to look around. I know, I’m nerding out a little, but hey, I’m ok with that! J
Today I met with 4 other girls to be touristy. We were going to go to the Planetarium, but it was closed when we got there at 2:00. Stupid siesta. It wasn’t going to open again until 5, so we decided to save it for another day. We decided to go to Goya’s tomb instead, so we went to the metro stop closest to where it was, and then were trying to figure out where to go. This nice old lady saw us looking at the map and helped us (in English!) find where we were headed. She also gave us recommendations of places to go, like a couple of convents and stuff. We were heading toward Goya’s tomb, but we were all really hungry, so we found a restaurant to eat. They have 2 course meals here, with dessert and drinks included for a pretty reasonable price, so we did that. But there was only one person that we saw working there, and the service was really slow. It took us at least an hour and a half to eat lunch, if not more. By that time we were getting kind of tired and decided just to go to the Plaza Mayor (which was really close) to shop. We did that for a while, and then we went to another part of the city where there were lots of stores. It was getting late-ish and we were done shopping around 7 so we just went home. So I don’t feel like we really did much today. But that’s ok; we have plenty of time for sight-seeing.
I’ve been listening to piano music today. Currently playing: Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major, movement I (Allegramente). I had iTunes on random and then a Billy Joel piano piece came on and I got in the mood for piano music. I went through all my music and made a playlist of just piano solos and concertos. Oh, and I think there’s a duet in there somewhere. Good stuff. And I figure at least the instrumental music doesn’t get me thinking in English. I need to buy some Spanish music to listen to.
Manuel was encouraging me today at supper to find somewhere to teach English. I am still torn about that. I had thought about it before I left, and there was a time when I felt really strongly that I should and wanted to, and then I felt like maybe I didn’t want to and it would be too much. I think he was talking about a private tutoring kind of thing with just a couple students. I don’t know; it might be good, but on the other hand I don’t know if I have enough time I want to give up for that. I have classes into the evening almost every day, and I don’t really want to give up weekends. I don’t know! I’m torn. (Danny, are you thinking what I’m thinking? A certain song just popped into my head and I know it’s all your fault! J)
I found another, closer internet café on my block and then another one right next to my house. I don’t know how I missed them before. I just walked past, so I haven’t tried it out yet, but the closest one looked pretty nice just judging from looking in the window. I have to check that it’s still 1 euro an hour. But that was a nice surprise that it’s right next door!
I feel like I’m starting to get a cold. That sucks, because I was just recovering from one when I came here. I’ve been congested and runny since yesterday afternoon. (Side rant: How is it possible to be congested and runny at the same time?!?! It makes absolutely no sense and should not be physically possible!! Pick one so I can take the appropriate medicine and get better! Sorry, just had a little moment there. . . .) I hope it’s just allergies. Hrmmmm.
I think I’m going to read some HP and then call home.
‘Night all,
Bethany
Hi everyone,
I’ve been slacking a bit on the blog front. There hasn’t been much to tell the last few days. I had my oral placement exam yesterday and it went pretty well. It was really easy; just ten minutes or less of her asking about me and my Spanish experience. Patricia sent an email with the results of our placement testing, but obviously I didn’t get it. One of the other girls told me I´m in the high advanced level. The different levels are intermediate, advanced, high advanced, superior, and 2 levels of bilingual. I’m going to the university tomorrow to get the schedule for classes. I’m also having trouble activating my Carlos III email, so I’m going to try to figure that out too.
Yesterday afternoon I didn’t have any plans so I popped Shrek into the computer and watched it in Spanish. It’s funny to hear how they try to get the voices close to those of the original actors. Shrek was pretty good, but Donkey was kind of annoying. After that I started reading Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal. That’s right; I have Harry Potter in Spanish. I am just that awesome. I was going to buy the other ones when I was at a bookstore here, because I only have the first one, but the only ones I could find were in English and French. I suppose that’s because I was in the international section. It doesn’t make much sense to look for Spanish books in the international section of a Spanish store . . . . Oh, I did find them in another place, too, but they were hardback and too expensive. So I’ll have to look around. I know, I’m nerding out a little, but hey, I’m ok with that! J
Today I met with 4 other girls to be touristy. We were going to go to the Planetarium, but it was closed when we got there at 2:00. Stupid siesta. It wasn’t going to open again until 5, so we decided to save it for another day. We decided to go to Goya’s tomb instead, so we went to the metro stop closest to where it was, and then were trying to figure out where to go. This nice old lady saw us looking at the map and helped us (in English!) find where we were headed. She also gave us recommendations of places to go, like a couple of convents and stuff. We were heading toward Goya’s tomb, but we were all really hungry, so we found a restaurant to eat. They have 2 course meals here, with dessert and drinks included for a pretty reasonable price, so we did that. But there was only one person that we saw working there, and the service was really slow. It took us at least an hour and a half to eat lunch, if not more. By that time we were getting kind of tired and decided just to go to the Plaza Mayor (which was really close) to shop. We did that for a while, and then we went to another part of the city where there were lots of stores. It was getting late-ish and we were done shopping around 7 so we just went home. So I don’t feel like we really did much today. But that’s ok; we have plenty of time for sight-seeing.
I’ve been listening to piano music today. Currently playing: Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major, movement I (Allegramente). I had iTunes on random and then a Billy Joel piano piece came on and I got in the mood for piano music. I went through all my music and made a playlist of just piano solos and concertos. Oh, and I think there’s a duet in there somewhere. Good stuff. And I figure at least the instrumental music doesn’t get me thinking in English. I need to buy some Spanish music to listen to.
Manuel was encouraging me today at supper to find somewhere to teach English. I am still torn about that. I had thought about it before I left, and there was a time when I felt really strongly that I should and wanted to, and then I felt like maybe I didn’t want to and it would be too much. I think he was talking about a private tutoring kind of thing with just a couple students. I don’t know; it might be good, but on the other hand I don’t know if I have enough time I want to give up for that. I have classes into the evening almost every day, and I don’t really want to give up weekends. I don’t know! I’m torn. (Danny, are you thinking what I’m thinking? A certain song just popped into my head and I know it’s all your fault! J)
I found another, closer internet café on my block and then another one right next to my house. I don’t know how I missed them before. I just walked past, so I haven’t tried it out yet, but the closest one looked pretty nice just judging from looking in the window. I have to check that it’s still 1 euro an hour. But that was a nice surprise that it’s right next door!
I feel like I’m starting to get a cold. That sucks, because I was just recovering from one when I came here. I’ve been congested and runny since yesterday afternoon. (Side rant: How is it possible to be congested and runny at the same time?!?! It makes absolutely no sense and should not be physically possible!! Pick one so I can take the appropriate medicine and get better! Sorry, just had a little moment there. . . .) I hope it’s just allergies. Hrmmmm.
I think I’m going to read some HP and then call home.
‘Night all,
Bethany
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
February 2
2-2
Today was the first day at Carlos III University. We took a written placement test first thing in the morning, and then had a welcome reception. They served alcohol, and there are a few people in our group who apparently can’t control themselves. I’m sorry, but it is not necessary to have at least 4 glasses of wine at school. It’s school, not a bar. In the afternoon we had the professors from half of the classes come and present their topics. There are a few classes I’m really excited to take, like history of Spain and cultural studies. I think I’ve decided not to take the art class. Even though it would be really cool to have class in the museums, I have enough other classes I want to take more, and that would be the only class on a Friday. Otherwise I’m done at 6 on Thursday until Monday afternoon. I’m not sure of a definite schedule yet (I’m waiting for the other half of the presentations tomorrow to decide) but I think I’m going to take cultural studies, history of Spain, Spanish film, the mandatory Spanish grammar class, and either Spanish literature or short stories. I was thinking of taking a colloquial Spanish class, which I think would have been really good, but it conflicts with film. Stupid scheduling conflicts. I have an oral placement exam on Wednesday or Thursday. After tomorrow, it looks like there’s not much on the orientation except the oral exams. So the rest of the week should be easy. And it probably will drag on endlessly. Fun.
Today was all in Spanish, and I understood almost everything! Well, I guess that’s a lie. We still spoke some English among the AYA group. But there was a ton more Spanish today than ever before. And I knew what was going on! The professors are mostly easy to understand, and it seems like it’s not going to be any harder than the Spanish classes at Ripon. There will just be a lot more of them. I think the majority of the students studying at the study abroad section of Carlos III are Americans. At least, I heard a lot of American English. I’m not sure how many of them are going to start speaking seriously in Spanish. The professors stressed a lot today that you need to attend your classes, so I guess they’ve had problems with students skipping out and not being there to learn. So I wonder how many of the people there are just looking for an extended vacation. It makes it sound so intimidating when they’re talking so much about how important it is to be in classes, and how your grade will suffer if you’re not there, but then I remember that that’s what I do all the time anyway. They just make it sound like a big deal.
I’m tired. Concentrating so hard on what everyone is saying all day is exhausting. There’s probably not enough time for a siesta before supper, but maybe I’ll go to bed early. I feel like I say that all the time since I got here! Being in a foreign country is tiring!
Well, nothing more on my end tonight. Later, y’all.
Bethany
Today was the first day at Carlos III University. We took a written placement test first thing in the morning, and then had a welcome reception. They served alcohol, and there are a few people in our group who apparently can’t control themselves. I’m sorry, but it is not necessary to have at least 4 glasses of wine at school. It’s school, not a bar. In the afternoon we had the professors from half of the classes come and present their topics. There are a few classes I’m really excited to take, like history of Spain and cultural studies. I think I’ve decided not to take the art class. Even though it would be really cool to have class in the museums, I have enough other classes I want to take more, and that would be the only class on a Friday. Otherwise I’m done at 6 on Thursday until Monday afternoon. I’m not sure of a definite schedule yet (I’m waiting for the other half of the presentations tomorrow to decide) but I think I’m going to take cultural studies, history of Spain, Spanish film, the mandatory Spanish grammar class, and either Spanish literature or short stories. I was thinking of taking a colloquial Spanish class, which I think would have been really good, but it conflicts with film. Stupid scheduling conflicts. I have an oral placement exam on Wednesday or Thursday. After tomorrow, it looks like there’s not much on the orientation except the oral exams. So the rest of the week should be easy. And it probably will drag on endlessly. Fun.
Today was all in Spanish, and I understood almost everything! Well, I guess that’s a lie. We still spoke some English among the AYA group. But there was a ton more Spanish today than ever before. And I knew what was going on! The professors are mostly easy to understand, and it seems like it’s not going to be any harder than the Spanish classes at Ripon. There will just be a lot more of them. I think the majority of the students studying at the study abroad section of Carlos III are Americans. At least, I heard a lot of American English. I’m not sure how many of them are going to start speaking seriously in Spanish. The professors stressed a lot today that you need to attend your classes, so I guess they’ve had problems with students skipping out and not being there to learn. So I wonder how many of the people there are just looking for an extended vacation. It makes it sound so intimidating when they’re talking so much about how important it is to be in classes, and how your grade will suffer if you’re not there, but then I remember that that’s what I do all the time anyway. They just make it sound like a big deal.
I’m tired. Concentrating so hard on what everyone is saying all day is exhausting. There’s probably not enough time for a siesta before supper, but maybe I’ll go to bed early. I feel like I say that all the time since I got here! Being in a foreign country is tiring!
Well, nothing more on my end tonight. Later, y’all.
Bethany
February 1 again
2-1 #2
I just got yelled at for having my slippers on the couch. I was lying down reading and I had my feet up. I don’t even think the soles were touching the couch. She came in to tell me supper was ready and freaked out. She was like: don’t put your slippers on the couch, it costs a lot of money to wash and iron it (there’s a cover on it that I’m pretty sure she washes every week anyway because there was magically a different one on it today), you’re too used to the university but in a house you need to take care of things, put your slippers on the floor when you are on the couch, yadda yadda yadda. Then she rushed over to smooth out the couch cover, as if having slippers touching it would wrinkle it more than a person sitting there. Calm yourself, woman! They’re just slippers! They’ve never been outside; I only wear them in your freakishly clean house. It’s no different than putting socks or bare feet on the couch. I actually purposely put the slippers on because I thought she might not like my bare feet on the couch. Obviously I was wrong. I understand that she doesn’t want slippers on the couch, and that’s fine. But she could have just asked me not to do it instead of freaking out. I don’t remember the last time I was scolded like that. It doesn’t help that I’m super tired and a bit on edge. I wanna come home! No, I don’t. Only a little. I just won’t ever wear slippers on the couch again and it’ll be fine. I hope.
I just got yelled at for having my slippers on the couch. I was lying down reading and I had my feet up. I don’t even think the soles were touching the couch. She came in to tell me supper was ready and freaked out. She was like: don’t put your slippers on the couch, it costs a lot of money to wash and iron it (there’s a cover on it that I’m pretty sure she washes every week anyway because there was magically a different one on it today), you’re too used to the university but in a house you need to take care of things, put your slippers on the floor when you are on the couch, yadda yadda yadda. Then she rushed over to smooth out the couch cover, as if having slippers touching it would wrinkle it more than a person sitting there. Calm yourself, woman! They’re just slippers! They’ve never been outside; I only wear them in your freakishly clean house. It’s no different than putting socks or bare feet on the couch. I actually purposely put the slippers on because I thought she might not like my bare feet on the couch. Obviously I was wrong. I understand that she doesn’t want slippers on the couch, and that’s fine. But she could have just asked me not to do it instead of freaking out. I don’t remember the last time I was scolded like that. It doesn’t help that I’m super tired and a bit on edge. I wanna come home! No, I don’t. Only a little. I just won’t ever wear slippers on the couch again and it’ll be fine. I hope.
February 1
2-1
Katie and I went to the Museo del Prado today. It’s one of the three major art museums in Madrid. Again, no pictures allowed inside, but I got some of the outside. That alone is beautiful. It’s a huge museum. We were there for four and a half hours and only saw one floor. By the end we were like: this is too much art in one day! I know Janny would be shaking her head in disgust at us! J But it was really cool to see all these famous paintings and sculptures. Today we mostly saw late Renaissance and a lot of Baroque paintings, and some Classical-era sculpture. It was hard to believe that what we saw was 2000 years old and still in as good shape as it was! I wonder how many of the exhibits are originals and how many are copies. There are probably a lot of copies, especially with the older pieces. We saw a lot of Goya, and his Black Paintings. I think that’s what they were called. They were all really dark and grotesque. We saw some of his other stuff too. We saw Velazquez, el Greco, Rubens, Rembrandt, Tiepolo, Murillo, Van Dyck, Poussin, and tons more. There were also a whole lot of portraits of royal families. I wish I was more into paintings. I like them a lot, but I know many people who would have gotten a lot more out of such an amazing collection. There were a lot of the paintings that were really beautiful, but there were some really horrific ones, too. There were two of Saturn eating his son. The first one, by Goya, had the head and arm already gone and Saturn was biting off the other arm. That one was weird, but it wasn’t as terrifying as the other one I saw. I don’t remember who it was by; I think I was concentrating more on looking away after I saw it. Saturn was holding his son on his lap and taking a big bite out of his chest. It was so disturbing. If anything would give me nightmares it would be that. Ew. Anyway, Katie and I are going to go back another day to see the second floor. I think that has more of the earlier paintings, like the Italian Renaissance ones that I’m eager to see. It’s nice because the map of the museum they give you has a long list with thumbnails of masterpieces to see. So if you want an abbreviated tour of the museum the highlights are all right there. But we want to see all of it, of course! And I’ll have plenty of opportunities to see the museum because the art history class I want to take is held in the Prado! So that’ll be cool.
Today was tiring. I slept till 11, and it’s only 7:40 and I’m exhausted. It was funny; my señora was asking last night what my plans were for today, and I told her that I wanted to sleep in this morning. I got up at 11, took a shower, and didn’t even emerge from my room other than that until noon. She came in and asked if I wanted tea, and then she told me she was surprised I was up so early! Here I was thinking I slept the whole morning away. I wonder how late I would have to get up in order for her to consider it sleeping in.
Not much more to talk about now. Tomorrow I start school stuff! I’m looking forward to seeing what the classes are all about. This past week has been nice to explore the city and all that, but I want a set schedule. Then I’ll know how to plan my time and when I can talk to people on Skype!
Bethany
Katie and I went to the Museo del Prado today. It’s one of the three major art museums in Madrid. Again, no pictures allowed inside, but I got some of the outside. That alone is beautiful. It’s a huge museum. We were there for four and a half hours and only saw one floor. By the end we were like: this is too much art in one day! I know Janny would be shaking her head in disgust at us! J But it was really cool to see all these famous paintings and sculptures. Today we mostly saw late Renaissance and a lot of Baroque paintings, and some Classical-era sculpture. It was hard to believe that what we saw was 2000 years old and still in as good shape as it was! I wonder how many of the exhibits are originals and how many are copies. There are probably a lot of copies, especially with the older pieces. We saw a lot of Goya, and his Black Paintings. I think that’s what they were called. They were all really dark and grotesque. We saw some of his other stuff too. We saw Velazquez, el Greco, Rubens, Rembrandt, Tiepolo, Murillo, Van Dyck, Poussin, and tons more. There were also a whole lot of portraits of royal families. I wish I was more into paintings. I like them a lot, but I know many people who would have gotten a lot more out of such an amazing collection. There were a lot of the paintings that were really beautiful, but there were some really horrific ones, too. There were two of Saturn eating his son. The first one, by Goya, had the head and arm already gone and Saturn was biting off the other arm. That one was weird, but it wasn’t as terrifying as the other one I saw. I don’t remember who it was by; I think I was concentrating more on looking away after I saw it. Saturn was holding his son on his lap and taking a big bite out of his chest. It was so disturbing. If anything would give me nightmares it would be that. Ew. Anyway, Katie and I are going to go back another day to see the second floor. I think that has more of the earlier paintings, like the Italian Renaissance ones that I’m eager to see. It’s nice because the map of the museum they give you has a long list with thumbnails of masterpieces to see. So if you want an abbreviated tour of the museum the highlights are all right there. But we want to see all of it, of course! And I’ll have plenty of opportunities to see the museum because the art history class I want to take is held in the Prado! So that’ll be cool.
Today was tiring. I slept till 11, and it’s only 7:40 and I’m exhausted. It was funny; my señora was asking last night what my plans were for today, and I told her that I wanted to sleep in this morning. I got up at 11, took a shower, and didn’t even emerge from my room other than that until noon. She came in and asked if I wanted tea, and then she told me she was surprised I was up so early! Here I was thinking I slept the whole morning away. I wonder how late I would have to get up in order for her to consider it sleeping in.
Not much more to talk about now. Tomorrow I start school stuff! I’m looking forward to seeing what the classes are all about. This past week has been nice to explore the city and all that, but I want a set schedule. Then I’ll know how to plan my time and when I can talk to people on Skype!
Bethany
January 31 again
1-31 again
I forgot to mention that while we were out we made our way to the Plaza Mayor, where we stumbled across a show of Andalusian horses. There were tons of people there, so it was hard to see, not to mention the fact that there was a giant flag on a pole in front of us. But what I could see was interesting. I’m not really into horse shows and all that, but they did some crazy things. The horses danced almost in time to music, and did tricks. They reared up on their hind legs and jumped, and Katie said one of them clicked their back hooves, but I didn’t see that one. They also had a couple of the horses hop across the ring on their back legs like kangaroos. I wasn’t sure if it was cool or cruel. But anyway, I got to see a Spanish horse show in Spain! Jeannette was really excited because that was on her list of things to do and we just came across it accidentally.
The rest of the day we just shopped and looked for boots for Jen. Nothing exciting. But the horse show was kind of cool.
Bethany
I forgot to mention that while we were out we made our way to the Plaza Mayor, where we stumbled across a show of Andalusian horses. There were tons of people there, so it was hard to see, not to mention the fact that there was a giant flag on a pole in front of us. But what I could see was interesting. I’m not really into horse shows and all that, but they did some crazy things. The horses danced almost in time to music, and did tricks. They reared up on their hind legs and jumped, and Katie said one of them clicked their back hooves, but I didn’t see that one. They also had a couple of the horses hop across the ring on their back legs like kangaroos. I wasn’t sure if it was cool or cruel. But anyway, I got to see a Spanish horse show in Spain! Jeannette was really excited because that was on her list of things to do and we just came across it accidentally.
The rest of the day we just shopped and looked for boots for Jen. Nothing exciting. But the horse show was kind of cool.
Bethany
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