1st Week in Madrid

I must have said this phrase about a million times since my trip has begun. Regardless, apologies to all who have been waiting for me to write a post. I have no internet in my house so it isn’t as convenient to be online like before. I should be getting it this week though. Also there is a 6 hour time change from EST, so this has limited my use of skype since most of you all are sleeping or working when I have time. The other issue is that my camera broke the 2^nd day here (the lense is blurry now), so I have no pictures yet. However I should be getting another camera from home in a few days, so you will see all very soon.

On a side note, jetlag was horrible for me since I already have a bad sleep schedule, and I am still adjusting. It felt very strange to be eating a full course meal (lunch), when at home it would be 6 AM.

Anyways my first full week in Madrid has ended and my second has just begun. I must say I love this city. The city is so well maintained-the streets are clean, as well as the gigantic Retiro Park which is a few blocks from my house. Also all of the historic architecture is maintained here as well because of a tax that the citizens of Madrid pay to allow the city to keep up with it.

In addition to this there is always something to do at all hours during the day and night. As a result the schedule here in Madrid is very late. Most place do not open until about 9 AM to 10 and most people won’t event have lunch until 2 or PM. Similar to Argentina, people eat dinner late here by 9:30 PM to 10 PM. And you probably won’t go out with your friends until about 1 AM. Which means you’ll get back to the house by 6 AM. Don’t ask me how I know this :)

In terms of my living situation, I will say I lucked out! I am currently living with a woman by the name of Carmen and her 42 year-old son, Ricardo. Carmen is a sweet short Spanish women who is around 70 and only reaches to my belly button (she told me her age, I didn’t ask so that does not make me rude!). In her apartment I'm served breakfast and dinner, and she also does my laundry. I must say I do feel weird about that, but I don’t mind. Her walls in her living room are also filled with art from all over the world since her daughter, who lives in the Canary Islands, worked for a cruise ship that went all over.

As for her background, she is a lifetime madrileña at heart since she was born in the city. At one point she lived in Paris, to get away from the Franco regime and there she raised her son and two daughters. After Franco died and democracy came to Spain once more, she moved back to Madrid. Hence, she is fluent in French and Spanish, but not in English. Her children are fluent in both French and Spanish as well, and her son at times tries to practice his English with me. Regardless, I still respond to him in Spanish since I am working on mine. Overall Carmen has welcomed me into her home and there have been no problems at all. One day last week though I accidentally grabbed her keys on my way out for class. Apparently she thought she lost them, but thank God she had another pair. Despite this she still called me cariño, and said that she would hide them from me. Her sense of humor is definitely appreciated.

On another note, I think its quite interesting to note the diversity of this city. It is a lot more then I expected. There are people from all over the world. I also know already that immigration from Latin American countries has grown exponentially over the past few years. Because of this, I would say that most Spaniards never assume that I am American. One funny story was when I went to a restaurant with two other students from my program and I received a menu in Spanish, while the other two received their menus in English. Out of curiosity I asked some Spaniards what I could be confused with and I was told that I could possibly confused for Dominican or Cuban. Sadly, the only Puerto Rican I have met was a guy on the plane who was going to Barcelona. Despite this, I have heard that there are quite a number of places to dance salsa so I will keep you posted on that. However, I do note that I do receive a certain amount of stares on the metro and in the street. Like Argentina, I believe they are more stares of curiosity then anything else. I have to say though there are more blacks here than in Buenos Aires.

Just to give you a little more info about my program, we are forced to speak Spanish at all times. If our professors hear us speak in English then we risk lowering our grades. We are literally speaking Spanish at all hours of the day: in class, with peers outside of class, when we go out, with our homestay families. I think this is a wonderful thing since it allows me to better my Spanish. I actually feel strange that I am writing this whole post in English. Despite this, I have told myself that I will not pick up the Castellano Spanish accent or use the vosotros. For me I believe that the accent that one attains from their home Latin American country of origin is important for one’s identity. I will be writing more about this later so keep reading.

In terms of classes, I have 3 just like Carleton. The first is a contemporary Spanish History class. We will be looking at society within Spain, and one of the goals our Professor has is to have an understanding of how life in Spain in for someone who is my age. Part of this includes examining the Spanish constitution as well as looking at the Spanish laws for Abortion, Gay Marriage, and Memory (I'll explain this one later-it deals with the need to cover up the mass murders and persecutions that took place during the Spanish civil war in the 1930’s). The second class I have is an art class that looks at Spanish art styles. What makes this interesting is that we actually go to the Museo del Prado and our professor explains to us the styles and importance as we have the opportunity to look at the artwork. The final class I have is called Urban Life (La Vida Urbana), and our director requires that get lost in the city. Aspects of this class include being lost partially in the city, drawing maps of where we have been, reflecting about philosophies related to urbanism, as well as trying to understand what it means to live in a big city. We are also required to keep a journal, and write a large amount of reflections. I will certainly be talking more about this later. Once again as I have said before, all of these classes are in Spanish.

So currently I have about 8 more weeks left here. Time is going to fly by yet I am going to make the most of my time here. I have many more thoughts about my experience here.

Until then hasta luego!