The Night in White

The night in white here in Madrid is a huge celebration where the whole city goes out and parties all night long, young and old. All the prestigious museums of the Paseo del Prado open their doors for free for the celebration of the Noche en Blanco. A couple of friends and I began this city wide party by checking out the contemporary art at the Reina Sofia – works including Dali and Picasso – and got all philosophical and what not. Reina Sofia is an enigma – how can a wall with three lights on it be art or, my personal favorite, the lonely brush stroke on the empty white canvas. But with the right mind set, we had fun hypothesising what the hell the art on the first floor could mean but marveling at the works on the second floor – your more recognized works such as Guernica.

Moving on from the museum, we walked all the way from Atocha back to la Ciudad Universitaria – from one side of the city to the other. Zigzagging through the windy streets of Madrid is its own adventure. If ever in doubt, go north. During the noche en blanco there is always some kind of event going on in every plaza throughout the city. We saw many a live band and thousands of people rocking out. We met some Spanish kids our age in the Plaza de Dos de Mayo not too far from my new apartment who taught us the Spanish "de la puta madre" (don't repeat this at home kids).

Tomorrow I move into my new apartment – currently considering my game plan with all the luggage I have. I’m going to have to make two trips but it’s all good. Tomorrow night I am taking a high speed train down to Toledo to meet up with my Spanish friend Alba. I met Alba in the residencia – she helped me get used to the new rules and stuff over here. Two friends of mine, JT and Amelia will be accompanying me – we plan on staying the night tomorrow and check out all the historical stuff Wednesday. Toledo is one of few towns that is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site – the whole city is full of history. Until later.

Scene from Gran Via during La Noche en Blanco 11-9-10

Baptism by Fire

Let me get the point across that our program sticks to the titled method. September in Madrid is a hectic time for American and international students for the following reasons:

1) You must find an apartment.
2) You must brush up on your Spanish BIG TIME
3) You must become oriented to, perhaps, the largest city you have ever lived in (at least in my case)
4) You must travel because, hey, you’re in Spain!

Balancing these four things is an art – and especially due to my summer of nothingness – I am getting back into overdrive mode. However, I’m thriving off this pressure.

THE SEARCH

I have seen eleven different apartments in Madrid, all in different areas of the city. Adding insult to injury, I was required to call different landlords and Spanairds over the phone to ask questions, set up meetings, and tour facilities completely in the Spanish language. Let’s just say I could find you a mean apartment due to the vocabulary I have been using everyday here. It was not without challenge but this process has been a rewarding one. I found a place with three Spanish students, one Italian, and the other to be rented soon. It is in a very nice and quiet area of the city called Arguelles/ Chamberi and very close to my university. Many other program participants are living in this area as well. More to come on this once I move in on the 15th!

SPANISH

Because my Spanish is nowhere near fluent, the kids and I in the program are required to complete a September course with an intense focus on Spanish grammar. My grammar teacher speaks very fast but is perfectly coherent – unlike many people you’ll find on the street or in the bar. I started school this past Monday and I am already learning colloquial phrases that I have been incorporating into my everyday language. It’s a good thing because I have met a lot of Spaniards with my new and improved Spanish. I’m even using vosotros for those that are familiar with the language!

THE CITY

The best way to get the know the city is to get lost in it. Through my search of apartments from all the way in Salamanca to as close as Ciudad Universitaria, I have been slowly orienting myself to the city. The center of the city, Sol and La Latina areas are a strange creature – you’re typical windy roads and small cafes. Its easy to get lost down there, and a lot of fun to. The public transportation here is the best I’ve ever used so there is no need for long walks because there is bound to be a metro stop half a kilometer from you.

TRAVEL

I traveled to Segovia this past Sunday with my group from the program. BEAUTIFUL. Imagine a quaint town with old Roman churches made out of stone, golden rolling fields surrounding, architecture and city plan to match, and a huge castle looking over the whole thing. Gotta see it to believe it. We were guided by my professor of art here at La Complu. He focused on the mix of Roman/gothic/Moorish style of architecture in the city. Trying to soak in all the history of the old seat of power for Castilla is a daunting task but nonetheless a memorable one.

This weekend I’m going to take it easy here in Madrid. We have La Noche en Blanco which is a huge street party where they open all the museums here in Madrid for free with open bars in all of them. I will have to check it out. Homework has begun but I have enjoyed taking advantage of all the outdoor cafes and parks in the area to make it less painful. Retiro Park is by far the most scenic point in the city – you can easily spend a day picnicking out there and that’s exactly what I did yesterday! Gotta run but more to come as always!

Retiro Park with American friends Jeremy and Allison

More pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2052793&id=1206150007&l=337848b2f3

Disorientation

Before Leaving

Tonight there are about 100 Spanish newcomers to school – novatos (freshman) –making a fool of themselves by force outside my window getting ready for a new adventure in their lives. I am lucky to have made friends with one of such novatos as he begins a new journey in his live – the trails of university. My friend David is dealing with his new situation as all new freshman do – in my university in Madrid, all novatos are required to submit to their superior upperclassman’s every wish be it yell at the top of their lungs at the dinner table ‘Soy el rey del mundo’ or take multiple shots in one night – similar to hazing. There is a common connection that I share with the fellow novatos that share my residencia with me – we are all starting something new and exciting, yet impossibly intimidating.

Spain is all of these things to me. I have been in Madrid for more than five days and the roller coaster of emotions has already begun. First of all, I feel like I have left an already great situation at for a great unknown in a foreign land. I have wonderful friends and family across the pond that have made a great home for me in States. A year feels so permanent. These hesitations have been hiding in my subconscious for some time yet I have refused to recognize them.

With this admitted, the transatlantic flight was just what I need to confront the most freighting of hesitations. Something like spending a year alone in a foreign country doesn’t quite hit until you are 30,000 feet in the year and there is no way back. However, I was fortunate to sit next to a wonderful and beautiful Spanish woman name Mabel from the island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean. We spoke in Spanish during the flight which gave me more than peace of mind but complete anticipation for the experience to come. While the overnight flight would not permit me to sleep or even doze off (which I paid for dearly), I was overwhelmed with excitement about all the things I had seen and read about in Spain.

That being said, arriving in the country was an exhausting affair as I had to stay up for over 36 hours during the course of two days. My Spanish was terrible the first day – I could barely hold a conversation with the fellow Spaniards that I met. If I initiated a conversation in Spanish, they would respond in English. I thought this may be due to the level of my Spanish but it really was just because Jet-Lag sucks! I have learned that if I don’t get good rest, my Spanish begins to become worse and worse. So therefore on my first day in Spain, I hung out with the new program participants and spoke English most of the day. This would soon change as my program’s motto is “Baptism by fire.” Spanish had become my primary language since day two!

A digression – I love my program here in Spain! The program consists of four different universities, The University of Indiana, Wisconsin, Purdue, and of course Tulane belonging to a consortium of other American universities at La Universidad de Complutense. My fellow classmates are terribly nice. These kids don’t have a mean bone in their body and don’t seem like that have anything to prove to anyone – how refreshing. The program directors are amazing as well as they come from Spain. More description will be available on them later but lets just say that when I get the eye from my director, I know that I have learned something crucial to not only my Spanish vocab but to life in general.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is that I have been terribly busy: speaking Spanish like I have always wanted, meeting tons of new people, and falling in love with a new country all over again. The roller coaster of emotions is climbing a high hill right now without a drop in sight. However intimidating Spain will be, I am confident that it will remain exciting and new! Cheers to hoping it stays that way!

Pictures to follow whenever I have more time. Must to tell yall about Segovia, my first night out, my new Spanish predicament, and the beginnings of school. Until then. hasta luego.