Jardin de Capricho

Went adventuring with David and meant to find el Parque Juan Carlos I.  Found Jardin de Capricho instead.  Quite a fortuitous find!  It was beautiful, with lots of little structures, lakes, hedges, trees, flowers...you name it!  We meandered around for awhile and then enjoyed a luscious plot of grass for a little descend.  I even got to ride alllllll the way to the end of a metro line in order to get there!

 After the park and before looking for the metro stop, David and I went to a really cook tiki cafe/bar to have a drink and enjoy the outside a little more.  We waited and sat outside, but no one came to get our order.  Then we inquired inside if we order in there or our, and after being informed that we order outside, we waited some more.  Finally after about 25 minutes, we decided to leave.  At least we got a free patio sitting, which never happens in this country considering if you eat outside there is an extra charge.

Entrance to the Garden

First thing we saw....I felt like I was in a fairytale 

This one's for you, Ma.

We "accidentally" crossed a rope and ended up walking on the wrong side of the lake/river for quite some time

mini castel/artillery bunker thing

crazy red squirrels. like really, red

Gnarled Barkley

Greek statue up on the hill

Unfortunately a lot of things were off limits, like this really cute little bridge

End of the Metro line!

Alcalá de Henares

Went to Alcalá de Henares with a small group of IES.  Its a cute little town, pretty close to Madrid.  Most well known for the University and being the birthplace of Miguel Cervantes.

Me and Miguel

While we were there we saw the archeological museum, which was cool because it had artifacts and bones from all the pre modern human days in the Iberian Peninsula.

Can't forget Sancho...

We also saw lots of churches and convents (but thank dios we only saw the outsides).  Alcalá is known for convents because Madrid had to many so the municipal government said they couldn't build anymore, so they started building them in Alcalá.

2nd longest street with roman pillars (although these are not he original, as those were made out of wood.

We also saw the house where Cervantes was born (maybe) but we also saw the original text of Don Quixote, which was actually published on a street really close to where I live now!

Cervantes' birthplace 

We also went to this really old theater, and saw some of the original things they used to make sounds, like wind, and storm sounds. It was a cool round theater with balcony seating separate for the women and men.

Teatro de Comedias

Original beams supporting the theater

Alcalá was cute and quaint.

cute + quant

When I came home, there was a jewelry store robbery on the street.  Pilar and I watched the events unfold from the balcony.  Well, we didn't see the robbery, just the aftermath. The police were taking pictures and then the news crew came and so we turned on the TV, and there we were! Calle Cavanilles was on Telemadrid!

Pilar though maybe someone was dead inside, since they roped off the scene and didn't let people in, but it turns out they were just collecting evidence.  I also learned that its illegal in Spain to own a gun, unless you have special permission, or you are ex-military or something.  Which confuses me, since there is also a gun store at the end of our street, and I'm pretty sure the sign says open to the general public.

Last night I went out again with my Spanish intercambio, Sergio, and som friends from his masters program.  They are mostly a little older, but one of his friends, Blanca, is really nice and I've hung out with her a few times.  I really like her a lot, she even invited me to go to Ronda, which is the small town she lives in near Málaga.

Me and Sergio

Today I woke up and had breakfast with Pilar and Sergey! It was our first family breakfast together! We had tortillitas (pancakes).  I also had Cola Cao, which is Spanish version Nesquick.


I also went to Sergey's soccer game today, unfortunately they lost.  Pilar couldn't come because she had to help her brother fix up his apartment he is trying to sell.  Its such a different culture at the soccer game.  There is no half time snack, the fields are close together so when the balls come over from another field, its just no big deal and they keep playing.  Also, it isn't as important that parents are there to watch their kids.  There are a lot of dads that go, eating their sunflower seeds, and cheering on their kids or commenting on the game, as dads do, but there really aren't nearly as many parents as would be at our games.  Also, they just have practice once a week, and last week Sergey missed both practice and the game because he had to study...which wouldn't fly on any team I was on.

I'm glad I went though, to support my little bro.  He was sad after the game since they lost, and didn't really acknowledge my existence, until I said hi and a quick bye.  But I know how nice it is to have family or friends supporting me at my sports games, so I think/hope he appreciated it and it made him feel good that I wanted to come!


Came home for a big big comida, and now I'm looking forward to my afternoon siesta.  I haven't taken one of those in a long time.

Spring time in Madrid

Spring is here and I've had a great day to show for it!

It started off with my my Spanish midterm....weird that I'm already half way done with the school semester here.  Anyway, afterwards, my friend Julie and I sunbathed in the IES courtyard, just laying on the ground, it was so nice! I didn't even wear a jacket or scarf today.

yummy tapas

Then I went to Lavapies, the cool international funky neighborhood in Madrid.  On the metro, we ran into my intercambio (exchange friend to practice english and spanish) and it was very random and fun to just run into a friend, and a Spanish one!

In Lavapiés we had cañas (cup of beer) with some friends outside of a cute funky restaurant called La Buga del Lobo (The Wolf's Mouth). It is kind of a Guatemalan restaurant but with a Spanish flavor.  More Spanish than Guatemalan. They also gave us some of the best little tapas I have had so far in Spain, kind of Pinxos style, which are tapas from the north.  David left early, but Ed and I stayed there and eventually got kicked out of our table outside because we were done with our beer but still sitting outside and other people came up who wanted the table and chairs.  However, we didn't get kicked out, but simply moved inside and given a free beer and more tapas!!

Free beers!

Anyway, after that I wandered home, pretty tipsy from the beer (being relatively small and having still not eaten lunch by 4 pm).  I walked through a really cool street that had carts and tables of used books for sale, and it took me right to one of the gates leading into El Retiro.  Then I walked through Retiro, enjoying all of the blooms on the trees.  SO BEAUTIFUL.

Came home and ate the yummy leftovers from last night since I skipped dinner to play soccer instead.


Soccer, I should talk about that too.  Some kids in the program organized a weekly soccer game on Wednesday nights.  I haven't played soccer since I was 12, but I finally decided to go after my friend Julie  tried to make me come for a month now.  It was so much fun.  And I wasn't as bad as I thought I would be.  I am definitely going every week!  Running in the park is nice, but its great to be able to play an organized game again!!!

¡Feliz Finde!

Learned a great new word from my Spanish intercambio...


finde- (n) derived from the phrase "fin de semana" which means weekend.


Anyway, I had a good one in Madrid this finde.


It started off on Thursday with a much overdue and much needed run.  Ever since the shin splints and illness (which I'm still still still getting over) I have been kind of out of commission and lazy. NO MORE!


Thursday afternoon I met with my intercambio, Sergio, and some of the other kids who have intercambios.  But really no one came to the meeting, except 4 American kids and my intercambio and one other, who is friends with Sergio.  She is really nice, Blanca, and said that we should all hang out, so thats another Spanish friend to add to the list!


Anyway, Thursday night I did a bit of Tapas bar hopping with Jenna, which is always a delight.  We even botelloned at the end (drank a bottle of wine in the center of the plaza just people watching the Spaniards go by), which is actually illegal but everyone does it.  We made friends with some Portuguese guys sitting next to us and chatted a bit in Spanish.


Friday was off to Toledo with IES.  Its great to see these places again, because a) I don't remember much from my whirlwind week in Spain.  b) It looks different in winter.  c) I'm not seeing everything from just a Jewish perspective.


Toledo was nice. A small escape from the city, with narrow winding streets.  We saw a really cool cathedral (yeah this one actually was pretty cool and stands out more than the others) and church and a convent.  Oh wait, there was a synagogue (WHAT?!) thrown in there somewhere.  It was nice to see some Hebrew and the Spanish explanations of all the Jewish stuff, like the circumcision knife...

artsy fartsy picture in the cathedral

Cool painting on the wall (it was huge) of a Saint holding baby Jesus and carrying him over the river

Sun light in the cathedral to let the angels in 9or out?).  Reallllly cool. the ceiling was painted and there were sculptures of angels around the top. 

The bishops...the most recent ones

Hebrew! outside where the tombs were.

translation

convent patio. very pretty.

During free time I walked along the river with some friends, which was a great break from the museuming and church touring.  I got to eat my lunch with an awesome view over the Rio Tejo.

lunch vista

hoodlums at the river.

Really cool river graffiti

Toledo is also really big on marzipan, they have marzipan shops everywhere! I didn't get one, and was really regretting it on the bus, but then some girl offered me part of hers and it was delicious!


Friday night was pretty uneventful.  I did manage to speak to more random people in Spanish, after these guys asked me to take their picture.  They were a group of middle aged men from the south of Spain, all friends from high school and on their yearly excursion to Madrid.  They were very friendly (probably a little borracho) and then they invited us to join them for drinks, but the girls I was with declined, probably a good idea.


The highlight of Saturday was going to see La Casa de Bernarda Alba, a classic play by Federico García Lorca that I had to see for class.  I have read this play twice, seen the movie once, but still, the best way to experience a play is to actually see it on stage.  It was a really memorable experience, seeing this Spanish classic in a small intimate theater in Spain.  I had an awe moment when I realized I was actually seeing a García Lorca play in Spain.  The interpretation was interesting, and honestly a little strange at some parts, but it was still really exciting and fun to see.

Backdrop for the La Casa de Bernarda Alba

After the play and some other shenanigans, I went bar hopping with a few kids in the trendy alternative area of Madrid.  We ended up running into another girl on our program and her "really rich"36 year old dentist man she has been seeing for a week.  Anyway, they were there for a birthday party, so we kind of got to join in on that and next thing I knew I had made another Spanish friend!  There were two girls I was talking to, one whose name I don't remember, but the other one was Virginia, who is a pharmacist.  She was really really nice and really excited to talk to me, and wanted to make sure I didn't leave without exchanging numbers.  That being said, I am not too sure on the calling back policy or whatever for 30 year old female pharmacist friends...this is uncharted territory for me.  Anyway, one of the funniest parts of the night is that all these people we were with smoke.  I was dying at the hypocrisy of the situation, the dentists (a lot of them were dentists), pharmacist, and other professional people all going outside for their cigarettes.  


After the leaving the bar I made my way to the night bus.  The very nice bus driver offered me a carmello as I was coughing up my right lung.  Maybe he was just annoyed with all my coughing since I was sitting right near the drivers seat, but anyway I declined the carmello explaining that I have a deep chest cough and a carmello wouldn't do anything.  I then spent the rest of the bus ride trying to stifle my coughs, or at least limit them to 5 per minute.  Was in bed by 4 though, so it was an early night. 


Today I went to a really great museum, Museo de Sorolla.  Sorolla is a Spanish artist and the museum is in his old house.  Its a great museum because although it has his whole collection of paintings, it is also in his beautiful house, with gorgeous gardens styled after gardens or courtyards in south Spain, and personal items.  It also explains a lot about his career and technique.  One of the rooms was his studio, and it was set up in more or less the same way, with all of his art supplies still there as well.  Also, a lot of the rooms were designed to be very specific, like the studio, and he even commissioned a room to look like one of the rooms in El Escorial, that monastery I went to a few weeks ago.  It was a great museum because it was more than just paintings and titles, and you could really see into the life and style of this guy.

Garden modeled after the generalife at the Alhambra

Self portrait of Sorolla

room modeled after El Escorial (note the blue tiles on the wall)

My favorite cuadro chiquitito

Tiffany's lamp from New York circa 1911

Sorolla's art supplies

On the way there I also saw a plaque on a house where Severo Ochoa, a famous Spanish scientist from the Franco era, used to live.  That was unexpected and cool.

To finish off Sunday, I went on a run in Retiro and ended up making another Spanish friend, also over 30.  This guy Christian just started talking to me as I was stretching in the grass under the beautifully blooming almond trees.  I guess he likes to talk to strangers, but he is a translator and was great to talk to because he was really into talking and correcting me.  We chatted for a long time about a lot of stuff, but then I got cold since it was not a typical sunny Madrid day, and so I had to go.  We exchanged numbers, he invited me to hang out and maybe play tennis or volleyball with him and his friends in the park, since he's a big sports guy.  


Anyway, I'm 4/4 on making Spanish friends this finde!  Now I just need to figure out when to actually hang out with all these people...


I came home, did some homework (boo, I hate that reality has to exist here) and then had dinner with Pilar and Sergey.  I was so hungry I scarfed down the fried rice/fish freezer bag on top of fried potatoes/ham freezer bag, on top of fried pork filets.  Just as I was taking one of my last bites of filet, thinking it was the saltiest thing I had ever eaten, Pilar took a bite and said that the filets lacked some salt, did I want to add some?


WHAT?! But hey, thats Spain for ya...

Carnaval

Wrote this awhile ago and forgot to post it...oops!

This week is Carnaval, so there were lots of people walking around Madrid in costumes.  I went to the parade last night in Madrid, it was a pretty family event.  The best part were all the little kids in costumes.  The parade started in Retiro, the park right by my house, and then I followed it all the way down to where it ended. There were people in costumes, floats, bands, puppets, etc...The last part of the parade was the cleaning crew coming through at the end to clean up the parade, which is why this city is so clean! 

Everyone lined up through the Retiro gate to watch the parade.  

music

fire

float

I think he is the king of carnival or something like that

cool giant puppet things. it was great how they interacted with each other.

chinese dragon

Cute little girl in a mouse costume

The next night of carnival weekend I went to a party at Jenna's apartment (she goes to Oxy with me but is here independently working and not on the IES program).  It was great because I got to speak a lot of Spanish with her roommates and their friends. I needed a quick costume to I went to the neighborhood "chino" store and found these horns for 1 euro.  Worked perfectly with black jeans and a red shirt!

My devil "costume"