Dedicated to JMac Daddy who if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have my beautiful apartment here in Madrid nor would I be the person I am today without his love and support, in all seriousness. This poem is for him.
My best friend Jamie
He is too good to be true
Life without him sucks
domingo, 30 de septiembre de 2007
When the World Ends
I just got done eating some Smurf macaroni, yes you read correctly, Smurf as in those tiny blue creatures that wear white pants, white hats and peculiarly no shirts. I went grocery shopping the other day and I came across this Smurf macaroni and couldn't resist, after all is only cost 53E cents which is extremely cheap as opposed to going out to restaurants all the time which is what I had to do my first week or so.
Which reminds me I need to go food shopping tomorrow, I love going food shopping here because it is a different experience from America. It is like a scavenger hunt, you go to many different stores to find the best apples to mushrooms, the freshest milk to chicken, rather than it all being in a Stop & Shop or Hannaford's you must search the city for vendors that sell the best of each respective item. I go to this open air market with many many many different vendors all side by side, it looks like the equivalent of a flea market in the US except this time with food. That is why when you find a vendor with the best figs you feel like you've found a treasure, or when you find the one bakery in Madrid that makes loaves of bread that aren't white, it is like you've found the needle in the haystack and it is very rewarding.
Although in the past couple of days I've realized how limited my food repertoire is. I barely know how to cook much else beside pasta and put together good salads. Thankfully my Dad introduced me to Sam the Cooking Guy who is this awesome chef/cook who makes really awesome food but with simple ingredients and methods so I am going to experiment. I am actually really excited to learn how to cook for myself, it is an important life skill. This Friday I have a Spanish cooking class which I am also looking forward to.
Today was a great day. Last night I didn't go out but bummed around, because I got less than 5 hours of sleep the previous night and Saturday I took a trip to Escorial, a suburb of Madrid a little over an hour away. The Middlebury students in my program and our “ayudantes” ( helpers who are Spanish college students who are basically paid to be our friends and to show us around Madrid) took us to visit a monastery where the Kings and Queens of Spain are buried along with a lot of the royal family. The monastery was beautiful, lots of gold, murals on the ceilings, grand paintings, elaborate furniture and intricate door cravings, it was nice. But after a long day I just hung out at my apartment, chatted up the people I live with who I love so much, if I stay the year I hope I can live here my entire time, seriously this living situation is perfection.
Well, I slept until around 11:30AM today because I was up late talking to my boyfriend, JD, we bought a ticket for him to come visit me. He is coming November 9th-19th and I already have begun a countdown. It is just so hard being so far away from the person you love. I think it is especially hard because we lived together this summer so I got so used to coming home to and waking up next to the same person. But he will get to visit and see my life in Madrid and I can't wait. I must get on getting a job here to pay back the plane ticket so my poor Mom doesn't have to work like a dog as she says.
After rolling around in bed, I texted/called a couple of friends to go to El Rastro basically this huge flea market in Madrid, it is probably a couple miles long. They sell everything from clothes to jewelry, to handicrafts to electrical appliances to bowls and dishes, really a wide variety. It was just a great day to take a walk and browse the goods, the weather was ideal, super sunny with a gentle breeze. I am on my best shopping behavior because I want to travel all around Europe so I constantly think to myself that I'd rather take a flight to Rome then spend money on a new dress or a nice pair of earrings, which I already have plenty of. I would say in terms of shopping I am taking a fasting mentality so I can save up to see the world. I am proud because since I've been here I haven't bought anything but food, I bought a few postcards and a webcam to Skype with the family and boyfriend but really nothing else which knowing what a shopaholic I am is hard to believe.
El Rastro was an experience, it was jam packed with people, it was sometimes hard to maneuver through the crowd, but it was interesting to see people speaking everything from Chinese to French and of course plenty of Spaniards out to find the best deals through all the tents cluttered with items for sale, 6 pairs of socks for 3E to an entire tent with earrings for 2E a pair. After that I walked around for a bit with my friends and then Horchata texted me to go out for ice cream. I wanted to go see some Salvador Dali work at the Reina Sofia (one of Madrid's most famous museums) so I said I'd meet her after, sadly it was closed so I returned to my house.
I then made myself a wonderful salad, I get excited at any and all food that is naturally green because you hardly ever find it in restaurants. I sat in my living room which gets ridiculous amounts of light because of the 3 terraces that line the room. It was such a friendly room to eat in despite that I was alone, as corny as it sounds the sunshine was like my company.
Then after that I met Horchata for ice cream. I got Hazelnut (which had granules of actual hazelnut) and then dulce de leche. She and I walked for a bit and we ended up at El Retiro, the biggest park in Madrid, it is like their verison of Central Park. It waspacked full of people but lovely still, flowers all over, and lots of fountains. Madrid has fountains galore, it is like you walk maybe 5 blocks in any direction on the major streets and there are gorgeous fountains everywhere, I love them. There was also a man-made lake full of row boats which was lovely and when JD comes if the weather permits we can rent one, it looked so picturesque.
Side note, one aspect of food that I love here is that I hardly eat anything that is processed. I really only drink water and all the food I buy is fresh, which is refreshing because in the US when I look at labels of the food I eat I can barely recognize the name of 2-3 ingredients and the rest are chemicals and junk.
Wow, I tire myself writing this much, I need to cut down.
Anyway, after our splendid time in the park Horchata's Spanish friend called her to come meet him. He and his other Spanish friend wanted to have a hamburger, and guess where? McDonald's! I swore I wouldn't step foot inside any American establishment because I am in Spain to do as the Spaniards do but I made an exception because the Spaniards wanted the Big Mac haha, of course I did not partake in the consumption of any of the food but was rather there for company.
They enjoyed the food and explained to me they only go 2-5 times a year as a guilty pleasure. It was really awesome being with Spaniards though, they were both so kind and it was nice to finally hear about how Spain is, what Spanish culture/customs are from the actual people who live it rather than observing it myself.
After the McDonalds rendezvous we went to “tomar copas” (get drinks). I explained to the Spaniard that I didn't like red wine and that I was hoping that after my time in Spain that I would acquire a taste for it. He suddenly became very excited in helping me reach that goal and proceed to teach me all about wine, different types, marks, origins, flavors... all different aspects of wine. It was like a crash course for beginners but it is great, just what I needed because I was going about this wine thing all wrong. The best part was that all this was in Spanish, I know I've said this over and over again but I love speaking Spanish, just the idea of communicating and thinking in another language is so enjoyable. Hopefully, this knowledge will be the start of a beautiful friendship with me and "vino tinto" (red wine).
I think that is a hefty entry for now but today just makes me look forward to meeting more Spaniards to get to use my Spanish as much as possible and learn more about this culture. I am also really excited to become closer with Horchata, I love her and so thankful she is taking me under her wing. I just really enjoy her company, we have such a good time together.
And really the last thing is so far my schedule is that I don't have class either Monday or Friday which is sweet. I want to keep it that way, hopefully my intership can be in the mornings Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday because then I can travel and enjoy Spain with a schedule like that.
I have my interview for the internship with the Socialist Party, more details about all of that tomorrow.
What to do tomorrow during the day? I wonder.
Which reminds me I need to go food shopping tomorrow, I love going food shopping here because it is a different experience from America. It is like a scavenger hunt, you go to many different stores to find the best apples to mushrooms, the freshest milk to chicken, rather than it all being in a Stop & Shop or Hannaford's you must search the city for vendors that sell the best of each respective item. I go to this open air market with many many many different vendors all side by side, it looks like the equivalent of a flea market in the US except this time with food. That is why when you find a vendor with the best figs you feel like you've found a treasure, or when you find the one bakery in Madrid that makes loaves of bread that aren't white, it is like you've found the needle in the haystack and it is very rewarding.
Although in the past couple of days I've realized how limited my food repertoire is. I barely know how to cook much else beside pasta and put together good salads. Thankfully my Dad introduced me to Sam the Cooking Guy who is this awesome chef/cook who makes really awesome food but with simple ingredients and methods so I am going to experiment. I am actually really excited to learn how to cook for myself, it is an important life skill. This Friday I have a Spanish cooking class which I am also looking forward to.
Today was a great day. Last night I didn't go out but bummed around, because I got less than 5 hours of sleep the previous night and Saturday I took a trip to Escorial, a suburb of Madrid a little over an hour away. The Middlebury students in my program and our “ayudantes” ( helpers who are Spanish college students who are basically paid to be our friends and to show us around Madrid) took us to visit a monastery where the Kings and Queens of Spain are buried along with a lot of the royal family. The monastery was beautiful, lots of gold, murals on the ceilings, grand paintings, elaborate furniture and intricate door cravings, it was nice. But after a long day I just hung out at my apartment, chatted up the people I live with who I love so much, if I stay the year I hope I can live here my entire time, seriously this living situation is perfection.
Well, I slept until around 11:30AM today because I was up late talking to my boyfriend, JD, we bought a ticket for him to come visit me. He is coming November 9th-19th and I already have begun a countdown. It is just so hard being so far away from the person you love. I think it is especially hard because we lived together this summer so I got so used to coming home to and waking up next to the same person. But he will get to visit and see my life in Madrid and I can't wait. I must get on getting a job here to pay back the plane ticket so my poor Mom doesn't have to work like a dog as she says.
After rolling around in bed, I texted/called a couple of friends to go to El Rastro basically this huge flea market in Madrid, it is probably a couple miles long. They sell everything from clothes to jewelry, to handicrafts to electrical appliances to bowls and dishes, really a wide variety. It was just a great day to take a walk and browse the goods, the weather was ideal, super sunny with a gentle breeze. I am on my best shopping behavior because I want to travel all around Europe so I constantly think to myself that I'd rather take a flight to Rome then spend money on a new dress or a nice pair of earrings, which I already have plenty of. I would say in terms of shopping I am taking a fasting mentality so I can save up to see the world. I am proud because since I've been here I haven't bought anything but food, I bought a few postcards and a webcam to Skype with the family and boyfriend but really nothing else which knowing what a shopaholic I am is hard to believe.
El Rastro was an experience, it was jam packed with people, it was sometimes hard to maneuver through the crowd, but it was interesting to see people speaking everything from Chinese to French and of course plenty of Spaniards out to find the best deals through all the tents cluttered with items for sale, 6 pairs of socks for 3E to an entire tent with earrings for 2E a pair. After that I walked around for a bit with my friends and then Horchata texted me to go out for ice cream. I wanted to go see some Salvador Dali work at the Reina Sofia (one of Madrid's most famous museums) so I said I'd meet her after, sadly it was closed so I returned to my house.
I then made myself a wonderful salad, I get excited at any and all food that is naturally green because you hardly ever find it in restaurants. I sat in my living room which gets ridiculous amounts of light because of the 3 terraces that line the room. It was such a friendly room to eat in despite that I was alone, as corny as it sounds the sunshine was like my company.
Then after that I met Horchata for ice cream. I got Hazelnut (which had granules of actual hazelnut) and then dulce de leche. She and I walked for a bit and we ended up at El Retiro, the biggest park in Madrid, it is like their verison of Central Park. It waspacked full of people but lovely still, flowers all over, and lots of fountains. Madrid has fountains galore, it is like you walk maybe 5 blocks in any direction on the major streets and there are gorgeous fountains everywhere, I love them. There was also a man-made lake full of row boats which was lovely and when JD comes if the weather permits we can rent one, it looked so picturesque.
Side note, one aspect of food that I love here is that I hardly eat anything that is processed. I really only drink water and all the food I buy is fresh, which is refreshing because in the US when I look at labels of the food I eat I can barely recognize the name of 2-3 ingredients and the rest are chemicals and junk.
Wow, I tire myself writing this much, I need to cut down.
Anyway, after our splendid time in the park Horchata's Spanish friend called her to come meet him. He and his other Spanish friend wanted to have a hamburger, and guess where? McDonald's! I swore I wouldn't step foot inside any American establishment because I am in Spain to do as the Spaniards do but I made an exception because the Spaniards wanted the Big Mac haha, of course I did not partake in the consumption of any of the food but was rather there for company.
They enjoyed the food and explained to me they only go 2-5 times a year as a guilty pleasure. It was really awesome being with Spaniards though, they were both so kind and it was nice to finally hear about how Spain is, what Spanish culture/customs are from the actual people who live it rather than observing it myself.
After the McDonalds rendezvous we went to “tomar copas” (get drinks). I explained to the Spaniard that I didn't like red wine and that I was hoping that after my time in Spain that I would acquire a taste for it. He suddenly became very excited in helping me reach that goal and proceed to teach me all about wine, different types, marks, origins, flavors... all different aspects of wine. It was like a crash course for beginners but it is great, just what I needed because I was going about this wine thing all wrong. The best part was that all this was in Spanish, I know I've said this over and over again but I love speaking Spanish, just the idea of communicating and thinking in another language is so enjoyable. Hopefully, this knowledge will be the start of a beautiful friendship with me and "vino tinto" (red wine).
I think that is a hefty entry for now but today just makes me look forward to meeting more Spaniards to get to use my Spanish as much as possible and learn more about this culture. I am also really excited to become closer with Horchata, I love her and so thankful she is taking me under her wing. I just really enjoy her company, we have such a good time together.
And really the last thing is so far my schedule is that I don't have class either Monday or Friday which is sweet. I want to keep it that way, hopefully my intership can be in the mornings Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday because then I can travel and enjoy Spain with a schedule like that.
I have my interview for the internship with the Socialist Party, more details about all of that tomorrow.
What to do tomorrow during the day? I wonder.
jueves, 27 de septiembre de 2007
Oh Madrid!
This coming Saturday will mark my second week in Madrid. Thus far I am learning to love the city more and more each day. I think the best part of studying here is getting to speak Spanish, I love the language and it feels wonderful to get to use it. I am torn whether to write my blog in English or Spanish. If I write in Spanish I can practice more but then it prohibits my friends and family that don't speak the language to read about my life, perhaps I will alternate or depending on the topic I am writing about I will shift languages. We'll see.
Today was a pretty good day. I had orientation classes in the morning at Sede Prim (Middlebury's school in Madrid). I love my grammar professor, she is a character. She basically acts out everything she teaches us with so many hand movements and facial gestures, it makes class a joy because you feel as though you are watching a play. She also looks like a rubber figurine which make it even more entertaining, kind of like the horse from Gumby, what's his name... I had to Google it, it is Pokey. My professor looks like a Spanish version of Pokey, haha. Next time I see her it is going to be hard to retain the laughter.
After classes I had lunch with Horchata (I can't decide if I want to use real names or code names, in my livejournal that I kept in middle school and high school I alway used code names for the sake of some level of privacy but I am still unsure as to how I feel about that in this instance but for now I will.) None the less, Horchata is a friend I know from Middlebury, she is one of my boyfriend's best friends from home and I met her through KDR (the social house I pledged last Fall). She arrived yesterday and will be teaching English in Madrid for the year at least. She studied in Getafe (the school I am going to study at) and she also has visited Spain quite a bit.
I've been feeling pretty lonely/homesick the past couple of days and like I said to her nothing cures loneliness quite like the sight of a farmiliar face. We had a nice time walking around for a bit and then grabbing a bite to eat. I had amazing paella, I need to learn how to make it. It is this classic Spanish dish, bright yellow rice (perhaps it is flavored with saffron and hence why it is yellow) with seafood, clams, shrimp, fish, scallops (lots of different seafood, it depends where you get the paella what kind of seafood will be in it) but it was amazing. I am going to take cooking classes here and upon my return make paella and sangria for everyone. It was nice to have a lovely meal outside in a quasi park with great company.
The food here has taken getting used to but I am liking it more. It is just at restauarants don't really serve vegetables and salads are expensive and not very green or plentiful. They also only serve white bread, there is no other type of bread option, it is white bread or nothing. Potatoes are a very popular side dish, it seems to me no matter what I order next to it are extremely greasy french fries. I am quite shocked that with a menu like this Spaniards aren't heavier, but perhaps that is because many do not go to restauarants but rather cook for themselves most likely healthier food and they also walk everywhere because Madrid is so concentrated.
I can hear sounds of the street from the terrace in my room. Did I mention I have a terrace? Yep, it is beautiful, I am so lucky to have it, it looks out onto some very pretty streets in Spain, the famous Calle Mayor which I live on. The panoramic picture that you see on top of this blog is the Plaza Mayor, Madrid's largest and most famous plaza. They used to bullfight there hundreds of years ago, but now it has many shops and restaurants with lovely outside seating (note to self, I need to learn more about the history of Plaza Mayor). As you can see from the picture it is so beautiful and it is just a block from my house (One of the many reasons to come visit me!). I really lucked out with this apartment, it couldn't be more perfect in terms of the people I live with and the location. More details later, I am getting a little tired of writing. But yes, where I live is lovely.
But as I was saying I can hear the sounds of the streets below me and I hear a street worker with a hose, each night they clean the city, it is actually pretty incredible, coming from NYC this concept of a very clean city is very foreign to me. Like there is hardly any garbage around the city and if you hose down the streets and sidewalks each night just imagine how much cleaner and nicer it looks than NYC? I wonder why we don't do this in NYC, I mean it would cost a lot of money but it would make the apperance of the city a lot better and create jobs. Perhaps this will be an innovative platform on city beautification in the US that will help me win the election when I run for Senate or something like that.
Well, I think that is enough for my first entry and I will be writing loads and loads in the weeks and months to come and hope you keep up with my life in Spain. I love you all and miss you tons.
If you want to write me here in Spain which I would love, my address is
Calle Mayor 49, Piso 2, #9
Madrid, Spain 28013.
Hasta luego! (Until later)
Today was a pretty good day. I had orientation classes in the morning at Sede Prim (Middlebury's school in Madrid). I love my grammar professor, she is a character. She basically acts out everything she teaches us with so many hand movements and facial gestures, it makes class a joy because you feel as though you are watching a play. She also looks like a rubber figurine which make it even more entertaining, kind of like the horse from Gumby, what's his name... I had to Google it, it is Pokey. My professor looks like a Spanish version of Pokey, haha. Next time I see her it is going to be hard to retain the laughter.
After classes I had lunch with Horchata (I can't decide if I want to use real names or code names, in my livejournal that I kept in middle school and high school I alway used code names for the sake of some level of privacy but I am still unsure as to how I feel about that in this instance but for now I will.) None the less, Horchata is a friend I know from Middlebury, she is one of my boyfriend's best friends from home and I met her through KDR (the social house I pledged last Fall). She arrived yesterday and will be teaching English in Madrid for the year at least. She studied in Getafe (the school I am going to study at) and she also has visited Spain quite a bit.
I've been feeling pretty lonely/homesick the past couple of days and like I said to her nothing cures loneliness quite like the sight of a farmiliar face. We had a nice time walking around for a bit and then grabbing a bite to eat. I had amazing paella, I need to learn how to make it. It is this classic Spanish dish, bright yellow rice (perhaps it is flavored with saffron and hence why it is yellow) with seafood, clams, shrimp, fish, scallops (lots of different seafood, it depends where you get the paella what kind of seafood will be in it) but it was amazing. I am going to take cooking classes here and upon my return make paella and sangria for everyone. It was nice to have a lovely meal outside in a quasi park with great company.
The food here has taken getting used to but I am liking it more. It is just at restauarants don't really serve vegetables and salads are expensive and not very green or plentiful. They also only serve white bread, there is no other type of bread option, it is white bread or nothing. Potatoes are a very popular side dish, it seems to me no matter what I order next to it are extremely greasy french fries. I am quite shocked that with a menu like this Spaniards aren't heavier, but perhaps that is because many do not go to restauarants but rather cook for themselves most likely healthier food and they also walk everywhere because Madrid is so concentrated.
I can hear sounds of the street from the terrace in my room. Did I mention I have a terrace? Yep, it is beautiful, I am so lucky to have it, it looks out onto some very pretty streets in Spain, the famous Calle Mayor which I live on. The panoramic picture that you see on top of this blog is the Plaza Mayor, Madrid's largest and most famous plaza. They used to bullfight there hundreds of years ago, but now it has many shops and restaurants with lovely outside seating (note to self, I need to learn more about the history of Plaza Mayor). As you can see from the picture it is so beautiful and it is just a block from my house (One of the many reasons to come visit me!). I really lucked out with this apartment, it couldn't be more perfect in terms of the people I live with and the location. More details later, I am getting a little tired of writing. But yes, where I live is lovely.
But as I was saying I can hear the sounds of the streets below me and I hear a street worker with a hose, each night they clean the city, it is actually pretty incredible, coming from NYC this concept of a very clean city is very foreign to me. Like there is hardly any garbage around the city and if you hose down the streets and sidewalks each night just imagine how much cleaner and nicer it looks than NYC? I wonder why we don't do this in NYC, I mean it would cost a lot of money but it would make the apperance of the city a lot better and create jobs. Perhaps this will be an innovative platform on city beautification in the US that will help me win the election when I run for Senate or something like that.
Well, I think that is enough for my first entry and I will be writing loads and loads in the weeks and months to come and hope you keep up with my life in Spain. I love you all and miss you tons.
If you want to write me here in Spain which I would love, my address is
Calle Mayor 49, Piso 2, #9
Madrid, Spain 28013.
Hasta luego! (Until later)
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