Madrid Te Quiero, pero hoy tu no me quieres

The fatties that we are, we decided to hit up Amorino for some gelato before we caught our train to Madrid. Of course that cost us precious minutes that we made up for running for the metro, then running from the metro to our train. Get on the train, 2 minutes later it left. Holy crap, that was semi-intense. But everything turned out okay, got on the train and enjoyed the 3hr AVE high-speed train ride to Madrid – Super classy and comfortable, complete with a viewing of Star Trek dubbed in español!!! El Espock es la ostia!

So we get back to Madrid, and I didn’t think I would miss it so much after only a few days. The familiarity, the metro, castellano!! I couldn’t wait to adventure around show my ciudad to Katie.

Unfortunately, I also return to Madrid and the open arms of tests and tarea. No está guay tio. But these would’ve been minor annoyances if only I also was not enferma! I didn’t even know when or how it happened but I got a weird stomach flu thing and was feeling pretty crappy and even had a fever at one point. But alas I fought through it

Aside from her own wonderings which I tried my best to advise her through, we went to Retiro Park and the Botanical Gardens. Showed her around my school and my little neighborhood. And I WANTED to take her to Plaza de España to do some shopping, but that was before we were eating lunch and we realized that someone had picked up her bag. Yeah, we done got pickpocketed. So we spent the afternoon dealing with that, making a report, and get her calm.

I also still had class. And a concert to get to, and goddamn it we were gonna make it. At least ONE good thing had to happen while Katie was in Madrid

JAMIE CULLUM EN CONCIERTO
Well, it was enjoyable for me anyway. Despite the fact that we got lost, we found some Madrileños who were also look for La Riviera for the show and asked a guy for directions so we just followed those folks. We got there just in time, and the show was AWESOME!! Again, at least for me but that’s cuz I love Jamie Cullum soooo mucccch! Probably even more now. He’s got so much energy and so did the crowd. Since he’s got a pop, rock, jazz thing going on there are peeps of all ages who follow him. Really though, people in their 60s were there. Not sure it was quite their scene though.

Highlights definitely included when he did a cool improve beatbox version of Frontin’. Then there’s his name in and of itself JAMIE. Or JAIME (hai-meh), which they chanted endlessly at the end. I was bummed he didn’t do his cover of Umbrella, but more than satisfied with the unplugged Cry Me A River. He loves to lead his songs up to a crescendo, a climax. And apparently his concerts too. I love the song Mixtape but never thought it’d be such a crowd pleaser. Energy and vibe was so high throughout the room – the song is about a music lover totally enraptured in his own world of music, and that’s what we were there for tonight.

The show ended and he left us all wanting for more, much much more. For at least 5 minutes the crowd chanted intensely for him to do an encore. OTRA OTRA OTRA!!! Not to mention the infamous oh-LEY, ole ole oleeee, oleeeeeee,oleeeeeeeee!!! So COOL. I thought I’d have to wait until I was at a futbol game to hear that one.

I'd put up my own video for this, but uploading is being uncooperative right now.

We left for Sol to get some churros con chocolate, probably not the best thing for my stomach at the time, but who cares. It was Katie’s last night and I would force both of us to go out and do stuff if I had to….which I think I kinda did. We missed the metro, so we walked down Gran Via to my apartment, stayed up with her for while, then she left for her early morning train back to France where everything makes sense, at least for her.

Overall, missing wallet/passport, no cool shopping, no tapas for my buddy. And illness and examenes coming up for me. I have no idea what was up with this week. Bad timing, bad a lot of stuff. Most of all I regret not being able to show and impress Katie with the Spanish culture. But apparently the way she works with meal times and naps does not fit well with the Spanish schedule, which works perfectly for me. I love a lot of things about Spanish culture and want to show others what I love about it. I suppose in that way I was disappointed I couldn’t incite the same excitement for her.

Sorry my dear friend. Hopefully Italy and France will treat us much better and that your next trip to Spain (if ever) will be infinitely better.

KatieLauraBarcelona would've been a horrible movie

Oh my god...Really just, oh my god. There aren't really words to describe the trip Katie and I had to Barcelona. Mostly because the way I would describe it is soooooooo not what I wanted it to be.

I was there from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, which I later realized was not nearly enough time to spend and see all that I wanted to, that I should have.
First things first - Las Ramblas. The singular street on which, for whatever reason, turistas gather, inhabit, breed for God's sake! It's so crowded and chock full of street performers and venders, overpriced souvenir shops and restaurants to appease complacent tourists. The best parts of Las Ramblas is that it is convenient, performers are entertaining, its on pretty much the same street as the Gaudi houses. It also has an awesome gelato chain shop called Amorino. For 3 euro you get 2.5 scoops of gelato on a cone shaped into a flower. So cool!

The very best part of Las Ramblas is that strangely enough La Boqueria is in the middle of it. It's a cool little market organized in different sections of fruits, vegetables, meats, and fish. Its a tourist spot, but a cool one. Awesome example of the wonderful food markets in Spain, most likely those throughout Europe as well. Although I wasn't there to actually buy anything, it was very cool. The colors and arrangements amazing, under the bright lights of the stands. A photographer's dream! Not to mention the delish fruit juices and smoothies some of the fruit stands give out.


As good it was to see each other again, it was pretty much a bummer the fact that she wasn't feeling too well when she got to Barcelona after a 9hr train ride. Not to mention the fact that she was in a country where she didn't speak/understand the language nor did she know anything really of Spanish culture, not even the touristy things...siiiiigh my heart! Actually to be fair, it was semi foreign to me as well considering that pretty much all the signs and places, and a good number of locals speak Catalan, NOT castellano (a.k.a. spanish, but don't call it that in Catalunya, you might get shot) But still, we fight on to try to make the best of time here.

Another obstacle in our Barca adventures was the metro system. It's nowhere near as extensive nor as easily accessible as that of Madrid. Many times we had to make a transfer at Passeig de Gracia, which no one told us had a long-ass tunnel to walk through, which if it was any longer we probably could just walked to where we were going and it'd be about the same. Not to mention the fact that when on the actual streets of Barcelona, in order the cross over into the next block you have to go around the corner to the cross walk, then cross. Confusing I know, and with no sense at all. Honestly, Barcelona's reputation of being a unique and artistic type of city soon became inefficient and annoying. Suffice it to say, getting lost was a tendency and transportation was problematic. On a certain night we got quite lost, to the point that we settled for just eatinf at the nearest restaurant we found which was a mediocre chinese place. Still, again, we go on.

Wandering around the center area was pretty nice though. Into the tiny streets off of Las Ramblas is Barri Gotic and a slew of museums, shops, restaurants, and all sorts of other stuff. Definitely weeds out at least some of the tourists. At a certain point on this sunny day it started to rain for about 15mins, as the sun was still shining. Very strange, random, bittersweet. Quite definitive.

We had a slew of bad timing, one thing led to another and we end up cramming pretty much all the Gaudi sites into our last half-day. We decided to go inside at least one of the houses, and the Bone house won us over. As expensive as it was, it was still pretty damn cool. Meant to emulate the body of a dragon, the Bone house is unique in its design in and out. The mosaics, the colors, the curves and designs. Hard to believe that that place was actually functional and that a family once lived there. Awesome.


Next up, Parc Guell. A whole park designed by Gaudi. On the outskirts of town, and up quite a few hills (seriously, we took ESCALATORS to get up there), it has an amazing view of the city, Sagrada Familia and Torre Agbar - the grandest, most phallic object in the world. In my opinion anyway. Don't worry, Gaudi didn't design that one. Anyway, from the little we saw of the park, it was very awesome, very Gaudi, difficult to describe in little words because there's just so much. One thing's for sure, these damn tourists need to get out of my way. Never thought I could feel claustrophobic in park. At the very least they need to get out of my pictures. If they did that, I could work for a postcard company. Honestly, I take better pics with my point 'n shoot than some of those crappy postcards.



Finalmente - La Sagrada Familia. Gaudi's yet-to-be-completed masterpiece. Gaudi is called "God's Architect," and for good reason. Being devoutly catholic, he dedicated the church to be the "last great sanctuary of Christendom," and indeed it seems so. Despite the cranes and scaffolding continuing the construction, it is amazing to behold. So tall, grand and incredibly detailed and gothic, not to mention rife with religious symbolism. 18 towers representing different Biblical figures, the tallest towers representing the Holy Family it self. So wonderfully gothic, looks like as though it was made of wax and melted ever so slightly. I just wanted to touch it. I know, weird, but I just wanted to! But that meant getting through the crowd of tourists and paying for it soooooo nooooo.
Gaudi worked on it on and off for 40 years, the last years of his life was spent in depression and he madly consumed himself in his plans for La Sagrada. Even so, they don't plan on completing what they THINK he had wanted for the church until 2026, 100yrs after his death! Utter and complete passion, dedication, and pure genius even beyond death. That I can appreciate.



Looking back on it, the bad memories of Barcelona are becoming more and more distant, maybe because I didn't take any pics of it. I realize that we actually did see a lot of things. Beautiful, irreplaceable things that can't be experienced anywhere else. I didn't leave Barcelona with such contempt for it at all, just with a thriving want to return now knowing what I know, to see everything else there is to be seen. Hopefully that might include a few locals like Manu Chao and a tall dark and handsome stranger...preferably not one with a crazy ex-wife and a gun.

Back home, Back to the blog

Oh, Hi! How are ya? It's been a while...yeeeeeeeaaah.....

It's been a loooong while. A busy, examenes, viajes, descansos filled while. But no that I'm back home and with very little else to do but to dig through my crappy short-term memory to fill in the gaps of my last weeks in europe.
That being said, going back in the time machine almost a month ago in May...

I had to make a little field trip to Barrio de las Letras for an assignment. Our professors' attempts to get us to see and go out to certain spots of Madrid are neverending but also very appreciated. This area of the city on Calle Huertas, kinda in between Plaza Mayor and Paseo del Prado area, is literally a neighborhood of letters. The streets are named after famous literary Spanish figures, many of which lived in that area. There are also plaques and writings on the walls and sidewalks with quotes from some of their works, including Cervantes' Don Quijote and I think from Garcia Lorca as well. In addition to that, its a pretty nice area to walk through. There's a bunch of little shops, some some good places to eat and drink. Kinda wish we knew about this place a few weeks earlier

Spring is finally here so we decided to stop in one small spot to cool down and get some gazpacho, and it was pretty awesome. Tasty, cool gazpacho (cold tomato soup) with fresh diced tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, and onion to add. So good. Although I must say that right before trying it, I almost suspected it to be spiked with sleeping pills. But even so, worst things could happen...

FIELD TRIP NUMERO DOS!
Same day, 2 field trips. Later that day our cine class went out to meet our professor at the Universidad Compultense de Madrid campus where she teaches. The film Tesis was filmed there so we decided to walk around the Media and Communications department where some of the scenes took place. Classes were done for the day people were just leaving. Let me say it felt kind of odd being around other students, I mean, kids OUR age. Surrounded by them. We're so used to our little world at the Instituto in el Centro that it felt strange to back on a college campus again. God if only we were there more, just to check out some of the Spanish cuties ;__:



Anyways...the building was pretty cool. Not quite the same as in the movie, but similar. We also got to see some of the production stages where they film scenes and segments, with full on camera set-ups, lighting kits, newscasts sets and green screens. Uh-buuuuuuh. So nowhere near the type of equipment I'm used to, totally sophisticated equipment, specifically TV equipment. Yeah, I felt owned.


Cine trip parte dos - Yet another film we watched took place in an old and famous restaurant called Casa Mingo, a short walk from the Compultense campus....or so the professor said. A short walk turned into at least 20-30 mins. We were tired and hungry, I'm guessing that was pretty apparent when our professor said something about Americans not walking very much in the States... It's true, sad, but true.
Finally we get to restaurant, known for its cider and roast chicken. There are bottles of cider lined and stacked above the bar, dark wooden floors and walls, has an old timey-feel for sure. Food was good and relatively cheap but the best part was our professor. She loves to talk and joke around. So adorable. But she's also got some "vestido peligroso" as she says. On the way to dinner, apparently the strap on her bag got caught and some how undid some buttons on her dress. Bra was shown....Yeaaah. But of course knowning her, she handled it wonderfully, accepted and joked about it. Oh Rosanna, so legit.
Honestly, the daily entertainment that our teachers provide will be one of the things I miss most.

San Isidro, Cuando Vengas a MADRID

San Isidro Labrador - the patron saint of Madrid, who died May 15th, 1130. Though Spaniards, especially Madrileños, aren't especially religious anymore they damn sure celebrate May 15th in a BIG way.

Las Vistillas - Apparently the place to be at (during the daytime anyway) is this park, so of course roomies and friends decided to hit that place up. Imagine a huge carnival with drinking and spanish foods with thousands upon thousands of people. It was even complete with strange humongo foods, like perritos completos (huge hot dog with fried onion bits, pickles, french fries) and salchicha papas con salsa (French Fries with hotdog slices and sauce). Don't worry there was good stuff there too, we just didn't eat any of it.
Best part of the day is that people dress up like they did back in the day. Women with pretty mantones, semi-flamenco style dresses, and the guys in vests and hats. Everyone with a carnation. Including cutie little kids!! We definitely had our fill of creeper pics of the kids.



Later in the night we headed out to Gran Via, no real plans just figured something big was going on. We were more than right. At 10:30pm the metro was packed, all of us getting off at the same place, as the train PASSED Gran Via. Apparently they had closed it off...So we got off at the next stop and walked through the IMMENSE crowd of people crowded in Gran Via. The whole street was apparently closed off to traffic and covered in blue carpet. That's a lot of carpet.

We made our way to what happened to be a convenient spot cuz it was next to a stage with some singers performing older Spanish songs. After that we realized that we just so happened to be in front of the Telefonica building, a Madrid landmark on which they planned to have 3-D projections on it, a special spectacle for San Isidro and the 100th year of Gran Via. It was so amazing, I wish I could have taped all of it but highlight moments were the speakers near the end, the frickin' robot and KING KONG, as if he was really climbing on the building. SICK



So that was definitely worth going out that night. But again we found ourselves standing around afterwards saying "OK what do we do now?" Cue fireworks. Fireworks - in a metropolitan city. So awesome.

The crowd dissipated a little, we took a few pics then headed over to El Tigre for some drinks and free tapas, of course. We ended up missing the last metro, but then we figured out that Gran Via eventually turns into Princesa, the main street parallel to ours.

Walking down the blue carpet all the way down Gran Via. Not a star in the sky. Enjoying the cool night breeze among the thousands of others hanging around Gran Via, who most likely had little plans of going home anytime soon. At some point we start singing and translating songs from "Chicago" in Spanish, "Y todo eso jazz."

All in all the night was successful. For once timing seemed just right for our time here in Madrid. Too bad its only coming in during our last few weeks of the program. One of the songs that we watched the performers sang earlier was pretty catchy. I found a new modern version of it that just so happens to be used for the tourism campaign for Madrid. It is steadily becoming my theme song for my time being here.

Cines and caves and chans - oh my!

So the past week or so have been interesting. The end of our program is steadily approaching, and with it papers, finals, last traveling trips and bookings and God knows what else as we try to make the best of what we have left in Madrid....it's a scary thought.

Anyway, this week (mas o menos, I've been slacking on the blog, and things tend to blur together) in particular was relatively eventful and culture filled. First was the zarzuela (a comedic spanish opera) called "Diamantes de la corona." One of the last program trips left. Interestingly 3/4 of our teachers also made it to the show. Always fascinating to see teachs' out of their natural habitat as it were....

Shout out to one of my Spanish apt. mates, Marie, who's 21st bday was Monday. And of course we went out to celebrate. We hit up El Chapandaz, or "The Cave Bar" as we call it, because that's what it is, as if they made a bar inside a cave. They specialize in some sort of drink with milk that pours down from one of the stalactites...questionable? just a bit. So what if I had an art history paper en espanol due the next day? It was generally a good time.

So despite all the bumpyness of the past few weeks, with annoying schoolwork, crappy weather, and super-complicated traveling plans I don't mind it that much because it all gets balanced out by the utter film fest I've had.

First was my trip to Cine Dore. A small, old timey theater that plays classic and foreign films in original language, 2 euro for students. This showing was of Laura, por casualidad haha. I love old theaters, and good ole classic films as old as they are.



To top it all off, it's Almodovar week in our cine class, and I am loving EVERY minute of it! I used to think his films depicted his own little world, but the impression that I get from our prof is that he depicts an almost absurd but VERY real world of La Movida Madrilena after Franco's death, the world that our prof herself lived in. IT IS AWESOME!

I also get to watch and talk with people about my fave Almodovar films, always a good time. Let me reiterate once again how much we love our cine teacher, she's so nice but seems so badass at times, with her La movida youth and all. Apparently her son had tried out for the singing part of La mala educacion, didn't get it but got Almodovar's autograph. !!!! And during our class discussion of Mujeres al borde (sound familiar?) she stopped to tell us about an incident that happened with her car. She was at a crosswalk, about to go/run into a man. He seemed very casual, easy-going, and I think she let him pass. As he crossed and they waved to each other she realized that it was....
*chanchan CHAN - Viggo Mortenson.......

Frickin' Aragorn. I almost died...of disappointment that is. The whole time she was building up the story I was anxious, excited, nervous, imagining that she had met Almodovar, Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz, Gael Garcia, SOMEONE that had SOMETHING to do Almodovar. JO-DER! I swear to God my palms were getting sweaty and I really didn't know what I was going to do if she said she had met HIM himself. I would've FLIPAR-ED like no other! But alas, it was Aragorn - good enough I guess. But damn, it would've been so cool if she had almost hit the most famous Spanish director of the last 20-30 years - something straight out of HIS movies.

So aside from that crazy, film-geek overload of mine, I've got less than 3 weeks to live up the rest of what I can in Madrid...goddamn I hope it will not disappoint. Something worthy of a scene from Almodovar, not necessary but always welcomed.

And seeing as I'm making my way to Barcelona next weekend, volcanic ash permitting, I feel this is quite appropriate.



*BTW "chan chan chan" refers to something our art teacher says all of the time. It's difficult to explain its context, but it's either used as if to say "well helloooo" or something surprising, something tongue-in-cheek like. En todos modos, always super entertaining and we say it to each other all the time. So be warned, it IS my new favorite thing to say.

1 y 2 de mayo

So there were two holidays this weekend. 1st and 2nd of May. The first is Labor Day of course, which is pretty much celebrated everywhere but the US. Unfortunately I missed out on some of the demonstrations held by the labor unions, but I did catch some traditional folk dances going on in Plaza Mayor. Y otra vez there was sun in the city, if only for a day or so. Always enjoyable. by the way, the dances are quite similar to the Filipino-Spanish influenced dances, obviously....I like the Filipino ones better.

Another random discovery is Plaza de Espana, which is pretty much a 5 minute walk from my apt. It has a fountain, a HUGE monument with Don Quijote on it, some kiddies rides, and a mini-flea market. It's pretty a smaller, more quaint Rastro/Whole Earth Fest. It's also where a good pair of 5 Euro Ray Ban, I don't care if they're knock-off, I still like them.
I also found quite a few good chinese restaurants around the area, and a chinese supermarket. Guess I don't have to go all the way to another part of town to get my azn fixin's.

Dos de mayo
Just as a history refresher, the 2nd of May celebrates the uprising against the occupying French (led by Napoleon) which started in Madrid, therefore it is celebrated only in Madrid. The event was depicted famously by Goya . I randomly stopped by Puerta del Sol to see if there was anything going on, and por casualidad, I got there right in time for the military parade. Jets flew overhead leaving a trail of the flag's colors behind them. For a minute, a building was colored by sunlight shining through the red sky. It was pretty cool.



So that already made my day. The only way it was topped off was by the awesome Indian place I ate lunch at in La Latina. Chicken Tikka Masala and naan, Indian tea with milk for desert. Aah I love that it's still good no matter where you go. But the real topper was the sugar packet that came with the tea. True proof of the absolute absence of political correctness in Spain - pics will accompany soon.