Also! something slightly more formal?

For my culture class we have to write little reflections on things we notice or differences in culture we think are interesting. We send them to our teacher, and then she replies - so far I've sent in two, and gotten back one. I thought they might be interesting to share, so I'll post them here too :) The first one I wrote is about the food, and although I already wrote about that on here, the one I turned in is slightly different and slightly more thought out...and then the second one is about dogs haha.


Since coming to Spain, I have learned to be much less picky and therefore much more healthy in the foods that I eat. One of the reasons that I chose to do a homestay for my time in Madrid was so that I could get a feel for typical Spanish food. So far, the food that my host mother has prepared has been different enough so that I can tell it’s Spanish rather than American, but it is not so exotic that I have any major doubts about eating anything that is put in front of me. One the biggest surprises for me has been how much I like tortilla de patatas. Before I arrived here, I would not have touched egg like that with a ten foot pole, but after my first bite (which I took purely out of politeness), it has been growing on me ever since. It has become something of a safety dish that I know I can turn to if all else fails.
Something else that I have come to at least tolerate since arriving in Madrid is the massive amounts of vegetables that I am fed every day. On my first night here, my señora told me a little bit about the food that she cooks: it is based on a Mediterranean diet and she is very conscious of covering all of the important vitamins and minerals. At first, I was not aware of how seriously she meant what she said, but I now know to expect that a large portion of the main dish will be some kind of cooked vegetable, and that I will be served one to two helpings of salad. I have never eaten as many leafy greens and nuts as I have in the past three weeks.
One of the biggest challenges for me in regards to the food here has not been the content of the food, but rather the schedule. Breakfast has always been my favorite meal of the day, and although my señora offers a larger breakfast than is customary in Spain, it is still hard to be completely satisfied with a small bowl of cereal and a hot chocolate in the morning. I will never understand how a whole population can make it through until the early afternoon with such a small breakfast without starving. So far though, my experiences with food in Spain have been more positive than negative, and I look forward to expanding my culinary palate.

and then her response was:
You are lucky that your homestay señora makes an effort to fix healthy meals, the typical Mediterranean diet, rather than whatever might be cheaper or more agreeable to the American taste of her tenants. You also have the open minded attitude to try new things, even if out of politeness and give yourself a chance to like it. The schedule is always hard to get used to though. One reason Spaniards get through with a small breakfast is that they will often have a snack or merienda, maybe a café con leche and something else halfway through the morning.
Keep exploring the food and keep an open mind, you might surprise yourself with what you end up enjoying!


and here are my thoughts on dogs:
Something that I have begun to notice more and more since coming to Spain are the dogs. The first thing that struck me was their size. I remember being surprised the first time I saw a large, maybe even burly man, walking a dog that seemed far too small and dainty to be his. I have since seen many more such combinations and have come to realize that maybe it is not that everyone in Spain loves small dogs, but rather that small dogs are better suited to living in an apartment in a large city like Madrid.

Another thing that has struck me about the dogs here is that very few of them seem to tolerate being walked on leashes nearly as much as pet dogs in the United States. Not only have I witnessed dogs pulling their leashes as tight as possible in the opposite direction that their owner is going, but I have seen some of them just sit or lie down to be dragged along by their leash. It makes me wonder about how the concept of pet dogs might be different in Spain than it is in the US. Since it does not seem like people here train their dogs to sit, stay, and heel nearly as much as they do back home, I wonder if Spaniards have more of a laissez-faire attitude with their pets. Whereas in the US, it is not unusual to see someone as hyper-involved with their pet’s life as they are in that of their children, in Spain, people seem more likely to treat their dogs as dogs rather than people. That’s not to say that people here do not love and respect their pets. My señora loves and cares for her dog as much as anyone would, but she does not spend her time worrying about how to improve her dog’s mental stimulation. I have even noticed that in the supermarket, the pet section is smaller and less varied that it is in the United States. People around the world love their pets for their love and companionship, but I’ve learned that they can show this love in more than one way. For Americans, it usually means treating their dog to as much praise and stimulation as possible. In Spain, it means letting dogs be slightly more independent, maybe even slightly more doglike.

A Procession and more

This is a picture of the end of the procession (aka parade put on by a group in the catholic church during holy week) I tried to put up more pictures, but this is the only one that worked :( Anyway, this is the end of the procession - I think it looks kind of funny with all the people following behind.

I'm glad I finally got to see a procession, especially since we had learned about them in our culture class. I was able to recognize all the different types of people who play a role. We even got to see a saeta! Saetas are when they have someone sing a song, usually directed at Mary. It's one of those things where you just have to be in the right spot, and my roommate and I were there! We felt super special. Anyway, I would write more about it, but I don't think it will be very interesting without pictures....soo moving on!

During that same weekend, I went with some friends to the park to study and do homework, both of which we did! But then as we were walking back, we went into this one garden area that looked neat, and when we got in there, we realized that there were four or five peacocks wandering around too! It was super cool, but I wish I had brought my camera. I guess I can always go back and try to see them another time.

This weekend we get Monday off, so we are trying to think of some kind of day trip or something fun to do that day, but we'll see. Tonight I'm going with some other people to a Real Madrid game! Yayy, although it's a tiny bit rainy right now and the stadium will probably be kind of empty haha since they're not playing anyone super important, but I think it should still be fun. And tomorrow our program is taking us to see a bullfight! It should be interesting and I'll try to take some good photos :)))

Una historia de don Silvestre

For my literature class, we learned about this one set of stories that were written a long time ago that are meant to teach lessons. One of our assignments was to write a story along those same lines, and I just finished mine a little while ago. It was surprisingly fun and relatively easy to write, so I thought I'd post it here....It's in spanish, so I don't expect everyone to read and/or understand it, but if you're really interested, you can get the gist from google translator haha.

Also, some of you (maybe only one of you) may recall a character named don Silvestre in "La Catrina" from high school spanish...that's who I named my character after haha.

De lo que sucedió a un hombre llamada don Silvestre.
Otra vez habló el conde Lucanor con Patronio, so consejero, del siguiente modo:
---Patronio, tengo un amigo que me invitó ir consigo a la playa por unos días para celebrar el comienzo del verano. Por supuesto quiero ir para relajarme y festejar con mis amigos en la arena tan suave y el agua bien templada, pero también tengo unas responsabilidades aquí las que necesito cumplir para el mes siguiente. No sé qué hacer.
---Señor Lucanor, es muy sabio por pensar no solo en lo que parece divertido ahora, sino también en cosas del futuro. Muchas veces hay personas que no piensan así, y lo que sucedió a don Silvestre sucede a ellos.
El conde le preguntó qué le había sucedido.
---Señor conde ---dijo Patronio---, hubo una vez un hombre llamada don Silvestre que vivía en una casa en un pueblo cerca de aquí. Un día durante el verano, notó que había una perforación en su techo. Supo que tenía que arreglarlo algún día, pero decidió dejarlo por un rato porque le gustaba el aire fresco.
Pasó una semana o dos antes de que pensara en eso otra vez. Ese día, hizo un poco más frío, pero a sí mismo el don Silvestre pensaba ---Pues, el invierno no llegará hasta unos meses, entonces todavía no tengo que arreglar el techo. Para ahora, está bien.---
Pasó un mes, y poco a poco, el tiempo siguió enfriando. El don Silvestre notó el cambio del tiempo, pero decidió que era más fácil llevarse más ropa por la noche. Y además, en vez de arreglarlo, querría disfrutar el otoño con sus amigos.
Cada mañana cuando se despertó, veía la perforación un poco más grande que el día anterior, pero siempre dijo ---La situación no es urgente, puedo hacerlo mañana. Ahora, quiero divertirme.---
El don Silvestre seguía como así hasta un día unas semanas después, cuando había mucho viento y nubes, y parecía que llegaría la primera tormenta de la estación. El don Silvestre, por fin, decidió que había llegado el día de arreglar el techo. El problema era que ahora, la perforación se había crecido mucho desde cuando apareció por primera vez. Tuvo que trabajar muy rápido porque el tiempo estaba empeorando, y por eso, su trabajo no era muy bueno. Trabajó todo el día, y al fin, estaba muy cansado, y se durmió aunque el techo no era bien hecho para nada.
Esa noche, llegó más viento y más lluvia que nunca. Se rompió el techo otra vez por la tormenta, y la casa empezó llenar con agua. Como el don Silvestre estaba tan cansado por el trabajo del día, no se despertó con la lluvia en su casa, y antes del amanecer, se murió ahogado.
Vos, señor Lucanor, si no queréis preocuparse de algo terrible como eso durante las vacaciones, es mejor cumplir las responsabilidades primero.
Al conde agradó mucho lo que dijo Patronio, hízolo así y le salió muy bien. Y como don Juan gustó de este ejemplo, lo mandó poner en este libro y escribió estos versos:
Ten cuidado en divertir
antes de no las cumplir

Familia!

Family is here to visit! Mother, Father, Brother, Brother. Matthew got here Saturday morning, so while we waited for everyone else, I took him to the giant park near where I live, and then we walked around his hotel which is pretty close to the center of the city so there were lots of people milling around that we could watch. That same day was the Real Madrid vs. Barcelona soccer game, so around 9 we went to a bar to watch it. Around that same time is when everyone else got to the area and joined us in the bar. One of the things I had wanted to make sure to do was watch a soccer game in a bar and it was nice to get to do that with my family! On Sunday we went to el Rastro which is a big flea market type place, and then just walked around the city. I showed them my school (of which they got to see the front door) and where I live (of which they got to see the courtyard haha). For dinner we ate at a place called Cien Montaditos where they have 100 kinds of sandwiches priced from 1 to 2 euros each...you get three or four for a meal. Monday, we rode bikes all over the place. From the hotel to the park, through and around the park, over to el Museo del Prado, and then to a gondola place and back to the hotel. We were out all day and it was very tiring, but still fun! For a lot of it we were riding on the sidewalks amongst millions of people walking which was interesting - frustrating at times, but I thought it was kind of fun at the same time. I also learned a very important lesson today! Never ever ever ever ever let your guard down other wise the pickpockets will get you. I thought it would be fine to have my bag slung around behind me since I was on a bike, but I didn't think about what would happen if I was stopped at a light waiting to cross the street. We were standing there waiting when these two ladies came up with a giant map (trying to look like tourists? maybe to hide their hands?).....I kind of felt something, but I didn't think anything of it until I started riding and my bag was hitting me weirdly...I thought maybe I had dropped something, but I soon noticed that my wallet was gone and that the two ladies had it. I yelled that they had my wallet which I think caused one of them to go back the way she came, and the other one to briefly drop it. She picked it up and was looking through it as my dad went up to her and took it back. Then the lady tried to blame it on some other guy who was walking...Suuuper crazy, but luckily it all turned out ok...she didn't get a chance to take anything! But from now on, I will be much more careful for sure.

Chocolate con churros

Last night I fulfilled one of the requirements of being a student in Madrid. I left home to go out after 11pm, stayed out until 6am when the metro starts again, and got the famous "chocolate con churros" for breakfast before returning home a little after 7 in the morning. We actually didn't end up staying OUT out the whole night, since we ended up staying at a friend from our program's apartment for a few hours after we were too tired from being out, but still determined enough not to want to pay for a taxi back home haha. Overall, the night was pretty fun. My roommate and I had planned to go out with a few of our friends, but then we all ended up running into another group of people we know, so we kind of merged and all went to this one place where someone had made friends with a person in charge and got us each a free drink. We stayed there for most of the night just talking and dancing - it's interesting how they always tend to play american music...and it's not even always current music - there was some Katy Perry and Ke$ha, but there was also music from the 70s and 80s which I thought was fun, but not everyone agreed haha. I think one of the highlights of the night (other than the chocolate and churros) was that I met my first native madrilenos. It was fun to be able to practice my spanish in such a casual setting, and I felt super cool since I was able to actually hold a conversation - we talked about pretty basic things, but it was a conversation nonetheless and I'm still proud about it haha. So I finally partied like a native last night, and I can see the appeal. I don't think I would be able to stay out that late more than once in a very long while though haha - I guess that's the difference between a native and a student passing through - for me, it was a novelty to stay out way past late, but for a native, that's a standard weekend.

Andalucia

Inside the mosque-turned-cathedral

In the garden of the Alhambra

The Alhambra

This past weekend was the program trip to Andalucia which is a province in the south of Spain. We went to three cities in three days and it was very tiring. We left Madrid Friday morning, arrived in Granada in the late afternoon, and went stright to a walking tour through the city, in a cathedral, and up a big hill to see the Alhabra. Everything was really pretty and fun to see, but there was lots of walking. I'll try to put up some pictures a little later when my camera battery is charged. Friday night, I ate dinner with some friends from the program at this restaurant that had a perfect view of the castle...I think we ended up eating for like at least a couple hours! It felt so european to just be eating dinner for so long outside next to a beautiful view haha. The next morning, we were supposed to be able to go into the palace, but when we got there, the people told us our reservations had been cancelled :( but we were still able to see the garden which was pretty good. After that, we made our way to Sevilla where we saw another cathedral and another garden. Ohh and we also got treated to ice cream since we didn't get to see inside the palace like we were supposed to haha. In Sevilla there were lots horse-drawn carriages which was kind of neat to see. That night, one of the coordinaters told us about a place where we could see a free flamenco show, so I went there with a few other people. It was pretty crowded, but the music that accompanied the dancer was pretty interesting...it sounded kind of arabic or something the way the guy was singing. After the show we went to an irish pub. Overall a pretty good night! The next morning we were off to Cordoba, although we only had time to stay there for a few hours...in that time, we saw yet another cathedral, although this one was pretty interesting since it was originally a mosque, so it had lots of gothic arquitecture with a few splashes of more tipical cathedral-esque things here and there. We left Cordoba in the afternoon, and then got back to Madrid at 9ish...long busride=lots of napping, but everyone was still pretty tired. When my roommate and I got home, our senora and her friend were there waiting for us with dinner which was nice since I was very hungry. We had some spinach dish, tortilla de patatas, salad, bread, and some kind of rice patty. They also gave us a glass of wine which was supposedly a very good one from Spain... After that I had to do all my homework, but I got to bed by 1 I think...nonetheless I still had trouble waking up the next day.

Una semana tipica

After going to Toledo last weekend, I haven't done anything extra exciting - this was my first full week of class, and every day was unique, but I didn't go on any big excursions outside of Madrid. There were a few exciting firsts, though: first day at my internship, first wild goose chase, first conversations with resident spaniards, and first trip to el Museo del Prado. Internship - I'm helping out in a classroom twice a week during the english-learning portion of the day. The kids in my class are all around 6 I think, and they are all super nice and super adorable. The class seems to be run pretty much the same way as classes in the US, although I think they are ahead of us in math...they are already multiplying pretty easily....For the english part, the teacher normally has me play some kind of english vocab game with them, or I read with them. They all also have the cutest accents because they are semi-spanish and semi-british sounding. Goose Chase - I went out with a friend to try to get a phone, but all the stores kept saying they were sold out of the cheap 10 euro one, and sending us to a different one that might have it. We ended up going all the way to the other side of the city to a random mall, and when those people didn't have it, we just gave up and got chocolate covered churros. At least the churros were good...but I still have yet to get a phone. The next cheapest phone is 19, so I'll probably get that. Conversations - The ACCENT center invited everyone to an "intercambio" which is when you go somewhere to practice your spanish with spaniards who want to practice their english. Apparently there are tons of places that do this in the city - so many that they said you can find one pretty much any night of the week. We went to this one place owned by some guy from Alaska - he was really friendly and was able to remember everyone's names. I ended up talking to one guy from Colombia, a lady from Madrid, a lady from Chile for a little bit, and a student from another program from Berkeley! It was pretty fun, and I think we will probably go back. Museo del Prado - Every Thursday my art class meets at a museum instead of the classroom. Today was the first trip, and she just showed us around a tiny bit, and then we had to pick two paintings from el Greco and describe them. She also told us that every day from tuesday through either friday or saturday, it's free to get in from 6 to 8! This weekend is the program trip to Andalucia which is a province in Spain. We will visit the cities Seville, Cordoba, and Granada. It's going to be a long busride, but hopefully it will be fun!

En vez de hacer tarea, escribo esto

In Toledo. I made sure to get those people in the picture so it would look more authentic haha I think without them it wouldn't be as good.

I met Don Quixote and we were both very surprised to see each other.

That's the paella I shared on friday. Pretty good!

Instead of doing homework, I'm doing this. I already have to do tons of reading...when I finish this, I will consult los programas to remind myself what classes I have tomorrow and what I have to do for them. Until the homework part, this weekend has been pretty good! Somewhat tiring, but overall a good tiredness. I'll just give a quick overview.. Friday - No class, but we went to a program walking tour called "Madrid on a Budget" so that was good, and then I went to a meeting for all the people who are doing an internship. Starting Monday, I'll be helping out in an english class at an elementary school twice a week. I think it should be fun, and it will be interesting to see how classes are run here...I also got lunch with a bunch of people (i split an order of chicken paella, grilled chicken, and fries)...and then the longest, most tiring expedition ever to get bus tickets to Toledo for the following day. Saturday - Toledo! It's about an hour by bus from Madrid, and it has lots of old buildings and churches and cathedrals and museums. I only ended up going into one church since you have to pay to get into anything, so we admired most of the stuff from outside, but I don't feel like I missed out on too much. Everything was really pretty...I'll try to post some pictures here in a little bit. I had to get a Toledo souvenir so I got one of those squishy leather canteen type things...except mine is not real leather and it says Rdo. de Toledo on it with a picture of a church. That night when we got back, we went to eat at a bar that served tapas which are kind of like little appetizers, but you're supposed to eat enough for it to be your meal. Sunday! - El Rastro aka flea market type place...I only went for a little over an hour, but it was good to just check it out. I got two scarves for 5 euros....I feel like we're supposed to bargain, but I kind of pansied out and just payed what the guy said. By then, the two people I was with and I were hungry, so we went to el Tigre which is a tapas bar that's super cheap. You get a drink and a bunch of tapas for 5 euros, so that's what we all got, and then we got another big plate of tapas for only 5...so we each payed about 7 total. That place is super popular with students since it's so cheap... Homework now!