How Time Flies! Preliminary...pics and more to come tomorrow!

Wow...I can't believe that November is only two days away! October has been a whirlwind of a month in which I have found myself continually eating those words I wrote about being bored and wishing I had something to do. Boredom would be a welcome respite from my current hectic schedule. Anyway, no one reads this to hear me whine about my schedule, so I will not subject you all to any more of it.

I had only just arrived in Madrid when I posted my first blog, so I have a lot of ground to cover. So, I started classes on September 21 and just finished my midterms yesterday, October 28. I had to change my schedule several times in order to accomodate the hours of my internship (which I will address in a minute). I ended up frontloading my week by having to attend every class I am taking on Mondays, when I am in class from 9am to 4:15pm without a break. I only have one class on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 to 11:50am, and two classes on Wednesdays from 9 to 11:50am. But don't think I just lay around all day after that!

As I mentioned earlier, I had to work my schedule around the hours of my internship with Club of Madrid, which is a an organization composed of ex-Presidents and Prime Ministers from around the world working to provide solutions to developing and transitional democracies, as well as working to help promote human rights and liberty for everyone. I work in the Internal Governance department and usually spend my days editing documents written in English for grammatical and stylistic errors. When I say documents, I mean packets that are being compiled for our upcoming conference. So, they are usually very poorly written as everyone is just trying to get the information down on paper. I work long hours in comparison with the other students in my Internship Seminar class. I go in at 2:30pm on Tuesdays and work until 6:00pm, and I work from 1:00 to 6:00pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Due to my long hours, I was allowed to downgrade my course load to 12 credit hours, which is much more manageable.

Let's jump to October 2, when I went on my first overnight trip outside the city to Valencia, which is a city on the Mediterranean coast and is famous for being the home of paella, a famous Spanish dish of rice and seafood. We left early on that Friday morning and were on the bus for five hours. We made a pitstop in a small village where we ate breakfast in an 8th Century castle that had been converted into an upscale hotel. Very cool. Once we arrived in Valencia, almost everyone switched into their swimming suits and headed down to the beach. Everyone, that is, except for me, because I was feeling sick and we only had time to spend about two hours on the beach before we had to be back at the hotel to go on a tour of the old part of the city. Come to find out, the tour was optional, and about half of the group took advantage of that little detail. Thus, everyone else got a nice tan and I got to walk up a steep, narrow spiral staircase to look at an old bell. Great! Oh yeah, I also had to walk down said staircase, and several times only narrowly avoided tumbling the rest of the way down. But, the tour was a good way to get acquainted with what we would find out was the center of the city's nightlife, so my (tan) friends were thanking me later that night for taking the tour. I also got to try the Valencian specialty orxata de xufes (horchata de chufas) which is basically a cold, sweet drink made from tigernuts, sugar and water. It was very good and as the day was rather warm, refreshing, too. I wrote the name first in Valenciana, which is a variant of Catalan - the language of the "state" of Catalonia, where Barcelona is located - and is spoken only in the "state" of Valencia. The next day, we visited Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences) which is an impressive string of buildings - designed by world-reknowned architect and Valencia native, Santiago Calatrava - that house Europe's largest aquarium, an IMAX experience theater (all those familiar with it, think of Lubbock's Science Spectrum dome theater) and many other exhibitions we did not have time to see. Afterwards, we had a fantastic lunch of croquetas, tortilla española, potatoes with aioli sauce and paella valenciana, as well as several glasses of rioja. Then, we got on the bus and drove another five hours back to Madrid, but with a break at a truck stop-like place (apparently the bus drivers' union in Spain mandates that they take a 30 minute break every three hours) where I was surrounded by members of the Spanish military who were also taking a rest stop, and who had not bothered to leave their big, intimidating rifles in their vehicles.

Vale, Vale, Vale: Madrid, los primeros días

As I write this, I am laying in the grass in Parque de Buen Retiro and listening to Band of Horses on my iPod. Could it get any better?

This question has been on my mind since I arrived in Madrid and each time, the answer is "yes." Each day I spend in the city only makes me more excited to greet the sun the next day. Granted right now, the only class I am taking is an orientation course designed to help us get adjusted to madrileño culture and which require no outside work. But, I am actually anticipating the start of courses, believe it or not, as this extra time during the afternoon often finds me spending away my money. Seeing as it has only been a week since my arrival to Madrid, I have been giving myself a break on the money front and concentrating on having fun more than anything else.

Now, in the fun department, Madrid has much to offer. I live less than ten blocks from the biggest and most beautiful park in the city, the aforementioned Parque de Buen Retiro (it's like the Central Park of Madrid). Just taking a walk through the park and listening to the sounds of children playing, people laughing and the wind rustling through the wide variety of trees, can make my day. I have taken to running in the park when I get the chance as I seem to run farther and faster than I normally would when facing the prospect of getting outrun by people twice my age. The park houses many monuments and the Reina Sofia art museum. There is also a large pond/small lake in which los madrileños while away the hours lazily rowing boats and canoes.

Una chiquita en el Parque.

A monument overlooking the rowing lake.

Another monument in el Parque.

I arrived on Monday, September 7, and have already ventured outside the city to visit the town of Segovia. There are many reasons to visit Segovia, but we concentrated on a Catholic cathedral built by the Knights Templar during the 12th century, Castillo Alcazar de Segovia and an ancient roman aqueduct built durind the 1st century.

I most enjoyed our visit to Castillo Alcazar de Segovia, which is an impressive castle that was home to many Spanish kings and queens, including Queen Isabel and King Fernando. It is also the castle upon which Walt Disney based the castles in the first Disney animated films, eventually inspiring the famous Walt Disney castle in the company's symbol.

Me, posing with a (tiny) suit of armor in Castillo Alcazar.

Castillo Alcazar de Segovia

The 1st century Roman aqueduct in Segovia.

I often find myself comparing this trip to the one I took earlier this summer to Buenos Aires, Argentina (the trip which inspired the name of this blog). Though I know I shouldn't, the cities are so similar, both architecturally and in the character of the people. One similarity they do not share, however, is affordability. While much of this is due to our favorable exchange rate with the Argentine peso and our unfavorable exchange rate with the euro, not all of it is. Going to dinner in a nice restaurant in Buenos Aires would cost roughly $15 USD, wine included. Going to dinner at a comparable restaurant in Madrid would cost more than $40, wine not included. So, needless to say, I haven't yet had dinner at a nice restaurant.

Also, I notice the urgency with which I explored Buenos Aires is absent in my approach to Madrid. I only had seven weeks with which to work in Argentina in comparison to almost four months in Madrid. Thus, I felt like every minute was precious in Buenos Aires, while I can easily spend the day inside my room here in Madrid and not think anything of it.

As I said before, I am ready to establish a rhythm in Madrid so I don't have to find as many ways to fill my time. I have an interview for an internship tomorrow afternoon, which could potentially help in the "filling my time" department (I'll let you all know about the outcome of the interview soon!).

For now, I am still riding an arrival high and looking forward to what I may find around the next corner of this beautiful city. If only I could get my internal clock adjusted to sleeping seven hours ahead, then everything would be perfect.

Brady

How time flies when you're having fun...

I can't believe it has been a week and a half since I last posted on here. Wow, time passes by so quickly when you are always on the move.

I have been trying to upload pictures on here so that everyone can see what I have been seeing, but my "borrowed" internet connection doesn't seem to have the necessary bandwidth to do so. If I don't manage to get any up during the trip, I will definitely post some once I return home. 

This past week, we got a taste of what to expect in our two classes and there was little sour mixed in with the sweet. By this, I mean that the majority of our class wasn't prepared for the workload in our Advanced Conversation and Grammar class. But, we talked to our professor (she works in UCA) after our first day and expressed some of our concerns and she explained the situation. After which point, we all had a clearer sense of the curriculum. Sometimes, the language barrier between native speakers and non-native speakers rears its ugly head and confuses the hell out of everyone and this was one of those times. 

The sweet of the experience came in our Reading the Contemporary Argentine Nation class with Professor De Oro, who is not only a professor at Southwestern, but he is also my advisor. The workload for his course seems appropriate for a summer class, especially one in a foreign country, because it is enough that we gain something tangible to relate to the country in which we are currently residing, but not so much that we can't actually experience the country and interact with its inhabitants. This probably sums up the difference between the two classes. Where one emphasizes learning the proper skills, the other emphasizes using those skills to relate it to Argentine culture. Where one necessitates lots of outside work to be effective, the other is effective because it emphasizes more of the experience we are gaining. Combined, the two classes sort of balance each other out. You always need a little sour to complement sweet flavors!

Also, this week saw us really venturing out into the city for the first time. On Friday (May 22) we went on a tour of the city by bus during the time our grammar class would normally occur. It was a little rapid for my taste, but had it been fit to my taste, we would have been on that bus for several more hours than we were. But I don't really like to experience a city in that manner anyway. I like going out and making my own path. 

This past Monday (May 25) is a national holiday celebrating Argentina's independence from Spain i.e. the founding of the country. It just so happened that this year was also Argentina's bicentennial celebration (May 25, 1810 - May 25, 2009). So, we were in the city on the country's 200th birthday. Although, the intensity I have witnessed in the Argentine party crowd didn't really manifest itself once the clock ticked to midnight and I was standing in the middle of a massive crowd assembled for the free concert. I just assumed there would be a massive outpouring of joy and excitement and it was kind of more like a mediocre attempt to celebrate. it seemed to me that the celebration wasn't even as large as that experienced on New Year's Eve around the world. But, as Argentina has a political past with as many stinging memories as a visit to the dentist, it makes sense that they may not be overjoyed at the bicentennial of their independence from Spain. 

On this past Wednesday (May 27), our program arranged for us to take free tango lessons at a cultural center in Palermo (one of the ritzier neighborhoods in Buenos Aires). We learned some of the basic steps necessary to fumble through a tango, but the dance floor was so crowded, it was hard to move around without bumping into others. Nonetheless, tango is a symbol of the Argentine nation and it was nice to get a taste for something that makes up so much of what people associate with Argentina.

I won't go into great detail here, but the nightlife in Buenos Aires is so lively that one is always stunned upon looking at the time and seeing the the hour hand nearing 6:00am. Needless to say, the past two weekends have been very fun and cheap due to the awesome US dollar to Argentine peso exchange rate. Every time I look at a receipt, I am pleasantly surprised at what I see. 

After almost two weeks in Buenos Aires, I can safely say it is one of my favorite cities in the world. The architecture is beautiful, the people more so and the energy that this city exudes is like none I have ever experienced. Although it is fall here, for the first couple days of our trip, it was quite warm. So, during the cab ride home from my first night out, I took the opportunity to stick my head out the taxi window and let the "good air," if you will, rush across my face. The blurring lights of 9 de julio Avenue moving across my pupils, I shouted out into the early morning, "Me encanta Buenos Aires!"

Brady

"Don't let schooling interfere with your education." - Mark Twain

Day One

As I write this, I am looking out onto Calle Chacabuco from my window and using a "borrowed" Wifi signal from one of my neighbors. But, let me rewind a bit. 

So the flight was very long and I the couple sitting behind me seemed to be watching something or doing work on their laptops, which made me feel apprehensive about reclining my seat back, but I did it anyways. When the lights in the cabin were turned off, the woman on me end raised all the armrests and laid out on three seats like a bed. Needless to say, I was jealous. For the most part, the trip was pretty easy, but we hit a bit of turbulence about 2 hours before we landed and it pretty much remained that way until we arrived in Buenos Aires. Also, there were only two people seated in the five-seat row in front of me and they were on opposite ends. 

Okay, now fast-forward to my first day in Buenos Aires.

When we were picked up at the airport, we boarded a mini-bus and then we proceeded to be dropped off at our host homes. My host home's address was printed wrong on all the materials and when we arrived at the original location, no one answered the phone or the little buzz-ringer thingy. So the driver had to call the IFSA office and find out what happened. Once we got it sorted out and I had met my host mom, Graciela, she cooked chicken milanesa and some sort of spinach omelette tortilla, both of which I liked very much. Graciela'a daughter lives across the hall from us and while she was cooking lunch, Graciela went over and got her baby grandson, with whom I started playing instead of continuing unpacking.

After lunch and baby-playtime, Graciela and I went out to find a SIM card for my phone. Despite being reassured by AT&T that placing a foreign SIM card in my phone would allow it to remain functional, it did not. So, after hours of searching, I ended up purchasing a prepaid cell phone from Movistar and have already used all my minutes on a call to my parents. Oh well.

All in all, today was a good day, but I definitely have to get used to the Argentine accent, as it is very different from anything I have ever heard before.

Later,

Brady