day four and much to say

What a wonderful ride we've been having!
We are in our first hostel because we have been riding overnight trains. It is really grose and that is coming from two girls who can stomach a lot. They are fixing the shower now, but I took my first shower in three days in a moldy stall behind an unlocked door with a curtain hanging from two loops (one after I tried to pull it closed) and no hot water. We had a good laugh and now understood why this was the cheapest we could find. The people here are very nice, and as humanity passifies the greatest of agonies, we will be just fine.
I have not been having deep pensive moments because we are moving fast and laughing a lot. Not to mention, I am carying all of my belonging from the past 4 months on my back and behind me. It is histerical to see us trying to maneuver through some narrow bends, but there are generally elevators and storage places.
Today we arrived in Rome and saw the Vatican City along with Treve Fountain. We are going to bed early tonight so we can wake early and see the Coluseum. I am very excited, but do not know if I will sleep well tonight. Luckily, if I do not get to see everything in Rome, I tossed my coin into the fountain ensuring my return! And I do hope to return, this is a very special place, with or without showers.
I think this could be my only internet time, so this may be the last update, so sleep soundly knowing my face still smiles abroad. However, a place to lay my head in comfort without a man from border control waking my sleep at 3 am, is greatly anticipated!

In the constant twilight of Sweden.

Again change stares me in the face as the upcoming adventure of inter railing.  Early tomorrow morning we head from Eskilstuna to Stockholm and it all begins.  I am excited as well as little anxious.  Mrs. Rogers has done two month long inter rail trips and her tales sound wonderful.  It makes me excited to build my own.  There is so much to see in such a short time, yet we will pause for four days in Rome.  

Writing these entries and looking over them, none of it seems totally real.  To say I will be in Denmark tomorrow or that I have just been to the Louvre sounds obsurd, but while it happens it is believeable.  It is difficult to express such strong yet cliche phrases.  

I must prepare myself for my trip by finishing 'Angels and Demons' by Dan Brown.  Everyone has been recommending it and finally I started reading it to get ready for Rome.  It is indeed, 'a breathless, real time adventure, exciting, fast pace' read.  I have already learned more about church history and the Vatican City than I knew before and will be thrilled to relive the adventure in the city itself.  Lucky me.  So will they find the antimatter?  I will find out soon.  

Now, I bid farewell to Sweden.  Hey do (that means goodbye). 

Greetings yet again, from Sweden.  Although it is Christmas day, the Christmas festivities are through and we are snacking on left overs, playing with new toys, chewing new candy.  Terriffic. 

Presents leaked across all open carpet space and flooded the entire living room as the tree stood  looking smaller than before.  Christmas had brought expected and unexpected surprises to each one of us.  A new furry vest or a fashionable bag.  The Rogers kindly included me and bought me some Swedish trinkets, small enough to fit in my bag home.  It was beyond what I had expected, but the Christmas cheer is indeed quite contagious to whoemever sits by the tree, so the foreigner along with great grandma were included.  

Snow fell through the morning enough to blanket our surroundings.  We children ( I spent a semester convincing myself I am nearly an adult, but on Christmas I opened gits earliest and sat at the kid table) woke as the sun was rising and quietly opened stockings as the parents slept and prepared the porridge.  It was a scene Dickens would have been proud of and lavished with sentimental adjectives.  I am so glad to be here and the Rogers have included me so graciously.  

We watched the Christmas favorite 'Mamma Mia'  at night and it felt right to watch it in Sweden.  They were proud of the Abba hits and told me lots of trivia about Abba and Swedish celebrities.  I was the only one who couldn't sing along.  

It is unusual to be at a different house during Christmas, but it does not feel very strange, because nothing is normal right now.  New things are ocurring all the time and it is a great experience. 

God Jul

Merry Christmas!

The tree is lit and the family is out finishing Christmas shopping as Alex (Victoria's younger brother) has an old SNL show on in the background and I am using their internet.  It is nice and quiet.  We have decorated ginger cookies, tasted Glögg, tasted Jul Must, and are going to begin baking tomorrow.  Not to mention, we watched their family favorite "Jingle all the Way" with Arnold Schwarzenegger last night.  I can't say that I liked it (the juxtaposition of a governor and a father desperately searching for toys in a hyperbolic Christmas slapstick rather confuses my hopes in humanity), but their enthusiasm was nice.  The Rogers have certainly shown me lots of Swedish foods and activities. 

The first day here Victoria and I walked around the lake that their neighborhood is built around.  Things looked just as she had explained them and shown me pictures of in high school.  I am not sure what to compare the terrain to.  There are mostly birch trees with lots of little birds.  The sun is not out very long here, it rises around 8:30 and starts to set at 3!  It has made the days feel very short, and right now at 5 it is pitch black.  The neighborhoods are very modest, small homes that are close together and well kept.  Because it is Christmas time, the windows are lined with candleholders that look like manorahs but are typical Swedish decorations.  There is a cozy feel to the neighborhood and the town too.  Today, Victoria took me around the town.  Just about everything is within a long walk or biking distance, so we circled the town quickly.  It is hard to describe without using the adjective Scandenavian.  My hair has been growing recklessly, so I ventured to get a hair cut when Victoria had to go to work.  Almost every Swede speaks English fluently so it is not hard, just a little embarassing to break the flow of Swedish converstaion with a hesitant, 'Hello, I do not speak Swedish'.  It worked out well and now I feel a bit more presentable.  

Then, I took the bus home which was perhaps my greatest accomplishment of the day.   Something about navigating a foreign city fills me with a sense of invincibility.  There was a group of little girls in front of me, and I figured if they can do it, I certainly can.   It seems to be an expected quality to understand foreign transit, so no one is as impressed as I am.  Therefore, I am bragging to my fellow unsavy public transit riding American friends.  I hope that is not insulting.  

I am not sure what we are doing tonight, maybe another Christmas movie, but the 24th is when all of the festivities happen.  Christmas day, is a time for sleeping in and going to the movies while Christmas eve is a full day of activities.  From morning to night, they say.  We are going to have quite the feast.  

I have finished yet another book that was supposed to keep me until the end of the trip, and the English section of the book store had mostly Nora Roberts and crime thrillers, so I picked up To Kill a Mocking Bird from Victoria's shelf.  I think I'll give it a second read tonight.  Victoria and I are trying to store up on rest before we depart for a wide eyed 9 days!

my bags are packed, i´m ready to go

On some hard days on this trip all I could wish for was my own bed in an English speaking town, but now I am feeling sentimentally attached to my neighborhood here in Madrid. I have packed my bags and went to the computer lab one last time to check up on things before I head to Sweden and now I am feeling sad! I do want to leave and continue on with life, but it is hard to conclude such an experience.
So here I am ready to go, filled with these new lessons and experiences, but for some reason I feel like I need to sit and cry for a while. It is a sad sight to see my closet empty and the bright blue room just as I entered it. I have come and gone as many other students. Hopefully I will have myself together by the time I get to Sweden.
Carmen bough some Sidra for dinner tonight so we can have a toast. That should be lovely. So farewell Madrid, it has been a great time.

In two days, it will all change again.

Just as expected, the end is in sight. Even, as I was fully engaged in each moment I have still been surprised by the work of time. I have, as is my favorite hobby, been reflecting about this trip and feel like I am far different from the same girl who nervously got on her first international flight three and a half months ago. It is hard to sum up change while it is still occurring, so perhaps I will spend the rest of my life chasing after that ability. I know that my grammar and vocabulary skills have improved very little (my pre evaluation and post were only a few marks different) but that was hardly the entire purpose of the trip.

I was reminded that grammar was not the entire purpose of the trip the other day in class. My grammar professor had mentioned to us that there had been confusion with the administration and he was not going to get paid for teaching our class. Nonetheless, he stuck out the whole semester coming early in the morning three times a week to correct our ‘el’s’ and ‘la’s’. We organized to bring in gifts to show our appreciation, because our grammatically incorrect words were certainly not going to be enough- it could have even been insulting. So as we sat to take the exam, we gave him the gift basket filled with sweets from our respective countries. His face flushed and tears filled his normally sarcastic eyes and he kept saying, muchas gracias de mi corazon. He opened some of the cookies and snacks to share as we took the exam, and I think I did terribly on the test because I was so distracted and excited. But perhaps it is better to remember such a circumstance than whether Juan was expressing confusion or anger to Maria.

I still have to study tonight for one last exam. Four are finished with one more tomorrow afternoon. Never have I crammed in the fashion I did these past few days. I have received back very good grades so far, but the style of studying was out of character for me. Attention towards 16^th century Spanish literature fades quickly at the lure of almost anything else. It seems that my language skills are the least improved while I have learned so much in my other classes. An interesting circumstance- to be able to pass Spanish philosophy and art history but struggle in grammar. I know the terms for flying buttresses and stoicism but forget when to use subjunctive.

I have been exchanging numbers and addresses with my new friends and classmates as they begin to dwindle down to just a handful. Soon I will fit right back into the places that were waiting for me, but it will not be the same. That is okay, maybe even better. I look forward to a new challenge of re-assimilating. In the meantime, I have a short adventure to embark upon. I have heard that my stocking in Sweden is already hung along side the Rodgers’ normal five. Never could I have imagined the things I am doing these days and the ones to come. I am very appreciative and am doing the best of my ability to appropriately embrace it all. Though I am small, my ability to embrace is increasing along with my new and rich experiences.

Tomorrow to celebrate, my classmates and I are going to have one last “Madrid night”, rolling in around 6 or 7 as custom. I may have to get ready by going to bed early tonight, I don’t know how the madrileños manage to make that a normal schedule. Maybe I will learn the secret when I master grammar. Además, probaré.

Starting at the top....

The first two photos are from the gardens. They were a lovely mix of Arab architecture and flowers which I´m sure looked nice in the spring. They were not in bloom when I was there, but there was plenty of color from the oranges.

The next two are photos from atop the Giralda. It is a tower which was used for the Muslim people to pray in five times a day. It is very tall and consits of a ramp rather than stairs. That is because the people would use horses to climb the tower, and aparently that is much easier to do via ramp than stairs. We could see the city clear through the horizons. It was an experience different from the Eifel Tower, for there appeared more clutter from the heights of the Giralda.

I ate my sandwich by the river in the next photo. The sun was warm there and I liked the colorful sight.

The following two photos are from the streets. The street sign says Vida which means Life. The second photo is a perfect example of the narrow winding streets cluttered with apartments. Philly row homes seem spacious in comparison.

The final two photos were taken by the Alcazar. It was a Palace built with many influences and a mixture of cultures. Very beautiful indeed, not to mention the addition of classical guitar serenading the walking tour.

Sevilla

This weekend I am sending my friends all around the world. One to Prague, one to Milan, one to Paris, one to Dublin, one to Granada, and one to Berlin. I have waved farewell and will keep an eye on Madrid for them in their absences. This is quite an unusual time of life. I have planned for myself, endless exhibitions and activities around Madrid for I have only two weekends left. Leaving Madrid doesn´t worry me for I feel ready to work hard in school again and see my friends and family. I am sure I will be out of shape for the busy north east. No siestas or coffee breaks in between classes. My host mother always encourages me to take a nap. I am forming the habits of a 65 year old woman at the age of 20. Yes, I think I will be out of shape for the north east.

Last weekend I took a trip to Sevilla. I was glad it was my last trip with API because travelling with 30+ young, foreigners is not fun. But, Sevilla was beautiful. It is in southern Spain and therefore has a heavy Arab influence in the architecture and culture. Despite the cold weather, the terrain looked tropical and exotic. Orange trees lined the narrow streets packed with houses and shops. Oranges fell like autumn leaves on to the street, into the gutters, onto cafe table tops- it was the most distinct part of the scenery. Like the fear of birds flying overhead, I was sure that an orange would fall on my head at some point, but it never did. I ate two but they were as sour as lemons, unfortunate because my first thought when I saw them was that I wouldn’t have to pay for meals during the visit.

One of the best meals I had was at a tappas bar. Some say that tappa´s originated in Sevilla, but others say they did not, so it depends where you ask. However, we ate dinner one night at the oldest tappas bar in Spain. It was opened in the 1670’s and the ambiance was very fun. The tables were large barrels turned upright with boards across the top. They looked almost like a giant spools of thread. The counter tops were used to keep the bill tabs with chalk and legs of cured ham were (as usual) dangling from every free space on the ceiling. At first, the waiter was frustrated with our indecisiveness and poor Spanish because Spaniards seemingly know what they want before they walk in the door and ordering is a fast process. Soon though he warmed up and suggested his favorite drinks and tappas. Espinaca y garbanzas was my favorite which is a stewed mix of spinach and chick peas eaten with bread or crackers.

The next day we went on a walking tour for Sevilla is not very large and saw The Alcazar, The Cathedral, which is the third largest Gothic cathedral in the world, and the Giralda. The tour felt like a whirlwind of centuries and styles. We walked through five centuries, three religions, and three regional influences. It is hard to process so much so quickly, but it was beautiful. Again, this was prime practice for my art history class. I really enjoyed seeing the reality of what I had learned in class. The trip was excellent and I hold many precious memories from it. I will post more photos when I have a better internet connection. The computer uploads pictures very slowly and I have run out of time.

As usual, I told Carmen all that I saw and did with an excitement that disregards verb tenses and articles. When I told Carmen how much I liked espinaca y garbanzas, she cooked it for dinner the next day! She is a great cook and I have been eating well, which I can’t say for all my friends staying with host families. She and I had coffee this morning chatting about this and that. She told me the other day that I was the tidiest student she has ever had and that she has not met any Americans like me. What a nice compliment, especially because she has been hosting students for over ten years. She still gets frustrated at me when I forget to lock the door or shut off the lights, but we are getting along well, perhaps because our habits are melding.

I am off to the Archeological Museum. I’ve heard it has artifacts that will help me study for my history exam which is one week away. I am shocked that it is already time for finals, but I feel like I have learned a lot. However, I am in a full year program for only one semester, so I will know everything about Spain up until the Catholic Kings. Spain does not stop there, but I do. I find that very funny.

a little bit wiser now.

I have been to Paris. I have eaten my weight in crepes, watched the afternoon go by from a street cafe, toured the Louvre, I have had a great time.

It was a unique experience, and I have a great desire to return and see it all again for a longer period of time. A hazy sky and constant mist back dropped the entire weekend, which added to the mystery of Parisian life. Even potentially bad qualities of the trip helped to make the experience well rounded.

We arrived after dark and one of the first sights we could see was the Eiffel Tower glowing bright blue right outside our hotel. I was surprised to see it blue, and in my opinion, it was rather tacky. I had made an end goal to see it before the night was through, but still had not had dinner. Considering the trip consisted with about 30 other students in my program, it was hard to manage little things such as dinner. Cafes are small and unaccommodating for such large groups, so it was easiest to quietly shy away from the group. A few girls and I found a crepe stand and victoriusly ate our first French crepes while testing out our few French phrases with the chef. He wasn´t impressed, but amused.

We made it back to that stand two more times before the weekend was through. The rest of the evening was spend beneath the tower, chatting with friends, and watching it glow. We had a big day ahead of us, so turned in early (consiering early means before 3 am, now that I have adjusted to Madrid time).

I woke to strange curtains and bedspreads, only to remember I was in Paris, not Madrid. Not a bad discovery! We went on a bus tour early that morning of all the highlights. It helped me to get oriented with the city which was helpful to all the walking we did next.




Here is a photo of Notre Dame. I have been taking an art history class so it was exciting to point out the ´contrafuertes y bovedas y typos de arcos´to whoever cared to listen. Spanish arquitecture has plenty of French influence especially gothic style cathedrals, so I was just starting to learn about the thirteenth century gothic cathedrals. Great timing.

Afterwards, we walked the streets with the end goal of the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. Before reaching the cemetery, we stoped for lunch and wandered in several shops. There was so much that I saw in those few short days that pictures are the best way to express some of what happened.














Endless sights and scents, sounds and tastes, filled my trip to Paris. I had a moment of clarity when sitting on the Eiffel Tower with my roommate Hannah sipping hot chocolate. From internal perspective, the normally geometrically precise tower looked chaotic. Its innards were an opaque spiderweb that dizzied the eye. Yet beneath us, the whirlwind of Paris looked serene and organized. I think that there is much to be learned from changing your perspective of an object, or even a person. That instance, seems to stand out as the most remarkable from the trip, but I could go on for quite a while. I will spare the tales and offer more pictures.

antes de Paris

Before the packing begins, before the passport comes out, before the itinerary is embarked upon, I wanted to write as a young woman who has never been to Paris. This will only last for one more day, so I must take advantage of it (and the internet access). Hemmingway has said that everyone has two homes; their own and Paris. Gertrude Stein heartily agreed when she said, ¨America is my country and Paris is my hometown¨. As I mingle in the land of writers and artists for the next four days, I hope to discover what these authors I admire had experienced. Countless novels and films consist of a young woman´s tour of Europe for the first time, so sometimes I feel apart of a timeless story. So now the plot thickens with Parisian excitement.

as time goes on

I´m afriad I have not much to say in the travel adventure category for I´ve been in the neighborhood for the past few weekends, but there is never a dull moment in Madrid. A hyperbole, yes, but sometimes it seems true for the streets are never vacant and I rarely see a shop closing. I am glad to be living here with the attitude that I will be leaving shortly because even the irritations are to be treasured and learned from. It really isn´t a bad perspective towards most of life because, regardless of our recognition, it is temporary after all.

The leaves change with a dull brillaince compared to home and the streets are filling with pea coats as winter slowly comes. As change comes like clockwork, the great change in the states has stirred the people here. The election has been printed in every paper and has been regularly on the news. As soon as people hear my terrible spanish accent, they normally ask me, Obama or McCain? Supported by American broadcasting, most political conversations end up being conversations of race and gender, and I have been surprised at some of the spainards responses. Many people have said they are concerned that Obama is black, but nonetheless he is very popular here. I slept soundly through election night because I had a test the next morning, but many Americans here had quite the night. There were election parties in the center of the city throughout many bars. My roommate came home in the early morning to report the outcome to me after spending the night at an Irish Pub watching the election. A risky combination, alcohol and politics, but she had a good time. That may be one of my first regrets, that I didn´t go out that night considering its historical importance. But, hopefully I will at least get a good grade on my test.

Last night, I went to see a spanish film called Solo Quiero Caminar. The poster looked artsy so I assumed some sort of drama about internal realizations, only to be startled at the fist scene of murder and sex. It was a spanish gangster film. It was very interesting though because an underlying theme was based around gender roles. In one of my classes we are talking about modern Spain and the transition into the liberal position they are in now, so this film was relevant to Spanish concerns. Conservative and traditional ideas were thrown to the wayside in this film. Although I was expecting long dramatic dialogue, café settings, and quiet music, the blood and chase scenes expressed some Spanish themes which were interesting to learn about. The sun is high today so I am about to go wander the Botanical Gardens. Hasta Luego.

el escorial

Unfortunaltely I have no pictures with me to post at present. So in compensation, a thousand words should do.

Here I go.

I went to El Escorial this past weekend only to be confoudned and amazed yet again. Not just a cultural appreciation for Spain but for people who dedicate themselves and their entire life pursuit to knowledge and the beauty that is the result. For those who don´t know, El Escorial is a monastery and school built by Philip the Second in the sixteenth century. During Philip´s reign it functioned as his retreat and public relation center, as well as a monastery, school, and burial grounds for royalty. Now it is still a monastery and school, along with guided tours for the public. I walked through shadowy and drafty hallways of granite, along with other curious tourists and could even hear the monks´ songs through the corridors. Certainly an uncommon experience for me.

We first were taken into the library which, the tour guide said, is the most ´important´ in the world. Important, I suppose, is quite subjective, but his description was that they housed books from the 5th century (I wonder though, if that was a language confusion) and the rarity of their collection is where it derives its importance. Along the ceiling was painted a mural of the seven sciences (philosophy, astronomy, theology, etc.) corresponding with the placement of the books. Certainly more esthetically pleasing then the Dewey Decimal. I had an alarmingly strong desire to stay there the rest of my life and learn along with the monks about life. I don´t think API would allow for it- maybe with a permission slip.

Indeed it was an excellent trip, and one of my favorites thus far. As November lurks only 4 days out of sight, anxiety sets in about returning to the real world. It is the Sunday night sensation, but a bit stronger. So, I will embrace all that I can in these next two months and do my best to maintain my memories and lessons!

En el Norte

Buenos Tardes.
It seems to have been a long time since the past update, and again, I find it impossible to recreate all that I have been through. This past weekend, API took a trip to Santander. It is on the northern coast along the Mar Cantábrica. The beachy breezes were deeply refreshing after a month in the bustle of Madrid. Not only did we get to see and play on the beach, but we toured the Royal Palace (there are several throughout Spain) , and saw the replica of the Altimirian caves. I much rather prefer romping through sand and rocks than the metro escalators, so I had a wonderful time.


I passed the evening along the beach talking with a friend and exploring the nooks. The moon was bright and there were many people drinking and carousing along the beach. The royal palace stood at a distance on a peninsula, so the sight along the beach was a high, bright moon behind the silhouette of a castle amongst rocks and jettys. However, if I turned around, I saw the highway and lots of drunk teenagers. I chose to look towards the ocean most of the time. Another great sight was the sunrise. The sun has been rising very late in the mornings here in Spain, 8 or 8:30, so I woke in time to catch the sun rise over the beach. I caught it indeed.



The caves we toured are filled with prehistoric paintings and tools. It is a replica in order to preserve the real paintings which were being damaged with all the tours. I had learned about them in my classes, so it was even more interesting to see them in ´real life´. Now, however, I plan on fully utilizing my siesta to catch up on sleep from these escapades.



I have been growing more comfortable with my life here in Madrid as I have reached the one month mark. I recognize the streets, know a few names of tappas and drinks, have settled in with a Bible study, and have a lovely group of friends. However, I have had my second dream of waking up at home and having coffee on the couch, so perhaps adventures and novelty can´t replace home.

This week been another round of adventures which is begining to leave me a bit exhausted. My roommate and I took about a 4 hour nap today and I´m sure my sleeping schedule is entirely askew. It is normal and expected to stay awake until about 1 weekdays and on a ¨good¨weekend, abour 4 or 5. It hasn´t been an easy adjustment and usually my companions pick on me for leaving early.
I have been keeping busy with classes, friends, and sight seeing, yet still have had time to read and write. Sometimes this trip feels like a vacation so I am trying to not feel guilty about the fun I am having while I know the world continues as usual everywhere else.
I had one of my loveliest days so far this past friday. My classmates had gone out to a discoteque the night before and went home after school to catch up on sleep so I was on my own. I revisited some of the shopping areas that I had been to on busy weekends hoping to find more gifts for people. I walked and walked most of the day in the nice weather and quiet atmosphere, for it was siesta. I happened upon a plaza that was celebrating goods from all different parts of Spain. Stands and stands filled with enormous cheese wheels and legs of hams, canned olives and peppers, wines and beers. The plaza was certainly lively. I migled through and tasted all the samples that I could. What fun it was! There were even accordion players adding to the affair. I stopped in a bookstore nearby to pick up another leisure novel (I´ve had sufficient time to finish my last one) and brought it back to read at the plaza. I retraced my steps of free samples and sat down for a glass of wine and read my book. It was such a lovely afternoon. The day was much like the day dreams I had prior to leaving. While reading short stories by Joseph Conrad, I was surprised at the story I was reading because there was a portion describingtwo men living as foreigners to a country. As always, Joseph Conrad describes life with brutal clarity and I was pleased with his description of the circumstance. He writes:

They were two perfectly insignificant and incapable individuals, whose existence is only rendered possible through the high organization of civilized crowds. Few men realize that their life, the very essence of their character, their capabilities, and their audacities, are only the expression of their belief in the safety of their surroundings. The courage, the composure, the confidence; the emotions and principals; every great and every insignificant thought belongs not to the individual but to the crowd: to the crowd that believes blindly in the irrestistable force of its institutions and of its morals, in the power of its police and of its opinion. But the contact with pure unmitigaed savagery, with primitive nature and primitive man (in my circumstance a european country- not quite primitive) brings sudden and profound trouble into the heart. To the sentiment of being alone of one´s kind, to the clear perception of the loneliness of one´s thoughts, of one´s sensations- to the negation of the habitual, which is safe, there is added the affirmation of the unusual, which is dangerous; a suggestion of things vague, uncontrollable, and repulsive, whose discomposing intrusion excites the imagination and tries the civilized nerves of the foolish and wise alike.
An Outpost of Progress, Joseph Conrad

Toledo

In just a few days I have seen and experienced many new things, too many to reconstruct properly with words. Perhaps, more photos will do. Here is a photograph of a trip I took to Toledo this past weekend. Toledo was the original capital of Spain and has a deep history. The streets are barely wide enough for a car, yet thousands of tourists and cars push their way through every day. We walked through a Jewish temple, El Greco´s famous painting The Funeral, and an enormous gothic cathedral. The cathedral was by far my favorite portion of the trip.


It was a fine portrayal of man´s capability of expression. The place seemed very sancitified with its ornate qualities. The intricacies were difficult to comprehend because they were so abundant. There were choir seats looking like royal thrones, each hand carved with a unique Biblical scene pained above each chair. Through and through the cathedral was magnificent. There were also many paintings in the church, but it was hard to take in even more art by the end of the tour.

With sky scraping, gothic architecture rupturing the rocky mountain side one couldn´t help themself imagine they were perhaps in Gondohr.

I was able to see a bit more of the vast spanish terrain this week. Classes were not in session this Wednesday due to commencement activities. I went with some classmates to the mountians to pick blackberries or ¨molenas¨. There had been an abundance of bushes but we arrived at the end of the season and in the heat of the sun. Therefore most molenas were small and dried. But, it was wonderful to see a new area. There were beautiful views and a mix of desert plants I had never seen before.






This week was not only filled with blackberry picking, but a tour of El Palacio Real and El Prado. There is an incredible resepect and pride in history here which is wonderful to be apart of. Spanish history is full of changes and mixtures of people groups. There is a challenge to identify the true Spañiard because the true Spañiard historically comes from Greece, Italy, North Africa or other parts of Europe. Therefore, there is so much to learn in history classes and then see in the museums and on the streets.



These are photos from El Palacio Real. The king does not live here, but occasionally comes for ceremonies. In such a time, the state would close the museum and take out the good tapestries and cover the palace with flowers. It sounded like a fun event to have the king come to town, from what the tour guide said. There is a throne room I saw which was over decorated in the Boroque style. The guide told us that out of respect of the present democracy, the king and queen never sit on their thrones when holding ceremonies, nor do they wear their crowns.
I am off on another excursion now. I am going with my class to speak with a modern Spanish writer. Adios.

Here are a few photos of the sights I have seen. First, we have a roudy game of football in front of the Reina Sofia art museum. It was a plaza with cafes and restaurants swarming with kids, dogs, elderly, tourists, locals- the plaza had it all. Not to mention the museum was hosting an excellent exhibit of different artists´ attempting to intermingle humanity with technology. If anyone can make it to Madrid before the exhibit leaves in November, I highly recommend it. Next we have my bed room. My roommate comes tomorrow, so my last breath of privacy will be greedily breathed tonight. And most exciting... Carmen made delicious Paella the other day! We were able to finish almost all of the pan because it was so good. I am on a short break from classes, so I must be getting back to lean the History of España. Hasta Luego.