Day 21
Sunday July 19th: Today was rather restful. I woke up at about 10 expecting breakfast to be ready. It wasn’t. this wasn’t a hug deal since I didn’t have to be anywhere until 11. I finally knocked on the door at 10:30. Still no breakfast ready. I ate around 10:40 and made the mistake of asking if she had made bocadillos for lunch (she said she was going to do so). After several minutes of me apologizing for not telling her (which I definitely did), I left without lunch. I met Nate and Mike at a metro stop near El Rastro. This is similar to Las Ramblas in Barcelona. It is a giant market that is open on Sunday from about 9-3. If you need anything touristy, this is the place to get it, or even if you just need something. Everything from clothing, to furniture, to old camera supplies, to stolen video game equipment is available. It was slightly entertaining trying to guess which stalls were legitimate and which ones were selling things on Sunday and stealing things the rest of the week. The former was definitely in the majority. I headed home and got there just in time for lunch at 2. Lunch was good, it was a noodle soup, with some chicken after, then the ever present watermelon. After lunch I learned about the joys of mafia wars on face book, and answered emails, then took a nap. After my nap I headed toward Plaza De Toros De Las Ventas, which for those of you who remember, is the bullfighting stadium. Nate and I grabbed dinner in the same grocery store as last time, except this time he brought bread from home so we didn’t have to buy any. The only problem was that he only brought enough bread for one sandwich each, and we had enough meat and cheese for at least two and a half each. The end result was a sandwich with all of the meat and cheese on it that it would hold. It was entertaining watching the older Spanish couple on the bench next to us watch us eat. We met up with Paul and Reed and grabbed our tickets. Our seats were a little better this time, but the fights were not. I nearly saw a horse thrown on its side by a bull, and at the same time, the rider of said horse, had to jump clear in order to keep his foot, and really his life as the horse was thrown off balance. I took pictures with Nate’s camera while he recorded it with his video camera. I got some good pictures and together we maxed out a 2gb card (though he has all his photos from the trip on it I think). After the bullfight, we all headed home and slept well preparing for what Monday might bring.
20 July 2009
18 July 2009
This Pig Certainly Isn't Flying Anymore (Day 20 Saturday July 18th)
Apologies for the long posts tonight but here is another one.
I hope to put up pictures in the next day or two.
Day 20
Saturday July 18th: Today we went to Segovia. We took a bus about an hour an 20 minutes North Of Madrid. When we arrived we walked about five minutes past the statue of the guy who invented cochinillo, which is roast suckling pig, to the aqua duct. He said that if you couldn’t slice it with the edge of a plate it wasn’t tender enough. He is holding a plate:
The aqua duct was very cool. Left over from roman times it is still standing without cement or mortar of any kind. You can even see the holes in the sides of the stones where they were picked up by some sort of crane system. I really wanted to climb it just because it looked like it might be fun, but I didn’t. We took the stairs to the top and were able to look out over the city of Segovia which was a pretty sweet view. Pictures:
From the aqua duct we walked to the cathedral of Segovia, which is the most prominent building in the city. Easily the tallest, and probably on the very top of the hill that Segovia is built on. We weren’t able to take pictures inside but the outside I can show you.
It was amazing. There was a wedding about to start in one of the side rooms where mass is held every week (or more often I’m not sure), which got me thinking about how crazy it would be to get married in this gigantic cathedral that is hundreds of years old, at an alter that is covered with enough gold to pay for the wedding ten times over. We ventured into the courtyard where I was able to take a couple pictures (since I was outside) of the stone work and the bell tower.
After we left the cathedral we hit up a vantage point overlooking the countryside surrounding Segovia, that was near the alcazar, which is the Arabic word for fortress according to fodor’s travel guide. This particular alcazar was the inspiration behind the castle that shows up at the beginning of every Disney movie with the star over it. Also, a very cool place to see. Here is the outside:
My camera started to die and so I didn’t’ take many pictures, but I got a few, including the thrones used by Ferdinand and Isabella.
Yes, they were the ones who Columbus bothered enough to let him sail to America. We got to see some cool suits of armor (that I didn’t take a picture of, but Nate did so I’ll get his pictures at some point). After a quick tour through the bottom floors of the castle we headed towards the tower. Which is the square section at the front of the building in the pictures of the outside. Also, it had a moat, many feet (or I should say meters) below. The tower could only be reached by a very tight spiral staircase. I had to pass some people on the way up and it got a little tight. However, once at the top I got some very cool pictures of the countryside and the city itself. Including one of La Mujer Muerta, which in translated the dead woman. This is really just a silhouette of a woman lying down that can be seen in the nearby mountains:
and the moat:
After we left the alcazar four of us and a random German girl that John had made friends with (she wasn’t with the school, but knew someone so was able to go with us), headed toward the nearest restaurant that served cochinillo. Before we got there we stopped to watch a newly wed couple (from the wedding that I mentioned earlier) walk to their car and hae rice thrown on them. I was surprised that they still used rice. It is Europe I guess. We found the restaurant pretty quickly. They had a menu del dia, that included a serving of Paella, cochinilla, and flan, of which I had never tasted. The Paella, as always in this country was excellent. The cochinillo was amazing.
It was super tender, and juicy, and I wonder how they pull it off. The flan was, interesting. It had a strange texture to it that I couldn’t quite place, and I expected it to be warm, which it wasn’t, except for one bite. The meal was overall amazing, I just wish that we had been able to take more time to enjoy it. We had to meet the bus at 3:45 and we finished the meal at 3:35 and it was a 5-10 minute walk back. Then half way there I discovered that I left, my ISIC, Taylor ID, and IN Driver’s License sitting on the table with my credit card. As soon as I figured it out I handed my bag to someone in the group and started sprinting for my life back towards the restaurant, hoping beyond hope that it was still there. I got there and as I arrived I checked my pockets one last time just to be sure so I didn’t bother them unnecessarily, and lo and behold, it was in my back pocket slipped in my map. I felt pretty dumb. But I still had to make it back to the meeting point in about 5 minutes on a wonderfully full stomach. I did so but it didn’t fell great. I was just happy that I am not as out of shape as I thought I was, and that I didn’t lose three forms of identification and a credit card in a foreign country. I even beat my professor back to the meet point, and only missed the group by about “10 seconds.” We took the bus home and the other two guys in the apartment with me thought they heard our host mom say that she was going to be gone for dinner tonight and tomorrow for breakfast and lunch, so on the way home they purchased a couple frozen pizzas for dinner. We tried to turn the stove on and it wouldn’t work. So the logical thing to do is obviously pull it out from the wall right? I was ready to forget it and figure out a different way to get dinner, but they couldn’t be dissuaded. They pulled it out and it was unplugged, so they switched the plug with the washer that is right next to it and put everything back the way it was and turned on the oven. Also, Dan had come home with us and was luckily in the back room, when our host mom shows up. She doesn’t like us to have visitors. I stay with Dan figuring that I can stall if she comes back so she doesn’t yell at him while she goes into the kitchen only to see the oven on and heating. She flipped out. Completely, I’m not sure exactly what she said, but it was something along the lines of don’t touch that, the American girls that were here before you started a fire in the apartment and everything was black in the kitchen. Our conclusion is that first the girls that stayed here before were idiots. We have heard stories of them breaking things and getting drunk and being loud all the time. So we are pretty sure that she thinks we are the same way. So Reed goes to put the oven back the way it was and she flipped out again understandably. We told her we would fix it and that it would be fine and finally got her calmed down and assured her that we wouldn’t touch it again. All this time, dan is hiding under a bed in the back room hoping that she doesn’t come in and turn on a light (they aren’t the biggest beds ever. As in I reach both ends of the bed with a good 6 inches of my feet sticking out the end.). She unloads the washer and hangs the clothes up the dry. We then gave her a table clothe that Reed had purchased in Segovia for her. She loved it and kept saying “gracias, Por que?” And, “que chicos este” which roughly translates to, thank you, why?, and “what boys are these” roughly. The entire thing was really funny once we were able to take a step out of it after she left to go make dinner, but in the situation I was doing my very best to smooth things over, for some reason I’m the favorite, and I don’t quite know why. Dinner was paella and pollo, while we talked to Valentin about his haircut and what we did today. The rest of the night holds emails and sleep hopefully.
I hope to put up pictures in the next day or two.
Day 20
Saturday July 18th: Today we went to Segovia. We took a bus about an hour an 20 minutes North Of Madrid. When we arrived we walked about five minutes past the statue of the guy who invented cochinillo, which is roast suckling pig, to the aqua duct. He said that if you couldn’t slice it with the edge of a plate it wasn’t tender enough. He is holding a plate:
The aqua duct was very cool. Left over from roman times it is still standing without cement or mortar of any kind. You can even see the holes in the sides of the stones where they were picked up by some sort of crane system. I really wanted to climb it just because it looked like it might be fun, but I didn’t. We took the stairs to the top and were able to look out over the city of Segovia which was a pretty sweet view. Pictures:
From the aqua duct we walked to the cathedral of Segovia, which is the most prominent building in the city. Easily the tallest, and probably on the very top of the hill that Segovia is built on. We weren’t able to take pictures inside but the outside I can show you.
It was amazing. There was a wedding about to start in one of the side rooms where mass is held every week (or more often I’m not sure), which got me thinking about how crazy it would be to get married in this gigantic cathedral that is hundreds of years old, at an alter that is covered with enough gold to pay for the wedding ten times over. We ventured into the courtyard where I was able to take a couple pictures (since I was outside) of the stone work and the bell tower.
After we left the cathedral we hit up a vantage point overlooking the countryside surrounding Segovia, that was near the alcazar, which is the Arabic word for fortress according to fodor’s travel guide. This particular alcazar was the inspiration behind the castle that shows up at the beginning of every Disney movie with the star over it. Also, a very cool place to see. Here is the outside:
My camera started to die and so I didn’t’ take many pictures, but I got a few, including the thrones used by Ferdinand and Isabella.
Yes, they were the ones who Columbus bothered enough to let him sail to America. We got to see some cool suits of armor (that I didn’t take a picture of, but Nate did so I’ll get his pictures at some point). After a quick tour through the bottom floors of the castle we headed towards the tower. Which is the square section at the front of the building in the pictures of the outside. Also, it had a moat, many feet (or I should say meters) below. The tower could only be reached by a very tight spiral staircase. I had to pass some people on the way up and it got a little tight. However, once at the top I got some very cool pictures of the countryside and the city itself. Including one of La Mujer Muerta, which in translated the dead woman. This is really just a silhouette of a woman lying down that can be seen in the nearby mountains:
and the moat:
After we left the alcazar four of us and a random German girl that John had made friends with (she wasn’t with the school, but knew someone so was able to go with us), headed toward the nearest restaurant that served cochinillo. Before we got there we stopped to watch a newly wed couple (from the wedding that I mentioned earlier) walk to their car and hae rice thrown on them. I was surprised that they still used rice. It is Europe I guess. We found the restaurant pretty quickly. They had a menu del dia, that included a serving of Paella, cochinilla, and flan, of which I had never tasted. The Paella, as always in this country was excellent. The cochinillo was amazing.
It was super tender, and juicy, and I wonder how they pull it off. The flan was, interesting. It had a strange texture to it that I couldn’t quite place, and I expected it to be warm, which it wasn’t, except for one bite. The meal was overall amazing, I just wish that we had been able to take more time to enjoy it. We had to meet the bus at 3:45 and we finished the meal at 3:35 and it was a 5-10 minute walk back. Then half way there I discovered that I left, my ISIC, Taylor ID, and IN Driver’s License sitting on the table with my credit card. As soon as I figured it out I handed my bag to someone in the group and started sprinting for my life back towards the restaurant, hoping beyond hope that it was still there. I got there and as I arrived I checked my pockets one last time just to be sure so I didn’t bother them unnecessarily, and lo and behold, it was in my back pocket slipped in my map. I felt pretty dumb. But I still had to make it back to the meeting point in about 5 minutes on a wonderfully full stomach. I did so but it didn’t fell great. I was just happy that I am not as out of shape as I thought I was, and that I didn’t lose three forms of identification and a credit card in a foreign country. I even beat my professor back to the meet point, and only missed the group by about “10 seconds.” We took the bus home and the other two guys in the apartment with me thought they heard our host mom say that she was going to be gone for dinner tonight and tomorrow for breakfast and lunch, so on the way home they purchased a couple frozen pizzas for dinner. We tried to turn the stove on and it wouldn’t work. So the logical thing to do is obviously pull it out from the wall right? I was ready to forget it and figure out a different way to get dinner, but they couldn’t be dissuaded. They pulled it out and it was unplugged, so they switched the plug with the washer that is right next to it and put everything back the way it was and turned on the oven. Also, Dan had come home with us and was luckily in the back room, when our host mom shows up. She doesn’t like us to have visitors. I stay with Dan figuring that I can stall if she comes back so she doesn’t yell at him while she goes into the kitchen only to see the oven on and heating. She flipped out. Completely, I’m not sure exactly what she said, but it was something along the lines of don’t touch that, the American girls that were here before you started a fire in the apartment and everything was black in the kitchen. Our conclusion is that first the girls that stayed here before were idiots. We have heard stories of them breaking things and getting drunk and being loud all the time. So we are pretty sure that she thinks we are the same way. So Reed goes to put the oven back the way it was and she flipped out again understandably. We told her we would fix it and that it would be fine and finally got her calmed down and assured her that we wouldn’t touch it again. All this time, dan is hiding under a bed in the back room hoping that she doesn’t come in and turn on a light (they aren’t the biggest beds ever. As in I reach both ends of the bed with a good 6 inches of my feet sticking out the end.). She unloads the washer and hangs the clothes up the dry. We then gave her a table clothe that Reed had purchased in Segovia for her. She loved it and kept saying “gracias, Por que?” And, “que chicos este” which roughly translates to, thank you, why?, and “what boys are these” roughly. The entire thing was really funny once we were able to take a step out of it after she left to go make dinner, but in the situation I was doing my very best to smooth things over, for some reason I’m the favorite, and I don’t quite know why. Dinner was paella and pollo, while we talked to Valentin about his haircut and what we did today. The rest of the night holds emails and sleep hopefully.
Day 19
Friday July 16th: Today class was spent being nervous for my test, and this state of being was not helped by the fact that I hardly understood anything today. I felt like most of it was going right over my head, and I was not encouraged. The second half of class today was spent taking a test. As soon as we got the test and the teacher walked out of the room to start administering the oral portion, all but four (those of us from Taylor) started cheating on the test. Obviously and outright. They were talking loudly comparing answers, and it got so bad I couldn’t concentrate on my own test and said something to the loudest of them and everyone quieted down after that. The written section seemed to go fairly well. We are required to get 35/50 right on each section (the written and the oral) in order to stay with the same class as they move up, and I think I had ~37 before I started the final twelve point essay section, which, who knows how they are grading that. I then took the oral part of the exam which started off a little rocky but I think I found my stride and it went pretty well. I don’t know officially how I did but I am optimistic about my chances for an A. After class Dr. Treber called an impromptu meeting and told us about exams next week (we all knew that we would have one from him and from the school, but now he is telling us that we will probably have two from the school (theirs are much much harder than his are), and one from him. As much as I like the idea of having more grades I think I would prefer he took the better of the two scores from the school and then the score from his test. I’m not sure that anyone was happy with the result. Those that took a test today don’t want to take another, and those that didn’t wanted more chances for a better grade. We will see what happens but I have a feeling that next Friday will be a two test day. After class we headed to the park for about an hour to chill and talk before I headed home to lunch. Lunch was interesting. My host mother somehow has the idea that I like beans, which definitely is not the case. Because of this (incorrect) notion she gave reed a small bowl full, paul about a normal helping, and my plate was nearly over flowing. I ate literally by the grace of God and was thankful when I could eat the chicken and watermelon. I finished lunch feeling fuller than I have in a long time. After lunch I met Nate and Mike in the park and we headed to a sporting goods store to try and find a Frisbee. We found one of the largest selections of shoes, and hiking, fishing, soccer, golf, tennis, and even skiing that I’ve ever seen, and in the entire store they sold one model of Frisbee. It was easily under 140 grams with the cardboard. Needless to say we were disappointed. It seems that no one in this country or at least this city likes to play Frisbee. After we failed to find a Frisbee we started walking back toward their apartment and stopped at a Corte Ingles. In which we found 1.5L waters for 24 cents, and at least an hour of entertainment as we saw these and other crazy products:
Yep those are ham flavored potato chips. We then headed outside and found a park bench and watched the multitude of skateboarders try, and many fail, to ollie over a palette. It was free entertainment. When we left we stumbled on this:
This is a toilet cylinder. You pay 30 cents (more than my water by the way), and you can use the “water closet” right in the convenience of… a busy street, as you get off the metro, which is behind me. At this point we split and I walked home, where I emailed my parents and sarah and then had the biggest meal of my life. I thought I was praying hard to get lunch down. Dinner was even bigger. Dinner consisted of a mounded plate (about the size of a Frisbee) of spaghetti with sausage pieces in it. This was followed by the strange vegetable dish that I described earlier, which I have figure out is spinach and celery pressure cooked beyond recognition. This plate was also mounded, and it had five 1.5 inch meatballs on top. I felt like I was going to throw up I ate so much food for dinner. On top of everything, then she dished up an unhealthy serving size of ice cream. I managed to convince her to half mine (which I think she came close to doing and gave me the bigger half, but I‘m grateful). I came down stairs and couldn’t move for about ten to twenty minutes. I finally sat up and took my shoes off and got myself moving again and then talked to Brent Gerig online for a few minutes, and then Sarah came on. I’m headed to bed now and I leave for Segovia at 9am. I’ll post things later.
here are some random other pictures from the day. They won't have descriptions because I don't anything about them except where they are, which won't mean anything to anyone. (by the way, the tree is metal and not just some random tree)
Friday July 16th: Today class was spent being nervous for my test, and this state of being was not helped by the fact that I hardly understood anything today. I felt like most of it was going right over my head, and I was not encouraged. The second half of class today was spent taking a test. As soon as we got the test and the teacher walked out of the room to start administering the oral portion, all but four (those of us from Taylor) started cheating on the test. Obviously and outright. They were talking loudly comparing answers, and it got so bad I couldn’t concentrate on my own test and said something to the loudest of them and everyone quieted down after that. The written section seemed to go fairly well. We are required to get 35/50 right on each section (the written and the oral) in order to stay with the same class as they move up, and I think I had ~37 before I started the final twelve point essay section, which, who knows how they are grading that. I then took the oral part of the exam which started off a little rocky but I think I found my stride and it went pretty well. I don’t know officially how I did but I am optimistic about my chances for an A. After class Dr. Treber called an impromptu meeting and told us about exams next week (we all knew that we would have one from him and from the school, but now he is telling us that we will probably have two from the school (theirs are much much harder than his are), and one from him. As much as I like the idea of having more grades I think I would prefer he took the better of the two scores from the school and then the score from his test. I’m not sure that anyone was happy with the result. Those that took a test today don’t want to take another, and those that didn’t wanted more chances for a better grade. We will see what happens but I have a feeling that next Friday will be a two test day. After class we headed to the park for about an hour to chill and talk before I headed home to lunch. Lunch was interesting. My host mother somehow has the idea that I like beans, which definitely is not the case. Because of this (incorrect) notion she gave reed a small bowl full, paul about a normal helping, and my plate was nearly over flowing. I ate literally by the grace of God and was thankful when I could eat the chicken and watermelon. I finished lunch feeling fuller than I have in a long time. After lunch I met Nate and Mike in the park and we headed to a sporting goods store to try and find a Frisbee. We found one of the largest selections of shoes, and hiking, fishing, soccer, golf, tennis, and even skiing that I’ve ever seen, and in the entire store they sold one model of Frisbee. It was easily under 140 grams with the cardboard. Needless to say we were disappointed. It seems that no one in this country or at least this city likes to play Frisbee. After we failed to find a Frisbee we started walking back toward their apartment and stopped at a Corte Ingles. In which we found 1.5L waters for 24 cents, and at least an hour of entertainment as we saw these and other crazy products:
Yep those are ham flavored potato chips. We then headed outside and found a park bench and watched the multitude of skateboarders try, and many fail, to ollie over a palette. It was free entertainment. When we left we stumbled on this:
This is a toilet cylinder. You pay 30 cents (more than my water by the way), and you can use the “water closet” right in the convenience of… a busy street, as you get off the metro, which is behind me. At this point we split and I walked home, where I emailed my parents and sarah and then had the biggest meal of my life. I thought I was praying hard to get lunch down. Dinner was even bigger. Dinner consisted of a mounded plate (about the size of a Frisbee) of spaghetti with sausage pieces in it. This was followed by the strange vegetable dish that I described earlier, which I have figure out is spinach and celery pressure cooked beyond recognition. This plate was also mounded, and it had five 1.5 inch meatballs on top. I felt like I was going to throw up I ate so much food for dinner. On top of everything, then she dished up an unhealthy serving size of ice cream. I managed to convince her to half mine (which I think she came close to doing and gave me the bigger half, but I‘m grateful). I came down stairs and couldn’t move for about ten to twenty minutes. I finally sat up and took my shoes off and got myself moving again and then talked to Brent Gerig online for a few minutes, and then Sarah came on. I’m headed to bed now and I leave for Segovia at 9am. I’ll post things later.
here are some random other pictures from the day. They won't have descriptions because I don't anything about them except where they are, which won't mean anything to anyone. (by the way, the tree is metal and not just some random tree)
Day 18 Thursday July 16th
Day 18
Thursday July 16th: Today my class was ridiculous. The teachers have become familiar with everyone in the class and the class has become comfortable enough with each other that conversation flows freely, in about four languages. Sometimes we have to translate through three languages to tell someone the right word. For instance, armadillo, in Spanish is armadillo, but in German is something that starts with a G. We had to find it in Spanish first, and then find it from Spanish into German. Also, Giacomo the Italian that knows four languages already, is loud and ridiculous in general. After class we all headed to the park for a little while. Nate and I came close to finishing our homework for the day (yep we got homework the day before a test), and then I came home to lunch. I took a quick nap and headed back to the park to study for the test tomorrow with Nate. It started as studying at 4:30 and sometime around 7:30 we were no longer on topic, but I still learned what I think I need to know that I didn’t before, and it was good to get to know Nate a little better. After we finished studying and talking I walked home and talked to sarah for a while before dinner. Dinner was good, we had pasta and then a “potato sandwich.” This “sandwich” consisted of a potato baked, then cut in half. In the middle was ground beef mixed with salsa, and the salsa was also on top with a covering of shredded cheese. It was really pretty good. After dinner I spent some time studying and then headed to bed to get a good nights sleep.
Thursday July 16th: Today my class was ridiculous. The teachers have become familiar with everyone in the class and the class has become comfortable enough with each other that conversation flows freely, in about four languages. Sometimes we have to translate through three languages to tell someone the right word. For instance, armadillo, in Spanish is armadillo, but in German is something that starts with a G. We had to find it in Spanish first, and then find it from Spanish into German. Also, Giacomo the Italian that knows four languages already, is loud and ridiculous in general. After class we all headed to the park for a little while. Nate and I came close to finishing our homework for the day (yep we got homework the day before a test), and then I came home to lunch. I took a quick nap and headed back to the park to study for the test tomorrow with Nate. It started as studying at 4:30 and sometime around 7:30 we were no longer on topic, but I still learned what I think I need to know that I didn’t before, and it was good to get to know Nate a little better. After we finished studying and talking I walked home and talked to sarah for a while before dinner. Dinner was good, we had pasta and then a “potato sandwich.” This “sandwich” consisted of a potato baked, then cut in half. In the middle was ground beef mixed with salsa, and the salsa was also on top with a covering of shredded cheese. It was really pretty good. After dinner I spent some time studying and then headed to bed to get a good nights sleep.
Day 17 Wednesday July 15th
Day 17
Wednesday July 15th: Today was great. We woke up, had breakfast, and headed to school. Class was about normal. Learned some cool things about indirect and direct objects along with some more comparisons. We had a short break so that we could get out in time to go to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Yeah I don’t know how to pronounce it either. We call it the Thyssen. I did some looking last night and found out that there is quite a lot in this museum. The Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza collected a bunch of paintings from the old masters including but definitely not limited to: van Gogh, Renoir, Degas, Gauguin, Cezanne, Rembrandt, and more that I can’t think of off the top of my head. There is a full list here: http://www.museothyssen.org/thyssen/artistas . And then his son got into modern art. There isn’t as much but he still had good taste: braque, Picasso, weber, Dali, O’Keefe, Mondrian, and more. All in all I spent probably 4 hours in the museum and only left because I needed to study. They are also having a matisse special this month, that I opted not to go into, one it cost more money, and two I wanted to see it with fresh eyes with my parents despite them telling me not to save anything for them, and I needed to study some before Carmen. I left the museum and tried to head home. I tried to use a different metro stop than I normally do and it was super sketchy. It was very poorly lit, there were no signs immediately upon entering telling you which way to go and there were probably 6 homeless people in view as I walked down the stairs. I also noticed another couple sleeping in boxes in dark corners. I think it was a wake up call to laurel who opted to walk to the stop near retiro (not a far walk at all). We got on the train and I went home. I studied for a while, took a short nap, and then got changed for Carmen. I had heard very good things about carmen before and was rather excited to go. I’m going to complain about the next few hours a little but I really enjoyed them despite me pointing out the negatives. They were minor annoyances and nothing more. I truly had a good time and enjoyed the show. We met at the metro stop and walked the two blocks to the theater where we hung out until Dr. Treber showed up and collected our tickets and handed them out. We made our way into the theater and sat down. They made the announcement about cameras and cell phones to be turned off and the show started. The first thing I noticed was that it wasn’t opera. It was a recording of opera. I was slightly disappointed. I would like to see carmen in opera form some time. What was cool was that it was Flamenco dancing. They were very good, at least as far as I could tell. The next complaint is about the girl in the row in front of me and two seats over. She pulled out her camera in the middle of the show, mind you the audience is in complete darkness (only light provided is from the stage). The light from the back of her camera lit up the theater behind her for a good twenty rows, and then a light came on, on the front of her camera that lit up the rest of the rows in front of her. Super annoying! My eyes, due to lasik, gave all the dancers little glowing halos around them during some of the darker scenes, but after camera girl took her three pictures, it took my eyes a good five minutes to re-adjust. The other thing that made the experience a little less enjoyable was the guy behind me attempting to sing, clap, and tap his foot along to the music. You would think that he would have taken the hint of both nate and I half turning to look at him, but nope. He continued to tap and clap and sing through the entire show. He was tapping hard enough that I could feel it through my seat. Awesome mister. I just hope he had a good time. Overall Carmen was a good experience. I would like to see the opera version sometime with people actually singing it instead of lip-syncing. I headed home and was nervous the entire time because I had about 50 euros on me (I wasn’t sure if I was going to have to pay for my ticket or what other costs there would be and it was either a 10 or a 50. So I’m dressed well, listening to my Mp3 player on the train carrying 50 euros. I was glad to get home and I slept well that night.
Wednesday July 15th: Today was great. We woke up, had breakfast, and headed to school. Class was about normal. Learned some cool things about indirect and direct objects along with some more comparisons. We had a short break so that we could get out in time to go to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Yeah I don’t know how to pronounce it either. We call it the Thyssen. I did some looking last night and found out that there is quite a lot in this museum. The Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza collected a bunch of paintings from the old masters including but definitely not limited to: van Gogh, Renoir, Degas, Gauguin, Cezanne, Rembrandt, and more that I can’t think of off the top of my head. There is a full list here: http://www.museothyssen.org/thyssen/artistas . And then his son got into modern art. There isn’t as much but he still had good taste: braque, Picasso, weber, Dali, O’Keefe, Mondrian, and more. All in all I spent probably 4 hours in the museum and only left because I needed to study. They are also having a matisse special this month, that I opted not to go into, one it cost more money, and two I wanted to see it with fresh eyes with my parents despite them telling me not to save anything for them, and I needed to study some before Carmen. I left the museum and tried to head home. I tried to use a different metro stop than I normally do and it was super sketchy. It was very poorly lit, there were no signs immediately upon entering telling you which way to go and there were probably 6 homeless people in view as I walked down the stairs. I also noticed another couple sleeping in boxes in dark corners. I think it was a wake up call to laurel who opted to walk to the stop near retiro (not a far walk at all). We got on the train and I went home. I studied for a while, took a short nap, and then got changed for Carmen. I had heard very good things about carmen before and was rather excited to go. I’m going to complain about the next few hours a little but I really enjoyed them despite me pointing out the negatives. They were minor annoyances and nothing more. I truly had a good time and enjoyed the show. We met at the metro stop and walked the two blocks to the theater where we hung out until Dr. Treber showed up and collected our tickets and handed them out. We made our way into the theater and sat down. They made the announcement about cameras and cell phones to be turned off and the show started. The first thing I noticed was that it wasn’t opera. It was a recording of opera. I was slightly disappointed. I would like to see carmen in opera form some time. What was cool was that it was Flamenco dancing. They were very good, at least as far as I could tell. The next complaint is about the girl in the row in front of me and two seats over. She pulled out her camera in the middle of the show, mind you the audience is in complete darkness (only light provided is from the stage). The light from the back of her camera lit up the theater behind her for a good twenty rows, and then a light came on, on the front of her camera that lit up the rest of the rows in front of her. Super annoying! My eyes, due to lasik, gave all the dancers little glowing halos around them during some of the darker scenes, but after camera girl took her three pictures, it took my eyes a good five minutes to re-adjust. The other thing that made the experience a little less enjoyable was the guy behind me attempting to sing, clap, and tap his foot along to the music. You would think that he would have taken the hint of both nate and I half turning to look at him, but nope. He continued to tap and clap and sing through the entire show. He was tapping hard enough that I could feel it through my seat. Awesome mister. I just hope he had a good time. Overall Carmen was a good experience. I would like to see the opera version sometime with people actually singing it instead of lip-syncing. I headed home and was nervous the entire time because I had about 50 euros on me (I wasn’t sure if I was going to have to pay for my ticket or what other costs there would be and it was either a 10 or a 50. So I’m dressed well, listening to my Mp3 player on the train carrying 50 euros. I was glad to get home and I slept well that night.
15 July 2009
Day 16 Tuesday July 14th
Day 16
Tuesday July 14th: Today really was just class and homework. I spent the morning in class learning more about indirect and direct objects, at the break had a bite of a really good croissant from the corner store, and then finished the morning in class. I spent some time with the group at Park Retiro. After a talk about string theory and whether aliens exist and if they do why we won’t ever find them, I came home to lunch with my host mothers son. Meals are still feasts every time I sit down (except for breakfast which is entirely meager). He spoke a bit of English so we were able to ask him where to find a Frisbee. He pointed us in the right direction along with showing us on google maps where we can go swimming in Madrid if we so desire. I took a nap this afternoon, and struggled a bit with my homework but managed to figure it out fairly well. Dinner was interesting. One of the guys I’m staying with decided to take an authentically Spanish meal of tortilla de patata (potato omelette) and mix some cheese in and have my host mother microwave it to melt the cheese. When he started to add cured ham she refused to heat it up for him, which proved to be entertaining. For the sole reason that I have eaten everything that has been placed in front of me she seems to hold me in rather high regard. Also I know the most Spanish of the three of us. I end up translating at meals. Which makes me wonder how they get along when I’m not there (for instance the bullfight and Carmen tomorrow night). Due to the nap I had a little trouble sleeping and it proved to provide interesting dreaming.
Tuesday July 14th: Today really was just class and homework. I spent the morning in class learning more about indirect and direct objects, at the break had a bite of a really good croissant from the corner store, and then finished the morning in class. I spent some time with the group at Park Retiro. After a talk about string theory and whether aliens exist and if they do why we won’t ever find them, I came home to lunch with my host mothers son. Meals are still feasts every time I sit down (except for breakfast which is entirely meager). He spoke a bit of English so we were able to ask him where to find a Frisbee. He pointed us in the right direction along with showing us on google maps where we can go swimming in Madrid if we so desire. I took a nap this afternoon, and struggled a bit with my homework but managed to figure it out fairly well. Dinner was interesting. One of the guys I’m staying with decided to take an authentically Spanish meal of tortilla de patata (potato omelette) and mix some cheese in and have my host mother microwave it to melt the cheese. When he started to add cured ham she refused to heat it up for him, which proved to be entertaining. For the sole reason that I have eaten everything that has been placed in front of me she seems to hold me in rather high regard. Also I know the most Spanish of the three of us. I end up translating at meals. Which makes me wonder how they get along when I’m not there (for instance the bullfight and Carmen tomorrow night). Due to the nap I had a little trouble sleeping and it proved to provide interesting dreaming.
Day 15 Monday July 13th
Day 15
Monday July 13th: Today was spent in class like any other except that I found out I have a test on Friday. Also, we gained two students from Italy. One of them speaks 4 languages already and reads Spanish so quickly that I can’t keep up. I’m slightly intimidated . When I found out about the test I was disappointed that it wouldn’t be next week but now I’m glad because it means that I won’t have two the Friday after. My professor is giving us all the same verbal and oral quiz and determining our grade based on that. I’m not quite sure how that is going to work but I’ll let him worry about that. We also found out our grades for the cultural test that we took on the bus on the way to Madrid. I missed one. The thing that gets me is there are people in the class who failed it. Partly on purpose I’m sure since they don’t need the cultural class to graduate, but at the same time why wouldn’t you want at least some of the information about where you are? Oh well. Class went well, we started comparisons and Indirect and Direct Object Pronouns. I’m not a fan. I have had the material I think this will be the third time and it is finally starting to make sense. After class I came back to the apartment and did a lot of homework. But before I did my homework I went to Plaza Mayor with Nate, Mike, and John, and had some churros con chocolate (Spanish snack that I’ve never had in the US though we do make them). Those cups are full of chocolate not coffee.
After we finished our churros we headed to Corte Ingles, which is the giant department store similar to Macy’s. Mike was looking for as he put it “man soap” instead of everything that he could find that was packaged for women and in the makeup section. After looking through all seven floors he finally found some in the first spot we looked. We also spent some time in sporting goods trying to find a decent Frisbee, since no one brought one. We were unsuccessful on the Frisbee front. Mike did find the inflatable mattresses though and I forgot how to keep my finger out of pictures...
And Nate found the escalator and was excited it…
And for good measure this is John being pensive...
We all took the subway home and I had dinner then finished my homework. I slept well that night.
Monday July 13th: Today was spent in class like any other except that I found out I have a test on Friday. Also, we gained two students from Italy. One of them speaks 4 languages already and reads Spanish so quickly that I can’t keep up. I’m slightly intimidated . When I found out about the test I was disappointed that it wouldn’t be next week but now I’m glad because it means that I won’t have two the Friday after. My professor is giving us all the same verbal and oral quiz and determining our grade based on that. I’m not quite sure how that is going to work but I’ll let him worry about that. We also found out our grades for the cultural test that we took on the bus on the way to Madrid. I missed one. The thing that gets me is there are people in the class who failed it. Partly on purpose I’m sure since they don’t need the cultural class to graduate, but at the same time why wouldn’t you want at least some of the information about where you are? Oh well. Class went well, we started comparisons and Indirect and Direct Object Pronouns. I’m not a fan. I have had the material I think this will be the third time and it is finally starting to make sense. After class I came back to the apartment and did a lot of homework. But before I did my homework I went to Plaza Mayor with Nate, Mike, and John, and had some churros con chocolate (Spanish snack that I’ve never had in the US though we do make them). Those cups are full of chocolate not coffee.
After we finished our churros we headed to Corte Ingles, which is the giant department store similar to Macy’s. Mike was looking for as he put it “man soap” instead of everything that he could find that was packaged for women and in the makeup section. After looking through all seven floors he finally found some in the first spot we looked. We also spent some time in sporting goods trying to find a decent Frisbee, since no one brought one. We were unsuccessful on the Frisbee front. Mike did find the inflatable mattresses though and I forgot how to keep my finger out of pictures...
And Nate found the escalator and was excited it…
And for good measure this is John being pensive...
We all took the subway home and I had dinner then finished my homework. I slept well that night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
