bmgray’s blog

Madrid

Posted on February 19th, 2008 by bmgray.
Categories: Uncategorized.

I am so happy that we took a week to see Madrid because there are so many things to do and see there! Right before I left I met with my landlady to pay her for the next couple months. She told me she had just gotten back from visiting her Mom. I asked “Oh great, how is your Mom?” She says “she’s dead” and then bursts into tears! I don’t know what to do so I just give her a hug. I had no idea what to say but I remembered Dr. Latorre teaching us once how to say “Mi más sentido pésame” or “My deepest sympathies” (Thanks Dr. Latorre!). The poor thing just sat on the couch wrapped up in a blanket crying. I am so lucky to have such a nice landlady.

On the way to Madrid we missed our bus and had to take a taxi to the airport. We arrived in Madrid and had no trouble finding our hostel that we had booked before we left. The first day we went to the Prado and the Reina Sofia. We spent the whole entire day in both of the museums, from open to close. It was absolutely amazing! We also wanted to go to the third museum on the art walk but there wasn’t enough time. In the Prado we saw all of the famous paintings by Velázquez in a special exhibit they have right now called Fábulas de Velázquez Mitología e Historia Sagrada en el Siglo de Oro. There was also an exhibit showing the Greco paintings in the Prado. The last time I went with Dr. Skoglund’s group at school my favorite painting was “The Descent from the Cross” By Van der Weyden. This time I had a new favorite and it was “Los hijos del pintor en el salón japonés” by Mariano Fortuny 1874. If you have some spare time you should google it! Goya’s “Third of May” was off limits which is really a shame because we studied it a great deal last semester in Dr. Braysmith’s class. The Reina Sofía had a big Picasso exhibit and also a vanguardia/flamenco exhibit. There was too much too look at! At first I was full of energy and super excited about every piece we saw, but as the day dragged on my head was spinning! Our hostel was in the “Little India” district so we had Indian food twice while we were there. I love Spain, but if there is one thing that I would improve it would be the food because it is extremely bland. Indian food in Madrid was like a gift from God! The next day we took the metro to the bus station and drove out of town to the Escorial. The Escorial is a huge monastery outside of Madrid that was begun in 1563 and finished in 1584. It was built by Felipe II with the intention of building a mausoleum for his father Carlos V. The monastery is absolutely amazing from the outside. There is not a lot of decoration on the outside and it is completely built with stone, the building is cold and austere. We saw the bed where Felipe passed away. From his bed he could look out and see the mass being held in the huge Cathedral in the center of the Escorial. We also went down to the mausoleum and saw the tombs of all of the Kings, Queens, and family members, it was pretty creepy! Our tour guide was a Spanish women who was at first pretty hard to understand but she slowed down significantly after realizing we were foreign. We spent the third day wondering around the city. We went to Plaza Mayor, Puerto del Sol, and the Palacio Real. It was nice to slowly explore the city, stopping to drink a coffee or browse in a little shop. The last day we took a bus to Toledo and spent the day there. We went to the Cathedral and also went to the smaller church Santo Tomé to see the El Greco painting ¨The Burial of Count Orgaz¨. Toledo is an enchanting town, it takes you back to medieval times!

When we got back to Murcia I spent Sunday catching up on sleep because our real classes started on Monday. The first day was fine, my teachers were a little difficult to understand but nothing too bad. Today I woke up and went to my empty classroom and sat there until 15 after. Finally there were students, but I didn’t recognize them from the day before. Finally the teacher walked in and shut the door. That’s when I realized he wasn’t my teacher and I was in the wrong class. In our pre-semester intensive class our professor told us that the classes here are different than in the U.S., it is a “Clase Magistral”. According to our professor in this type of class the students don’t speak, they just sit and listen attentively. They are not allowed to leave the class or come in late so I just sat there until the end of the class. The class was pretty small and they had already had a class the day before and a reading assignment that they were discussing. I had no idea what this man was saying. He was the most animated human being that I had ever seen in my life. He paced all around the classroom yelling and flailing his arms. He would get in the students faces asking “me entiendes” and then look at all of us and ask “me entendéis”. (Do you understand me?) All of a sudden he would stop, say something, and then laugh for a good five minutes. I was clueless. I was in the class for a full hour and I still couldn’t tell you the actual subject matter, something to do with literature or poetry? I ended up taking some notes though (trying to be less conspicuous), why not? I wanted to laugh/cry the whole class. I will be sure to look at the number on the door next time before I assume it is the right class. This weekend I am going to visit Mathilde in Paris and I am very excited! Right now I better go look up some of the words my teachers used today because I am pretty lost, it is almost humorous that I am even able to be in these classes. Adios!

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