Los Domingos

The atmosphere in Spain is pretty chill - looking at an average Sunday is a great way of seeing this. Today, I slept until noon, ate an hour long breakfast with my señora, watched a movie / napped; then, I went for a walk to try to wake myself up, and came back and watched another movie with my señora and we had our merienda, the afternoon snack of tea, cookies, clementines and some homemade fried dough/honey thing that she made. Now, I'm listening to Spanish music and am about to read in bed before falling asleep.. not a bad day! My señora makes a point of being around home on Sundays, and I think that is the general trend. It is nice because it is basically expected that people relax, catch up on sleep and eat lots of good food. 

This is my last week living at my señora's house, so I've been spending a lot of time with her. Yesterday, I went on a touristy day with her and her niece, and we went to 3 museums and exhibits: a Miquel Barceló exposition (contemporary artist), the Romanticism Museum (essentially an old queen's house) and an exhibit of cultural artifacts, many of which came from the UK's collections. Then, 2 of my señora's kids (with their families) came over so I could meet them - it was pretty overwhelming but a lot of fun! The bigger a group of Spaniards is, the faster they talk, so I was mostly just trying to keep up with what they were saying... but I definitely realize that their family dynamic is similar to a lot of American families. They got into a long discussion about euthanasia, and the movie El Mar Adentro (The Sea Inside). I didn't give any input into the discussion, first of all because I didn't want to join either side, and second because it is really hard to make an argument in Spanish. I decided to watch El Mar Adentro today, so I had to figure out how to get some vpn network set up so that Sam's netflix account would think that I'm in the USA and it would allow me to watch movies. I got it figured out, and now this means I can catch up on The Office! :)

Tomorrow I have a day full of class - my three reunidas classes with other Americans, and then a couple complutense classes with Spaniards. I have decided that I'm going to try to not take Intro to Psych and I'm going to try to do a geography class. I'm attending 2 new classes tomorrow afternoon to see which one I like better. I found myself spacing out a lot during my psych class, and I just don't want to have to do that all semester. I'm also starting to teach english classes, and I have my first lessons tomorrow! The family has 3 girls, ages 3, 5 and 9. I'm going to teach them for an hour every Monday and Wednesday afternoon... I think it is going to be more like babysitting in English, but that's okay - they're paying me 18 euros an hour! 

My dad and Terri are coming to visit on March 10, which I just realized is only 2.5 weeks away!! These next couple weeks are going to fly by - I am going to Amsterdam this weekend with my roommates from Madison (Maggy is studying there), when I get home on Sunday I move into my apartment, and then next weekend am going to Barcelona with other students from my program here. I'm sad to be leaving my señora's house, but am also really excited to move in with the Spanish girls, and to get to know a completely different side of Spanish culture :) 

I'm off to bed, muchos besos (lots of kisses!) - Bonnie

February 15

Even though today is a cold, rainy/snowy day in Madrid, I'm having a wonderful day! I woke up at 7 am this morning to get ready for class, and then I had class. I am really liking all of my classes actually! My first class is about the artwork at the Prado art museum. We're starting around year 1600 and going to the most recent work. Even though it is pretty early, the professor is very easy to understand and is making the subject of art history very interesting for me :) My classes are all going to fit in together very well... the art history class brings in a lot of Spanish history (especially the monarchy) and religious topics. On Thursday, I start a class about the Bible and its use in western literature. I am also in a class on Islam in Spain, in which we have so far been talking about Islam as a religion and how the muslims conquered Spain in the 8th century. I think that these all tie together very well... as well as in a lot of the travels that I have been doing! 

This past weekend, I went to Marrakech (Morocco) and Granada. Both were absolutely amazing... this was my favorite trip so far! I am so glad that I went. There were 6 of us from my program. Wednesday morning, we flew to Marrakech, which is an old city in the interior of Morocco. The hostel that we stayed at was essentially a family's house and some rooms that they rented out - it was decorated so nicely and we got served a free breakfast. On Wednesday, we just kind of got our bearings straight and walked around the city. Our hostel was just inside the wall of the Medina, the old city walls. It was such a contrast - inside the Medina is just crazy and busy... lots of winding little lanes, street vendors, people hanging out together, donkeys with their carts. Outside the Medina was an area that essentially felt like Ixtapa, Mexico - beautiful, but built up recently and mostly for tourists. The Djema el-Fna is Marrakech's large flea market. It was just amazing - and I'm saying that in the sense that it amazed me how big it was, how much was going on, how much attention we got, etc. There was so much commotion everywhere - very exciting, but almost stressful. Even on the trip from the airport to our hostel, I was almost laughing because I was so happy to see everybody - more bicycles or scooters than cars, weaving in and out of each other, yelling at each other. The whole two days was just filled with new everything... sights, sounds and smells!

There were two really new experiences for me: 1. being in a non-Christian country, and 2. not being able to speak the people's language. Both were pretty refreshing. There were beautiful mosques all over the place... I wasn't sure if I would feel out of place for not wearing a headscarf, but I would say that under half of the Moroccan women wore them, so I felt fine. We had also been learning about the Berbers and Arabs coming into the Iberian peninsula, so it was really neat to see Marrakech (an old Berber town on the edge of a mountain range) and learn about its specific history in that epoch. At no point was I worried about my safety - the only thing was the cat-calls and people constantly saying "Hello! Sorry!" - the only English words most people knew. As far as the language, Moroccans typically speak French and/or Arabic - it seemed like most people speak both. It was quite frustrating not being able to communicate with people - it was hard to even walk into a restaurant and have somebody show us on a map where we were. This really made me realize how far I've come with my Spanish.. and got me really excited to come back to Spain to keep working on it :) I feel pretty good with how much I've improved - not necessarily my grammar, but being able to understand (some of) what people are saying even when its a mile a minute and slurred. 

We were in Marrakech for a 2 days and 1 night, and then Thursday night we took an overnight train to Tangers, which is up on the coast at the Strait of Gibraltar. We then took a ferry across to Algericas, Spain. How crazy is it that I saw the Rock of Gibraltar and the Pillars of Hercules... and even that I was on the Mediterranean Sea!? Late Friday night we arrived in Granada, still in Andalucia (southern Spain). It was rainy and in the 40's, but Granada was still absolutely beautiful. Granada is home to La Alhambra, the last Muslim palace/fortress in Spain. Again, I've learned a lot about Granada in previous classes and in my class on Islam, because it is where the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabel finished the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 1492. Because of this, there is a lot of historical stuff to see there. We of course toured the Alhambra (if you don't know much about it, you should google it! amazing) and also walked around the old Islamic quarter of town (from after the reconquest). We also went to the Royal Chapel, where Isabel and Ferdinand are buried. All of this was just crazy... to think that I was actually standing in the room where Columbus proposed his trip to India to Isabel! Everything that happened in 1492 in Spain happened in Granada (and because of the taking of the Alhambra) - the expulsion of the Jews and the unification of the Spanish language with its first grammar book.  

It all made for a wonderful time in Granada - it is too bad it wasn't nicer weather, but I loved it. Now that I have visited a number of other Spanish cities (Sevilla, Salamanca, Toledo, Granada), I can appreciate even more that I chose to study in Madrid. I know I've said this before, but I just love how it is a "living city". I feel like I am able to join the city, to be a part of it, instead of just be a tourist. I'm so happy I chose to come here! I have a pretty chill week ahead of me - just class! Tomorrow, I am getting together with Julia, my intercambio. She finishes her exams tomorrow, so I'm excited to be able to spend more time with her! Most of my friends have moved out of their home stays into their apartments (I move out in 2 weeks). Tomorrow night, we're going to a friend's house and he is going to make tacos for us - I have been missing my Chipotle! I'm also going to start "teaching" English to my Señora's grandsons who are moving to Dallas in a couple months... they're pretty young, so this will essentially be playing with them and just speaking English. I feel pretty lucky to be able to get to know my señora's family like this, and I am looking forward to have this connection with her still even when I move into my other apartment. I am going to go make dinner with her right now (even though we just finished our tea and afternoon snack).. but I am so happy to be able to share the details of my trip with you guys! I still need to get pictures together, and will do that when I have time this week. Hope everybody had a wonderful Valentines Day! Love, Bonnie

Fotografías!

Hola amigos, que tal? Aquí están algunas fotos:

Melissa, Amanda and I taking pictures with the peacocks here. This was in the park of the "Palacio Real", the royal palace that is a short walk from my house. The park used to be the private yard of the king and queen who lived in the palace, but they no longer live in the palace. Now, they have a nice park with lots of beautiful peacocks! 

A nice sunset from a different park by my house... reminds me of Madison

Graffiti is EVERYWHERE here. This is one of my favorite ones at our university. As you can tell, the graffiti here is usually happy. The photo below is of a "Victory" sign on a wall of the University of Salamanca - traditionally graffitied onto the exterior walls after a student completed his PhD. It is really interesting seeing the graffiti everywhere... while it is sadly sometimes on historic monuments, it is typically seen as an acceptable thing.

This is Ruth (roommate from UW) and I in front of the large Gothic cathedral in Sevilla. It is the largest example of Gothic architecture in the world! This picture sort of gives you a sense of the plaza - a large place to hang out, usually with benches and fountains. There are plazas everywhere! In the twenty minute walk from my house to the city center, I walk through seven or eight plazas. It is so nice to have pedestrians be the focus of the cities here, rather than cars.

My roommate Marissa and I in front of the Temple of Debod. This is an egyptian temple that was reconstructed in Madrid as a gift to recognize Spain's help with saving some other ruins. We got to enter the temple! It was really amazing being able to see the carvings not in a picture, but 1 foot in front of my face. The Temple is actually in a large park that is right next to the apartment that I will be moving into! We went to the temple with our señora after we all went to watch the changing of the guards at the Palacio Real... a nice touristy day :)

Me in Salamanca. I did a day trip there yesterday with two other girls from my program. In this picture, I am standing on an old Roman bridge, and you can see two cathedrals in the background. Salamanca is another beautiful city, with lots of open space and cool old traditions. On the facade of the University (the oldest in Spain), there are intricate carvings. If you are able to find the small frog in the carvings, it is said that you will have good luck on your exams. After at least ten minutes of craning my neck, I found it!  Similar to my previous weekend in Sevilla, it was nice to get out of the big city of Madrid and see "old" Spain. Salamanca is a couple hours away by bus, and I was able to see a lot of smaller Spanish towns that are actually quite run down. 

These are just some random photos from my last few weeks here! Today I went to the Reina Sofia, one of the big art museums here with more recent collections... including Picasso's Guernica. It is absolutely amazing - it is so large and humbling, it was hard not to tear up thinking about the Spanish Civil War, the reason he painted it in the first place. We saw a lot of other Picasso and Salvador Dali pieces also! One thing I love about Spain is that Sundays are really family days. There are always people out for long meals (often over 2 hours), hanging out in the plazas or visiting the museums, which are typically free on Sundays. I also went for a long run today along the river and over some of the neat bridges that they have. The river here is not very impressive, but they are working on beautifying it by putting in nice wide biking and running paths, playgrounds for children and rows of trees. They blocked the river off for the winter to make construction easier, and I am looking forward to the spring so that they open it back up again. My intercambio buddy, Julia, lives just on the other side of the river, so today I explored her neighborhood. I saw her a few times this week - we went to the "Museo del Jamon", a bar with cheap beer but with pig legs hanging all over. I'm glad I went once, but I told her that was probably enough, haha. She's in the middle of her exams from fall semester, but I'm looking forward to spending more time with her once she's done!

I have a big week ahead of me... I'm going to Morocco and Granada! There are 6 of us from my program going - we're flying into Marrakech on Wednesday morning, going up to Tangier (on the coast) on an overnight train Thursday night, taking the ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar and then on to Granada for a couple days. I'm sooo excited for it all. Morocco is one of the places that was at the top of my list for travel destinations - my professor for my Islam class suggested a number of places for us to go, so it should be a really great trip. I happily told Sam that we will be on the same continent again for 48 hours :)

On a family note, I have changed my computer background to the cutest picture of Tim and Addie... she is so adorable! I feel sad that I am not able to see her and how much she is going to be changing in the next several months, but at least I am able to see pictures! I will update again after my trip this weekend! Love, Bonnie

My life in Madrid

Hola todos! Disculpame por no escribir en mucho tiempo...

I am having a fabulous time in Madrid :) I have done a lot in the last week and a half.. I can't believe I've been here for almost 3 weeks! Part of it feels like it has been only a couple days and part feels like it has been a couple months. I am at the point where I feel comfortable in my daily schedule, but I still feel like a tourist when I'm exploring the city. There are so many places to see in Madrid - I have a good grasp on the big things, but am still working on trying to get to know the city. The city itself is more interesting to me every day - as with any big city, it has so many little pockets to explore. Each day I try to go to a new part. Today, I explored the neighborhood that I will be moving to in March and walked through a wonderful park just a couple blocks away, with botanical gardens and a sky lift to see views of the city.

My apartment! I am living in my home stay for one more month and will move into my apartment on March 1.  The apartment is fabulous... I will be living with 5 Spanish girls who are all students and all seem so nice! I have a corner room with my own balcony, it all comes furnished, and my room is painted orange! It is only 1 block from a good metro stop and about 20 minutes from school.. It seems like a match made in heaven :) I am really happy about it, but still excited to be able to stay with my senora for the next month.

This past weekend I went to Sevilla, a 6 hour bus ride south of Madrid. I went with 11 other friends from my program, and we all stayed in an awesome hostel. Sevilla is a beautiful town and it was great to get out of Madrid to see a more stereotypical Spanish city. The streets there are even more confusing than in Madrid! We took a long walking tour of the city and saw the great Gothic cathedral (3rd largest cathedral in Europe) and lots of beautiful old buildings and palaces that had to do with Sevilla's role as the main port city in Spain's glorious days of colonialism. I also saw Ruth, my roommate from UW. Always nice to have a familiar face :)

I was matched with a spanish student, Julia, to do an "intercambio." We speak both Spanish and English to help each other learn the other language. I have hung out with her a couple times and am happy to say that she is my first Spanish friend! She is very welcoming and a lot of fun to be with... I have met some of her friends and we have plans to meet tomorrow and possibly see a movie. She is studying indigenous cultures of America, so most of her texts are in English - so I'm going to help her out with those. I'm really happy that I got matched with somebody who is so great and is interested in hanging out! Besides hanging out, I think she will be a big help with my grammar.

Today was my first day of class! I had the 3 with other Americans: one on the works of the Prado, one on Islam, and one on syntax. I am really excited about the first two and am not quite sure about syntax, haha. We will see how tomorrow goes :) I had to leave home before the sun rose this morning, but it was   refreshing walking to class so early, and needless to say, I look forward to waking up bright and early again tomorrow morning.

I am going to upload some pictures in the next couple days, and will fill in some more details then! Sending my love, Bonnie