Barcelona!

Hola!
My apologies for not having written for a while, ¡estaba liadísimo (I’ve been so busy)! That’s right, I’m picking up on my colloquial Spanish since it is one of the classes I am taking, along with Spanish language, Spanish Institutions, Politics and Society in Spain, and Journalism. The UC Education Abroad Program doesn’t mess around…classes are really tough. They’re pretty much like real college classes, but in Spanish. Yeesh! I’ve been getting through it, but having 4.5 hours straight of class with no breaks and 6.5 hours total on Mondays is not the most fun thing I’ve done here.
On the weekends, though, I’ve been trying to have a bit more fun. This past weekend I flew out to Barcelona and stayed with my longtime friend Brittany, who is from Orinda and goes to UCSB and Temple Isaiah with me also. Barcelona was a great city, with a MUCH different vibe from Madrid; a bit more relaxed since it’s by the beach…a kind of environment I’m used to. They speak Catalan in Catalunya (The province in which Barcelona is located), which is a mix of Spanish and French, and subsequently impossible for me to understand. Nonetheless, I still had a fantastic time touring the city.
On Friday morning, Britt and I went to Gaudi’s Park Güell, which had amazing architecture and equally stunning views of the city. We then ventured over to the architect’s famous unfinished church, La Sagrada Familia – one of the tallest, most amazing cathedrals I’ve ever seen. After that we went to one of the best places I’ve ever been to in my entire life – The Museum of Chocolate. The entry ticket was a candy bar and inside they had huge sculptures made all out of chocolate. So enthralled by our surroundings, Britt and I had to order a hot chocolate after…which in Spain is incredibly thick and more like hot fudge. Words cannot describe it. Pictures can. I’ll post the links at the end of this entry.
Saturday we went to go see Mt. Juïc, where the 1992 Olympics were held. I enjoyed going to the Olympic stadium and seeing the basketball area where the Dream Team dominated. Keep an eye out for those pictures! We went to the National Museum of Catalonian Art, which was in a beautiful palace, and returned that night to the Magic Fountains water and lights show, which was a blast! Overall I had a great time in Barcelona…it was nice to get the experience of travelling there also.
Around Madrid, I’ve just been really busy with school. I’m meeting a lot more Americans on my trip. Not too many Spaniards yet, though. Hopefully soon. Also, I’m planning weekend trips to Rome, Paris, Southern Spain/Morocco/Gibraltar, and maybe London really soon, so that will be exciting. Also, I’m looking around for a good synagogue for Rosh Hashanah, which this year is on my birthday. Woo! My friend who is studying in Israel is actually going to be in Madrid that night too, so that will be fun. This weekend I think I might head over to the towns of Segovia and El Escorial to check them out. We’ll see.
I should get started with homework…it takes a while to get through all the Spanish!

Here are the photo links for the two Barcelona albums:

Album 1: 

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2281921&l=e0181&id=3624742

Album 2:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2281944&l=88a05&id=3624742

Hasta Luego,
Michael

Week 2

Hola a todos!
This past week was a very busy week for me. At my university we had a week of orientation, where we took language placement tests and professors came in to talk about their classes. I actually start class tomorrow (Monday), and finalize my registration a few days later. On the first day of orientation week, though, we went to a reception hosted by the rectador (chancellor). They served us amazing tapas – it was fantastic…especially since they had an open bar. I’m going to bring this idea back to UCSB.
On the subject of tapas, I finally went out to a tapas bar and had an amazing experience. For those who don’t know – Madrid is famous for tapas – bite sized dishes ranging from home fried potatoes in sauce to little cured ham sandwiches to octopus. The bar I went to is called El Tigre, and of the few places I’ve been so far it offers the best deals. Tons of fun too.
I’ve been visiting a lot more places in the Madrid area including the Prado Museum (where I saw Velazquez’s famous work Las Meninas), the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Royal Palace, and el parque de reitero (a big Central Park in Madrid). Additionally, I took my first day trip outside of Madrid to the city of Toledo – the former capital of Spain.
Toledo is about a two-hour drive away from Madrid, or a 30 minute ride on the high speed AVE train, which my friends and I took. The city is famous for its religious aspect, hence the phrase “Holy Toledo”. The main cathedral there is gothic-style and the inside is incredible. They have a treasury in there that had the biggest piece of gold art you could imagine. After walking around the cathedral for an hour and a half, we decided to get lunch and went to a restaurant that served us a three-course meal with paella, ham, and flan – bread and wine included. Yum.
Toledo is also one of the few cities in Spain with a strong Jewish quarter, and the synagogue there is also quite fascinating. The Sinagoga del Transito now serves as the Museo Sefardi (Sephardic Museum) and the official Jewish Museum in Spain. Inside there are relics from Spain’s Jewish history – which I found pretty fascinating.
The shops in Toledo sold three main things: gold plated Jewish and Christian designs, marzipan, and swords. Although I really wanted to bring home a huge sword, my guess is that the airport security wouldn’t be too hot with it. However, I did buy some marzipan – for which Toledo is famous for making. Yum X 2.
Last night was a special night called Noche en Blanco, where the Madrileños stay up all night and there are performances and events throughout the city. It’s kind of like IV on Halloween – BUSY! It was a lot of fun, though. Andrew and I socialized with these two very nice older couples in a sangria bar and they let us try their tapas. Ready for this? Pigs Ears…the kosher special. Surprisingly, they weren’t too bad. Later that night we saw a performance – tons of people pouring hot wax over a model. The guy was covered in hot wax and completely trembling – it was cold outside too. Europe is one pretty weird place.
School starts tomorrow. I’m scared as all hell. I was placed in the Spanish level just under bilingual – that’s a mistake! We’ll see, though. Here goes 6.5 hours of class tomorrow. Yeesh!

PS… I promised pictures. You can see some at these two links.

For General Madrid pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2277900&l=6f3bd&id=3624742

For Toledo pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2278998&l=86699&id=3624742

Enjoy!
Michael

First Post in Madrid

Hola family, friends, and mentors!
¡Finalmente estoy en Madrid! I flew out of SFO on Tuesday (Sept 2) afternoon, and arrived here in Madrid on Wednesday afternoon. My flights went very smoothly and were all on time, and I got to experience Germany for two hours in the Frankfurt airport. My time in Germany was not a waste, though, because I learned quite a bit. Most importantly that Lufthansa serves FREE beer and wine on their flights. This obviously was too good of a deal to pass up, and their food was surprisingly good as well. Lesson learned: European airlines rock.
Once I arrived in Spain, I took a cab to the hotel where I stayed with my friend for the night before we were allowed to move in our homestays. We walked around the downtown area that night and went to Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor. For dinner I bought a cured ham sandwich from a very popular chain restaurant called Museo de Jamon (which literally translates to Museum of Ham). Yes, pork is one of the main staple foods here. No, this is not the best place for Orthodox Jews.
After excessively breaking my religion’s dietary laws, I moved into my homestay, which is in the northern part of the city. I’m in the fifth floor of my building (which is actually the sixth because the ground floor is considered “0”) and had to carry my 4 bags up all the stairs…I couldn’t figure out the rinky dink elevator…I doubt it does. I am living with a very nice woman – señora – named Eusebia García, or to me simply Señora. She lives alone (not anymore!) and I’d guess is in her mid 60s. My señora is very nice but does not speak a word of English. Fortunately, she is a good cook and promises paella tomorrow night. She even told me she’d teach me how to make it. I’m pumped.
Rooms here are notoriously small. I have a pretty big one for Spain’s standards. I am sleeping on a trundle bed, but fortunately I am the only one in the room. My señora told me that often times she has two people live there. Yikes! It’s nice, though, and I have a lot of privacy. However, it is somewhat lonely since I live pretty far away from my other friends and have no roommates. Just Señora and me. Good thing there is great public transportation here so it’s only a 10-minute subway ride to downtown.
On Friday, I took the commuter train down to my university, Carlos III where I met up with all the other UC students and had a brief orientation and tour. After helping lead so many orientations and tours this summer at UCSB, it was enlightening to be on the other side. The main difference, though, was that this orientation was entirely in Spanish (Javier, you’d love it!). All my classes will also be in Spanish. Hopefully the professors will talk a bit slowly. Speaking of the language barrier, my Spanish is good - but I realized that I’m far from fluent. It is difficult for me to understand a lot of what people say here since they speak so quickly. I understand most of what my señora says as well as my program staff at the university, but I have to concentrate so hard to do so. It’s a bit frustrating, so hopefully it will get easier soon!
After the orientation, Andrew (my roommate from back home) and I decided to go to the school cafeteria where we were pleased to find we could get a manchego cheese sandwich…and beer. Just what we needed! Today I walked around the area where I live and found a really nice sports park where I went for a run. I’m pretty fearful I’m going to gain a lot of weight here, so being able to run there is a relief. Apparently there’s a pool too, but I didn’t see it and I heard it closes in a week or two anyway.
Tonight I stayed in to watch the Cal game on my Slingbox, a device that I got that allows me to control my home TV from anywhere in the world. Tomorrow I plan to go to the Prado museum (it’s free on Sundays) and check out more of Madrid. More updates to come soon…and pictures – I need to take some.

Hasta pronto,
Michael