Wow! Just a few more days and I will be heading back to the States. It's crazy to think that almost 6 weeks have passed since I first stepped foot in Madrid. Also, I should insert here a special "happy fourth of July" to all my friends back in the States. It's weird not spending the Fourth in the US but the Fourth has always been a hit or miss holiday in our family. We are usually traveling around the country-and a few times we have been in areas that don't have fireworks. Tonight though we are having a barbeque with my host parents so that should be a lot of fun!
This week has been rather stressful. The last day of class was today so I was busy writing two essays, a presentation, studying for an exam and finishing up some last minute homework. As stressful as it was, I think that everything turned out just fine. I actually loved going to class here-it was such a different experience from going to classes in Purdue. The art class over the Prado was by far one of my favorites with the exception of my professor for Civilization.
After class I took my siesta and then started packing up to head back to the States. We are going to Granada for the weekend so I need to have everything ready for when I get back. Hopefully my suitcase is still underweight...we shall see! Tomorrow is our goodbye lunch at a local restaurant and then Granada on Friday!
Hasta luego
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
A week of crazy!
I realize that I haven't blogged in a while-and I am not sure that I should be blogging right now considering my final projects that need to be done. But everyone needs a break so I am going to take a quick one to update this!
Last week we had a huge heat wave come over Madrid. It was over 100 degrees every day from Sunday until Thursday! I thought we were going to melt here. Tensions also were flaring since no one was sleeping well without A/C. I figured it was probably good practice for when I head back to Purdue in the fall-minus the humidity of course!
On Wednesday, we visited the Botanical Gardens that are outside of the Prado. It was 104 that afternoon which made it a bit difficult to persuade myself to go. I am really glad that I went though because it was very beautiful! There were all kinds of trees and plants and the tour guide had some interesting stories to share. He also thought we were crazy for coming out in the heat of the day (I had to agree with him.) There was a special exhibit on bonsai trees which was interesting-I had never seen one in person before. A cat was sleeping in the shade which made me happy-and made me miss my cat back home.
Thursday was a fairly normal day. I worked a lot on my final projects since Julia was coming up for the weekend. I wrote most of my essay and finished up my presentation so I felt fairly good about that. On Friday morning I got up early to head to the airport to pick up Julia. I took the metro out there which was very interesting experience! I had never taken that line before but it was a fairly nice ride. I was glad I still had my travel pass-otherwise I would have had to pay 3 euros just to get into the airport (a little crazy if you ask me, but they have to make money somehow I guess).
When Julia got in we headed back to the house. I did my best to explain the metro system to her since she was going to be taking it back solo to get back home. When we got back to the house we chilled at the pool and swam for a little while (the water was freezing-but with the heat it felt great!). We ate lunch and then headed to the Prado for the afternoon. It was so cool to go the art museum with someone who is studying art history! When we got done there we went to the Retiro park which is this huge green space in the middle of Madrid. I saw my first squirrel since being here as well! I wish we could have gone out on the row boats but it was still too hot! By the time we got back for dinner we were ready to be done for the day.
Saturday was supposed to start out early-which didn't exactly happen although we did get out at a decent hour. In the morning we visited the Plaza Mayor, Sol, the Royal Palace, the cathedral by the Royal Palace, and a monument park by the Palace! Phew! After lunch we decided to head back to the city again! Julia picked a good weekend to come because the summer sales are just starting here. We shopped the rest of the afternoon and visited some cool stores. I tried on a bunch of clothes but didn't find anything that I really wanted to buy. We came back for dinner and then we were done for the night.
Sunday was actually an early morning at the house. I wanted to take Julia to the Rastro so she could experience the open market in Madrid. I also had a little bit of shopping that I needed to get done as well ;) Afterwards we stopped for a break and drank some coffee before heading back to the house for lunch. We had traditional paella which Julia really loved! We thought about heading out that afternoon but both of us were too tired. Instead, we took a siesta and hung out at the pool. The final game of the Eurocup was last night and we watched the game with the whole family! What a great time! The whole country went nuts after Spain beat Italy and rightfully so!!!
Julia headed out this morning and I have just been working on school stuff. It's crazy that in a week I will be leaving to head back to the States!
Last week we had a huge heat wave come over Madrid. It was over 100 degrees every day from Sunday until Thursday! I thought we were going to melt here. Tensions also were flaring since no one was sleeping well without A/C. I figured it was probably good practice for when I head back to Purdue in the fall-minus the humidity of course!
On Wednesday, we visited the Botanical Gardens that are outside of the Prado. It was 104 that afternoon which made it a bit difficult to persuade myself to go. I am really glad that I went though because it was very beautiful! There were all kinds of trees and plants and the tour guide had some interesting stories to share. He also thought we were crazy for coming out in the heat of the day (I had to agree with him.) There was a special exhibit on bonsai trees which was interesting-I had never seen one in person before. A cat was sleeping in the shade which made me happy-and made me miss my cat back home.
Thursday was a fairly normal day. I worked a lot on my final projects since Julia was coming up for the weekend. I wrote most of my essay and finished up my presentation so I felt fairly good about that. On Friday morning I got up early to head to the airport to pick up Julia. I took the metro out there which was very interesting experience! I had never taken that line before but it was a fairly nice ride. I was glad I still had my travel pass-otherwise I would have had to pay 3 euros just to get into the airport (a little crazy if you ask me, but they have to make money somehow I guess).
When Julia got in we headed back to the house. I did my best to explain the metro system to her since she was going to be taking it back solo to get back home. When we got back to the house we chilled at the pool and swam for a little while (the water was freezing-but with the heat it felt great!). We ate lunch and then headed to the Prado for the afternoon. It was so cool to go the art museum with someone who is studying art history! When we got done there we went to the Retiro park which is this huge green space in the middle of Madrid. I saw my first squirrel since being here as well! I wish we could have gone out on the row boats but it was still too hot! By the time we got back for dinner we were ready to be done for the day.
Saturday was supposed to start out early-which didn't exactly happen although we did get out at a decent hour. In the morning we visited the Plaza Mayor, Sol, the Royal Palace, the cathedral by the Royal Palace, and a monument park by the Palace! Phew! After lunch we decided to head back to the city again! Julia picked a good weekend to come because the summer sales are just starting here. We shopped the rest of the afternoon and visited some cool stores. I tried on a bunch of clothes but didn't find anything that I really wanted to buy. We came back for dinner and then we were done for the night.
Sunday was actually an early morning at the house. I wanted to take Julia to the Rastro so she could experience the open market in Madrid. I also had a little bit of shopping that I needed to get done as well ;) Afterwards we stopped for a break and drank some coffee before heading back to the house for lunch. We had traditional paella which Julia really loved! We thought about heading out that afternoon but both of us were too tired. Instead, we took a siesta and hung out at the pool. The final game of the Eurocup was last night and we watched the game with the whole family! What a great time! The whole country went nuts after Spain beat Italy and rightfully so!!!
Julia headed out this morning and I have just been working on school stuff. It's crazy that in a week I will be leaving to head back to the States!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
The Reina Sofia
Yesterday we went to go visit the Reina Sofia after class. It was the last museum that I needed to see of "The Golden Triangle" in Madrid (The Prado, Thyssen and Reina Sofia). I was really excited to go because they have modern art by Picasso and Dali. Also, the Guernica which is one of Picasso's most famous works is there as well. When we got to the museum I knew that it was going to be much different than my other visits. The new entrance of the museum is so modern! Originally, the museum used to be a hospital until they decided to convert it over to a museum.
Our professor who led the tour was very knowledgeable! I was surprised by how much he knew-he didn't even have a paper to help him out. He explained to us the different types of art that we were going to see. He said we needed to have an open mind because this art was all about reflecting the inner conscious. Paintings had to radically change with the invention of photography and cinema because painters were no longer needed to represent human life. Photos could do a better job and cinema could show much more than a painting ever could. The Guernica by Picasso did not disappoint although it is always sad to see the great lengths humans go during war. We also saw propaganda that was used during the Civil War in Spain-it was kind of scary.
After Picasso we looked at some of the works by Dali. He was very obsessed with painting the dream world and the unconscious desires. The paintings definitely needed an open mind to be appreciated. I am not sure if I understand it completely but it was a cool experience.
This week a heat wave has descended upon Spain! It's going to be above 100 degrees all week. I feel like I am back in the Grand Canyon during July. Don't let anyone fool you-a dry heat is still very very hot! Tomorrow we are going to visit the royal gardens after class. I can't believe we only have two more weeks left in Spain! I am trying to take everything in before it's time to head back to the States.
Our professor who led the tour was very knowledgeable! I was surprised by how much he knew-he didn't even have a paper to help him out. He explained to us the different types of art that we were going to see. He said we needed to have an open mind because this art was all about reflecting the inner conscious. Paintings had to radically change with the invention of photography and cinema because painters were no longer needed to represent human life. Photos could do a better job and cinema could show much more than a painting ever could. The Guernica by Picasso did not disappoint although it is always sad to see the great lengths humans go during war. We also saw propaganda that was used during the Civil War in Spain-it was kind of scary.
After Picasso we looked at some of the works by Dali. He was very obsessed with painting the dream world and the unconscious desires. The paintings definitely needed an open mind to be appreciated. I am not sure if I understand it completely but it was a cool experience.
This week a heat wave has descended upon Spain! It's going to be above 100 degrees all week. I feel like I am back in the Grand Canyon during July. Don't let anyone fool you-a dry heat is still very very hot! Tomorrow we are going to visit the royal gardens after class. I can't believe we only have two more weeks left in Spain! I am trying to take everything in before it's time to head back to the States.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Salamanca
Wow! Things have all started to run together as we are heading into the last two weeks of studying in Spain! I can't believe that I have already been here for a month! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was getting off my plane and heading to my host parent's house.
On Friday, we visited the Congress building. It's the oldest building in Europe that has been used only for that purpose. Everything in the building looks exactly like it did when it was built in 1850. The building was so ornate with all of the rooms (much different from Capitol Hill). We visited a few working rooms-one of which had a cool clock in it! It had all kinds of things going on with it-like the position of the sun and such. After that, we visited the room where the congresspeople actually meet to pass laws. It looked a lot similar to the one in the States-only a little bit smaller (by Constitution, there can only be 400 at any one time). There are special seats for the Ministers and every 4 years, the King and Queen come to visit the parliament. Our Culture and Civilization professor (Juan) led the excursion which was a lot of fun! It was a quick visit and then we headed back. Before we got back to the Metro, we stopped at Starbucks. Although I was really tempted to get a macchiato, I decided to hold out. There were some cute mugs though that I might have to go back and buy though.
Yesterday was our last "official" excursion to Salamanca. The day started out early and we rode on the bus for 2.5 hours. Fortunately I was able to sleep the entire time. When we got there, we had a 30 minute break in the Plaza Mayor to get some breakfast. Todd suggested that we go to the Cafe Novelty-they had some delicious looking muffins! We visited a lot of cool places during our day. We saw a house that was called the house of the dead (a very interesting story, to say the least) and then we visited this cool library. It actually used to be a palace that they then converted. When we were done there, we visited the university. It's one of the 4th oldest universities in Europe! Super awesome! We ate our lunches in the shade and watched a couple of wedding parties (Note: Hats are very popular in Europe!). Afterwards, we found an ice-cream shop that had the best ice-cream I have had in Spain. It was more of a yogurt texture and I got the house specialty (which had cherries and nuts in it). After our ice-cream break, we did a little bit of shopping although I decided not to buy anything (Still need to buy gifts for a few people...). Our last tour was of the cathedral. At first I thought it was going to be like every other church tour we have been on. However, in this tour we got to walk up the towers of the church! The staircases were very narrow and a little scary. We saw the areas where an earthquake and a fire damaged the church. After that, we got to look outside the city! What a great view! We also saw the newer part of the church as well. We had to head out after that because we needed to get back to Madrid.
Last night there was a huge party going on in our backyard! The adults stayed out and partied until 4 AM! I am very impressed by Spanish culture and their willingness to have a good time-even if that means they are tired the next day. Today has been mainly spent studying for my art exam tomorrow over Velazquez. We are also experiencing a heat wave right now, so it is supposed to be 100 degrees almost all week--good swimming weather!
Hasta luego!
On Friday, we visited the Congress building. It's the oldest building in Europe that has been used only for that purpose. Everything in the building looks exactly like it did when it was built in 1850. The building was so ornate with all of the rooms (much different from Capitol Hill). We visited a few working rooms-one of which had a cool clock in it! It had all kinds of things going on with it-like the position of the sun and such. After that, we visited the room where the congresspeople actually meet to pass laws. It looked a lot similar to the one in the States-only a little bit smaller (by Constitution, there can only be 400 at any one time). There are special seats for the Ministers and every 4 years, the King and Queen come to visit the parliament. Our Culture and Civilization professor (Juan) led the excursion which was a lot of fun! It was a quick visit and then we headed back. Before we got back to the Metro, we stopped at Starbucks. Although I was really tempted to get a macchiato, I decided to hold out. There were some cute mugs though that I might have to go back and buy though.
Yesterday was our last "official" excursion to Salamanca. The day started out early and we rode on the bus for 2.5 hours. Fortunately I was able to sleep the entire time. When we got there, we had a 30 minute break in the Plaza Mayor to get some breakfast. Todd suggested that we go to the Cafe Novelty-they had some delicious looking muffins! We visited a lot of cool places during our day. We saw a house that was called the house of the dead (a very interesting story, to say the least) and then we visited this cool library. It actually used to be a palace that they then converted. When we were done there, we visited the university. It's one of the 4th oldest universities in Europe! Super awesome! We ate our lunches in the shade and watched a couple of wedding parties (Note: Hats are very popular in Europe!). Afterwards, we found an ice-cream shop that had the best ice-cream I have had in Spain. It was more of a yogurt texture and I got the house specialty (which had cherries and nuts in it). After our ice-cream break, we did a little bit of shopping although I decided not to buy anything (Still need to buy gifts for a few people...). Our last tour was of the cathedral. At first I thought it was going to be like every other church tour we have been on. However, in this tour we got to walk up the towers of the church! The staircases were very narrow and a little scary. We saw the areas where an earthquake and a fire damaged the church. After that, we got to look outside the city! What a great view! We also saw the newer part of the church as well. We had to head out after that because we needed to get back to Madrid.
Last night there was a huge party going on in our backyard! The adults stayed out and partied until 4 AM! I am very impressed by Spanish culture and their willingness to have a good time-even if that means they are tired the next day. Today has been mainly spent studying for my art exam tomorrow over Velazquez. We are also experiencing a heat wave right now, so it is supposed to be 100 degrees almost all week--good swimming weather!
Hasta luego!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Popcorn!
This week has been fairly normal--that is to say, busy and warm!
On Monday, we visited the Royal Palace after class. It was so huge and awesome! We only saw 24 rooms but our tour guide says that there are hundreds in the palace. The Royal family of Spain doesn't actually live in the palace-and they haven't since the 1930's. When the European Union flag is hanging above the building that means that someone important is visiting and the public can't enter. Fortunately, it was a quiet day at the palace. Some of my favorite rooms were the dining room and the music room. Some of the finest instruments ever created are kept in that room...they are only played a few times a year! It would be so awesome to be present for one of those concerts. After the palace, we visited the armor museum (again, no pictures allowed) and the pharmacy from the 1700's. There were definitely some interesting medicines in the pharmacy-think millipedes and boric acid.
Monday night was also the soccer game--Spain vs. Croatia. I didn't feel like heading out again to watch the game so I decided to watch it at home. Fortunately my host parents had the same idea and provided quite the snack experience-popcorn (my first time since being in Spain!), chips, Doritos, and peanuts! We ate sandwiches during half-time which were delicious! Unfortunately, nothing happened until the last 2 minutes-fortunately Spain won!
Yesterday, Kelly and I decided to head out for a few hours before dinner. It rained for the first time since we have been in Madrid. It was more of a light sprinkle and felt really nice. I ended up getting a cafe con leche--and the milk was steamed! (Also a first since being in Spain). I really enjoyed it but regretted it slightly when I had a hard time sleeping last night. We also did a little bit of shopping around Sol as well.
Tomorrow we are heading to the Prado for class and on Friday the Congress building!
Hasta luego
On Monday, we visited the Royal Palace after class. It was so huge and awesome! We only saw 24 rooms but our tour guide says that there are hundreds in the palace. The Royal family of Spain doesn't actually live in the palace-and they haven't since the 1930's. When the European Union flag is hanging above the building that means that someone important is visiting and the public can't enter. Fortunately, it was a quiet day at the palace. Some of my favorite rooms were the dining room and the music room. Some of the finest instruments ever created are kept in that room...they are only played a few times a year! It would be so awesome to be present for one of those concerts. After the palace, we visited the armor museum (again, no pictures allowed) and the pharmacy from the 1700's. There were definitely some interesting medicines in the pharmacy-think millipedes and boric acid.
Monday night was also the soccer game--Spain vs. Croatia. I didn't feel like heading out again to watch the game so I decided to watch it at home. Fortunately my host parents had the same idea and provided quite the snack experience-popcorn (my first time since being in Spain!), chips, Doritos, and peanuts! We ate sandwiches during half-time which were delicious! Unfortunately, nothing happened until the last 2 minutes-fortunately Spain won!
Yesterday, Kelly and I decided to head out for a few hours before dinner. It rained for the first time since we have been in Madrid. It was more of a light sprinkle and felt really nice. I ended up getting a cafe con leche--and the milk was steamed! (Also a first since being in Spain). I really enjoyed it but regretted it slightly when I had a hard time sleeping last night. We also did a little bit of shopping around Sol as well.
Tomorrow we are heading to the Prado for class and on Friday the Congress building!
Hasta luego
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Soccer, museums, Toledo, shopping!
Thursday night, John, Kelly, the host parents and I went to a local bar to watch the football game. Watching the game is a social event and everyone heads out to take part in the experience. We went to a bar called "El Rey de Las Tapas" (The King of Tapas). Luis had reserved a table so we had a good seat outside to watch the game. A couple of friends of Luis and Maria also joined us. The tapas were very tasty--we tried a lot of things! My favorite was huevos rotos (broken eggs): it consisted of french fries, fried eggs, and ham all mixed up. The other cool thing was that there was a person on site who was slicing ham to eat. Ham in Spain is a specialty and it is NOTHING like the ham in the states. It was very thin and delicious! Spain also won which was very nice:) I posted a few pictures up on Facebook of the fun experience.
On Friday, Kelly and I decided to head to an art museum that is not included in our tour. It's called the "Thyssen-Bornesmiza Museum." In Madrid, the golden triangle of art museums consists of the Prado, the Reina Sofia and the Thyssen. We visit the Prado every Thursday and are visiting the Reina Sofia later in the month so we figured we needed to get the whole picture. Our host mom told us it wasn't a very big museum so we would only need a few hours. There was so many different types of art! The biggest feature of the museum was their collection of Dutch art. We also saw some art that we recognized--Goya, El Greco, Van Gogh, Tintoretto, Tiziano, Picasso, etc...I really liked this museum because it had a lot of artists that you wouldn't see in the Prado. The art after the 1850's was very interesting and it was a little bit abstract--especially the 20th century art.
Saturday was another excursion day for us. We got up early to take the bus to Toledo-a city that is about an hour south of Madrid. We knew it was going to be a hot day and indeed it was! Toledo is a cool city because Christians, Jews, and Muslims have all lived in the city throughout history. We visited an old mosque that was later turned into a church (a fairly common practice). We also visited one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in Spain as well. It was cool to see the way the cathedral changed throughout time. After the church tour, we visited the site of the Greco's painting of "El entierro del conde del Orgaz." I was really excited to see it in person since we had talked about it so much in class. I was surprised that it wasn't bigger than what it was. The tour then continued to a site that used to be Roman baths that was later converted into a Jewish synagogue that was later converted into a church then into a center for persons escaping prostitution to a museum! phew! Apparently the multipurpose building is quite common in Toledo. By this time everyone was tired and hot and ready for lunch. Fortunately our host mom packed us a huge lunch that was delicious (as always)! When we were done eating, some of the guys in the group wanted to go buy a sword. Kelly and I decided to pass and instead bought some famous cookies (toledanas) from a pastry shop. Yum! We got on the bus and got back to Madrid--I called it an early night!
Today has already been eventful and we haven't even eaten lunch yet! We decided to go visit El Rastro which is one of the largest flea markets in Europe! We weren't quite sure what to expect--only that we needed to go early to beat the crowds. When we got there at 10 the market had only been open for an hour and there were already a lot of people. Basically they close off an entire street and vendors just line the entire street. Everywhere you looked there was another booth of things to buy. There was literally everything under the sun--from underwear to jewelry to soccer paraphernalia to authentic fans. The best part? The prices are low and it's easy to get a good bargain! I got almost all of my shopping done for people which was really nice. I also bought myself a Real Madrid scarf to hang in my room.
Tomorrow we are going to visit the Royal Palace after class and on Friday we will be visiting the Congress. It's going to be another busy week!
On Friday, Kelly and I decided to head to an art museum that is not included in our tour. It's called the "Thyssen-Bornesmiza Museum." In Madrid, the golden triangle of art museums consists of the Prado, the Reina Sofia and the Thyssen. We visit the Prado every Thursday and are visiting the Reina Sofia later in the month so we figured we needed to get the whole picture. Our host mom told us it wasn't a very big museum so we would only need a few hours. There was so many different types of art! The biggest feature of the museum was their collection of Dutch art. We also saw some art that we recognized--Goya, El Greco, Van Gogh, Tintoretto, Tiziano, Picasso, etc...I really liked this museum because it had a lot of artists that you wouldn't see in the Prado. The art after the 1850's was very interesting and it was a little bit abstract--especially the 20th century art.
Saturday was another excursion day for us. We got up early to take the bus to Toledo-a city that is about an hour south of Madrid. We knew it was going to be a hot day and indeed it was! Toledo is a cool city because Christians, Jews, and Muslims have all lived in the city throughout history. We visited an old mosque that was later turned into a church (a fairly common practice). We also visited one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in Spain as well. It was cool to see the way the cathedral changed throughout time. After the church tour, we visited the site of the Greco's painting of "El entierro del conde del Orgaz." I was really excited to see it in person since we had talked about it so much in class. I was surprised that it wasn't bigger than what it was. The tour then continued to a site that used to be Roman baths that was later converted into a Jewish synagogue that was later converted into a church then into a center for persons escaping prostitution to a museum! phew! Apparently the multipurpose building is quite common in Toledo. By this time everyone was tired and hot and ready for lunch. Fortunately our host mom packed us a huge lunch that was delicious (as always)! When we were done eating, some of the guys in the group wanted to go buy a sword. Kelly and I decided to pass and instead bought some famous cookies (toledanas) from a pastry shop. Yum! We got on the bus and got back to Madrid--I called it an early night!
Today has already been eventful and we haven't even eaten lunch yet! We decided to go visit El Rastro which is one of the largest flea markets in Europe! We weren't quite sure what to expect--only that we needed to go early to beat the crowds. When we got there at 10 the market had only been open for an hour and there were already a lot of people. Basically they close off an entire street and vendors just line the entire street. Everywhere you looked there was another booth of things to buy. There was literally everything under the sun--from underwear to jewelry to soccer paraphernalia to authentic fans. The best part? The prices are low and it's easy to get a good bargain! I got almost all of my shopping done for people which was really nice. I also bought myself a Real Madrid scarf to hang in my room.
Tomorrow we are going to visit the Royal Palace after class and on Friday we will be visiting the Congress. It's going to be another busy week!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Tapas and San Antonio
Wow! What a crazy last few days it has been! On Sunday I went to Mass with Elizabeth and afterwards we made brownies for our host family. They loved them and I didn't mind eating one myself :) We had to take a picture of tapas for our class so our host dad (Luis) decided to make us some. Apparently he is the "king of tapas." Everything was so delicious, but I did not try the tapa with anchovies. Someday maybe...
Monday was a fairly chill day. We got back from class and just hung around the house. Kelly needed to go to the pharmacy so we ventured out that way. The pharmacies are very different than in the States! They aren't very good and almost all of the products are behind the counter. Fortunately the pharmacist was very helpful even though they didn't have what we were looking for.
Yesterday we had to work on our tapas presentation in class today. After the siesta we went to three different stores to buy the ingredients. One of the stores was the open market which is quite the experience! There is a very strong smell since there are butchers everywhere! I saw more fish than I cared to see and there were also rabbits :( We also went to a store that only sold frozen items! I really wanted to buy some ice-cream but decided not to. When we got back to the house we got to working on making our tapas. Kelly and I made empanadillas con atun (it's tuna that is put inside this shell that you bake). It's kind of hard to explain but it was delicious! The other students made a sausage that was soaked in cider and also a seafood mix.
Today we took all of our tapas to class to present.When it was time for our break, we tried everyone's tapas! They were so delicious! I even ate a mussel that was stuffed with shrimp--it was definitely interesting! My favorite was croqueta con jamon...again, hard to explain but delicious! Unfortunately after eating all of that food none of us wanted to pay attention in art class. Our professors were kind enough to let us out 15 minutes early--I think they kind of gave up.
We had to eat a quick lunch after class because we had an excursion this afternoon. Maria makes some delicious sandwiches! Our excursion was "El Paseo de San Antonio de la Florida." San Antonio was a saint from Portugal in the Middle Ages. He resurrected a girl that had been shot to figure out who had killed her. The Spanish people were really impressed by him so they built a little church in honor of him. After two churches collapsed, the third one finally stayed up. Later they built a replica of the church and turned the old one into a museum. It's also the day of San Antonio today so a huge carnival has been going on all week. There were carnival rides and food everywhere.
One of the interesting things about San Antonio is that he is supposedly able to help girls find boyfriends. There is a fountain near the church that has pins in the bottom of it. You are supposed to stick your hand to the bottom and however many pins "stick" is the number of boyfriends you will have. There were a lot of people and I wasn't too interested in pricking myself so I didn't try it out.
Afterward, we went to the Bar Mingo because they have some famous cider from Andalusia. I tried it and I wasn't too impressed but everyone else thought it was delicious. It was really warm outside so we headed back home for the day. Now it's about time for some delicious dinner!
Hasta luego!
Monday was a fairly chill day. We got back from class and just hung around the house. Kelly needed to go to the pharmacy so we ventured out that way. The pharmacies are very different than in the States! They aren't very good and almost all of the products are behind the counter. Fortunately the pharmacist was very helpful even though they didn't have what we were looking for.
Yesterday we had to work on our tapas presentation in class today. After the siesta we went to three different stores to buy the ingredients. One of the stores was the open market which is quite the experience! There is a very strong smell since there are butchers everywhere! I saw more fish than I cared to see and there were also rabbits :( We also went to a store that only sold frozen items! I really wanted to buy some ice-cream but decided not to. When we got back to the house we got to working on making our tapas. Kelly and I made empanadillas con atun (it's tuna that is put inside this shell that you bake). It's kind of hard to explain but it was delicious! The other students made a sausage that was soaked in cider and also a seafood mix.
Today we took all of our tapas to class to present.When it was time for our break, we tried everyone's tapas! They were so delicious! I even ate a mussel that was stuffed with shrimp--it was definitely interesting! My favorite was croqueta con jamon...again, hard to explain but delicious! Unfortunately after eating all of that food none of us wanted to pay attention in art class. Our professors were kind enough to let us out 15 minutes early--I think they kind of gave up.
We had to eat a quick lunch after class because we had an excursion this afternoon. Maria makes some delicious sandwiches! Our excursion was "El Paseo de San Antonio de la Florida." San Antonio was a saint from Portugal in the Middle Ages. He resurrected a girl that had been shot to figure out who had killed her. The Spanish people were really impressed by him so they built a little church in honor of him. After two churches collapsed, the third one finally stayed up. Later they built a replica of the church and turned the old one into a museum. It's also the day of San Antonio today so a huge carnival has been going on all week. There were carnival rides and food everywhere.
One of the interesting things about San Antonio is that he is supposedly able to help girls find boyfriends. There is a fountain near the church that has pins in the bottom of it. You are supposed to stick your hand to the bottom and however many pins "stick" is the number of boyfriends you will have. There were a lot of people and I wasn't too interested in pricking myself so I didn't try it out.
Afterward, we went to the Bar Mingo because they have some famous cider from Andalusia. I tried it and I wasn't too impressed but everyone else thought it was delicious. It was really warm outside so we headed back home for the day. Now it's about time for some delicious dinner!
Hasta luego!
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