Photo Update Saturday, Feb 28 2009

I didn’t do too many terribly interesting things this week, so I thought I’d update with a couple of photos.

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Carnaval, take two. Sunday, Feb 22 2009

Okay, I said that I’d keep you updated as I thought of things to inform you about:
1. If you travel to Europe, Africa, or Asia, you being to identify with the British flag after a while because it signifies that something is in English.  That’s right, no American flag.
2. A slang word for someone living in Madrid is “gato” (cat).  The story behind it is kind of gross.  There were a ton of cats in Madrid before 1936 but they disappeared between 1936 and 1939 (the years of the Spanish civil war, or “Guerra Civil”).  If that doesn’t clarify it for you, at dinner sometimes, someone would ask “what is this meat?” or “what are we eating?” and the host would say like chicken or beef, and someone else at the table might let out a little “meow” and you would know what you were really eating.  Got it?

So, this week we kind of had an intercambio exchange.  The English speaking kids from my program got together and exchanged numbers with Spanish students studying English.  I got the phone numbers of 5 really nice girls and at some point I’m supposed to call them, or they call me, and we get coffee or tapas together or something and talk for about half an hour.  15 minutes in English where I correct them and 15 minutes in Spanish where they correct me.  I’m looking forward to it, but I feel like making the initial call is going to be awkward.

And today I went to Ciudad Rodrigo to celebrate Carnaval!  It was a good time.  I had an eye mask and took lots of pictures.  We watched the running of the bulls, which was exciting.  The bulls run through the city and into the Plaza Mayor where all of these walls and bleachers are set up.  The walls have like, rivets on them, so that the people in the plaza with the bulls can jump onto the rivets to escape from the bulls if necessary.

Then, Bree and I watched the bullfight.  Things to know about bullfights:
1. They will get packed quickly, so get there early.
2. An average fight has 4-6 bulls/matadors.
3. The bullfight has three parts;
-The picador, a man on a horse stabs the bull in the pack when the bull inevitably attacks the horse.
-Two guys with two pointy things each attempt to stick the pointy things into the bull’s back.
-The matador fights the bull.

And people were dressed up this weekend, it was fun.  I know I always end these things in a rush, but it’s like 1am on a Saturday, and I’m staying in, but the Spanish kids are going out at some point and I want to hang out with them before they head out.  So, hasta luego.

Very truly yours,
Virginia

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Another splendid weekend. Sunday, Feb 15 2009

So, I will begin where I left off, Friday.  On Friday, Bree and I hung out with the Spanish students in my building for like, half an hour.  It was A LOT of fun.  There were like 2 nice girls and 4 really funny guys.  A song started playing and one of the guys, the funniest one, Simon, asked Javi to interpret it for us.  Apparently it was about a man who loved a women and when she left him he wanted to hang himself by the elastic in her underwear.  Weird, sure, but songs from the US sound strange when translated into Spanish (evidence: anything by Chris Brown).  One of the guys, Sam, spends his summers in England so he speaks English really well, and Javi is pretty good at English as well.  Still, Bree and I tried to speak as much Spanish to them as possible.  Sam was dressed as a genie (for Carnaval <– and I’m not spelling it wrong, that’s how they spell it in Spain) but decided not to go out.  So, after, Bree, Courtney and I went to El Sabor, a salsa club, with a group of other students from the United States.  Good decision.  Bree and I were just twirling each other when two Brazilian guys came up and danced with us for a little while.  They were really nice and really good dancers.  They didn’t speak a lick of English (Lucas, that one’s for you, I hope you just cringed).  Anyway, after some time, the group we were with wanted to leave El Sabor so Bree and I said “adios” to our new friends and went to Dolce Vita.  It was fun, were there there a little bit and then went home.

Saturday was great.  Mostly because Bree and I ran about 3 miles.  I love running, it makes any day better.  We went to a really pretty park that we intend on going back to next weekend to take pictures.  Then, I discovered a really cool sports complex.  It has a track and soccer fields and tennis courts.  Then, Zain and I went for pinchos (think, appetizers) at this place called “El Abuelo.”  It was really delicious.  And then I stayed in last night and watched “A Good Year.”  I liked it a lot.

So, here’s the good part, I went to church today.  Pues, I’m Catholic and go to mass (misa), which is a universal ceremony.  Never before had I appreciated that so much.  While everything was in a different language, I still knew when to sit, stand, kneel, say the Our Father, the Apostles Creed, and when to shake hands with the people sitting around me.  That part, the “Peace be with you” “and also with you” part, I’ve always taken for granted, until today.  What an incredible idea, to incorporate into a weekly ceremony, to shake hands with a stranger next to you, so they can feel included.  And I really did.  When the old couple sitting next to me shook my hand, and when the woman and her son sitting behind me looked me in the eye and said “paz,” I felt like a part of their community.

I think that’s where I’m going to leave you this time.  I have some homework to do for “Mass Media, Television and Cinema.”

Very truly yours,
Virginia

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It’s pronounced Mah-dreis. Friday, Feb 13 2009

So, last weekend.  I suppose, if you’re following my adventures, you know I have met and become quite close to two boys who live in Switzerland.  Last weekend was their, well, last weekend in Spain.  It was a sad but enjoyable time.  Friday was their last night and we spent it watching Phillip’s illegal Chinese copy of Best Friend’s Girl on Sebastian’s mac.  It was my pick, bad choice.

Saturday morning I woke up really early to get on a bus to Toledo.  We went and took pictures that the most beautiful view of Toledo.  Apparently the greatest painting of it is in the Met and it’s by El Greco.  The man has a real name, but in the 16th century he was the only Greek living in Toledo, so that’s what they called him.  We went to see his best work in the Church of Thomas.  It was a mural painted in the tomb of some lord.  You can look at the painting here: I wish I had known how to do that before…hmm…Alright, well, let me walk you through it.  First, divide the painting in 4, separate the left and the right and separate heaven from earth.  On earth, the man being laid in his grave (because the grave in the church is just below this picture, that man is Lord Orgaz, and he’s being laid in his grave by Saint Augustine (holding his back) and Saint Stephen (holding his legs).   Then, interestingly, El Greco put himself in this portrait.  If you look at the man in the hood (that’s death) then look at the man turned towards him…and then count three heads over, the head with the hand just in front of it, that’s El Greco (breaking the 4th wall, looking right at you).  Also, the young boy that’s sort of showing you the portrait at the bottom left side, that’s El Greco’s son.  And up in heaven, the image of Mary has El Greco’s wife’s face…so it’s kind of like a family portrait.  Our guide said that he knew this would be his best work, and so that’s why he put his family in it.  Now, moving on to heaven.  Entering heaven is an angel that’s holding an image that looks like a baby, that’s the soul rising to heaven.  On the left side is Mary and behind on the cloud below her is David, Moses and Noah.  On the cloud above her is Peter holding the keys to heaven.  Our guide asked why Peter was holding two keys, it’s because Jesus, in the Bible, told Peters that he would have the keys to heaven, so every artist has had to depict him with at least two keys.  On the right side of heaven is John the Baptist.  And that’s what we learned.

Also, the word “Gothic” means light.  The Gothic period is when architects learned how to reinforce walls and structures so that more holes, windows if you will, could be made so that more light could get in.  So it makes no sense that kids that wear black are called Gothic.  Hmm.

It seems that I took many notes in Toledo and none in Madrid.  Hmm, let me recant things by memory.  On Saturday night we arrived in Madrid.  Kari and I went to Grand Via (main street in every city in Spain, basically) and we went to some shops JuanMa had told me about.  Nothing was too intriguing.  Then, my Kappa sister, Michelle, came with Kaitlin (her roommate and a fellow Drake student) and Carlos (previously a highly revered international student at Drake who lives in Madrid) and they took us out.  It was very nice to maneuver Madrid with people who were familiar with it.  Then, Sunday we took a tour of Madrid.  We had a terrible guide, however, we ended at El Prado (the big museum) and that was GREAT!  I finally got to see the paintings I’d been studying.  We saw stuff by Goya, Velásquez (the painter of Las Maninas that I had a previous post about) and El Greco.  Then, we had 5 and a half hours of free time and no suggestions.  Pues (“so” in Spanish), Kari, Bree and I ate lunch and walked the grounds of El Prado, which was beautiful.

Now, it’s Friday.  Last night was Carnaval for el Universidad de Salamanca (think, Halloween).  I went out as Eurotrash, basically, I just wore my skinny jeans, a black shirt, flats, my pasmina, sunglasses and did my eye makeup and hair ridiculously.  It was great.  I was worried that the joke would be lost on the Europeans, even better, the irony, significantly more people approached or talked to me yesterday than ever before.  So good.  I think they celebrate Carnaval for the next week or so (similar to Halloween, we have Halloween parties all weekend).  I got some good pictures of groups of students dressed up.   This whole group of girls was “Where’s Waldo”  and a group of boys were Little Red Riding Hood…in plastic skirts and capes.  Oh yeah, almost all the guys cross-dressed, except Zain, who was a conquistador.  That was lost on the Spanish…I guess it’d be like someone in the States being a Pilgrim.  Maybe not?

Oh, and I’ve been trying to find a place to fit this in…random things I’ve learned from being abroad.  I suppose I’ll have more as they come back to me and as time goes by, so far I’ve learned:
Objects can be used in infinite ways.  We’ve used windowsills as refrigerators and the back end of a pen as a spoon (after cleaning it).  The heating unit in my room has dried my clothes and towels more than once and Spanish magazines can be useful in helping you do your grammar homework.  Additionally, tonic can take sangria stains out of clothes and straighteners can also curl hair.  Oh and basically any carb can be dunked in any beverage with milk in it.  I hope you enjoyed this and I hope to be able to post on here soon.

Very truly yours,
Virginia

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La primera dias de Escuela Thursday, Feb 12 2009

I am quite sorry that I haven’t posted in a while, I will be better about that in  the future.  But as for now, I do have plenty to tell you.  I have started real classes and I went this past weekend to Madrid.

So, classes.  I am taking a Politics and Economics of the European Union class in English.  It is a struggle every day.  We learned a lot the first day, but have learned nothing since.  However, I am also taking this Politics and Economics of Current Spain class which is EXCELLENT.  Fernando, our professor, is a sweet and brilliant man.  I mean, to be able to convey how intelligent he is in a language that isn’t his own, is impressive.  We’ve been learning a lot of basic economic principles so far,  and some Spanish royal history.  Fun fact: Felipe II in the 16th century was the most powerful king ever in history.  His empire spanned America to the Philippines, he was King of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands as well.

I’m also taking two film classes.  One is more of a Mass Media class, we talked about No-Dos, 15 minute documentaries played before movies.  Franco used a body double to film messages that he wanted to relay to the public.  We also watched a movie, Verdugo, it’s about an undertaker that falls in love with an executioner’s daughter.  The way it’s artistically described is, “A man that almost no one would marry (the undertaker) falls in love with a woman no one would marry (because her father is an executioner).  What luck!”  (roughly translated from Spanish).  It was a comedy and it was nice to watch it in Spanish and see how many jokes I understood.  In my other film class we watched Un Chien Andalou, which is supposed to be this really great masterpiece of a film that Dali made with his best friend Bunuel.  I’m a big fan of Dali, Bunuel and Lorca.  They were best friends back in the day.  Anyway, Un Chien Andalou has a lot of symbolism.  Did you know that Dali’s parents had a son who died 9 months before Dali?  Furthermore, did you know that they named Salvador Dali after his brother?  That’s messed up!  Because of this, Dali had a bunch of identity issues, trying to prove that he wasn’t his brother.  Anyway, another film we watched was  Bienvenido, Mister Marshall, it’s a criticism of Spain’s view of the United States.  I enjoyed it.  After World War II, America implemented the Marshall Plan which would give aid to countries that needed it after the war.  A small pueblo in…Catalan?…or Andalucia?…completely renovated itself, it built facades for houses, and all the people lined up to write on a list the one thing they wanted to ask the Americans for.  The film then went into a sequence of the dreams of all the townspeople where they envisioned the Americans as basically Santa Clause and other symbols of giving.

Well, I don’t want to give away the ending.  Anyway, I have to head out for tapas with my group.  I have to get going, but I will have to tell you about Madrid and Toledo very soon.  Have a great day!

Very truly yours,
Virginia

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Fin de Semana Saturday, Jan 31 2009

I went to Andalusia (southern Spain) last weekend for 5 days. It was an included excursion through my study abroad program. We spent Wednesday and Thursday in Seville, drove to Cordoba on Friday, spent a few hours there and then spent Friday and Saturday night in Granada.

The bus ride there took significantly longer then it would have in the United States. Oh workers rights in Spain. Bus drivers are required to take a half hour break every two hours when driving. On one of the stops, I got croquettes and the fabulous bartender gave me a few extra to “fatten me up.” Then, once I got to Seville, I had dinner with my family. Weird! They were very nice and took me to have some really great seafood. I learned a lot about my family and where we’re from and where we’ve gone. Quite interesting. I wonder if I have the right to just say that I’m Spanish, I mean, being Cuban is awesome too, can I do both?

In Seville, we saw the cathedral, which is like the 3rd largest Catholic cathedral in the world. It has this bell tower that I climbed to the top of, it was a nice view, and it also is the resting place of Christopher Columbus. In Seville, we were told that we should try a drink called “Agua de Sevilla.” I don’t think we found it. We went to a tavern by the cathedral and we were served by the most stoned bar tender I have ever seen (not that I have a lot of experience with bar tenders on drugs…at least I don’t think I do). He gave us wine from Cadiz. We’re pretty sure it was supposed to be something else. Oh well.

Then we went to the Mosque/Cathedral in Cordoba. It’s an interesting and intricate story on Christians and Arabs taking things and taking things back for several centuries. It was a good few hours but then it was nice to hang out in Granada.

I met up with my friend Sean, from Drake, in Granada.  I know part of the “experience” of studying abroad is to meet Spanish people and other international people, but I don’t think I would have had as much fun taking shots in the dark as to where Spanish people were.  It was a lot of fun running around with a bunch of people from the United States.  I went to a discotheque, it was a good time.

I’m sorry it took so long to put this up.  I feel like I should say more, but I’ve really been avoiding this post because of all the things that happened in those 5 days, I need to get it over with so I can keep talking about new things here in Spain!  More adventures to come soon.

Very truly yours,
Virginia

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Being from the United States Monday, Jan 26 2009

After being called a “Yankee Wanker” by some 15 year old on a skateboard in Granada, I felt it was time to discuss my experiences from the perspective of being from the United States in Europe:
1. It is rude to say you’re “American” or “from America,” because America includes North, Central and South America and if you’re from the United States and say you’re “American” it’s like saying that you think you’re the most important nationality in the Western hemisphere. That was awkward syntax, but I feel like my point was made.
2. It is also rude to assume people are from the United States and talk to them in English. I did this in a restaurant once. The guy didn’t hear me ask where he was from in the United States so I could rephrase my question and asked where he was from…which was France. I felt really dumb, I won’t be doing that again.
3. The rest of the world has a deep interest in the world outside their borders. Unfortunately, people from the United States are known for not really knowing anything about other countries or their histories or caring. For instance, my Swiss friends said something about how people from the United States always get Switzerland and Sweden confused, which is really weird to them seeing as they’re different countries with different languages and different cultures.

That’s all that I’ve really experienced in that category in the past three weeks. I’ll update you with more as it comes along.

And as a Political Science/Rhetoric & Communications major, I can’t sign off without saying something about the Inauguration. My Spanish Culture class convinced the teacher on the last day to play the Inauguration through live streaming onto the projector during class. It was really cool, I’m not going to lie. I really liked feeling like a part of history. They celebrated it a little bit here in Europe. Oh, and when I was walking around the Alhambra this weekend I learned that “Barak” is Arabic for “Blessed One.” Pretty cool, huh?

Very truly yours,
Virginia

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You jump, I jump, Jack. Sunday, Jan 18 2009

Rory: “That was a once in a life time experience!”
Logan: “Only if you want it to be.”
-Gilmore Girls

Posting two days in a row?  Well, I have had the most INCREDIBLE past 24 hours.

Everything is in the details. So yesterday marked two weeks of European adventures, which meant it was laundry day.  To get to the laundry room in the residencia, I had to walk through this beautiful courtyard, up a bunch of tiny steps, into an obscured shed with lichen growing on the terra cotta.  And, if I haven’t told you, there is a boy living in the residencia that I’ve been eying for the past week and a half.  He was the only other person in the laundry room when I got there.  I timidly [me, timid. right?] said hello.  I don’t think he heard me because he went to go dry his laundry and left without a word.  Oh, and I refer to him as my boyfriend…so keep that in mind as I update you on him.

After the wash was done, I discovered that the dryer was broken…and since I don’t trust people enough to dry my clothes in the courtyard, I spent about half an hour laying my underwear on the radiator, hanging T-shirts from book shelves and putting socks on door knobs to dry.

This isn’t why my day was so good, I don’t know what I’ve talked about doing laundry for so long.  Anyway, I went running with some of the girls.  We bumped into a bunch of our friends in the program once we got to the track.  Salamanca is easily the most beautiful place I’ve exercised in.  From the track, you can see the cathedrals AND the river.  So, there were probably 13 or so of us AIFS kids that just bumped into each other and we kicked a soccer ball around for a while and then went home.

Then, I went shopping with Sarah, Bree and Courtney.  The weather was beautiful and the stores here are so weird.  Courtney and I went into this store that had “man slings” that were shaped like animals and made corresponding noises.  That same store had all sorts of bedding, kitchen wear and jewelery?  I wonder what their target group is.

AND LAST NIGHT!  A moderately sized group of AIFSers went to a populated but not ridiculously crowded bar with the international party boys.  It was a ton of fun.  They played like the entire Grease soundtrack and Walking on Sunshine…?  And Breanne and I got the name of this awesome Spanish alternative song, check it out here:

And then around 2:30 the group decided they wanted to go somewhere else, so Bree and I just booked it to Paniagua [Bread and Water] because we really needed to break into smaller groups.  She and I scoped the place out and swore that we’d at least say hello to the next attractive male close to our age that walked past.  We didn’t have too much luck until we walked to one side of the bar and kept making eyes at this cute guy in the corner who was with this much taller and broader guy.  I learned from my dad that you ALWAYS go for the less attractive friend in a group, because the attractive ones are sick of always being pestered, but if you go for their friend instead of them, they’re curious and will for sure come up and talk to you.  So I said hello to the other friend [who, I daresay, was still attractive] and asked if they spoke English.  The friend was French but had an English mother so he spoke English pretty well and the cute guy was from England.  Fancy that.    I swear that the English are the BEST at telling stories.  Simon, that was his name, asked me where I was from in the States, I said I was from the middle of nowhere.

He jokingly inquired, “Oh, yeah, you were driving when you were 13 eh?”
“Yeah, tractors,” I quickly said back.
“Me too, I’m from a small country town in England.”
Signaling to his shirt which read “County Champion,” “What were you the champion of?”
“Actually, triple jump, not that it has anything to do with this shirt.”
“Oh yeah, out of how many people in your small county town?
“2.  And the other guy only had one leg.  I won sprinting, hurdling, jumping and the javelin that year.”

Then, Justin and Sean [boys from our group] walked into the bar.  Justin was so happy to see another guy in Spain who was broad [going back to Simon's friend, Julian].  So then the chaps talked to our bros for a good 45 minutes about sports and traveling and whatever while Bree and I soaked in the night.  The guys exchanged numbers to play rugby together this morning, which is adorable.  Then Justin and Sean ran off somewhere so Simon went to go find them so we could all leave and go somewhere else, but Justin and Sean never made it outside.  I told the chaps that it was nice of them to find our friends and wait for them but that we could leave.  So as we were walking, we bumped into some of their friends.  I met this awesome girl named Deedee last night.  She’s from Virginia but studies linguistics at Rutgers, where my parents went to school.  So then the group of us went to another bar where we talked to the bouncer, because apparently Simon is friends with him.  As they were all going inside the bar at about 4:30 in the morning, Bree and I decided to go home.

OH!  And last night I met this guy who goes to Wake Forest and freaking knows Will Collins.  Seriously, Governor’s School is AWESOME!  I’ve had two AGS moments here in Spain so far, in a week and a half.

As I was walking into the residencia, I got a text from the international party boys, upset that I ditched them earlier in the evening.  So, I knocked on their door and went inside and told them about my wonderful night and they told me about theirs.  Then, we stayed up until 6 in the morning exchanging funny stories and talking about the world and people.

I was awake and ready to go around 9:45 this morning and got breakfast with Kari.  None other than my “boyfriend” was downstairs eating with two friends, but his friends left after a little while.  I finally just turned around and asked, “Quieres at sentar con nosotros?” [I'm pretty sure it's a grammatically incorrect way of saying, 'Want to sit with us?']  He said, very quickly in Spanish, “I’m done eating, but I have time.”  So we asked him where he was from, Spain obviously, and what his name was, Alberto, and what he was studying, Law.  He’s in his last year at University and wants to work in Ireland this summer.  Maybe he and I can work on our languages together?  Eh?

Okay, maybe it doesn’t seem like the best day ever, but it feels like it.  What happened was a break through.  And I am so happy about it.  I went running today again, alone.  It was awesome and this city is beautiful and I’ll take pictures and post them later.  I have to go eat lunch, I’ll let you know how awesome my life is again soon.

Very truly yours,
Virginia

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Of all the gin joints, in all the cities, in all the world, and she walks into mine. Saturday, Jan 17 2009

It’s been a while, so I think I’ll give you short day-to-day updates since we last spoke:

1/11/09
Last Sunday our group took a walking tour of Salamanca. Salamanca has two cathedrals, Old Cathedral and New Cathedral. The Old Cathedral was built when the town was first settled and the New Cathedral was built when it became a university city. The two are next to each other because the city of Salamanca has a wall going around it and the only place within the walls that had enough room for a cathedral was right next to the old one. They kept the old one to have service in while the new one was being built…but then it took 200 years for the New Cathedral to be built, so the old one was like a monument at that point and they’ve kept it to this day.

At dinner on Sunday we ate with, what I like to call, the “Scavenger Ant.” One boy came and sat down next to the 5 of us the live in the dorms. He didn’t say anything until I asked him where he was from and what he was studying. We spoke a few words to each other and when we were leaving I wished him luck on his exams and said that it was nice to meet him [Oh, and it was in Spanish...in fact, know that most things I say on here about history or JuanMa stories are relayed to you via being told to me in Spanish. I want you to know that, because it's awesome.]. Anyway, as we were leaving the cafeteria, I think I heard the boy say, “They’re normal [in Spanish],” to his group of friends. I don’t think we passed the audition because no on has eaten with us since and they have started playing pranks on us.

1/12/09
My Spanish Conversation teacher spent 10 minutes of class explaining to Andrea and I how to get a Spanish boyfriend. Apparently, you go up to a Spanish boy and kiss him on both cheeks (like a handshake in the United States) and introduce yourself. Then, you ask where he’s from and what he studies. Then you say something to the effect of, “I’m a lonely foreigner with no idea of what to do for fun here, can I go out with you and your friends?” I have not tested this yet.

1/13/09
My grammar teacher, the one I’m a little in love with, played some guitar for us today. I swooned. Then, at dinner, Kari was awesome and sat next to the boys that we thought we heard speaking English. Apparently they’re from Switzerland but have been taking English classes since 2nd grade. This was the start of a beautiful friendship. From this point on I’ll just refer to them as the international party boys.

1/14-15/09
I learned a few Spanish drug and street terms today in classes. Awesome. And I talked to one of my professors about my family in Seville. I think I found them? My dad and grandma made me promise that I would try to find our family here…so I looked them up in the world phone book. When I told some people I live with about it they thought it was super weird. Wouldn’t it be kind of weird to know you have family in a country that you’re studying in and not even try to find them? Whatever.

THEN, we celebrated Ann’s birthday. Fiesta! The international party boys joined in on the AIFS [the study abroad program we're in] fun. We also got Zain out. He’s studying here for a full year through our program but there hasn’t been a formal setting for him to meet everyone yet, oh, and he lives in the dorms, so he came out with us.

1/16/09
Friday. Great night. We started out the night as a group of like 30, which is awful. We’re not in Spain to hang out with just American students. But then like a group of 20 left the place we were at, which was good, I was in the group of 10, which was awesome. We went to this bar, called Peliagua, which made me feel like Jack Kerouac in London. It was this super sketchy hole in the wall bar that was PACKED with people at 3:30 am. There was a quaintness to it that made it feel like it was my personal bar. The walls were covered with people’s signatures and doodles and messages on the white paint that was chipping off of the brick underneath. Above all of the shouting I could subtly hear the speakers playing British pop music. Zain led me to the second story, which was equally packed, but had a fooseball table. Any given kid in that bar (most between the ages of 18 and 23) was wearing either converses or a vintage band T. I saw a few fedoras, a few chunky glasses, a few emo hair swoops, some bandannas and I think even a pair of ray bans. I LOVED it! I’m for sure going back to meet those kinds of Spanish people.

And to close, I sort of just want to tell a story involving the Swiss boys. They graduated from high school last spring and are on “Gap,” meaning, taking a year off before going to college. Anyway, I asked one of them to tell me a story of Swiss folklore and he told me the story of William Tell like this:

“So the king one day decided to put a hat in the middle of the road, and when people walked by it, they had to bow to it as they walked past. Well, William Tell, a hunter, walked past the hat and would never bow. So one day the Gods talked to him and said, “William, you must bow to the hat or be punished.” And William Tell said, “No, that’s ridiculous, I am not bowing to a stupid hat, I’ll bow to the King himself but not a hat.” So the Gods took him to the King and the King said that William Tell had to put an apple on his son’s head and shoot it with an arrow. If he hit the apple then he was free but if he killed his son, then that was his punishment. And William Tell said, “No, I’d rather go to prison than do that.” But his son insisted that he had faith in his father and that he should try and hit the apple. So, sure enough, William Tell sliced the apple in half with his arrow and was free.

So I was like, “What was the moral of that story?” And the kid was like, “I don’t know.” And his friend laughed and said, “You definitely didn’t tell it right.”

Gotta run and get my laundry.
Very truly yours,
Virginia

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Otro Punto de Vista Saturday, Jan 10 2009

So, right after I last left you, my group went to go pick up their scores on a test we took in Spanish to judge what level we were at.  I placed at intermediate.  Not bad for 1) not being a Spanish major or minor and 2) not taking a Spanish class since junior year of high school.

Speaking of high school, sometimes Spain feels a little like it.  Four girls from my program are staying with me in the Residencia (dorms) and we eat together in the cafeteria.  It felt for a while like everyone was staring at us, but I also felt like that couldn’t be the case until we finally did start talking to students there and they would say things like “Yeah, my friends and I have been wondering who you guys are.”  So now when we sit in the cafeteria we know that everyone knows we’re new and is judging us and refuses to reach out to us any way.  Ay dios mio.

However, those last few sentences are another segue into how WE FINALLY TALKED TO SOMEONE NOT IN OUR PROGRAM!  If you don’t think it’s a big deal, why don’t you try going to another country that doesn’t speak your native language and make friends.  Anyway, it was great, his name is Luiz and he’s Brazilian.  He lives on our floor and is a wiz with computers.  Tenemos suerte (We’re lucky).

Today I went shopping with my friend Courtney around the Plaza Mayor (pronounced Platha May-or because of the Castillian lisp [the urban legend is that some King in the 14th century spoke with a lisp and then it became a marker of distinction]).  But I digress, the stores here are very nice.  I wouldn’t have expected the small city of Salamanca to be westernized but I can here the same things I get at home.  I’m within walking distance of a Sephora and an H&M.  It’s incredible.  Also, right now is the season for rebajas, which means HUGE sales!  I bought a beautiful, long red coat for 30 euro and I saw some jeans for 7 euro (those are next on my list).  Apparently, it’s not customary to have a sale rack or small sales in Spain, they just have huge sales twice a year to clear out their merchandise.

Back to some class things though.  I feel like it’s important.  One of our classes is Spanish Art history.  We’ll be learning about both Arab and Christian art and architecture because both have huge influences in Spain.  So far, we’ve just covered Diego Velázquez, which has been really interesting.  He’s really…weird…and I like it.  He mostly lived in the 17th century and seemed to be quite ahead of his time.  Some of his paintings resemble paintings from the impressionist art movement, which technically occurred about two centuries later.  The painting of Velazquez’s that we studied the longest was Las Meninas (posted in my media gallery…try to find it).  It;s interesting because the King asked Velázquez to paint him a family portrait…so Velázquez drew this picture.  To go through the sort of stages of the portrait from front to back, Velázquez first paints the family dog, which is very uncommon at this time (because dogs aren’t paying money to be painted).  Then he paints the daughter of the king and queen with some of her servants.  In the next step back, Velázquez paints himself, painting the king and queen (who are in the portrait, but only as reflections in the mirror at the very back of the painting).  Behind Velázquez is some members of the royal clergy and in the back, going up the stairs, is the cousin of Velázquez.  It’s a portrait of the royal family and the closest people to them.  Kind of neat.

Also, I have this awesome 30 something grammar teacher who talks to us about Family Guy and the Simpsons and who recommends really good bars and poetry and music.  I’m a little bit in love with him, if you can’t tell.  I mean, he plays guitar, cooks, can salsa dance, wears scarves and is kind of adorable.  My friend Bree and I are planning on eventually checking out the jazz bar he goes to.  Woot.  In the mean time, I’m reading a book in Spanish called “Dona Rosita the Spinster.”  It’s been made into a play and is a comedy.  I’m really excited about it.

Anyway, I’m getting ready to out and fiesta!  I’ll talk to you guys later.  Adios!

Very truly yours,
Virginia

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