Vale Vale Vale

Goodness, it seems as though the weeks are just flying by. Every time Sunday rolls around, I realize that it has been another week since I have written in this blog, and yet it seems like I did the day before. This week has been full of ups and downs, absolutely loving everything that is going on here at times, and in other moments feeling a bit overwhelmed by memories of people that have been so important to me the last few years, whom I won't see for a very long time. Part of me is happy to have this space in order to redefine myself apart from what had previously helped to define me. Another part of me wants so badly to return to the comfort of what has been familiar. It's hard to reconcile the desire to start anew and to hold on to what I love at the same time. I don't know if I'll ever figure out how to do it.

All in all, it has been a very fun week. Classes started on Tuesday, and since I only have classes Monday, Tuesday, and soon to be Wednesday, I only had one day of class last week. It is going to be a brutal schedule, with 6 hours of class two days in a row, but it's nice to have the rest of the week to do other things. Eventually I'll have a tutorial in the Prado, hopefully Wednesday, and I'll be helping teach a university English class with a few other students Wednesday mornings. I've realized that I actually need to study the English language because I really have no idea how it works, and even more so no idea how to teach it.

On Wednesday I went to El Escorial with my friend, Reidar. It is a giant 16th century palace built by Felipe II, with an enormous Basilica right in the middle. The palace is full of amazing paintings and sculptures, with a large crypt made of gold in which all the kings and queens of Spain since the 1500s are buried. It leaves you breathless thinking about the modern history of Spain basically all contained in a single room. Reidar and I caught a bus in the morning and headed back later in the afternoon. We took a guided tour with a Spanish couple, which I could follow without many problems. I always think it's worth taking a guided tour at places like this, as you just can't appreciate it as much without knowing what you're looking at and the story that surrounds it. After a short rest and some dinner, Emma, Alfonso, and I went to see "La Jungla 4.0, (Die Hard 4) at the theater. It was my first experience seeing a movie in a theater outside of the US, and my first movie in Spanish without subtitles. In Spain, they rarely leave American movies in their original form and add Spanish subtitles, but instead, the movies are dubbed. Every famous actor, like Bruce Willis, has a Spanish double, who does all of their films. It was hilarious to hear Bruce Willis speaking fluent Spanish, and I had to work hard to contain myself for the first hour of the movie. The language was surprisingly easy to understand, although I did have to listen a little bit harder than usual.

Thursday and Friday weren't extremely productive. I had a cold, and decided to catch up on some sleep. I cooked dinner with Maren a few times, uploaded pictures to the internet, wrote some emails, and made a few short walking trips around the city. I strolled around the royal palace, visited la Plaza de Espana, and found an old church squeezed into the modern city buildings named Real Iglesia Parroquial de San Gines. It was absolutely gorgeous inside, and the first I've seen that wasn't overrun with tourists. Instead, I found Madrilenos who were stopping in to pray during the day, many on their way home from work. I found a Chocolateria in the tiny Pasadizo de San Gines, where I decided to stop for churros and some people watching. It was the first time that I had tried the gloriousness that is churros con chocolate. You dip the churros in a rich chocolate sauce, and later drink what remains like coffee. Mmmmmmmmm.... I also went running with Alfonso and Emma, finding a beautiful path in a park that holds some ancient Egyptian (yes Egyptian) ruins that are beautifully lit at night. There is also an amazing view of the city that I never knew was really there. A light rain was falling, and it felt great to get the blood pumping for the first time in a while. Went to a few bars with Alfonso and Emma later that night, and met up with my Italian friend Jessica for a bit, but headed home before it got too late.


Friday night I went out with Pablo and Burho, the Spaniards I have gotten to know a little bit, and Julie. We went down to university campus, close to my old dorm, where we came across a huge outdoor party with music blaring and Sangria flowing. Hundreds of Spaniards in the full swing of "Botellon". We stayed there for hours before heading to a fabulous discoteca in Moncloa. The name is failing me now, but it was the coolest one I've seen in Madrid so far. Packed with people, great music, and a good time.

I spent Saturday planning a trip to Sevilla with Jessica from my program. We're going on the 19th-21st, seeing a concert by a well known Spanish group, Heroes de Silencio, and staying in a hostel in the city. There will be a lot to see in just a few short days, but I'm really excited to go. Heather might join us as well. I took the long Metro journey to the bus station with Julie on Saturday to buy tickets, and was amused to see that it looks exactly like an airport, with different companies selling tickets and checking people in, and a general feeling of chaos in the air.

I'm working on planning a trip to Merida this coming weekend with Melissa and Alyia, although it's proving a bit difficult to find a hostel. This town is in Extremadura, in western Spain, and is home to many Roman ruins and architectural marvels. I'll have to do a little more research tomorrow, but I'm hoping to make it happen, as many of my roommates will be gone this weekend, as well as many from my program. There is a 3 day weekend for those who have class on Fridays, so many people are taking the opportunity to travel.

Also, Jen called me last night to ask if I wanted to accompany her and Reidar to Norway during the 1st weekend of November, as they found round trip plane tickets for about 20 euro a piece. I definitely couldn't say no to that, and I am really excited to finally visit the origin of my blondness. Lots of travel in just a few weeks, but it's best to do it now before winter comes.

Last night I went to a dinner party at Nicolas's apartment, which is about as far from central Madrid as you can be while still technically being in the city. He lives with some friends who had studied abroad in Madison last year, in an AMAZING flat. Wow, it is the perfect example of paying for location. He pays less than I do, but lives in a dream house. It takes about an hour to get there by metro, however... We had good wine, delicious food, and Emma's amazing dessert, and stayed there until the early morning. After getting home about 6, Emma and I made tea and chatted in the kitchen until finally deciding we had better get some rest.

This afternoon I had a slow breakfast of fried eggs and tomatoes, bought the newspaper from the local kiosk, and tried to get a better grip on the tense political climate here at the moment. As always, there are problems with the Basque county, but the last week has been full of arrests, illegal meetings, protests, and alleged ETA terrorist plots. I can only imagine the tensions will rise as the March presidential election approaches. This nation is even more closely divided between two parties than the United States.

I watched the Barcelona- Atletico Madrid futbol game in a bar late this afternoon with my roommate, Arun, one of his friends, and Emma. Arun is a die hard Atletico fan, but I have already grown to love Barcelona... Could cause some tensions in the house, haha... Futbol is an amazing sport, and it's definitely under appreciated in the US. Emma and I made a good old American dinner of scrambled eggs and pancakes tonight. Definitely a nice reminder of home.

Wow, I think this is probably the most fragmented, most poorly written blog I've done to date, but a lot has happened in the last week and it would take too long to really explain everything well. Maybe I'll try writing a little bit more frequently from now on...

Ah, yes, my classes. We didn't really do much the first day, mostly just went over what we'd be doing all semester. My professors seem interesting and fair, but it's hard to know what to really expect. The Complutese class is going to be hard, as I only understood about half of what the professor was saying. Hopefully by not taking the traditional Spanish approach (not going to class), I'll give myself a better chance. I'll definitely need to quickly make a friend from whom I can borrow notes, however...

Anyways, I have a long day of class tomorrow and should probably get some sleep. Sorry if this was just a bunch of nonsensical rambling.