Um I don't think that's Spanish, where are we?

We left Madrid running, literally, to catch a train that was not leaving from the station we thought it was. The entire situation was like a movie, two girls running for a train as the whistle blows to signal its departure. The train left at 10:00 and we were on at 10:01.

The above picture is of our sleeping arrangements for the 10 hour ride to Barcelona. Bunks with 4 other girls who didn't speak English. The AC didn't reach the top bunks and we were sweaty and smelly all night from heat. Thats a bit of a trend on this trip, us sweaty and smelly and hot, but it adds to the glamour of it all I suppose.

We arrived to a very sleepy Barcelona around 7am and the first thing out of the train station we noticed was they don't speak Spanish. OK so I knew this, I studied it, they speak Catalán. I just didn't think everything would be in Catalán, or that it would be so incomprehensible. I thought it was more of a regional dialect. But it was on every sign and every document. It borders French and that was even more confusing.

Still, the city was not hard to navigate. First stop out we found some Miró architecture.

This is "Lady and the Bird". It is a lady with a bird on her shoulder.... I suppose. I don't know, I'm just related to the guy. It is one of his more famous works and is absolutely amazing. I believe it's one of the last works he created before he died, but I'm not sure. After taking a hundred photos we headed to the Miró park which I figured would showcase more of his artwork.

I was wrong, but it was beautiful regardless. Lots of palm trees and flowers, there was a jungle gym and we climbed and played for a while before heading off to the city and in search of food. The city is amazing, albeit hot. It sits on the water and the humidity is unbearable, still I love it. Not more than Madrid, but different than Madrid.

Madrid has the feel of New York City in that you can navigate and meander with little to no interruption. Everyone minds their business, the city is so alive and lets off and energy that reverberates against the buildings and throughout the people. Madrilenians eat late and party early. Barcelona was certainly more touristy - or at least more obviously so. The city felt less geared toward life and more toward tourism.

Anyways, we first navigated the metro to find our port of call and the ferry that would take us to Rome so as not to repeat the problem with the train. That led us to Las Ramblas, a cobblestone median between two roadways that is the touristic centre of the city. It's very active with tons of performers and cafes. Also, more Miró! I love the random monuments and artwork throughout the city.

There were also an oddly vast amount of open air petshops - like kiosks - with all sorts of animals from birds, roosters and ducks, rodents like chipmunks, rats and bunnies, to turtles and frogs. They even were selling pigeons! Odd, especially in the touristy area - no one can bring animals home.

After one city bus we walked up a really steep hill to Parc Güell. The one designed by Gaudí. It has to be my favorite place in Barcelona, the architecture is amazing and so unique.

They filmed one finale of America's Next Top Model there and Aixa and I had to emulate the models, of course. That led to a few weird looks, but we're all tourists.

We had to catch our ferry which left us very little time at the park, nor enough time to see much else. After only an hour or so of wandering it was back to the port and on a bus to the ferry that would bring us to Rome in 19 hours!

And that is where I leave you all :)

Vacation? Really?

I dont have a lot of time nor an apostrophe key. Im in an internet cafe in Rome and we are headed to Verona tonight. There has been no wireless and consequently no updates, but I can tell you that as much as I love this it certainly does not feel like a vacation where I will be relaxing. I miss the comforts have having my own place and a good night of sleep, I havent slept in AC and a bed since... before July. The last few nights since Monday have been pretty harsh sleeping wise, hot or no bed, but I love it for the same reason I hate it. Its such an experience.

Barcelona is hot and beautiful. Loved the Miro architecture.

Ferry ride turned out to be a cruise where we had reclining seats to sleep in. We sat by the èpool staring at the medeterranian and marveled at how spoiled we are.

Rome is equally as hot and very friendly. Beautiful but I am ready to leave.

Tonight is an 11pm train to Verona and then on to Venice.

I will update more when I have wireless.

Goodbyes

Today we "graduated" from the University of Nebrija and had a wonderful ceremony where everyone got to dress up and eat paella and get a certificate.

Now as I write this I am in an empty room in Madrid being yelled at to pick up the one backpack containing the entirety of my possessions for this trip and head to Barcelona. I'm sad and excited, sad to leave my comfort zone and the place I've called home for a month, and sad that embarking on my backpacking means I'm getting closer and closer to the United States (physically and time-wise)

Our schedule will leave us tired. A 10pm train to Barcelona that arrives tomorrow morning, then a 7pm ferry boat that in 19 hours will get us to Rome. From Rome there's Verona, Venice, then Austria, Zurich and Germany with our high school friend Julie who studies in Innsbrook. In Germany we meet up with Mike and Sergio who will accompany us to Amsterdam and Ireland. All of this is only two weeks, we have much to see.

Through all this all I can think about is riding on those sandy beaches in Ireland.

I don't know what time this will leave me to blog, but I will try to find internet every time I have some spare moments. I want to remember this as much as I want to share it.

Beautiful Disaster

 I have a lot to say about the bullfight but unfortunately very limited amounts of time in which to do so. It was certainly a spectacle and while I'm glad I went I don't know that I'm so glad my dollar supported it.

I was amazed at a few things, the first being how absolutely beautiful it could be. They showcase the power and strength of that bull beyond my wildest imagination. Having only seen bulls in rodeo and in the field at the barn I had little knowledge of what agile and beautiful creatures they were. 

The matador had them spinning on a dime and running in small circles, back and forth to and fro. The power of the bull was impressive as well. I watched one knock a horse to its knees and run strong toward walls before stopping dead.  It pained me to watch and realize that the entire time the bull was fighting for nothing. 

I can't say I was too impressed with the matadors themselves. Their movements were beautiful, fluid and the costumes were stunning. Some might say their bravery is impressive but I don't know if many would step up to the plate if the bull were not having darts jabbed into its spine to wear it down before its ultimate death.

Basically, other toreros run the bull around and four others (two on horses, two on foot) jab 8 darts into the spine of the bull. You can see them hanging off him in all the pictures. Eventually the bull gets tired and the matador (the one in pink/yellow) grabs a sword and is supposed to kill him in one blow.

This isn't always the case, one took a few stabs, but eventually the bulls were defeated.

My friend said the cheering was for the bull, but I didn't get that. The crowd really seemed like a bunch of buffoons and when the matadors would parade around afterward it didn't really help my sentiment.

In fact, I had little respect for the matadors and other toreros through the entire process. They don't even remain in the ring the entire time, they hop behind little doorways when the bull comes at them (until he's worn down, as you can see by the photos)

Probably the most impressive thing to me, as you can see in the second-to-last picture is the restraint the bull showed. There were many times the bull could have killed, trampled or maimed the matador and all he went after was the cape. Granted, the matadors move very little and make the cape the object of his attention.

Still, you can see the two at a stand-off and how close the bull comes to the matador at each pass. The fact is: that bull is not really trying to kill anyone. He just charges movement.

This takes away a lot of what I think is the point and the beauty behind the tradition. It is not a fight between man and animal, it is a spectacle. It is man dominating animal.

Put the bull and the matador in the ring without a sword and I'll be impressed.

Sadly there was only one near-accident as you see in the last picture. The guy barely got touched and didn't even leave the ring, I was sad.

I think the sport and the movements are absolutely beautiful. I think they showcase the animal and it gave me a tremendous amount of respect for bovines everywhere. However, I think the same could have been accomplished without actually killing the bull. In fact, I bet it would have been a better show if they just went through the motions and maybe drugged the animal in the end.

Regardless, I understand and respect it as a tradition. I'm not wishing for it to end, I just certainly wouldn't hesitate to tell any of the men involved that they are probably compensating for something (or are gay. I mean, look at the outfits!).

Corrida del torro

I have decided that if I don't go see a bullfight in Spain I will regret it. I am not excited nor pleased to be going, but I think it's a tradition I have no right to judge unless I see it first hand.

 Every other student who has gone has assured me that it's not as bad as it seems. They say the crowd reveres the bull and cheers for it.

I'm not a big animal rights person, but I still don't think I want to see an animal killed needlessly. At least they do it in one shot and cook the meat.

What I'm really hoping to see are some flying matadors.

What we miss the most...

After nearly a month of being away the comforts of home seem so warm and inviting. I, along with all the other girls, am surprisingly homesick. But it's really not for the reason you'd suspect. Sorry mom and dad, we aren't missing you. Nor our beds, air conditioning or cars. 

We miss good food.

In fact, every meal is met with a chorus of sighs and ticking off a list of what we are going to eat when we get back.

 I know, we're in Europe. The motherland of all things tasty and delightful. You would think with that reputation that the cafeteria here would cook edible food. Instead it has been an all out war between students and staff to procure edible food and consume as much as we can because we don't know when there will be another identifiable meal.

We get a lot of food fried, cooked in grease and slapped onto plates. I feel like McDonald's would be healthier. Yes, McDonald's.

 I thought maybe they were stereotyping American's, but many nations are represented here and even the other students are turning away in disgust. 

They fry zucchini! Why would you fry something that is better eaten raw? Isn't it less effort? Also, what exactly is that meat? Is it steak? Pork? Blackened fish? We never do know..

Your safest bet is pork. Not one meal has gone by that pork has not been a main staple of. It's in the pasta salad, soup, sliced for breakfast, made into sausage, on pizza, in paella. Mom, if you cook one pig when I set foot on American soil I will never eat at home again.

A typical meal for the day consists of a stale piece of bread with jelly for breakfast, a piece of ham and a piece of cheese dipped in frying batter and put on a plate for lunch (yes.. I'm serious), and a piece of pork with more fat than meat fried in oil and paired with fried zucchini. I don't know how people eat here regularly and don't have heart attacks.

The good thing is every now and then they have great fresh fruits or a really great piece of chicken that I don't want to regurgitate. But then it's a war to get more than one measly piece from the clutches of the cafeteria ladies.

 So we students have taken to a hit-and-run tactic. We take as much as we will eat and make a beeline for the table while the staff yells at us from behind the glass serving counter. They never do venture out to yell at us at the table, maybe there's an invisible force field I can't see.

Some of us use the passive aggressive technique of being ignorant. "Lo siento, no entiendo," we say as we walk away with our food. This is a war long in coming though. As I've mentioned before the Spanish don't like outsiders (so much so that the birth rate is dropping faster than Paris Hilton's underwear) and are an expressive culture which leads to the staff being very verbal about their dislike of us (especially the Indian/Arabic students). They don't think we know what they are saying, but we do. The moment one of us snaps back in Spanish they tend to quiet down when around students.

It's a self-perpetuating cycle we have jumped head-first into. I'm ashamed, but I'm in it. We are expected to be rude foreigners so they treat us with disrespect, in turn we are offended and disrespect them in the same manner.

 I tried. For weeks I smiled and asked for second helpings of good food (making sure to compliment them on what I liked) and asked for only as much as I wanted to eat. I said please and thank you. 

I was met by grunts and by being told that I should eat whatever I was served, how much I was served, and like it. Eventually I gave up, I took what I was given silently and left many plates uneaten and wasted food. I would rudely walk up and take second helpings and walk away without acknowledging that I was being chastised. 

This cycle really does have to end. But until then I wonder if they understand the term "food fight" in Spain.

Two things that come from Spain..

 Wednesday night I went with the girls to a Flamenco show because it was 10€ that evening. It was certainly not a traditional Flamenco show, it was more of a tourist trap with a lot of pre-recorded music and group dances that were choreographed to hell. Still, it was a beautiful demonstration of the traditional dance moves and the live band was great when they actually played.

It has been very cool learning about things in my culture class and then seeing them actualized in museums or shows. We'd just learned a lot about Flamenco so seeing all of the moves and the feet-stomping along with the music (live that is) and singing was actually very interesting.

Still, it wasn't the original people-dancing-on-the-street-out-of-joy Flamenco that I would have liked

The dance consists of a lot of foot-stomping not unlike Riverdance. But moreover it reminded me of something else. Watch these two videos and tell me if they don't seem similar?

The first is the traditional foot-movements of a Flamenco dancer and the second the Fino gait of the Paso Fino horse which originated in Spain and then was bred to a bunch of feral horses to become what it is today. I guess the Spanish like clod-hoppers.

In other news I am sick. Everyone has been sick and I've now caught it so I've spent the past two days trying to get better. It sucks because this is the last weekend I have in Madrid but I would rather rest now than be miserable back-packing through Europe, right?

I have finals Monday and Aixa and I leave Tuesday evening to begin our adventure. Hard to believe that this time next week I will be in Rome!