Lists

(in no specific order)

Things in Madrid I'm not too crazy about
1. drivers: they have little regard for human life and even less patience
2. smoking: everyone does it, which means that I inhale a lot of smoke, my clothes smell, and my face gets dirty (not cool!)
3. dog-poop: they force my eyes to be constantly glued to the ground, instead of enjoying the nice scenery
4. the metro: people have BO and I get to experience it to the fullest extent during rush hour
5. crazy fans of Real Madrid: they're loud and drunk, and I see/hear them every week
6. Euro-dollar exchange rate: not helping my wallet
7. the internet: it's slow, and I have only a little bit more patience than No. 1
8. the fashion-conscious: the ladies all wear heels/boots with fabulous coats, the children dress better than me, and the men have prettier accessories compared to mine
9. slowly losing a grasp of the English language: everyday, I forget how to speak certain phrases and to spell words. Today, the word was "organize".
10. creepy old men: more than once, old men have come up to me, asking about my life. I now have an alter ego (My name is Jessica, I live in La Latina - located on opposite side of where I actually live, I am at school from 8am to 9pm, I don't have a cellphone or an email address, I live with a big host family with 3 older host brothers, I am Korean - okay, that part didn't change)

Things I enjoy in Madrid
1. the metro: it's still really easy to use and very practical, and I like it despite rush hour
2. my church: I love the people and the pastor
3. shopping in February: the month of sales!! In fact, I need to shop more before March.
4. ugly dogs: they're fun to look at, even though they contribute to No. 3 of the first list
5. napolitanas de chocolate: they're delicious and cheap, but it might move to the previous list since I can't seem to resist them at all...
6. tall Spanish men with trench coats and briefcases, especially if they have good hair: I just like to look at them :)
7. walking: I would not be doing this if I were in Williamstown or in Irvine
8. the weather: it's been in the 60s and sunny this past week, and will only get better!
9. the Spanish waking hours: they get up late and stay up late. In fact, when we are out at 3am, there are still "old" people in the buses
10. Plaza Mayor and Sol: I like the clash of new and old in one big area, complete with fun places to eat and shop
11. the weekends: I get to travel, go to school tours of Spain, walk around the city, and essentially be active. If I were at Williams, I would be locked in my room starting from Friday night, watching TV shows until Sunday night, when I would finally start my work
12. creepy old men: at least I get to practice my Spanish, right? And they're tolerable during daylight
13. my art class: once a week, we have class in the Prado Museum and get to stand right in front of the artwork that we're studying
14. free time: no explanation required :)

Susan

Another Look at Christianity

All my life, I have been a Christian and I didn't think much about how people viewed Christianity. In the US, at least a majority of Americans proclaim to be Christians, and I think it's safe to assume that most people know the tenets of Christianity.

Two things in Spain, though, have made me think how people view Christianity.

1. My history/religion class
My class is called "Jews, Muslims, and Christians: historic encounters in the Mediterranean" and in the beginning, we reviewed the basic beliefs and customs of all three religions. When we were learning about the beginnings of Islam during the 600s, I remember listening to the lectures as if I were listening to a story - I don't personally believe that Mohammad was a prophet of God, or that Abraham sacrificed Ishmael instead of Isaac, or that the Black Stone was first placed by Adam. I simply took my notes and listened to the professor, who said things like "Mohammad believed himself to be the final prophet after Jesus" and other statements in that same sort of tone. Then we started to go over the beginnings of Christianity. The professor now said "Jesus believed himself to be the Son of God" and talked about the "alleged miracles." Now there is nothing wrong with those statements in an academic setting, since there is no tangible proof that the miracles happened and Jesus did believe himself to be the Son of God (the thing is that I also believe that statement), but the way he phrased them made them seem untrue. In fact, the way he phrased everything about the 3 religions made them seem untrue. I know that aspects of Christianity must be fantastical to others (like how some parts of Islam seemed fantastical to me), especially the resurrection and the miracles, but the class made me realize just how fantastical Christianity is.

2. My 60-year-old señora
My señora is Catholic, so I thought she would know the basics of Protestantism. So I was surprised when she asked my roommate and me what Protestants believed in (she knew we were Protestants). I replied, "La Biblia" (the Bible), a bit confused at this point. She replied, "No, I mean Muslims believe in Allah, Catholics believe in God. What do Protestants believe in?" Then, a bit flabbergasted, I replied "En Dios, por supuesto." (In God, of course.) Then I stormed off to church. Later, my roommate and I had a little discussion about our conversation. How did she not know the basic tenets of Protestantism/Christianity? Does Catholicism = Christianity to all Spaniards in that age range, and Protestantism ≠ Christianity? I didn't feel like talking about this to my señora with my limited Spanish,who can get defensive, but I am a bit surprised and curious about what she actually thinks of Protestantism.

Susan

My Life in Pictures

Plaza Mayor, in the center of Madrid


The apartment building that I call home (located less than 200 "Susan-sized" steps away from the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, in gray)


My school


Living in a city like Madrid is awesome! Although it took some time, I know (to some degree) where most places are. For example, I know the location of most of the tourist spots, the well-known street of +60 stores, the English-only movie theaters, and the best pastry shop in Madrid is. My favorite pastry is napolitana de chocolate.

I have at least three of these every week, which probably isn't a good idea...

Although no cuisine can take the place of Korean cuisine, the Spanish cuisine is quite good. They love their pork (easily the cheapest meat in Spain), their tapas (delicious side dishes that accompany alcohol), their wine (which is cheaper than water), their paellas (rice + everything and anything), their tortillas de patatas (never confuse the Spanish tortillas with other countries' tortillas; they'll be upset), their gazpachos, and so on. Since I love food, Madrid is a great place for me :)

I've met some people who actually live in Madrid through intercambio programs, and they are extremely nice (albeit old - as in older than 25). They are eager to practice English with you, and they're also patient when you're trying to practice Spanish with them. I'm too tired from Monday to Thursday to do be socially active (I figured I'm always tired, no matter how much work I actually have), but my weekends in Madrid is a great time to spend my energy and money :)

Losing money at an alarming rate,
Susan

Back to Madrid

I realize that most the my posts portray me as an Asian tourist who is extremely sensitive to the cold. Well, in order to spice up the blog, I´ll write a little about how I live in Madrid (rather than how I tour Spain).

I attend a program through Syracuse University. This means that most of the people that I go to class with go to Syracuse. The school is located by many embassies, making the area expensive (we´re surrounded by 5 star hotels and restaurants) and full of security, though they tend to stay within the embassies. The school is a 25 minute walk, or a 10 minute metro ride.

My roommate is Evita, a fellow Eph. We share a room and live with our señora, Bea, a sixty-year-old grandmother who has a more active social life than the two of ours combined. Every night, while she is dressed in fancy clothes, she asks us if we´re going out that night. And every night (unless it´s that one night of the week when we do choose to go out), we say no. Then Bea will reply with "Oh my God!" and leaves the apartment wearing her fancy mink coat. Bea cracks me up, with her husky voice and random English phrases ("Oh my God!" is the most popular one) and her big fur coats and heels. Her entire family visits once every two weeks, and her grandchildren (3 boys, 1 girl) are gorgeous blondes and speak adorable Spanglish. I just know they´re going to be heartbreakers one day. We live right next to Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, where Real Madrid plays. The gate of our apartment builidng is located 174 "Susan-sized steps" away from the parking lot of the stadium. And every Saturday, after a game, there´s always some kind of commotion going on in the streets, while we watch from the seventh floor.

Evita and I attend the Community Church of Madrid. The sermons are in English and are led by Pastor Cathy Bingman, who is American and the warmest person I´ve met in Madrid. The way we found it was a bit strange: Evita and I left one Sunday morning to attend a church that we thought was at a certain address. When we arrived, it turned out to be an abandoned building. Our moods quickly dipped, since we were hoping to find a church in the rain, so we went to Sol, the center of Madrid, to do some shopping (I know - shopping to lift up your moods?). In Sol, we were about to cross the street when we heard some people speaking English behind us. When we turned around, the lady that was speaking was holding a Bible. Both of us were stunned and wanted to follow her, except she had already crossed the street by the time we decided to ask her if she attend an English-speaking church. After waiting until it was safe to cross the street, we followed her into a bakery (I know, stalker-ish, right?) While she was in line, we rushed up to ask her if 1) she went to church in Madrid and 2) if her church had English sermons. Thankfully, she wasn´t freaked out by these two weird Americans, and happily gave us the directions to the church, which also had some young people. Since then, we´ve attended the Community Church, which I like a lot. So, our day started with trying to find a church, followed by being disappointed and wet, then after an attempt to go an a mini-shopping trip, it ended with our meeting with Heather! Hooray for Heather and her visible Bible! And hooray for God who enabled us to see and hear her!

Well, I think that´s enough for one post (I don´t like to read too much myself). These past 2.5 weeks in Madrid has gone by too fast, and I can´t wait for what the next 4 months will bring!

Susan

PS 174 steps away from Real Madrid!
PPS Never doubt the power of shopping trips :)

Escorial - February 6

Gasp! The date of the trip was less than a week ago and it's already in the blog!

On February 6, we went to Escorial, the royal palace of the Spanish Hapsburg family. The family had a lot of inbreeding (uncles had kids with their nieces in every generation) but I'm sure you already knew that.

What is Escorial? Escorial:Spain and Versailles:France, though Escorial was not ornate as Versailles. Escorial was the Spanish royal palace, but it also has a monastery, a basilica, a school, a Renaissance library, and a museum of the royal private collection. The structure is shaped after a grill (for St. Lawrence - he's weird. To learn more, go read about him somewhere else).

Unfortunately, the basilica - arguably the most beautiful part of Escorial - was closed for restoration. Also, unfortunately, it was freezing (there was actually snow - snow!), and colder than Segovia. I've experienced winters in Williamstown, and I have to say that nothing prepared me for the weather at Escorial. My poor black jacket, which has been suffering since it's the only jacket I have that can somewhat protect me from this weather, needs to retire soon. Where are all my jackets?? (Packed in boxes back in Williamstown.)

We couldn't visit the basilica or the monastery (monks still live in Escorial), but we visited the royal palace, took a quick glimpse at the museum, and walked through the library. Our professor, wrapped in at least 5 layers with a fur hat, always had the desire to talk about something OUTSIDE. Why? I don't know, but here is a picture of us walking OUTSIDE to see something that we couldn't even see because our eyes were shut from the biting wind.

The palace was cold, and it's no wonder that people died young back then (the inbreeding didn't help either). The private rooms were surprisingly small, since the royal family displayed their wealth with their artwork, other rooms and the basilica.
The Library

The main staircase


Since it was really cold, I was in no mood for taking pictures or even being in pictures (I was more concerned with staying warm). Still, ever the Asian tourist, I managed to get some pictures of the exterior:

One of the many courtyards within Escorial, and the site of a chilly mini-lecture.

A side view of the palace (the dome is part of the basilica)


I realize that all I did was complain about the cold, but Escorial was a cool place. It would have been better if the basilica was open, but it was still a worthwhile trip. The town, San Lorenezo del Escorial, reminded me of Martha's Vineyard, with the small shops and quaint setting. Escorial is partly the reason why Madrid, instead of Toledo, is the capital of Spain today. And that concludes trips outside of Madrid (for now, at least)!

Susan

PS We visited the royal tombs, and apparently the body of the deceased Juan, the father of the present king of Spain, is rotting in a special room - we walked by the door - until it becomes nothing but bones. When the body is reduced to nothing but bones, then it (they?) are placed in the Pantheon of Kings, which also houses the bones of Philip II, the king that built Escorial, plus all the kings/queens after. The poor monks have to check the room to see how the body is decomposing. Isn't that lovely?

Segovia - January 31

I went to Segovia on January 31, and have mustered up enough willpower during the past week to post some pictures today :)

Segovia was cold, but it was also pretty in its quaint little way. It was an important city during the Roman empire, and it was an important city during the Middle Ages. And it's an important city in the 21st century for tourism - once again, I saw many Asian tourist groups. They never fail to amaze me; one group had personal headphones so they could hear their guide, who was talking into a microphone. That was great since there wasn't the typical Asian shouting over other groups :)

Standing next to Roman aqueducts, which are still standing nearly 2000 years after they were built.


The main site in Segovia was the Alcázar de Segovia (Castle of Segovia), a medieval castle that was used by Isabel. I don't remember much except it was cold in the castle. And our professor had the bright idea to go to the top, which involved a trip up a spiral stone staircase that made me tired and even colder. I will not comment whether the view was worth the billion steep steps and the temperature, but at least I have some pictures (it actually was worth it, but I was really cold).

An amateur shot of the castle - check out Wikipedia for better pictures if it really piques your interest. Some Spaniards, like my Spanish lit professor, like to claim that the castle of Segovia was the inspiration for Walt Disney's castle sign, but I don't think so - it's not magical enough.


Climbing up...


Finally at the top! Now we just need to go down...


Meet my medieval boyfriend :)


This is the main plaza of Segovia.


That's enough for one post - I'll talk more about life in Madrid when I muster up enough willpower (who knows when that will happen).

Susan

PS I really like the sirens here, but I think I only like them because they are the same type of siren heard in Bourne Identity :)

Belated Hello from Madrid!

I've been in Madrid for officially two weeks, but I am finally writing about Madrid.
What to say? It's a pretty compact city, and everything you need is within 30 minutes, thanks to the awesome metro system. The people of Madrid are weirdly proud of their metro system, and there are posters of famous international monuments (such as the pyramids or the Statue of Liberty) marveling at the metro system. I don't really use the metro system, since I walk to school (gasp!), so I appreciate the metro more when I use it.

So, I walk to school. It's a 25 minute walk. Normally, a "Susan walking for more than 7 minutes" isn't an actual figure, but somehow that figure emerged in Madrid. In fact, I could barely make the trek from Dodd to Greylock. Walking in Southern California was pointless and walking in Williamstown was tiring/cold, but walking in Madrid is actually enjoyable (my señora thinks I'm crazy) and a new experience every time.
-Like in most major cities, there are street/metro musicians. These musicians are usually older people who play classical instruments (not to bash on the young people who play guitar). For example, when I walk back at night, I always see an old man playing the clarinet with a recording of accompaniment. In the subway, I see an old couple playing the violin. Now, I don't know if that's normal since I've only lived in the suburbs and Williamstown, but classical instruments on the streets/metro make walking a more pleasant experience :)
-I feel like everyone owns dogs and walks them when I walk to school. This means: 1) there's a lot of dog poop and my eyes are glued to the ground, and 2) the dogs add another interesting feature to my walk. Most of the dogs are ugly (no joke - really ugly). One dog - surprisingly not that ugly - did not have a leash, and was behaving like a human. Whenever it reached the crosswalk, it would stop and wait for its owner to start walking when it's safe. Isn't that amazing? Most humans have issues with this.
-I practice my Spanish by reading random signs on the streets, and people have given me weird looks...
Main conclusion: I guess walking isn't that big of a pain (although the weather has been freaky and cold); in fact, I actually enjoy...walking!

Well, I guess I wrote about useless things, but next time...maybe it'll get better?

Susan

PS It snowed in Madrid on Sunday. Snowed?!
PPS My English has gotten worse. I forget tenses, words, spelling, etc. This means that I am not capable of speaking any language...