Salamanca, Marrakech and recent happenings

Wow, I really am terrible at keeping this blog, I suppose it's a good thing I am a lot better at keeping a journal. Maybe one day I'll be better at being more regular. We'll see!

Salamanca
I went to the beautiful city of Salamanca quite a few weeks ago, it feels so strange. We basically went on tours of the city, seeing the beautiful church and old school. Salamanca has one of the oldest 4 universities in Europe, along with Oxford, Bologna and one other. Of course, everything was in Spanish, so I'm sure I missed out on some of the information. The cathedral was incredible. Absoutely gorgeous and huge, with gold and paintings and all kinds of other symbols everywhere. We were only there for one night, but it was crazy. The night life was a lot of fun, it truly is a college town, so there are a ton of bars and discotecas and even "chupiterias" which are places where they really only serve shots. We went to one that was a euro each, which was insanely cheap. So, we went to another club and Salamanca is really small, so we could just walk home, that was certainly a nice change from Madrid, I didn't have to worry about getting home before the Metro closed or trying to navigate the night buses. I really loved the architecture there, it was so beautiful. Very old European style, and everything was really crammed together, which would have made a claustrophobic shudder.

Marrakech
Marrakech is a bit more recent, I was just there last weekend. It was beautiful, and although it is really quite close to Spain, it felt like another world entirely. I was catcalled a lot in the market, but didn't enjoy it much. It's hard to enjoy people yelling for you just because you have blonde hair. But, I did buy some awesome stuff in the market, but had to barter for everything. The places we went, were really cool, our second day was completely packed with tourist attractions/ sightseeing. It was all extremely beautiful, and I loved the architecture. I love old architecture so much more than most modern stuff these days, it just feels like there is so much more detil, so much more work and history, and it feels more personal because you know someone made everything by hand. It was interesting to be in a Muslim country for the first time in my life, it made me curious as to the differences between the women who were able to show their faces or not, or to cover their hair or not. If I could have, I would have loved to have taken portraits of these people. They were so beautiful, and you could tell that if you could really speak to them, they would have so much to say. I was surprised at how few beggars I saw in Marrakech, there were a few, but less than there are in Madrid, and less than there are in San Diego, or at least it feels that way. I learned that I love Whisky, which is a type of black tea with mint and sugar, it is so deicious It made having given up coffee for lent easy! I can't wait to bring it back to the states and drink it in my traditional tea glasses.

Recent Happenings
I suppose the most pertinent happening is that on Wednesday, my backpack was stolen. It had my computer, notes for classes, textbooks, bible journal, wallet and Madrid book in it. Plus, it's a prety nice backpack by itself. So, I'm working on replacing those things, I have ordered a new computer and it comes in a week and a half from today, which is of course right before I leave for Spring Break. It either comes the day before I leave or the day I leave, we'll see. It doesn't matter much because I wasn't planning on bringing it on Semana Santa with me (that's just asking for it to get lost/damaged/stolen). I have been able to stay pretty positive about it, and this week has actually been really good. Everyone I have told has been amazed at how not panicked I am, but I had just backed up my hard drive the week before, and any pictures that might have been taken since then are on my camera still. Yay! So, I can be positive, and really all I hope for is that my bible and journal are somehow returned to me, my address is in both of them, and they are the things with the most sentimental value to them. I pray for the people who snatched my backpack to have mercy on me and have grace and drop them off or send them or for someone to find them and send them to me. Stranger things have happened, right? I don't want t start a new journal because I had just started that one, so I may wait another weekish, or until Semana Santa. This weekend was fun, I spent parts of it recovering lost things (like a notebook to write down stuff from Madrid and new school supplies and the like), I need a new backpack, but I'm reluctant to buy one becuse I want a decent one to keep my stuff in, that will last longer than a week, but those can be pretty pricey. Maybe I'll stop at the Rastro next weekend before church (if I'm here). I went out Thursday night to Kapital, and ended up doing the typical Spanish style all-nighter. I stayed out until 6:30am, went to sleep at 7am, and woke up at 5pm that night, oops. Friday I just hung around and relaxed, and got my new computer ordered, I'm hoping it will be here sooner than they think! I also left my driver's license in my pants pocket along with 10euro and when I went to look for it it had disappeared! But after another load of laundry, it magically appeared stuck to the door of the washing machine, I was so excited because I thought I had lost it on the way home. Ugh, crazy! Anyway, this week has been surprisingly peaceful, despite the craziness with the backpack and all. But, slowly but surely, I'm recovering the things I can, and hoping that those which cannot truly be replaced will be returned to me somehow. I'm thinking about going to Barcelona this weekend, depending on how expensive it is that is. We'll see!

Clubs, Parties and New People

So this weekend (Thursday to be exact) I went for the first time to the largest discoteca in Madrid: Kapital. It has 7 floors of different musics and atmospheres, and is open from around midnight to 5:30 or 6 in the morning. My friends Kati, Maria and I met at around 11:45, decided it was too early to go to Kapital (no one was in there yet) and bought ourselves some cafe and churros con chocolate. While I was waiting for the two ladies to arrive, I was inside the Metro. It was the weekend of Carneval, so a bunch of young people about my age were hanging out waiting for their friends too. They were all in costumes: Sandy and Danny from Grease, Cleopatra, a Flapper, etc. and at one point they asked me to take a picture. I happily agreed, but when I got around to taking the picture, I came upon the awkwardness of different cultures. In the US we either count to three, or say cheese when taking a photo, but I had no idea what the Spaniards say when doing so. So, I asked them their advice, telling them our customs in the US and asking theirs in Spain. All agreed and told me when they take photos, they say "patatas" aka potatoes. Isn't that interesting. I was very proud to have had such an interaction with Spanish youth.

Now, back to Kapital, so we went in at around 12:30 I think, and we had free passes to get in which include 1 drink as well. Some of our friends at IES are promoters for the club and can get us these passes every weekend (score!). So us three girls (Maria, Kati and I) went up to the lounge area to chill and wait for the club to get crowded. We decided to get our free drinks, and after much debate, I chose a Cosmopolitan. Now, this was my first legal mixed drink, and the moment I sipped it, I coughed it was sooo strong! Apparently in Spain, they put in like 2-3 shots worth of Alcohol in mixed drinks instead of the typical 1-2 in the US. Let's just say it took me way longer than my friends to finish. We were all surprised because the other two had gotten long island iced teas because of their known potency, but mine turned out to be stronger. Now, I know to order a long island, and they know to order a cosmo! So, we had a jolly good time dancing in the club, switching from the techno floor with the weird dancers on stage, to the hip-hop floor. At about 3:30am, when I was getting pretty ready to leave, my roommate called me in a panic because she couldn't find her keys. I was going to take the bus and be another hour later, but she asked if she could pay for my taxi home. How could I refuse? So, I took a taxi home, and although she misplaced her keys, she found them after being in our apartment for 5 or 10 minutes and let me know of her great discovery. I arrived home at about 4am and decided it was a good time to call Ian since I knew he would be awake. He was unfortunately busy, so I went to bed and fell asleep around 4:45 or 5am. 

The next day, I woke up at 2:30pm!!! I was shocked. Nothing more really happened Friday, I went out to Hard Rock Cafe with Meghan, Laura, Seema, Talla (Seema's sister who was visiting from Granada), Laura's roommate, and Liz. It was really fun, and the cheeseburger I got was so good, and so worth the 11 Euros I paid for it. Also, the cappuccino was also totally worth it for 2 Euros.

So Saturday, I hung out around the house for a while and eventually went out to the parade for Carneval. It was so funny! I forgot my camera (silly me), but it was fun to watch the movie star look-a-likes and other fun costumes. There were some really cool costumes for people on stilts, but it was a pretty small "parade." On my way to the Metro to get to the parade, I somehow randomly started talking to this guy. He asked me if I was Russian and where I was from, and when I told him no, not Russian, I'm from the US, he responded by telling me he was Mormon. So I thought "ok, this is random, what does you being Mormon have to do with me being from the US?". So then he asks me if I know Salt Lake City, Utah, of course, and asks a few other random questions and we talk about more random things. Then he suddenly says to me, you should go to the farmacia and get a cream for your herpes, I was at first very confused, then realized that he must have thought my split side of my lip and scab on my face were from herpes not the cold and acne respectively. It was pretty funny. He asked me to guess his age and I said 35 (I was being nice), but he was actually 38. He asked me how old I was (20) and told me I looked like an old girlfriend or something. Then he asked what I was doing walking alone and I said I was meeting my friends Then he asked what i was doing later and I said talking to my boyfriend. And as soon as I say the word boyfriend he like jumped and said he was very sorry and he thought I was single and why was I walking down the street by myself if I was single. So I told him (again) I was meeting friends for the carneval parade, and he asked if I knew where I was going, and I tried to communicate that yes, I knew where I was going thank you, but apparently he didn't understand, and so walked me to the gate of the Metro. While walking to the gate, he asked my name and I asked his, his name was Manuel. When we were at the gate, he asked if I wanted to meet for coffee sometimes and just talk "no sexo solamente hablamos (No sex, just talking)." I kindly refused his generous offer stating that I have an intercambio (language exchange) already with a university student. He seemed pretty bummed. It was probably one of the funniest moments of my weekend.

Sunday I got to go to church. It was phenomenal the way I felt met in worship. I fell asleep during the sermon part, so I didn't really understand what was going on, but they post them on the web so I'm going to go back and listen again when I'm a bit more alert. I could tell from the pastor's accent that he was bilingual, and that his primary language was English because of his accent. I went up to him after the service and introduced myself and he introduced me to some people around my age. There was Ian and his wife, and a few other people, but I only remember Ian's name. I plan to go back next weekend with stronger coffee to keep me awake, and Ian invited me to sit with them, and offered to help me if I was having issues. People seemed really nice, and I really liked it. The worship was contemporary, and we sang God of this City translated into Spanish, and a couple other songs I really liked, but don't know the names of. The church's name is Betel, and it's about an hour away by Metro, but I brought along Good News About Injustice and read the whole way, and it was pretty smooth. I actually heard about it from Urbana, and it turned out to be great! Also, my friend Erin wants to come next week, so that's really exciting!!! It would be great to have someone to go with every week.

Anyway, that's about all I have from this weekend, it was kind of a crazy blur of time, and I'm glad I get to rest a bit today. Tonight I also get to do my cooking class, where I get to learn how to make tortilla Española, Flan, and some other great dishes, I'm really excited! I have a feeling this week is going to be good, and I go to Salamanca this weekend! Also, I'll hopefully get some of those travel plans set for Spring break and my week with Ian! Yay!!

The first three weeks

How can I describe these first three weeks in Madrid? Overwhelming might be the word of choice. I have felt elated, upset, homesick beyond belief, astounded, and so met by God. So much has happened. The first week I went on a lot of explorations of the city. I went on all of the walks with the Spanish students, and the tour guides, trying to get to know my city more. I got lost every day on the Metro the first week, but have had only one Metro mishap since. The word I would use to describe Madrid right now is familiar. This place finally feels like home. I still miss all of my friends and family, and of course Ian, but after going to Granada this weekend, all I wanted to do was go "home" to my own bed and all of my stuff here in Madrid. And I am so glad that it feels that way. I find I am more proficient in Spanish every day. We go over things that are confusing in class, and we are always taught all of the idioms as well, it's more of a grammar and culture class than just grammar. This city intrigues me, it is so very beautiful, and fairly easy to get around in. I have loved getting to know the history of the city, and finding out things I didn't know, or learning about how different icons came to be. Madrid is so much older than anything in the States, it's strange to think about.
My trip to Granada was also beautiful. I saw the Alhambra, which was the palace of the Muslims when Spain was theirs. Granada was actually the capital of Spain before Madrid, but they found 3 underground rivers in Madrid, and decided to move the capital there. I did get a bit sick on my trip, it has been hard for my body to adjust to the different climate and stuff here I think, so I've had a sore throat or been coughing since I came. I keep wondering where all my money goes, and then I remember, the Metro, and medicine. But anyway, back to Granada, it is a splendid city, one of my friends got a bit of food poisoning, so on the second half of the bus ride and the whole first night, she was doing her thing every hour. Needless to say, we didn't sleep great that night, but it wasn't too bad either. We walked around the second day and by the third we were ready to go home.
I love my little room, it has space a-plenty for all of my things, and I am getting along better with my señora every day. Our program has a lot of strange rules, but she is a bit more relaxed, which is helpful. She speaks quite a bit of English, which is good and bad, but if I speak to her in Spanish, she usually switches with me. On the whole, there have been hard things these first few weeks, I've had to tackle some loneliness and homesickness, and some frustrations, but I am getting through them. Praise the Lord! Also, I've been going to the doctor for all of my back problems (which got worse when I got here), so I'll be getting some help there, which is really good because it's basically all free to me. I mean, I paid a little for it, but the X-ray alone today was worth what I paid for. Thanks goodness for good health care huh? And, the pharmacies are so great here! I've had to go a lot since I've been sick/in pain since I got here, but my pharmacy is so nice, They all are super knowledgeable about every medicine (as I'm sure pharmacists in the US are) but in Spain, all medicines are behind the counter, so you either have to tell them how you are feeling, or you have to ask for a specific medicine from them. They are much more involved in your life, which is really good. Also, pharmacies are everywhere, so are cigarette shops. All stores are pretty individualized, which is good and bad. I miss being able to walk into Target and get everything I need, but it's also nice to have a bunch of mom and pop type shops too.
In the end, I love this city, I'm feeling at home more, and although I know I'll have ups and downs, the city will remain constant, and the beauty here will never cease to amaze me.
(Photos: Top-Parque del Retiro, Middle- Templo de Debod, Bottom- La Alhambra at sunset from my hostel in Granada)