Life continues to be a whirlwind here in Madrid and I feel like I'm getting busier everyday despite becoming more accustomed to life abroad. The last week has been absolutely fabulous. Wednesday was my first day of TAing the English class in the Universidad Complutense. Katie, from Tulane, and I were a bit nervous heading into it, but we met for coffee the night before and decided to just have an open hour of introducing ourselves and asking general political and social questions to the class that we thought might be interesting and fun. To our delight, it seemed like the students were really into the class, and after a slightly slow start, we had the class laughing and talking in English for a solid hour while we got to know each other. It was so cool to be up in front of the class and for the first time in 6 weeks actually know how to speak better than those around me. It was quite an uplifting moment as I have been struggling through the grind of feeling inadequate most of the time here. The students are so cool, and one has already offered to take Katie and I to his house in la Extremadura some weekend this year. Other students came up after class to ask if they could meet us for coffee outside of class for intercambios, and offered to take us out on the weekends, show us around, and introduce us to their friends. It was so FABULOUS to FINALLY really connect with more Spaniards. While I have met a few, I feel like this will open up so many doors. I'm really really excited about it. After teaching the class on Wednesday, I had a meeting with my program where I got a job teaching English two boys ages 4 and 7 an hour every Monday. I'll start at the beginning of November. I also enrolled myself in a program here in Madrid that hooks you up with more English teaching positions after you take a ten hour course and complete a 10 hour internship. While it has made for a really busy week, attending my 6 hours of class Monday and Tuesday, followed by 3 hours of this course, I think it will be really valuable in the end. I am realizing how very little I know about the English language, and gaining more respect for teachers as I go through this process. While I could have found more teaching opportunities on my own, I will finish this program with an internationally recognized certificate and access to an entire library of teaching materials, which will come in handy throughout the year. All my classes will pay about 15 Euro an hour, which is fantastic, although I will have to figure in a lot of prep and transportation time. Anyways, it will be a good way to make some much needed money and gain some quality experience.
At our meeting I also met three Spaniards, who had come with a number of others seeking intercambios from our group. Ivan, Elena, Isabel, Heather, and I went out for coffee and ended up talking for 3 hours. They are all really cool, and we are going to meet for lunch later this week and maybe go out this weekend. I also found another intercambio from our office with whom I have emailed back and forth a few times and am meeting for coffee on Thursday. These contacts will be fantastic for improving my Spanish, which feels like it is progressing slowly. I have really started to notice, however, the last few days, that I am able to understand people much better without trying as hard, and I have found myself understanding phrases that when spoken fast, used to be impossible to catch, but now seem much more natural to me. Hopefully with speaking aspect will fall into place next. Classes are getting easier to understand as well, even that of Complutense.
After doing my final regestration for classes on Thursday, I spent the rest of the evening starting to plan my winter break trip with Dave, Chris, and Kyle, who will be flying over to join us. Chris is coming to Madrid to spend Christmas with his brother and Spanish sister-in-law, and Kyle will be arriving on the 27th. I, however, think I'll be spending Christmas with Dave. Right now I'm thinking about meeting him in Freiburg, Germany, (already found a really cheap flight) and staying there for a day while he finishes up his classes while I explore the city. After that, we have thought about taking a train to Zurich and passing through Switzerland on our way to Prague, where we would spend Christmas. It is supposed to be one of the most fabulous places to spend Christmas in the world, as the whole city is decorated for the occasion. After that, we're thinking of traveling to Berlin for a day where we would depart on a very cheap flight to Rome or Paris (we've found both) to meet Chris and Kyle. My flatmate, Dominik, has a friend in Berlin with whom he says we could definitely stay... quite tempting... We're thinking that the four of us will spend a week in Rome and Paris, and try to make a day trip to the Italian Riviera or something like that. With so much cheap travel available in Europe, it's amazing that one can plan such an incredible trip as this for such a reasonable price. We still have a lot of planning to do, however...
This past weekend I went to Sevilla with Jess and Heather. We stayed in basically the last available hotel in the city as everything imaginable was book due to the Heroes del Silencio concert (The Rolling Stones/ Dave Matthews Band of Spain). Jess and I literally looked for days in search of a hostel or hotel before finally finding a room for one, in which we slept three. We played it off to the hotel staff as being Jess and I, traveling as boyfriend and girlfriend, which they accepted, and then snuck Heather and her bags in a bit later. Haha, it was quite the operation, and we pulled it off well. We took a comfortable 7 hour bus ride, and passed the time resting after a busy week. We got in late, so it wasn't long before we were fast asleep, me in my bed of blankets and sleeping bags on the floor, which actually was quite comfortable.
The next day, we arose at a comfortably early hour and set out into the city. We took the bus in to the center, as we were on the outskirts, and spent the morning visiting Sevilla's famous cathedral. It is the one think I really remembered from my family's trip there in 6th grade. The tomb of Columbus was just as I remembered, but the Gothic structure even more impressive. I just never get tired of Gothic cathedrals, no matter how many I see. They are simply beyond description. We climbed the famous Muslim Giralda, the only remaining piece of the old mosque that was destroyed by the Christian reconquest. The Giralda, however, a large tower, was left intact and incorporated into the cathedral. From here, we were able to see Sevilla from a spectacular point of view. It is so tall, in fact, that the interior is series of ramps that circle around the center, which once allowed the muezzin and important political leaders to ascend on horseback.
In the afternoon, we also toured the Alcazar, which is a fantastic blend of Muslim and Christian influences, and which holds some of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. We spent hours walking through them, drinking in the tranquility and beauty. It was an absolutely perfect day, sunny and warm like summer, only in October. After finding ourselves famished midday after a small breakfast and a long morning, we settled in to a small restaurant nearby. And what a fabulous surprise it was. The best meal I've had in Spain by far. We each ordered from the midday menu, in which you could choose your various courses. I started off with the best gazpacho in the world (a cold tomato soup but oh so much more), followed by Spain's famous paella, a cana de cerveza, and a glass of sangria which tasted like Christmas, the best I have had in my 6 weeks here. It was the most satisfying meal I have had in quite a long time, and we spend the better part of the afternoon there enjoying the meal, the weather, the company, and the all-too-kind, very Andalusian, waiter.
The lifestyle in Andalusia is much different than that of Madrid. More relaxed, and more appreciative of the beauty that Spain possesses. Everything moves a bit more slowly, and the sun glows a bit more brightly. There is also something very calming in the air that I think is quite unique to the south of Spain. After a walk through the old Jewish sector, we returned to the hotel for a short descanso. Jess and I prepped for the exciting night we had planned, while Heather rested before heading back to the city center for more sightseeing.
Jess was the one who originally convinced me to come to Sevilla and she also got us tickets for the famous Heroes del Silencio concert. Arun, my flatmate, is an absolute fanatic, and he has been lending me CDs and playing their songs for me on his guitar and serenading me every night before I go to bed. Nothing, however, could have prepared me for the spectacle I was about to witness. We left really really early for the concert, as we attempted to arrive at the olympic stadium by bus. Luckily, I think we caught the last bus at the stop just before the city center that had a smooth ride out to the stadium. Our bus driver drove past every stop, as the bus was completely packed with fans, and I imagine those on the side of the road had to wait quite a while... When we arrived, I was shocked to see a huge sea of fans in the middle of a botellon before the concert. It reminded me so much of how it looks before a Dave Matthews concert, only everyone was wearing the trademark black of the band, and drinking Sangria, instead of Miller or Honeyweis, grilling out, and tossing beanbags. As we waited about two hours inside the stadium, it continued to fill to what I estimate to be 100, 000 people. We were on the ground floor, in the middle of the pack.
When the music started, without opening acts (a fabulous idea), the stage erupted with lights and the band played to the screaming fans. Absolutely incredible music, and an atmosphere oh so similar to the Dave concerts I've been to. The fans are fanatics, sing every single word of every single song, and cling to every movement of the band members. The few songs I did know I belted out with Jess and the rest of the Spaniards. At one point, it crossed my mind that I was sure I was the only blond of the 100,000 people in the stadium. And I really think that I was. Quite an odd feeling... After 2.5 hours, 3 call backs, and an amazing fireworks show over the open-air stadium to rival any Fourth of July show in the US, Jess and I exited with the masses in complete shock at what we had just been apart of. It was such a one of a kind experience, and worth every penny.
What followed, however, was an utter nightmare. Spain, while so efficient in some ways, and so smart with regard to its public transportation, just does not understand how to adapt to special circumstances. It's something I have noticed in Madrid as well. For example, why does the Metro close between 1:30 and 6:00 on the weekends when no one in Madrid between the ages of 12 and 40 is asleep? Why is NOTHING open during those hours when they could make an absolutely killing selling to the gente? It was the same in Sevilla. The buses stopped running at midnight, before the concert ended, and there were almost no taxis waiting to give lifts from the goldmine that was the Olympic stadium? While many, many people drove to the concert, why were there no means of transportation for the others? The taxi companies could have made a KILLING just having all of their cars line up there right before the concert ended. But there was nothing. Jess and I walked for 4 straight hours, half in the direction of the hotel, which was really really far way, and half in search of a cab. Finally, at 4 in the morning, we found a cabbie willing to let us share with someone already en route. Another oddity, cabbies don't allow you to share cabs! I can't even count how many I saw carrying one passenger that refused to stop for us even after talking to them. Saturday night I experienced my first ever "screw you, Spain" moment. I had yet to have one, but the night left me utterly shocked and exhausted. The hassle was so worth it, however, as I quickly realized again the next morning.
We decided we needed to sleep in the next day, despite our desire to see more of Sevilla. A busy week of classes ahead, and a horrible night behind us warranted taking the trip a bit more slowly. After waking up about 11, we showered, checked out of the hotel, and lugged our bags and backpacks to the Torre de Oro, the premier Muslim military structure in the world today outside of al-alhambra. Situated down by Sevilla's river, it was quite beautiful in the warm sun and offered a great view of the city. We later decided to take an open-air bus tour of the city, like I had done in Lisboa, which again proved to be a great way to see the rest of the city and appreciate its layout. It also was a great solution to the fact we had all of our luggage with us and nowhere to store it. We stopped for a lunch of bocadillos before heading to the bus station, and after a cana with Jess, we headed back to Madrid as the sun set on the beautiful Andalusian landscape. Arriving home after a long metro ride back to the flat, I quickly set off to bed with such a busy day to follow on Monday.
Nine hours of class has greeted me both Monday and Tuesday. I'm learning some interesting things in my Teach English seminar, and I think it will definitely be worth my time and effort in the long run, although I am quite exhausted tonight. I have my English class to teach tomorrow, and I'm meeting with Katie in the morning to discuss a lesson plan. Then I have my first class in the Museum Prado manana, which should be quite fun, I think. My medieval history class was brutal today, as she seemed to be talking faster than ever, with names and places unfamiliar to me, but quite familiar to Spaniards I am sure. I was surprised, however, that I was able to figure most of them out after not too much trouble, maybe indicating that I'm starting to get a better grasp on this language. Who knows? I also got my first haircut in Spain today, which was kind of fun trying to explain how I wanted it done. It turned out really well, I think, with a little Spanish touch...
Emma and Dominik made a last minute decision to go to Cadiz in the south of Spain last weekend as he was visiting a friend. I would have loved to go, but I already had my plans to go to Sevilla. I definitely miss being in Madrid and with my friends here when I'm away, especially Emma and Dominik, with whom I get along so well. I am so lucky to have stumbled on this piso with Emma that random day in September. We barely knew each other at the time, but she has turned out to be one of my closest friends here in Madrid. Sassy, hilarious, smart, and driven; probably the best ways to describe her. More than anyone here, she has seized every possible opportunity and made this year her own and I really admire her for that. Every day she has unknowingly motivated me to get more and more out of this incredible opportunity and to not waste a single minute of my time here. At the same time, she's quite an amazing friend. With my other flat mates and other Spaniards I am starting to meet, as well as Anok, a French girl I've gotten to know in my Complu class that is majoring in Historia Medieval (perfect for keeping up in class!), I think I'm finally starting to open the doors to having a network of friends here that will make me feel even more comfortable and grounded in this country.
I don't know if I'll ever want to leave... Wow, I really need to get some sleep. Looks like another 4 hour night of sleep... This got to be longer than I intended, as always. Buenas noches.
Sevilla and most of the Lisboa pics are now up on my album, although I'm still awaited a few really good ones of Lisboa from Julie, so check back to that album in a few days and look for pics of the beach.
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