Hola chic@s,
So it's been a loooong time, once again. I started out with these grand plans of updating once a week every week and somehow immediately fell out of that pattern. The last time I updated was February 6 I think. That weekend we went to Toledo (Spain, not Ohio) which is a gorgeous city about an hour south of Madrid. It has, among many other points of interest, one of the most beautiful and oldest cathedrals in all of Spain, the Catedral Primada Santa María de Toledo. It also has a synagogue which was converted into a church, and mosques (many of which were destroyed or converted into churches). Christianity reigns supreme in Spain. I felt transported to a different century, walking down the narrow cobblestone streets. That is until a car wanted to pass by and you had to press yourself against a wall in order to avoid being run over. We ate dinner one day and lunch the next at an awesome restaurant called El Trebol. Dinner there was seriously one of the best meals I've had since coming to Spain. Also, the program had a photography competition where you could send in your three best pictures from Toledo and Luis, one of the coordinators, put them all on Facebook so people could "vote" by clicking "Like". I entered a picture of Chris imitating a statue of a hunchback and got 3rd place! Which wins me 30 euro to redeem for extracurricular activities (wish it were travel money instead but beggars can't be choosers...).
That week (February 7th) we started classes at la UAM, which I told you a bit about. I tried out 3 classes (wanted to try out 4 but will explain in a minute why that didn't happen). The one I went to on Monday was called "History of Culture and Mentalities of Modern Europe" or something like that. It was a bizarre class whose lengthy reading list reminded me far too much of Modern Mind at Tufts with Jay Cantor (Dev, you know what I'm talking about). The professor came in 15 minutes late (they always do), droned on for 45 minutes about the strange syllabus (with two reading lists: a general bibliography which consisted of about 7 or 8 books, and a required reading list which was like 30 more books... wth??), and then left. I had no idea what he said but I really hoped I would not end up taking that class.
Tuesday (the 8th) I tried out a class with Pilar Toboso Sanchez, one of the professors who came to the program to give us a little taste of her class, History of the Modern World Part II (History of Spain since 1939). It seemed like an interesting class and gelled well with material I had learned the previous semester in my class on Spanish Literature of the Post-Civil War. So far it's been a class about Franco, Franco, and more Franco, from the perspective of Franco. But at least Dana and Carlos are in the class with me (Carlos, you ARE staying in Pilar). Afterwards I tried out a class with Ariane called La Mujer Escritora (The Female Writer), taught by a professor called Dolores Noguera. Dolores (not what I call her to her face) is a very hippie, bra-less feminist but super chic and looks like a student with her trendy hair and hipster-ish clothing. She's a bit hard to understand because she kind of mumbles a bit but I like her and I think she'll go easy on us (at least I hope??). Also Juan, our guide for the Filo y Letras tour from last month, is in the class, so he should be able to help us out. Also I'm getting a tutor. I am definitely taking this class. Tara recommended a lit class to me called Modern Spanish Narrative (from 1975 till now) that she took and really liked, but unfortunately there has not been a single session of the class so far because, as I've heard, the professor was recently diagnosed with cancer. The class officially starts March 1st (not sure who's teaching it) but since we had to tell Mayte today our official class selections, Ariane and I decided to go with the one we've been to versus the one we haven't. Another thing about the UAM- professors sometimes just don't show up. And there's no warning or indication. They just don't come. I've been lucky so far; I've made two pointless trips to la UAM but both times there was a sign posted saying that we didn't have class that day, so at least I didn't hang around waiting for the professor to show up when he/she was never going to.
What else what else... the weekend before last I met my intercambio Ramon for the first time. Intercambios are Spanish students who the program sets you up with, kind of like a pen pal, so that you can have Spanish friends. I have 5 intercambios technically but I've only ever spoken to Ramon (because he did the work of finding me and messaging me on Facebook). Anyway Ramon and I have spoken a few times since late last year but finally the weekend before last I met him in person. On Saturday, Ramon, Dana, Ariane, and I went to a bar near Santiago Bernabeu and then afterwards to a discoteca in Tribunal. It was really fun! The next day (Sunday) Ramon had invited me to a "spa" (sports facility) to go swimming with him and some of the people he volunteers with who have Down Syndrome. The facility was super far away in Alcobendas but it was a chance for me to see places I would never have otherwise. I would never have gone to this "spa" on my own and it was a lot of fun. We swam for like 2 hours (in this huge pool with all sorts of fountains and waterfalls) and I got a chance to talk to some of the people he volunteers with. There were only 3 of them: Nacho, Dani, and Araceli. Nacho and I talked the most and almost immediately he said to me, "Your Spanish isn't very good, is it?" That was a bit discouraging, haha. But he was super nice so it didn't bother me so much. Ultimately it was a very cool way to spend my Sunday.
This past week wasn't particularly exciting... I saw Valor de Ley (True Grit) in English with Chris and Dana on Tuesday night. I know my mother probably wouldn't have liked it (too much shooting/violence) but I thought it was awesome. And hilarious! I didn't expect to laugh so much. Next up on my list of movies to see is Biutiful with Javier Bardem. I'm seeing that on Wednesday with some people. I also recently saw Grapes of Wrath for funzies at the Circulo de Bellas Artes, the place with the cool rooftop with the great views. It also has a neat theatre that shows English movies sometimes. I hadn't seen GoW since 8th grade and I had forgotten a lot of the story. Good movie, and Henry Fonda was a fox!
On Saturday, possibly one of the grossest days so far (both cold and rainy), my friends (Carlos, Dana, and Ariane) decided to go to Avila for the day (we know how to pick 'em!). Avila is pretty close to Madrid; it took about 2 hours by train (the slow and cheap train, not the fast expensive one). When we got out of the train station we found ourselves in a pretty normal looking town. We had to walk through the ugly modern part to get to the beautiful old part, surrounded by the super-old muralla or wall. We spent a good portion of the day walking around the wall, which offered some great views of the town and surrounding countryside (and mountains!). Avila is basically built on a hill so the views are amazing. Besides the wall, which occupied most of our day, we saw the Avila Cathedral and the birthplace of Santa Teresa, some crazy old lady who also happened to perform miracles. We also saw the ring finger of one of Santa Teresa's hands, now 500 years old. It was pretty gnarly. And was wearing an emerald ring. Google "Santa Teresa's finger" and you can find pics! The day was a lot of fun despite the weather (and the company, haha -- just kidding!).
That's about it for now. This weekend those same friends (C, D, and A) and I are planning a suuuper last minute trip to Granada to see El Alhambra among many other awesome things. I'm super excited!! And in just a couple of weeks my REAL family will be here. I hope Maggie's ready to use her Spanish!!
Besos,
Chelsea
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