Madrid, Spain

Today brought another day of class, and a fascinating afternoon of being glued to my computer screen – working. Instead of just a couple hours, today I was plugged in from about 1pm to 10pm, with breaks for lunch and supper. Oh, and a small commercial break to play with my cell phone, which came in Spanish (and whose meager instruction manual was also in Spanish.) The screen did have a change-language option, the choices of which include the same ones as the ATM machines: Castellano, Catalan, Euskara, Galego. (All the dialects in the regions of Spain.)

The word “castellano” (cahs-tay-YAH-no) comes from “castilla”, or castle.

Professor Sobejano says that no one knows where the language spoken in the Basque region originated. He says although the other “languages” could be considered dialects or at least derivatives, what the Basques speak is as different From Spanish as Chinese is.

Random Facts:

* Juan Carlos helped establish the democracy in Spain.

* Plaza de Colon is Madrid’s largest Square.

* Puerta del Sol has the clock that counts down New Years. (Remember the “grapes” tradition?) It’s also the center of the city, and kilometer point zero for all highways.

Tonight, we went to Palacio, which is a club in what used to be (and arguably, still is) a palace. There’s sculptures, paintings, mirrored walls, and dance floors featuring different music, such as pop or Spanish. It was in this latter room where I got twirled around by a Spanish guy who knew what to do much better than I did. It was also in this room where Alison and I had the good fortune to hear someone other than Hotel Parasol’s Mario play the infamous yodeling song, which, when set to a house beat, was actually quite catchy. (Note: I have since learned that this is a Romanian club song by O-Zone called “Dragostea Din Tei.”)

Tags: castles & palaces, music & concerts, random facts & history

Madrid, Spain

Today our class visited the archeological museum, where I saw all manner of pottery, sculptures, jewels, treasure, coins, tombs and mosaics. I also saw the infamous Dama de Elche – which may or may not be legit – and the paintings from the caves of Altamira, which were reproductions, but intriguing nonetheless, because I had always assumed previously that cave paintings were on walls, not ceilings. (Must’ve been Michelangelo’s ancestors, right?)

The Archeological museum and the national library are in the same building. It was planned this way by the government. The Archeological Museum was stocked primarily by Spanish kings, archeologists, and donations by aristocracy.

After the museum visit, Kristin and I headed out to Retiro Park where, after some extensive searching and doubling back, we finally came across the Crystal Palace. This is a large house built entirely of glass (well, except for some metal framing to hold it all together, of course.) It sits in front of a pond with ducks and swans, and is very picturesque.

We also strolled through the garden before heading back to the dorm, where we first heard about the terrorist bombs in London. How terrible and frightening for all the Londoners! A government official initially said, “Yesterday we were so happy that we won Olympic City 2012. Today, we aren’t so sure.” But the attack was soon attributed to Al Qaida lashing out at Bush supporters, rather than anything Olympics-related. (For you movie-buffs, this same London newspaper also quoted Bush as having the following response: “We not yield.” At first I thought this was a typo, but then I considered the source, whose quote sounded suspiciously similar in nature to Brick the meteorologist’s deadpan: “I love lamp.”)

We were all shaken up, especially Kristin, who had a friend in London studying abroad. She finally got ahold of her and found out she was only a block away from the Tube when it happened, so she saw/heard the blast.

The next day at noon, all of Europe shared several of minutes of silence in respect for those who lost their lives in this senseless attack.

Tags: castles & palaces, museums

Fuengirola, Spain & la Costa del Sol

Today, I wake up, eat breakfast, then take the train to Fuengirola. I had seen brochures for the Fuengirola Zoo, saying that they did not believe in bars or cages, and tried their best to recreate animals’ natural environment. This sounded great to me, so I decided to check it out. I’m glad I did! Although small, it was labyrinthic and very pretty, and I even got to see a few animals I’d never heard of, and a few more way closer than I’ve ever previously been. After the zoo, I took the train back to the hotel just in time for the group’s Costa del Sol tour of the southern coast of Spain.

We drove through small pueblos, touristy beaches, posh LA-style shopping strips (Armani stores, Versace stores, etc) and super-rich beach mansion areas. We took walking tours in the downtowns of some of these places, and it was amazing to see the old churches, the ancient castles, the opulent mosques, the fountains, the statues – and these aren’t ordinary fountains and statues! In one park, everything was created by Salvador Dalí. In another, the fountain was a mosaic, and in most, the benches are made with painted tiles.

After the tour, I returned to the hotel to study a couple of hours for class the next day. Because this first class is only two weeks, every night we have to read 2-3 chapters. At midnight, Sebastián showed me a little bar on the beach. I only stayed out for two hours because I had class the next day, but I could have stayed and talked with him for hours. I was finally having a meaningful conversation in Spanish, and for the first time since my arrival, I became acutely aware of the inadequacies in my vocabulary. We talked about the Bush presidency, the lack of compulsory foreign language/culture education in the United States, and the correlated general geographical ignorance of our nation (myself included – a blank map pop quiz makes me break out in a cold sweat), the cost of living versus typical wages in different regions of Spain, the cultural norms and typical dress of people in Morocco (where Sebastián had spent 3 months traveling), the many countries that invaded Spain over the last couple millennia, the surfing waves in Peru as compared to Ecuador (this one I was doing mostly listening) and how Miami is definitely inferior to Tampa. I was hoping to make friends in Spain – and finally I found the first one!

A few things I don’t know if I mentioned but don’t want to forget to say: The bathroom in the hotel has a bidet. I don’t think I’d ever seen one before (and I have not so much as touched it as of yet) but I should at least turn it on, just to see what happens.

Also, prices. How much do things cost? Well, it depends. Some things are very expensive. The cheapest one day car rental, for example, is 45 euros, which is like 53 USD. I had wanted to go to Cadiz, but it’s 3 hours away, and at 45E plus gas… not this trip.

Similarly, the Internet is pay-per-use, ranging from 1E per 10 minutes at my hotel to 1E per hour at the local, rarely-open, Internet cafe.

On the other hand, if you want something to drink, it’s probably just a euro in any vending machine. Bottled water? Diet Coke with lemon? Cadbury candy bar? Cigarettes? Beer? It’s all in the vending machines.

In the grocery stores, drinks are even cheaper. I got the equivalent of three gallons of water for 2E, and a box of sangria for 59 cents. (I don’t know what’s more ghetto – that I bought sangria for 59 cents or that it came in a box.) I took it to dinner at the hotel and shared it with my classmates. (We’d been taking turns and I was up. No expense was spared.)

Speaking of boxes of drink, I bought some Apple Juice boxes at El Corte Ingles – but if I had wanted to, I could have gotten wine instead. That’s right, you can get wine or sangria in Hi-C sized mini boxes, some with plastic bendy-straw. (See? That 59 cent box of sangria is starting to sound pretty high-class, isn’t it.)

And there’s no drinking age in Spain. Children often share a glass of wine with dinner. (I guess you could pack a wine box in their lunch pail too, if you really wanted to.) Some places enforce an alcohol *buying* age of 18, but even that isn’t standard. However, there’s really no issues with alocoholism. Because of the lack of drinking age and the idea of responsible one-glass-only drinking taught from childhood, there’s no rebellious underage drinking, no raucous frat parties or hazing, and no drunken karaoke bars. (Except in tourist areas. Americans can’t help themselves.)

So, kids have to find some other way to rebel, and near as I can figure, it’s all in the hair. Teenagers and twenty-somethings have all the hair colors in the rainbow, and many look as though they trim their hair with a lawn mower. (I’ve even seen a few lost souls with Rainbow-Brite colored mullets – and these were *women*!) The little kids, thankfully, are normal-looking and very cute.

Tags: animals, castles & palaces, cathedrals, fashion, food, travel tips, wine

Málaga, Spain

So, today I wake up, eat breakfast, have class – life as usual. For me, anyway. I later found out that my classmate Paula went to the Internet cafe, read a disturbing email, left and crossed the street without looking, and promptly got hit by a car. She was shaken up, but otherwise fine. Luckily, the car had been coming from a stop sign and was able to stop without injuring her – it only managed to knock her bag from her hands.

Instead of going to the Internet Cafe right after class myself, I took the train to Málaga. Finally, I was going to get to explore the Alcazaba! it was incredible. The towers, the tall, skinny walkways atop the castle walls with nothing to prevent me from tumbling to my death except my own sense of balance – amazing. My imagination ran wild, imagining what it would have been like to live here, an Arabian prince with an incredible view of the city, the sea and the mountains… or a servant, defending the castle, running along the narrow walkways hundreds of feet high, trying to run wile balancing a vat of boiling oil ready to be thrown at the invading armies below…

After the Alcazaba, I wandered around and happened to come across the customs-immigration building, which happened to house a modern art exhibition by a greek artist. Entrance was free, so I went in to check it out. i don’t pretend to understand modern art (neither the abstract paintings nor the indecipherable statues) but it was interesting to look at nonetheless. The security officer at the entrance struck up a conversation with me when I was about halfway through the exhibition and told me all about the changes being made in order to prepare Málaga to be the European Capital of Culture 2016, and how a new customs-immigration building was being built and this one expanded and how any building of history or importance with any kind of exhibit room was being turned into partial museums, such as this building, to house travelling exhibitions and the like.

As I walked back toward the train station, I noticed two things. One, I was starving. Two, on the walk/don’t walk signs at the traffic lights, instead of ¨WALK¨, there’s an image in green of a man walking.

As for my stomach, I stopped into a sidewalk cafe. The only thing on the menu (a cardboard sign with pictures) that seemed vegetarian was a potato omelette. I figured what the hey, and decided to order it. BTW, when waiters, receptionists and the like, greet you, they say “Dígame”. This does not me, “Hello, ma’am. How may I help you?” or even “What would you like?” No, “dígame” simply means “Tell me.” So, I said I wanted the potato omelette and he said they were all out, did I want something else? And I said, well, I’m a vegetarian, and he said, oh, do you want a Spanish omelette, then? There’s no meat. So I said sure, sounds great. So that’s how I ended up in an alley café, ordering items not on the menu. I’m glad I did – it was yummy and totally hit the spot.

Tonight was La Noche de San Juan, the shortest day of the year. This is a festival celebrated throughout Spain. Fireworks go off around 11:30pm, and all evening the people light bonfires along the beach and roast sardines. Then, when the clock strikes midnight, they walk to the shore. The legend is, if the waves come and lap at your toes and you make a wish, the wish will come true.

I had a great time letting the Mediterranean Sea wash over my bare feet and making wishes underneath a huge full moon. (I did not, however, eat any roasted sardines.)

Tags: castles & palaces, festivals & fiestas, food, museums

Málaga, Spain

This morning, we had class from 9-1:30 instead of 8:30-1, having talked the professor into giving us an extra half hour of sleep, since the hotel’s patio entertainment lasts from 8 or 9 until midnight every night, and the noise reverberates around each room, making it completely impossible to a) study or b) sleep. (Also, for the first time in my life, I heard Spanish yodeling. It is indescribable, and the hotel dj/singer does that number at least once every evening.)

After class, Ula left before me to catch the train, while I packed a backpack with the essentials (bottle of water, Purell, camera, fistful of batteries) and headed out. Yesterday, while I was messing around with the doctor and my swollen hands, the rest of the group went to check out the Picasso museum and had a great time, so I couldn’t wait to go see it.

When I got to the train station, Ula wasn’t there, so I assumed she’d made the previous train. (Local trains come every half hour.)

In Málaga, I stopped at an information booth and picked up a map and made my way towards the Picasso museum. It took me nearly two hours to get there because I passed so many interesting side streets, buildings, churches, statues, fountains and parks along the way, and of course I had to explore (and take photographs!) of everything.

I ended up hungry and on Calle Larios, which is amazing and massive and completely puts Rodeo Drive to shame. In between all the shops were various cafes, bars and bakeries, all with outdoor seating at little round tables with umprellas for the sun. I saw a menu on an empty table at one cafe and wandered up to have a look. I was just reaching out for the menu when the person at the next table suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm. I about jumped out of my skin until I realized – it was Ula! We laughed about the coincidence of running into each other in as big a city as Málaga, and I decided to go ahead and eat there, since she was sitting there anyway.

I ordered a cafe con leche and a veggie sandwich. The coffee was great, but imagine my surprise when the veggie sandwich showed up with a big slab of ham on it! The waiter was surprised that I was surprised (don’t all veggie sandwiches come with ham?) but amiably agreed to make me a new one. After lunch, Ula left to walk around, and I finally made it to the Picasso museum.

The ticket was 50% off with a student ID (4 euros) and cameras had to be checked. The buidling itself was very cool looking, square in shape with a center courtyard featuring a pretty garden. There were tons of his works, ranging from when Picasso was a teenager to near his time of death. There were drawings and paintings and sketches and mixed media and lithographs… I have seen lots of pictures in books of his cubist works and it was surprising to see what a photorealistic portrait he was capable of making. It was also very interesting to see his studies (sketches) that he used to practice and experiment with before making his more famous works, like Guernica (which was not there, but is in Madrid, so I intend to see it then.)

I bought a little something at the gift shop and then left to wander around Málaga some more. Unlike Costa Rica, all the streets in Málaga are named. As a matter of fact, even 3 foot wide alleys have names, and all of these “streets” appear on the maps just like highways, making me more thankful than ever that I’m on foot and not trying to drive. (I’ll just turn left here at the… hallway?)

I saw a vendor selling post cards and decided to have a look, when I caught sight of someone standing on the other side of the post card rack looking at souvenirs. It was Ula! “You again!” I exclaimed and she jumped, then we both laughed, but in a way, we were kind of weirded out, since we were now nowhere near the cafe or the Picasso museum and managed to run into each other yet again.

I bought a few postcards and then headed off again. I found the tourist bureau and picked up a few brochures. I walked by the Alcazaba, an amazing, sprawling spread of an ancient fortress and castle, complete with towers and high, narrow windows. it looked like it came straight out of Arabian Nights. I couldn’t wait to explore it, but it was nearing dinner time, so I figured I better take the train back to La Colina since dinner is only served from 7:30-9:30 and here it was 8 already and I had a 30 minute train ride ahead of me, followed by a 20 minute hike back to the hotel. I headed to the Renfe and through the turnstile, and who should I run into amidst the crush of people waiting for the train? You guessed it – Ula! What are the freaking chances??

That night after dinner, I hopped onto the hotel’s worthless Internet kiosk. It charges one euro per 10 minutes, which may or may not sound like much, but it gets real expensive real fast (especially considering the exchange rate.) Not only this, but there is no place to plug in a USB device, it has no CD burner, and it erases all new files every time you log off anyway.

I did find another Internet cafe nearby that charges 7 euros for 5 hours to use their PCs, which do have USB ports and on which I can save files and install programs. The problem is, to use my laptop would cost an additional 10 euros and they are closed for siesta from 1 til 4:30, and are open in the evenings only from 4:30-8:30, weekdays only. But, this at least gives me an option.

Tags: castles & palaces, cathedrals, food, museums, music & concerts, shopping, technology