El Rincon de Esteban

This week has been busy, last night I went to the prayer service at Amistad which was great again. On Monday night I went to dinner with a partner from Ernst & Young who is from the States but has been working in Madrid for 4 years.

The dinner reservations didn't start until 9:30PM which is very typical in Spain. The restaurant was Rincón de Esteban which was very close to the Plaza de Sol, the main hub of Madrid. Like most good restaurants here, you'd probably pass it by, but once you walk inside it is a formal restaurant. As soon as I sat down, Esteban himself, the owner, came over and introduced himself and said that *Matt (name changed), the partner, is his sobrino (nephew). Not his real nephew, but because Matt has held several dinners there, Esteban has practically adopted him!

Our meal started with red wine and a wonderful tapas of dark and light anchovies fillets that you put on pieces of bread that was toasted with a tomato sauce. Not sure how I would normally like anchovies, but these were delicious. Next we had a plate of thinly sliced sausages and olives, more tapas fare. There was also bread and a foie gras (pureed goose liver), but none of us had any. After that we had a hot skillet with spicy, garlic shrimp. It was very tasty. The next dish was a small shot glass of lemon sorbet served with an equally small spoon. To cleanse the palette for our main dish.

Being in Spain for the first time, I've made it my goal to try as many new foods as possible. As a result, I tried Roasted Red Partridge for my main plate. The meat was extremely tender and I don't know if it was Esteban's magic, while it had the texture of chicken, it tasted much more flavorful. I wouldn't describe at all as "game-y" but it definitely tasted a little edgier than bland old chicken. I also had cooked potatoes, which are a pretty typical side dish.

For dessert, we had a variety plate, the especialidad de la casa. I'm not really sure what all was on it, but it tasted great! Sweets aren't very common here, so it was nice to get a dulce for dessert. Also, they served champagne in chilled glasses to Matt and the other student at the dinner.

After dessert (there's more!) you typically have a cafe (coffee). Coffee here is really espresso, so if you want an Americano (half coffee, half hot water) you definitely have to ask for it. Matt had a cortado which is half espresso and half milk. I didn't want any coffee (hoping to sleep later that night!) so I just enjoyed the additional round of sweet treats to go with the coffee. And after the coffee (!) they served shots of a liquor made from yerba (no clue what that is, but the liquor was green). Esteban was taken back by the fact that I didn't drink alcohol (waiting til my 21st), so he took it upon himself to serve me a wonderful liqueour (sp?) made from apples that was sin alcohol (without alcohol). It was wonderful and he served me like 3 shots at least!

Then, we were finally done and Matt took the tab. I looked at my watch and realized it was already 12:30 in the morning! As we were leaving, people were just starting their main course! Dinners here last forever; Matt told me that many people get caught up enjoying everyone's company and going back and forth between a coffee and pastry round, and a shot round.

As we were leaving, Esteban made sure to tell us goodbye, giving us his restaurant's pen and business card. He named me sobrino segundo (second nephew) and I promised him I'd be back! Hopefully I'll go for my birthday!

In the end, it was one of the best dinners I've ever had. Of course it was a little expensive, probably 35 Euros for my meal, but when you get food like that and service that's incomparable, I'd be more than willing to head back there once a week (don't worry, I definitely don't have the budget for it!)! The U.S. needs more restaurants like this, ones with unique flavor, with changing menus, with real service and owners that love each of their customers. Esteban is very successful and very happy. Matt told me that the difference between Madrid and the U.S. is that for restaurant staff in Madrid, this is their career. It's not something they just do to pay the bills, it's what they chose to do because they love it, whether as a camarero (waiter) or the owner. Gotta love it.

Sorry for making y'all hungry, because I know I'm hungry after this post!

Dios

First off, sorry for taking several days off from blogging. A couple days I was really tired and a couple other days I was trying to organize my thoughts on what my next post was going to be. Get excited because you'll get several posts in the next couple of days. The following post may make you think, make you mad, make you happy, make you sad. I tried to take my time writing it the best I can, so please don't dismiss it, even if you don't necessarily agree or know where you stand. It's a long post, but it has to do with my recent experiences in Spain, so read on...

The title of this post is Dios, the Spanish word for God. On Tuesday, I attended a prayer service for young adults at a local non-denominational church (Amistad Cristiana). My friend Danielle from back home had recommended this church as she studied abroad in Madrid several semesters ago. During the service, I experienced a feeling of safety that I haven't felt anywhere else in Spain. I don't know how to explain it, you just have to experience it. I've been a Christian for a long time, but I don't think you can truly understand the depth and breadth of the Father's love for mankind until you listen to other people, from other cultures and other languages, yearning to be closer to the source of the only unconditional love in the universe, Jesus Christ. God didn't just set the world in motion and abandon it. God is real, dynamic. His love is ever-reaching and knows no race, ethnicity, sex, nation, political party or social status. Sure, Christians are imperfect at times (okay, many times, I admit!), but the Lord is perfect, and even better yet, He has a plan for the world and He wants us, as individuals, to be a part of it.

This service reminded me of that fact, that God is waiting to meet us no matter where we are in life. I was also reminded of what the cab driver in Dallas told me before I left, something to the effect of "No matter where you go in the world, you'll find that all people are just like you and me." It's true. No matter how you try to convince yourself, you are not the only one struggling. There are others around the world wrestling with the same issues, doubting the same things, questioning the same ideas, having the same hurts, hang ups and addictions. Believe me, I've had them too. It's the human curse. But, there is hope. There is something so much greater that reaches you in all those corners of the world, in all those times you find your back up against the wall, all those times you think you are alone: God's love as demonstrated to us through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ. He loved us so much as to send his son as the perfect sacrifice so that we might have a real, personal relationship with the living God.

One of my friends from school told me before I left that Europe is a relatively God-less place and that I would be challenged to grow in my personal relationship with the Lord. He was right. Though most Spaniards claim to be Catholic, most only go to church for baptism and marriage. As a result, not many people here know what it really means to be a Christian, to be a follower of Christ. I'll admit that I turned my back on God last semester, didn't want to listen to him, didn't want to spend time praying or meditating on His word. But going through life on your own sucks. This semester I'm hoping to get back on track; I hope to come back different than when I left.

Today I went to the official Sunday service. I don't know that I've ever been to a more genuine service. First, the church doesn't have enough space to fit everybody in it's building, so they meet in a nearby bar. Yes, a bar that smells a bit like ammonia because members of the church have worked tirelessly to clean it from the night before and set everything up for service. The worship team, mostly young people my age, stands on a stage that is set up and taken down every week, a stage where who knows what was performing the night before. But to have the opportunity to worship the Lord right in the community means so much to the members of Amistad Cristiana that they are willing to devote themselves to this. When I walked in, I was greeted by many new people, Rebekah, Ana, Esteban, and others. They recognized I was new and wanted to connect with me. It was all in Spanish, but all the better. During the service, I was amazed to see such praise devoted to the same Lord that I worship each week back home; that I worship here as well. There weren't any formalities here, no attempt for perfectionism, no attempt to "look trendy", no endless liturgies or "traditions", etc. Instead, the microphone kept slipping on the worship leader who was playing the piano so someone went up and fixed it. The offering plates were tupperware containers with a hole in the top. In other words, people were devoting their hearts to the Lord alone; no one was trying to sell you an image or a facade. They let their love for others, coming from the love that Christ first showed us, speak for their message.

I hope that you all have the chance to think about what I just posted. I hope you mull it over and think about it. Respond if you want. I know that so many times church in the States can just seem like either going through the motions or appears like a production, one doubts if there really is any life in the body of Christ sometimes. Believe me, I've had the same thoughts! But again, Christians are humans too, which means they tend to do stupid things, but Christ alone is perfect and we can rest assured in that. At the same time, questioning and considering are not wrong, instead they help you to seek truth and not become lazy and apathetic towards that which you may or may not claim to believe. I'm sorry for those of you who may have a negative view of Christianity, I'm sorry that it may have been an imperfect Christian (maybe even me) who somehow did something to hurt you or turn you away from the Lord. But remember, He alone is perfect.

If you have questions, comments, concerns, or would like to check out this whole God-thing out when I get back, please don't hesitate to let me know via comment on this post, e-mail, or facebook. I hope you all have a wonderful day. Hasta Luego.

Dejé la Corazón Mia en Segovia, Parte II

[The following post is a continuation of the previous post, so read that one first!]

Next, lunch requires nearly a post of itself. After walking around so much, everyone was starving. It was the first time I’ve been cranky a here in Spain; I wanted something good to eat. We decided on a very traditional restaurant in Segovia, near the main plaza. After we all got situated, I ordered the specialty of the house, which was a three-course menu of Segovian specialties. First we had a wonderful soup, judiones de la granja, also known as “Beans of the Grange.” These beans are large beans that were created by the gardeners of the Palacio Real de La Granja that I talked about in my last post. The soup was perfect for a frigid day. Next came the main course: Cochinillo Asado, or Roasted Suckling Pig. This is a very tasty, very expensive dish that is made in Segovia. A young pig is roasted whole and the meat is so tender, being such a young pig, that they bring it out to your table and hack it into 4-6 servings using plates. A very strange mental picture, but the plates demonstrate the skills of the cook (and of the waiter who dices as well!). Luckily for us, the pig was already served diced up, because Chelsi started crying over the poor dead piglet and my friend Melissa nearly swooned (I was actually pretty worried because she was getting hot, flushed, and had trouble breathing! Luckily when she stopped thinking about Poor Piglet, we were good to go!). We definitely looked like inexperienced tourists! Anyways, the meat was absolutely delicious, very tender. The skin had baked into a crunchy, glorified pork-rind that I found tasty as well. For dessert, we had Torta/Ponche de Segovia which is a rich cake that has been soaked in a liqueur and topped with a marzipan icing layer. Overall, it was one of the most unique and delicious meals I’ve experienced. I say experienced, because you don’t really “try” new foods in another culture. Everything about the experience is new. Also, I won’t tell you how much the meal cost, but let’s just say I’ll be eating sandwiches for lunch from here until eternity.

After lunch, the whole group met up in the Plaza Mayor for our tour of El Alcázar, or The Castle. The world used is of Arabic derivation, as are many words in the Spanish language, due to the presence of Moors during much of the Medieval Ages. Anyways, this castle was used by the Catholic King and Queen, Fernando and Isabella. Think Christopher Columbus. Anyways, this castle is absolutely gorgeous, with a very deep moat, towers, and slate roofs. Though not the official castle that Disney modeled, he used El Alázar as a reference. The interior was MUCH different from El Palacio Real de La Granja, which could be a result of the two centuries gap between constructions. Though much more Medieval, this castle had a beautiful interior, with original tapestries, thrones, suits of armor, woodwork and stained glass. Also, with our ticket, we got to climb the 141 steps to the top of the highest tower and look out over the countryside. Everything was absolutely beautiful in the crisp, cold winter air.

I think that was about all for our trip to Segovia. Everyone had a wonderful time, though we were exhausted by the time we got to the bus and everyone was asleep by the time we got back in Madrid. Our sleepy arrival and departure from Segovia made the trip seem much like a dream. I hope the pictures show how beautiful I found the city to be. Maybe you can see why I Left My Heart in Segovia!

Dejé la Corazón Mia en Segovia, Parte I

Hola Chicos,

For those of you who don’t understand the title, Dejé la Corazón Mia en Segovia, it means “I left my heart in Segovia.” Sorry it has taken me so long to post about our trip to Segovia, but being the most beautiful place I have ever visited, I wanted to make sure I was posting an entry without being in a hurry. Anyways, here’s why my heart is in Segovia.

[I started writing so much that I decided to divide this into two posts, so read this one first and get psyched for the next one which I’ll post tomorrow. I didn’t want to overwhelm anyone!]

We started our adventure early in the morning at 8:45AM; it was early considering I went out to celebrate my friends’ birthdays the night before and posted a nice entry on the blog in the middle of the night. We drove for about an hour and a half outside of Madrid with snow on the ground and partly cloudy skies. Many of us took a nap and rested so when we arrived in Segovia, it was like an entry into a whole new world. Unlike the DFW or Philadelphia metoplexes, when you go an hour and a half away from Madrid you are no longer even close to a suburb. All around us were rolling farm fields, rich with the brown that remains between harvests, a hue that I have never seen in America. First, however, we stopped a little bit outside of Segovia in the mountains at La Granja, which was the vacation palace of Felipe II. His family ties to Versaille encouraged him to construct a beautiful palace and gardens in the French style that were revolutionary in incorporating nature with indoors, using arcades of fully-opening French doors to allow light and air in. When we visited, there was a guard in every room to protect the immense beauty of the collections, so I didn’t get many photos of the inside, but let's just say that they're priceless. Gorgeous paintings on every ceiling and gilded everything. Also, lacquer art from Asia was very popular at the time. But for the pictures you see here, there are immense gardens and over 20 fountains. What's unbelieveable is that without any use of electricity or motors, the engineers at the time used the pressure of mountain streams to force water through the fountains, one after the other. The bottom one gets all the pressure of the ones before and shoots 40 METERS into the sky. It wasn't on because of winter, but wow.

Next, we began our walk down the cobbled streets in what is considered Spain’s most preserved medieval city. It feels very weird to walk down streets that haven’t changed much in 500 years. They aren’t knockoffs made by Disney or Universal studios. Everywhere we go, I feel like I’m going to turn the corner and see that the beautiful scene is just a plywood façade, but it hasn’t happened yet.

The first sight to see was the Roman Aqueduct constructed in who knows when, I think it was 100 B.C. or A.D. Can’t remember which, but it doesn’t really matter, because the granite structure has not decayed nearly at all and is one of the most complete structures of Roman construction. It’s in considerably better shape than the Aqueduct in Italy. This one was once 15 km long (nearly 9 miles), but luckily the part that remains is the most beautiful section, nearly four stories tall! The Aqueduct was not constructed with any nails, pegs, cement, or mortar; simply stones that were cut and arranged to fit perfectly with one another. Many years ago, preservation efforts thought it would be a good idea to nail it together. They got one pillar done and then realized that it was stronger to leave it, so the took out all the nails and left it as it was before!

Next, we walked through the city streets to see another Gothic Cathedral. We didn’t have the chance to go inside, but the outside was one of the most beautiful pieces of art you can imagine: soaring tiers of stained glass and ornate stonework. The Cathedral continues to shout the power of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. The Cathedral was mind-blowingly intense. You seem so insignificant when facing such beauty and compilation of capital and labor. And what’s most amazing is that the Church continues to use it for services, hundreds of years later.

Well, that's it for tonight, check back tomorrow for the rest of my day, including my lunch of a Segovian specialty Cochinillo Asado, or Roasted Suckling Pig...

A Week of Firsts & Madrilenos Part I

Hello All,

This week has been a really busy one! A group of us realized tonight that our program has really only been going on for about a week now! Crazy. We all have become such great friends in such a little time. I really look forward to the rest of the semester!

So on with this week. I did end up dropping that lit class, though now I'm thinking commercial spanish might be worse. But hey, if I want to work in Buenos Aires some day, I better sure as heck get my act together before then! These classes are, without a doubt, much more work than the ones in Dallas. Earlier this week I was pretty stressed, but living with a family has definitely helped. Somehow Concha is able to read my mind a little bit. I guess as a mother of four grown children, she knows a little about how to read young people. I appreciate it a lot.

For an abrubt change in topic, here's a list of firsts for this week: changing money in a foreign bank (by the way, you need your real passport, no copies!), eating in a Spanish sandwich chain (Rodilla and Quartertime), going out in Madrid (we closed the restaurant down!), using the Metro (which is actually the safest transportation I've ever used! There are always people on it and even at 1:30, there aren't any sketchballs that I've seen), watching a dubbed American film (deja vu in Spanish), buying from a Spanish convenience store, walking to school in the city, giving Spanish besos without feeling completely awkward (Concha's daughter Silvia and another sen~ora, Pilar, expected them!). I think that's a pretty good run down.

Also, I just hopped out of the shower. I went to celebrate the birthdays of a few friends and came back smelling like an ashtray. Granted, I really don't mind people smoking, but in Madrid, you just have to accept that whatever restaurant you go in or street you walk down, you're going to be smokey. I was working on a post about the differences between Madrileños and Americans. I think I'll start with this one: people here smoke like chimneys. However, I have to admit, they do it in style. I can see why smoking here is a big issue, because the common society seems to support it. Whenever I see Madrileños smoking, they seem to do it in such a devil-may-care way that they all look good doing it! I know, it's crazy, but they do! It also helps when all of the middle age-plus women have beautiful fur coats. PETA doesn't exist here and thank God. That's another difference, people just look dang good here. Americans stick out when we wear jeans and a sweater. Everyone here is wearing something either fashionable or at least well put together. Even the painter I saw walking down the street looked good. Concha and others have told me that brands don't really matter here, there are so many different places to get your clothes that people truly go for quality and price. The only "brand" that is truly popular are the sweatshirts that have "GAP" plastered on the front. Weird, I know.

Well, that's a quick update, I have to go to bed so I can wake up in 5.5 hours and head off to Segovia to take lots more beautiful photos for y'all to enjoy!

Ciao!

The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly in the Plain and tends to freeze everything in the process...

Hola Chicos,

Today is the second day of classes, first day for the TTh schedule. Waking up this morning was a real bear. once I finally decided to wake up, I didn´t have enough time to shower, so I feel grungy. Sorry if that´s TMI. Anyways, I stayed up way later than intended because I watched Spain´s version of Dancing With the Stars. Not gonna lie, it was pretty crappy. I mean, beyond the fact that I´ve never heard of any of the ¨stars¨, none of them could actually dance. However, they did use styles of dance common to Spain, like Flamenco and Pasa Doble. Also, the program was on Channel 1, which I think is owned by the government. Somehow they can´t make any money off their station, so for maybe an hour of program I got stuck with a full 30 minutes of commercials. With all the free time during comercials, I taught Concha how to dance the ¨Texas Two-Step¨. I played some good ol´ George Strait on my laptop and she gave me a straw hat to wear. She caught on quickly, so for a while we were scootin´ around the living room! I´ll have to get a picture of us sometime!

This morning I had my Theatre class, which I am 95% positive I will drop in the next three days. The class is comprised entirely of reading 6 plays, attending 3 plays, writing 6 long papers and 3 short papers. Not so sure I want to do all that for an elective (since I´m not majoring in Spanish!). Oh well. I´ll give myself time to think about it, so we´ll see (yeah right!). After class, a group of us went out to coffee at Starbucks. I promised myself that I wouldn´t go to any ¨American¨ chains like Burger King, McDonald´s, etc. Oh well. It´s actually pretty popular here to go to Starbucks and since a group was going... yeah. After that, we walked to eat lunch at a sandwich place that my friends had been wanting to try. I ordered the Alemán, or German, which was supposed to come with sausage, cheese, and a tomato sauce. I apparently can´t translate much, because it was a hotdog sandwich! Though a simple hotdog, it was probably the best one I´ve ever had! Who ever serves hotdogs with fresh cheese on a footlong french baguette?! I wanted to take a picture, but I didn´t have my camera on me. For about 3,50 €, it was the cheapest meal so far, though I´ll definitely need to grab some fruit on the way home today to snack on before dinner. Since lunch is the biggest meal of the day, a hotdog sandwich might not suffice.

Oh, and it´s maybe raining, snowing, or sleeting outside. I prepared by wearing tennis shoes, my north face, and a bright blue jacket. I definitely look like an America, but while the Spanish are ruining their leather shoes and trendy coats, I´m dry and semi-warm. Beat that, Europe. :-D

I have culture class and business Spanish later today, so I don´t get out of class until 6. I smell like a cigarette from the café, so it would be nice to go home and change at some point. I´ll probably rest tonight, per the usual. Some people have been going out most nights, but it takes me a while to get over a night out and back in the swing of things. We´re going on a field trip to Segovia this Friday, and a few of us are thinking about staying overnight on Friday and coming home late on Saturday. We´ll see.

Hasta luego.

First Day of School

This morning I woke up, dark and early, to one of my favorite cantantes, Julieta Venegas. She's from Argentina and I recognized it because I did a project in one of my classes based on her song, Me Voy. I say "dark and early" because though Spain is more geographically aligned with Wales, it's on the same time zone as Germany. As such, the clock should really read an hour earlier. Plus, all the tall buildings tend to block a lot of the early morning (and afternoon) sun. But back to my story. Anyways, after my usual tradition of using the sleep button twice, I got ready for my first day of school. I heard backpacks are kind of odd here, so I just used a plastic pocket folder left by a previous student in my room. Concha fixed tortilla, an omelet with cheese not to be confused with the American tortilla, and I had some coffee and golden grahams as well. After a leisurely breakfast, I was off.

I live close to school, which means I can walk and enjoy the sights as opposed to having to use the Metro. I could use the autobus, but I can only conquer so many things in one day (or week). Anyways, the city is just starting to wake up at 9am, with people rushing to work and the opening of many storefronts. Getting to school is pretty much a 20 minute straight line, though the massive traffic circle I ran into got me so confused I ended up walking a ways back the direction I started! Also, the street signs on the walls of buildings named after Spanish historic names mean nothing to me (though I do appreciate Spanish culture!), so after awhile, all the Fernandez's and Diego's and Geraldo's run together. Regardless, I made it to my first class on time, History of Modern Art in Spain.

I thought I would just try out the art class, but it ends up, I was already enrolled in it. Turns out, they enrolled me in 15 hours because I couldn't make up my mind which class to take (5000-level Spanish Lit. of Theatre or the art history). As everyone was checking their schedules, they all thought I was ridiculous and I had to explain to nearly everyone that I really only plan on taking 12 hours. Modern, or Contemperan~o, art was a great class that goes to the museum nearly every week. I can still go on the museum trips even with the lit class, but since I'm not majoring in Spanish, I figure, why bother taking the lit class. After Art was Marketing, which definitely is not taught by the American ex-pat that I was told it would be. Hmm...

After class, 3 of my friends (Melisa, Emily, Chelsi) and I decided to go out for lunch. I had to stop by the bank to change dollars to euros, so we casually looked for a place to eat. I really wanted a lunch of traditional menu del dia, so we picked Revi 40 for our first lunch. For 11 euros, I had an amazing meal at a great little restaurant that can only seat maybe 30 people. It was a really nice restaurant with tablecloths and our very kind and patient waiter was wearing a bowtie and all. The menu del dia consisted of 3 courses and came with wine, bread, and a simple tapas to taste. My first course was a wonderful soup for a cold day, consisting of potato, carrots, and bits of pork rib in a nice, thick broth. The waiter brought it out in a big pot and ladled it to us individually. Then came some dish, which I can't remember the name, but it was like thin pork steaks (tenderloin?) with an amazing, you-can't-believe-it-unless-you-tried-it pumpkin sauce (pure de calabaza). For dessert, two of us had fresh kiwi and the others had very good ice cream. Though I can't pay 11 euros for every meal, this one was fantastic!

After that, nothing is open in the afternoons, so I went to Melisa and Chelsi's apartment because it's really close and their madre told them it would be fine to have friends over to study (though we actually watched a movie). Part of the culture here is that it is not typical to entertain at home. Homes are considered private and only for family. Since I love having people over for dinner and movies and such, I think that that may be the only thing I don't like about Madrid. When the movie was over (Kung Fu Panda in English), we went out to run errands. One thing I absolutely love about Madrid is that the city streets are lined with tons of unique, family-owned stores and restaurants. There are very few chains, other than banks. As such, we went to a paper-store for our school goods, a market for vegetables, fruit, meat and cheese, a video store strictly to rent them another movie, etc. There are perfume stores, furniture stores, electronic stores, car stores (literally in buildings right off the street!), even a honey store! Every store has it's own character and unlike Philly or NYC, there aren't many abandoned or closed down stores. However, they are never all open at the same time! The Spanish time table is extremely hard to get used to! Banks are only open to the public 10-2, stores from 9-2 and 5-8, restaurants (other than cafeterias, that are cafes, not cafeterias) are open 2pm-5pm and 8:30pm-11pm, and bars 2pm-2am. So you have to plan your day in kind of an odd way.

However, I really, really like Madrid. It's like NYC, without the grime, glitz, chain stores, and people begging on the street, etc. You can walk all over the place, though I think I'll pick up a metro pass soon. One thing I'm tired of in Dallas is that everything is the same, the same chain restaurants, the same clothing stores, the same-looking houses, the same cars. It's boring. But here, there are many, many different stores and markets with all sorts of different wares. It's a bit expensive, since I don't exactly have a working income, but it's all good.

I also got my phone, which is kind of confusing and seems to have a bad battery. We'll see what happens there. I don't think any of y'all can call me unless you want to pay a pretty penny.

Tonight I think I may just have a quiet night in so that I can read a little and maybe to bed sooner than not. We'll see. Concha just returned to cook dinner. We're having some sort of creamed vegetable with dinner, either a zucchini or a cucumber- I couldn't tell. She also handed me a block of dark chocolate with honey to snack on. Much tastier and more savory than Hershey's (though I miss milk chocolate!).

Hasta luego,
JHunt

Toledo

Buenas!

Hello everyone, sorry it's taken me a while to write a new note, but I just got back yesterday from our retreat in Toledo, which is less than an hour away from the city of Madrid, but feels like a whole different epoch in time. We stayed at a kind of satellite campus of the Fundacion which was a lot of fun. All of the guys (all 5 of us) stayed in one dorm suite. I think we'll always be rooming all together no matter where we end up. The view from my "dorm" room was incredible, the picture is right below:

So yeah, gorgeous. All the buildings were plastered walls of stone and brick with tile roofs. The streets were extremely narrow and the street signs are tiles placed in the walls of the buildings on the corners. As a result, it can be kind of hard to find your way around sometimes! Oh, and the cars drive through these streets like it's nothing, so everyone who's walking either hops on the 2ft wide sidewalk on main streets, or stands in doorways in the small streets! One funny thing happened when I was walking: a car got to a really narrow point and pulled it's side mirrors in, then proceeded to scrape the entire side of both cars along the walls of buildings as he continued down the street! As can be expected, most of the cars here are covered in dings and scratches, even the beemers.

The first day, we met as a big group and had a small orientation meeting. During siesta my friends and I went to a free museum exhibition about life during the early 1800's in Madrid. fascinating, though we didn't understand much! Then we went on an excursion (walking of course) to the Cathedral. It was absolutely stunning. Toledo has one of the biggest cathedrals in Spain. It took 300 years to fund and build! Incredible. Being absolutely massive there was no heat, but no one minded shivering as we admired the gothic architecture, El Greco paintings, and a processional object in the church treasury that had 6,000 individual pieces of gold and silver, 12,000 nails to hold it together, and weighed over 850 pounds. Yeah, really. After the cathedral, I wandered around a while before dinner (which wasn't served until 8:30). After that, I was so pooped I just slept.

On Friday, we had more orientation meetings and such. I'm getting to know everyone in our group and I think we'll all have a good time. However, there are 35 girls and 5 guys, so it's hard to remember every girl's name. I yelled at my friend Emily to get her attention when we were walking, but her name was actually Megan. Oops. In the afternoon we visited a synagogue and a church with El Greco's masterpiece, The Burial of Count Orgaz. It's so cool to actually see and smell and feel the places where artists painted and worked, not just looking at it in a picture book. After the field trip, we had lots of time, so several friends and I went walking and shopping. We found the pasteleria from my guidebook that has the best marzipan in Toledo. If you've never had marzipan, it's a very rich candy made from sugar, almond paste, and in the case of the house specialty, candied egg yolk centers. I tried one, and ended up buying a whole box. Sooooooo good. Many of us also bought an item of damasque jewely, a Toledo specialty. Later in the evening, we went out to a club or discoteca to see a live band... which never showed up. Oh well. Many people, myself not included, decided to enjoy a glass (or bottle) of Toledo's finest... aka whatever was the cheapest wine at the bar!

Yesterday, there was doubt we'd return to Madrid because there was a 'massive' snow storm here. It ended up being nothing much, but it's like Dallas, where no one knows how to drive in the snow. But we made it home, tired and worn out! I want to go back to Toledo and see the sights that I missed, including the Alcazar and the house of El Greco....

Spain!

Whew, so I'm officially in Spain! It's 5:30am local time and I just woke up (unintentionally, of course). I went to bed very early at 9pm because of the jet lag and I think I'm still getting used to everything in that regard. As such, I have a couple of hours before breakfast and heading off to Toledo with my class.

Here's the official rundown of the past, what, thirty hours (only thirty!?). First, I went to DFW with my Dad and got through the ticket counter and security fairly easy. One lady at the ticket counter questioned me about my group travel, but no issues. Once on the inside, I couldn't find a currency exchange, so I just plopped down and started reading Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. It takes place in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. So far, it's interesting. We got on the plane, and I got the very back of the bus, window seat, next to several fellow students. Out of the 40 people going to Spain from my school, 36 are girls And out of all that, I was the only guy on the group flight! Anyways, our flight was good, all 10 hours of it. Eck. We talked for an hour and a half, ate a pretty uneventful dinner, fell asleep during Nights of Rodanthe, woke up during Flawless and pretty much never slept after that. I passed some of the time teaching my new friend Lindsey how to play gin with cards. Also, we had fun joking with Mercedes that she is now la madre for taking care of the toddlers sitting next to her! Breakfast on the plane was quite forgetable, some sort of stewed collard green, an omelet-like contraption, hash browns, good fruit, roll, and OJ.

So we arrive in Frankfurt, everyone is extremely tired and we all suddenly come to the realization that NONE of us speak ANY german! Oops! Luckily everyone waited for everyone else as we got our passports checked, went through security again, etc. You know those groups of clueless tourists that you either get exasperated with or make fun of in the airports? Yeah, we were that group! I think my time in Frankfurt was more of a severe shock than arriving in Madrid. See, at least in Spain we are learning the language and don't feel like complete idiots. I have never felt so inadequate as when we ran around the Frankfurt airport.

Now, the flight from Frankfurt. Let's just say the flight attendant seemed to like me. Slight awk-ward. I'll chalk it up to the fact that all 25 of the rest of the people from school were zombies and I was still chatty and positive. The steward was really nice to me, so that works. He gave me two lunches (which were better than breakfast!) and a schokolade bar of his own. Also, it was really weird trying to communicate with him because he of course spoke german, but he was also fluent in English and Spanish. So I speak English, but also find myself thinking in Spanish because a lot of the other passengers were Spanish. I realized how behind us Americans are, because in the rest of the world it's entirely normal to speak two languages. However, our society is kind of ridiculous sometimes in insisting on English all the time. I think we may be doing our children a detriment by not teaching them another language early on. But I digress.

We arrive in Madrid and I feel much better than in Frankfurt, because I can get by pretty well here. Luckily, everyone got their baggage, but the really strange part is that we never had to go through customs. Nothing. I guess they stamped my passport when I entered the EU in Frankfurt and that was good enough? Whatever.

We ended up on tour buses (which I got yelled at by the bus driver for putting my feet on the seat?). Driving through Madrid was a lot of fun. It reminds me of New York, but with better architecture. Also, there are ads for things like Australia and other American/Western things, so at the same time it feels like East/South Dallas a bit too with billboards in Spanish for American goods. Once we got to the Fundacion , my familia, Concha and her son Carlos picked me up and we were off in a taxi to their apartamento. In the taxi ride was the first culture shock for me. Something clicked and I thought to myself, "oh God, I'm in a taxi with everyone and the radio jabbering in Spanish. I'm off to live with a family I have never met for the next four months." And that was it, no worries since.

Mild Freak Out?

SO, here we are, piddling away the last 7 hours of my time in PA before the flight to Dallas at 8AM, then D-town to Frankfurt at like 4PM on Tuesday, then to Madrid by 3PM on Wednesday.

Slight freakoutage occurring. What's going through my mind is "Wow. This is actually going to happen. No really. It is. In 2 days I will be in Europe."

For a few of you out there in cyberworld, traveling abroad may be as routine as eating cereal for breakfast. I've never been out of the country before. Never. Only the 50 yards at the Jersey Shore before the lifeguards yell at you to come back in. I mean, never.

As such, I'm nearly done packing, that's a record, never been done earlier than 1AM the night before a trip. That's a relief. I'm even under 75 pounds total. I packed, then unpacked and removed like 1/3 of the weight, then repacked. I think it will save me a lot of unneeded clutter in the future.

Okay I'm rambling, so I'll go to bed now (as if I'll be able to sleep for the next week!). Maybe I'll hit y'all up on Wednesday, if I'm not too jetlagged, whatever that makes you feel like...

Peace out my people.

JHunt