Exploring the City Pt. 2

      The best part about traveling to a new city is getting the chance to explore. Today, my roommates and I got lost on the way to a supermercado (translated as super market, but it was more like a combination of J. C. Penney's and Hy-vee). After basically going in one huge circle, we found ourselves back in a familiar place when we came upon Puerta del Sol. This plaza as well as Plaza Mayor is within blocks of our apartment and have become landmarks that give us our bearings. After realizing our location, we found our way to the store and purchased groceries. We picked out a large dinner plate of Paella, a Spanish dish with prawns, snails, chicken, rice, and vegetables, and we all shared it for dinner. Sometimes I'm not that into seafood, but it was incredibly filling and surprisingly delicious.

       After dinner, we were just hanging out around the apartment when we kept hearing a phone ringing. We questioned if we had a telephone and then found out that there was one located next to the front door. After finally finding the phone, I answered with an "Hola" only to be overwhelmed with an indiscernible amount of Spanish words. I caught the word abrir, which means to open, but I didn't know who it was so I responded, "No puedo (I can't)" and hung up. I sat back down in the living room and continued to read my homework. My friend Bruno said something about the potential of it being some sketchy people that we have heard so much about, but have yet to experience within our time here in the city. The idea kind of freaked me out, but I just let it go. About five minutes later, we heard the doorbell ring and that's when we all kind of froze. My mind started racing. "They got someone else from the apartment to let them in. They knew we are foreigners. Who is at our door? What are they going to do? Is this really happening?" I reluctantly approached the door with my roommate Ryan close by and began to struggle with the contraption that allowed me to peer out through the door. They must have heard my struggles, because they began speaking to me through the door. I was almost convinced they were going to hurt us, until I opened the door to two men holding a TV and a bag of cords. 

      They immediately knew by the look on my face that I was slightly freaked out, but it was a relieving moment. I should have realized that it was these men at the door, because I had been talking with the landlord earlier about receiving the television, but somehow it just slipped my mind at the time. They helped set up the TV and we ended up watching a movie and staying in.

      On Wednesday, I was fortunate enough to attend an Inter-Cambio which is basically a bilingual conversation between people that want to learn each other's language.

       We sat Spanish-English-Spanish-English so that it would force us not to cheat by talking to our neighbor in our familiar language.

       This guy's name was Ignacio. He was a pretty funny guy and I learned a lot from him including the custom of a Spanish last name as I mentioned in an earlier post (Father's last name- Mother's last name). This experience was great and really forced me to use my Spanish in a way I had never tried before. After the two hours was up, Bruno and I began heading home, but ended up exploring the city a little bit instead.

      It all started when we saw this really cool bridge and decided we would check it out.

       We found a park nearby and began to swing. This cute little baby was grinning from ear-to-ear whenever I looked at her, so I had to get a picture. Her mother seemed happy and it was a nice little interaction with a local Madrileno (Person from Madrid).

     After leaving the park, we realized that we were right down the street from this incredible cathedral. We walked around the grounds and found that on the other side was the Royal Palace of Madrid.

      This area was filled with locals riding bikes, rollerblades, kicking soccer balls, and people just hanging out. There were a few sets of couples that were openly making out, because that is just what the people do here in Spain. PDA is super real out here. You can find people openly making out in parks, subway stations, restaurants, etc.

      It seems like everyone has dogs out here and that surprised me. I guess they are man's best friend after all, but for some reason I thought that was just an American thing. This little dog was my favorite and we got to pet him for a moment.

      Bruno and I spotted this little guy as he marveled at the roller skaters skating in between these cones. He has some serious style. I need to take some notes if I want to meet any Spanish chicas out here.

      Life in Madrid is like living through all of the nice days back home consecutively. The weather is fantastic and the views are spectacular. Bruno and I sat back and watched the sun recede behind the mountains off in the distance, until we decided it was time to go home.

      Both today's explorations and Wednesday's have helped me learn more about how the city is structured and how I can get around easier. I intend on doing as much of this as possible throughout my time here, because I know if I don't, that I will regret it when I return home. 

Thanks for reading,

       RCE

Real Madrid's Stadium Santiago Bernabeu

     Today my friends Ryan, Bruno, and I went to Real Madrid's Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. I wasn't sure what to expect when we decided to go tour the stadium, but I knew it was going to be a cool experience. We got onto the metro and headed out towards the stadium. Once we got off this was the first thing we saw.

      We made our way to the top of the stadium and there were some cool views of Madrid's skyscrapers.

      We were able to check out Real Madrid's numerous trophy cases. They had over 10 huge cases completely filled with a variety of trophies and awards. This is my friend Ryan "holding" the 1908 The Origin of the Legend Trophy.

This photo shows how Real Madrid's logo has changed since 1902.

Some of the current players' jerseys. Cristiano Ronaldo is definitely the fan favorite here in Madrid. 

      This doesn't come as much of a surprise because Cristiano has won many awards including this Golden Ball awarded to the FIFA World Cup's best player. In fact, he has won it twice.

       This statue is of Santiago Bernabeu, the person that the stadium is named after. He was the president of Real Madrid. 

     Ronaldo heard I was coming to town so he stopped by the stadium to take a photo with me.

       The tour was incredible. It was completely self-led and we were able to see everything including the view from the nosebleed seats, the presidential box seats, the locker rooms, the bench, and the press room.

       I was pretty excited when we got to check out the locker room. I had to take a picture of Cristiano's locker.

       When a player subs in during a game, they have to enter right here at the center line. I can only imagine how amazing it would feel to have 85,500 people cheering you on as you walked onto the pitch.

       My friends and I waited for awhile, but coach never put us in. I guess we are just some bench warmers.

        It was a sad day for Bruno. He had to announce his retirement from Real Madrid today in the press room.

       The total cost of the tour was 19 euro and it was more than worth the experience. One of the coolest things was that the stadium had WeeFee (haha) and I was able to share the experience with some friends through Facebook's video chat. I had to show it to my friend Hunter, because I have beaten him oh so many times in this stadium on FIFA 2015.
      Overall, today has been a great day. After leaving the stadium 3 hours after arriving, we walked back to the metro and headed home to get ready for a night out on the town.

       The weather has been so beautiful the whole time I have been here. I snapped this photo as I walked around by myself exploring a new section of the city. I couldn't be more excited about how great my time in Madrid has been so far. 

As always, thanks for reading.

        RCE

Pedraza and Segovia

      Yesterday was by far the coolest day so far. We woke up and headed out on a bus towards Segovia to see a bunch of monuments there. On our way there, there was a small town by the name of Pedraza. The current total population of the town is 120 people, but the town has a lot of cultural history. At one point centuries ago, there were as many as 5,000 people that lived there. Within the town there was a 12th century castle, a tavern that hadn't been changed in nearly 200 years, and views that were much more than I had expected to see.

      As well as visiting the castle, we also visited the town's plaza mayor (the oldest plaza; every city or town has a plaza mayor). The story went that centuries ago when the town was built, they used to hold bullfighting events in the plaza and people would pack the balconies surrounding the plaza to watch. It is said that those that stood upon the balconies were of higher status than those who had to watch through holes in the fences. After this, we headed to a Tahona (an old Spanish word for bakery). Our instructor knew the baker in town and made a deal with him so that we could experience an authentic Spanish almuerza (lunch). The baker was named Pedro Diaz-Garrido (Last names in Spain go by the form of Father's last name-Mother's last name. It is customary to do it in this manner). He has been baking bread for more than 30 years and is famous for his craft.

His bread was fantastic. It was so soft and tasted delicious alongside our other appetizers.

       The baker threatened a local restaurant owner that if he didn't give our group a deal for the meal, he wouldn't provide his restaurant with bread for the weekend. It worked out and we were able to get our entire 4 course meal for half price. It was normally 40 euros, but we only had to pay 20. 

A homemade chorrizo cooked in house wine. So delicious.

Croqueteas- A fried ball of jamon (Spanish Ham) and cheese

Sangria

Lamb, salad, and fried potatoes.

Our desert plate. Everything was delicious.

      Sitting underneath a canopy of shade created by the grape vines, our group sat and enjoyed an authentic Spanish meal. The sun snuck through the vines plastering freckles of light upon the flowered, mint green table cloth. There was a light breeze and it added to the peacefulness of the meal. The whole meal seemed almost too picturesque to be true; it felt as if I was sitting at a vineyard in Napa Valley or something. The meal was fantastic and our entire group interacted and joked with each other as if we had known each other for much longer than just 4 days. This was the view that we had during our meal.

      After an extremely long lunch in comparison to one that would be had in America (it took over 3 hours to complete), we got back into the bus and headed towards Segovia. This is a view from Segovia's plaza mayor. 

     That is a very old and famous Cathedral. The intricate designs and architectural structures make this Cathedral one of the coolest I have ever seen in my life. We also were able to tour the inside of a massive castle. It was filled with a number of cool items like armored suits and marble statues. We even got to climb up a tower of 152 stairs to the top of the castle where there was a view that over looked the city of Segovia. The views from up there were spectacular. 

     After touring the inside of the castle, I walked down into the river valley to take a picture of the castle from below. At the bottom of the stairs there was a wall with a view of the massive stone structure towering above me. I laid out on top of the wall with my feet outstretched and used my backpack as a pillow. I took a short nap because I felt exhausted from all of the walking. It was quite the feeling when I awoke to this view.

       Last night was also the first time that I have been able to fully experience the night life in Spain. My friend Bruno and I started talking with some beautiful Spanish girls outside of one bar and they took us to another that they thought we would like. It was a Indie rock bar that typically didn't have any foreigners in it. There is a word that they have for foreigners and I believe it is called a Guiri. This bar was filled with Spaniards, but they treated us so well. I was pleasantly surprised. After a few drinks at that bar, Bruno and I said goodbye to our new friends with a kiss on both cheeks and headed out to regroup with the remainder of our classmates in one of Segovia's discotecas. We ended up staying out until nearly 4 AM, and by the end of the night, I was more than ready to fall asleep. Apparently in Madrid, it is typical to stay out past 6 AM. I'm not sure how I am going to be able to make this work this weekend, but you already know I am going to try it out.

Thanks for reading,

      RCE

A Day of Class Pt. 1

       Last night I was able to video chat with my mother and sister for the first time since reaching Spain. It was nice to be able to show them my apartment and talk for a moment even though we are roughly 4,500 miles apart. I still had yet to complete my reading assignment for class, but it was nearly 1 AM when I ended the video chat. So, I decided that I would finish the remainder in the morning before class at my program's study center.
       When I awoke this morning, I got ready and headed out by myself before 8. Throughout the last few days, I have familiarized myself with the barrio (neighborhood) that my apartment is located in and I walked with confidence towards the Metro station, La Latina. I greeted a few strangers on the way with a simple buenas dias (good morning) and they would respond in a similar manner. Even though these encounters were short-lived, the confidence in my Spanish speaking abilities bloomed as I continued to walk down la calle (the street) towards the Metro. Despite the simplicity of a statement like buenas dias, it was a confirming feeling knowing that the words that I had just spoken actually made sense to the person I was speaking to. For there have been far too many instances in which that hasn't been the case.
      When I arrived at the study center, I realized that it wasn't going to be open until 9 and that I had to read a whole chapter before we were supposed to meet at the study center for class at 930. I continued down the street until I came across a coffee shop that had tables that I could sit and read at. I purchased a cafe con leche (coffee with milk) for 1.50 euro and sat down to knock out the reading.

      For those of you that know me well, I'm sure the following won't come as much of a surprise. I felt quite energetic after the first coffee, but decided that I would get another so that I could power through the last few pages of my assignment. Boy was that a mistake. It was like I was Flubber from that old Robin Williams movie in that I felt like I was bouncing off the walls due to the caffeine. However, despite this feeling, I still managed to finish my assignment in time for class. 

       During class today, we headed to el Museo Arqueologico Nacional (the Spanish National Archaeological Museum). We walked as a group from the study center, because it wasn't too far away. On the way to the museum, we passed one of Madrid's most picturesque monuments. I'm not the slightest bit embarrassed of looking like a tourist, so I had my friend Bruno snap this photo of me.

       Within our class reading, we reviewed early inhabitants of the Iberian peninsula, or what is now more commonly known as Spain and Portugal. At the archaeological museum, we were able to see everything from ancient statues to incredibly intricate mosaics. It was a great learning experience and allowed me to really get a sense of Spain's early inhabitants and the lives that they lived thousands of years ago.

       After the museum, we had a short lecture back at the study center and then we were free to go about our day. The weather has been fantastic everyday so far with sunny and cloudless, blue skies and temperatures in the upper 80's. I couldn't ask for much more.

Thanks for reading,

       RCE

Desayuno With My Roommate

      My roommate and I woke up rather early after passing out around 8 PM last night. We decided to walk around and look for a good place to grab some breakfast or what the Spaniards call desayuno. I hadn't eaten since lunch the day before, so I was more than ready to get something to eat. We passed a couple of small restaurants that I suggested we stop at, but my roommate insisted that we keep searching. At the time my mind and my stomach were frustrated with him, but I am glad he made us keep searching. We finally came across a restaurant named Bar El Tres and we both agreed this was the place for us.

       We looked over the menu, which was in Spanish on one side and English on the other, until we both had made our decisions. My roommate, Ryan, approached the counter and ordered his meal using some impressive Spanish. I ordered mine after and definitely sounded like Spanish was my second language; this hasn't been the first instance of this during the trip either. It is definitely an embarrassing moment when the language you try to speak doesn't make sense to someone that speaks that language fluently. But nonetheless, the order was made and we sat back down to wait for our meals. The orange juice was honestly the most fresh and delicious orange juice I have ever had. They freshly pressed the oranges in the restaurant right after I ordered it. The salchicha, a Spanish breakfast sausage, was just as incredible as the bacon. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the restaurant had purchased the meats at one of Madrid's many different local mercados or markets. My stomach was empty and after taking this picture, the plate wasn't full for much longer. 

       When the time came to pay for our meals, we payed la cuenta (the bill) and headed out. I was going to tip the worker for serving us such delicious food, but my roommate reminded me that in Spain, tipping is uncommon and sometimes even considered demeaning to the worker. I like this idea as the person paying the bill, but since most of my income back home comes from tips, I'm not so sure I would like the idea if the U.S. adopted such a custom. 

       I'm still trying to learn how to use this new camera of mine and this photo didn't come out so clear. The napkin reads gracias por su visito. This means thanks for your visit. 

Gracias por su visito a mi blog,

       RCE

Exploring the City Pt.1

      I arrived in Madrid this morning around 8 AM local time. My whole sense of time was completely off since in Iowa the time would have been 1 AM. It felt like it was time to go to bed, but all the Spaniards were just getting up and out for the day, so I decided that I wouldn't go straight to bed. After getting to my cool little apartment at the Plaza de Puerta Cerrada, I unpacked my bags, set up my WIFI (the Spaniards pronounce it WeeFee, and I almost instinctively laugh every time), and headed out for the local skate shop.
      The shop was located a number of kilometers away according to Google Maps, and of course I got lost a few times on the way out there. However, getting lost ended up being a good thing, because I ended up in one of Madrid's most famous and historic plazas, El Plaza Mayor.

      Within the plaza, there was a tourist information stand and I grabbed a city map so I could find my way around a little better. I got back on the route to the skate shop and ran into another famous Madrid attraction; Puerta Del Sol.

      The area was filled with intricate fountains and statues. I am sure I will be returning to both of these locations within my course that I am taking. 

      Welcome Skateboard Shop in Madrid is awesome. The people that work there are super helpful and friendly. The art on the side of the building is super cool as well.

        I purchased a new board at the shop, talked with the shop owner, and got some insight into spots, skate parks, and how la policia feel about skateboarding.

      The owner was super cool. He hooked me up with a free Spanish skateboarding magazine so that I can practice my reading skills, some free stickers, and even marked up my map with skate spots and skate parks. One of which I decided I'd check out during the trek back to the apartment. 

      The skate spot was a small little plaza that was filled with perfect ledges. I showed up and saw the policia posted up with ARs and figured there was no way they wouldn't kick me out, but to my surprise, I skated the spot for over an hour and they watched as if it was their entertainment. I also made my first friend, Matteo, who is a local skateboarder. We played a game of skate in the plaza and added each other on Facebook. It sounds like we are going to be skating together over the next month.

      I explored the city, bought a new skateboard, and made a new friend; so I'd say today has been a successful first day here in Madrid. 

Thanks for reading,

      RCE 

      

Assuming a Foreign Perspective

     Currently, I'm sitting at a Goose Island brewery in the Chicago airport drinking an 8$ Bud Light with a group of South Korean business men. The brewery was full and they offered me a seat at their table, so we became friends. "Sour Korea.... No North Korea. Hahaha" the man across the table from me clarified in a joking manner. Apparently, they are returning home from Portland, Oregon. They asked if I had ever been, but sadly I have not, so our conversation has dwindled significantly since I originally joined them.
      I sipped my overpriced beer as they sampled foods like a Club Sandwich with homemade potato chips and fried fish fillets with French fries. It seems as if they weren't too fond of the club sandwich but that the fried fish was a big hit. I know very little about South Korea, but I assume these foods aren't particularly common over there.
      This meal may seem like an insignificant part of my trip to Spain, but really it has given me a little insight into how a foreigner should approach a meal in a foreign country. That insight being that you should share with friends, make a new friend if possible, and enjoy the moment even if it is just an average meal at a overpriced airport bar.

Thanks for reading,
      RCE

Pre-departure Jitters

      I woke up this morning feeling slightly nauseous. I'm not sure if it was because of the 2$ liquor pitchers at Brothers last night or if it's because I'm going to be travelling over 4,300 miles tomorrow. For those of you that don't already know, I will be spending the next month in Madrid, Spain followed by a four day solo adventure in London, England. I am so thankful for this opportunity I cannot even begin to articulate the feeling, but nonetheless I would like to thank my parents and my university (The University of Iowa) for this incredible opportunity; an opportunity to travel out of my comfort zone, to a place where the people speak a language different than my own, and embrace the culture of Spain. 

      Everyone keeps telling me that this trip is going to be life changing, but I can't help but wonder exactly why this trip is any different than any other. Of course the sheer distance and the cultural differences between America and Spain will make this trip unique in comparison with any that I have gone on before, but when I travel, where ever I am travelling to, I try to make that trip impact the way I look at life. I try to engage with the local culture, their people, and their traditions to gain a new perspective of what it is like to live in the place that I am traveling to; what it is like to live life on this world we live on. 

      Growing up in Iowa, born and raised, I have created my own perspective towards life that I think is unique compared to everyone else's. I'm not trying to suggest that my perspective is better than any others, in fact I know that in some ways it is definitely not, nor am I trying to convince you that this trip of mine won't be life changing, because I am completely sure that will be the case, but I'm trying to convince you that any opportunity to travel should be considered life changing, because otherwise what are we travelling for?

      I hope my hungover and over anxious ramblings haven't bored you, but if that is the case I apologize and I'll try to make my future posts more entertaining. To my collegiate friends, I hope you all enjoy your summer as you work, travel, or relax during this wonderful free time that will soon be erased from our lives. To everyone else, I hope your summer is filled with life changing experiences to the same extent as mine surely will. 

Thanks for reading,

       RCE