Soy una Princesa en el Castillo

~*~
Hola a todos!

So quick update (I'll try and keep this one short!)

Today we went to the Valley of the Fallen which is a HUGE Basilica dedicated to those that died during the Spanish Civil War less than 100 years ago. It is a giant monument made of stone, carved into the mountain, and topped with a cross so big I can't even describe it. Inside we weren't allowed to take pictures so I'll just write about it. You enter into a cavernous hallway with a vaulted ceiling and tapestries lining either side. On each side there are three versions of the Virgin Mary, each about 20 feet tall and made of alabaster. Each marked the entrance to individual prayer rooms. At the end of the room/hallway (WAY too big for a normal hallway), there is the alter and benches, overlooked by an even taller, domed ceiling. The ceiling was decorated with a mural done with tiny individual tiles in an extravagant depiction of many Catholic symbols. To the left and the right of the alter are rooms that house the tombs of about 50,000 people that died during the war and each has a lowered ceiling with yet more tiled murals of Jesus and the apostles. At the four corners of the alter, against the walls are 4 statues standing about 25 feet tall representing saints (on being the guardian of death, face cloaked, and holding a sword). It was quite a sight to be seen. Pictures from the outside can be seen on facebook.

~*~

After that, we drove to Segovia, Spain. It is about an hour north of Madrid and the temperature was much cooler. We were privileged enough to see something that has been on my bucket list for a while now: the Roman Aqueduct which has been in existence for over 2000 years, running approximately 9 miles (i think) and it is still able to function today. TALK about engineering! If only we made anything even CLOSE to as great as that, America would have something to brag about! I have to say it was one of my favorite sights. It was beautiful, functional, and awe inspiring. I took a lot of pictures of it.

~*~

From the Aqueduct, we walked to the Castle in Segovia. It is the one that inspired Disney to create the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland! I have to say it looks EXACTLY like it but cooler and with less sparkles in the stones :P but the spires were blue, the moat was exactly where the Disney one is (we took a "disney picture" haha) and it was really really cool to see.

~*~

It seems like almost everything here in Spain is either directly influenced by or somehow affected by the Catholic church. The paintings are all Catholic, the tapestries, the stories all center around it (good and bad) and it seems to be a focal point for this culture. It's so interesting to see how it has shaped the past and is still impacting the future. Unfortunately, its perception has fallen since Queen Elizabeth (i think?) and was scarred in the minds of the Spaniards by the dictator that rose as victor from the Civil War.

Speaking of history, today is the climax of Gay Pride week here in Madrid. There was a HUGE parade and people are getting CRAY-ZAY! Mariah and I went to go get McDonalds (I found out they have gluten free buns!) and it was a struggle to get through ANY of the streets!

I had a moment of awe today as a sat at a cafe not even 30 feet away from the Aqueduct. I couldn't believe that this was my life. I keep waiting to wake up to realize that it's all been a dream! Seriously, this place is amazing. The people in my group are fantastic. I am having a great time.

Toledo y Barbie

~*~
Funniest thing last night! So we were out wandering and Mariah, Mike, and I got separated from the group but we knew that we were planning to meet at a night club called El Capital so we went there and waited. We hung out in the mcdonalds until it closed then went out and sat on a bench down the street from El Capital. We were just hanging out when one of the guys that gives out the promotions for the clubs came over and started talking to us in spanish. He asked us where we were from and when he found out I was from California, he kept asking me "Tu eres un model?" and made me stand up so he could see how tall I was. That was my first mistake. He put his arm around me and wouldn't let go. Not in a weird way, but you all know how awkward I am in this kind of situation. I just kind of made faces at Mariah and Mike while, my new self-proclaimed boyfriend, Unberto (Alberto) sang me the Alejandra version of Lady Gaga and kept kissing my cheek and calling me "Un Barbie Tropical." I got that because when he called me a barbie I told him that couldn't be right because I'm una morena! Luckily, I was able to escape his clutches, which he was laughingly "upset" about (moved on to the next girl waiting in line at his club) and we ran off down the street. That's when we saw the rest of the group walk up and I don't think I've ever been happier to run into the group again! The night was fun after that, we ended up at the club "Feina" (translated to "Work" which makes no sense to me) and it was the Madrid version of the SF Pride week so that made things interesting!
~*~
Today I think I was one of the only people happy to be awake so early. Getting home at 4 am last night, I was one of the early deserters! That blew me away. We took a bus to the ancient/medieval city of Toledo and toured this BEAUTIFUL old catholic church. Just going inside of it gave me this immediate sense of peace and it was truly a sight worth seeing. Everything about it was elaborate and thought out, much like the rest of the architecture here.
~*~
I've been feeling kind of sick the last few days and I'm not sure if it's because I caught the flu before I left (fingers crossed its not that) or maybe adjusting to the water or even if the food that SEEMS gluten free, isn't (PLEASE NO, ITS DELICIOUS!). We'll see. Tonight I'm taking it easy, eating the peanut butter and rice caked I was forced to bring with me :P and getting some sleep. Starting tomorrow I'm going to try and only drink bottled water, no tap.

Speaking of the food...
ITS AMAZING. For all those who haven't heard much about the culture of Spain, they don't eat dinner until around 9 or so and for lunch, the main thing (it seems) that is served are "Tapas" which are basically appetizers. Some of the ones that I've tried are 1) Un Tortilla (aka a Spanish Omlette) which is eggs, potatoes, onions, and sometimes cheese baked in the oven so it comes out fluffy instead of flat, 2) Papas con Ae-oli which were these cut up potatoes with some kind of garlic mayo and a spicy aioli red sauce (TOTALLY reminded me of Bel Frites in SLO but possibly better) and 3) Esparrago con Tocino (Asparragus and Bacon) but it wasn't really bacon, it was like this flat, honeyed ham type thing and it was topped with what looked like a balsamic-based sweet sauce.

SO GOOD!

*sorry these are so long. i've got a LOT to tell about and this just barely skims the surface*

Below: Me at the viewpoint overlooking la Ciudad de Toledo

El Palacio y El Parque y El Museo!

~*~
I'm trying to keep up with updates as I go because 1) I don't want people to think that I've died and 2) I don't want to forget ANYTHING! So last night we went to one of the bars and hung out outside while the game (Spain vs Portugal) was on because there was ZERO room inside of ANY of the bars we found! We got drinks (.5L of Sangria for 3.80 euros, not bad compared to SLO) and sat back and listened to the crazy people inside. When Spain won, everyone was screaming and yelling and stormed the streets. It. was. crazy. People were shooting off guns and jumping on each other and generally just being crazy haha it was awesome! We went home after that and I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow. So, to say the least, I've adapted to the time change quickly.
~*~
Right now I am laying on my bed hanging out because it's "siesta" time in Madrid. All the stores close from around 3-5 (give or take an hour) and everyone goes home to relax and be with family... or in our case, sleep. I am for SURE taking a nap after this. We got up this morning to get breakfast at 8 then set off on foot for El Palacio Real de Madrid, aka the royal palace. It no longer houses the King, but that didn't stop until this generation! That was pretty cool to find out. Unfortunately no cameras were allowed in the Palace so we tried sneaking some cell phone shots, but they didn't turn out too well (I'll post them on Facebook anyways). There are over 100 rooms and I think we toured around 30 or 40 of them. Each room had a color theme ranging from royal colors of blue and white to rooms decorated in oriental themes with silk covered walls. All of the rooms had ornate furniture and each had a unique (set or individual) chandelier made either in France or Spain. They also had a strange amount of clocks. Apparently one of the princes was quite the shopper before he became king and would travel to France to shop with his fiance. Unfortunately for them, the 2 things they could shop for were furniture and clocks... lots and lots of clocks. They even had there very own personal church which we got to see as well! No longer in use, of course, but still decorated as if it were still the 18th or 19th century.

After El Palacio Real, we made our way through the city on foot to the E Prado Museo del Arte. We got to see a lot of really cool stuff but unfortunately cameras were also not allowed there. However I will tell you, there was an odd statue of a woman feeding her breast to a man, a painting of a man eating a baby (those of you that are in to Greek Mythology, that would be Zeus' father eating his offspring but it was gruesome), lots of painings of the royal family with artist self-portraits creeping in the background, and too many catholic-based paintings to describe. They were beautiful, though. I really wish I could have snuck a shot in, but I didn't want to damage them since flash photography can do that. While here, we also saw one of the paintings that I had seen in my Spanish book back at Vintage which was really cool. If anyone knows it, its a painting of the Princess at age 5 surrounded by her serving maids, a dog, and this creepy looking girl (la fea) who is actually a dwarf. Anyways, that one was there.

After this, we walked across town to El Parque del Retiro which was absolutely beautiful. Honestly, there is nothing that I have seen in America that comes even close. It makes Golden Gate Park look like a very small dump. It was not only beautifully landscaped, but was clean and had so many fountains and architectural stuff everywhere. We went rowing in the little lake then went back to the hotel. So that's where I am at now! A lot done and its only 5 in the afternoon (4 when we got back)!

~*~
For Pictures, Check Facebook! :)

of course... i'm still the tallest.

10.5 + 4 hours later: Madrid!

~*~
So we just landed in Spain about an hour ago. It is 98 degrees and around 7:30 pm. Crazy! How I would describe Madrid is some kind of mix between San Francisco and Berkeley. But less hobos as far as I can tell. That actually kind of weirded me out because I was fully expecting and excited for everything to be completely different. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of strange things we've already encountered. My hotel roommate here in Madrid, Mariah (probably spelled wrong) calls them Mysteries of Spain! Some of these things include there being a urinal AND a toilet in every bathroom, the plugs not working until we figured out that the power in the room doesn't go on until you put your card key into this slot and leave it there (THAT took us WAY too long... at least 20 minutes) and other things like there being no wash clothes. Anyways, that is just a quick update on what I'm up to.
~*~
I met Theresa at the SF airport this morning and Alma (my Bilbao roommate) also just happened to be there! So that ended up being really cool because we stuck together for walking through the airport. Alma and I sat by this really nice Indian guy on that flight (and yes Otter... he smelled like Curry). When we got to London, we had about an hr and 40 min to get to our next flight to Madrid and made it there with only 15 minutes to spare. The line to get through to the terminal was, as Theresa called it, "super organized chaos." Finally got a little sleep on that flight, but not much. We wandered into the Madrid airport looking SO confused. Luckily, most of the signs are either in English or are in picture form. However, we could not figure out what the below picture was of! Seriously... if you know, please comment and tell me!
~*~
Ok! I'm off to meet up with my group to eat dinner! More pictures and updates to come! (tomorrow we are going on a tour of the city, having a picnic in the most well known park in Madrid, and SO much more!)

4 Day 2 Take Off

~*~
As you know, I have signed up to go to Bilbao, Spain for a study abroad program. I will be living there in an apartment with a fellow student from June 26th through July 21st. I first fly into Madrid for a week long tour of the city before my class begins. I will be taking International Marketing at the University of Basque Country. The map of where Bilbao is located in Spain is attached at the bottom!
~*~
So far I have been feeling pretty ill prepared. I have been feeling like I was walked through all the steps for signing up for this program (USAC - Spain Summer Session II) and now I've all the sudden been left to figure it out myself now that I've paid and filled out all of the forms. I figured that we (the students from the USAC program) would all be staying in a common area. However, we are all spread out around the city. Not that this is any different from home, but I only have one roommate and everyone else is in the rest of the locations. That freaked me out a little bit. Not because I have a fear of walking but because it caught me off guard. I expect to be thrown by my deficiency in Spanish and because I'm the "lone wolf" Cal Poly student among people who are traveling with friends or acquaintances.  I have no doubt that over time I'll learn enough Spanish to go about my day and I'm positive that I'll make friends. Its the unknown, the parts that I'm not expecting that stress me out.
~*~
To prepare myself, I've packed a fairly large suitcase, following the suggestions I found online about packing light (I'm trying), stuffing an extra bag at the bottom of your suitcase (in this case my "backpack"), and leaving room to bring stuff back home. However, I am breaking some rules too. I'm bringing toiletries, some food (just in case my allergies suck), and other stuff like that. The way I figure it, I'll use that stuff there, throw it out and have more room for souvenirs.

I'm really very excited! I have to make my video before I fly out so that I can get my grant money, but other than that, I think that I'm all set! Today, I'm off to say goodbye to Otter. From there, I'll meet up with my family in Modesto to spend some more time with them. Be back home by Monday so that I can hang out with Laura before I head to Spain on Tuesday and she follows soon after to go to Italy! I'm flying out of SF with another girl from the program, Theresa.

Lets do this.