Tequila shots and Cubans...

So I realize that I have left everyone hanging on the rest of my Toledo excursion day--and I'll get back to it soon! To cut in to the present point in time in my trip I have a funny story to relate--atleast its funny in retrospect.

So a couple nights ago our crowd of American students, those who have been here since September and those of us who just arrived, all went out together to a local irish pub. The year-long students had been there before and there was supposed to be live music. The music was actually more funny and it was hard not to smile at each other with that "you've got to be kidding" look. It was a two person bad, with the speakers up way too loud for a small bar, and these were Spaniards singing random American and English songs with heavy accents.

Anyway, the real story takes place after a pint of beer...and a tequila shot...okay two tequila shots but that was all. Needless to say, my parents, if reading this, probably aren't too happy right now--and it gets better. The two-man band ended their loud, funny interpretations, exited the "stage" and almost immediatly the bar owner turned on American dance music. Of course, all us students are having fun, dancing, getting to know other students and so on. Now, from what I've been told of the Basque men, I've gathered that they are very shy, so I was surprised when two guys began to dance with a couple of us--me being one of those lucky choices. We went a couple rounds and then Ruth, god bless her, pulled me away declaring, "You're so welcome right now!"

A little later, Ruth and I were joined by the woman who had been hanging around the two men. At that point, everyone is just having a good time, so who cares who joins your dancing space? Suddenly Ruth disappeared to find a bathroom and the next thing I knew, this woman wanted to buy me a drink. Immediatly I was confused. I didn't know this lady. But she was incredibly persistent so finally I was like, alright, get me a small beer. She got one for herself, so me, not wanting to be beholden to anyone, offered to pay for hers--a gift to me, a gift for her. No, no, no, esta bien. This was all in Spanish, too. She didn't know English. She didn't even pay--which then had me even more confused.

At that point I tried to pull the whole, "Well thanks for the beer, gotta get back to my friends now..." thing, but she wanted me to go to this little seating area behind some foggy glass windows--NOT part of the main dance/bar area. And she was persistent. I freaked a little at that point and ran to Ximena, my amazing-speaks-spanish-natively roommate. "Dude, this lady bought me a drink and now I don't know what's going on and I'm really confused!"

"Its okay, she's cool, she's cuban, don't worry about it," was my answer. More confusion. Okay...so Ximena knows this lady? Maybe its a common thing for her to buy students free beers. This was bothering me but then I got led behind the foggy glass...

And was very joyously introduced to her SINGLE brother in law, Hasan. Yep, the guy who had danced with me earlier apparently took a liking to me. My panic ebbed and changed more to, great, how do I get out of this one? This might have been a different experience if the guy was like, I don't know, at least in the region of my age. I think he had to be late thirties. The woman, whose name I learned was Marteca, and her husband, whose name I don't recall, suddenly brought up the new law here-to-fore unheard of in Spain outlawing smoking in public spaces, and asked if I minded that they go outside and smoke. I could't care less--until I realized they wanted to leave me alone with Jasan, like it was some big set up to get us together. Unbelievable.

This is supposed to happen when your friends set you up with some cute guy and the two of you are left awkwardly alone to shyly get acquainted in some meet-cute sort of way. This is NOT supposed to go down between a college kid, some older Cuban man, in an Irish-Spanish pub with me slurring as much coherent Spanish as possible. But he was completely nice and very polite. He didn't speak one word of English and I have to admit that I am very proud of my ability to speak and understand that night, despite the tequila that was fogging my thoughts. I think the fear sharpened it all a bit. But I talked with him for quite and while, and even outright asked if he was looking for a wife (Si), if he preferred Bilbao or Cuba (Bilbao, mejor que todos). I learned he owns three bars in the local area. All he wanted to know was if I had a boyfriend (No), did I live in the local area (No, infact I'm leaving this coming week with my mom), could he have my phone number (Gosh, I don't have a phone here.) I didn't give any true details, not even my real name. And I never touched that free beer. (Although I'm certain there was nothing in it, you just never know.)

I told him he'd find the right girl someday, that I was flattered but that it just couldn't work out. Some things did have us laughing because neither of us had a clue what the other was attempting to say. Anyway, when finally I managed to stand up, saying I had to get back to my friends, we walked out--and the bar was empty.

Yep. I got left alone at the bar, after two tequila shots and a pint, with a Cuban admirer.

Panic mode returned full force and immediatly I was explaining that I had leave ASAP. He was totally polite, gracious, and truly appeared sad that I wasn't interested. I felt bad and told him buena suerte (good luck), but not bad enough to linger anylonger. I didn't even know where I was and he still wanted my number! I thanked them one last time and fled down the street, close to tears at being left all alone. I almost pulled out my phone to text Ximena before rememberign that I told the Cuban I had no phone, so waited till I turned the next corner--and I recognized exactly where I was. I got home in probably five minutes, I walked so fast.

And, when I entered the apartment, Ximena jumped out of the shadows to shout, "Boo!"

Like I said, funny in retrospect. I am now a full supporter of the buddy system, no one's leaving me anywhere again. And I'll be much more careful about who I let dance with me from now on!

Toledo, Espana and my last night in Madrid

So, as I have mentioned, I have already been in Spain a couple of weeks, but have some catching up to do on relating what happened while I was in Madrid. From Madrid, our tour included excursions to other places outside the city, including Segovia, where we went on our second day, and Toledo, where we went our third and final day in Madrid.

Segovia was very clean and beautiful. It was a nice day and a nice trip. To get into what I considered the "old Segovia," you pass directly underneath the Roman Aqueducts. They rise up incredibly high above you and if you aren't careful, if you don't take a moment to register the fact that you are beneath the original aqueducts, then you'll take them for granted. I am glad to have pictures of them because we didn't have the time I would have liked to just stand and gape for a long time at that architectural masterpiece of thousands of years ago. 

Anyway, once past the aqueducts you find yourself in old Segovia, which looks exactly as you would expect and old medieval city to look like. They had cute little shops lining the streets, with old fashioned lamps linign the way, and a lovely main square. It was much cleaner than Madrid and had a very calm atmospher about it. We got a tour of that area and then finally went to the castle. The castle of Segovia inspired the castle in Disney's Sleepign Beauty, and was incredible. When crossing the bridge into the castle we all stopped and gawked at the mote. It had no water, but was so much deeper than I expected. I got to stand on the draw bridge over a real mote!

The castle was cool, but it what I found strange was they have "redecorated" the place a couple times. For example, it suffered a fire a few years ago, so they brought in an artist to paint a brand new fresco on one of the walls. I don't know why--it seems to me that it would be better to keep the place as it was, and frescos were not part of it back then. Most of it was restored as used to be, which was nice. Huge tapestries hung on the stone walls and beautiful muslim artwork and sculptural work lined the upper walls and ceilings, since it had once been under the posesions of the Muslims before the Catholic kings reclaimed it.

The saddest part of the day--my camera's battery died right after we went past a great church...and before getting to the castle. I was really sad then, but enjoyed it still. They say that sometimes its better to not have the camera, because then you are more focused on the experience than the memory. Maybe its true. I would enjoy going back to Segovia just to take my time and enjoy the city and review the castle.

The next day, in Toledo, many good things happened. The following diary entry reports my day into Toledo, which I had really enjoyed.

January 15, 2011

Madrid, Spain

Regina Hotel

Today was amazing, and since I think I am in for many days like that, I am extra happy. I liked today so much that, despite the fact that it is 2:12 in the morning, I need to record it all before I forget. Today was a day of new places, new sites, new people, new friends, and new experiences.

First of all, I was up on time, which meant an early start to a good day. Had breakfast in the hotel dining room, which consisted of an interesting mix of sliced salami (very tasty), sliced cheeses, crusty rolls, some kind of soft cheese, a choice of cereals, toast, water, coffee, orange juice etc, and croissants. Very simple food, very small portions here in Spain, but it works out just fine. We have all agreed thus far that the majority of what we have eaten here in Spain has been a bread of some sort (and I won’t complain!).

Then it was off to Toledo. I met up with my newest friend Kate for the bus ride. She and I have pretty easily become good friends and enjoy doing similar activities--as I've mentioned before. This makes the transition into feeling comfortable in Spain and around so many new students a lot easier. As we drove out of Madrid, I have to say that I don’t believe I have seen this much graffiti in any other city before. Graffiti is everywhere—on the undersides of highways, on the doors to closed shops at night, on the walls of apartment complexes, and so on and so on. Massive quantities of graffiti appear everywhere, which is surprising to me. Madrid has surprised me in so many ways since my arrival only four nights ago, and it is absolutely nothing to my expectations. But that is a very good thing. I like getting to know that city for what it is and not what I want it to be. In just three days I feel that I have a better understanding of this interesting city, although I have barely begun to truly understand their Madrilenian way of life.

So the following entry is another diary entry from January 17th, about my final day in Madrid. I am a slow blogger it seems, but I am finally catching up! Here is the rest of my last day in Madrid:

Jan 17, 2011

After lunch in Toledo that day, we got to spend time shopping. Our group had about four girls and a couple guys. The other girls really only wanted to actually shop, like for shoes or scarves. I wanted something like a souvenir, but a really nice one. Right now I don’t want to spend money on key chains or shirts that I’ll throw away in a few years, (although now a Spain themed t-shirt blanket would be cool…), but something like the pretty plates I kept seeing in the tourist shops. Luckily for me Kate, who always seems to want the same thing as me and tends to speak up about it first, mentioned how she really wanted to not rush and actually find a souvenir type item. So we ended up leaving the group who didn’t want to wait, and went shopping. The first store I stopped in, full of beautiful handmade pottery and dishes and mirrors and clocks, had my attention. I bought a plate, a small bowl and a smaller bowl as a little set for decoration or use. They are hand painted and crafted there in Toledo. Very pretty! Each dish is a different color. Something like this I figured was worth my 50 Euros since I got no other Madrid/Segovia/Toledo souvenirs.

So then, to keep things fair, I went with Kate to help her find a t-shirt that said “Toledo, Spain.” That turned out to be harder than expected, since all the shirts we found said “Toledo” only. It had to have “Spain” as well since, the ironic part, Kate is from Toledo, Ohio, so anything just saying Toledo would not appear as special when she went home. We thought it was impossible and were running out of time to catch up with everyone else when she found on in a small shop right in the plaza where the group met.

I really liked and enjoyed my time with Kate. We got along really well due to the fact that she wanted similar things to me, and that made it easier to break away from the group and do what we wanted to do. Sometimes I think I feel pressured by the group to go along when the majority rules, especially on a trip where I’m a little nervous to do things alone and they suggest you don’t. So having met someone like Kate made the trip that much more enjoyable. It also reminds me that I shouldn’t hesitate to say what I want just because the group is leaning towards something else. Odds are, there is someone else who will join me or agree too. This is my trip; I need to make sure I get out of it what I really want.

As it turns out, here in Getxo and Bilbao, where I am now, graffiti is still everywhere. When you ride on the metro, the buildings that you roll past are covered. It’s not all bad looking—some of these graffiti artists really create interesting works of art for all to see. Since I have a hard time even deciphering what graffiti says back home, I couldn’t say if the words scrawled in blue and black paints are nice or not.

Anyway, the trip to Toledo via bus was about an hour, and the closer we got to it, the less visibility there was. Fog, thick and damp, hung everywhere and hid the countryside from view. The old city itself is situated atop a hill with a defensive wall built around its edges. The entrance into this city is called la Puerta del Sol (Door of the Sun), and has an Arabian look to it. The whole city is very architecturally beautiful. We did not enter the city here, though and instead parked on a side street from which tall elevators lifted us up to the city’s main level. As I said, thick gray fog was clinging to everything, and looking out away from the city, all you could see was gray instead of the valley and river that our guides swore to us were out there.

We entered into the main plaza of the city and from there were led through a maze of streets to the Cathedral. I’m not kidding when I say maze. Apparently, a guest professor got himself lost in the city while on this tour and they had to leave him behind to find his own way home. He did so just fine, but for several hours he had just disappeared. Ironically, our way to get back to this plaza at meeting time was to ask for directions to the only McDonalds in Toledo. A McDonalds now exists in the main square of an ancient, beautiful city were the streets are cobbled, the walls are crumbling, and the air is thick with mysterious history. That’s not depressing at all!

The Cathedral—La Catedral Primada—is the most important cathedral in all of Spain, took about 250 years to build, ending in 1493. And was it ever gorgeous. I have never been inside of a real cathedral, and this place was stunning. The outside was imposing, with a tower that rises high up into the fog and many faces of sculpted people looking down at you. Inside the ceilings suddenly leap away from you, rising to incredible heights with magnificent arches. Stained glass windows glow with the fog infused light from outside, appearing like shattered jewels set into the dark stone walls. I managed one photo before I decided it was better to respect this church and the other viewers without making obnoxious flashes of light.

Indeed, some areas absolutely forbid the photography of their artifacts, like magnificent bibles with filigree designs, and 200+kg gold and silver relic, the many intense paintings of el Greco on display. But what really got me about this cathedral was the attention to detail in every nook and cranny there. Everything was sculpted, painted, gold plated and grand. Grand is the right word here—and breathtaking. Beautiful sculpted angels soared up the sides of stone facades, gold and alabaster sculptures dominated the center preaching area and more. I loved every minute of it. So much architecture and art in one location blows ones mind, but more than that, I was in a building with so much history and emotion to offer. I would go back just to stare at all of it again, and maybe sketch some of it.

A hall of El Greco’s paintings was included, and I really like some of his work. It is said that he painted souls and not faces. He was never really popular until years after his death, but his art is powerful and centered around very religious themes. I am by no means a regular church-goer or overly religious person, but I really like and appreciate these sorts of places.

From there we made our way to a Jewish Mosque in the Jewish quarter. Apparently, in Toledo, a certain amount of religious tolerance was experienced. The mosque had once been a Muslim holding as well.

After our organized tour, we were free to ourselves for about two hours. My friends and I struck out to get lunch at a local place that Amee had spotted called La Campana. I ordered a pork stew called Carcasuelas, I believe, and it was delicious. Very different and rich, and not watery like our own stews. It was mainly tender chunks of pork, with a tomato sauce and a few peas. Spices are unknown.

Will write more later. I am exhausted! But they day was not over—not by a long shot.

--Caity

An afternoon at the park…

That evening was great too. We all returned to Madrid, and then Kate, Erica, Michael, and a couple other guys all went out for a walk in the Park Presidio in Madrid. This was a Saturday evening and apparently it’s the place to be while the sun is going down. People line the pathways. Street performers and entertainers show up to get tips for their shows. Gypsies have tables lined up to tell your fortune, vendors appear to sell bags of kettle corn and more. There are even a couple established little park cafes were people can sit outside and order food. It was a social hub to be sure, and it was fun. In the center of all of this is a monument to a king; I believe it was called “el Pacificador,” which would mean something like the Peaceful or Peace keeper. This memorial is a huge monument that goes straight up and has a bronze statue of the king on his horse at the top. To the sides you can see half an arc of columns surrounding the statue. The monument is raised up a bit, so that you can look out over the great, man-made lake in front of it. People rent little row boats and row around in the little lake. The youth of Madrid congregate on this monument and overtake its many steps. All of them hang out talking on phones, chatting, wearing sunglasses, watching the tourists take photos of the monument and more. It was packed and really pretty cool to see the community enjoying a Saturday afternoon like that. I couldn’t help but feel we had chosen the right time to visit the park to see this social norm and to enjoy the relaxed side of Madrid’s lifestyle.

Our last night in Madrid…

We left the Park Presidio when it was already dark and went back to the hotel to see who was doing what for the last night in Madrid. I knew many wanted to go to El Capitan, a famous dance club with seven different floors. Each floor has different music and stuff. I didn’t really care. I have nothing dressy here for an event like that, plus, a club doesn’t interest me that much. Who cares? So I suggested returning to the Fontana de Oro that I went to that first night in Madrid. I was happy that, again Kate, was totally down for something much more low key than El Capitan.

At the last minute I bravely invited a few of the guys we had recently met, and was very pleased when more guys chose to come with us four girls to the local bar. On the way there I got a little nervous, fearing this little bar would led them down. I warned them that it was a small time local bar.

To my extreme happiness, my fears were unnecessary. Firstly, this group was like me, not interested in the really crazy big club. And this place was packed! Jam packed in this little bar were tons of Spaniards and probably people of other nationalities too. A local band was playing and just made my night. That made our excursion to the bar far greater than going to any nightclub. I was pleased they all had a good time. I got some great pictures of the band and of us dancing. One guy in particular that I had invited was really nice and it was fun having him become the center of our girls' dance circle--and maybe it was fun to think that he might have liked me too. I don't normally get the decent guys interested in me, just the creepy ones (my friends back home will understand this complaint!)

There was actually little room to really move a lot, but enough. The music was funny. Picture this: an all Spanish band, speaking Spanish between songs, playing and singing completely American songs, inside of an Irish pub. They played Elvis, classic rock, blues, Sweet Home Alabama and all kinds of great stuff. The Spanish apparently completely prefer American music, and you hear it everywhere.

Though we didn’t stay too long, it was long enough to enjoy it and then head home. The last of us to leave were myself, Kate and our new guy friend. It was so much fun! It was tinged with sadness though, since we were all splitting ways the next morning. I was going to Bilbao, Kate to Alicante, and him to San Sebastian (which is only like, an hour and a half away from Bilbao.) I won’t lie, was truly bummed to have made a good connection with Kate as friends, and then to have to leave. 

But all is not lost. We are all together on Facebook and will probably meet up together to go travelling. That would be fun.

I am here in Bilbao now, and getting used to my new place. I’ll describe that later. Must sleep. Have an early start tomorrow.

Second night in Spain continued...

So, to continue my last entry, here is the completion of my second day in Spain.

Continued at 3:20 in the morning, what is now January 14.

Trouble might be the name of the game tonight...lol in actuality today was a blast. The friends I mentioned earlier were other students I met this morning on the group tour of the Prado Museum, which was amazing. When you walk in, all you smell is the oil of the paintings. I loved it, and our guide was great. Although we went through very quickly, passing all but the most important pieces, I will say that had I gone without a guide, I would not have even found the best pieces in there. The Prado is huge and very confusing. The vast majority of the art is religiously themed but these are coming from masters like Velazquez, El Greco, and so on. As an art buff, I loved it and would recommend it to anyone visiting Madrid.

Anyway, I met some great students in the group there and then while taking the tour in the Palacio Real—the Royal Palace. The palace was great. It was cold, obviously being made of locally procured marble, and everything in each of those rooms was decorated to the extreme. In one room alone, the dining room, there were fifteen distinct chandeliers. We weren’t aloud to take pictures, but we got the whole tour. The palace is still in use today, for greeting lords and ladies from around the world, apparently. There is even a section of the palace that has been modernized for when the King and Queen have to stay there instead of their newer palace somewhere else. Of course we couldn’t see that part!

After the palace, we were free to do as we pleased. My new group, consisting of Kate, Erica, Jordan, Amee, Michael, and Ruth all decided to meet up later at seven to go and start our evening that I mentioned earlier. Kate, Erica and I went exploring the whole city and shopping before that, though. To describe this area of Madrid, just imagine a mall with wall to wall shops, but its set outdoors and it seems never ending. It was really cool but exhausting. The streets are narrow and you always have to watch out for cars that might not want to stop for the lingering the pedestrian.

The real fun happened this evening, though. The group (7 of us, five girls and two guys) met up at seven and went out. First we had paella for the first time at a great little restaurant called Restaurante Hegar, which was situated right at the corner in the Plaza Mayor. Our waiter was this old man who seriously reminded me of the evil butler in the Disney movie, The Haunted Mansion, but he was actually incredibly nice and took pictures for us. Five euros got me a whole plate of the paella. Sweet deal. Paella is basically like Spanish rice, but it can be mixed with any kind of meat (we found chicken and some weird unidentifiable sea food in there). It was delicious and I didn’t question the ingredients.
After dinner, everyone was debating our next stop. I really wanted to go to the Chocolateria, San Gines, and to my utter surprise and pleasure, so did Kate. That girl is quickly becoming a good companion for these travels. She spoke up and we did, we went and found my heart's desire: The Chocolateria de San Gines. Delicious chocolate with churros! You see this all over Madrid, with everyone placing signs in there windows declaring that they sell the hot chocolate. It did seem like we were the only two really interested in this place, but I didn’t care. I got what I wanted—the chocolateria was sort of like my “must have” before leaving Madrid, so I am grateful Kate was there to enjoy it with me.

After that, we wanted a tappas bar so that we could watch the big Madrid match that happened today. We had the hardest time finding a good bar with televisions, and we ended up in another restaurant called La Tia Cebolla (The Onion Aunt), where we ended up buying 6, yes 6, pitchers of sangria while we watched the game on their large plasma screen that was mounted I the corner. Sangria is delicious and has possibly become my favorite drink in Spain. It’s a red wine that is prepared with chunks of fruit in the pitcher, including apples and oranges, so when you drink it is very fruity and tasty. Each pitcher was 10 bucks but there was 7 of us.

We had so much fun just hanging out in this tiny, filled to the brim restaurant! Every time a goal was made, the owner would ring a bell that he had hanging behind the counter. The walls behind the counter were covered in shelves lined with different types of liquors and stuff; what made it unique was that each shelf was trimmed in a fluttering layer of international money. He had different bills from all over the world giving a colorful backdrop to his restaurant. The whole place was such a local’s joint that I think we ended up in the best place for that evening. Many students had chosen to actually go to the game (which I didn’t think was the most interesting game ever).

Towards the end of the game, the owner surprised us all with a round of shots of some really sweet alcohol. Free. So we keep talking having fun, then he brought another round of something else. We were, by that point, speaking Spanish like it was nothing with him, laughing, taking pictures with him, and eating the free tapas snacks he also kept bringing. Then he brought another round, then another…He gave us FIVE free shots each in total! He just kept bringing new stuff. Some were good, others not so much. So yeah, a little trouble there, but so much fun for my second night in Madrid!

And the night didn’t even end there!

After La Tia Cebolla, we went dancing at a discotech. From what I can tell from my first two nights on the streets of Madrid, there are tons of these types of bars/dance places that are hard to find. They hire people to go find people looking to have a good time and pass out cards for the discotech and then to lead them there and usually, they offer a free shot or drink to get you in the door. That’s how it seems they all compete—so if you are ever in Madrid, don’t freak out when some guy suddenly wants to lead you down a dark street with the promise of free shots. Be careful, but generally this seems pretty legit, and there are so many people out that you can have fun the smart way. I’ve also already noticed that some joints make you pay to get in, while others are free. I’m sure that we had just as much fun at the free ones than if we had gone to one with a cover charge. The best part about the free place we went to, you don’t even have to buy drinks to go dance. Its dark enough and big enough in there, at least at the one we went to tonight, that it doesn’t matter. I needed to burn off dinner’s sangria anyway.

So we all headed to the dance area. This place was nicer than where I went with that crowd last night. There was a small raised platform for dancing in the center of the floor that had several Spaniards dancing there. What I’m noticing about the Spanish is that they appear shy about dancing, unlike us Americans who just get out there and shake it to a good beat. All the music is American, just like you find in a dance club in the states, but the guys hang around the edges, and the girls do minimal movement. I’m sure that can’t always be the case, but that’s what it seemed like tonight. We were dancing! And I thnk our group of seven enthusiastic Americans intimidated the Spanish on the platform, because it suddenly began to empty.

After a while, Erica, Jordan and Michael all decided they wanted to go somewhere else, so they left, assuring us they’d all get back to the hotel safely. So it was just four girls. We pulled to awkwardly shy Spanish guys to dance with us, with all the confidence that would NOT have been there had they been American guys. And these guys could dance! When they no longer feel awkward they really get into it. One guy kept dancing and whistling a series of three sharp whip! whip! whips!

Then Ruth and Amee wanted to go back and sleep, so they left too. Me and Kate, again thinking very alike, wanted to keep dancing. We hadn’t been there maybe thirty minutes yet. So it was just me and Kate, me with my own guy (who thought our dancing was funny and chose to give me a lesson) and her with the other two guys! What fun! I’ve never been so confident in myself and especially while dancing and spinning with a guy. I honestly think that being a foreign situation makes you less afraid because you know you’ll survive. And there is no pressure dancing with a Spaniard (who, by the way, always kept his hands in appropriate areas and never tried anything suggestive) because you know that you’ll never see him again anyway. I think being in Spain is going to truly improve my self confidence around guys—around whom I am usually incredibly shy.

 Now is the time for me to try new things and find myself. That’s what travelling is about, I think, new experiences and different things so that you can really see who you are. and I am already getting started. What a blast, but now I am so exhausted and I have to be up early…

The Journey Begins...

Getxo, Spain

Music: Julieta Venegas—Realmente lo Mejor

¡Hola a todos!

This blog is about my study abroad experience with a program called University Studies Abroad Consortium  (USAC) to Bilbao, Spain. Bilbao is located about an hour from the French border and right along the coast in what is known as the Basque country, or el País Vasco. I have already been on the program and in Europe for about seven days now and am finally getting this blog up and running! The good news is that to catch up on the past several days, in which are many stories and experiences already, I am smart enough to have saved all my emails to family and friends and to have done some diary-keeping. From those emails and notes I am constructing a sort of post-report on my time here thus far. But from here on out everything should be up to date!

Email #1

To Mom, to Dad, to two best friends.

“Okay, so I have finally arrived in Madrid, am finally in my hotel room--and its only 7 pm. I was supposed to be here around 4 pm, so 3 hours late, haven't eaten anything since the airline "breakfast" I ate around 9 am en route to London, am running off a couple hours real sleep--and to top it all off, the airline LOST MY BAG. Actually, everyone's bags and it is actually rather funny to me. They assure us that our luggage should arrive at our hotel by tomorrow, but we'll see.”

--Clearly this was a tiresome start and I was babbling it all into an email. I had to let my parents know I was alive and well anyway, and an email was the easiest option since using my international calling card is still something I haven’t figured out. The flight had been exhausting simply because on the ten hour non-stop flight from San Francisco to London, it was incredibly hard to get any quality sleep. Even after I had put in ear plugs to block out the shrieking baby and the wailing kid a row over, I was still shoved and bumped by a cute two year old in the seat next to me. He said nothing, but moved incessantly. I was sound asleep on the flight from London to Madrid, but we did not take off for a long time. Turned out that we were actually an hour late on that flight for some reason, and that late departure meant an hour late arrival, and yes, to top it off our bags apparently did not make the flight with us.

Email # 1 contd.

“Aside from all that, the fun should now be starting. I get three whole days of Madrid museums, sites to see and touring. Can't wait! Our orientation for the tour is at 8 tonight--then we eat. Thank goodness I am starving!

Anyway, I'll try to call you guys, mom and dad, here shortly perhaps after dinner, from the hotel lobby phones.

By the way, the elevators in this totally amazing and awesome hotel are about 3 feet wide by 3 feet deep (ie, that's one hell of a tiny elevator :) ) I already think Madrid is awesome, but tomorrow I'll really get to experience it.

I'll keep you posted.

Love,

Caity

In reality, those elevators were more like four feet by four feet. A friend that I made on the trip and I measured it. Still, they were tiny and claustrophobic. It was much easier to use the stairs and lucky me, I was on the second floor (which in Spain is actually the third floor). And that phone call in the lobby just never happened. The hotel in total was really nice. I took pictures of the lobby just to remember (and to show off later) what a great lobby we had!

That first meal provided after the orientation was funny too, because they served us first a delicious Italian dish, then a piece of baked or boiled chicken with, of all things, French fries. We were all questioning that. This was our first introduction to Spanish food? Not really. Interestingly, though, it turns out that French fries are actually common here. Dishes with potatoes are very popular, but I much prefer the patas ali-oli served in Getxo.

Journal Entry #1

January 13, 2011
Madrid, Spain
Regina Hotel

Yes! My luggage arrived today at the hotel. I am so happy!

So last night I went out with a group of kids who wanted to experience "Spanish nightlife," but we just wandered around not knowing where to go. I was not terribly happy with this group probably because I was so tired, cranky, and I just didn't really know any of them. We had no idea what to do since no one had a plan of where to go or who to follow, so we ended up just the four of us. But just as we were making our way back to the hotel in the weird slow way, where no one is really admitting that they are giving up, a random Spaniard guy came up to us and offered us free shots at a local bar. The funny part there was that my companions, so ready to go partying or having fun at first, were about to decline understandably thinking that maybe this was a shady situation. For whatever reason, maybe because I was fed up, it was me who just jumped right in and said "sure." I started following the guy, maybe a year or two older than me and kept checking to make sure my buddies were behind me. I even spoke some Spanish to him since he struggled with English.

We all went and it turned out to be a really cool bar. It’s a contradictory bar: a serious Irish bar in the middle of Madrid called La Fontana de Oro. Pretty cool. The downstairs part was totally like being underneath a monastery. So another irony--we wanted Spanish nightlife, and so we got a tourist/Spaniard packed Irish joint, and all the music was American. Although that's common, even the discotech we went to after the bar had nothing but American music and silent videos projecting onto the walls of Michael Jackson dancing. Weird combo but it worked and we had fun. I managed to get over my irritated mood enough to say that my first night in Madrid was not bad at all.

But yesterday was a very long day and I wanted to go home early--not at the ungodly hour of say 3:30 in the morning, while running on just a few hours sleep (Remember, this evening out was my first night in Madrid, ie, after the flights, after the luggage fiasco, after the orientation and after dinner). So of course I overslept this morning (I woke up at 8:42) and missed breakfast, but still made it to the tour on time (tour commenced at 9:00 o’clock sharp). The day was awesome; we went to the Prado museum, had a guided tour, then went to the Royal palace and had another whole tour. Those ended around 2 in the afternoon, so my new group of friends and I went exploring all over the local parts of Madrid. Shops, and streets all over. My feet hurt after all that wandering.

The best part was that I found the place I had really wanted to the find, the Chocolateria de San Gines, famous for hot chocolate and churros! I was really proud to have found it. And to my happiness, my new  friends want to go with me tonight, especially Kate, who I am glad to have met. I had actually discovered San Gines’ location the night before, but couldn’t go with my current crowd who had no interest in chocolate to my dismay. So going tonight makes me happy. We also plan to go to a local bar to watch a huge soccer game that is happening tonight in Madrid between two Madrileno teams—the Madrid Real and Madrid Atletico I believe are their names. It’s like a scrimmage.