It’s been 10 days since I arrived in Madrid, Spain – and what a wonderful experience it has already been. My mind is a bit confused (as is my digestive system) with everything that has happened in the past week and a half, so I will attempt to keep things cohesive and legible.
I didn't realize that it would be such a transition coming to Madrid. Well, I knew, but I couldn't grasp it until I arrived and I started to hear Spanish spoken all over the place. Although I am fairly competent at the language, using it to communicate daily is something entirely different. In the beginning of the trip, it was actually very tiring for my mind to constantly hear Spanish, especially since it's not my native tongue. Upon waking up in the morning I had two recurring thoughts. First: Oh God, where the hell am I? Second: I haven’t even wiped the drool from my face and now I have to speak Spanish. Crap. Nonetheless, after about a week of acclimation, I’ve found that this initial rejection of the language/culture faded and I have begun to embrace my new surroundings. Thankfully, I am able to understand people very well and I can speak more fluidly.
Many people have told me that Madrid is like the “New York" of Spain.That being said, I agree and disagree. First, the city is much more expansive than New York, and requires you to be more physically fit. The size of a Madrid city block is cunningly deceptive - larger than those of New York, but more pleasant to explore. I could always take the metro though, which is surprisingly clean and easy to use. Plus, I downloaded an application to my BlackBerry smart-phone that allows me to type in the metro stop names and then receive travel directions (Don't judge me. It’s not cheating, I’m just being resourceful). As is true for any big city, there is the incessant pigeon dilemma - THEY ARE EVERYWHERE. Somehow the Madrid-pigeons seem to have endless bravery and they definitely have more "street cred" that their counterparts in New York. Just the other day I approached a pigeon that was slowly crossing the sidewalk, only to discover that it had a clubfoot. Nonetheless, it completed its journey to a pile of trash and began fighting with another pigeon for a delicious meal of scraps. After seeing this,there is no telling what I will find in the upcoming weeks...
It is currently 7:00pm here and I am sitting on the balcony of my apartment. It is located on Avenida del General Perón, 5 minutes from the gigantic Santiago Bernabéu soccer stadium. The apartment is on the back side of the building and it overlooks a big courtyard, which could be described as quaintly unkempt, I guess. Nonetheless, it is a lovable apartment with a great view of the street life down below. During the evenings, around 8-9pm, you can hear someone playing a saxophone in the street. I don't know from where it comes, but I relish each note of the jazz instrument as they float through the various windows of the apartment...It's a very surreal experience.
Menchi is such a sweet, accommodating, and vivacious woman. She lives by herself in the apartment but she has 6 grown children. She is fashionable, progressive, and she loves to cook. In fact, Menchi used to own her own restaurant here in Madrid, making this house the best possible arrangement for lovers-of-food (in other words, me). Of course, food is a major cultural focus and meals are often regarded as times when you can relax and enjoy your friends, family, etc. We usually eat lunch at around 2:30pm, followed by a siesta and then dinner at 9:30pm.
Amidst the excitement of living in another country for a month, I kind of forgot that I am here to study as well. I am taking classes at La Fundación José Ortega y Gassett in the middle of downtown Madrid. I feel very “metropolitan” every morning when I take the metro to school. Oooh, I think to myself, I’m using the metro to go to school. La-di-dah. No big deal. Just something I have to deal with… I am taking two classes at the Fundación: Art In Spain and Advanced Conversation. For the art class, we will be keeping journals about our excursions to different museums/towns and the architecture/art that we see in these different locations. For the conversion class, we will be writing about our social and cultural observations while in Spain - something that obviously comes natural for me!
As of now, I am having a great time. Now that I have been here for a while, I have been able to somewhat establish a daily routine and I have been able to acclimate to my new environment. Hopefully, the rest of the month will bring forth numerous opportunities and exciting adventures. I just have to remember to keep an open mind. You know how the saying goes: CUANDO EN ESPAÑA! (When In Spain...)
