Adiós, España

The adventure has officially come to an end. Usually at the end of my time in Spain, I am ready to return to my bed, American television, and free refills on Diet Coke. This time, I must admit it was a little harder to say goodbye to Spain.

In my last couple days, I explored Retiro (picture attached), ate late night/early morning churros and chocolate, and took three take-home finals and prepared for an in-class essay. I went shopping by myself in Sol for some last minute things (read: one purse, two pairs of shoes, etc.) on Friday afternoon when most of my friends had already left. Sometimes you can really gauge how much you like/identify with/feel comfortable in a city by walking around alone. It took me until my sixth time in Madrid, but I finally can say that I love that city. I am so lucky to have had this opportunity. ¡Hasta el próximo viaje!

Toledo y tapas...

On Saturday, we went with one of our professors to Toledo. It was approximately one million degrees out, but I still enjoyed seeing the city famous for the works of El Greco and for the coexistence of Christian, Jewish, and Moorish cultures (for which it has been named an UNESCO World Heritage Site). I especially appreciated seeing the painting “El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz” in person, because I teach my seniors about it.



I also was able to see my friend Marybeth from the University of Richmond twice this weekend. She has been living here since 2006. Friday night, “salimos a tapear” or rather, we went out for tapas. My new favorite is “pimientos del padrón.” The nightlife here is somewhat dictated by the metro because it closes at 1:30am and doesn’t open up until 6am. I fully blame the metro schedule for the fame of the madrileños going out all night… My Saturday night/Sunday morning ended with a “bocadillo de tortilla española” at 7am. Hey, I’m here to immerse myself in the culture after all!

¡Hicimos un picnic!

I realized I never listed my classes for this two-week period:

Semántica española
La enseñanza de español: La Morfología
La enseñanza de español: La Sintaxis
Metodología de la enseñanza del español como lengua extranjera
Cultura española

The schedule makes for an incredibly busy day (and often a bit of a headache), but it is well worth the effort. Each professor seems to have his own quirks, but I have been impressed overall with their level of knowledge.

Last night we had a picnic right by the Templo de Debod. It was the most eclectic group with which I have ever had the pleasure of sharing a blanket on the grass. My new friend Giorgia invited us. She is from Italy but has been in Spain since January and has learned the language incredibly quickly. There were two more people from Italy, two from Spain, one from Russia, one from Uzbekistan, two from France, three from the U.S. and two from China. We all communicated in various levels of Spanish. It was incredible! We talked about stereotypes and food and customs in all of our individual countries. I learned as much during our picnic as I could ever learn in a classroom.



Photo: El Templo de Debod at night

Muchas clases…

I finished the first set of classes on Friday (and all the accompanying final tests and compositions this morning)! Time is passing by very quickly. The sad news is that a bunch of my friends already went back to the US on Saturday! It’s crazy how quickly you can get attached to people! On Monday I started with my second group of classes. This time I am focusing more on education classes.

I really liked my grammar class during the first two weeks. My professor published a book on prepositions, and I couldn’t help but buy it. I asked him to “autograph” it for me. And yes, I realize how that makes me sound.

Today was incredibly busy. After my five hours of classes, we went to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. I had never been there before (after multiple trips to both the Prado and the Reina Sofía), so it was great to finally see it. A group of friends and I then went to “El Tigre,” a tapas bar in Chueca. From there we headed to the Templo de Debod for a free concert. I got back to the dorm around 10pm for what is officially an early night for the madrileños…
















(A fashion advertisement's play on "Las Meninas")

¡A Pamplona hemos de ir!

A little bit more detail about the trip to Pamplona. We had to get up super early to leave last Friday, and I had gotten in late the night before from the Bebe concert. I was hoping to sleep along the way but the people in charge of our program had other ideas. On the bus,they taught us some of the typical songs of the San Fermín festival. Here’s an example:

"Uno de enero, dos de febrero,
tres de marzo, cuatro de abril,
cinco de mayo, seis de junio,
siete de julio, ¡SAN FERMÍN!
A Pamplona hemos de ir, con una bota, con una bota,
a Pamplona hemos de ir con una bota y un calcetín."

We stopped along the way in Burgos and the director of our program gave us a tour of the city. He has to speak in English because some people wouldn’t understand him in Spanish. He is always saying funny things in a very thick accent. One of my friends says that he reminds her of Cervantes. The picture shows Dr. Ruiz addressing the group in a plaza in Burgos.

















We arrived in Pamplona later and immediately went out to buy the all-but-required white clothing and red scarf and belt. They say that the city of 200,000 swells to around 2 million on the weekend of the San Fermín festival. This was quite apparent everywhere we looked. All the hotels sell out way in advance, so many people stay up all night partying and then sleep in the parks or drive to a nearby beach to sleep during the day. Luckily, we didn’t have to go to those lengths. We stayed in a dorm much like the one in Madrid. A group of us went out to explore the city and buy tickets to the bull ring the next day. It proved to be much more difficult than we expected with a long walk and then longer lines, but we befriended some older Spaniards while in line who gave us some good tips on the best way to see the encierro. We grabbed a rather expensive dinner at the equivalent of a state fair (I suppose they can charge whatever they want during that week), and then the majority of the group headed back to the dorm. I, of course, stayed out to experience the celebration. The streets were completely packed everywhere we went. Many people’s white clothes had changed to purple (from wine being spilled at least once every 10 seconds somewhere in the city). We returned to the dorm around 3am only to have to wake up at 5am to go get a good spot at the bull ring. Many of the people at the Plaza de Toros had obviously been up all night. My friends and I sat between a group of drunken men in their 20s and a cute Spanish family. The juxtaposition was undeniable. We waited for hours until the main event. They showed the actual Running of the Bulls on big screens, and then all of a sudden people started to flood into the arena closely followed (or preceded) by the bulls. I would have absolutely ZERO interest in participating. No one died this year, but it is not uncommon. Americans are often getting injured because they don’t know the tricks.

















After the excitement we went back to the dorm and loaded the bus for my favorite place on earth: San Sebastián! I was a little disappointed to be dropped off at Playa Ondarreta on the far side of town only to be told that we had less than an hour before we would be heading to France. Luckily, three of my friends decided to accompany me across town past Playa de la Concha and over to the Parte Vieja. We had some of the most amazing “pintxos” (the Basque word for “tapas”), and then hopped in a cab to get back to the bus on time.


































From there we went to Biarritz, France. We hit the beach, and I got to eat a crepe, so I was happy. We returned to Pamplona in time for a quick nap before heading out. We made it to the park in time to watch the incredible firework display that more than made up for me missing the Fourth of July in the US. We then mingled with some Spaniards, pushed our way through the crowds, and took in the atmosphere. We made it back to the dorm at 6am, miraculously without a single drop of wine on my white outfit. The next day we stopped by the town of Medinaceli on our way back to Madrid. Oh yeah, and that was the night of the World Cup final. I think I am just now catching up on sleep.


Fuegos Artificiales de Pamplona:

¡Campeones del mundo!

I think the best way to convey the craziness of everything that has happened in the last couple days is through video. I am attaching three videos. The first is from Pamplona during Saturday morning’s “encierro” (the Running of the Bulls). The participants run for their lives down a set course on the streets of Pamplona and end when they enter the Plaza de Toros. This happens every morning at 8am for 8 days straight. Some people run it every single day of the Sanfermines. We purchased tickets to sit inside the bullring, and we watched the people pour in as the bulls pushed past them.

The second video is during the World Cup final last night. Some friends and I watched the game from the Plaza de Cibeles in the center of Madrid with approximately 200,000 other people. The video was taken directly after the win. The song that they are singing is “A por ellos, ¡Oe!”

The last video is from today. The team does a tour of the city while riding on top of a bus after any big win. This win, of course, is the biggest and most exciting of all time for Spain. The support for this team is mind boggling. We watched from Moncloa, but they went through the entire city. They passed directly next to where we were standing. What an incredible time to be in Spain! ¡Qué suerte que tengo yo!

¡Qué emoción!

I only have a moment to write, but so many exciting things are going on that I wanted to post quickly. Last night was insane! Watching the game outside the Real Madrid stadium was incredible/crazy/dangerous/unforgettable. I attached a video that I took directly after the win. I couldn’t fall asleep when I got home because of all the excitement. Plus, my ears were still ringing. I woke up this morning with no voice, though that was quickly solved by a healthy dose of Spanish coffee. They don’t mess around over here. I was worried about making it through my classes without falling asleep, but the professors managed to hold my attention.



Tonight, some friends and I are going to the Bebe concert. Bebe is a famous singer from southern Spain. I first started listening to her music while I was in Salamanca. She won Best New Artist and the Latin Grammy Awards in 2005. We leave at 5:30 tomorrow morning on a bus for Pamplona to see the Running of the Bulls. I’m hoping we return on Sunday night in time to watch the World Cup final back here in Madrid.

¡Que tengas un buen fin de semana!