2-16
Warning: this is a long blog. Very long.
We just got back from Granada last night. Wow, what an experience that was! It was a student-led trip from the university, and it had to be one of the worst-planned and organized trips I’ve been on. I enjoyed the city and what we saw, but it was just so disorganized that it would have almost been worth it to go on our own instead.
We left Madrid on a huge double decker coach bus at 8:30 Friday morning. It was a 5 and a half hour bus ride, and we drove south through all of Castilla La Mancha into Andalusia. Those are two of the autonomous communities, in case you didn’t know. Granada is in Andalusia, which is the southernmost of the communities. It’s close-ish to the sea, but doesn’t have any coastline. It’s warmer there than Madrid, too; it was about 65 or 70 in the sun every day, but much colder in the shade. The scenery was beautiful; lots of rolling hills and fields. In some of the fields there were the ruins of little buildings with half a wall or no roof or something. I don’t know if they were ancient or not, but they looked like it, and in Spain you never know when something is 500 years old! When we were driving through Castilla La Mancha, there were a couple of times I saw Don Quixote-like windmills on a hill in the distance. They weren’t the windmills from the story (I think there’s a place where the supposed real ones are that you can go see), but it reminded me of it. And it was in La Mancha, so it was very cool. On the bus, we met three Italians that we hung out with for a lot of the weekend. There were two girls, Alessandra and I think Maria, and a boy, Riccardo. It was Riccardo that we hung out with most. He spoke English, but the girls only spoke Italian and Spanish. It was cool; they spoke Italian with us and we spoke Spanish with them, and we all understood each other! I knew that the languages were very similar, and I had heard that you could communicate using different languages, but it was a lot easier than I expected, and it was cool to experience!
When we got to Granada, they dropped us off at our two hostels. In the email they sent, they had told us we would be staying in hotels. I wasn’t sure if that meant a real hotel or a hostel, so I brought shampoo and soap and a towel just in case. But most of the other people in AYA who went were expecting a real hotel with all the accommodations included. Ryan (one of the guys in AYA) even said he expected there to be an iron and everything, which I thought was a bit much to expect even from a hotel. So they were all really upset about that miscommunication. The hostel we stayed at was down a narrow alley and it was a little dingy. It was pretty clean, but we were still wary. It was weird; when you walked in the front door it led into a kind of courtyard with an open roof and little balconies on the windows of the rooms above. It was pretty cool, except that the main area was then cold because it didn’t get much sun.
When we got there, they gave us a few hours to eat and do whatever we wanted before we took a walking tour of the city center. We didn’t know where we were or where to go, so we found somewhere close to eat and then met up for the tour. It was led by a student who seemed to know quite a bit about the various places, and I took lots of pictures. Granada was where the Muslims lived before they were kicked out in 1492, so there’s a lot of Muslim architecture and influence, with mosaic tiles and intricately worked plaster-ish stuff on the walls. A lot of the tourist shops had Arabic stuff in them. Granada also was the place where Christopher Columbus got permission from Ferdinand and Isabel to voyage to America. There’s a big statue of Columbus and Isabel in the Plaza de Isabel la Católica, which we used for a meeting place all weekend.
After the tour they dropped us off in the city center and gave us some more free time. We didn’t really know where we were or where the hostel was. This whole weekend, if we asked how to get somewhere the leaders told us to just ask someone on the street. They didn’t know how to get anywhere. So we just wandered around for a while and then eventually found the meeting place. We took a bus to this flamenco thing that was on our itinerary, which I assumed was at a theatre, but it wasn’t. Well, first the bus took us to the Almaycin, which is the ancient Muslim neighborhood with all white buildings were there’s a famous view by the church of St. Nicholas where it drops into a valley and you can see the Alhambra on the next hill, all illuminated at night (it was about 10:30). It was pretty, but it was freezing and we didn’t need to stay there long. Then the bus took us to the flamenco. Ryan described as an underground speakeasy, which is kind of what it seemed like. It wasn’t covert or anything, but it was in a small, low-ceilinged, long, narrow room where we sat around the perimeter so there was a kind of runway in the middle of the room. There were people that danced flamenco individually or in pairs, really close to us. It was kind of cool; we could see all the fancy footwork. It was like a kind of tap dancing; they would stamp out intricate and very fast rhythms with their feet, using their toes and their heels alternately, sometimes with guitar and singing, and sometimes with just people clapping. It was very loud in that little room, what with the stomping and at least two people clapping all the time.
We left the flamenco a little after midnight. On our itinerary, it said there was going to be a party at a club called L’Scandalo starting at midnight. Instead, we went to another club first, until about 1, and then moved on to L’Scandalo. I have no idea why they changed plans, but no one told us about it. We stayed at the other club until about 1:30, and then we wanted to go home, because we didn’t know where to go and we had a full weekend ahead of us. So all the AYA people and quite a few other people told the leaders that we wanted to go back to the hostel, and they sent one of the leaders with us. Only, he didn’t know where to go. We were wandering around the streets with a map, asking random people on the street how to get to our hostel. I think that if you’re going to be organizing a trip for students, you need to at least know how to get back to where you’re staying. That’s a must. It was ridiculous. It took us about a half hour to get home, and at one point when we were getting close, we got to a point that Ryan recognized and knew how to get home, but the other people thought it was the other way, so we split up. They ended up getting there a few minutes after we did. By this time it was 2 in the morning and we just went to bed.
The next morning we got up and went to the breakfast provided by the hostel: toast and jam. Really gourmet, but whatever. At 11:30 we got on a bus to go up to the Alhambra. I don’t think our bus driver knew where he was going, because we turned around at least 3 times, and it took us like a half hour to drive there (it only took about 20 minutes to walk back to the city center afterwards. Granted, there are a lot of one way streets and stuff, so that’s probably why it took so long). I don’t know how much everyone knows about the Alhambra, so I’m going to give a brief description. It’s an ancient city where the Muslim sultans lived in the 1100s. It was a city, but it’s really quite small, and all encompassed by the city of Granada today. It took only 20 years to build, which is amazing, because it’s several large buildings, and it’s very intricate. There were about 2000 people living there when it was used for that purpose. It’s got a main palace complex and then extensive gardens called the Generalife. When the Muslims were expelled from Spain in 1492, Ferdinand and Isabel were in Granada, but they didn’t live there. Their nephew, Emperor Charles (Carlos) V was going to make it the basis of his Spanish empire, and he lived there for about 6 months. During that time he had it added on to, making a round, Romanesque plaza sort of thing with columns where today they hold concerts and parties. It was only because Carlos V built onto it that the Alhambra wasn’t destroyed. All the other mosques and Arabic buildings were demolished in an attempt to wipe out all “heathenism.” After 6 months, though, Carlos decided that it was too far away from the hub of things to make it his home, so he moved somewhere else and abandoned the Alhambra. So, the Alhambra is one of the best and most famous examples of Muslim architecture in Spain.
It was beautiful. There were tiled mosaics on the walls and ceilings, and intricately carved plaster or something, I’m not really sure what it was made of. There were even some original carved wood shutters that were preserved by rubbing oil and dust into them. The ceilings were tall and pointed so that the middle was taller than the sides, and there were arches everywhere. The Muslims had tapped into a water source somewhere at the top of the hill and brought water into the complex where it had previously been all dry. They had some fountains, but also a lot of courtyards with pools of water that run so slowly that it looks like the water isn’t moving at all, so there’s a perfect reflection of the building. It was really cool. After the palace part of it, we went into the Generalife, which are the gardens. It’s on a hill, so there are different levels, and it has tall hedgerows that you can walk through and pathways with fountains and flowers (cheerily blooming in the middle of February!) There was even one huge bush I saw that had the middle carved out of it so you could walk inside! The Generalife was filled with all sorts of things that look like a stereotypical palace garden. It was beautiful. At the end of the tour, we walked down a street, I think it was called the Paseo de los Tristes or something like that, that is one of the oldest streets in Granada. It was downhill on cobblestones with small steps every few feet, and loose stones and very treacherous, so we couldn’t really look around at the buildings, but it was still cool.
When we got back to the city center (at about 3:30), our student leader was like: now’s free time, go do whatever you want. But again, we didn’t know where we were or how to get back, so we wandered until we found something familiar. The next thing on our itinerary was a party at a bar called Mae West, which said time to be determined. We realized after we separated from everyone else that they hadn’t told us what time we were supposed to meet. Of course. We assumed that it probably wasn’t until midnight or so, since that’s when the party the night before was, so we didn’t worry yet. We looked around some of the tourist shops, but once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all, so we decided to go back to the hostel to shower and rest for a while. We managed to find it on our own this time (yay!) and so we were there for about an hour when the rest of the people from AYA came back. We hung out in the hostel for the rest of the afternoon. We found out from our Italian friends that the party was going to be at 12ish, so we had a few hours. The club we were going to was supposedly a dress up one, so we put on our nice clothes and Ryan did everyone’s hair and Jillian did everyone’s make up and it was a fun little makeover session. We found out at about 11 that there had been a pre-party party at 10:30 that no one had told us about, but I’m not sure if that was for everyone or just a smaller group. But it didn’t matter. We were having fun in our hostel.
We didn’t even all meet to go to the club together. They had given us the name of it, but no directions or address, so some of the people in our group went on the computer downstairs in the hostel to MapQuest it and find out where the heck we were going. Right before we left, the Italians told us that they heard we were going to a different club first, that was close to Mae West. We all went together, which was good, because none of the AYA people knew where we were going. The first club was small and crowded, and I kept getting bumped and jostled, and it was annoying. They played some American music, but there was also some Spanish music, which is different from the other clubs I’ve been to. I actually tried to dance and have fun, and it was pretty ok for the first hour or so. But then I just got bored. Around 2:00, all the Erasmus students were herded out of that club, counted, and then taken over to Mae West. It looked like it was in a shopping mall. It was weird. But there was a huge flight of stairs that people were climbing and waiting in line to get in, and there was also an elevator. I don’t know why, but we all got in line for the elevator. Which took about a half hour longer than it would have if we had just climbed the stairs. That’s when we also got our coupons for two free drinks. There were basically two rooms to the club, off of a mall-like hallway. The bar part was absolutely packed; you had to wade through people, shoving them out of the way to get anywhere. It was ridiculous. We got our first drinks in there (I got a lemonade and vodka, which pretty much just tasted like lemonade even though there was a lot of vodka in there) and then went over to the pub. That was less crowded. Relatively. You could stand up on your own with a little bit of personal space. They played American music in there, but it wasn’t the normal bad club music. They played some Bon Jovi, and a Spanish version of “I Wanna Be Like You” from the Jungle Book, and Greased Lightning, and some other fun music. I decided that I might as well use my other drink ticket, because it was free and I couldn’t imagine two drinks would kill me. So I got vodka with orange soda. Again, a lot of vodka in that little glass. I’ve never had two drinks before in my life. I was a little dizzy, but I’m not sure how much of that was the alcohol and how much was the fact that it was going on 4 in the morning and I was about to fall asleep on my feet. I was feeling completely lucid, though, and perfectly fine other than that. When it was almost 4, the AYA people started talking about leaving. We all met in the hallway to make sure we had everyone. There were two people who had decided to go back into the bar, so we were trying to call them to let them know we were leaving. One of them didn’t have her phone on her, and the other one picked up, but we weren’t sure how much she could hear. Finally we got through and said we’re leaving, and she said ok, but we didn’t know if it was an ok you can leave or ok we’re coming. So Ryan went around the bar like 4 times looking for them, and finally we decided just to leave. We walked home with no incidents or getting lost (which was a huge relief) and got back to the hostel about quarter to 5 in the morning. I was so tired. Apparently the other girls got back about 15 minutes after we did, but I was asleep by that time. It was way past Bethany’s bed time.
The next morning we had to be out of the room by 10:30; a cruelly early time for us. Five hours of sleep just isn’t sufficient. But we did it, and then found out that there was no breakfast waiting for us. No idea why. So Katie and Jen and I went out into the city and found a little bakery/café where we bought breakfast. We were going to go to the Corte Ingles to buy some supper for the bus ride home, but it was Sunday, so it was closed. The Corte in Madrid is open on Sundays, so we weren’t expecting it to be closed, but I guess Madrid’s is just open because it’s a bigger city. Almost everything in Granada was closed except tourist shops and restaurants. In Spain, everything is closed on Sundays and often Mondays. What is open those days is generally closed from 2-5 for siesta. So the reason we were staying in Granada until the afternoon with nothing to do? I have no idea. We wandered around for a while, then got lunch and sat there at the tables outside in the sun for 3 hours (it took almost that long from the time we got there to the time we got our check; we only sat out for about a half hour after we paid). After that we found another bakery, bought food for the bus, and then sat on a bench along the street for another couple hours. We went back to the hostel to pick up our bags and found the rest of AYA there, so we chatted with them for about a half hour before it was time to meet up to go home.
The original email we had gotten said that we were going to get back to Madrid in the afternoon, so I told my señora I would be home for supper. But when we got there we found out that we weren’t leaving until 4. The bus was supposed to pick up the people from the other hostel at 3:45 and then come get us at 4. Of course it didn’t arrive until 4:30. But then we got on and drove home. I tried to sleep for the first part, and I think I almost succeeded, but not quite. I just listened to my iPod for the rest of the trip. We got back to Madrid at 10:15, and by the time I got home it was about 10:40. I talked to my parents for a while and then went to bed, glad to have a real bed again. I don’t have classes till 4 on Mondays, so I was able to sleep in this morning. I slept until 11:30, and by 2:00 I was ready for a nap! But I forced myself to stay awake and finish some homework. Now it’s 10:30 and I think I’m going to go to bed soon. 5:00 in the morning really is too much for me!
Oh, one more thing about how disorganized the trip was. Two girls from our group had a class on Friday morning, so they bought their own bus tickets to come after class. They arrived around 5:30 or 6. The Erasmus people had put them on a list of the hostel rooms so they would for sure have a room. I know they did that, because when we were all signing up for rooms, we switched one of them out so they would be in the same room (they had been in separate rooms) and I would take her place with my friends. Then the Erasmus people put up a big stink because they said we couldn’t switch it like that, so we put it back the way it was. When the girls got to Granada, they called the leader and were told to just ask people how to get to the hostel. Luckily they had picked up a map from the bus station. They found the hostel and then were told that there was no room for them there. So they went to the other hostel and were split up. One of them was told that she was going to have to room with 5 boys she didn’t know. I’m not sure how she got out of that, but I wouldn’t have done it either! Somehow they ended up together in a room full of strangers, but I have no idea how their hostel got changed. They said there were people there sleeping on the floor on mattresses, so I guess there weren’t enough beds for everyone. Then they didn’t know where we were or where we were meeting when, so they wandered around the city for a couple hours. They just happened across us when we were all gathering to go to the flamenco, and we left 5 minutes after they found us, so if they hadn’t been walking by at that exact time we would have left them. I couldn’t believe that the leaders were that irresponsible with two of their group. It was inexcusable that they weren’t given a place to meet or a time, and that their housing accommodations were changed without telling them, or that they weren’t given directions, or anything. The girls were almost in tears when they found us because they had no idea what they were going to do. It was unbelievable.
Anyway, that’s my rant/story about the weekend. All in all it was a good trip, just badly planned and organized. I’m glad I got to see Granada, but I wish we could have gone with Patricia instead. She would have made it a great trip. But whatever. It’s over now. And I’m going to bed.
G’night!
Bethany
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
February 11
I. Hate. The. Internet.
I tried for 45 minutes today to connect to the wifi on campus so I could Skype mom. I went to 4 different places with varying degrees of connectivity. Even when it said I had excellent connectivity, it wouldn´t connect. I got the internet to come up a couple of times, but only for a minute. Skype never connected. I have no idea why. I thought since there´s wifi on campus, surely I would be able to tap into it and use Skype. But no. I have no idea what´s going on, and frankly, I´m very angry. I don´t know if it´s my computer or the connection here, but somethign isn´t working. I´m inclined to think it´s my computer, because as far as I know other people are able to connect on their laptops just fine. I ran a diagnostic thingy on Internet Explorer and it said I couldn´t connect with HTTP or HTTPS or something else, and it may be related to my firewall settings. I tried turning the firewalls off, I tried turning them back on again, nothing worked. I don´t know what to change and I don´t want to screw anything up. Does anyone have any idea how to fix this?
Bethany
I tried for 45 minutes today to connect to the wifi on campus so I could Skype mom. I went to 4 different places with varying degrees of connectivity. Even when it said I had excellent connectivity, it wouldn´t connect. I got the internet to come up a couple of times, but only for a minute. Skype never connected. I have no idea why. I thought since there´s wifi on campus, surely I would be able to tap into it and use Skype. But no. I have no idea what´s going on, and frankly, I´m very angry. I don´t know if it´s my computer or the connection here, but somethign isn´t working. I´m inclined to think it´s my computer, because as far as I know other people are able to connect on their laptops just fine. I ran a diagnostic thingy on Internet Explorer and it said I couldn´t connect with HTTP or HTTPS or something else, and it may be related to my firewall settings. I tried turning the firewalls off, I tried turning them back on again, nothing worked. I don´t know what to change and I don´t want to screw anything up. Does anyone have any idea how to fix this?
Bethany
February 10
2-10
Second day of classes. Everything went really well. I think they’re all going to be interesting. My film professor is a little hard to understand because he speaks more quietly, and he has huge powerpoint slides that I’m trying to read as he’s talking, which never works out well. But in general, it was good.
I have another tiny señora story. Nothing bad, just a little odd. For my Spanish class we’re talking about introductions, and I had to speak with a Spaniard and get some information about them to write about. I decided I’d ask Rosaura, since I seem to talk more with Manuel in general. I waited until after supper because I wasn’t sure if she would want me to ask about homework at the dinner table. I went into the kitchen and asked if I could ask her some questions for homework. She said oh, you should have done that when we were all at the table eating, and then she called Manuel in to answer my questions. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that per se, but I just thought it was weird that she couldn’t do it herself. It was just a few questions about them growing up and where they went to school and simple stuff like that. But she had me wait while Manuel finished brushing his teeth and came in from the other room to do it. I don’t know if she didn’t understand that it was that simple, or if she didn’t want to help me, or if that’s just Manuel’s job to help with homework, or what. But it was a little strange. Oh well, the homework’s done, and now I know that if I need any homework help I should go to Manuel. Lesson learned.
I would like to take this opportunity to make a few cultural observations and comment about differences between Spain and the US.
1. PDA is everywhere! People make out on the streets, metros, busses, parks, stores, restaurants; everywhere! It’s weird. That’s private, please go find a room.
2. A lot of people have dogs and walk them down the streets. (That’s not the difference!) Half of the dogs aren’t on leashes, and a couple of them don’t seem to have owners anywhere nearby. Also, they are allowed to poop anywhere they want and the owners don’t pick it up. So there’s dog crap on the sidewalks. Gross.
3. Notebooks aren’t lined; they’re grids. I had such a hard time picking out school supplies because I didn’t want to write on a grid! There are notebooks with really big lines, that are for kids learning to write. So now I have vertical lines going through my words. I’m not sure how this is going to work out. Notebooks are also really expensive. The cheapest one subject I could find was 1.80 euro! Also, I couldn’t find any folders. Anywhere. The closest I got is this little portfolio thing held together with an elastic band. I’m a little nervous about it because the papers aren’t held in place by pockets or anything; just that little elastic band. I hope nothing falls out! If I’d known school supplies would be so hard to come by I’d have brought my own!
4. This one isn’t really a difference between countries, but more between big cities and little ones like Ripon or Oconomowoc. People don’t wait for the walk light to turn green before crossing the street. If there’s not a car coming they just go. Or sometimes even if there is a car coming they run. It was very unnerving at first, but I’m getting more used to it now.
5. The siesta is very annoying! All the little shops (not the big department stores and things like that) and some museums and other touristy things are closed from 1:30 or 2 until 4 or 5. That’s some of the prime shopping/touristing time during the day! It would be nice if I worked in a shop to have a time off, but when I’m trying to give them money and they’re closed, it’s frustrating. It’s also a little eerie, because the streets are sparsely populated during that time and I sometimes feel vulnerable when I go out then.
6. According to Katie’s señora, professors are rarely on time to class. I’ve had mixed experiences with my two days of classes. But I think in general Spaniards tend to be late for things.
7. Everyone always talks about how Americans eat so much and have such huge portion sizes. These people have not been to Spain! Each meal has 3 courses: a vegetable, a meat, and dessert. Usually I have a plate of steamed spinach (I told her I liked it the first time we had it and now she’s made it every day except one for a week! Ahh!), fish or meatballs or beef, and cheese for dessert. Plus a side salad. The other day I had eaten the salad and spinach, and she was giving me fish filets. She put two on my plate and when I said I didn’t want a third, she asked why I wasn’t hungry that day. Because I didn’t want three fish filets! Maybe their portions are a little smaller (it depends on the day and the food for me), but instead of Americans going back for seconds, they just have more courses. It’s a lot of food!
8. Along the same lines, Spaniards don’t snack. At least, not in my house. If you want something to eat between meals, you cook it. They do have chips and stuff, but I think a lot of people don’t buy them. I think they’re more popular among the younger people.
9. There are no dryers. People hang everything out on a line. This gives the streets a very quaint feel. But I’m used to fabric softener. My clothes feel stiff and rough when I put them on. I like dryers. But on the other hand, the clothes don’t shrink up, so they fit bigger. Which makes me feel like I’ve lost more weight and I need to go shopping for new clothes.
10. After washing, people iron everything. Ironing in itself is different from most Americans. But they don’t just iron shirts or dress pants or things that are wrinkled. I’m talking about jeans, pajamas, even underwear!! It’s awkward enough having a stranger wash my underwear, but when she irons it too, that’s just beyond weird. She makes so much more work for herself than is necessary! Who’s going to know or care if your underwear is ironed, anyway? I think this trend is mostly with the older generation. I don’t know how much ironing the younger women do.
11. I feel like in general people on the street are more amiable than in the states. If you stop someone to ask directions they’ll do it willingly and kindly. If someone sits next to you on the metro they don’t sit on the very edge of their seat as far away from you as possible and stare in the other direction as if you don’t exist. It’s common to greet people on elevators, or your bus driver, or other people you encounter. It makes me wonder if I seem rude if I don’t acknowledge someone I pass on the street. There are some people that don’t fit this description, but for the most part, people seem nicer here.
I can’t think of any more right now. I’ll add to the list as they come to me.
Well, I’m going to go to bed. G’night all!
Bethany
Second day of classes. Everything went really well. I think they’re all going to be interesting. My film professor is a little hard to understand because he speaks more quietly, and he has huge powerpoint slides that I’m trying to read as he’s talking, which never works out well. But in general, it was good.
I have another tiny señora story. Nothing bad, just a little odd. For my Spanish class we’re talking about introductions, and I had to speak with a Spaniard and get some information about them to write about. I decided I’d ask Rosaura, since I seem to talk more with Manuel in general. I waited until after supper because I wasn’t sure if she would want me to ask about homework at the dinner table. I went into the kitchen and asked if I could ask her some questions for homework. She said oh, you should have done that when we were all at the table eating, and then she called Manuel in to answer my questions. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that per se, but I just thought it was weird that she couldn’t do it herself. It was just a few questions about them growing up and where they went to school and simple stuff like that. But she had me wait while Manuel finished brushing his teeth and came in from the other room to do it. I don’t know if she didn’t understand that it was that simple, or if she didn’t want to help me, or if that’s just Manuel’s job to help with homework, or what. But it was a little strange. Oh well, the homework’s done, and now I know that if I need any homework help I should go to Manuel. Lesson learned.
I would like to take this opportunity to make a few cultural observations and comment about differences between Spain and the US.
1. PDA is everywhere! People make out on the streets, metros, busses, parks, stores, restaurants; everywhere! It’s weird. That’s private, please go find a room.
2. A lot of people have dogs and walk them down the streets. (That’s not the difference!) Half of the dogs aren’t on leashes, and a couple of them don’t seem to have owners anywhere nearby. Also, they are allowed to poop anywhere they want and the owners don’t pick it up. So there’s dog crap on the sidewalks. Gross.
3. Notebooks aren’t lined; they’re grids. I had such a hard time picking out school supplies because I didn’t want to write on a grid! There are notebooks with really big lines, that are for kids learning to write. So now I have vertical lines going through my words. I’m not sure how this is going to work out. Notebooks are also really expensive. The cheapest one subject I could find was 1.80 euro! Also, I couldn’t find any folders. Anywhere. The closest I got is this little portfolio thing held together with an elastic band. I’m a little nervous about it because the papers aren’t held in place by pockets or anything; just that little elastic band. I hope nothing falls out! If I’d known school supplies would be so hard to come by I’d have brought my own!
4. This one isn’t really a difference between countries, but more between big cities and little ones like Ripon or Oconomowoc. People don’t wait for the walk light to turn green before crossing the street. If there’s not a car coming they just go. Or sometimes even if there is a car coming they run. It was very unnerving at first, but I’m getting more used to it now.
5. The siesta is very annoying! All the little shops (not the big department stores and things like that) and some museums and other touristy things are closed from 1:30 or 2 until 4 or 5. That’s some of the prime shopping/touristing time during the day! It would be nice if I worked in a shop to have a time off, but when I’m trying to give them money and they’re closed, it’s frustrating. It’s also a little eerie, because the streets are sparsely populated during that time and I sometimes feel vulnerable when I go out then.
6. According to Katie’s señora, professors are rarely on time to class. I’ve had mixed experiences with my two days of classes. But I think in general Spaniards tend to be late for things.
7. Everyone always talks about how Americans eat so much and have such huge portion sizes. These people have not been to Spain! Each meal has 3 courses: a vegetable, a meat, and dessert. Usually I have a plate of steamed spinach (I told her I liked it the first time we had it and now she’s made it every day except one for a week! Ahh!), fish or meatballs or beef, and cheese for dessert. Plus a side salad. The other day I had eaten the salad and spinach, and she was giving me fish filets. She put two on my plate and when I said I didn’t want a third, she asked why I wasn’t hungry that day. Because I didn’t want three fish filets! Maybe their portions are a little smaller (it depends on the day and the food for me), but instead of Americans going back for seconds, they just have more courses. It’s a lot of food!
8. Along the same lines, Spaniards don’t snack. At least, not in my house. If you want something to eat between meals, you cook it. They do have chips and stuff, but I think a lot of people don’t buy them. I think they’re more popular among the younger people.
9. There are no dryers. People hang everything out on a line. This gives the streets a very quaint feel. But I’m used to fabric softener. My clothes feel stiff and rough when I put them on. I like dryers. But on the other hand, the clothes don’t shrink up, so they fit bigger. Which makes me feel like I’ve lost more weight and I need to go shopping for new clothes.
10. After washing, people iron everything. Ironing in itself is different from most Americans. But they don’t just iron shirts or dress pants or things that are wrinkled. I’m talking about jeans, pajamas, even underwear!! It’s awkward enough having a stranger wash my underwear, but when she irons it too, that’s just beyond weird. She makes so much more work for herself than is necessary! Who’s going to know or care if your underwear is ironed, anyway? I think this trend is mostly with the older generation. I don’t know how much ironing the younger women do.
11. I feel like in general people on the street are more amiable than in the states. If you stop someone to ask directions they’ll do it willingly and kindly. If someone sits next to you on the metro they don’t sit on the very edge of their seat as far away from you as possible and stare in the other direction as if you don’t exist. It’s common to greet people on elevators, or your bus driver, or other people you encounter. It makes me wonder if I seem rude if I don’t acknowledge someone I pass on the street. There are some people that don’t fit this description, but for the most part, people seem nicer here.
I can’t think of any more right now. I’ll add to the list as they come to me.
Well, I’m going to go to bed. G’night all!
Bethany
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
February 9
2-9
I just finished my first day of classes! It was actually a pretty easy day. My first class was from 4-6 and then I had one from 6-7. I got to campus before noon, though, to sign up for a trip to Granada hosted by the Erasmus Student Network for this weekend. That should be fun. Then I had 4 hours to kill, so I spent a lot of time on the internet emailing and researching plane tickets and hostels and the like.
My first class was Spanish Literature. It’s taught in two different sections, depending on the language ability of the students, but for this first week the professor who teaches the lower one, which is the one I’m in, is on vacation, so we were all supposed to meet with the other class. Of course, almost everyone forgot. There were like 15 or 20 of us waiting in this classroom for 15 minutes before we figured it out. So then we all trekked over to the other building. The class was pretty interesting. We talked about the pre-war genre of decadent literature. Then we started reading this weird book about a Countess whose daughter is supposedly possessed by the devil. It’s called Beatriz, and I’m not sure who the author is. They gave us a photocopy that didn’t have the title or the author on it. I thought that was strange. Anyway, our homework was to finish reading the handout, which was only about 5 pages. I’m already done.
The next class was History of Spain, which I’m pretty excited about. It covers all 3000 years of history, but very quickly. He wanted to know what periods we were interested in so that we could cover them more thoroughly. Most people said Franquismo, (the era of General Franco) or the Inquisition, which would be what I’m more interested in. I have a feeling we’re going to be spending more time on contemporary history rather than ancient or modern (modern meaning since the Renaissance), which would be more where my interests lie, but it will still be interesting. Well, I suppose we will spend a while on at least part of the Ren if we talk about the Inquisition. Anyway, I like history, so it should be good regardless.
Tomorrow I have 4 classes, but they’re all an hour or an hour and a half, so it won’t be too bad. I have one at noon, and the rest are all clustered from 2:30-6. I like not having classes early in the morning, especially since it takes 40 minutes to get there, but then I feel like I don’t have as much time at night to do homework, so then I feel like I should get up and do it in the morning. But I’m too lazy for that! I’ll have to see what the work load is like.
So, it’s looking pretty good! I’m really starting to feel settled here. It’s been a few days since I last wished I could go home right now! I’m so glad it’s getting better! I still miss everyone, of course, but it’s more tolerable now that I’m getting used to being a madrileña! (That’s a citizen of Madrid, in case you couldn’t figure it out.)
Chao!
Bethany
I just finished my first day of classes! It was actually a pretty easy day. My first class was from 4-6 and then I had one from 6-7. I got to campus before noon, though, to sign up for a trip to Granada hosted by the Erasmus Student Network for this weekend. That should be fun. Then I had 4 hours to kill, so I spent a lot of time on the internet emailing and researching plane tickets and hostels and the like.
My first class was Spanish Literature. It’s taught in two different sections, depending on the language ability of the students, but for this first week the professor who teaches the lower one, which is the one I’m in, is on vacation, so we were all supposed to meet with the other class. Of course, almost everyone forgot. There were like 15 or 20 of us waiting in this classroom for 15 minutes before we figured it out. So then we all trekked over to the other building. The class was pretty interesting. We talked about the pre-war genre of decadent literature. Then we started reading this weird book about a Countess whose daughter is supposedly possessed by the devil. It’s called Beatriz, and I’m not sure who the author is. They gave us a photocopy that didn’t have the title or the author on it. I thought that was strange. Anyway, our homework was to finish reading the handout, which was only about 5 pages. I’m already done.
The next class was History of Spain, which I’m pretty excited about. It covers all 3000 years of history, but very quickly. He wanted to know what periods we were interested in so that we could cover them more thoroughly. Most people said Franquismo, (the era of General Franco) or the Inquisition, which would be what I’m more interested in. I have a feeling we’re going to be spending more time on contemporary history rather than ancient or modern (modern meaning since the Renaissance), which would be more where my interests lie, but it will still be interesting. Well, I suppose we will spend a while on at least part of the Ren if we talk about the Inquisition. Anyway, I like history, so it should be good regardless.
Tomorrow I have 4 classes, but they’re all an hour or an hour and a half, so it won’t be too bad. I have one at noon, and the rest are all clustered from 2:30-6. I like not having classes early in the morning, especially since it takes 40 minutes to get there, but then I feel like I don’t have as much time at night to do homework, so then I feel like I should get up and do it in the morning. But I’m too lazy for that! I’ll have to see what the work load is like.
So, it’s looking pretty good! I’m really starting to feel settled here. It’s been a few days since I last wished I could go home right now! I’m so glad it’s getting better! I still miss everyone, of course, but it’s more tolerable now that I’m getting used to being a madrileña! (That’s a citizen of Madrid, in case you couldn’t figure it out.)
Chao!
Bethany
Monday, February 9, 2009
February 8 again
2-8 again
Manuel and I were talking at dinner about the universal health care system in Spain. Well, mostly he was talking and I was trying to keep up. He said that everyone, including immigrants, gets free health care, or at most they have to pay one euro, and many people bring their families from other countries here to be cured and then leave again. People also bring boatloads of people from Africa who are dying. He said they pay 4% in taxes for the health care system, and that way there’s plenty of money to keep up with the most up to date health care. He said people in Spain would rather pay more in taxes to provide health care for everyone else who needs it, rather than save money and deny health care to anyone. It was kind of funny, because he was getting more and more adamant and started talking faster and faster, and between that and Rosaura washing dishes and the radio playing American music I was having a hard time understanding everything. But it got me thinking about that difference between Spain and America. That willingness to give of your own money to help people you don’t know who are dying just doesn’t seem to be as present in the US. Maybe I’m just being cynical, and I’m sure Dad will call me out on this, but it seems like Americans would rather not pay taxes to save lives, and the health care businesses would pull their strings to keep it from becoming universal. Now I’m not going to pretend that I know a whole lot about the health care systems of these two countries. But it seems to me that health care is something that everyone is going to need at some point in their life, and I don’t think people should have to choose between getting cured and putting food on the table. A little compassion for others when it comes to your pocketbook would go a long way if we could get this system in place. I told Manuel that this was one of the big issues in the election, and that Obama wanted to start moving toward universal health care. I said I didn’t know if it would happen, but it was being talked about. He said that Clinton wanted to do that too, and it obviously didn’t happen, and he was very skeptical that it will happen under Obama. He said it was the cowardice of the US government that would keep it from happening. At that point my American patriotism got a little offended, but he was so adamant that I didn’t want to say anything and get pulled into a conversation way over my head, politically and language-wise. But regardless, I think the opportunity to have free, or at least cheap health care would be invaluable.
I wish I hadn’t left so soon after the election. I don’t know anything that’s happened with Obama since he froze the government salaries. In the airport in Philadelphia they were making a big stink about the music at the inauguration that was taped instead of live, and I was like seriously? This is what you’re worried about? Who cares? But I don’t watch TV here, and most of the news is Spanish or European anyway. Whenever there is news about America on the radio, I can’t really understand what’s going on. I feel very out of the loop with our new government. I suppose not a whole lot has happened in only 2 weeks, but still I wish I knew. This coming from me, who usually doesn’t care much about news or politics. Maybe when I’m on the internet tomorrow at school I’ll look up cnn.com or something like that.
Sorry for the political debate. It just got me thinking.
Bethany
Manuel and I were talking at dinner about the universal health care system in Spain. Well, mostly he was talking and I was trying to keep up. He said that everyone, including immigrants, gets free health care, or at most they have to pay one euro, and many people bring their families from other countries here to be cured and then leave again. People also bring boatloads of people from Africa who are dying. He said they pay 4% in taxes for the health care system, and that way there’s plenty of money to keep up with the most up to date health care. He said people in Spain would rather pay more in taxes to provide health care for everyone else who needs it, rather than save money and deny health care to anyone. It was kind of funny, because he was getting more and more adamant and started talking faster and faster, and between that and Rosaura washing dishes and the radio playing American music I was having a hard time understanding everything. But it got me thinking about that difference between Spain and America. That willingness to give of your own money to help people you don’t know who are dying just doesn’t seem to be as present in the US. Maybe I’m just being cynical, and I’m sure Dad will call me out on this, but it seems like Americans would rather not pay taxes to save lives, and the health care businesses would pull their strings to keep it from becoming universal. Now I’m not going to pretend that I know a whole lot about the health care systems of these two countries. But it seems to me that health care is something that everyone is going to need at some point in their life, and I don’t think people should have to choose between getting cured and putting food on the table. A little compassion for others when it comes to your pocketbook would go a long way if we could get this system in place. I told Manuel that this was one of the big issues in the election, and that Obama wanted to start moving toward universal health care. I said I didn’t know if it would happen, but it was being talked about. He said that Clinton wanted to do that too, and it obviously didn’t happen, and he was very skeptical that it will happen under Obama. He said it was the cowardice of the US government that would keep it from happening. At that point my American patriotism got a little offended, but he was so adamant that I didn’t want to say anything and get pulled into a conversation way over my head, politically and language-wise. But regardless, I think the opportunity to have free, or at least cheap health care would be invaluable.
I wish I hadn’t left so soon after the election. I don’t know anything that’s happened with Obama since he froze the government salaries. In the airport in Philadelphia they were making a big stink about the music at the inauguration that was taped instead of live, and I was like seriously? This is what you’re worried about? Who cares? But I don’t watch TV here, and most of the news is Spanish or European anyway. Whenever there is news about America on the radio, I can’t really understand what’s going on. I feel very out of the loop with our new government. I suppose not a whole lot has happened in only 2 weeks, but still I wish I knew. This coming from me, who usually doesn’t care much about news or politics. Maybe when I’m on the internet tomorrow at school I’ll look up cnn.com or something like that.
Sorry for the political debate. It just got me thinking.
Bethany
February 8
2-8
So after all that hype about the seven story club we were going to go to last night, it ended up not happening for me. It’s kind of a long story. Jen had told me on Friday that we were going to meet at Sol at 10:00 last night. I got there 10 minutes late and no one was there, so I called her. She said she had sent around a message that it wouldn’t be until 10:30 or 11 that we met, and if Katie hadn’t called to tell me that, she might not know either, so would I call her to make sure. So I called Katie, and she said she knew, but she had just gotten the message a few minutes ago and had forgotten to call me. So I figured by that time it was only 15 minutes till 10:30 so I would just wait there. I was going to go inside a store to wait and get warm, but they were all closed, so I just waited outside. A little after 10:30 Katie and Sara showed up, so we were all waiting for Jen and her boyfriend. Then we get a text. The club doesn’t open till 12:30, so let’s meet at 12:15. After we’re all there already. So we have almost 2 hours to burn. So Sara and Katie and I sat in a restaurant drinking juice for an hour and a half. I was hoping to leave the club by 12:30 at the latest so I wouldn’t miss the metro home, because I did not want to take a taxi. And Sara said it cost 15 euro to get in, which wouldn’t have been worth it if I was only going to be there for an hour or so. So at midnight I decided to go home. As I was leaving, we got another text from Jen saying that she’s there and what’s happening. We’re all like: we have no idea; you’re the one calling the shots. So I just got on the metro and went home. So, all that came out of last night was a nice conversation with Sara and Katie for an hour and a half while we waited. I felt kind of bad not going to the club since it was for Jen’s birthday, but I feel like we already celebrated that last weekend when we went around and saw the Andalusian horses and all that, and I wasn’t feeling the greatest to begin with. When we were going to be getting there two and a half hours later than I expected, I just wasn’t willing to do it. And I was a little frustrated with the lack of organization involved. So I went home, read Harry Potter, and went to sleep.
I didn’t wake up this morning until quarter to 12, and then I lay in bed for another half hour. I shouldn’t be as tired as I was, but I didn’t feel like getting up. So now it’s 12:40 and I think I’m going to get some tea from the kitchen. I don’t have any plans with anyone today. I was thinking about going to some of the shops around my house. It looks like some of them have some pretty good sales. And I don’t really feel like doing anything big today. I’ll see what happens.
Bethany
So after all that hype about the seven story club we were going to go to last night, it ended up not happening for me. It’s kind of a long story. Jen had told me on Friday that we were going to meet at Sol at 10:00 last night. I got there 10 minutes late and no one was there, so I called her. She said she had sent around a message that it wouldn’t be until 10:30 or 11 that we met, and if Katie hadn’t called to tell me that, she might not know either, so would I call her to make sure. So I called Katie, and she said she knew, but she had just gotten the message a few minutes ago and had forgotten to call me. So I figured by that time it was only 15 minutes till 10:30 so I would just wait there. I was going to go inside a store to wait and get warm, but they were all closed, so I just waited outside. A little after 10:30 Katie and Sara showed up, so we were all waiting for Jen and her boyfriend. Then we get a text. The club doesn’t open till 12:30, so let’s meet at 12:15. After we’re all there already. So we have almost 2 hours to burn. So Sara and Katie and I sat in a restaurant drinking juice for an hour and a half. I was hoping to leave the club by 12:30 at the latest so I wouldn’t miss the metro home, because I did not want to take a taxi. And Sara said it cost 15 euro to get in, which wouldn’t have been worth it if I was only going to be there for an hour or so. So at midnight I decided to go home. As I was leaving, we got another text from Jen saying that she’s there and what’s happening. We’re all like: we have no idea; you’re the one calling the shots. So I just got on the metro and went home. So, all that came out of last night was a nice conversation with Sara and Katie for an hour and a half while we waited. I felt kind of bad not going to the club since it was for Jen’s birthday, but I feel like we already celebrated that last weekend when we went around and saw the Andalusian horses and all that, and I wasn’t feeling the greatest to begin with. When we were going to be getting there two and a half hours later than I expected, I just wasn’t willing to do it. And I was a little frustrated with the lack of organization involved. So I went home, read Harry Potter, and went to sleep.
I didn’t wake up this morning until quarter to 12, and then I lay in bed for another half hour. I shouldn’t be as tired as I was, but I didn’t feel like getting up. So now it’s 12:40 and I think I’m going to get some tea from the kitchen. I don’t have any plans with anyone today. I was thinking about going to some of the shops around my house. It looks like some of them have some pretty good sales. And I don’t really feel like doing anything big today. I’ll see what happens.
Bethany
February 7 again
2-7 again
Katie and I just got back from the Royal Palace a little while ago. It was beautiful! There were three sections open to the public: the pharmacy, the armory, and the official rooms. We went to the pharmacy first. It was a huge collection of ceramic and glass jars that held all manner of herbs and liquids and remedies and spices and stuff like that that were used by kings in the past. I think most of them were from the 17- or 1800s. Most of them were labeled in Spanish, but a good few were in Latin. There was also a reproduction of a distillery, where there was a juice press thingy and lots of flasks and stuff like that. It was interesting, but one room was much like the next so there wasn’t a whole lot to see.
Next we went to the armory, which was awesome! The first room was dedicated almost exclusively to the armor of King Carlos V and his son King Felipe II. In case you don’t know, Carlos was king in the mid 1500s, and then obviously Felipe was right after him. It was weird to see things that belonged to people from history that we studied in school. There were swords and shields and helmets and gauntlets, as well as tons of plate armor for the people and their horses. I don’t know how many sets of armor each king had, but there was an entire wall dedicated to each. I would guess there were probably 10-15 sets for each wall. Not all of them were complete, but most of them were. There were also about 8 life-sized horse-and-rider models showing how the horse armor was worn over the cloth thingy whose name I can’t remember embroidered with the lord’s pattern, and the human dummies wearing full armor carrying lances. It was really cool to see. I was surprised at how ornate the armor was. There was some that was inlaid with gold, some with patterns etched into it, some with little scenes etched or painted on. It seemed a lot of work for something that’s going to be destroyed in battle. But they were beautiful. In that room were also a bunch of huge tapestries that were made for the kings. The room wasn’t well lit, and they were so big that you had to stand far away, so it was difficult to see them clearly, but they were amazing. I can’t imagine the work it would take to make something that huge! The biggest was probably 30x50 feet. It was hard to judge, though, because they were high up on the wall. There was another huge room with a bunch of smaller displays of armor and weapons that belonged to other nobility from the 1400s to the 16-or 1700s. There were even sets of armor for the princes; they were so small that they couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8 years old! No child that young should have need of armor! But there were more horse and rider displays of stunning armor, and tons of swords and shields and guns. (The following description is for Dad J) There were some really cool ancient guns, inlaid with gold and ivory. Some of them were small enough to be held in one hand, but there were some that must have been 10-15 feet long! But they didn’t look like canons; they looked like rifles with really, really long barrels. Even I was fascinated by them. I wish they would have allowed pictures so I could show dad, but of course, like every other cool place, pictures aren’t allowed. They also had an extensive display of really ornate saddles, with paintings or etchings of mythological scenes and courtly stuff on them, and lined with brocade or velvet. They were beautiful, and in amazingly good shape for being so old. I think the armory was my favorite part of the royal palace.
Last were the official rooms, which were breathtaking. I can’t imagine actually living in these places! Although, I should mention that the current king and queen don’t live there; they live in a more modest palace somewhere else in Madrid. Modest palace, ha! Anyway, this building is just used for state functions. It’s mostly set up in the way that Kings Carlos III and IV had it back in the late 1700s and early 1800s, although the building was used by kings up until 1931. Anyway, enough history lessons. The point is, that it was extravagant and beautiful, but hardly a place where anyone should feel comfortable living. There was a fresco on every ceiling, glass and crystal chandeliers, huge mirrors, damask and velvet wall coverings, tapestries, paintings, brocade curtains, marble floors, statues, you name it. We saw the drawing room, the throne room, what used to be the king’s bedroom and the room where he ate lunch (which looked nothing like a dining room and had a huge circular bench in the middle of the room with a giant golden statue on the pedestal in the middle), the dining hall, which used to be three rooms of the queen’s chambers but was converted at some point, and several other rooms. There was also a room displaying their silver collection, including dishes and silverware, but also decorative stuff. It was really funny, because there were a couple little silver cups with barcodes on the bottom! I don’t know if they were bought more recently, or if they were reproductions, or what, but it was strange. In one room was a model about a foot and a half high of Cellini’s Perseus, which is the statue Tiffany and I presented in our Renaissance class last semester. It made me miss Tiff! It was cool to see, even though it was so small, because it’s hard to get an idea of a statue from flat pictures. It really is a gruesome statue! There were lots of Romanesque statues too. There was a tour in front of us so we heard some of that as we were walking through. An English woman behind me said: ‘these people have all this bloody money and meanwhile the people outside are starving . . . it’s sick.’ Which is totally true; I can’t imagine how much money it must have taken to build the palace. Way more than I’ll ever see in a lifetime, that’s for sure! But it was amazingly cool to see.
After the palace Katie and I went to El Corte Ingles so I could buy some school supplies. Holy cow: their notebooks are expensive! The cheapest I found for a one subject was 1.80 euro. And they all have grids instead of lines, which I don’t understand. I ended up getting just one 6 subject notebook for now. And I couldn’t find any folders, so I got a little portfolio thing with dividers. But I think that’s going to bother me because the papers are just stuck in loose only being held in by the elastic that holds the binder closed! Grr! Had I known school supplies would suck so much here I would have brought my own from home!
Anyway, that was my day. I came home and tried to take a nap, but never actually fell asleep. Now I’m waiting for mom and dad to call. I’ve got to go to this club tonight, which I’m kind of dreading, but I don’t want to not go since it’s for a friend’s birthday. Maybe I’ll just duck out early. I don’t know how late she wants to stay, but I heard something about taking a taxi home, which means it would be after 1:30 when the metros close. Then she was talking about sharing a taxi home and splitting the cost, but I’m on entirely the opposite side of the city from everyone else. And I’m not willing to stay out that late two nights in a row. I had a bad enough experience last night to keep me away from late night excursions for a while.
Well, there’s nothing more really to say. I’ll write again soon.
Bethany
Katie and I just got back from the Royal Palace a little while ago. It was beautiful! There were three sections open to the public: the pharmacy, the armory, and the official rooms. We went to the pharmacy first. It was a huge collection of ceramic and glass jars that held all manner of herbs and liquids and remedies and spices and stuff like that that were used by kings in the past. I think most of them were from the 17- or 1800s. Most of them were labeled in Spanish, but a good few were in Latin. There was also a reproduction of a distillery, where there was a juice press thingy and lots of flasks and stuff like that. It was interesting, but one room was much like the next so there wasn’t a whole lot to see.
Next we went to the armory, which was awesome! The first room was dedicated almost exclusively to the armor of King Carlos V and his son King Felipe II. In case you don’t know, Carlos was king in the mid 1500s, and then obviously Felipe was right after him. It was weird to see things that belonged to people from history that we studied in school. There were swords and shields and helmets and gauntlets, as well as tons of plate armor for the people and their horses. I don’t know how many sets of armor each king had, but there was an entire wall dedicated to each. I would guess there were probably 10-15 sets for each wall. Not all of them were complete, but most of them were. There were also about 8 life-sized horse-and-rider models showing how the horse armor was worn over the cloth thingy whose name I can’t remember embroidered with the lord’s pattern, and the human dummies wearing full armor carrying lances. It was really cool to see. I was surprised at how ornate the armor was. There was some that was inlaid with gold, some with patterns etched into it, some with little scenes etched or painted on. It seemed a lot of work for something that’s going to be destroyed in battle. But they were beautiful. In that room were also a bunch of huge tapestries that were made for the kings. The room wasn’t well lit, and they were so big that you had to stand far away, so it was difficult to see them clearly, but they were amazing. I can’t imagine the work it would take to make something that huge! The biggest was probably 30x50 feet. It was hard to judge, though, because they were high up on the wall. There was another huge room with a bunch of smaller displays of armor and weapons that belonged to other nobility from the 1400s to the 16-or 1700s. There were even sets of armor for the princes; they were so small that they couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8 years old! No child that young should have need of armor! But there were more horse and rider displays of stunning armor, and tons of swords and shields and guns. (The following description is for Dad J) There were some really cool ancient guns, inlaid with gold and ivory. Some of them were small enough to be held in one hand, but there were some that must have been 10-15 feet long! But they didn’t look like canons; they looked like rifles with really, really long barrels. Even I was fascinated by them. I wish they would have allowed pictures so I could show dad, but of course, like every other cool place, pictures aren’t allowed. They also had an extensive display of really ornate saddles, with paintings or etchings of mythological scenes and courtly stuff on them, and lined with brocade or velvet. They were beautiful, and in amazingly good shape for being so old. I think the armory was my favorite part of the royal palace.
Last were the official rooms, which were breathtaking. I can’t imagine actually living in these places! Although, I should mention that the current king and queen don’t live there; they live in a more modest palace somewhere else in Madrid. Modest palace, ha! Anyway, this building is just used for state functions. It’s mostly set up in the way that Kings Carlos III and IV had it back in the late 1700s and early 1800s, although the building was used by kings up until 1931. Anyway, enough history lessons. The point is, that it was extravagant and beautiful, but hardly a place where anyone should feel comfortable living. There was a fresco on every ceiling, glass and crystal chandeliers, huge mirrors, damask and velvet wall coverings, tapestries, paintings, brocade curtains, marble floors, statues, you name it. We saw the drawing room, the throne room, what used to be the king’s bedroom and the room where he ate lunch (which looked nothing like a dining room and had a huge circular bench in the middle of the room with a giant golden statue on the pedestal in the middle), the dining hall, which used to be three rooms of the queen’s chambers but was converted at some point, and several other rooms. There was also a room displaying their silver collection, including dishes and silverware, but also decorative stuff. It was really funny, because there were a couple little silver cups with barcodes on the bottom! I don’t know if they were bought more recently, or if they were reproductions, or what, but it was strange. In one room was a model about a foot and a half high of Cellini’s Perseus, which is the statue Tiffany and I presented in our Renaissance class last semester. It made me miss Tiff! It was cool to see, even though it was so small, because it’s hard to get an idea of a statue from flat pictures. It really is a gruesome statue! There were lots of Romanesque statues too. There was a tour in front of us so we heard some of that as we were walking through. An English woman behind me said: ‘these people have all this bloody money and meanwhile the people outside are starving . . . it’s sick.’ Which is totally true; I can’t imagine how much money it must have taken to build the palace. Way more than I’ll ever see in a lifetime, that’s for sure! But it was amazingly cool to see.
After the palace Katie and I went to El Corte Ingles so I could buy some school supplies. Holy cow: their notebooks are expensive! The cheapest I found for a one subject was 1.80 euro. And they all have grids instead of lines, which I don’t understand. I ended up getting just one 6 subject notebook for now. And I couldn’t find any folders, so I got a little portfolio thing with dividers. But I think that’s going to bother me because the papers are just stuck in loose only being held in by the elastic that holds the binder closed! Grr! Had I known school supplies would suck so much here I would have brought my own from home!
Anyway, that was my day. I came home and tried to take a nap, but never actually fell asleep. Now I’m waiting for mom and dad to call. I’ve got to go to this club tonight, which I’m kind of dreading, but I don’t want to not go since it’s for a friend’s birthday. Maybe I’ll just duck out early. I don’t know how late she wants to stay, but I heard something about taking a taxi home, which means it would be after 1:30 when the metros close. Then she was talking about sharing a taxi home and splitting the cost, but I’m on entirely the opposite side of the city from everyone else. And I’m not willing to stay out that late two nights in a row. I had a bad enough experience last night to keep me away from late night excursions for a while.
Well, there’s nothing more really to say. I’ll write again soon.
Bethany
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)