Madird, I bid you adieu

Wonderful friends and family… unfortunately, the day has come for me to leave this beautiful city. I’ve been sitting on my bed for awhile now trying to figure out what to say, but I keep replaying my four months here over and over in my head. Should I tell you about how much I’ll miss this city, or catch you up on the travels I have done in the past couple of weeks? I guess I’ll do a little bit of both.

It goes without saying that I am not cut out for blogging, so let’s just put that behind us for a second and I’ll start with how I spent my Semana Santa.

Here in Spain, everyone has the same Spring Break (convenient, huh?). Kids go with their parents to their Pueblos, college students travel or spend time at home with the family, and all of Spain is on fiesta-mode. The break is during Semana Santa, or Holy Week in English. In the center of most cities of Spain the roads are closed off for processions that the majority of the city participates in… some celebrate more seriously than others, specifically in Adalucia.

Soleil and I spent the first half of our Semana Santa in Tenerife (part of the Canary Islands, which are located off of the coast of Africa). We stayed on the Southern part of the island, in a hotel within walking distance of the beach, with our friend Nick that we met at the beginning of the semester. It rained when we got there so we spent the first half of the day walking in the rain and playing cards in a cafe and the second half playing squash and watching horribly-made shark movies. Luckily, we had great weather for the rest of the trip. We spent the next day on the beach trying not to fry and the following day at Siam Park, which I the oldest water park in the world and the biggest in Spain. We ran into my friend Conor and his boyfriend and had a blast acting like kids for the day. We had a fabulous dinner with them that night and explored the night life near our hotel. The next day was spent exploring the black sanded beaches up north. Playa de la Arena was by far the pretties beach I have ever stepped foot on. We spent most of our time there floating in the deep blue water and the rest running to our towels because black sand burns more than a hot, freshly paved road. Our last day was spent on a catamaran to Los Gigantes, which are cliffs on the northwestern part of the island. We got to swim in the ice cold water under the cliffs and saw beautiful dolphins and wales peacefully dance in the ocean. It was wild to think that we were in the middle of the Atlantic, only so many meters away from the Sahara. Our boat ride was the perfect way to end our trip- to reflect on how lucky we’ve been to experience all that we have this semester.

Playa de la Arena

Hotel View

 

Our second part of Semana Santa was spent in Málaga, with my family friends who were wonderful to us. Our trip over there was long… we spent almost 5 hours in the Barcelona airport. But… we’re young, right? So, who cares. As soon as we got there we were picked up and brought directly to see the processions of Jueves Santo. The history of the floats (or imágenes) was explained to us as we watched the people on the streets fill the air with the spirit of tradition. After the processions left our part of the center (they go until 6am), one of the friends we were staying with convinced us to go out with him and his crew, so we explored the night life until the imágenes reentered the church at 6:30. The rest of our trip in Málaga was amazing. We met many of Javi and Victor’s family members and spent lots of time with their friends from high school. Their parents showed us around downtown and took us to Marbella one day. Overall, our trip was wonderful. I am so thankful for my friends in Málaga and could definitely see myself living there one day.

So, I guess now it’s time to talk about what I’ll miss most about Madrid. Since I can’t get myself to express how I’m feeling about saying goodbye, I’ll just make a list:

5. The variety. 
Madrid has this wonderful gift; the gift of surprising you with something new, right when you think you know the city like the back of your hand (okay, I have never been that confident about my knowledge of the city, but you get what I’m saying). You can spend months exploring this city and will never see everything it has to offer. The more we got lost in Madrid (literally), the more I fell in love with it. Each street, each store, each metro station is distinct and often opposite of the one next to it.

4. The honestly.
Though at times the lack of filter that almost every Spaniard has could get to be a little bit too much, and though I have never seen PDA taken to such an extreme level, it has been refreshing to be in a city of openness, filled with to-the-point personalities. No one here is afraid to tell you how it is.

3. The school.
Okay, if I’m being honest I’m not really gonna miss UC3M. It’s a pretty campus and all, but school is school. What I will miss is Carlos and Agustin (my Medio Ambiente professors), Pablo (who “taught” my Derecho class), Monica (the most proper Spaniard I have ever met who is extremely passionate about teaching Lengua to American students), and Isabel. Isabel was my Cultura professor, the director of the Stetson program and our mentor throughout the semester. She’s such a hardworking woman who made being here a blast. And, of course, I’m also going to miss the vending machine that served me fresh coffee and our “study sessions” in the basement of building 15.

2. The new friends.
I cannot be more grateful for the friends I have made during my time here in Madrid. My wonderful Stetson crew; the only ones who understand why I get anxious when I see the words “sed punctuales.” Alvarito, who made sure we felt at home ever second of everyday and introduced us to his wonderful friends and family. Teba, who brought us into her home on our first day here, took us to oh-so-many lovely dinners and lunches with oh-so-many lovely people. Isa, who introduced us to Alvaro and has been our P.I.C. almost every weekend in Madrid. Basically all of CIEE, who made the mistake of inviting us to Morocco and then were never able to get rid of us (that includes you, Nick… cause you basically were a part of CIEE). My neighbor Lucia, who has been an angel all semester and will be missed dearly, as well as our weekly walks in the park.

1. The new family.
When you hear about students abroad who stay with host families, they normally tell you they had a great experience. They felt at home, shared lots of laughs, played with their kids or grandkids, learned how to cook some authentic dish. I agree, it’s been amazing, but I have gotten so much more out of living with Carmina. Not only have we told each other almost every detail about our lives, and every struggle our families have gone through. We’ve made memories and bonded over mutual admiration for food and tea. I’ve fallen in love with her adorable granddaughters and she has become obsessed with saying goodnight to Mia. She brought me into her life with open arms and I have become a part of the family. I adore everything about my Abuelita Española. And the best part is, I’ve got another one next door. Soleil’s host mom Pilar has been just has amazing as Carmina has been. From our daily waves from the kitchen windows, to the nights she tries to convince Carmina that it’s okay if I stay over past midnight, to the very frequent talks about the love of her life, to the days I get to spend with her spectacular daughters and grandsons. Pilar is a beautiful, hardworking woman whom I admire and have grown to adore. Pilar, Carmina and their families will always hold a special place in my heart.

   

I am at a loss for words and cannot fathom that my semester is already behind me, but I am forever grateful to have been able to embark on this unbelievable adventure. Thank you all, especially my parents, who made this semester possible.

Though my studying portion of this experience is over, I will still be abroad until the 27th. Off to see the relatives in France tomorrow, so hopefully you’ll hear from me one last time before I head back to the US.

Hasta la proxima, Madrid. Te voy a echar mucho de menos.

-Danielita

Octopus, Apple Pie & Waffles

Instead of beginning this post with my usual apology for how long I take to update this dang blog, I’ll just jump right into it and forget the “creative beginning.”

The weekend after my trip to Barcelona, I ventured over to Galicia with the Stetson crew. Soleil and I woke up at around 5:30 to ensure that we’d arrive at the train station on time (we always seem to show up late, no matter how hard we try) and we still managed to struggle getting there. Galicia is about a 5 hour train ride from Madrid, located in the northwestern part of Spain, just bordering Portugal. The autonomous community is famous for a few things; their seafood (especially the octopus), El Camino de Santiago and their constant rainy weather. We got lucky though, and somehow chose the one weekend out of the year with beautiful blue skies (I’m exaggerating… but it was the first time they’d seen the sun in two months). We were based out of Santiago de Compostela for the weekend, the capital of Galicia, where Saint James the Great’s remains are believed to be buried under the cathedral. St. James is the patron saint of Spain and is described as one of the first disciples to join Jesus. His grave became the destination of the Way of St. James (Camino de Santiago), one of the most important Catholic pilgrimage routes of the medieval times. El Camino has many different starting points and is one of the most popular pilgrimage routes today. In order to qualify for a Compostela, or complete the journey, one must either walk 100km or bike 200km. I won’t bore you with anymore details, but I encourage you to read more into it and consider walking– I plan on completing it one day.

Our 16th Century Monastery Hotel

Our hotel was an old sixteenth century building that used to be the town’s monastery, located behind the famous cathedral. The first day was spent touring the old city and learning everything I just told you above from a professor/tour guide. The second day was spent visiting other towns most people walk through during El Camino. We saw El Puente Romano de Ponte Maceira, El Pazo de Negreira, Cee y Corcubión en la Costa de Morte, Finisterre y Muxía. Everywhere we went that day was breathtaking. The closer we got to the edge of the cost, the more I realized why thousands of people venture on El Camino every year. Finisterre (translated to Spanish as “el fin de la tierra” and english “end of the earth”) was by far my favorite pit stop. The astonishing Cape is sometimes said to be the westernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula, (which we found out is actually Cabo de Roca in Portugal) and is often the last stop for many pilgrims on El Camino. Before America was discovered, Finisterre was believed to be the end of the earth, making the end of El Camino even more gratifying and valuable. Before I lose your attention again with more boring history and my newfound love for Finisterre, I’ll move on and post some pics so you can see for yourselves.

Finisterre

Muxía

The rest of our trip in Galicia was spent eating… naturally. We tried Pulpo (octopus) in both Finisterre and Santiago, picnicked in La Plaza del Obradoiro (the main square where the cathedral is located) with food we stuffed in our bags from the continental breakfast, shared some of the best paella I’ve ever consumed at some restaurant I should remember the name of and stuffed our faces with so many tarts and famous Santiago cookies. The weekend was a blast. We laughed harder than we’ve laughed in… well, in a week…, Kim taught us some new dance moves, Isabel (our director) gave us Spanish boy advice, and countless hikers inspired most of us to embark on El Camino de Santiago.

Pulpo

Santiago de Compostela

The following weekend Soleil, Abby, Emmie and I trekked over to the Netherlands for an adventure-packed three days. Our trip there was easy. A 2ish hour flight on an awesome airline (if you’re ever in Europe, take KLM, they give you SO much free food and drinks!), really nice airport and an easy train ride. The second we arrived at Amsterdam Centraal, Emmie knew exactly how to get to our hotel. This girl can look at a map for 30 seconds and is able to explain where everything is located (this is not an exaggeration). We stayed in a 16th century canal house located near the Jordaan area (for those of you who still have not made it to Amsterdam, that’s a pretty central, happening place). Since we wanted to save as much money as possible, we obviously booked a hotel for two people instead of four, so our experience in the hotel consisted of us “sneaking” Soleil and Abby in and pushing the tiny beds together to make one big one. It seemed like a good idea when we were planning this trip, and to be honest it didn’t end up being that bad, but this was three weekends ago and my back still hasn’t recovered.We arrived in Amsterdam late Thursday night, so we didn’t explore too much before passing out. Showering was also a bit of a struggle, but we managed to make it work and headed straight to a bike shop early the next morning. Abby has never really been a biker, and even expressed some hesitation before we left the hotel, but we all seemed to think it wouldn’t be a problem…

Walkin our bikes

Amsterdam should be named the biking capital of the world. Maybe it is and I just don’t know it, but they do not mess around over there. The biking lanes on most roads are bigger than the car lanes and stop lights at crosswalks have bikes on them instead of people. The first few minutes on those dinky rentals were pretty horrifying, to be completely honest. I’m used to watching out for people when I bike around a town, but watching out for other bikes, on roads that are clearly only big enough to fit a car and a half, has never really been a concern of mine. And to add to it, our bikes only had backward breaks.. (you know, where you can’t peddle backwards to relax yourself and stopping is not possible if your walking your bike or simply trying to climb onto the darn thing). In the first ten minutes Emmie wiped out. Okay, it was somewhat intentional because we somehow got behind a stopped truck and realized too late that there was no way around it. Emmie was in front and tried to casually squeeze in between the sidewalk and the truly entertained young man taking boxes out of his trunk. She realized it wasn’t possible and thought stepping off of the bike might be easier. Since there was no way of stopping the awkwardly large piece of medal, Emmie collapsed to the ground and the laughing began. We spent most of that trip laughing, as we seem to do on every trip we take, but something about this weekend was extra comical. After finally getting the hang of our bikes, we spent the rest of the day being tourists. We took pictures in front of the IAMsterdam sign, visited the Van Gought museum and Anne Frank House, had AMAZING pancakes and Dutch apple pie and biked through the Vondel Park. We fell in love with Amsterdam. The city is so quaint and the people are unbelievably  friendly. That night we stuffed our faces, per usual, and explored some more places that make Amsterdam unique.

Saturday morning we returned our bikes, went to the grocery store to get food for a picnic and headed to the Brussels after lunch. Emmie found a great deal for a room in a five-star hotel right in the center of town, so we decided to spice up our trip and check out Belgium for the night. The city is very different from Amsterdam, as most of you know. It was beautiful, though. We walked around and saw the Grote Markt (famous square), explored an outside flee market and went in to every chocolate store in sight. Dinner was delicious and for dessert, of course, we had belgian waffles. After some more adventuring we went back to take advantage of the nice hotel and it’s hot water. The bed situation was the same as the two nights before, only a step-up on the nice scale. I slept horribly that night, but it’s all part of the adventure, right? Yeah, sure.

Grote Markt

Since there was more to see before our train back to Amsterdam, we woke up at the crack of dawn and checked out of the hotel early. Just picture this: four girls wondering the streets of Brussels with backpacks on, carrying grocery bags filled with Nutella and peanut butter at 7 o’clock in the morning. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do to see a city in only a few hours, I guess. We payed a visit to the Royal Palace, took some pictures by the gardens and then headed to the train station. On our way there we had an interesting encounter with a local Belgian… well, I’m not sure if encounter is the right word or if he was even a local, but both are irrelevant to the story. Four girls walking in a row, no one but a hobo in sight, all chit-chatting away about our time in Brussels. All of the sudden, a strange figure about two inches taller than myself bumps my shoulder and reaches for my camera in one rapid movement. Luckily, I have a good grip on the strap and am able to yank it back before he runs with it. Instead of bolting the other way, kneeing him in the crouch or whatever you’re supposed to do when someone tries to rob you, I freeze, let him take my phone instead, and scream bloody murder. My over-exaggeration makes Soleil freak out and she echoes my scream. Only, Soleil is actually tough and I’m a wimp, so she starts running after the guy. Meanwhile, Emmie thinks I just got stabbed so she screams at the top of her lungs, turns quickly towards me and knocks Abby over with her backpack. Emmie decides running towards the thief is not a good idea and screams for Soleil to turn back around. At this point, I am screaming so hard I start crying (let me reemphasize that it’s about 8am) “just leave us alone, give me my phone back.” Soleil gives up on attempting to tackle the dude cause she knows we’ll all freak out, and as she turns around, he follows her towards us. Now, Soleil goes into automatic surrender mode; hands up in the air, eyebrows raised to her hairline, heart racing a million and two miles an hour. That’s it, we’re gonners. He’s gonna get us all and I won’t ever be able to see my mom again. Okay, I don’t think we all felt THAT threatened, but you get the point. He motions for us to calm the eff down and offers me back my phone. I don’t trust him, and neither does Soleil, so we point to a bench and command various times “DROP IT.” The rolls have now reversed. This man mimics what Soleil and done minutes before and backs away with his hands above his head. He comes closer again only to tell us to calm down and Abby, who has been on the floor this whole time, stands up and screams “GOOOO!” He left us alone and went on his way.From that moment on, and to be honest still to this day, we have been a bit paranoid. Even promoters on the streets who come up from behind make us jump a little.

Royal Palace

Our last day in Amsterdam was wonderful. We walked the parts that we hadn’t seen on the first two days, passed through the Red Light district, got a few souvenirs and ate… again.

Will update you soon on the past couple of weeks.

-D

 

On Moroccans and Cataluña

Hombre ! Cuanto tiempo, eh ? Por lo menos tres semanas, no. Pues, lo siento amigos, es que I’ve been caught up learning convenient Spanish expressions…

Okay, but in all seriousness, it’s been too long since I’ve paid this blog a visit and I have plenty of stories to share with you. So, here it goes.

Let’s rewind to a couple of weeks ago; the 20th of February to be exact. That was the day I left for Morocco. The week leading up to our trip was hectic. Well, let me rephrase that… the week would have been a walk in the park at Stetson, but was hectic for a study abroad student. I had two midterms, a paper and probably something else due for Medio Ambiente; all in Spanish of course. In retrospect, it really wasn’t too bad. It’s just, I’ve been getting used to traveling on the weekends, you see, and not having “major assignments” to worry about during the four days I’m in school. But, I survived.

Soleil and I didn’t go to Morocco with the Stetson/Marist crew, we decided to signup through European Vibe with some friends from another program. We went in with no expectations, other than knowing we got a major deal with SO much included. We were instructed to meet at Plaza de España at 23h00, where a bus would take us to Tarifa (southern tip of Spain. Takes a normal person 6 hours to get there from Madrid by car). 171 of us, accompanied by some “coordinators,” were crammed into three private buses and ready to go by midnight. Soleil and I made sure to wear ourselves out that day so we could sleep on the bus, which ended up being a complete mistake when they told us we were required to stop every two and a half hours for an unnecessarily long amountof time. To put it lightly, by the second break each and every one of us wereregretting signing up for this “weekend of a lifetime.” The ferry in Tarifa was scheduled to leave at 9am on the dot and we arrived to the port at 9h02. The next three and a half hours were spent wondering the city and visiting the castle, something that would have been more enjoyable had I slept. To be completely honest though, after all of us got over our crankiness and stepped onto the ferry to Tangier, we had completely forgotten how long it had taken us to get there. Something about crossing continents on a giant boat filled with a bunch of new friends made it hard not to be happy.

Soleil and I in Tarifa, Spain

Most people in the northern part of Morocco speak (in order of fluency) Arabic, French, English and Spanish; so with Gabe and I’s French (Soleil and I’s roommate for the weekend) our group had three of those languages down. Since we were running behind schedule the buses took us straight to the beach to ride Camels. The water was beautiful, with burt orange sand resembling clay. I was surprised though… Camels are dirtier than I though they would be. I mean, I didn’t expect them to be shiny and groomed like a pet dog, but they sure do find a way to lather as much dirt on them as possible. And the sound they make left Soleil and I close to peeing our pants (check her Instagram to hear it: soleilmershon). The ride wasn’t long, just a little stroll along the water, but we all looked like fascinated little children climbing onto those awkward looking creatures. 

After the Camel ride we payed a visit to Hercules Caves (Les Grottes d’Hercule) which are considered something of a symbol for Tangier, with their strange sea window, shaped like a map of Africa. It was beautiful to see and hear the waves crashing beneath us, somewhat peaceful after a tiring journey across continents.

The rest of our time in Africa was spent haggling with or ignoring the Morrocans that cluttered the narrow roads, crying from laughing so hard at either the Morrocans or each other, eating mysterious curry chicken on a plate we were convinced hadn’t been washed, asking the waiter for the check in three different languages and some how still having trouble communicating, and spending our hotel free time having deep conversations and making toasts to our new friendships.

Determined hagglers

Spice Factory in Tangier (and Noah getting a massage)

My trip to Morocco was definitely one for the books. I’ll never forget our new friend Achmed in Asilah who attempted to impress us with his one-of-a-kind artwork on cardboard paper “space case, case space.” Or the haggler who was so desperate he almost took the 20 pence I had in my jacket pocket in exchange for a toy Camel instead of the 30 dirham he was originally asking for. And even though our night at the “club” started off feeling like an uncomfortable high school dance, we turned it into one of the nights I’ll most definitely remember from my trip abroad (if you know Noah Turrett, ask him how cold the Ocean was in Morocco that night).

Some of the crew

Though I could go into much further detail about our Moroccan adventure, I’ll spare you the time and move on to talk about my trip to Barcelona.

Barcelona is obviously nothing like Morocco, and our journey there was a bit easier as well. Soleil and I took the AVE (high speed train) and dozed off comfortably for a short two and a half hours. We took a taxi directly to Alex’s tienda, Antonio Miro. Alex is one of my dad’s best friends who used to live in Aspen and worked at Gusto & Campo De Fiori with my dad. He was nice enough to let Soleil land I crash at his pad on Thursday night, so after a warm greeting and a tour of his super hipster work we freshened up at his even more hipster apartment. Alex took us to a place called Microteatro, which apparently is big in Madrid and Miami as well. It’s a cool concept- you go into a little lounge-y restaurant/bar and pay a few euros for a 15 minute show. They take you to a room that’s the size of most American bathrooms and you sit on stools edging the corner of the room. The room is set up according to the story (the first one we went to was a girl’s dorm room) and there’s two characters that act out a scene. You’re basically sitting in on a scene from a TV show, just super 3D and way funnier. Afterwards we went to a fancy bar that very much resembled the Caribou Club in Aspen. We didn’t stay long- Alex just wanted to show us the bathroom that had a DJ was covered in mirrors. To end the night we went to a mellow bar and watch some acoustic guitarists play 30 minute shows- all ranging from Spanish classics to Bob Marley.

Our room at Alex’s apartment

Our hip friend showing us the town

The perfect tour guide

Friday we ate breakfast at a place called Brunch and Cake… all I can say about it is go if you’re ever in Barcelona. We ate there everyday that weekend. Friday and Saturday we stayed with Soleil’s friend from High School, Juliana. Her apartment is on the same street as Alex’s, and even closer to Brunch and Cake, so we were in heaven. Juliana was our tour guide for the day. We walked through las Ramblas, got fresh juice at the Bocharía market and wondered over to Port Olympic. We grabbed some food and wine at La Fonda (highly recommended- 10 euros for a 3 course meal) and met up with my “cousin” Tyler for some more exploring. We saw some interesting people on the beach, including a nude man posing for everyone to see (mind you, it was not warm enough to even be in shorts that day). On our way back home we past a restaurant where Johnny Depp casually sat deep in thought. If I were to ask you how you picture Johnny Depp looking while drinking a coffee, that’s exactly how I saw him. Legs crossed with his elbow resting on it, pointer finger under his lower lip making a distinct I’m-pondering-about-life look, glasses lookin stylish, hair all swoopy… as you can tell that’s all we talked about for the next five minutes. That night we shared spectacular tapas and many laughs with Tyler, Andrew Goldberg and their friend Josh followed by some clubbing, Spanish style.

So nice to see Tyler

Saturday was spent visiting Gaudí sites and Park Guëll, a home cooked meal, and watching everyone dressed up for Carnival stumble down the sidewalks (Mardi Gras times 10). Sunday morning we accompanied Juliana to a spinning class at her gym, which is way more fun in Spanish by the way. After a work out and a long steam we ate one last meal at Travel and Cake (same owners as Brunch and Cake) and said our farewells. We finished off our trip with dessert at a funky cafe with Alex and headed on home.

Both weekends were incredible. We made so many new friends and caught up with some old ones. I got a taste of home when I saw Tyler, Goldberg and Alex and I even found out about some new cultures…which is the point of studying abroad, right?

To spare you the time, I’ll tell you about last weekend in the next post.

Un abrazo muy fuerte a todo… now off to Amsterdam.
-D

A Month Later…

So as of yesterday, it’s been a month since I arrived in Madrid.

I’m kind of bad at this whole updating-your-blog-once-a-week thing…. I keep wanting to post new, unforgettable details about my experience abroad, but I’m still trying to decide what signifies as “exciting enough to share.” So, instead of boring you with what I’ve spent every waking second doing since the last update, I’m going to make a bulleted list. Bear with me, I promise these will get better with time.

• I went to London. 30/jan/14- 02/feb/14

Soleil and I acted like tourists with my cousin Sofia, celebrated her friend Sarah’s 21st birthday and shared some laughs with my dear friend Kayla. It was a short trip, but we managed to see most of the city and have never felt so classy (we went to a piano bar). Obadiah, you were missed!

Soleil and Sarah at Megan’s Cafe

Waddup, Big Ben?

• Classes actually begun…. 03/feb/14
  

The first week of classes was equivalent to syllabus week in the US. We did the whole introduction thing (way less cheesy in Spanish, btw), struggled through the “what’s expected of you” speeches and talked a whole lot about Franco… (okay, a little different than in the US). Since then, we’ve actually covered a heck load of material and students (including myself) are finally starting to answer the teachers’ questions. There’s nothing more awkward than being stared at by a Spanish professor looking for a reaction to his/her statement when you have no idea what the eff is even being discussed. This happens on a daily basis to everyone in my Law class. At first it scared the crap out of us, now we’ve embraced it and say what we can… even if we sound like idiots.

• I got sick. 10/feb/14

After a weekend of doing ABSOLUTELY nothing exciting (aside from seeing Valle de los Caidos and playing Uno with Carmina’s grand daughters), I caught a cold. Fortunately, three of my classes were canceled last week so I had time to rest up. Not so fortunately, I had two mandatory class field trips that not only required my undivided attention and participation but also two hours of sitting through a rain/snow storm. Let’s just say, I could have been in better condition while exploring the Reina Sofia and discussing the significance of Picasso’s Guernica. Not to worry, Carmina’s home remedies got me back to normal in no time.

Uno with la nieta

Valle de los Caidos

Soleil struggling in La Sierra Guadarrama

Freezing our bums off in El Puerto de Navacerrada

El Parque Nacional de la Sierra de Guadarrama

El Palacio de La Granja

Segovia

Class time in Segovia (Medio Ambiente)

Walking to see the Alcácar de Segovia. (Arab fort and inspiration for Walt Disney’s Cinderella Castle)  

• I went to Toledo. 16/feb/14

Soleil, Isa and I were lucky enough to spend another Sunday with Alvaro and Héctor; this time exploring the medieval city of Toledo. Our practically professional tour guides, with a friend of theirs who’s a local, made sure we saw every square inch of the ancient city. It’s a beautiful place, probably my favorite one so far, and the company wasn’t too shabby either. We’re pretty spoiled to have such wonderful friends show us around, even though they pick on us every chance they get (eh hem, Héctor).

Héctor telling Isa lies about Toledo… and Isa believing them

Admiring the cathedral

The Sunday crew. Plus Carlos, minus Isa!

That’s all I’ve got for now. It’s getting a lot easier to hear and speak Spanish all of the time. I no longer feel mentally drained every time I leave a classroom… well, at least not as drained as I felt before. Soleil and I have got some awesome trips planned ahead, so stay tuned. Oh, and I finally have a phone again. American number works for iMessage, but for those of you looking for me on Whatsapp and Viber, add my Spanish phone number to your contacts +34 671 26 19 01.

Ta ta for now,

D

Hoy Comienzan Las Clases

I know, I know. It’s time for an update, huh?

Well, classes started today. I’m taking Derecho Español y Europeo (Spanish and European Law), Estudios Culturales (Cultural Studies), Medio Ambiente y Sociedad en España (Environment and Society in Spain) and a language class. So far, I like my classes. Mind you, I’ve only had two of them and spent most of today introducing myself… So, I’ll let you know how I feel about them in a few weeks.

I can’t grasp the fact that I’ve already been here for 10 days. I want to share every moment of orientation week with you, but it’s become somewhat of blur. To start the week off, I lost my phone. Not my new, really old-school, spanish flip phone… but my American iPhone. My iPhone that has had 2,000+ photos on it, important contacts, FaceTime and of course Snapchat (which, by the way, people here don’t know about). Not to worry, mom is sending me a new one and iCloud saved most of my data. Aside from that unfortunate event, my week was wonderful: full of lots and LOTS of walking and one too many visits to 100 Montaditos. I’ve acquired a montón of new friends here (I now tend to trade English words with Spanish ones that make more sense, I apologize). I’ve  managed to be late everywhere I go, even though Soleil and I purposely leave disgustingly early. And I’ve seen incredible Spanish monuments that have made me fall even more in love with Madrid each second.

After a tour of my new campus, an atrocious Spanish placement test and a few discussions regarding the side effects of “culture shock,” our lovely director, Isabel, gave us a taste of the city. Our first Madridian experience was at Tablao Las Carboneras, where we enjoyed an enormous Spanish dinner, sangria and a Flamenco show. During the week, we also spent some time at El Museo Sorolla, El Parque Retiro and at El Rastro (a huge flea market that occurs every Sunday in Madrid). Isabel even introduced us to a few Spaniards hoping to learn English. I could probably give you more specifics, but pictures speak louder than words, right? (sorry for the cliché)… so, “see below for more details” as they say.

La Flamenco

Palacio de Cristal en el Parque del Retiro

El Rastro

Aside from activities with the Stetson/Marist group, we’ve also spent some time getting to know people from other programs. There are 200 American Exchange students studying at Carlos III, so it’s been nice seeing some new faces everyday.

On a side note, this whole everyone-uses-public-transportation thing is still a little new for me. Soleil and I have encountered some interesting people on the Metro (late at night and early in the morning). Just to give you all an idea, the concept of PDA does not exist here. I’ve been told it’s because it isn’t normal to bring people into your house, but regardless of the reason… there’s PDA everywhere. The Metro in Madrid is also extremely quiet, almost all of the time… unlike NYC where you hope your eardrums don’t pop, it’s quiet to the point where you’re praying that the person passed out next to you is alive. (You all will see what I’m talking about when Soleil uploads her photos to Facebook).

Anyway, to finish off the week, Soleil, Isa and I went with some of our wonderful new friends from Madrid to El Escorial, about 28 Miles from Downtown Madrid. El Escorial is the historical residence of King Philip the II and contains one of the most elaborate churches I’ve ever seen. We explored the property, felt like royalty at lunch, and climbed the mountain for a breathtaking view of Madrid. It was the perfect Sunday spent with some spectacular individuals.

El Escorial

El Jardin de Philip II (or de Héctor Fernández Del Campo)

La Inglesia

I never could have imagined I’d be this happy after my first week in Madrid. Partaking in an adventure completely out of my comfort zone, with very little Spanish speaking experience, I’m extremely relieved to feel so at home here.

Stay posted, I’m off to London this weekend, so I’m sure I’ll have lots of stories for you soon.

Alvarito, Héctor and Madrid

Un beso grandísimo a todos !
– D

Bienvenidos a Madrid

Dearest friends and family… After a total of 8 hours waiting in 4 airports, 14 hours sitting on 3 different planes and 30 minutes chatting with a lost taxi driver, I finally managed to make it to my apartment. I looked like a typical tourist crossing the cobblestone with my two suitcases, overly packed backpack and wide eyed expression plastered on my face. And boy did I  make myself known in the lobby as I stumbled up the stairs, dropped my suitcase down a few steps and managed to have my backpack fly over my head and across the hall. Luckily, Soleil, who arrived the day before as planned, was waiting for me on the other side of the elevator. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to see a familiar face. And from her similar reaction when opening the door, I don’t think she has been either.

Somewhere in France

Zurich, Switzerland

The building I live in is extremely charming. It’s located on La Río Manzanares, in a really peaceful neighborhood, centrally located in the heart of Madrid (well, kind of). My host mom, Carmina, is a wonderful lady in her 70s who was almost more excited than Soleil was to see me (thank goodness, right?). As soon as I walked through the door she insisted on feeding me. This woman already knows the way to my heart. She warmed up a bowl of lentil and chorizo stew with a slice of toasted bread and an orange. We chatted about life in Colorado and life in Madrid. She told me about her daughter, who has children and a delightful husband. She explained her love for dance and gymnastics. I spoke of my love for singing, hiking and yoga. (She promised to take me to karaoke if I took a dance class with her). She’s been hosting students for 15 years now, all from either Stetson or Marist College in New York. It’s amazing how much she remembers about each student, comforting really, from their family history to their hobbies and even what classes they took while they were here. I mentioned that Carmina doesn’t speak a word of English, right? So, that’s been interesting. She says my Spanish is amazing, but she also could never hurt a fly so I think she’s just being nice. Carmina lives right across the hall from Soleil’s host mom, Pilar. They’ve been friends for 42 years and they’re both Real Madrid soccer fans (phew, huh Papa?). It’ll be nice for Soleil and I to be close to one another. 

La Cocina de Carmina

Mi Habitación

La Sala

After unpacking yesterday, Soleil and I took a nice stroll by the river. We passed lots of people on roller skates and saw dozens of kids at the skate park near by. We swung on some swings, slid down a slide and explored passed the bridge. I can see this becoming a daily routine. We decided though, after that walk, that we should probably avoid speaking English all the time. Almost everyone stared at us, which is probably a result of our naturally loud speaking voices. And it didn’t help that we hadn’t seen each other in a month (we had lots to catch up on, so I’m sure we spoke even louder than usual). But I think speaking English was the only reason our screaming conversation turned heads. So much for not sticking out… sorry parents.

Stroll on Río Manzanares

Dinner was light, thank goodness cause I wasn’t very hungry. Carmina made it clear that no food goes to waste here, so I’ll have to make sure I work up an appetite every time I hear her working away in the kitchen. We watched a game show during diner called Pasapalabra. It was quite entertaining, especially to hear Carmina yell out the answers, or what she thought the answers would be. I already feel at home here.

I slept through the whole night and might even be some what acclimated to the time change. Soleil and I spent the day exploring with her friend Isa from Miami. Isa introduced us to her friend Alvarito from Madrid. We got a nice, local perspective of the city, which is exactly what Soleil and I wanted.

Besos,

D

And so it begins…

Hola mis amigos ! Welcome to my obligatory study abroad blog. Yes, I started my first blog post in Spanish. And no, I am not in Spain yet. Naturally, the flight out of Aspen was canceled due to “high tailwinds,” so my trip has been delayed by a day. Luckily, security in Aspen takes five minutes and my eager-to-have-an-extra-day-together family was waiting for me when I got home. So, instead of spending January 14th crammed in between two unhappy airport passengers, I went sledding and drank hot cocoa at home (not a bad bonus day, huh?). To say the least, I’m okay with postponing a day surrounded by claustrophobic, grouchy travelers to tomorrow. Plus, what’s a trip to another country without at least one cancelation?

I apologize for the low quality iPhone photos, I promise I’ll up my ante once I’m in Madrid.

Thanks for tuning in. I’ll do my best to update you all frequently. I’m accepting all suggestions, warnings and donations while I’m away… I’m kidding about the donations, of course. But in all seriousness, feel free to shoot me an email at dmottier@stetson.edu or comment below.

Hasta la próxima, mis amigos.

-D