The third week

I should be working on my presentation for my conversation class, but since it's been a week since I updated you guys, I figure this, for the time being, is slightly more important :)

Although I've been here for three weeks, it seems like a lot longer. As much as other people say that this semester is going to be over before I know it, my semesters at Maryland seem to go by a lot faster than this one. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am enjoying myself here, and I guess its slowness means I'll just get to enjoy it even more.

First, let me just say that the library is completely empty save the five other people on computers and the three people studying. Never has this library been so, well, library-like. Typically the place is packed in the afternoon with loud Spanish students who pretend to be studying but are actually watching comedy videos on YouTube or smoking in the hallway. (At some point I need to write about how all this smoking drives me crazy).

But anyways, here's a repaso of the last week:

Monday: Anastasia invited me to watch a free performance of the opera Madame Butterfly at the cultural center near my apartment. Now I’ve never been big on opera, and last time I went with her to see Las Bodas de Figaro, I hardly understood a thing. But, I figured, I’m not doing anything else and since she said their performance of Las Bodas wasn’t really an opera, so I’d give opera another chance. But I guess me and opera just aren’t meant to be, because it turns out that evening they were actually performing Shakespeare’s Macbeth. A play that I’ve never read in English, let alone in Spanish. I stayed anyways, and about fifteen seconds in I knew this was going to be a long evening. Almost ninety minutes later, the curtain finally closed and I got up to leave when Anastasia told me that it was just the intermission. The combination of frustration, hunger, and homework led me to excuse myself and leave anyways, which I’m glad I did, because although Anastasia thoroughly enjoyed it, it went on for about another hour after that.

Tuesday: Anastasia and I went back to the Cultural Center Moncloa to see a piano, flute and harp concert. Now although I’ve forgotten most of what I learned in the music class I took for my CORE arts requirement, I still enjoy listening to the music, and let me tell you – the flute and the harp make quite a beautiful combination. Anyways, a cultural experience mucho más mejor than the night before.

Wednesday: The university took us to the Museo de Reina Sofía, the city’s modern counterweight to the Prado. We saw Picasso’s Guernica and works by Dalí. Once again, it helped that Carmen was there to explain things, because like I said before, for an art novice like me, unless someone tells me why what I’m looking at is actually important, art museums are not the most productive way to spend my time. After the quick tour, a bunch of us decided to stay and wander, and we saw some sculptures and more modern art, including an exhibit on flamenco. I was craving a café con leche, but everyone else wanted to go to Burger King. So yes, for the third time this month I found myself sitting in an American fast food chain watching everyone around me eat burgers and fries while all I wanted to do was get café con leche and tapas at, oh I don’t know, maybe a SPANISH restaurant. I mean, I understand that people have cravings, but why do they always have to be when I’m around?

Thursday: The day I got to pick my classes. Now, I knew coming into this country that things are a lot more laid back than they are in the U.S., and I understand that this university deals with a lot of different international programs, but they really could be a bit more organized. I was worried from the beginning that having the latest registration date might mean some of the classes I need might be full, and of course, that was exactly the case. Specifically, the class on the European Union, which I need to take, was full. To make things worse, all the classes I got approved from the Spanish department before I left are offered at crappy times (re: 8:30 a.m.). I also would much rather take classes on the history and culture of Spain itself, but after e-mailing back and forth with my advisor, it seems that if I want to get credit toward my minor, I can only take a literature or business Spanish class. Yet again, UMD bureaucracy throws a wrench into my plans.

That evening, Anastasia and I had planned on going to see the movie La Niña de Tus Ojos. But first went to a talk on the Prado’s newest exhibition on 19^th century. The talk was at another cultural center in one of the more residential neighborhoods in the city. There was a little park outside the center where toddlers were playing and the surrounding houses were so cute. Now I understand how people can live in the city but feel like they’re in the suburbs. Anyways, I got there a bit early so I looked at these gorgeous paintings of surrounding landscapes that were on display. These are the types of paintings that Mom and I enjoy looking at. The talk itself was good because I got to practice hearing Spanish at as it is typically spoken – quickly and without stopping to explain us what things means.

Afterwards, we planned on grabbing dinner, but the metro was having problems, so we reached the movie theater just as the movie was starting. At first I was wondering if I’d just wasted my two euros on something I wouldn’t understand, but I ended up following the story quite well. Obviously I didn’t really understand any of the jokes, but the fact that I knew what was going on sin subtítulos and with their heavy Andalucian accent left me quite satisfied.

Friday: The university scheduled a visit to the royal tapestry factory, but because people seem to have lost interest in learning about this country (Tomorrow’s visit to El Escorial was also canceled for lack of interest) and since many people decided to skip school today, I was surprised to hear it was still on. After class Yukiko and I went to what I’ve decided is my favorite café in the city to get café con leche and a pastry. Yukiko is in the same Spanish class as me, but she’s only here for this month. She is Japanese but lives in El Salvador, where she works with both countries’ governments setting up development projects. Her husband is also here taking classes as he prepares to finish up his Master’s and teach Spanish at a university in El Salvador. She’s worked all over the world and it was so interesting to hear about her experiences in Paraguay, Kenya and Nepal, to name a few.

Upon reaching the factory, we ran into Daniel, who said the professor who was supposed to be taking us on the tour had left, saying that she wasn’t going to do the tour with only three people. Yukiko decided to head out, since she had to prepare for her weekend trip to Sevilla. Daniel and I wandered around in the museum next door, which we weren't really sure what the focus of it was. It had religious paintings, then some tapestries, then busts of politicians, and the most interesting part, a complete exhibit on the judicial center the city is going to construct. It turns out, the city's courts are going to be housed in these futuristic circular buildings - they information about the architectural plans and which firms were doing what - lol I thought of you Aley. Afterwards we found this random building/courtyard with statues and mosaics and stuff. I love how you can stumble across the most random things when exploring a city.

That evening Amber and I met up and ended up going out for dinner at this Thai restaurant. Since I’d already eaten dinner (yeah there wasn’t really any planning that went into this evening), we shared what I think was shrimp pad thai and some sangria, both of which were very, very good. The place was cozy but cute, with brightly colored walls and scarves and paper lamps everywhere; yet another place to add to my list of things to do when people visit. We wandered around after that and ended up splitting a brownie and ice cream for dessert (lol even after my two dinners the picture on the menu was too good to pass up :-P) Unlike the dense chocolaty bricks we get back home, this brownie was moist and less sweet, but still absolutely delicious. After this meal we resolved to eat nothing but fruit the next day, and I at least stuck by that (well for breakfast at least :-P).

Saturday: I spent the day with Marianne and Roos (Rose) from Holland. We set out to find the Museo del Traje because there’s an exhibition of wedding dresses we wanted to see. After wandering around and detouring through the Parque del Oeste, we finally found the museum and it turns out admission is free on Saturdays after 2 p.m. In addition to the wedding dresses we saw everything from large Victorian hoop gowns, haute couture á la Balenciaga and Dior and even underwear through the ages. Needless to say we left the museum with a burning desire to go shopping. Instead, we decided to go to grab a glass of wine and some croquetas, which are basically my favorite tapas ever. I’ll also have to write an entry on food sometime soon – luckily my señora’s been feeding me quite well.

Sunday: Anastasia and I went to el Rastro, the sprawling street market that pops up every Sunday morning. I almost felt like I was in India because so many of the stalls were hawking brightly-colored jewelry, purses, scarves, boxes covered with mirrors, designs, and in some cases even Hindu gods. So much for finding authentic Spanish stuff. Afterwards, we went to another free concert at a cultural center located on the edge of the city. The wind quartet performed a variety of pieces, including Moon River. The moment that song came on I thought of Sumegha :). I’d hardly slept the night before, so I headed back to the apartment, ate lunch and crashed. That evening I surprised Sumegha by giving her a call, lol, and it must have worked because she didn’t recognize me lol. Despite the fact that these past couple days I’ve finally gotten used to the idea of being here for the semester, talking to her and Vicki and hearing about how the semester is starting today made me really miss all my friends back home. Lol, it’s not that I necessarily miss being at school, because College Park fails miserably in comparison to Madrid, but I just wish you all could be enjoying the city with me.

Whew - so there it is. My week in review. And of course now it's 6:20 p.m. and I haven't even begun my homework. Lol, and to think, soon I'm going to have four/five classes worth of work instead of just one....

Hope everyone at school is having a good first day of classes (as paradoxical as that sounds). Let me know how it's going!

P.S. You know you're a journalist when you read something someone wrote and all their inaccuracies make you cringe and wish you could just write FAIL in capital letters. Oh the journalism school is turning me into a monster/elitist when it comes to writing.