A few musings . . .

Hola! So, we had been very busy for a few days traveling around, and then we had a little more down time (but not much . . there isn't much down time around here) so I will tell you about a few of my more mundane everyday observations about Spain.

Maybe you were wondering what my home away from home looks like. I have heard and read on travel sites many complaints from people from the US about how small the hotel rooms in Europe are. My room in El Escorial is small, but for some reason, I find it really comfy. I just have a bed, a night stand, a small closet, and a TV on a stand. I don't even have a chair in my room. I have a view because there is a door behind the curtain that looks out onto the street, but it isn't an actual balcony. But, I like it! See the pics below.

Now, you've heard my trials regarding my hair. The braid is becoming a quite popular hairstyle for me. However, I'm not alone. Many of the students feel the same way as me. We had a fancy get-together the other night, and all of us (the students and myself) were commenting about how we had already pretty much given up on our hair. I know I told you about the hairdryer in my room (and that its power was equivalent to that of someone blowing lightly on my hair). When you see the hairdryer, it looks deceptively powerful (like some sort of vacuum cleaner, but oh no . . it is just a whisper of air coming out of it.) See pic below. Doesn't it look like something from the 50s? Yes, that is my hairdryer, not that I really try to use it anymore. 

One thing that we (the students and myself) have noticed is that it seems that people in Spain just don't sleep. They stay out so late. But, yet they get up early in the morning as well. It is true that after the huge lunch everyone eats, some people do take siestas, but for the most part I think they just don't sleep. (although I have discovered that on  public transportation  . . .buses, trains, metros, many people are napping a little). Maybe that is how they make it through the day. But, the students and I are all very sleep-deprived. I've also discovered that in Spain there is no such thing as a weeknight. Everyone stays out late no matter what they have going on the next day. It is as if their job is to stay out late, eat tapas, see friends or go to an event of some sort, and just socialize. (not a bad job, right?) Therefore, every night feels like the weekend, and you always see people out and about. It doesn't seem that anyone stays in and watches TV, and I haven't watched much TV either since I've been here. However, on a few occasions when I couldn't sleep, it was fun to flip through the channels to see what I could find. I have BBC news and CNN world (which is interesting and quite different from the regular CNN at home), but also guess what? I saw Criminal Minds on one channel (in English!), and a station called Kiss TV which plays music videos 24 hours a day. I've now become a fan of KISS TV when I get ready in the morning. As those people my age know, we all grew up with something called MTV (otherwise known as music television), and this station used to also play videos almost 24 hours a day. This music television station, of course, no longer exists in the United States and has been replaced by a more modern MTV (which now plays reality tv shows almost 24 hours a day (with maybe 45 minues of music videos). Anyways, KISS TV plays music videos from the United States, and all over the world. I love it! It has definitely helped me cope without Pandora. But, I digress . . what else can I tell you about my musings?

I went to mass at the basilica (church) in the monastery. Obviously, I couldn't take pictures inside during the church service, but I did take some pictures of the outside of the church. I honestly didn't understand more than 3 or 4 words during the entire service (it was all in Espanol of course), but the choir sang beautifully, and it was such a gorgeous church that it was nice to sit there, look at all the beautiful artwork and sculptures and just take it all in. Below are the pictures of the outside of the church. It is part of the monastery. It really is beautiful.

Other thoughts . . . I have to admit begrudgingly that the students are more adventurous than me. Three of the students went off to Italy for the weekend to see Rome, Venice, and Milan. (all in a weekend!) They have no problem jetting around the town or even other countries.

I have 3 hypotheses (of course I had to include some Hypotheses for all my students!) (H1, H2, and H3) about this difference in adventurousness (I don't think that is an actual word):

H1.       Most of the students speak Spanish so that makes it easier for them (but the Italy trip knocks a hole in that hypothesis because none of them speak Italian and 2 of the students traveling to Italy don't speak Spanish and are from China!)

H2.       They often travel in duos or trios so that makes one feel braver. (and I do feel more comfortable when I’m with the group (and yes, when they are speaking Spanish for me)

H3.       They are just young!  And carefree.

I believe it’s a combo of all 3 but probably a lot of the third one.

So, I'm wishing that I had had many more lessons with Giselle (my Spanish teacher!!) before I left Miami. I could really have benefited from knowing some more Spanish. I decided to wander around town in El Escorial (without the students because I recognize that I rely on them to speak for me), and I realized that it is quite challenging to negotiate simple things. Not very many people in town speak English. I have a phrase book, but I realized that I needed to purchase a spanish english dictionary. So, I went to 2 bookstores to find one, and I was successful at the second store. I told the woman that it was necessario (I looked it up in my new dictionary), and she laughed.  I'm hoping that with this dictionary, I will do a lot less pointing and saying ummm . .umm. . .

One odd thing is that French words that I learned way back in high school and college keep coming back to me. I thought I had long forgotten them, but now I keep remembering the French words and not remembering any Spanish words.

I'm sitting outside right now at our hotel cafe, having a coffee, and as I type this, there is a table of several men and women who are clearly professors sitting near me since the summer school at El Escorial just started. It is SO obvious that they are professors, and I just wonder. . when I'm with other profs, are we that obvious? I have to say that I hope not because the vibe at the table is very very serious, perhaps a bit self-important, and I haven't seen them laugh or smile yet. Is that how we are when a bunch of us get together? I hope not! 

So, Prof Raleigh took me into Madrid so that I could be sure that I knew how to get to the bus station, catch the bus to Madrid, and learn how to use the Metro in Madrid. He also showed me around town a little bit. It is really crazy that in my entire life, I have almost never used any form of public transportation. I'm so used to driving my car, but I now see why people rave about public transportion in Europe. You really can get around without a car, and you see so many interesting people along the way. You just have to pay attention to what you are doing to make sure that you are going the right way on the bus or Metro. So, thanks to Prof. Raleigh, I feel much more confident in my ability to get around using public transportation.

When we got back from Madrid, we could smell that the restaurant in our hotel was cooking something special. It smelled like a BBQ pit so we looked into the kitchen area and I had to take a picture of what the restaurant was preparing. Again, vegetarians, you might want to skip the next picture below.

Yep! That's a little baby pig. It is a very special and popular dish in Spain.

After working on the blog for a bit outside at the cafe, I heard someone speaking English (USA English), and my ears perked up! He was only a table away so I said hello, and he was one of the first of many interesting people I have met on this month long journey. His name is Phil (I can't believe I didn't get a picture . . I guess I just thought that would be a little weird to ask) and he is from New Jersey. He is a special education high school English teacher, and he had just started a solo bike ride througout Spain. He was sometimes going to stop in hotels, and other times just camp out, and he was keeping a journal about his experiences along the way. In previous years, he had biked in France during the summer, but this was his first time to go through Spain. Because it has been extremely hot here, he said it was fairly brutal biking up the hills of El Escorial in the heat. Maybe because of their shared interests in English, Prof Raleigh and Phil hit it off really well, and they both spent some time walking around El Escorial. He was a very interesting guy, and it was fun to meet someone else from the states who was having a cool adventure. He was going to keep biking until Mid-August so I hope his trip is going smoothly so far!This last picture below is on Prof Raleigh's last night in El Escorial. Here I am with Dr. Sicius, his wife Isabel, and Prof Raleigh. See you in Miami Prof. Raleigh!