HEY CATS. Back from Oblivion and I’m ready to get back into the rhythm of writing this thing de nuevo! As some of you already know, I caught a hell of a bug last week and was bedridden for four days from a cocktail of fever dreams, headaches, crippling nausea, and worse details that I’ll spare you; those days lying in bed made me realize how busy I’ve been, running around trying to do and see as much as possible, but also how much I want to continue writing here. So, after a MONTH long hiatus… here goes! A quick run through of the last month-ish, then onto future plans…
First, the living situation: Alexa and I have had the good fortune of living with quite possibly the single sweetest, most understanding, mother-like host mother imaginable. Cristina is an artist, around 60 years old (she looks 45 easily), a good cook, and most importantly, un amor–a true gem of a person. She, her 15-year-old daughter María, and we two students live in a spacious piso in Pirámides, a neighborhood that’s super close to the hip and artsy area known as La Latina, which is awesome. Appropriately, given its name, there are pyramid-statues at many of the glorietas (roundabouts) in the area:
As well, we can walk maybe five minutes from our apartment and arrive at this beautiful riverside park:
Parque Río Manzanares en Pirámides
View from the bridge that cuts through the center of the park.
Classes: my class schedule is rather…odd. By that, I mean I only have classes on Mondays and Tuesdays, with a two hour tutoría on Wednesdays in the Prado Museum (!) for my Art History class. Now, before you jump on the ridiculousness of this (which, yes, I admit–it is RIDICULOUS), I want you to know that I have to get up around 6:30 AM on these days, commute for an hour, have five classes (each 90 minutes) till 5:30 pm, then have to commute an hour back. So basically, it’s like I’m living out an average day of my junior year in high school, AGAIN, which is rather nightmare-ish. But, but, BUT: I have a five-day weekend. Or an inverse work-week situation, if you will. In any case, it works out well, considering that I have travel plans for 7 out of the 10 free weekends that I have left in Madrid; having Wednesday-Friday off allows me the time to get my school work done and, more importantly, for me to not miss out on continuing to explore and enjoy good ole Madrid. It’s a weird sitch, but hey, I’m a rare bird.
Another complication in this already busy schedule: after class ends on Tuesdays, I head to the metro and catch a bus to go out to tutor English for a family in Majadahonda, a suburb/municipality in the greater Community of Madrid. The commute is pretty brutal (1.5 hours round trip) and I teach for 2.5 hours there, so on average I’ll be getting home around 10:30 pm on those nights, but hey: I’m getting to teach English to Spanish children–something I always knew I wanted to do here–and better still, I’m getting paid a pretty penny (err, Euro?) to do so.
As far as interesting things in the last month, there have definitely been quite a few. Between seeing live flamenco for the first time…
Woman performing flamenco at Las Tablas. Such raw, intense emotion and palpable passion. Me gustó.
…to seeing Picasso’s Guernica in the flesh at the Museo Reina Sofía…
*shivers run down spine* I literally have written essays about this piece, guys
…to taking the Teleférico, a cityscape cable car that runs over Madrid…
Giddy Guiris!
oh my my my, i’m feelin’ high
…to watching the sun set over Madrid at the Templo de Debod, a gift from Egypt to Spain…
…to biking around El Retiro…
…to going art gallery-hopping in Chueca…
…to a day trip with the WIP-T program to Segovia, a historical town situated about an hour out of Madrid…
“That’s the shittiest wall I’ve ever seen!” {Ancient Roman Acueducts at the entrance of the Old City}
La Catedral de Segovia, featuring late Gothic art and architecture
El Alcázar de Segovia
A classic Castillian countryside view, courtesy of El Alcázar.
…and, of course, the FOOD…
Delicious delicacies in Malasaña, Madrid’s hipster neighborhood
Chocolate con churros y café–a classic Spanish breakfast worth getting up early for
CROQUETAS. ’nuff said.
Baguette de calamares, another Spanish favorite
Paella and hummus ❤
Picnic featuring jamón ibérico, green grapes, baguettes, brie, and the shittiest juice boxes of white wine that you could possibly imagine (couldn’t finish mine…)
Dope (alcoholic…) milkshakes at Tommy Mel’s, an…unsettling Spanish imagining of American diner food
Even Madrid itself self-identifies as a foodie city…
So for all who were curious, that’s a taste of what I’ve been up to. Now, without further ado, I’d like to brag–ahem, reveal–my travel plans for the rest of the term, because I’m pretty damn pumped:
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October 9-12 Barcelona, Spain for three days/ afternoon at Fiesta del Pilar Zaragoza
October 15-18 Ferry to Morocco: Tangiers and Chefchauoen (“The Blue Pearl”)
October 23-25 Portugal: Lisboa and Porto
November 5-9 Amsterdam, Netherlands
November 12-15 Florence, Italy with my Mama when she comes to visit!
Other, more tentative plans include:
December 3-6 Granada (Andalucía), Spain? (Our host mother has many friends there and could hook Alexa and me up with a cheap place…)
December 18-20 Venice, Italy?
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Yup, seven weekends, sounds about right. Phew. All I’m going to do when I get back around Christmas is sleep…
Hasta la pasta, amigos!
rubiafromamerica 