Madrid: One Month Later

I can hardly believe that I’ve been here for a little over a month… Time has really flown so far and I’m sure it’s not going to slow down. It’s been an amazing experience so far and I must say it’s pretty cool to be basically acclimated to life in another country (and I swear, I’m getting used to the cultural differences. Well except the no tipping thing… Just can’t get used to that…). This time has been, so far (and I know I must have said this 100 times by now), exactly what I hoped it would be. I’m getting a chance to relax and enjoy myself while expanding my horizons. Yes I am a little bored, at times, with classes that are less challenging than things I did my Freshman year at HPHS and the four day weekends sometimes seem a little too long (now don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, but you know me; I’m used to working six days a week with obnoxious hours on top of classes and, oh yeah, trying to have some semblance of a social life). But I know that this is a temporary situation so I’m really trying to soak it all up before heading back to Boston and what is sure to be a busy semester before graduation (WHOA! College went by a lot faster than I expected). I’m finally getting my act together and I’m gunna start traveling (London this week, Granada & Cordoba the next, then Pisa, France, and maybe Norway or Switzerland???) So I’m gunna take a look back now and comment on some of the different things I’ve learned or discovered in the past month-ish. Enjoy!

FOOD
Eating has been a little difficult. It’s harder than you’d think to find a decent restaurant that’s not just a bar that has sandwiches (especially when you or your friends are being a little more budget conscious), but I’ve been eating well… Food at home is a different story and it’s starting to bother me a little bit. Laura seems to have taken a page from the Muriel Schneider Handbook to Food Storage, specifically the part that states, “If it’s in the Frigidaire, it won’t go bad ever.” We have a lot of frozen food that is reheated. Things like beans and seafood (which is starting to gross me out… I really don’t know how long its been in there and it’s not like it’s being put through the grinder and made into a knish, I can still tell what this stuff is…). Also, we’re big on olives and other vinegar-soaked things. Again, fine in moderation but not all the time. And for goodness sake, if I ever eat another anchovy in my life it will probably be tooooooooooooo soon. But like I said, I’m making due.

THE LANGAUGE
Here’s a fun one. One month later and I find that my comprehension has improved two-fold but my speaking, while improved, is not quite on the same level. I’ll take some responsibility for this but I am going to place some of the blame elsewhere: The faculty at the International Institute of Spain (specifically those of BU & SUNY). Bless them for trying, but really if someone doesn’t get it the first time, it would probably be beneficial to try to explain it once more in Spanish rather than jumping right over to English. Granted, I’ve met grains of salt more intelligent then some of the students on this program (I wish I was exaggerating, I really do…) but still, we’re here to learn Spanish things in Spanish, not Spanish things in English, we can do that at home (granted some people are actually just here to get drunk and travel, but some of us actually want to learn. What a concept!) My phonetics teacher did bring up a good point in class the other day and I tend to agree with it. She said that they staff purposely didn’t make the classes too difficult because they understand that that is only a minor part of our experience here and that it wouldn’t make sense for us to be stuck studying all the time when we should be getting out and exploring the culture for ourselves. True enough.

THE LOCALS
So it’s been a month and I can’t say that I’ve really met any native Spaniards (save for Laura’s niece Laura) my own age and that’s kinda bumming me out. I know there’s still time but I’d like to make a Spanish friend or two. Is that so much to ask? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

THE HOME STAY
My comfort level at home is getting better but I still feel awkward at times (not that I should, they’re paying the home stay families the equivalent of $1,116.50 a month) especially when it comes to eating, showering, or really just my overall use of the house. I’m still too afraid to say no to food and, if at all possible, wait until everyone else is out of the house before showering so I don’t have to feel guilty about the amount of time I spend in the bathroom. In other news: the cardboard that acts as a box spring for my bed has stopped squeaking as much (yay!).

THE CULTURE
I have been to so many museums, churches, palaces, old buildings, movies, and plays, since I’ve been here and for that I am truly thankful. I have gotten to see and appreciate lots of things that I’ve only previously seen in books. It’s been great to see some of the local cinema and theatre as well just to see how things differ from the US to here. The one thing I’m gunna complain about (and you know me…) is the lack of intermissions in the theatre here. I sat through a 2 ½ hour long 19th century play that, while it was well done, made me want to pluck my eyes out with a spoon by the end… At least BU is paying me back for it… The movie I went to yesterday (Saturday) was at a really nice theater that had assigned seating. It was pretty cool and the concept kinda works a little better, I think…

But even more than just the Spanish culture, being here has exposed me to myriad other cultures as well. Friday was the Day of the Nation here and to celebrate the Spanish discovery of the Americas the have what is called a “marcha”. This is basically a parade where each of the South American countries put together either a float or a dance/display and come walking through from the largest train station in the city to one of the more prominent plazas. It was very cool to see these different cultures… The next day we decided to go to this Arabic music fest that Laura had told me about. Playing that night was a group from Morocco. Again, very cool to see and hear. So yeah, being here just over a month has already begun to expand my view of the world more than I thought. And for this, I’m very thankful.

Anyway, that’s about all I’ve got for now. I’m sure I’ll think of something later but in the meantime Edson’s making lunch while listening to Kylie Minogue… ¡Oye!

¡Hasta pronto!