It all makes sense now!

Felipe the V in front of the Palacio Real

Amazing falafel!

Loving the wine tasting

Palacio Real

A sculpture in Malasana...someone decided to add their own artwork

Museum of ham?!?

Chimichanga

If you've ever been to Spain, you have probably asked yourself the same question that has been bothering me since I got here: Why is everyone here obsessed with ham?

Really? I think chicken is great, so is turkey. I mean even cows are OK. But ham (jamon)? I was starting to believe that Spanish people found the pig to be sacred because I couldn't think of a better answer until today. This morning I took part in a historical walking tour of the Second of May. This date is very important in the modern history of Spain because in 1808, Napoleon had secured his troops in Spain and left his brother Joseph to be King of Spain after kicking the royal family out. On this date, and on the Third of May, the people of Spain revolted against Napoleon and his brother.

On today's tour we visited the neighborhoods of Sol, old Madrid, and Malasana (my personal favorite). For the second half we had a guided tour in Spanish of the Royal Palace of Madrid. I was a little nervous at first to have a full tour in Spanish, but I surprisingly got the gist of what our guide told us. Today, the royal family of Spain lives right outside of Madrid in a large estate so this Palace is well preserved and open to the public. The inside walls are covered in velvet, tapestries, and hand-painted wall paper. There is a study room, throne room, bedrooms, and more. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside.

So back to this important question about Spanish culture...today our guide explained to us that jamon is not a prized possession because of its nutritional value or because of the pig, but it is popular here because of its original religious importance. When Spain began it's Reconquista and decided that all of Spain must be united under one religion, rather than kicking ALL of the Muslims and Jews out, they had a better tactic to attempt to convert them. Muslims and Jews did not eat jamon because of their religious beliefs. But if they hung a leg out their window, it meant they had converted and accepted Christianity.

(That was a long historical explanation...but I just could not get over all of this ham!)

I spent this last week taking my first round of midterms, and Thursday night enjoyed wine tasting at Planeto Vino and then visiting the Cave bar right by my apartment. I have never completely understood why some people are so obsessed with the most minute details of wine-making, tasting, and cultivating, but that night I learned so much! I'm hoping to become a Spanish wine connoisseur in the next few months ;) Just a tip: don't ever ask for wine at a restaurant by its grape type, only by its region of origin. Just take it from me, I'm a pro now.

The Cave bar was a great place to see. It's filled with stalactites with drinks that come out from the ceiling. Pretty cool! Friday I spent the day walking around Madrid in search of a Mexican restaurant. Don't judge the lack of authenticity, I just needed a break from the legs of ham. My friends and I found the restaurant, enjoyed some nachos and a chimichanga, and spent the rest of the day exploring the district of Gran Via.

Tomorrow I'm taking my first trip to the Reina Sofia and am meeting a Spanish student who I have been paired up with to practice our opposite languages. Hopefully I'll learn some great conversational Spanish and I'll be helpful with English. I'm a little nervous that I won't be able to communicate that well...but I guess that's the fun in it.

Buenos Noches!

Emily

The good and bad side to food in Spain...

The usual pig leg hanging in the kitchen...

The sweetest kiwi's I've had in a long time...fresh from Italy!

Could this be better than NYC?

The girls at El Tigre

Ahh croquetas...best tapa ever!

Eric and I at Liquid. He's always down for whatever.

Real Jardin de Botanical

Vertical garden!

Street art on Paseo del Prado

Book fair

Mmmm Indian food

I know I know. Very bold statement to make. But with all of the different neighborhoods, street markets, gardens, museums, authentic restaurants and bars, historical monuments and more...Madrid is becoming my favorite city. Not to mention it's just a little more enticing to visit a place when it has a Spanish name. And when a solicitor is throwing flyers at me or trying to scam me into a night club...it's easier to ignore him because I usually have no idea what he's saying! Oh the perks of only having one semester of Spanish under my belt...

This weekend I have done some great exploring and am able to check a few things off my list of "what to see." Friday afternoon I met up with Erin to explore the neighborhoods of La Latina and Lavapies. We found a great bar for wine y tapas in La Latina and then walked to Lavapies to see the more ethnic side of Madrid. There are lots of immigrants there who have made it their home, so we found a delicious Indian restaurant. I don't know how much longer I could have lasted without a samosa or some palak panner.

When exploring Madrid, I have learned that the best meal to try at any restaurant (besides tapas of course) is the menu del dia which is the lunch menu of the day. It's usually 7 to 10 euros and comes with wine and three courses. If you want to be full and get a taste of what the restaurant's specialties are, it's a great choice. I'm not sure how many of them I can afford, but on the weekends I love to have one.

Friday night I went to Kapital, the largest club in Madrid. It was a little too crazy for my liking with seven different themed floors. The place was definitely hoppin'...and so were my friends, so I didn't get back to my room until I took the 6am metro home. I'm still going to stick by my original goal to become a Madrilena, but nights like that make it really difficult. It's going to be interesting when I return to America where people go out at 10pm and go home at 2am. I'll still be eating dinner then.

Saturday afternoon Monica and I enjoyed a beautifully sunny day in Madrid by visiting the Real Botanica Jardin and walking from the Atocha metro stop all the way down the Paseo del Prado. Though the garden wasn't in bloom yet, its landscape was gorgeous and the greenhouse was full of exotic plants. There were also cacti and palm trees all over the garden...which got me pretty excited for the warm weather to come. We saw the vertical garden outside of Caixaforum, a book fair, the Prado, Plaza de Cibeles and more. (Disclaimer: it wasn't a completely authentic day in Madrid because we couldn't resist going to Vips for lunch. It's basically an upscale Friendly's in Europe...)

Last night we went to El Tigre and a gay club called Liquid in the Chueca neighborhood. El Tigre is famous for its tapas and drinks, and is one of my favorite places to go. Chueca is very gay-friendly, and there is so much partying in the streets, you really don't even need to pick a bar or club. In such a predominantly Catholic country, where you couldn't even get a divorce until a few decades ago...it is amazing to see two men making out in the middle of the street. GO MADRID!

Today was a very lazy Sunday in preparation for midterms week. How enthralling. Exams don't begin until Thursday, so I'm looking forward to more exploration of the city tomorrow after class. Tonight our Senora made a great dinner with a stew consisting of cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and garbanzo beans as the main dish. She's doing her best to help me survive in meat-filled Madrid, and is succeeding.

And to conclude this entry, and give credit to my home, I must admit that even though I am in love with Madrid, nothing beats Broadway :)

Things are picking up...

The girls at Cadiz Carnaval

Getting ready to go before the big night

My buddy at Ceramics night

Monica and I with our Senora. Isn't she cute?

Today I have come to the realization that I am actually taking classes here and they are not just for pure enjoyment! Tomorrow I have my first paper due, and my first test, so it's going to be a night of studying for me.

This past weekend a large group of us went to Carnaval in Cadiz. It's a huge celebration with people in bizarre costumes and satirical singing groups about Spain's politics, religion, etc. We were in a great hotel (though a little too far away from the actual festival) and spent the night in the midst of all of the action. It was a crazy weekend...and I'm still unsure of my abilities to keep up with this Spanish lifestyle!

I'm not going to be traveling for the next few weekends, which I am surprisingly happy about. I still don't feel like I have seen this whole city. With classes every day, I can only spend a lot of time getting lost in different neighborhoods on the weekends... so that is my goal for the next few. Since my last entry I have visited the Prado, and will be going again tomorrow, have gone out for churros y chocolate with Monica and our Senora twice, and have painted pottery with local Spaniards at an organized event by SU. Each of these small events makes me feel just a little more at home here, so I want to do a lot more of them. Tomorrow is tapas y cine night with locals at the SU Institute...and hopefully that will be just as fun :)

I'm waiting for it to get warm here...so I can sit outside in the nearby park to study. Off to conjugate some imperfect verbs woohooo!

My Senora is the best

She even irons, folds and puts our underwear on a platter...

Liz I hope you're reading this...

I'm not sure how much Eric is going to update his blog. But he's having a good time as you can tell!

An exciting second weekend in Madrid

Mmmm small desserts

The aqueduct of Segovia

Alcazar

Monica and I in front of the aqueduct

After a long first week of classes, (the beginning of any semester is always pretty exhausting), I spent this weekend meeting up with good friends, trying new foods, going out at night, and traveling to Segovia, a small city outside of Madrid.

A good friend of mine from school, Lindsay, is studying abroad in Barcelona and came to Madrid with her roommates for the weekend. It was wonderful to see a friend from school in Europe. She and her friends came out with mine on both Friday and Saturday. We also met up with a friend of ours, Erin, who graduated and is living in Madrid for the year teaching English to young students. Lindsay and I are a little jealous of her life here :) We had tapas (my favorite being croquetas) and cervezas at El Tigre, explored the Chueca neighborhood of Madrid, and sat at a dimly lit, psychedelic bar for chocolate cake. Life doesn't get better than that.

That night Lindsay joined us for a new bar in Plaza Santa Ana called Sol y Sombre. We also met up with a good friend of mine from home, Eric, who is living in Madrid for the semester. I have come to realize that this is a very small world...even when it comes to Europe.

Saturday morning began with an early bus ride from the SU Institute to Segovia. We were in tour groups led by the teachers from the Azahar seminar. Though it was cold in Segovia, the trip was well worth it. We visited the famous Roman Aqueducts, still standing not because of mortar or clay, but because of pure physics and structure. Yet I had no idea of the history of Segovia beyond this edifice. Isabella (of the Catholic rulers Ferdinand and Isabella), was crowned Queen in a small church in the city, and lived with Ferdinand for some time in Segovia's famous castle, Alcazar. This castle is of particular significance for Americans, because Walt Disney used it as inspiration for his famous castle in Walt Disney World.

I must admit my favorite part of Segovia was its Pastelierias! We ate bite-sized samples of many desserts, some of authentic origin in Segovia. It is safe to say we were all contently full for the bus ride home.

Last night was another fun evening at a place in our neighborhood that we like to hang out at, called the Orange Cafe. It was filled with Spaniards and Spanish music, a nice contrast to last weekend's outings. By this late Sunday afternoon I have almost finished my first Hemingway book: "Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises." Hemingway is able to truly capture the cravings an American has to become part of the authentic culture of Spain. I am looking forward to reading many more of his works.

Adios!

Emily

I'm a dork...and I love my classes!

Outside the International Institute where SU has their classes

Yesterday and today were my first full days of classes. I'm taking Spanish II, Hemingway in Spain, Abnormal Psychology, and Arts of Spain. I'm so excited to begin taking classes that will further my knowledge of Spain. Each teacher has made a conscious effort to integrate the culture of Spain into whatever class they are teaching. Whether they are from Madrid or America, they are all here because they love it. I'm a little envious of the Americans who have adapted to this lifestyle and are true Madrilenos.

I am pretty sure my favorite class is going to be Arts of Spain. Three reasons:

1. We go to the Prado once a week in small groups for lecture on site.

2. The teacher is Patricia, my tour guide from the Azahar seminar who I am obsessed with. She is a Spanish native who has the cutest accent and greatest zest for life I have ever seen. Today she hopped around class, and (I don't think intentionally), had the class in hysterics.

3. I love European art!

Tomorrow between classes, Monica and I are going to explore Madrid more. There are SOOO many areas we have yet to see, and we really want to get to know every nook and cranny before time gets away from us.

Off to bed. Estoy muy consada!

Emily