The journey not the arrival matters.

I still can't believe it.  I'm really in Spain.

  

I have only been here for a week, and there are numerous cultural differences that are definitely taking a wear and tear on me already: what are streets and what are sidewalks, dinner is not typically eaten until 9-10p, the Spanish lisp, being polite is not really important to Spaniards, not tipping (this will not take long), and the overall pace of life is much slower, and a 45 minute walk is nothing to them.  Oh, and, did I mention the Spanish language all day everyday?  I'm sure by the time I adjust to everything, my 14 weeks will be over; and I will have to readjust to American customs. 

SO much has already happened! Madrid, Toledo, the nine hour bus ride to Barcelona, the first day in Barcelona, placement testing... AHHH!  This may be a lengthy post, but I will do my best to keep you entertained (and laughing).

So, let me take you back a couple of days.  On Wednesday, January 4, my plane landed at Aeropuerto de Madrid-Barajas at 7:40a.  Luckily, I had already met two people from my program before leaving Chicago--Bryan and Michael (my roommate).  Upon arrival, I got off the plane, looked around at this massive airport, and started looking for the baggage claims sign.  Obviously, now, everything was in Spanish! Before I could pick up my luggage, though, I had to go through customs and get my first stamp in my passport.  After getting my bags, I had to figure out where "SALA 1" was located, which was rather hard because I had no idea what "SALA" meant.  So, I asked some cops who looked at me like I was the most ignorant American in the world.  Then I saw a sign in English! Information.  I got to the desk, the lady behind it said, "Hola." I said, "Habla inglés? (Do you speak English?)" She said, "No." It took a lot of hand gestures and slow Spanish-speaking for her to tell me that SALA 1 was downstairs.  It was my first adventure.  Going from one terminal to the next and then downstairs.  Trust me, it was harder than it sounds!

After about an hour of waiting, I finally met two of the ISA resident directors--Antonio and Luke-- who ushered us to the buses, which took the group to the hotel that we would be staying at...

Yes, this is the hotel I stayed at... It was beautiful! 

I had two days.  Two days to explore this massive city.  Luckily, the program provided us with a bus and walking tour of the city, which allowed a quick highlight of the entire city and for me to snap some awesome pictures!  The first day in Madrid we had a short break after the eight hour plane ride to lay around the hotel and check out the surroundings, which my friends and I took full advantage of.  Around 5:00p, we boarded a bus that took us around the entire city!

 

The photo on the left is in the Plaza de Colón.  The statue commemorates Christopher Columbus and his explorations.  In Barcelona, there is another statue of Christopher Columbus, but I have not seen it yet.  And, on the right, the Puerta de Alcalá. 

After the bus ride, we had our first meeting regarding safety.  More or less, watch your stuff.  Keep things in your front pocket.  Girls, please don't travel solo.  And, never, ever share a cab with a stranger.  The meeting was about an hour, and then we had the night to explore!

To start the second day in Madrid and the the walking tour, we went to the Museo del Prado. WOW! This museum houses some of the finest art in the world.  The Museo del Prado contains the greatest collection of Spanish art that ranges from the 12th (that's old!) to the 18th (still old!) century.  Before walking into the museum, we were asked which group we would like to be in: 1) Spanish only or 2) Spanglish.  It was the second day and I haven't had a class in this language for three years... so, Spanglish it was.  Because of time, the tour guide (Ana) focused on three of the most renowned Spanish artists of all time:  Velázquez, Goya, and El Greco.  For someone with a background or love for the arts, the two and half hour tour would not have sufficed! Someone could spend weeks studying and exploring the museum!  Although I wanted to spend more time in this incredible place, I left in the morning, so I had to move on.   

La Casa de la Panadería

I know that the color on this picture is really distorted, but I did it on purpose. (The original is on Facebook.)  I really wanted to show the artistic design that was on the side of this building that was located in the Plaza Mayor, which is the center of the city.  This building has undergone several renovations, but its original purpose served as the main bakery for the city. 

There is nothing really special about these two locations.  I really just loved the bright, red building. The buildings in Spain are very vibrant and bright, which has given me this sense of welcome and warmth.  The picture on the left is one of the nine exits from the Plaza Mayor.  The picture on the left is a great depiction of what a majority of the streets look like in both Madrid and Barcelona.  The streets in Madrid, much like Barcelona, go in every direction imaginable! They go forward, backward, upward, downward, left, right, diagonal! Much like the directions they go, the materials and textures of them are just as diverse.  There are wide, narrow, long, short, cobblestone, concrete, flat, rough, smooth! The complexity of this country is never-ending, and I love it!

During the walking tour, we went to one of the largest palaces in Europe!  The Palacio Real de Madrid (Royal Palace of Madrid) was impressive for its austere grandeur! Also, directly across from the palace was the Catedral de Santa María la Real de la Almudena de Madrid (Almudena Cathedral...yes, it is much simpler in English). I could have spent quite a bit of my time simply viewing its gardens and landscape; however, I only had a few hours more to take in as much of Madrid as possible! 

Royal Palace of Madrid

Almudena Cathedral (Front)

Almudena Cathedral (Back)

The museum and the walking tour, together, took almost four hours.  Afterwards, we were all free to explore the city on our own.  Some friends and I took off.  Exploring every nick and cranny of the city.  During these final hours in Madrid, I noticed this city had more fountains than my entire state!  Every corner, every intersection, every park! Fountains were everywhere.  Each had its own style, specific way to shoot water, embellishments.  That night, before we left, was the Eve of El Día de los Tres Reyes (which is Christmas in Spain)!  The city hall was covered in fiber optic lights.  There was a stage, performers... every news station was around, as well as, every inhabitant of Madrid.  To me, this celebration, and the amount of people, would be equilavent to that of New Year's Eve in Times Square!

City Hall of Madrid

Metropolis

On Friday, January 6th, we didn't get our wake-up call, so literally Michael and I threw our luggage together in six minutes and ran downstairs! We got on the bus, and we were off to our second excursion! Toledo.  We were only in Toledo for one day, which (for me) was enough.  The city was extraordinarily rustic and antiqued; however, it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  Toledo was once the most powerful city in Spain!  I took over 100 pictures in the few hours we were in the city, but pictures still do not give this city the justice deserved.  This town had a very ethereal feel.  It was as if I had stepped back in time to the Renaissance period or into some medieval fairy tale!

While we were there, the group visited, what is considered, the oldest standing synagogue in all of Europe: Santa María la Blanca.  Considering this church was erected in 12th century, it still looked incredible!

Santa María la Blanca

Santa María la Blanca

Sorry this picture is so bright...  It was dark in the church because it was lit solely by natural lighting, which made it hard to see this incredible altar piece, so I brightened in Photoshop so you could see it.  This altar piece was located in the second cathedral we visited (however, I don't remember the name).

The final cathedral we went to was massive.  In fact, it is the second largest in Spain.  Sadly, the inside was closed so we only got to observe its splendor from a distance.  Catedral de Santa María de Toledo:

The Last Supper

After this incredible tour around the town, we were taken by bus to our hotel rooms, which were located in the "new" town.

After being in Spain for three days, I was finally going to Barcelona!! We woke up at 7:45a on Saturday, January 7th, ate breakfast, loaded the luggage, boarded the bus, and we were off!  The bus ride took NINE hours. Yes, nine hours! That's longer than it took me to fly over here from the United States! Luckily for me, I had dramamine.  I popped one and slept the majority of the bus ride!

9 hours had passed so quickly.  We pulled over.  Our director told the homestays only to please get off the bus and grab our luggage and meet our family.  I saw this woman holding a sign that said my name.  I took a deep breathe, let it out, walked up to her, and introduced myself to her.  We did the double-cheek kiss, which, to me, was so interesting because that is something you only see in the movies.  Sadly, the first question I asked her was if she spoke English, and her response: no.  She began to rattle off so many things in Spanish (Spaniard Spanish... the lisp)!  I heard three words: bus, taxi, or metro.  Since, at that time, I wasn't sure what she was talking about, I said metro.  Well, apparently, she was asking us how we would like to get home.

We walked out of the metro, which is only down the block from our apartment, walked down the block, and walked through the main door of the building.  We pushed for the elevator, it came down, and I boarded this elevator that was made of wood and glass, and was maybe 3x2.  I got off on the third floor and walked into my home for the next few months.  Again, she began to speak in Spanish, which, to my amazement, I understood.  She showed us our bathroom, the kitchen, and our bedroom.  Michael and I got into our room, unpacked, ate dinner (which was incredible! I will write another post about the food; it deserves its own post), and crashed!

Sunday morning, I woke up at 1p in the afternoon. It was amazing! I put on my house shoes (its kind of rude to not have house shoes on), walked into the kitchen, and señora laughed at me.  I apologized for missing breakfast and she said she completely understood.  She told me to sit at the table before I could say anything else.  She poured me some coffee and put it in the microwave then brought it to me, gave me sugar and milk, put a muffin down in front me, and a mandarin.  I was told to eat.  After eating breakfast, Michael and I got dressed and headed out.  Sunday was our completely free day.  We decided we would walk... and we did.  We walked everywhere.  Hitting parts of every neighborhood in Barcelona.  On that day alone, I saw the Segrada Familia, Las Ramblas, my university, the beach, and the main shopping area.  I made my initial steps in discovering the city.  It was my first of many adventures in Barcelona.

Yesterday, Monday, January 9, I took my placement exam for the language course. And, today, we got the results.  I placed where I thought I would, I might try and go up one level just because I would rather be in it.  I tested into Intermediate III, but I want Advance I, which is the next level. Tomorrow, my classes begin.

There is so much more I could say, but this post is already way too long! I will write again very soon.

Oh, and the coffee... amazing.  I'm really done now.  I will write again this week.

Saludos,

Jay