Madrid

Holas,

To start out today, I'm going to give y'all a sampling of some of the conversation topics that come up and lunch and dinner in my host family:

• A proverb: "El hombre es el único animal que tropieza con la misma piedra tres veces." = "Man is the only animal who trips over the same rock three times." They were saying this to make fun of my host madre and host abuela (grandmother) for making the same mistake over and over again. They countered back that it shows their intelligence, and how separated they are from other animals
• El ratonillo de dientes: Instead of a tooth fairy in Spain there is a mouse named Perez who brings presents to children who have lost there teeth. My madre accidentally told Miriam that this mythical creature did not exist when she left a note under her pillow asking for 20 euros. Assuming that Miriam did not believe in Perez any longer, she called her out.
• When Spainards sing "Happy Birthday to You" in English they always end by saying "Happy Birthday Mr. President" a la Marilyn Monroe, instead of filling in whomever's name.

I'm keeping a list of conversations that interest me at dinner,and may be posting some more, so y'all can get a little bit of Spanish culture , and not just hear about my travels.

I spent this last week and weekend in Madrid also. We're starting to get to the point of the trip where parent's are coming to visit, so we are slowly experiencing some of the non-tapas restaurants of Madrid. My friend Caroline's parent's took us to Botin near plaza mayor. Picture 1 is of the suckling pig they brought out to the table to cut in front of us, because about half the table had ordered it. Apparently in Spain, as my host family says, people eat every single part of the pig. Nevertheless, we did not indulge in the head you can see. I did however try a piece of a seso at home, which is a fried lamb brain. It was not my favorite dish.

On Friday we went to Segovia, (Pictures 7 and 8) a town about and hour north of Madrid in Castilla y Leon. The main attraction here is a Roman aqueduct that has been functioning for about 2000 years. It is no longer in use now, but the structure still remains are sturdy as when it was built (picture 6). The other great thing about Segovia was the feeling of Autumn there. While Madrid's weather (with the exception of the beginning of this week) has been pretty brisk, other than in the on the trees there is really no indication of the season. Both in Segovia and La Granja(Picture 5), the "Mini-Versailles" of Spain, right outside of the town, the leaves were all Fall colors, you could see the mountains, and the air felt really crisp like a Virginia or North Carolina Fall. Also, we apparently all have good luck from visiting la Granja because there was a wedding party leaving as we arrived. It seems too be an indication of good luck in Spain if there is a wedding happening when you first visit somewhere. (Picture 4)

On Saturday night we went to The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnasus, Heath Ledger's last movie. For some reason it was released in Spain before America (this never happens), but don't be jealous. I was expecting big things and was disappointed.

The next day, a couple of us got up early in the morning to go hiking in Cercedilla, again north of the city of Madrid, but still within the autonomous community. It was again perfect fall weather, but still just warm enough to wear shorts. (Pictures 10 and 11).

The other two pictures are just interesting things I saw around Madrid this week.

Picture 3: While walking down the El Paseo de la Castellana, I see this guy on a unicycle pedal out into the middle of the cross walk and start juggling in front of the stopped cars. I don't know if he was expected tips, but it does not seem to be the most logical business strategy.

Picture 9: Ejercito del Aire is the name of the Spanish Air force. I just like the sound of the name of this branch of the armed forces meaning "Army of the Sky." The fantastical feel is not diminished by the palace-looking building in which its offices reside.

Buenas

Brent

Spanish Lesson:

Here a couple word that I hear all the time, but wouldn't really know how to use if I were speaking. I'll give you the context and then my attempt to define them.

Hombre, chaval, macho: Masculine interjections?

Used all the time in conversation. My favorite example is when Juan and/or Borja is watching soccer on TV and yelling at the players. "Vamos Macho" or something along those lines. All of these words mean something masculine, but they are not restricted at all to men. If someone asks you for clarification you could say, "Pues, hombre" talking to your mom sister or amiga, as well as anyone of the male sex.

Venga: "Y'all come back now you hear?" except only directed at one person.

It's kind of an informal way of saying goodbye of see you later, even though you would still say "Venga, Hasta Luego" and not be redundant. Venga literally is the formal command of venir = "to come," but this is never used formally. It could also mean "Come on," but in a sort of rude manner it seems like to me.

This one I do understand.

-dero: you can add this suffix to the end of food's names to refer someone who really likes this food. I've been called a "panedero" (bread fiend) and "salsadero" (one who likes sauces).

Buenas

Okay so it’s been a while, but if I gathered correctly from the wedding no one (except Grandpa) is keeping up very well with this blog. I’m sorry to anyone who is and had to wait two weeks for another insightful post.

I’m in Madrid for the next two weekends and was this weekend likewise, so there probably

We watch the news everyday at lunch on Antena 3 which I think is on channel 6 (not sure why), but here are a couple of news stories I thought were interesting::

· To stop the bolletón-s (groups of teenagers drinking in parks and other public place) from occurring, the government is placing noise making devices around the city that emit a sound that only people younger than 24 can hear. In other word Spanish police have no control. My host mom said that the kids “tirar su pelo” which means “mess with” (literally pull their hair, think pull their leg).

· SSietes, Austurias: Microsoft is coming here to release windows 7, the new operating system for windows. Austurias is in the north, and apparently Sietes (Seven-s) (from the news story) the town is quite rural and has very little computers.

Next week is midterm week for Duke in Madrid (our only real time to study this semester before finals), so I ventured to the public library to write my paper for Arte. If anyone has ever sat in a college library and watched the international students, it’s basically the same thing, except everyone is an international student. So if you haven’t been in this situation let me explain. An American college student usually brings their computer to the library more to be able to take a break then to study. Facebook, Gmail, and Sporcle, take up probably about as much time as text book reading or paper writing. In Spain very few people have laptops, or at least none bring them to the library. Instead they bring packs of cigarettes. I think the breaks are definitely more frequent, but they could just appear that way because there is always a parade of people going in out and out of the study area to and from cigarette breaks. So not only is this habit more expensive and less healthy than Facebook, but you can’t even do it while you’re pretending to study. So I think the Americans win the contest in terms of best use of procrastinating time. Oh and by the way, the public library closes here at nine, so I’m not exactly sure when any work gets done if all the time there is spent smoking.

Switching gears: Madrid is beautiful right now. I sadly don’t have any pictures for you, but the weather feels like late fall in the shade and early summer in the sun. It’s also great living right next to Retiro in this weather. The park has fountains and statues all over the place. There’s a glass palace next to a small lake where black swans live, and when I was running the other day I went past a group of peacocks, underneath ivy-covered columns. (Picture 1, I stole this from the internet)

The night life here is entirely too expensive. It costs between 10 and 20 euros to get into clubs. After you get over the fact that you spent $30 to get into a discotec they’re definitely worth it. A lot have acrobats (Picture 2) or other people of that sort that perform at random intervals throughout the night. Some of my friends have also become club promoters, so we know which clubs will let you in for free usually.

In other news, On Saturday I stumbled out of my house in the late afternoon after finishing my paper which I had worked on for the past three mornings, and started walking over towards Atocha. Masses of people were walking past me, but in my daze I didn’t notice until one of them bumped in to me. Turns out I had just missed and Anti – Abortion Rally. At the moment in Spain abortion is legal, but there is a bill that would put more restrictions on it, and possibly illegalize it. This is not your typical anti abortion rally. People had bused in from all over Spain to show their support for this law. I told my host madre I had seen it and she said Miriam (my host sister) and her friend had gone. Now I don’t know about you, but I know no-one who has ever been to an abortion rally of any kind. Only political extremists and radical churches go to abortion rallies in the United States. My conclusion is that either Spain is more politically active, or an abortion rally in Spain is much closer to a middle school dance than a protest. I’ll never know though because everyone was leaving as I arrived. Picture 3 is a collection of souvenirs (read: trash) I collected from this event. So after this the bike race and the día de la corzonada, I’ve made it a rule to go to Paseo del Prado on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Finally I went to a bullfight today. I thought it was thought it was very interesting and entertaining and here are some pictures from it. It was not the highest quality bullfight according to Borja, but everyone thought the matador in picture 7 did a good job, so they all got up and waved their handkerchiefs. I’m not sure if he did a good job or was just a crowd pleaser. Lay down in front of the bull when it stopped charging and would pose for the crowd when he had done something well. I tried to capture these moments on camera, but I was too slow.

Hasta luego

Brent

Spanish Lesson:

Two general things about the Spanish is Spain:

· VVery formal: Some of the words that they use sound very formal, just because they come from Latin, but other expressions are just more formal than they need to be. So if you were ever sitting in Spanish class thinking, “This is ridiculous, no one actually speaks like this” you were probably wrong. Examples:

o “El tren va a efectuar su parada en la estación”: This means “the train is about to arrive” on the signs in the metro. They could easily say “Va a llegar” = “Will arrive”, but instead they say “Will effect it’s entry.”

o An essay on a test is called a redacción (like redact) not an ensayo (essay) which is also a word.

· PPronunciation: Words taken from other languages (with a few exceptions) are pronounced as if they were Spanish words. I first noticed this with gourmet, with the t pronounced on the end. I wasn’t sure if that was just my host family pronouncing it wrong. Then my Arte teacher said Manet and Monet with the T’s on the end, so I’m assuming she’s got some knowledge of how to pronounced in Spanish. Moral of the story is if you go into McDonald’s say you want a “Mcfloory” not a “Mcflurry”

Barcelona

Fascinating city.

Since we were only there a weekend I'm just going to give you the pros and cons.

Pros:

• Sagrada Familia (last two pictures): Masterpiece by Guadi. It's still under construction. I love th project and the different styles that are used as architecture has evolved over 100 years.
• Gaudi: Genuis/ crazy (the last five pictures). His work in Barcelona makes the entire town feel different
• Mercado: Right at the center (picture number 4) of town, next to las Ramblas. A friend and I ate a traditional meal of cataluyna (the way they spell it). We got fish, potatoes, noodles, and a moose type dessert all for 3 euros.
• Beach: One thing that Madrid is sadly lacking
• Nationalism: Consider themselves a separate nation. Provides interesting contrast with Madrid.

Cons:

• Catalan: They speak this language here, not castillian Spanish (what is spoken in madrid and south america). Most people can speak both, but if you do speak to them in Spanish, they will revert to English.
• Attitude: Goes along with the previous point. Seem to be a lot more uppity and meaner (in general) then people I have met in Madrid.
• Touristy: Much more people speaking English, and more crowded than Madrid by far. This may cause the previous to cons.
• Nationalism: This may too cause the attitude in Barcelona.

Enjoy the pictures.

Spanish Lesson:

In their efforts to make me a cool Spaniard, my family here wants to make sure I'm up on my slang. I too will try to teach you this skill with this vocabulary.

Giro: colloquialism

Molón: cool (adjective). Much better to say then guay,which is what little kids and parents say. I guess it would using groovy without being ironic.

Mazo: a lot, very (slang)

Pringado: Loser (pronounced prin ga o).

In other words: Say molón not guay if you want to not be

Madrid

Hello,

Here are two thoughts/suggestions I'll leave you with before I leave for Barcelona:

1. If you're in Madrid in the next couple weeks see Casa de Bernarda Alba. I went on Tuesday night to this play by Federico Garcia Lorca, and it was great. I recommend you read the play regardless of if you're going to see it or not, but the cast at Matadero de Naves and the stage set up were very impressive.

2. Public Transportation:

The fact that most people get around this city with public transportation creates this odd sense of privacy in public spaces. This especially apparent when you're travelling around in the Metros. The other day I was sitting next to a man who was playing music on his phone out loud for the entire world to here. And it wasn't like he was just finishing up the song he was listening to. I was on the bus with him for a good twenty five minutes, enough time for him to play go through three or four songs. The best part was the other people's reactions. There were two main reactions. Either people try to avert their gaze, honoring this unwritten rule that everyone is entitled to their privacy in this space that is exactly the opposite, or they look around trying see what other people's reactions are. Heaven forbid they confront this man or ask him to turn his music down. They two want to respect his right to do whatever he pleases, but want to get the satisfaction of knowing that other people are also judging him for his decision of how to conduct himself on the metro.

This music man is not the only person who knows how to take advantage of the metro. Teenagers ride around drinking alcohol, couples make out with out any protection from onlooking eyes, younger boys push and wrestle with each other, and groups of Americans take advantage of this private area to practice their English at amplified volumes. Nonetheless all of the Spaniards revere their vow of silence and refuse to interrupt.

Spanish Lesson:

Grupúsculo = faction, covert group.

I ran across this word in a reading for class. It's basically a mix of two words 1. grupo (you can guess what that means) and 2. crepúsculo = twilight.

So although this word can just mean faction, it has a sort of sinister nature to it. A meeting of a grupúsculo would have to happen a midnight while no one was watching. It implies some sort of inherent sneaky nature to another dissenting faction.

Adios