I have not posted on here in a while. I am sorry. If it makes it any better, many times when I am walking down the streets of Madrid, I try and notice things and turn it into puns or jokes to use for my blog. I've thought of so many good ones, but never write them down, and forget later. Luckily, this one made it through. Hope you enjoyed it. And as the title suggests, since I last posted, Christmas decorations have been sprouting up all around. I think our neighbor Wally might be part Spanish, since this was about the same time that his decorations appear as well (I am crossing my fingers that my mom didn't send Wally the link to this).
Well, a lot has happened since we last spoke. I was told that on Friday, my senora's son and his band were coming over, and that we were allowed to invite girls over if we wanted, to see the concert. I thought it was weird that they were asking for girls, but I figured it was because my senora knew my group was mostly girls, and it was a boy band. Well, Friday night rolls around, and I am informed that I am not allowed to go the concert, that it is girls only. My friends call me to tell me that they had arrived, and I take them to my senora's daughter house (next door), and inform them that I will not be coming. Their faces of terror on their faces took me off guard, and I was as apologetic as ever. I told them to arrive at 9:30, which is what my senora told me. We'll, I forgot that they were on Spanish time, and turns out my friends that came, and my senora's daughter, were hanging out together for an HOUR before other people came, and then later the band. Whoops.
Well, a little explanation about the band. They are known as a Tuna. It is kind of like a fraternity, but for music students in college. Each member is known as a tuno, and apparently my senora's son is the lead of the group. They dress in a traditional tuna outfit (as seen in my photo album), and dance and serenade woman (hence the girls only). It turned out ok, I got to watch from the street as the tuna paraded in, singing and dancing. They first serenaded my senora, who was in the window of our apartment, and then moved on to the balcony filled with about 25 girls. Then they went up and put on a concert. Later, we were allowed to join in, and then we all went to a discoteca to dance. It turned out fun, and all the girls that came were glad (it was definitely a part of Spanish culture one does not often see).
During that weekend, I stayed in Madrid, and procrastinated writing my paper for class. It was rather unfortunate, because I didn't want to leave my apartment, because I was going to force myself to write it, but then I found something to distract me for a couple hours: solitaire (high score 5774, can anyone top it). Six o'clock rolled around, and all I had done was written the heading on my paper, so I thought it best to leave the house and do some sight-seeing. My roommate Armando and I went to the Moncloa stop, and did some walking around. There is a large park there, which was really cool, and lots of shops and restaurants and bars there. It would be comparable to like Michigan Ave (since it has both shopping and parks), but much older, and without the skyscrapers (or as they say here, rascacielos). We saw the Templo de Debod (which can be seen in my picasa album from above). It was great, we saw it just at sunset, and I got some amazing shots of it.
He went home for dinner, but since I had already had lunch, I stayed in the area to get some tapas. I stumbled upon this cool contest, were 45 bars in Madrid were competing for the best tapas. For 2 Euros, I was able to get one drink, and the best tapas the bar offered. They gave me a map, with all the locations, and a punch card. I went to three different bars, and had some great food. First, I had a small sandwich, with a piece of roasted pork, and some caramelized onions. At the second place, I had a stuffed pepper, and some couscous. At the last place, I had this cheddar soup, with white rice and chorizo in it. It was all REALLY tasty, and a fun and cheap way to explore the city and have dinner (I walked to each bar, and they were spread apart so I got to see a lot on the way).
On Sunday, I got around to interviewing Spaniards for my paper, and started writing it. It was about Spanish perspectives on American politics, and why they cared so much about our elections. I thought I wrote a good paper (I'm still waiting for the grades), and if you'd like to read it, e-mail me and I'll send you it (I await an inbox full of requests lol).
The week was pretty ordinary, until Thursday: El día de acción de gracias. It was the first time that I had ever gone to class on Thanksgiving in my life (and hopefully the last time). It was really hard being away from home, but I was really glad that I was able to video chat with my entire family that day. Andy and Ella are getting so big, and from Kerry's pictures, it looks like they had a really nice first Thanksgiving. Our dinner that we had here was pretty good. I definitely did not leave as full or as satisfied as I am accustomed to, but it was nice to have some turkey and stuffing. I had Brussels Sprouts for the first time, and thought they were just ok (not as bad as the hype would lead me to believe). It was nice to be with everyone in the program as well, but I could tell most of us were missing home.
I had the place to myself this past weekend, since Frank's girlfriend was visiting, and they left for Paris the Friday after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, this did not help at all, since I missed my bus to Toledo Saturday morning. I didn't even go out Friday night (but I definitely made up some well needed sleep that I had missed out during the week). I had set my alarm for 7:45, allowing myself plenty of time to get ready, and be at the meeting point by 9. Well, I was a little groggy when I woke up, and instead of pushing the snooze button, I pushed the off button on my alarm. I woke up at 9:30, thinking that my alarm should be going off soon, and then got a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that it was later then I thought. I checked it, and then cursed myself. I loved Toledo last time I was there, and was really looking forward to returning to see it again.
As luck would have it, Toledo is very close to Madrid. And, every 30 minutes, buses leave from Madrid for Toledo, for only 4 euros. So I hopped on the metro, took the circle line literally as far as I could (since it is a circle, you reach one point and you are coming back from where u started. the stop I had to go to was at the opposite end of my stop). Then, I took a bus there. I was able to meet up with my group, and only missed the bus tour around the city (which I had done before). I was still able to see the Cathedral, get the walking tour, have lunch, and have some free time. I bought loads of Mazapán, since I remembered how much everyone liked it, and you are all getting it for your Christmas present. Just kidding. But I did have some, that was made with egg yoke mixed in (yema), and it was much better. Our study abroad people told us that most people don't like plain mazapán, which I had brought home last time, but that with egg yokes it's much tastier.
Toledo was great, as usual, and then on Sunday I went down to Sol to do some sovereign shopping. Now, what I buy is a surprise, but there is definitely a lot of junk out there, and I am sifting through it trying to get everyone the perfect gift. It was nice to do some touristy stuff, and also to see the Plaza Mayor around Christmas time. They have tons of street performers right now (I saw the love of my life from my other post, but unfortunately did not have a camera, so I couldn't get a picture with her). Also, it there are tons of stands set up, with a lot of Christmas stuff. It mostly consists of a thousand different variations of El Nacimiento (The Nativity). They are crazing about having a nativity in your house in Spain, yet church attendance is quite low.
That's about it for these past two weeks. Sorry for the lack of posting (sometimes I feel like I don't have enough to say, but looking back in it, a lot has happened). This Thursday I leave for Paris. I got my hostel and everything set up, and I will be there for four days. I'm pretty excited about it. That should be a fun post when I return, with lots of pictures. By the way, in case you didn't understand from the post above, I have posted all of my pictures online, on picasa, and I will continue posting on that. So you can see all my pictures, and pictures to come, HERE.
Hasta luego!
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