Hello...
Sorry my posts have been nonexistent lately, but with midterms and a research paper looming, blogging kind of gets knocked down a few pegs on the to-do list.
However, to make it up to you, I plan to do the following:
a) write a super long post in the next week
b) eat a chocolate croissant for each and every one of you I have disappointed by not posting more frequently. I swear, I will do it....that's how dedicated I am to my readers.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Avila + Salamanca = One Fun Weekend!
Hey hey hey!
OK, so I realize that it has been a while since I posted anything substantial, and all of you loyal readers out there are probably crying yourselves to sleep over this fact each and every day. Cry no more! Here is a full rundown of my past weekend!
We woke up at the crack of dawn to catch our 7:30 bus out of Toledo. As you would probably expect, as soon as the bus doors closed, about 95% of the bus fell into a deep deep comatose-like sleep. After 2 hours of driving, complete with watching "Los Otros" (the spanish-dubbed version of "The Others"), we arrived in Avila. Fun fact: Avila is the city with the highest altitude in all of Spain. Another fun fact: this altitude obviously affects the climate in Avila, making it much windier and colder than in Toledo. A third fun fact: no one felt it necessary to tell us that until the bus pulled into the tourism center at Avila. Hooray! So, we hopped off the bus and were met by a beautiful city and a 40 degree air temperature. Fortunately, I had a jacket, but others were not as fortunate:
We started the day in Avila with a tour of the church of St. Vincent. In all honesty, all I really got out of this part of the tour were some interesting pictures and a chance to warm up. The church, very much like all of the other churches in Europe I have toured thus far, was completely decked out from ceiling to floor in carvings, paintings, gilded surfaces, and candles. We were able to see many tombs, including those of St. Vincent and his sisters. On some of the tombs, there were carvings of intricate torture scenes, which surprised most of us. The detail and gore in these scenes are definitely not something that I want to be associated with my resting place, but oh well, maybe it's a European thing.
After the church, we had to trek back into the frigid outdoors, where we had the opportunity to tour the city's walls.
Similar to Toledo, Avila is surrounded by a huge wall that served as a defense against invaders. In addition to keep out enemies, it also allowed town officials to prohibit sickly-looking people from entering the town during the plague epidemic. Another interesting tidbit I picked up from this tour is that European staircases, in no way shape or form, have a uniform stair height. Some of the staircases had steps that were at least 18 inches tall, which required us to use ropes to climb these poorly maintained areas. Others had steps that were only about 2 inches tall, making the descent consist of awkward little skips. After walking around the walls for about an hour, we had some free time, we consisted of Hannah frantically seeking out some pants to fend of her impending case of hypothermia. Once we had overcome that obstacle, we were ready for lunch!
As part of the trip, we were provided lunch in a former palace. Needless to say, it was relatively ritzy, which is a big difference from the normal sandwich and soda places we've been frequenting. We all basically gorged ourselves, happy to have warm food in a warm environment. We then hopped back on the bus, fell back into our comas, and drove 2 more hours before reaching Salamanca.
Upon arrival, we checked into our 4-star hotel (oo la la!), and headed to our room. Our room number was 122, so we were excited about being on the first floor...apparently, in Spain, the first floor is the level that you encounter after ascending about 4 flights of stairs. Once we finally found our room, we opened the door to find a nice big room with absolutely no electricity. We tried absolutely every switch and outlet in the entire place and were about 30 seconds away from sending someone down to the front desk to sort this matter out when we noticed a little slot underneath the main light switch. Someone had the ingenious idea to try the room key and that slot, and wouldn't you know, that was exactly what we needed to do. Apparently putting the key into that slot completed some circuit, or other important-looking science-y term, that allowed us to turn on our lights. Hooray for confusing European technology!
Once we got all of that straightened around, we took a siesta, as if we had not slept enough on the bus, and then headed out to explore the city. Our hotel was pretty centrally located, so we were able to kill some time shopping before heading back to the hotel for dinner. Again, we gorged ourselves on most of the meal before all turning away our flan. Don't get me wrong, I tried it, but it was kind of like egg flavored jello coated in coffee. Barf.
After digesting a bit, we headed out for the night, choosing a little cafe/bar we had encountered previously in the day. When we got there, it was essentially deserted, so that was a bit odd, but we still managed to have a good time, and we appeared to entertain the bartender, so I guess it's fair to say that fun was had by all.
On Saturday, we had to rise early again to take a walking tour of Salamanca. Again, it was freezing, but we had no other choice but to tough it out. Our first stop was the Plaza Mayor, in the heart of Toledo. We were surrounded by the town call of Salamanca and many cafes and apartments. Someone in our tour group noticed a burly Spanish man on a balcony outside one of the apartments, clearly watching our tour group. He happened to be wearing only the tiniest pair of boxers I have ever seen. He waved at us, and then his friend, also in boxers, appeared on the balcony. Every one, including the tour guide, seemed to get a kick out of this, but shortly thereafter, we were ushered away from the Plaza and onto the other stops on our tour.
After the tour, which lasted for 5 long hours, we headed to the hotel for our group lunch. We had yet another meal of chicken and potatoes, so that was unbelieveably exciting, as you can probably imagine. Following lunch, we took a siesta and then prepared to head back out for another tour of a church in Salamanca. After seeing all of that, we headed to the shopping to pick up our requisite "Universidad de Salamanca" paraphernalia, and stumbled upon a delicious little chocolate cafe. After talking to someone who knows Salamanca relatively well, it turns out that we found THE place for chocolate in Salamanca, which of course, made me one happy girl. We all consumed many many calories, but I figure that it's kind of like dollars and euros, in that the conversion rate alters the numbers. Right? Right. Afterwards, we grabbed a sandwich for dinner and then the group split up, with my half calling it an early night after spending most of the day shivering and walking.
On Sunday, we woke up for mass in the Cathedral, which was scheduled to begin at 12:00, so naturally, the priest sauntered in at 12:15. After mass, we had a quick lunch and then decided to make a return to the beloved chocolate cafe before having to leave Salamanca. We hopped onto the bus, fell asleep, and concluded our weekend in Avila and Salamanca!
Un abrazo,
Jill
OK, so I realize that it has been a while since I posted anything substantial, and all of you loyal readers out there are probably crying yourselves to sleep over this fact each and every day. Cry no more! Here is a full rundown of my past weekend!
We woke up at the crack of dawn to catch our 7:30 bus out of Toledo. As you would probably expect, as soon as the bus doors closed, about 95% of the bus fell into a deep deep comatose-like sleep. After 2 hours of driving, complete with watching "Los Otros" (the spanish-dubbed version of "The Others"), we arrived in Avila. Fun fact: Avila is the city with the highest altitude in all of Spain. Another fun fact: this altitude obviously affects the climate in Avila, making it much windier and colder than in Toledo. A third fun fact: no one felt it necessary to tell us that until the bus pulled into the tourism center at Avila. Hooray! So, we hopped off the bus and were met by a beautiful city and a 40 degree air temperature. Fortunately, I had a jacket, but others were not as fortunate:
We started the day in Avila with a tour of the church of St. Vincent. In all honesty, all I really got out of this part of the tour were some interesting pictures and a chance to warm up. The church, very much like all of the other churches in Europe I have toured thus far, was completely decked out from ceiling to floor in carvings, paintings, gilded surfaces, and candles. We were able to see many tombs, including those of St. Vincent and his sisters. On some of the tombs, there were carvings of intricate torture scenes, which surprised most of us. The detail and gore in these scenes are definitely not something that I want to be associated with my resting place, but oh well, maybe it's a European thing.
After the church, we had to trek back into the frigid outdoors, where we had the opportunity to tour the city's walls.
Similar to Toledo, Avila is surrounded by a huge wall that served as a defense against invaders. In addition to keep out enemies, it also allowed town officials to prohibit sickly-looking people from entering the town during the plague epidemic. Another interesting tidbit I picked up from this tour is that European staircases, in no way shape or form, have a uniform stair height. Some of the staircases had steps that were at least 18 inches tall, which required us to use ropes to climb these poorly maintained areas. Others had steps that were only about 2 inches tall, making the descent consist of awkward little skips. After walking around the walls for about an hour, we had some free time, we consisted of Hannah frantically seeking out some pants to fend of her impending case of hypothermia. Once we had overcome that obstacle, we were ready for lunch!
As part of the trip, we were provided lunch in a former palace. Needless to say, it was relatively ritzy, which is a big difference from the normal sandwich and soda places we've been frequenting. We all basically gorged ourselves, happy to have warm food in a warm environment. We then hopped back on the bus, fell back into our comas, and drove 2 more hours before reaching Salamanca.
Upon arrival, we checked into our 4-star hotel (oo la la!), and headed to our room. Our room number was 122, so we were excited about being on the first floor...apparently, in Spain, the first floor is the level that you encounter after ascending about 4 flights of stairs. Once we finally found our room, we opened the door to find a nice big room with absolutely no electricity. We tried absolutely every switch and outlet in the entire place and were about 30 seconds away from sending someone down to the front desk to sort this matter out when we noticed a little slot underneath the main light switch. Someone had the ingenious idea to try the room key and that slot, and wouldn't you know, that was exactly what we needed to do. Apparently putting the key into that slot completed some circuit, or other important-looking science-y term, that allowed us to turn on our lights. Hooray for confusing European technology!
Once we got all of that straightened around, we took a siesta, as if we had not slept enough on the bus, and then headed out to explore the city. Our hotel was pretty centrally located, so we were able to kill some time shopping before heading back to the hotel for dinner. Again, we gorged ourselves on most of the meal before all turning away our flan. Don't get me wrong, I tried it, but it was kind of like egg flavored jello coated in coffee. Barf.
After digesting a bit, we headed out for the night, choosing a little cafe/bar we had encountered previously in the day. When we got there, it was essentially deserted, so that was a bit odd, but we still managed to have a good time, and we appeared to entertain the bartender, so I guess it's fair to say that fun was had by all.
On Saturday, we had to rise early again to take a walking tour of Salamanca. Again, it was freezing, but we had no other choice but to tough it out. Our first stop was the Plaza Mayor, in the heart of Toledo. We were surrounded by the town call of Salamanca and many cafes and apartments. Someone in our tour group noticed a burly Spanish man on a balcony outside one of the apartments, clearly watching our tour group. He happened to be wearing only the tiniest pair of boxers I have ever seen. He waved at us, and then his friend, also in boxers, appeared on the balcony. Every one, including the tour guide, seemed to get a kick out of this, but shortly thereafter, we were ushered away from the Plaza and onto the other stops on our tour.
On the tour, the biggest sites were Salamanca's university and cathedral. The university is the oldest in Spain, and used to be considered one of the top universities in all of Europe. All of the classrooms looked more like churches, with long pews, lecterns, and giant murals. Scattered around the walls, there are symbols painted in red blood, along with names underneath them. The tour guide said that these symbols and names are put on the walls when a student earns his or her doctorate. After the university, we headed over the cathedral, which, of course, was ornate to the max. We had a complete tour of all of the building, including the side chapels and tombs, the main area, and the choir loft.
A picture of the outside of the university:
The Cathedral:
A picture of the outside of the university:
The Cathedral:
After the tour, which lasted for 5 long hours, we headed to the hotel for our group lunch. We had yet another meal of chicken and potatoes, so that was unbelieveably exciting, as you can probably imagine. Following lunch, we took a siesta and then prepared to head back out for another tour of a church in Salamanca. After seeing all of that, we headed to the shopping to pick up our requisite "Universidad de Salamanca" paraphernalia, and stumbled upon a delicious little chocolate cafe. After talking to someone who knows Salamanca relatively well, it turns out that we found THE place for chocolate in Salamanca, which of course, made me one happy girl. We all consumed many many calories, but I figure that it's kind of like dollars and euros, in that the conversion rate alters the numbers. Right? Right. Afterwards, we grabbed a sandwich for dinner and then the group split up, with my half calling it an early night after spending most of the day shivering and walking.
On Sunday, we woke up for mass in the Cathedral, which was scheduled to begin at 12:00, so naturally, the priest sauntered in at 12:15. After mass, we had a quick lunch and then decided to make a return to the beloved chocolate cafe before having to leave Salamanca. We hopped onto the bus, fell asleep, and concluded our weekend in Avila and Salamanca!
Un abrazo,
Jill
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Fotos for my Friends!
Hola!
I promise I will post again in the next few days, detailing my weekend trip to Avila and Salamanca, but unfortunately, now's not the time. However, to soothe your aching souls, I have posted a new photo album on my Picasa site, with all 125 of my pictures from my Madrid weekend. Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/JillSchroeder10
Adios!
I promise I will post again in the next few days, detailing my weekend trip to Avila and Salamanca, but unfortunately, now's not the time. However, to soothe your aching souls, I have posted a new photo album on my Picasa site, with all 125 of my pictures from my Madrid weekend. Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/JillSchroeder10
Adios!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Madrid Madness!
Hi Friends! I have returned from my weekend in Madrid, and boy, do I have some stories for you...
My weekend started with a school-sponsored trip to the Prado Museum in Madrid, which is one of the world's largest and most respected art museums. Normally, I am kind of plus-minus on the whole art thing, but I was pretty excited to go to the museum, since practically all of my Spanish classes since my days at WHHS have covered the same 4 or 5 major Spanish paintings, and this was finally my opportunity to see some in person. We got to the museum at about 4 and then had a guided tour provided by my art professor until about 6. Among the jaw-dropping works of art we saw was Velázquez's "Las Meninas," as seen below:
After our tour, we were free to do whatever we pleased, which for my group meant spending the weekend touring Madrid. We dropped our bags off at the hostel to find that the shower room consisted of 3 showers and 3 completely clear plastic doors...and that was it. No curtains, no blurred glass doors, not any sense of privacy. At this point in time, I began to get a little bit nervous, since I have never really showered as a spectator sport. Additionally, I wasn't sure if this was some European thing I hadn't previously encountered, or if there was a more plausible explanation for this lack of privacy. Thankfully, the hostel owners appeared shortly thereafter to install some much-needed shower curtains. We all breathed a sigh of relief at this prospect!
On Friday night, half of our group went to see "Bella y la Bestia" (or Beauty and the Beast, for all you English-speakers) on Madrid's Broadway, while the rest of us went foraging for dinner. My group consisted of me, my friend Sierra, and her friend from home, Mary. We decided to embrace the European culture and have some tapas, which are basically like early evening appetizers to tide you over until a more socially appropriate dinner time, like 10:30. We sat down at the table to be greeted by a relatively curt waiter who provided us with a generous one menu for the three of us to share. We finally decided on an order of french fries and two orders of croquetas, which are essentially ham or chicken rolled with cheese and mashed potatoes and then deep fried. However, there evidently was some sort of communication problem, most likely due to us mis-reading the menu, but we ended up with a plate of potato chips and 2 croquetas...not 2 plates of croquetas...only 2. Essentially, the three of us ended up with about 4 bites of food apiece and that did little to quiet our growling tummies.
On our walk to the tapas bar, we had noticed how Americanized Madrid is, with McDonald's, Burger King, Starbucks, and other American staples lining the streets. After our less than satisfying tapas experience, we were frustrated and still hungry, so we decided to bite the bullet, and we had dinner at Pizza Hut. I know, I know, not necessarily the most adventurous or culturally appropriate dinner choice, but after being here for nearly a month, some wonderfully greasy American food was very appealing, and Pizza Hut fit the bill. We managed to order a 3-topping pizza, but we only wanted 2 toppings, so the Spanish Pizza Hut staff decided to help us out and chose ham as our 3rd topping. Although it wasn't what we ordered, we still scarfed it all down, including an order of equally greasy cheesy garlic bread. I think my favorite part of the entire Pizza Hut experience was the decor in the restaurant--there was a Pizza Hut version of Las Meninas, as seen here:
(Not the best picture, but here are some of the highlights...a Pizza Hut delivery guy at the door, the princess eating Pizza Hut, one of her maids has a Spice Girls poster, and everyone is drinking wine.)
After gorging ourselves on pizza, we called it a night. On Saturday, we slept in and then headed from our hostel to Madrid's famous areas, including the Puerta del Sol and the Plaza Mayor. All of these areas were completely packed to the brim with tourists and locals alike, creating a very hustle-bustle environment similar to Chicago or New York City. The streets were lined with the typical touristy shops, all selling the exact same low-quality goods. After being a tourist for a bit, we then decided to head back to the Gran Vía, which is basically Madrid's equivalent of NYC's 5th Avenue, or Pittsburgh's Walnut Street. We shopped a bit and then took a well-earned siesta. For dinner, we headed to the Mexican restaurant next door to our hostel. I realize, again, that this isn't really pushing the food limits, but we have all been craving Mexican, which is nowhere to be found in Spain. However, in my defense, I ordered a "Gringa Peliroja" without really knowing what it was; I ordered it entirely based on the fact that the dish's name translates to "Red-Headed White Girl," which I deemed to be appropriate. It turned out to be a pork and cheese quesadilla-like thing, which turned out A-OK.
Following dinner, we decided to walk back over the Plaza Mayor to have churros y chocolate, a traditional Spanish dish, only to find that the cafe makes their churros in the morning, so there were none available at 11:00 at night. We then settled for a nearby ice cream shop which also happened to be a crepe shop, so we indulged and had some deliciously gigantic crepes, stuffed to the brim with Nutella and strawberries. Needless to say, I was pretty much ecstatic with this turn of events. :)
On Sunday, we woke up early to head over to Madrid's Sunday Marketplace to do some serious shopping. The market was absolutely HUGE, spanning for multiple blocks. After some surveying of the options, it quickly became apparent that many of the tents sold strikingly similar items, so it was just a matter of nailing down price and/or quality criteria to help you pick where to buy. I was able to put a relatively significant dent in my souvenir shopping, which was a relief. On a sidenote, weather.com said that it was supposed to rain in Madrid all weekend, so I had my rain coat with me all weekend, and of course...it didn't rain a drop. Thus, on Sunday, I decided not to take my coat to the market, and of course...it poured. Always a treat. Another sidenote: a man offered to sell me himself at the market (twice), so that is always good to know. My guide book did not include the fun fact that I can buy scuzzy human beings at the Madrid market. Interesting.
After the market, we headed back to the hostel to check out, and then had 5 hours to kill between check-out and the bull fight. Unfortunately, we had to lug all of our purchases and bags with us during these 5 hours, so that was a bit of a struggle for us. We toured around one of Madrid's famous parks for a bit and then picked up our bull fight tickets before grabbing lunch. At this point in time, we still had over 3 hours, so we found a Starbucks and plopped down in comfy chairs for the next 3 hours. Finally, it came time to board the metro to head to the bull fight (dun dun dunnnnnn)...
After ascending from the metro stop, we were instantaneously greeted with ticket scalpers, souvenir stands, and concession stands, very similar to the area outside of an American sporting event. The Plaza de Toros, where the bull fight was held, was absolutely gigantic! We headed in to find our seats shortly before the actual fight began, only to find that all of the spectators were packed like sardines into the first 10 rows of the gigantic circular stadium. Every spectator had about 12 inches in which to sit, and it was definitely made more complicated by the fact that we had our backpacks and shopping bags, and we were seated as far from the aisle as possible. All of our host parents and most of our real parents had expressed some skepticism about whether or not we would like the bull fight, but in all honesty, I figured it would be not too bad. Here's how it went:
Prior to the actual bull fight, a little band in the stands played some music and then all of the matadors and their assistants entered the stadium, bowing out of respect and waving to the spectators. It was a bit reminscent of the opening ceremonies for the Olympics...but on a much smaller level. They then grabbed their capes and did a few minutes worth of warm-ups before the bull even entered the stadium. Finally, the time came for the fight to begin.
Essentially, there are 4 rounds within a bull fight. During the first round, a group of about 5-10 men with pink capes are evenly spaced around the circumference of the circular stadium. One man will jump toward the center, yelling at the bull to catch its attention, and then using the cape to encourage the bull to charge in that direction. As the bull charges, that man has to run like heck to duck into a little cubby-area available for protection. As the bull charged in one direction, a man on the complete opposite side of the stadium hopped into the ring, ready to attract the bull in that direction, and this cycle continued for about 5 minutes. Here's a picture of Round #1 activity:
Now, onto the second round. During this round, two horses enter the ring. I am not entirely sure what their purpose is in the grand scheme of the bull fight, I have heard that they are there to calm the bull down a bit, but it was exciting nonetheless. An important note is that the horses are blindfolded, so it's easy to assume that they likely don't have any idea they are in close proximity to an already-enraged bull. The horses also have some "padding" which essentially consists of a quilt tossed over the horse's midsection. Additionally, there are riders on these horses, equipped with giant spikes on spears.
I didn't understand what all of this special equipment was meant for, until the actual action started. Pretty much as soon as the horses entered the ring, the revved up bull charged at one of them, butting into the horse's midsection. After a few smaller charges, the bull managed to gather up enough strength and speed to send the horse flying a few inches, knocking it completely to the ground. At this point in time, I wasn't sure if that was typical for this part of the fight or not, but based on the reactions I heard around me, it wasn't. All we could see was the horse's hooves, which were definitely not moving in the slightest. I was convinced the horse had died, which was pretty jarring. The way this situation was handled consisted of one of the pink-cape men from the first round coming back into the ring and spreading his cape as wide as possible to shield the horse and its surrounding action from as many spectators as possible. Then, a group of about 5 men with ropes come and tie loops around the horse, pulling with all of their might. I assumed they were pulling to remove the carcass, but it turned out that they were pulling the horse to its feet so it could safely exit the ring. In the end, the horse appeared to be OK, but the shock had not worn off for us. While the 1st horse was being tended to, the bull moved on to the 2nd horse, which was positioned very close to our seats, charging at the midsection yet again. This time, the picador, which is the name for the man riding the horse, was ready, and proceeded to use his spear on a stake to repeatedly jab at the bull, producing the first spurts of blood. After a little more aggression, the 2nd horse exited the ring as well, ending the 2nd round. I was definitely not expecting it to become so violent so quickly, so I was pretty much aghast at this point in time.
Now, onto Round #3!! In this round, men called bandielleros come into the ring with what appear to be flowery stakes. Their job is to stab these stakes into the neck and back muscles of the bull to weaken it and prevent it from retaining its strength and aggression for the matadors. This round, like all the others, was frightening, as the bull at the beginning of the round still had all of its strength, speed, and agility. The bandiellero basically had to attract the bull's attention, get it to charge, stab it, dodge it, and then run like crazy to hop over the wall before being publicly gored. Some instances, it seemed like a ridiculously close call, but maybe that's just my inexperienced opinion. Each blow to the bull produced more and more blood (duh, I guess), but I really didn't expect to be able to see the constant waves of blood pouring over the bull's sides. It was really visible and not exactly the best sight. After the bandielleros did their business, it was time for the main event: The Matador!
The matador's role in the entire bull fight, in the 4th round, is basically all for show. By this point in time, the bull is exhausted, stabbed repeatedly, bleeding excessively, and not really a huge threat anymore. The matador plays around with the bull, antagonizing the bull until it builds up the steam to charge yet again, and the closer the bull gets to the matador, the more credit the matador gets. In fact, by the time the matador had finished with his show, his largely white suit had a healthy splattering of bright red blood on it, so I guess that means he did a good job, but I don't know for sure. So, the matador yells at the bull, waves his red cape, and everything that you typically imagine with a bull fight. After about 10 minutes of showmanship, he finally prepares to deliver the fatal blow by thrusting a sword into the bull. Our matador struggled with this task, as the first attempt left about 80% of the sword's blade outside of the bull, before it actually fell out. No one knew for sure, but we all agreed that this must be a big no-no in the world of matador-ing. So, he grabbed a second sword and embarrassingly tried again, and this time delivered a very forceful blow, with the entirety of the blade being forced into the bull's body. You know how in war movies, when someone is impaled with a blade, blood shoots out of them like a fountain? Well, that was exactly what happened at this point in time. After the good sword thrust, blood was shooting at least 2 feet above the bull, which was supremely disgusting. At this point in time, the bull kind of staggered over toward the wall of the plaza, while 3 or 4 men from the first round re-appeared with their bright pink capes, waving them constantly right in the bull's face to disorient it and prevent it from having any last-minute surges of strength to inflict damage. It was at this point that I felt bad for the bull, since who really wants to have the very last moments of their public death to be spent with crazy things being thrown in their face, completely disoriented and lost? Apparently the bull was not dying quickly enough, as a man entered the ring with a dagger and proceeded to repeatedly stab the bull until it was 100% no doubt about it dead. That was a lovely cherry on top of the gruesome sundae for us.
If you couldn't tell from these reaction pictures, no one was really enjoying themselves by this point in the bull fight. As we saw the bull's carcass being dragged from the ring by decorated horses, we unamimously decided we had gotten our money's worth and it was time to leave. Typically, bull fights last for 2 hours, with 6 bulls being killed, but we felt we had achieved our cultural experience with the solitary bull. This ended our weekend in Madrid, and I am sure it is a time that will be hard to forget, no matter how much some of us may try to wipe it from our memories. Hannah taped the fight and our running dialogue/commentary, so once that gets posted, I will be sure to include it on my blog so all of you can feel like you were witnessing that warm fuzzy moment yourselves!
Sorry again for the marathon post, but I guess that's just the way it's meant to be!
My weekend started with a school-sponsored trip to the Prado Museum in Madrid, which is one of the world's largest and most respected art museums. Normally, I am kind of plus-minus on the whole art thing, but I was pretty excited to go to the museum, since practically all of my Spanish classes since my days at WHHS have covered the same 4 or 5 major Spanish paintings, and this was finally my opportunity to see some in person. We got to the museum at about 4 and then had a guided tour provided by my art professor until about 6. Among the jaw-dropping works of art we saw was Velázquez's "Las Meninas," as seen below:
After our tour, we were free to do whatever we pleased, which for my group meant spending the weekend touring Madrid. We dropped our bags off at the hostel to find that the shower room consisted of 3 showers and 3 completely clear plastic doors...and that was it. No curtains, no blurred glass doors, not any sense of privacy. At this point in time, I began to get a little bit nervous, since I have never really showered as a spectator sport. Additionally, I wasn't sure if this was some European thing I hadn't previously encountered, or if there was a more plausible explanation for this lack of privacy. Thankfully, the hostel owners appeared shortly thereafter to install some much-needed shower curtains. We all breathed a sigh of relief at this prospect!
On Friday night, half of our group went to see "Bella y la Bestia" (or Beauty and the Beast, for all you English-speakers) on Madrid's Broadway, while the rest of us went foraging for dinner. My group consisted of me, my friend Sierra, and her friend from home, Mary. We decided to embrace the European culture and have some tapas, which are basically like early evening appetizers to tide you over until a more socially appropriate dinner time, like 10:30. We sat down at the table to be greeted by a relatively curt waiter who provided us with a generous one menu for the three of us to share. We finally decided on an order of french fries and two orders of croquetas, which are essentially ham or chicken rolled with cheese and mashed potatoes and then deep fried. However, there evidently was some sort of communication problem, most likely due to us mis-reading the menu, but we ended up with a plate of potato chips and 2 croquetas...not 2 plates of croquetas...only 2. Essentially, the three of us ended up with about 4 bites of food apiece and that did little to quiet our growling tummies.
On our walk to the tapas bar, we had noticed how Americanized Madrid is, with McDonald's, Burger King, Starbucks, and other American staples lining the streets. After our less than satisfying tapas experience, we were frustrated and still hungry, so we decided to bite the bullet, and we had dinner at Pizza Hut. I know, I know, not necessarily the most adventurous or culturally appropriate dinner choice, but after being here for nearly a month, some wonderfully greasy American food was very appealing, and Pizza Hut fit the bill. We managed to order a 3-topping pizza, but we only wanted 2 toppings, so the Spanish Pizza Hut staff decided to help us out and chose ham as our 3rd topping. Although it wasn't what we ordered, we still scarfed it all down, including an order of equally greasy cheesy garlic bread. I think my favorite part of the entire Pizza Hut experience was the decor in the restaurant--there was a Pizza Hut version of Las Meninas, as seen here:
(Not the best picture, but here are some of the highlights...a Pizza Hut delivery guy at the door, the princess eating Pizza Hut, one of her maids has a Spice Girls poster, and everyone is drinking wine.)After gorging ourselves on pizza, we called it a night. On Saturday, we slept in and then headed from our hostel to Madrid's famous areas, including the Puerta del Sol and the Plaza Mayor. All of these areas were completely packed to the brim with tourists and locals alike, creating a very hustle-bustle environment similar to Chicago or New York City. The streets were lined with the typical touristy shops, all selling the exact same low-quality goods. After being a tourist for a bit, we then decided to head back to the Gran Vía, which is basically Madrid's equivalent of NYC's 5th Avenue, or Pittsburgh's Walnut Street. We shopped a bit and then took a well-earned siesta. For dinner, we headed to the Mexican restaurant next door to our hostel. I realize, again, that this isn't really pushing the food limits, but we have all been craving Mexican, which is nowhere to be found in Spain. However, in my defense, I ordered a "Gringa Peliroja" without really knowing what it was; I ordered it entirely based on the fact that the dish's name translates to "Red-Headed White Girl," which I deemed to be appropriate. It turned out to be a pork and cheese quesadilla-like thing, which turned out A-OK.
Following dinner, we decided to walk back over the Plaza Mayor to have churros y chocolate, a traditional Spanish dish, only to find that the cafe makes their churros in the morning, so there were none available at 11:00 at night. We then settled for a nearby ice cream shop which also happened to be a crepe shop, so we indulged and had some deliciously gigantic crepes, stuffed to the brim with Nutella and strawberries. Needless to say, I was pretty much ecstatic with this turn of events. :)
On Sunday, we woke up early to head over to Madrid's Sunday Marketplace to do some serious shopping. The market was absolutely HUGE, spanning for multiple blocks. After some surveying of the options, it quickly became apparent that many of the tents sold strikingly similar items, so it was just a matter of nailing down price and/or quality criteria to help you pick where to buy. I was able to put a relatively significant dent in my souvenir shopping, which was a relief. On a sidenote, weather.com said that it was supposed to rain in Madrid all weekend, so I had my rain coat with me all weekend, and of course...it didn't rain a drop. Thus, on Sunday, I decided not to take my coat to the market, and of course...it poured. Always a treat. Another sidenote: a man offered to sell me himself at the market (twice), so that is always good to know. My guide book did not include the fun fact that I can buy scuzzy human beings at the Madrid market. Interesting.
After the market, we headed back to the hostel to check out, and then had 5 hours to kill between check-out and the bull fight. Unfortunately, we had to lug all of our purchases and bags with us during these 5 hours, so that was a bit of a struggle for us. We toured around one of Madrid's famous parks for a bit and then picked up our bull fight tickets before grabbing lunch. At this point in time, we still had over 3 hours, so we found a Starbucks and plopped down in comfy chairs for the next 3 hours. Finally, it came time to board the metro to head to the bull fight (dun dun dunnnnnn)...
After ascending from the metro stop, we were instantaneously greeted with ticket scalpers, souvenir stands, and concession stands, very similar to the area outside of an American sporting event. The Plaza de Toros, where the bull fight was held, was absolutely gigantic! We headed in to find our seats shortly before the actual fight began, only to find that all of the spectators were packed like sardines into the first 10 rows of the gigantic circular stadium. Every spectator had about 12 inches in which to sit, and it was definitely made more complicated by the fact that we had our backpacks and shopping bags, and we were seated as far from the aisle as possible. All of our host parents and most of our real parents had expressed some skepticism about whether or not we would like the bull fight, but in all honesty, I figured it would be not too bad. Here's how it went:
Prior to the actual bull fight, a little band in the stands played some music and then all of the matadors and their assistants entered the stadium, bowing out of respect and waving to the spectators. It was a bit reminscent of the opening ceremonies for the Olympics...but on a much smaller level. They then grabbed their capes and did a few minutes worth of warm-ups before the bull even entered the stadium. Finally, the time came for the fight to begin.
Essentially, there are 4 rounds within a bull fight. During the first round, a group of about 5-10 men with pink capes are evenly spaced around the circumference of the circular stadium. One man will jump toward the center, yelling at the bull to catch its attention, and then using the cape to encourage the bull to charge in that direction. As the bull charges, that man has to run like heck to duck into a little cubby-area available for protection. As the bull charged in one direction, a man on the complete opposite side of the stadium hopped into the ring, ready to attract the bull in that direction, and this cycle continued for about 5 minutes. Here's a picture of Round #1 activity:
Now, onto the second round. During this round, two horses enter the ring. I am not entirely sure what their purpose is in the grand scheme of the bull fight, I have heard that they are there to calm the bull down a bit, but it was exciting nonetheless. An important note is that the horses are blindfolded, so it's easy to assume that they likely don't have any idea they are in close proximity to an already-enraged bull. The horses also have some "padding" which essentially consists of a quilt tossed over the horse's midsection. Additionally, there are riders on these horses, equipped with giant spikes on spears.
I didn't understand what all of this special equipment was meant for, until the actual action started. Pretty much as soon as the horses entered the ring, the revved up bull charged at one of them, butting into the horse's midsection. After a few smaller charges, the bull managed to gather up enough strength and speed to send the horse flying a few inches, knocking it completely to the ground. At this point in time, I wasn't sure if that was typical for this part of the fight or not, but based on the reactions I heard around me, it wasn't. All we could see was the horse's hooves, which were definitely not moving in the slightest. I was convinced the horse had died, which was pretty jarring. The way this situation was handled consisted of one of the pink-cape men from the first round coming back into the ring and spreading his cape as wide as possible to shield the horse and its surrounding action from as many spectators as possible. Then, a group of about 5 men with ropes come and tie loops around the horse, pulling with all of their might. I assumed they were pulling to remove the carcass, but it turned out that they were pulling the horse to its feet so it could safely exit the ring. In the end, the horse appeared to be OK, but the shock had not worn off for us. While the 1st horse was being tended to, the bull moved on to the 2nd horse, which was positioned very close to our seats, charging at the midsection yet again. This time, the picador, which is the name for the man riding the horse, was ready, and proceeded to use his spear on a stake to repeatedly jab at the bull, producing the first spurts of blood. After a little more aggression, the 2nd horse exited the ring as well, ending the 2nd round. I was definitely not expecting it to become so violent so quickly, so I was pretty much aghast at this point in time.
Now, onto Round #3!! In this round, men called bandielleros come into the ring with what appear to be flowery stakes. Their job is to stab these stakes into the neck and back muscles of the bull to weaken it and prevent it from retaining its strength and aggression for the matadors. This round, like all the others, was frightening, as the bull at the beginning of the round still had all of its strength, speed, and agility. The bandiellero basically had to attract the bull's attention, get it to charge, stab it, dodge it, and then run like crazy to hop over the wall before being publicly gored. Some instances, it seemed like a ridiculously close call, but maybe that's just my inexperienced opinion. Each blow to the bull produced more and more blood (duh, I guess), but I really didn't expect to be able to see the constant waves of blood pouring over the bull's sides. It was really visible and not exactly the best sight. After the bandielleros did their business, it was time for the main event: The Matador!
The matador's role in the entire bull fight, in the 4th round, is basically all for show. By this point in time, the bull is exhausted, stabbed repeatedly, bleeding excessively, and not really a huge threat anymore. The matador plays around with the bull, antagonizing the bull until it builds up the steam to charge yet again, and the closer the bull gets to the matador, the more credit the matador gets. In fact, by the time the matador had finished with his show, his largely white suit had a healthy splattering of bright red blood on it, so I guess that means he did a good job, but I don't know for sure. So, the matador yells at the bull, waves his red cape, and everything that you typically imagine with a bull fight. After about 10 minutes of showmanship, he finally prepares to deliver the fatal blow by thrusting a sword into the bull. Our matador struggled with this task, as the first attempt left about 80% of the sword's blade outside of the bull, before it actually fell out. No one knew for sure, but we all agreed that this must be a big no-no in the world of matador-ing. So, he grabbed a second sword and embarrassingly tried again, and this time delivered a very forceful blow, with the entirety of the blade being forced into the bull's body. You know how in war movies, when someone is impaled with a blade, blood shoots out of them like a fountain? Well, that was exactly what happened at this point in time. After the good sword thrust, blood was shooting at least 2 feet above the bull, which was supremely disgusting. At this point in time, the bull kind of staggered over toward the wall of the plaza, while 3 or 4 men from the first round re-appeared with their bright pink capes, waving them constantly right in the bull's face to disorient it and prevent it from having any last-minute surges of strength to inflict damage. It was at this point that I felt bad for the bull, since who really wants to have the very last moments of their public death to be spent with crazy things being thrown in their face, completely disoriented and lost? Apparently the bull was not dying quickly enough, as a man entered the ring with a dagger and proceeded to repeatedly stab the bull until it was 100% no doubt about it dead. That was a lovely cherry on top of the gruesome sundae for us.
If you couldn't tell from these reaction pictures, no one was really enjoying themselves by this point in the bull fight. As we saw the bull's carcass being dragged from the ring by decorated horses, we unamimously decided we had gotten our money's worth and it was time to leave. Typically, bull fights last for 2 hours, with 6 bulls being killed, but we felt we had achieved our cultural experience with the solitary bull. This ended our weekend in Madrid, and I am sure it is a time that will be hard to forget, no matter how much some of us may try to wipe it from our memories. Hannah taped the fight and our running dialogue/commentary, so once that gets posted, I will be sure to include it on my blog so all of you can feel like you were witnessing that warm fuzzy moment yourselves!
Sorry again for the marathon post, but I guess that's just the way it's meant to be!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
News from España!
Hola Mis Amigos!
Everything is going swimmingly here in Spain. It is ridiculously nice to have only 3 days of class, so basically, if you blink, it's the weekend again! The week has been pretty non-descript, so I will give you some of the highlights/more interesting moments...
- I was assigned a 4-5 page paper in my philosophy. I initially thought it was to be based on an entire Spanish philosophy book, but then it turns out that I only have to read about 3/4 of a page to write the paper. While on the one hand, I am relieved that I have to read so little, on the other hand, I am a bit stressed about coming up with 4 to 5 pages of material based on so little. Oh well!
- I have been booking travel plans like crazy, and I am proud to say that my weekends are nearly all full! Here's the rundown:
September 19-21: Granada (check)
September 26-28: Madrid
October 3-5: Avila and Salamanca
October 10-12: Sevilla
October 19: Real Madrid game
October 24-26: Paris
October 31-November 2: Rome
November 7-9: Athens
November 14: Segovia
November 28-30: Barcelona (with my family)
I hope you all are ridiculously excited to live vicariously through me as I have these travels :)
In reality, that's about all there is to comment on. As a sidenote, my friend Hannah and I are in a bit of a competition to see whose blog garners more views. As of now, I am blowing her out of the water, so I would like to commend my readers, and ask that they keep up the good work!
Amor de España,
Jill
Everything is going swimmingly here in Spain. It is ridiculously nice to have only 3 days of class, so basically, if you blink, it's the weekend again! The week has been pretty non-descript, so I will give you some of the highlights/more interesting moments...
- I was assigned a 4-5 page paper in my philosophy. I initially thought it was to be based on an entire Spanish philosophy book, but then it turns out that I only have to read about 3/4 of a page to write the paper. While on the one hand, I am relieved that I have to read so little, on the other hand, I am a bit stressed about coming up with 4 to 5 pages of material based on so little. Oh well!
- I have been booking travel plans like crazy, and I am proud to say that my weekends are nearly all full! Here's the rundown:
September 19-21: Granada (check)
September 26-28: Madrid
October 3-5: Avila and Salamanca
October 10-12: Sevilla
October 19: Real Madrid game
October 24-26: Paris
October 31-November 2: Rome
November 7-9: Athens
November 14: Segovia
November 28-30: Barcelona (with my family)
I hope you all are ridiculously excited to live vicariously through me as I have these travels :)
In reality, that's about all there is to comment on. As a sidenote, my friend Hannah and I are in a bit of a competition to see whose blog garners more views. As of now, I am blowing her out of the water, so I would like to commend my readers, and ask that they keep up the good work!
Amor de España,
Jill
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Photo Update, Part 2!
Hello there!
I have posted on album thus far on Picasa. Here's the link:
http://picasaweb.google.es/JillSchroeder10
Additionally, the link for my photo albums will (hopefully) always be on the left-hand side of this blog, under the picture of me. Let me know if you have any problems seeing my photos!
I have posted on album thus far on Picasa. Here's the link:
http://picasaweb.google.es/JillSchroeder10
Additionally, the link for my photo albums will (hopefully) always be on the left-hand side of this blog, under the picture of me. Let me know if you have any problems seeing my photos!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Photo Update!
Hi Everyone!
I have spent a considerable part of today assessing my photo situation, since my memory card filled over the weekend. I am in the process of creating some albums that can easily be shared online. Ideally, they will be linked to this blog in the next 24 hours or so, so keep your eyes peeled to get some exciting "Jill in Spain" photo action!
On a sidenote, I was super excited to see that a little old woman in my apartment building has a welsh corgi, the type of dog my family has. I was so excited that I gathered up the courage to go talk to her about her dog. That type of spontaneous conversation in Spanish is not something I have done thus far, so I was really excited and proud of myself after the brief exchange.
Thus, I dedicate today, and my monumental feat of starting a conversation with a stranger in Spanish, to my canine pal, Sammi. Look how cute she is!
I have spent a considerable part of today assessing my photo situation, since my memory card filled over the weekend. I am in the process of creating some albums that can easily be shared online. Ideally, they will be linked to this blog in the next 24 hours or so, so keep your eyes peeled to get some exciting "Jill in Spain" photo action!
On a sidenote, I was super excited to see that a little old woman in my apartment building has a welsh corgi, the type of dog my family has. I was so excited that I gathered up the courage to go talk to her about her dog. That type of spontaneous conversation in Spanish is not something I have done thus far, so I was really excited and proud of myself after the brief exchange.
Thus, I dedicate today, and my monumental feat of starting a conversation with a stranger in Spanish, to my canine pal, Sammi. Look how cute she is!
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