Cadiz

So I haven't been good about updating this lately...Sorry! Not much new has really happened since I last updated though, other than Cadiz, which I will tell about at the end of this update.  Pretty much my weeks have been the same: classes, homework (very little in reality), meeting people for coffee, and soccer.  However, I do have some random occurrences of fun events to tell about. 

Intercambios: Last Wednesday we had intercambios, which in reality are supposed to be a time for us to learn spanish and meet some spanish people, but they didn't quite work out as Profe had planned.  In the end, we had about 5 spaniards, all of which we already know and hang out with on quite a regular basis (José, Gonzalo, Luis, Pablo, and... Dave's host brother..who's name I  am just now realizing I do not know! But you'll probably hear about these people a lot).  We ended up talking a lot of spanish, but we didn't teach them any english and we didn't get to do it on a person-to-person basis, which is what Profe wants. However, he doesn't want the girls to have intercambios with boys, which doesn't work out since we know more spanish boys than girls and have more girls than guys in our group.. Oh well, he's still working on it. Either way, it was a fun time and we got churros! :) 

Worker strikes: So today as I'm walking home, I'm trying to take a bus, because I live about 45 minutes from the centro, and that is a long walk to do more than once in a day (about 3 miles each way probably) but the buses don't seem to be running, so I decide to walk (because everyone else waiting at the bus stop left..).  So I turn the corner on to Gran Via, and I finally realize why there are no buses.  ALL of Gran Via (and Gran Via is a pretty long road) is filled with people marching with flags and signs and things like that.  So of course I'm wondering what on earth is going on! I finally figured out that it was a protest against the lack of jobs in Spain right now and against older people having to work in the factories and stuff like that because they can't afford to be out of work! It was honestly amongst the most interesting things I've seen here and I didn't have my camera! It was all so organized though, and honestly at first I thought it was a celebration parade of some sort (there's some random Andalucian holiday this weekend) because there was a marching band in casual uniforms leading the way.  Everyone was dressed alike and everything! I guess they're going on a hunger strike for 60 days to protest the way the government is doing things (as we all know, I know nothing about politics and government in the U.S. let alone in Spain).  Very interesting, but I was late, so I just kept on walking.  

And now, the main event ladies and gentlemen: Carnaval in Cadiz!

This weekend was the end of the world famous Carnaval in Cadiz-the spanish version of Mardi Gras.  So of course, not wanting to miss out on this opportunity, we decided to go.  Saturday morning at 12, 4 of us UNHers (okay, more but 4 of us went together) hop on a bus with a group of spaniards to Cadiz.  First of all, the bus ride.  Muy interesante.  Of course they can all tell we're American from about a mile and a half away, so the group of spaniards around us decided to make friends with us.  We tell them where we're from and start talking to them and then one of them decides to get into an argument with us over whether NH or RI is a better state (sorry Court, we argued for NH!) And then they tried to get Anna and I to get up on the microphone and sing along to the music because we knew all the words (I believe it was something by Rihanna..of course we know the words!) And the hilarious event of the bus ride was the raffle.  So we don't really know what's going on because we weren't paying attention/didn't entirely understand the spanish, but they start handing out numbers, so we finally get that it's a raffle and the prizes? Alcohol... So we're all sitting there praying we don't win, because we didn't want it! Pretty sure keeping that stuff in our houses would be frowned upon by Profe and our señoras! So we're in the midst of a group of spaniards who all just want to be drunk and we're all like, let's not win-the first two winners? Anna and Kayla! Turned out to be useful because we traded for donuts with the spanish boy next to us :) I'd say we got the better end! Delicioussss but it was quite entertaining to watch how upset they were when we won..plus we all just thought it was strange that they're raffling off alcohol-that would never happen in the U.S.! And that's it for the bus ride. 

We finally arrive in Cadiz, which from afar pretty much just looks like Miami, and we get off the bus and are just roaming around in a group of people wearing costumes (we went as the seasons-I was summer) because we didn't exactly know where anything is in Cadiz.  However, it was pretty easy to find the main events, since everyone just started walking in that direction.  The main events were occurring on el Paseo del Disfraz (the road/pass of costumes basically) and in the square it leads to.  So we went there and hung out there for quite some time, watching magic shows, flamenco shows and just watching the people go by. There was some wicked awesome costumes: flys with fly swatters (literally, huge fly swatters), a jar of nutella with galletas (breakfast cookies), a bunch of Avatars, and a whole bunch of soccer players (I am in Spain afterall!) Amazing.  We passed quite a few hours just watching people actually.  We also took a trip up to the beach to see the ocean.  Gorgeous, but unfortunately by this time the weather was starting to get bad, so the waves were rough and we could only look over a wall at it.  So we head back to the square to people watch again, where we met up with some people we know from Granada (some UNHers and some people from Alabama).  Pretty much the point of Carnaval is to hang out and listen to music and watch shows while dressed up.  Every once and awhile a parade would go by randomly, just a group of people dressed up in the same costume marching to music.  Overall it was pretty fun. 

And then the rain started.

Downpours! At this point, they start taking down the stages and pretty much, everyone just went to wherever they could that was not in the rain.  First we went to a cafe, and then we got bored of sitting in there, so we took cover in a discoteca, which was fun for awhile, but eventually we decided to head back and find our bus (they were supposedly letting people on early) but we couldn't find it so we spent awhile wandering around.  Unfortunately, umbrellas were not much help and by the time we got back on the bus we were all just exhausted and cold and wet and went right to sleep.  I slept most of the way back to Granada and woke up with our bus broken down at a bus stop 45 minutes away from Granada.  Pleasant. We ended up being stuck there for quite some time and by the time we actually got back to Granada, we all were cranky and just needed to sleep.  Which I did ALLLLL day. And most of Monday as well! Overall, I'd say it was a good experience, but it was one of the most interesting 24 hour periods in my entire life and I would only repeat it if there was 100% no chance of rain! 

That's it for an update! Hasta luego!

Pictures (I have no control over size or where they go, I tried): #1: The four of us with the boy who thinks RI is better than NH (he jumped in our picture).  #2: Me and Anna with the Avatars #3. Amanda and I after walking in the rain. 

Yellow alert for snow?!

So back to the updates on our trip to Madrid! So much to write about!

Friday  night: So Friday night we went to see the musical, 40 el musical.  First of all, Profe had told us two things about this before we came: 1. We did not have good seats and 2. He did not know what it was about, only that it was popular in Spain, amongst people our age.  On number one.  We had HORRIBLE seats, as in, the last possible row in the theater, which you know, that's fine, except that the last possible row in the theater happened to be about 150 yards up in the air on a very, very slanted balcony.  It took awhile before I was able to sit calmly up there.  Secondly, I thoroughly enjoyed the play, but it was quite a bit more taboo than any of us were expecting, especially Profe.  I wasn't sitting near him, but I heard his reactions were priceless.  The play, from what I could gather, is basically about the lives of 6 college or fresh out of college aged kids, and their love lives, put to popular music from both Spain and the US.  While interesting, some of things that happened on stage just should not have happened on stage, but they're a lot more open about public displays of affection here than in the US and I guess that applies to theater as well.  Oh well, overall, it was good and hilarious! 

Saturday: Saturday Anna and I went back to Reina Sofia in the morning and looked at some more of Picasso's work and of course, Guernica again.  After the museum, we went to find Palacio Real, which was a difficult task, as it was not on any of the signs that point tourists places, and it was quite far away from where we started. But after quite some time walking, we found it.  Very pretty, but the line to go in was long, so we just hung out in the gardens for awhile, then headed back to the hotel.  We then left to get some ice cream, but when we came back, everyone else was sleeping, so we were eating it in the halls when Sam came along and we went to hang out with him for awhile, but ended up just falling asleep in their room.  After about 2 hours, we woke up and discovered that it was time to head to the Real Madrid game! We got there quite early, because Profe wanted us to have some time to look at the kiosks near the stadium and observe the mayhem that goes on before a soccer game there. We ended up going out for some appetizers at TGI Fridays.  After dinner, we headed to the stadium and discovered that once again, our seats were quite, quite high.  However, we had a good view of the field.  The game was amazing to watch! I wish I had understood the chants and things, but the energy in the stadium is amazing and there were so many people there too! Of course, Real Madrid won.  

Sunday: Bright and early in the morning (okay, 11am, but early after being at a soccer game that ended after midnight) we got on the bus and headed to Toledo.  I absolutely adored Toledo! It's a very small city, but it's extremely nice and old fashioned.  It's very quiet and there are a lot of tourist shops, but it's just so quaint.  And the cathedral was amazing too! We had to wait for mass to finish before we were allowed to go in, so we went to this nearby restaurant and got paella, which was delicious! I definitely like saffron a lot.  Overall, our time in Toledo was just relaxing and a lot of looking at the city.  Then we got on the bus and headed home to Granada.  It was so nice to be back after so long away, but I was exhausted! 

Monday: I slept most of the day after being gone for so long and sleeping so little while we were in Madrid.  We met up at Cafe Futbol that afternoon to work on planning our trip to Rome, but other than that, I didn't do much.

Tuesday: Our first day of classes! My first class was my history of music class, which I absolutely love so far! Our professor is extremely nice, but she's pregnant so we won't have the whole semester.  However, her replacement is her husband, so I don't think we have to worry to much about that! She was really funny though, and asked us if it was alright if she corrects our spanish when we talk or read, which of course we all want her to do! She also felt bad that we had to pay 5 euros for our books, and we all tried to explain that it would probably cost 20 back home, so really it was okay.  Second I had Maricarmen's class, which is just a UNH class.  She is extremely funny though, and absolutely hates it when we speak english near her, even though she understands it.  We didn't actually do anything in that class on Tuesday except a little get to know each other activity sort of deal, even though we all know each other quite well by now.  After lunch, we all met up again to go to Cafe Futbol and this time we officially planned our trip to Rome! May 6th through 9th I will be in Rome! I absolutely cannot wait, as it is one of 2 trips I have officially planned and bought plane tickets for.  

Wednesday: Second day of classes; not quite as good as the first, but not bad.  I had Spanish Civilization and Culture, which I'm thinking about dropping because the professor is really boring and hard to understand, and the class did not sound very interesting at all.  I'm going to give it a try for the next week though, and then make my decision.  Then we had Profe's class, which wasn't really class this week, just an informational meeting and then Flamenco! I had really been looking forward to my flamenco class because I thought we were going to be dancing and everything, but it doesn't seem that way.  I was a little upset, but it doesn't seem like it will be a bad class at all, except that we have one of those students who thinks they are the teacher in the class with us, and we are all already annoyed with his trying to outsmart the teacher.  Oh well, can't be helped.  

Thursday: Same as Tuesday pretty much, except that I now like my history of music class more now that we've actually started learning some stuff.  After class, I played soccer yesterday since it had been one of the first nice days in quite some time.  All the spaniards were asking where I'd been and didn't accept cold weather as an excuse not to play soccer.  They're quite in love with the sport! 

Today: I slept nice and late and then met up with Anna and Kayla to go shopping, but it was snowing (yes, snowing!) so we went back to Cafe Futbol, where we accidentally met up with Jess.  So we all had some chocolate y churros and then decided to head out shopping because the rain had let up.  However, Granada is still on a yellow alert for snow, which is ridiculous.  Apparently if we hit orange/red alert, people can't leave their houses or something like that.  I find it hilarious though, because we probably wouldn't have even considered today a snowfall in New Hampshire, just a pre-winter rain fall, with a bit of snow mixed in and yet, everyone was freaking out about how their kids needed to be inside and how no one should go anywhere.  I cannot wait to see how it goes over if we really get the snow they're expecting tonight!

That is it for my news update.  Hasta luego. 

You can believe me now Padre

Hello everybody! I'm finally updating, I know it has been long awaited! I've been awfully busy lately though.  I'll start with my trip from Madrid- I don't remember what I haven't updated about from before then, but it probably wasn't much interesting.  

So, our trip.  Wednesday morning we left bright and early- I was awake at 5:45am, walking to meet the girls at 6:40 and getting on the bus at 7.  Needless to say, I slept most of the way to El Escorial.  However, El Escorial was really interesting! It's kind of in the middle of nowhere, and it's this monastery place.  We weren't allowed to take pictures, which was kind of a bummer, but it was interesting to look at.  It had some art in it, some weapons, but my favorite part was the crypts.  Pretty much every famous and not so famous monarchy of Spain is buried there, and their tombs are FANCY.  It was really interesting to see, but also a creepy feeling to know that you're in the same room as some dead people who are incredibly famous (the Hapsburgs anyone?).  Weird feeling.  We didn't spend all that much time there-Profe told us that you could spend days in the library, but I honestly didn't think it was that impressive, since you couldn't really see the books, and of course, you can't touch them. Afterwards, we headed back to the bus and on towards Madrid.  Our first night in Madrid we didn't really do much, since we got there around 7ish.  We headed to Corte Ingles to get some food (we tried to feed ourselves cheaply this entire week).  The Corte Ingles here is MUCH larger than the one in Granada, and we ended up spending about 30 minutes trying to find the escalators downstairs! We finally found them, and scavenged for something good to eat.  It was difficult considering everything has to be cooked, and we later found out that pre-prepared food doesn't actually come cooked, but we got some stuff and we were all so exhausted that we didn't really care.  So we headed back and just hung out in the hotel for the night. 

Thursday morning we woke up and headed down to breakfast, because we had to check in with Profe between 8:30 and 9.  After breakfast we had a few hours, so we explored the city a bit looking for Parque Retiro, which we found unfortunately just in time to head back to the hotel and catch the bus to Segovia.  Segovia was nice, although we didn't spend much time there.  We saw the famous aqueduct, which I did not happen to realize at the time.  After we had viewed it and taken pictures with it I commented about how we should go see it.  I was mocked. But I have never taken a spanish history class that discussed said aqueduct, so I don't think it was that bad, but it's become one of the quotes of the trip.  After that we wandered Segovia, and went to the castle there.  That was also interesting to see, and we climbed up the tower from which you could see absolutely everything! It was an amazing view! While we were up there, someone spotted Profe, so we all waved to him, it was quite a funny coincidence! Thursday night we went out to eat at this nice little Italian restaurant.  I got spaghetti with some sort of garlic butter sauce-delicious! 

Friday was a long day, but incredibly fun.  We woke up and headed to the Prado to see some paintings! It's a huge museum, but a lot of it is Renaissance art, so Anna and I looked for about 2 hours but then decided to leave and head over to Reina Sofia, the other art museum in Madrid.  On our interesting walk over there we encountered several things: the Botanical gardens, a boat in the middle of the street, Dunkin Coffee, a churros place that refused to serve us churros and finally, the museum! We didn't spend much time there either, but we looked at the Dali paintings, and the Picassos, and our goal: Guernica.  I cannot describe how amazing it was to see this painting.  I have learned about and studied this painting in so many different classes, that it was just amazing to see it, but also, it is massive! It has a room to itself and takes up and entire wall.  Anna and I spent about 45 minutes looking and analyzing it, and then decided to tour the rest of the floor.  We returned, looked at it again and then decided to come back the next day.  We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the musical.  

I am now exhausted and need to get to bed.  The end of my Madrid trip will come tomorrow! I promise! Buenas noches

FYI

Just a quick post to left everyone know that I will be updating with everything new tomorrow night before we leave for Madrid Wednesday morning!