Another update a week later.
Monday as a whole was pretty rough since I had stayed up so
late to watch my Blackhawks lose L
But class was kind of interesting as some of my classmates presented on 15-M as
a whole and we navigated the 15Mpedia, which is basically a wiki page on the
movement as a whole. After class I finished my last blog, and then lunch, and
then we had our tour of the Prado Museum. I was pretty excited, since it was
the only one of the big three museums in Madrid that I hadn’t gone to see with
my mom, BB, and Aunt Kait (the other two are the Reina Sofia and the Thysenn).
Duke hires an older lady named Carmen to lead us around on our excursions (she
took us around Toledo when we were there) and so it was she who led us through
the Prado. The museum is absolutely huge, and she took us through parts.
Basically the Prado is the museum dedicated to paintings that were mainly of
royalty, so it houses lots of works by Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Goya.
Some of my favorites to see in person were Las
Meninas by Velázquez and then La Maja
Desnuda and La Maja Vestida.
Unfortunately you aren’t allowed to take pictures in the Prado, even ‘sin
flash’ (without flash) but any student who has taken high school or college
Spanish could tell you that those are some incredibly famous paintings. It was
so cool to get to see them in person. Also, funny story about the Prado. As we
were walking through, we turned a corner and standing right there was a kid who
I went to high school with. Small world, but unsurprising to me to find a
fellow New Trier grad halfway around the world in an art museum.
After the Prado, Katie and I walked home, did some homework,
ate dinner, and then headed out to Puerta del Sol, because as I mentioned at
the end of my last post, there was a giant protest going on because the Spanish
king abdicated the throne. The demonstration that was going on was against
monarchy and in support of the republic. They were all wearing the colors of
the republic: red, yellow, and purple and they were holding signs that read “No
Más Reyes! Referéndum!” (No more kings!) It was crazy, there were police
everywhere though so it was pretty peaceful.
Tuesday, in comparison, was very calm. Class was class and
then Tuesday night we all went out because Wednesday of this week was the only
day in the whole program that we didn’t have a paper due. I learned many things
about my alcohol limits on Tuesday night, and that is how I will leave it. It
made Wednesday a struggle.
On Wednesday in class we had a guest speaker come in and
talk to us for three hours straight. My saving grace was that he was really
interesting. We talked about the Spanish economy, but in light of things like
cooking shows. For example, the guest speaker talked about how in Spain the
prize for winning MasterChef is a job, whereas in the US it is money or a
house. He explained that this spoke volumes about Spain’s current economic
situation, that a job should be something people have regularly, not a reward
on a reality television show. He also talked about things like zombies. It was
kind of strange, but he was captivating! When I got home I slept until lunch
and then again after lunch. But I need to take a minute to talk about lunch, I
really wish I had gotten a picture of it, but I didn’t think about it in time.
Cristina had prepared a Spanish dish called Cocido Madrileño. It was a plate
that had carrot, chickpeas, cabbage, chicken, two types of sausage, fat and
then a soup broth served over all of it. It was quite the eclectic dish, but
once it was all mixed together, it was absolutely delicious (except for the
pure fat, that was pure nasty).
After lunch I napped again and then woke up around 5 and met
Katie, Lauren and Marina in a McDonalds right by our house. Don’t judge me. The
McDonalds is in a central location, it has delicious coffee, and it has free
wi-fi. Also, it is a place where people from class congregate, because one of
the huge differences here in Spain is that people don’t ever go over to each
other’s homes. The homes are extremely private, which is what makes getting to
have a homestay even more valuable. McDonalds didn’t turn out to be as
productive as I wanted it to be because the wi-fi didn’t function as well as we
wanted it to, but we had a good time and got most of our work done. Katie and I
left when it was time for dinner, which was a flatbread with cooked vegetables
and a fried egg on top. Surprisingly delicious. Then again, I have liked almost
every single thing that Cristina has made for us so far. Katie and I then successfully
procrastinated for a long time, and at midnight we celebrated Katie’s 20th
birthday. Celebration included eating a Kit-Kat (which are SO delicious here
because the chocolate used is much better) and starting to finish our homework.
Thursday morning was rough because Katie and I had stayed up
so late, but it was all good. In class we talked about cubism and how it came
to be. I felt like an art historian when Jose Maria started talking about Paul
Cezanne and how he was the transition from impressionism into cubism. Just
kidding, I will never feel that way. But I did feel super informed because I
had seen that whole exhibit on him with BB and my mom. When we got home,
Cristina had made us a surprise lunch in celebration of Katie’s birthday. We
had a whole roast chicken cooked with apples, potatoes, raisins and prunes. It
was so juicy and delicious. Along with that we had some of the broth from the
Cocido Madrileño with some rice. For dessert Cristina had made Katie’s recipe
of homemade pineapple upside down cake. It wasn’t quite right, but it still
tasted delicious and it was SO cute because she even put 20 candles on top. She
also got her a lollipop, a Spanish magnet, and a bracelet from Africa, very
thoughtful.
Puerta del Sol on Monday
Police everywhere!
Signs everywhere.
Happy Birthday Katie!
Happy Birthday Katie!
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