He peaces out

So much to write and I am leaving to Portugal in about 2 hours. I just wanted to do a recap of my life in the past couple of days. I am finally starting to really love Spain and feel relaxed about my life here. Finally. It feels nice that when people ask me how I am now I can now say really good as opposed to fine or homesick or having a tough time. I mean I still get homesick but not in an extremely painful way like at first, I get homesick because I look forward to going back to the life I love but I am content here.

A lot of it has to do with my boyfriend's visit, it just puts me at ease, like the person I love so much is going to be with me in Spain, I will be able to relax and really enjoy life. 8 days until he comes! I also got the entire time he is here off from my internship and my babysitting job which means I just have to go to a few classes and the rest of time I can soak up his company and watch Grey's Anatomy! YES! I have the best boyfriend, he has Tivoed every episode for me since I've been gone.

But yes, all continues to go well. My internship is wonderful, my co-workers are so awesome. We went out to lunch again, I love to just hear them gossip about work and other co-workers and just spending time with them is always a good time, they are all so funny. I am so glad I got to do this internship, they make me love Spaniards and their humor.

Classes are good, still easy but the shit is about to hit the fan. We don't have a lot of work during the semester but like big papers and final exams at the end of the semester but with all these visits and trips I am taking it is going to pile on. But it will all get done, or at least that is what I tell myself. No, it will.

I met the Zapatero Monday, he was walking around our building viewing an exposition of the 25th anniversary of the PSOE and he was within arms length of me. My co-worker offered for me to take a picture with him but I was too afraid because I was star struck, it was the prime minister of Spain, it was too much for me. Next time, but it was still very cool.

Anyway, I need to wrap up a couple loose ends before I go to Portugal, leaving on a bus tonight at 11PM. Oh yes, I am going to Portugal for a long weekend with Horchata. It is yet another holiday in Spain (because they don't like to do work in Spain, haha) so we decided to seize the day and go to Lisbon. I can't wait, I've never been and it is supposed to be beautiful. I will return Sunday with tons of stories and pictures. But until then have a good next couple of days!

Dreaming

Perhaps I will find some solace in writing about how homesick I am. Only as I type out that sentence my eyes begin to swell up with tears so it is probably not working. Being abroad is hard, I left behind a life that I really love and each day that I am away from it it gets harder and harder.

I wanted my year abroad to be so spectacular and glamorous but as the days go by I miss home more and more. I am lucky that it isn't the place that I hate being in but rather what I hate is being away from the people I love. Whoever came up with the saying "There's no place like home" perhaps popularly known from the Wizard of Oz hit the nail on the head. I say this all the time but I can travel to the most amazing places in the world but it will pale in comparison to being with the people that I love.

I am just having a really hard time being away from those people and I find myself constantly counting down the days until my boyfriend visits, until I go home for Christmas and until my mom and sister come here and a big part of me feels sad that what I look forward to has nothing to do with Spain. I do suppose though that in terms of people visiting me here the reason I look forward to it is because I will finally be able to really enjoy Spain because I won't have to feel lonely or unwanted.

I mean I know I'll be more than fine, I am only here until the first week in February and I go home for Christmas in between it is just sometimes I feel so suffocated by how homesick I am, like my heart is broken from leaving my life back home and starting a new one here.

And it is strange because I am usually so good at adjusting and being away from home. I went to the Dominican Republic for months, Florida, New Hampshire and I was fine. But here, being across the Atlantic sans friends and family is painfully hard.

I try to seize the day, make the most of it and I do but there is still that voice in my head saying "What are you doing Antoinette? Why aren't you home? You know you are miserable". I just feel like my life consists of finding distractions that granted I so enjoy but are in the end are just distractions.

Sigh, maybe writing wasn't such a good idea, I feel a little worse but at least I got to say it to someone other than in my own head.

Like a river bends

Since I've been here which has been a little over a month. I've noticed that Spain is so infused with American culture. I can't walk more than a block without seeing some American fast food from finger lickin' good KFC to trendy Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts or the classic mark of globalization McDonalds. As I am walking down those same streets, every few hundred feet I hear the latest American pop music blasting from various stores, Beyonce, Eminem, Akon you name it and they are desperately listening to it.

I pass by high schools in the afternoon with young Spanish teens pouring out of them and the hoards of kids wear everything from Hilfiger to Ralph Lauren clutching folders of High School Musical plastered with pictures of the American teenage heartthrob Zac Efron. A friend a mine lives with a host family and the kids know every single lyric and dance from that movie, an American movie. I continue on my stroll throughout Madrid and I look at all the new films playing or coming soon, and all the large and highly advertised movies are Americans ones conveniently dubbed for your Spanish viewing pleasure.

Wandering through the streets, I see newsstand after newsstand with a vast majority of the magazine from the states, don’t worry if you can’t live without your Vogue you can get every girly magazine from Cosmopolitan to Marie Claire. After I've had my fill of walking, I hop on the Metro, while waiting for the train I read the advertisements that overwhelm the underground tunnel. I see an ad for Sketchers with Ashlee Simpson, and I laugh. What is Ashlee Simpson doing in the metro of Madrid, and in Spanish no less, I’d be surprise if she knew how to say sneaker in Spanish. The train arrives, I get on and immediately in front of me I see their version of "poetry in motion" and there is an ode to New York with a nice drawing of the Empire State building.

My stop is up I get off the train and walk the couple of blocks to my apartment. On my street to the left of me is Plaza Mayor, the most famous plaza in Spain. I peer over my shoulder and see tents set up in the plaza for some sort of exhibition so out of curiosity I check it out. It seems like a big ordeal. I near closer and I read the logo on the tents "Viva America" it reads, a celebration for my lovely homeland.

It is as if America is everywhere is Spain, they even have a highly populated chain called "VIPS" which we all know stands for "very important person/people" those very important people being Americans. VIPS specializes in making all our delicacies, the all American hamburger, cheeseburger or Texas burger, you can't forget Texas. Not only to they make all the typical America food you miss to eat right there on the spot but they also sell for your enjoyment American products, miss marshmallows or peanut? Well lucky for you, VIPS has whatever typical Spanish stores don't. Not to mention that VIPS isn't the only chain that serves as a beacon for Americanizing your stay in Spain. Spain even has its very own Dean and Deluca, however it is differently named, Hespen and Suarez they call it, so as to mask their American imitation but not too much so that you can distinguish it from sight. The metal shelving, the pristine organization, the ambience, the logo font and the reasonable prices for “gourmet” food, 9 euros (about $12.50) for a bottle of ranch dressing, of course that's reasonable.

American culture is everywhere from the stationary shops fully equipped with Disney princess notebooks, folders, school supplies galore to the availability of coca-cola and sprite at every restaurant, bodega, and grocery store. I know that I live in the largest city in Spain so perhaps that is why America has such a huge influence on the city but it quite baffling. I thought Europe was to have this unique flair, this separation from the West, except I encounter it where ever I go. For all that Europe hates us, they seem to be loving or at the very least doing fine with having a lot of our culture infused into their daily lives like it or not.

I was thinking, I bet if you ask a Spaniard who the president of America is, they more often then not would be able to tell you Bush. If you asked an American who the prime minister of Spain was, I'd highly doubt, unless they were really into politics (but even then) that they'd be hard pressed to say Zapatero. And I don't think that is the stereotypical American stupidity, I think it is the disinterest because in world politics Spain isn't so essential, so important. Perhaps it might be ignorant of an Americans, but of course you’d know who Bush is, America runs the world. Ouch. You might say that is me being too elitist, too harsh but we dominate the global political scene that is pretty hard to deny.

Please don't take this as me not liking Spain because I love it or me thinking Spain is just like America, because I know it isn’t, it has many tons of aspects that are very different. America is such a young country, it is couple hundred years old but Spain has centuries of culture and lifestyle that is so rich is hard to beat. Spain is absolutely beautiful and unique it its own right. But I am just constantly surrounded by American culture all the way across the Atlantic and I had to share my observations of what’s around me.

I will end with my trip to Avila, the walled city about an hour and a half outside of the city of Madrid. It is a relatively small city but it is home to one of the oldest European defense walls dating back to the 11th and 12th centuries. It was a lovely day trip that Horchata and I took to escape for the bustling city for a day. Here are a couple of pictures.


A mural made entirely out of carnations of Saint Teresa


Saint Teresa Church, built upon the spot where she was born


The walls the surrond the city of Avila


A view of the city from on top of the walls, it was super cool you can walk on the walls and see everything as this picture shows you


Another pretty view from atop the walls

And all the roads we have to walk are winding

The pier at Marbella, on a clear day you can see Africa


Horchata and I at our very own bar!


The beautiful streets of Marbella

Apparently I have a hair salon in Marbella, who knew?

The beautiful sunset at the beach

More pictures of the breathtaking view

One more

So here are the photos from my lovely vacation to Marbella. I would write more but I am not in the best mood to write a long blog post. I've been feeling really homesick recently and so it has made it quite difficult to enjoy myself here. I just am having trouble being away from the life that I love so much. Sigh. But all continues to go well, Madrid is still a great city, classes and my internship are going well. Actually, my internship is great, the people I work with are so fun. But, that's all for now.

Madarina & Kiwi

I don't really have time to write a long entry and I most definitely will write more later but I just wanted to mention a couple of items. This weekend I went to the province of Andalucia, to a city called Marbella (meaning beautiful ocean) on a mini vacation. Spain pretty much every month has these national holidays called "puentes" (bridges) which elongate the weekend for various causes. This past puente was Spain Day and also Christopher Columbus' discovery of America. Basically puentes serve as an excuse for all of Spain to go on vacation which is what Horchata and I did. We went down south for our puente in hopes of grasping on to the finals days of good weather on the coast. We were in such luck because the weather was absolutely gorgeous when we went there. The sun was shinning, it was about 70 degrees the whole time and just a perfect getaway from bustling Madrid. We took a bus to Marbella which was reasonably price and very convenient. My only qualm with the bus is that the seats are able to recline so much that the head of the person if front of you is pretty much in your lap which makes it not so comfortable. I think there should be a mandate of the angle of allowance for seat tilting because it made the bus ride not so fun at times. If you are smart, you book in advance so you sit in the first row so no one gets the chance to lay their head in your lap, which is what I plan to do for the future. But other then that the bus was hassle free, fairly quick and enjoyable because it got us right to paradise.

When we arrived though we notified our hostel that we'd be arriving at 8AM they failed to open until much later in the day so we rallied and took our luggage and passed out on the beach for 6 hours. I got a great sun tan and plenty of splendid dreams and then to awake, check into our hostel and get ready to meet Horchata's friend Cueva. Who is hysterical and next entry I will talk about him and some of my other observations of the trip. I am going to cut this entry right here so I am not late for babysitting but more later and pictures when this blog site fixes its uploading problem.

A su casa

I am at my internship right now, close to the time I need to leave to get to class at Carlos III. But they always give me work and then I finish it too quickly and I have nothing to do for a bit. I do work and tell them I am done and they tell me to do my work more slowly next time, which is why I am writing a blog post now.

I still really like my internship, just being around the Spaniards is worth it for their witty banter. It is just sort of funny because I don’t think they really have an idea of what to do with an intern so sometimes I just sit and read the news until they find something for me. I think it will get more interesting as time goes on and I have actual projects and perhaps events/organization to participate in for their electoral campaign.

Yesterday I had a lovely day of class. I really just adore my International Law and Human Development class, the professor is a gem. He gave us a detailed syllabus which is such a rarity for Spanish professors (planning in advance isn’t so Spanish) so I was so thankful, but all that he has outlined for the class looks super interesting. I have class with him again today and then also my other class, but that professor is far more traditional, lectures the entire class but he is still interesting at least.

Then after class I went back to my apartment and invited some people over to hang out. I attempted to invite a friend to come over and make dinner with me but she had just finished eating, and she was like I have tons of leftovers I am not going to eat, can I bring them to you? I was so excited, she made fried chicken and mashed potatoes, a very American dinner? Is that even American? I suppose... from the dirty South. It was delicious. Then another friend came over and Horchata finally came home from work, she is staying with me at my piso (apartment) for the time being while hunting for one of her own. We all just hung out, talked and planned trips.

Horchata and I are going to the South of Spain tonight on a bus at I think around midnight to arrive early in the morning Friday. We are going to Marbella, which is a town right on the coast, so it is beach time! I don’t really know what to except of the trip, no idea what the town is like, I just wanted to travel, Horchata said it was nice so we decided to go. I am very excited, where there is beach I am feliz (happy). It will be fun to see a different part of Spain because thus far I only know what city life is like. I wonder how different the Spanish accent will be. I am hoping for warm water so I can tan and swim.

I normally just have my internship Fridays but tomorrow is a holiday, it is Spain day, they are doing a huge parade will a lot of important figures in Spain in Madrid, I will miss it but I feel like the beach is a valid excuse. I think Friday is also the day they celebrate Columbus Day, odd to me since that was Monday in the states, but to each his own.

Time for me to head out to lunch and then class. Until Monday.

Oh also, I got a job! I am going to be watching this German/Spanish girl who is 5 years old, three days a week in the evening speaking English to her. I just met her parents for the interview yesterday and I meet her Monday, I am excited to get to watch her and also to make some sweet dinero (money).

Fotos para ti

My metro station, Sol, which connects me to all of Madrid


My train station to my university Carlos III in Getafe, it is called Atocha Renfe


Plaza Mayor, a peace protest of the Mujeres de Negro "Women in Black", in English their sign reads "Between killing and dying there is a third way: life"


This is the view from outside my terrace, at night and kind of hard to see, better pictures to come but just wanted to give you a preview of what I look out onto at night


This is Puerta del Sol, the geographic center of Madrid, a tourist hot spot and about 4 blocks from my apartment

Home to my father, first cousin, and son

Good heavens! Every time I write in this blog I have so much to say and then I publish it and I realize my entry is ridiculously long and people are probably less inclined to read it, so for that I am sorry. I just always have a lot to say.

Today was my first day at my internship and I really love it. The man that I work for, Orestes is just such a down to earth person, really friendly and seems very on top of his game. I walked into the intimidating building of the PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) and the security guard knew my name right off because I suppose my boss told him he was expecting me and since I don't really look Spanish at all it was no mystery as to who I was. Last time I was at the PSOE I was with a woman, who works in Human Relations like I said to figure out a schedule but today, since it was my first day, I was in the office where I will be working.

I am working for the Secretary of International Relations. I got my own huge desk (like all the other full time workers) my nice desktop, PSOE email, all they had promised. I did a lot of reading today about the party, what is has done in the past 4 years, what it plans to do if they win the elections in March and just basic beliefs of the party. I met a few of my coworkers, me and 3 other full time workers sit in cubicles that form a square, but the walls dividing the cubicles are short so we all can see each other and chat, which we did a bit since I am the new girl. They were all so friendly, all appear to be at the oldest in their early 30s, if that but all very energetic, witty and fun to be around.

They were swearing like it was no tomorrow in the office, I was shocked because last week my impression of the office was pretty serious, my interview was relaxed because we were only figuring out my schedule but the appearance of the building as well as everyone in business attire lead me to believe it was far more formal. But once I stepped into my floor, people were swearing (joder which means "fuck" or "to mess with", Spaniards often stay "no me jodas" meaning "stop fucking/messing with me" but definitely a derogatory term) and the men wearing jeans loosened the tone of the office. But everyone was great, they said we should eat lunch together sometime this week. I also knew that the internship would be far more relaxed when I told my boss I was scheduled to come in at 9:30AM and he was like that is really early, people probably won't be here, you don't have to come that early. I probably will anyway just because I am so excited to be in the midst of an office of Spaniards who are interested in politics. Also the PSOE gets this neat little packet of all the newspapers in Spain complied for them to read when they get to the office, very convenient and free.

I am not 100% sure of what I am going to be doing for the duration of the internship. A lot of it will be translating things from Spanish to English for my department which will be cool because I will have to read everything my department creates, which is a lot, international relations spans so much. I also am going to be in charge of this event with different American political organizations like MoveOn.org and inviting and organizing them to come to Spain for like a conference of organizations of that type, that should be a big and cool project, we didn't get to details but I am already excited.

My boss also talked about me teaching more English to the department and helping them with pronunciation so they don't sound funny when they are trying to speak English. It was extremely amusing when my boss was talking about the grunge culture in Seattle, but his pronunciation of "grunge" brought us both to laughter. Anyway, I am very excited and it feels like this internship will be an incredible experience because they are treating me like one of their own.

Also, crazy but Jose Luis Zapatero, the Prime Minister of Spain's office is on my floor so whenever he comes to the party's building, it is very likely he will just be around the office. So different from the USA, when would a foreign student get an internship that puts them within a couple hundred feet of our president? Probably never. I am super excited to potentially have a Zapatero sighting but also to learn more about Spanish politics.

Ok, in the interest of not writing too much to read, I will save more commentary for perhaps later tonight or tomorrow.

Mmm, hot

I really need to start getting my act together and start doing more cultural activities. I’ve been still getting settled, getting stuff for my room, organizing my life and I haven’t delved into the museums or monuments, all the cultural things that Madrid has to offer. I think I will start that quest tomorrow.

Monday, I had my “interview” for my internship. Interview is in quotes because it wasn’t really an interview so much as it was a time for me to sit with the woman who works in human resources and figure out a schedule. My resume had somehow got passed on to the Socialist Party. Originally I was told by the Middlebury coordinators that working directly for a political party is impossible, they don’t do internship, and it is not customary, especially for foreigners. Also the concept of an internship is lost on the Spaniards, why anyone would work without getting paid is beyond comprehension.

Anyway, I then decided that I would work for the cultural foundation of the Socialist Party, so basically an extension of the party but no so directly related to politics. I was kind of bummed because the politics nerd that I am wanted to be right in the action but I was still content that I could get anything close to politics. Then for some reason the foundation I was supposed to do the internship for couldn’t coordinate a schedule for me, but I simutaneously received even better news that in the process of trying to get my that internship my resume had been passed along to the actual Socialist Party (PSOE) and that they wanted me to do an internship working with the Secretary of International Relations. I was ecstatic because I would get to work directly for the party and in an area of interest. How perfect? I guess that corny saying when one door closes another door opens actually proved to be true.

I went for the “interview” and arrived at a large intimidating building, it was decked out in PSOE logos, and it was modern and pristine. I walked up to the security desk and asked for the person I was to see for the interview. The security guard asked me if I was sure that I had to see the person I was looking for. I nodded, he said, oh is this something personal (insinuating that I’d have no other business at the PSOE unless it was personal) and I said no it was for an interview. He asked me looking quite puzzled if I had spoken to Ms. Molina? I replied yes, I am here to see her, I have an appointment. I guess after a few more puzzled stares I finally convinced him and he let me proceed. I passed through a turnstile, and then walked through a melt detector and my bag traveled on a conveyor belt to inspect what was inside. Then I was directed to go to the fifth floor where Ms. Molina was waiting for me.

The “interview” was a joy, she basically just wanted to solidify that I was indeed who she had down on paper. She went down my resume, asking about my different experiences, interested in the type of work I had done etc. Then she asked when I was free to work and when could I start. We calculated that I’d work 17 hours a week (a big change from my 70-80 hours a week with Hillary), but is still a heck of a lot more than the amount of hours I’d be attending for a third class, because I get credit for this internship as a class so I am doing that instead of taking 3 classes at Getafe.

But I think this experience is priceless, I am so looking forward to understanding how politics functions in another country, the ins and outs. It is perfect timing with elections coming up in March. I am sure even if I am stuck photocopying being around these important people in the party will give me a lot of insight. I start this coming Monday, and I am working everyday in the morning except for Wednesday (obviously no weekend work because that is unheard of in Spain). I tried to get Fridays off to travel, but she says if I plan to go away, I can just work extra another day so I was glad to see that this would be flexible so I can spread my wings in Europe. Another perk of the internship is that she explained I’d be treated just as if I worked for the party (only I am working less hours she explained was the difference), I will have my own desk, my own desktop computer, my own official PSOE email and be just like everyone else. That felt exciting. I look forward to Monday, I think having this internship will finally force me to carpe diem and do more with my spare time. Because working 17 hours a week for the internship on top of 2 classes at Getafe and a grammar class at the Sede will be a ton. I am also working to get a part time job to teach English to earn some extra money on the side to travel. I am trying my hardest to be more appreciative about how hard my parents work by spending my own money.

I also had my first classes this week and more to come. I go to school in a suburb of Madrid, I take the metro to a hub for a plethora of trains. I then take that train to Getafe, which is just South of Madrid about 20 minutes on the train. The whole commute takes about 40 minutes to an hour. I actually enjoy having a commute to school, I guess I got so used to it from East Side Middle School traveling 1.5 hours to school and then to high school commuting 1 hour to Laguardia. I need to start bringing my iPod, I do like hearing Madrid life going on around me but I miss the solace in listening too a good playlist like I did everyday of middle school and high school.

My school is called Carlos III University, in Getafe where I am taking the Spanish Political System and then International Law & Human Development. The Spanish Political System seems like a good introductory course to Spanish politics which I think is important for me to know, the professor seemed kind, big class about 40 students, mixed with Spaniards and Erasmus students (Erasmus is the study abroad program for European students, giving them the chance to study in other European countries which is a fairly recent development).

Then International Law & Human Development was awesome, a fairly young professor who just was awesome. He said that he was not like a classical professor that lectures all the time but a lot of his class will be participation in the course. He said about 40-50% of a final grade will be the final exam and the rest is our participation in class, I was so glad to hear that. Because during orientation we were warned that our finals (one exam at the end of the semester, lasting about 2 hours with often only one question to which you must answer with all you’ve learned from the entire course, lots of pressure to say the least) and that the final normally would count for 85-100% of our final grade and that most of our professors would just lecture the entire 2 hours of class, we’d take notes and go, no discussion. Thus, Professor Oliva, my International Law & Human Develop is a saving grace.

Side note, so I forget if I posted about the details of my living situation but I will do it briefly. I live with this amazing couple in their 30s, they are what I hope JD and I are when we are married, they are just so fun and easy going and they love life. They are also like my pseudo parents because they give me advice on pretty much all that I do here. But the wife is from Italy, and is fluent in English, Italian, French and Spanish which is super cool and I am very jealous of her multilingualism. Her husband who I thought was from England is actually from New Zealand but I couldn’t tell the accent apart which I thought was so funny because it is a very different country, he speaks workable Spanish. I adore them though, they are so helpful and warm, and I seriously feel like I hit the jackpot with them. I just thought the New Zealand confusion was silly of me and I felt like sharing.

I’ll close with this, I was flipping through a study abroad magazine and I saw this factoid so I thought I’d share. 3,587 miles is the distance between Madrid and New York City, it is as if that factoid was placed there to remind me just how far I am from home and how hard it is. Like I’ve said before, it isn’t that I don’t love Madrid, it is just that I had it so good back home. I miss you all. Until next time.