Madrid

Hello everybody,

This is probably my last post on this blog. I have a week and two days still in Madrid, but I have exams and papers due all of the time left so I don't think you'll really want to hear about that.

Anyway I'm just going to leave you with a couple more things, and a bunch of "Spanish lessons" that I have written down that I didn't haven't told you before.

First off, in the rush to talk about Fez and Amsterdam last week I completely forgot what I had done in Madrid. Ali came to visit me for Thanksgiving not expecting anything expect a trip to Europe, but my host mom decided us a Thanksgiving dinner. We had mashed potatoes, peas, and an entire turkey with "stuff" = Spanish style stuffing, made of nuts and dried fruit soaked in brandy, very good. We had a great meal with the whole family, so Ali and I got a fun, different sort of thanksgiving.

My mom came this weekend to Madrid, and they had just turned on all the Christmas lights (Picture 1 -4) that have been hanging all over the city turned off for the past couple weeks, so we had plenty to see while we were walking around. Also this weekend in Spain there is a puente (= bridge) over the Monday because there is a holiday on Tuesday, so everyone gets Monday off. In other words Madrid was packed with people this weekend doing thing like seeing the lights and going to the Christmas markets. In Spain you can buy everything from the river of Bethlehem (Picture 5) to windmills (Picture 6) (we can't find the biblical references) for you family Nativity scene at Christmas.

We did all the Madrid things this weekend (the Prado and the Thyseen Museums) and also went to a Zarzuela show called "Los sobrinos de Capitan Grant" (= The niece and nephew of Capitan Grant.) (Picture 8) Zarzuela is kind of like a mix of an opera and a play, but not a musical (the songs are less dramatic, more operatic). The genre started in Madrid, which is the only place it is preformed in Spain, and the scenery (at least for this production) was great, so Mom was entertained even though she didn't really understand what was going on. We also got to go out with my host family a lot this weekend, and went out to lunch with all of them (picture 7) on Sunday, so Mom got to meet my whole family over hear.

I hope everyone has enjoyed my blog and I can't wait to see you all in a couple weeks.

Hasta pronto

Brent

Spanish Lesson

Majo = nice, agreeable, warm, close, etc. (all at once to describe someone)

Hacer un calvo = (literally = to make a bald) to moon someone

Llover un huevo = (literally = to rain an egg) to rain a lot

Pesado = stupid, annoying, uneducated, etc. (again all used at once to describe the same person)

Side note: in Spain they are much more willing to tell you what they think. At home if someone does something unintelligent they will right away be called pesado or pesada. People can go from criticizing to complementing each other in the same sentence.

Soso = bland (used to describe food or people)

Tío/Tía = (literally = uncle/aunt) dude/dudette, guy, etc. (a general word used to refer to someone)

Habla como un camionero = (literally = talk like a truck driver) curse a lot. I guess sailors aren't as important in Spanish culture ...

Y yo = and I. This is used when telling a story, instead of saying "And then I said," usually followed by a facial expression or curse word.

Probar = to try food vs. Intentar = to try to do something

Cola = line (one us stand in), also means tail in Spanish. I like the metaphor.