Friday, October 16th - Sunday the 18th

Pictures (along with some others of the sunset over Templo de Debod)

Before I came a friend who studied abroad last year told me about a church and Eric and I decided to check it out. From the first time we went I really liked it. The people are more friendly and welcoming than any church I have been to in the US, to be completely honest. They’re not tiny but they know each other and recognize when someone is new, and make an effort to greet them. We had at least five people tell us about Ignition, the youth reunion on Tuesdays.

Only the second time I went to church (and once to Ignition), I decided to go on their yearly church retreat. It was 65 euros, but definitely worth it (I slept there two nights and ate meals). Eric and Nick (who is in my class and came to church) also went, but I made an effort not to spend too much time with them and get to know more people.

The retreat was great. I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more interaction or breakout groups (and often had trouble staying awake through the multiple two hour long sessions), but the guest speaker had a lot of good things to say.

I met quite a few people but really got to know one of the girls. She’s German and only added proof to my theory that all German people are amazing. (To be honest a part of me wishes I ha learned German and was studying abroad in Germany, but that’s another rambling blog post).

It was nice being out of the city. We were at some sort of retreat center in the mountains north of Madrid. There were trees and grass and the second night I laid on a bench for a few minutes and stared up at the vast sky full of stars.

Corrida de Toros (Bull Fight)

Monday, October 11th

I hadn’t really thought too much about whether or not I would go to a bull fight while in Spain, but when Isabel told us we could go as a group and have it paid for and organized I decided it was an important cultural experience.

There was a presentation about the tradition before we went, but I was sick and didn’t go so I don’t have a lot of details about the meanings of it.

I thought before going that it would involve fighting one bull, but there are in fact six. Each one is basically the same series of events. The bull comes out and they play with him a bit with their cloaks, but because he’s still strong they just come out for a minute and hide behind their walls again. Then a Picador on horseback comes out and stabs the bull at the top part of his back/neck. (Supposedly the bull has no nerves there and it does not hurt him, but serves to make him bleed and weaken).

In the next part, which seemed most dangerous, banderilleros let the bull run past them and put colorful sticks into his back. “Banderilleros attempt to place the sticks while running as close to the bull as possible. They are judged by the crowd on their form and bravery.”

After that the principal matador enters with his red cloak and played with the bull for some time. When he (or the crowd) is ready he gets a new sword from the Mozo de Espaldas and ends the fight. The idea is that he’s not supposed to suffer and it’s bad he has trouble bringing him down with one try.

I thought it was sad to watch. I am glad I went though, but I don’t have any desire to go again. After seeing four bulls killed I decided I didn’t really desire to see another one and that I would rather beat the crowds to the metro than to see the final bull.

Sounds of Plaza Elíptica

So without fail, whenever I get off the metro at Plaza Elíptica (where I switch to the bus to get to campus), I hear keyboard music coming from the passage. An older man sits for hours at his keyboard, playing basic and repetitive tunes to the beat of an electronic metronome. Occasionally playing familiar sounds, occasionally tunes which rise and fall as hundreds of people walk past. Rarely have I seen the man smile, he always looks a little sad and a little bored (no wonder, he sits at a keyboard all day long).

Often when I return in the afternoon there is a younger (but balder..) guy sitting at the keyboard and playing the same sort of stuff. But, there never fails to be someone sitting at the keyboard playing music in Plaza Elíptica.

The food in Spain isn’t anything too strange or different from what we eat. (Unlike France, for example. Eating in France was an adventure I don’t think I would want to have all semester). Here they eat a good mix of meat, vegetables, fruit and bread.

Spanish food is in some ways richer than ours but simpler at the same time. They cook all of their food with a good helping of olive oil, which is relatively healthy but when every dish is cooked in olive oil it can be a bit too much. At the same time the dishes are simple. Usually just meat or vegetables or a combination of the two with a broth or spices. And bread is only served with butter at breakfast, otherwise it’s eaten plain or with whatever is left on the plate.

In general I like it. I don’t think I could point out a favorite dish; I’ve liked just about everything Any has cooked for me.

I’ve tried a few of the Spanish specialties. Paella is one of the most “Spanish” foods, and I’ve had it a few times. It’s a rice dish, usually made with seafood and/or chicken and lots of spices. A “tortilla” in Spain isn’t like a Mexican tortilla, it’s more like an American omlette with cheese mixed in, but fluffy and bigger. I really want to learn how to make a tortilla and paella, I’m hoping Any will show me some day.

And jamón! (ham). It’s a big deal here, and a couple times as a snack or light meal Any has served about six or seven different types of ham with bread and cheese. Also chorizo (sausage), but much richer than our sausage. It’s usually red or black, I’ve never had sausage like it before.

“Dessert” is generally just fruit. We’ve only had sweets once in my house. I do kind of wish they had some specialty desserts and that we had them at home, but I don’t really eat dessert often in the States either so I don’t miss it, and if I’m craving something I’ll just buy it.

I don’t really miss anything. Spinach salad perhaps; for a while I was missing wheat bread but then I disclosed that I prefer it and we now have a mix. I do miss being able to eat what I want without feeling bad if I don’t want to finish something.

Also I should talk about the eating schedule, which is unique to Spain. Many spaniards barely eat breakfast, but fortunately Any does and always puts out plenty of food. Lunch isn’t until 2:30 in the afternoon, so I usually have to eat a snack to hold me over. And then dinner at my house is on the “earlier” side at 9 or 9:30. Some people have told me they dint eat dinner until 11 at night, when I’m thinking about getting to bed. I don’t really like the schedule but it works and it really doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it might.

Magic Fountains in Barcelona. They did the show to music and this section has Lord of the Rings music!!! Amazing.

I tried to cut down the number of pictures.. I really did.

Friday - Sunday October 2nd - 4th

We flew on Ryanair, which was only 60 euros round trip. Gotta love cheap European flights! We stayed in a youth hostel called Barcelona Mar, which was even nicer than I expected. It was very clean, not loud, centrally located and had free breakfast and wifi.

Barcelona is an incredibly modern and unique city. Gaudí was a huge influence and designed just about everything of interest (the Sagrada Familiar, Parc Güell, some houses). Also, they don’t speak Spanish (at least not by choice). They speak Catalan, and many say they live in “Catalunya,” not Spain.

We got there late afternoon on friday and didn’t really have time to do any of the big things (plus we were waiting for another friend to come the next morning. So we walked down to the the Magic fountain of Montjuïc. Every night the fountain puts on a show of music and lights and, well, water.

(Check out the video in a later blog post to see the fountain show with Lord of the Rings music - so awesome!)

After the fountain we walked down La Rambla, a rather touristy strip of stores, restaurants, and people thinking you’ll give them money for wearing weird costumes and making annoying squeaky sounds. We ate some paella for dinner and make jokes about the lobster.

The next morning we got up as early as breakfast was available and headed to the Sagrada Familia, a “new” Cathedral designed by Gaudí and still under construction since 1882. I would love to see it again some day when it’s finished, but its still beautiful as it is. Like the rest of Barcelona, its incredibly unique. The structure, decorations, statues, everything is unique any other catholic cathedral. (I can’t choose one picture to summarize so you’ll just have to check out the album).

After that we went back to La Rambla for a bit and then ended up splitting into two groups. Me and two other girls went to La Pedrera (aka Casa Mila), yet another Gaudí work. The inside wasn’t anything particularly interesting, just an apartment, but the roof was like a big play house of weird statues and neat views.

Then we checked out Parc Güell (you guessed it, Gaudí). It was a very appropriate thing for Gaudí to design as most of his architecture reflects nature. There were three houses in the park some other interesting structures.

By this time we were getting pretty tired, but we picked ourselves up and went to the Picasso Museum (nothing to do with Gaudí). It didn’t have a lot of famous works, but each room was a different period of his work and it was interesting to see the progression. He also did forty something paintings based on Valázquez’s Las Meninas, but with a Picasso flare, and the museum had a large collection of these.

That night we got free dinner from a coupon from the hostel. It wasn’t all that great but hey, it was the cost of a glass of fanta naranja so I can’t complain. I was pretty tired and after walking around for a little while and talking to David I went to bed. That night we also had an interesting experience due to Cassie buying a bull shaped bottle of sangria as a gift and then realizing you can’t bring liquids on the plane… so we drank it. It was awful.

The next morning we woke up early in an attempt to see the sunrise over the beach. By the time we got there it was already over the horizon, but pretty nonetheless. And the color of the sky as we passed the pier was beautiful. We played in the water for a bit and then went back to the hostel and back to the airport.

Friday, September 25th

Getting to Avila (a small walled city nothwest of Madrid) was almost a disaster, but we had a fun time once we got there. If you don’t want to read my detailed account of getting to Avila, feel free to skip down to the part labeled ¡Ávila!

We planned to take the 11:30 train and met at 11:10. However by the time we found each other and the ticket office it was after 11:15 and there was a long line. We waited about 10 minutes and then decided we would try the bus instead.

We got to the bus station at 11:40 and saw there was a bus to Avila at 12. We got in line and after waiting for a few minutes I realized there was a machine where you could buy tickets with a credit card. After making sure that our bus was there, the other two girls got out of line. But when I swiped my card, nothing happened. It didn’t tell me something was wrong, it just sat there. The same with Cassie’s card and another machine.

So we got back in line and got to the window with five minutes left. In a hurry to get to the train I didn’t think to ask for the number, but the bus number was on the ticket. So we ran downstairs and across the station to find number 21, but there was no bus. Then after some more running around we figured out bus number 21 leaves from station number 49. So… we went to 49, and there was no bus. It was 12:01.

We went back up to the ticket window to see what we could do. She said (at least I understood) that we could use the tickets on the 2:30 bus. So we hung out for a couple of hours and ate our lunches, and returned at 2:15. But when the bus came, the bus driver told us we had to get tickets for 2:30 (of course). So we ran back upstairs and talked with a different guy, who told us we had to buy different tickets. So… we did. (Also the guy tried to tell me I needed my original passport and not just a copy, which was ridiculous).

Then, finally, we got on the bus. Naturally, the bus went a different way that the Spanish guy sitting next to me who often travels to Ávila said it never goes. But once we got there, all was well.

¡Ávila!

We got to Ávila with four hours to travel and such. We went to the Covenant of Saint Teresa, and also saw her finger. Apparently it’s a Catholic tradition I wasn’t aware of to save relics of various saints. They also had some bone splinters from another saint.

Then we bought yemas! Yemas are a specialty of Ávila; a soft boiled egg yolk coated in sugar. It wasn’t as gross as it sounds, but I probably wouldn’t buy it again. But worth trying. After that we went up the wall that surrounds the city. We made the mistake of using our two tickets on the smaller sections of the wall (there are three). But a great view!

After those activities we realized there wasn’t really much else to do, and we’d only been there two hours. So we went outside the wall and sat in the grass for a while, and then went to the main plaza. There we sat down and had some sangria and yummy free tapas. I’m a really big fan of sangria… I don’t really like many alcoholic drinks but sangria is very refreshing and it isn’t all that strong as far as wine and alcohol goes and very fruity and sweet.

Fortunately we made it home without a problem! It was quite an adventure, hopefully big enough of one that we won’t have another one of this sort.