Extremadura: Just like Idaho

It's true... It's a bunch of farmland, mountains, and John Deere Tractors.

Extremadura is on the far east side of Spain-closest to Portugal. It could be called Extremadure because it's way out in the boonies of Spain, but I decided it's called Extremadura because it's extremely hot.

Anyway, we visited three cities while we were there: Mérida, Cáceres, and Truijillo.

Mérida

The best examples of Roman Architecture in Spain are here:

The Roman Amphitheater-It's been around since about 17B.C!!

This is where the gladiators fought. And also me and Isabel.

But we made it out alive--only to pose as Muses next...

We also saw the Roman Theatre, and after walking around for what seemed like forever, we ran into the Temple of Diana

                                               

Oh, and we found out that in Extremadura, the siesta is still going strong. We got kicked out of the Museum of Roman Architecture BEFORE 3 so by three, there was nobody in the building--or the street.

                                

We're not in Madrid anymore!

Our next stop was Cáceres. Here this city can boast one of the most well-preserved "barrios" in the country. Looking at the skyline of the "old" Cáceres, there's not one modern building. So cool!

  

There's also a huge wall that surrounds the entire old "barrio." We enjoyed climbing that and of course taking pictures-of each other taking pictures.

                          

Trujillo

Our last stop was Trujillo. It's the home of Francisco Pizarro: the one who conquered Peru. And for that, the city has this monument set up for him:

We also climbed the castle here...

...mostly pretended like we were storming the castle, and thinking about how awesome it would be to wake up to this view everyday:

Oh, I forgot to mention that along the way up the hill to the castle, we decided to taste some prickly pear that happened to be waiting for us on the side of the path...

Surprisingly it was pretty good, but the only drawback is that you have to be super careful of the pricklies. 

Basically, our first trip was a success!! More to come!

Una adventura...AKA Spontaneity

I've recently decided that my life needs more Spontaneity. That's one of the reasons I came to Madrid, to become more carefree. Well, maybe it's the relaxed atmosphere or that fact that I am more than 4000 miles from home and no one knows me here, or maybe it's my roommate Jen. It don't know, but today Spontaneity definitely happened-with a capital S.

Here's what happened:

(Me and Jen sitting on our beds, computers on, and just talking)

Me: Wow, we've already been here for two weeks!

Jen: Two weeks? What? So why I am sitting here in this room?

Me: umm....

Jen: Want to go to Madrid?

Me: Sure!

Both of us jump up, get ready in about 7 minutes, and within 20 minutes we're on a train into Madrid, and 30 minutes or so later, we're walking around the Puerta del Sol. The whole time I kept thinking, "We're in Madrid!" I was actually really impressed that we went by ourselves...

We totally rocked the Metro, too, by the way. We didn't get lost, and we didn't get robbed. Go us.

Also, there's this market called the Mercado de San Miguel that has EVERYTHING. It's super overpriced, but we walked by the candy/chocolate section and just had to get truffles!

She kept asking me to take another and another because she didn't think they turned out well. Well I'm just gullible or a blonde I guess because I didn't notice she was making weird faces.

I LOVE IT!

The pain of power convertors

Voltage convertors aren't much of a tricky business, but they smell and just get annoying after awhile. This one didn't want to stay still.

Also, I'm afraid we're going to start a fire.

Soy una madrileña

Here's what it takes to become a madrileña (a citizen of Madrid)


1. Blend in in Madrid: Check.
Today we finally visited the city! We did a walking tour of Madrid, and almost the first thing that came out of our guide's mouth was, "Don't be afraid." Apparently, you only are a target for theft if you stand out--by looking scared/nervous that someone will steal from you.  I didn't get robbed.








2. Visit the Puerta del Sol: Double Check
The Puerta del Sol is near the middle of Madrid and is one of (if not the biggest) shopping centers in the city. It's also the center of arts--plays, theatre, movies--and also of government. It's basically one big street/plaza with little streets branching off. We spent hours walking around the many streets, going through shops and killing our feet. 

King Charles III

McDonalds in Madrid

3. See the Plaza Mayor: Check Plus
We really only just walked through this place but it's sooo cool!! It's been used as a place for markets, bull fights, public executions and of course soccer games.

4. Savor Churros y chocolate: Check but willing to do this again
We found a quaint little chocolate shop on one of the side streets off the Puerta del Sol. Apparently it's famous for its chocolate. So the churros are basically fried dough, then you dip it in a thick chocolate drink. It's fabulous!! (And it was gone in no time)

5. See the old style cathedrals that dot the city: Check
There are so many cathedrals and convents in old Madrid!

6. Enjoy tapas: Check Check Check
Tapas is unique just to Spain, and it's fabulous. People like to drink here-vine, beer, you name it. But our guide told us that they don't drink just to get drunk (like the Americans he said), but that drinking is part of their culture. It's leisurely. And classy. And they rarely get drunk. So tapas are basically food that comes with your drink to prevent you from drinking too much and getting drunk.  Each bar has its own unique types of tapas. So the thing to do is bar hop and try out the tapas at several places. We did that, too.




We went here first...

To eat these...

Alveoli(or something like that), similar to potato salad

Then we went here...

For these....

Yes, I tried the olives and the shrimp-two things I cannot stand!

Finally, we went here...

For these....

Cod-I didn't eat one bite!

7. Live in Madrid: CHECK!
That's a given, I suppose. And since I live in a suburb (Alcalá de Henares), I live in Madrid. Our guide told us that the people are very accepting here, and that they have claimed people (authors, poets, actors) as madrileños simply because they lived in Madrid for a time. If that's all it takes, then soy una madrileña!

Things I have yet to do:
Go inside the Prado Museum
Tour the Palacio Real
Visit the Parque Retiro

So I might actually need to study just a little bit...

So today was our first day of classes here in Alcalá--yes now we actually have to study...

The day started out alright. We weren't exactly sure what building we were going to be in, but we had a general idea and apparently we found it alright because we found other people from our group inside. We got there on time, only nobody told us where our classes would be so most of us were just waiting in the foyer of the building until some lady noticed us and told us where to go. I've realized that a central theme of our study abroad is that we "figure things out as we go."

Our maestra is super funny and relaxed, and so the class (spanish literature) sounds like it will be fun and not too hard. Her name is Vega, by the way, and that's how we address her.

So my second class is a grammar class--and there are only three of us. So Vega told us that we'll just work on whatever we seem to struggle with and that we might not even have a book. She laughed at our attempts to make our "j's" sound Spanish but said that our accents aren't too bad, at least not as bad as the Britons that she taught this summer. However, we took a quiz to see how what aspects of grammar we need to work on.  We all left the room and immediately turned to each other and said "I don't know Spanish!"

We decided to have a frantic study session right after lunch, so we had to skip our siesta. (I'm becoming pretty dependent on those) We ended up doing more talking and laughing in English than actually studying...Oh yeah, and taking pictures...

              This is the only one that's worthy of the blog :D

The fair is where it's at!

Yesterday was our first opportunity to enjoy the nightlife of Spain--so  eight of us went to la ferias (the fair). It was easy to find because that's what everyone was doing last night so we just had to follow the crowds and listen for the music.

La ferias is very similar to our state/county fairs, right down to the rides...

    

the food...

(chocolate covered churros-fried of course)

and the cheapy games that always scam you...

It was alot of fun, and I even rode one of the rides.

I said to myself, I'm only in Spain this once. Why not ride on one in Spain and only Spain? So, this one was called "flec flac" and it's the first and last fair ride for me! The entire time I was thinking about the possibility of us flying off into the night sky, never to be seen again... 


The fair has been going on for about 2 weeks and is put on in honor of "los Santos Niños" which I think just means that they celebrate the children. I'm not exactly sure what that means except that they have a lot of activities for youth-concerts, parades, and the activities at the fair and also that the kids are featured in shows and stuff.


Anyway, tonight is the last day of the fair, so we're going to take a walk down to the plaza (the middle of the town where everything happens) and see the closing parade and fireworks. ¡VIVA ESPAÑA!

Spaniards have the right idea

The siesta: fact or fiction?? 


Well, the answer is a little of both. Yes, most shops close between 2-5 for lunch (the biggest meal of the day), but people are still around. Some people nap, so far it seems like it's mostly a time to rest and stay indoors during the hottest part of the day. 


Another thing about the siesta--"Prime-time" t.v seems to be around 2-4ish. It's like the 5 o'clock news and then all the best t.v shows are on during the siesta time. Pilar likes to keep the t.v on during meals, and I can learn more gossip (and news too) during lunch than during dinner. Yay. Then after lunch Pilar watches her soaps (telenovelas). Apparently this is something that's pretty popular.


As for us americanos, we are perfectly willing to take advantage of this siesta time. See?