El Rastro and the Bullfight!

On Sunday morning, a group of us went to to El Rastro, a historically huge and diverse flea market in Madrid. It is only open on Sundays and puts any market I've ever seen to shame. The main drag was a street (maybe a mile long) with three rows of vendors...and it still branched off into side streets and plazas. It was full of people the whole time we were there. The scared shopper in me left me pretty overwhelmed by the options (antique vendors, knife/sword sellers, music, clothes, purses, leather, table cloths, souvenirs, etc.), but it was a great experience.

That night, we trekked over to Las Ventas for my first bullfight. What an experience! It felt so nice to be back in an arena/stadium to watch a sport, but I had no idea what I was in for. There is a great deal of pageantry as trumpets sound to welcome the matadors into the stadium. They are all presented to the president of the league/club (Las Ventas is like the Yankee Stadium of the bullfighting world), and so are the armored horses and supporting cast. The first bull runs out as 6 or 7 matadors wield bright pink capes to steer the bull into the center of the ring (right in front of us...we were about 4 rows up!) and the main matador of that fight goes and gets control of the bull. The president waves a white cloth when the matador has control and two armored horses walk out, each carrying a man with a spear. The matador then aims the bull into those horses (they ram the horses pretty hard, but the horses are protected from the horns, I think) and the man on the horse spears the bull between the shoulders. The president waves the flag again when enough damage has been done, then special matadors come out and run up to the charging bull to spear it again (in the shoulders to weaken the bull). When all six spears are in (and the bull is bleeding a lot!...sorry Mom if you're reading this), the matador comes back out for the main event. He has a red cape (along with his very traditional uniform), walks to the center, flips his hat to the sand, presents himself to the president, then goes to work.

He brings the toro (bull) close to him, but under the cape several times. I think this is to examine how that specific bull attacks and to wear the bull down a little bit. He gains control and makes sure the bull is focused on the cape. Wherever that focus is, it is amazing how the matador will brush up to the charging animal, then turn his back to it as he plays to the crowd. Then, he changes to a heavier sword, continues drawing the bull close to him, then goes for the attack where he drives the sword into the bull's back. After that, several matadors run out until the bull finally drops.

This is one of the bloodiest and most gruesome things I've ever experienced. The three of us who saw the fight (each night, there are 6 of these...one matador is crowned "torrero" and keeps the bull's ear because he was the best) were appalled at the cruelty. Still, we were amazed at the courage of these matadors to be close enough to this bull to have its blood on their uniforms (and get flipped as one matador did...took a horn to the chest!). It's a sport that I'd rather not see again and a big part of me wishes it didn't happen, but it's a big part of Spanish tradition that I think we're all glad we know more about.

Thank you for continuing to read this...leave me comments to let me know what you think...or that you're reading it at all!

La Noche en Blanco

On Saturday night of this past weekend, we (along with everyone else in Madrid) got to enjoy an annual celebration called La Noche en Blanco (the White Night). On this night, people flood the streets, museums stay open and free all night, the palace is open, restaurants are open late, there are art exhibits and concerts and dance lessons out in the streets....and all of the streets in central Madrid look like Times Square on New Year's Eve. From Plaza Mayor (where we joined in on a jazz parade that reminded me of New Orleans but led us to what we learned was a concert where they were making fun of the US) to the Prado to Gran Via to Sol, the city was packed!

Even us college students couldn't quite handle the hours as 3 am came with the party in full swing, but we were beginning to wear down. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen--people spent hours just walking through the streets, waiting in lines to get into buildings, or just enjoying the cool September night.

Very fun time and I'm glad we were able to be in Madrid to experience it.

Food Update #1 and #2

This weekend, I had the opportunity to eat at two great restaurants (on my scale, two great restaurants makes for quite a fine weekend)...

The first was Taqueria del Alamillo near the Royal Palace in Madrid. It's a little bit off the beaten path, so that was the first good sign of good food as Elise and I hunted for a place to quench our shared craving for Mexican food in Spain. It is a really unassuming restaurant, tucked in the back corner of a small plaza. We walked up, got a table outside, and asked our very friendly waiter for help with the menu. As we munched on chips and salsa (not what we expected in Spain, but sometimes you just need a change!), he recommended a big plate of their special nachos and a chicken dish with salsa verde and tortillas (that also came in a big stone bowl to keep the meal hot). In all honesty, it was one of the best meals I've ever had (top 20? top 15?) and I can't wait to go back. The service was great and the food was even better. I was so distracted with how much I liked it that I forgot to take a picture of the food!

The second was a place (the name is escaping me!) where we grabbed a good Spanish lunch. While some restaurants have the special menu del dia, others just let you order a few dishes. At this one (see the picture), we ordered fried chorizo (spicy sausage), tortilla espanola (like an omelette with potatoes and onions), mushrooms, and sangria. Great lunch!

El Escorial

Well, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Our trip to El Escorial (an old royal castle/palace near Madrid) was a major loss for me.

I'll keep this one short, but after the train ride, things just went downhill for me. Robert, Jay, and Elise decided to proceed from that town to a nearby site...which was absolutely fine with me -- it gave me some alone time and I was really excited about seeing El Escorial and it's grandeur. Right when their bus left, I walked to the palace to find dozens of surprised visitors waiting outside because it was closed because of a local festival. Great.

With no palace to see, I thought that I could at least explore the town...only to learn that on Sundays in Spain, very little is open. I got a snack and shopped for notebooks for school (at the only store that was open) and waited a few hours for my friends to get back.

Took a couple of good pictures, but other than that, I'm now determined to get back to El Escorial and have a good time!

Oh yeah...school.

All of my dreams of having a completely relaxing semester full of culture and travel were all but crushed as we started classes at NYU on Monday. That's not to say that I won't have the cultutral and travel experiences that I'm hoping for....I'll just have homework to do and papers to write as I do them!

My classes are:

Caribbean Literature (I've never taken a literature class, so this should be really good. Plus, it knocks out a Literature requirement at Duke.)

Masterpieces in the Prado (world-renowned art museum, also something I've never really had a good appreciation for. We spend Tuesdays in lecture, but then Thursdays at the museums. It's important stuff that I feel like I should know...plus, an art requirement at Duke.)

Techniques of Translation (this class is completely in Spanish. It's not exactly what I thought it was going to be, but it is definitely going to work on my Spanish vocabulary and grasp of colloquialisms as we translate English movie scripts into Spanish. Not easy at all, plus it's interesting and is helping me take another step toward fluency in Spanish!)

Economics: European Union (this class is already my favorite. The teacher is a business consultant in Madrid, decently young, and enteraining. This one counts for my Public Policy major requirements and is just fascinating to me. He said that the European Union is so complicated that people don't really know about it unless they live in it. Still, it's a huge international political and economic power, so it's a really interesting class where we'll talk about the state of the European Union and of several regions across the world as well.)

It's a really good and balanced schedule with two classes per day (one on Wednesdays) and nothing starts before 12:30, so that is definitely good news for my body! I got really lucky with all of this, so now I'm just hoping to hold up my end of the bargain and do well in them!

Thanks again for checking my blog out! Please leave comments at any and all times (especially if I have left something out)!!!!

Catching Up from Madrid

Alright so I'm about to go to bed. I'm on Skype (if you don't have it, I'd definitely consider getting it...it's free!) talking with Elise and she's selling me pretty well on why I ought to go ahead and go to sleep. It's tempting since classes start in the morning, but while I'm pleading my case with her, I thought I'd bring you up to date on a few more details about my homestay, a critical vocabulary lesson, and an embarassing yet funny story.

I mentioned some of this, but at the risk of redundancy, I'm living with a 70ish year-old widow in her apartment in Madrid. Her apartment is right at the center of town on the 5th story of a 6 story building. It's a very nice apartment and the decorations (portraits, very classy) remind me a lot of my grandmother's house in Alabama. Our senora (Carmen Moreno) fixes us breakfast and dinner each day and sits with us at dinner. The Spanish eating schedule is much different than that of the US (breakfast at 8ish, long big lunch at 2, dinner around 9:30), but I'm getting used to it, believe it or not! On my first day, I buzzed her apartment when I showed up and after she called down, I said, "Senora?? Es Graham (It's Graham)." She brought me up, shook my hand, and the semester began. She's very good to Robert and I and we're growing closer each day. She doesn't speak any English (she says she really regrets never learning it), but that helps our Spanish...forces us to speak correctly and use the vocabularies we have to compensate for the ones we don't. At meals, we talk about our families, Spanish politics (socialist government with a king...a lot to talk about!), the places we want to travel, her trips to the U.S., and whatever has happened that day or happens to be on her tv during the meal! She's great to us and knows the way to my heart...she always fixes more than enough food!

This next part is completely unrelated and I'm realizing that I have no transition to it. Is a bad transition better than none at all? Oh well, I guess I'll learn after I post this. In Spain, saying "okay" does not translate. This is not good for me. In Spain, everyone says "Vale" (prounced BAH-lay)...roughly translated, it means "go ahead" or "okay". The bad part is, I'm having trouble translation my go-to words, especially "awesome". This results in my saying "excelente" way more than any one human being should. Elise isn't letting me forget that...neither is my senora...

Last, but not least, a story. Our last morning in San Sebastian, Elise and I went to get breakfast in town. I need to post a picture of the thing I got (like a crepe, but full of bacon, sausage, and cheese...man fuel). We sat down at a cafe so we could get drinks. She ordered a cappucino and I wanted orange juice, but my memory failed me on how to say "juice" in Spanish. The one thing I could think of was "juicio"...which made a lot of sense. The waitress came by, I gave her my order, and she just stared at me. I tried again...to no avail. One more time, a little more frustrated (because I just knew I was using the right word) and a little louder, still a failure. Confused at why she didn't understand, I said "juice" and she got it! After talking with Elise for a few minutes about where I went wrong, it suddenly hit both of us. "Juicio" means "justice". Try that at a restaurant today. "Hi, sir, what can I get for you?"

"Ummm how about a little justice?"

Segovia

After a week of orientation activities (two hours of language refreshers and two hours of culture lectures) at NYU's base in Madrid, our group of about 70 or 80 students (mainly from NYU, but other schools like Duke, Davidson, Columbia, etc.) boarded coaches and headed to Segovia.

Segovia is about an hour long drive from Madrid. We were split into groups (mine was a Spanish-language tour...it's a wonder that I could understand even the walking directions!) to walk around to the Alcazar of Segovia (a fortress/castle), Sinagoga La Mayor (important part of Spain's Jewish community from the middle ages), the Cathedral of Segovia (huuuuuge), and one of the most impressive things I've ever seen, the Roman Aqueduct.

I'll highlight this aqueduct mainly (I do encourage you to wikipedia or google the rest!) for just a second. This bad boy is 2000 years old and still works! It's got 20,400 stone blocks held together not by mortar, but by perfect engineering...just using the stones' forces to keep the whole thing up! It is about 100 feet tall...much bigger than I expected. Quite a sight to see...I'll put a picture up soon!

After that, a big group of us went to a restaurant to eat lunch. Like in San Sebastian and most Spanish towns, they had the menu del dia (menu of the day) where the specials are actually good deals! It is cheaper than ordering a la carte...even if you're just ordering a sandwich. Thankfully, I was able to get my trusty salad, 1/2 of a chicken, a dessert of flan, and an ice cold beverage on that hot day! Fun time in Segovia. Little place, but a lot of cool alleys, a little shop, and their city center, Plaza Mayor, was a great place for people-watching.

Thank you again for reading! Leave a comment whenever you want!