"To learn something new, take the path that you took yesterday." John Burroughs

I decided to stay in Madrid this last week instead of travel to the North. At first I was worried that I would regret staying when I haven't seen the area of Galicia yet, but then I told myself that there is so much I probably still haven't seen in Madrid. So many people try to fit as much as they can see in a short amount of time, just to say "Oh, I've been there." Every time I traveled for a weekend, I was wishing I could have stayed longer. Obviously, if you are a busy person (or restricted by stupid school attendance rules) I think you should go even for a couple days rather than not go at all. But when you can, I feel that really getting to know a place is something special, and rare. I want to come back from Madrid and truely feel like it was my second home. I've been taking this time to really research what I haven't seen yet....with great success!

Here are some of my findings:

Mercado San Miguel

Very similar to the Ferry Building's indoor Market. I bought some bread, cheese, and fresh watermelon slices for lunch. It was really cool. They have a bunch of different tapa plate options at the different booths, plus sweets, fruits, wines, cheeses, and a variety of other delicious foods to buy for later or eat then. I wish I knew about this before when people were visiting! It's a great place to go for tapas and wine, and traditional Spanish desserts.

Fish heads...ugh.

Calle Alcalá

I already knew about this street, it's right off Sol, but today they had posters for an exhibit called "VivaAfrica," I believe. The images were really colorful and I had been going to different photography exhibits all day, so it fit in perfectly with my day!

I have gotten pretty good at this whole "not being able to see the screen" thing!

Azotea del Círculo de Bellas Artes

This roof has always had access to it because of it's great views of Madrid. I only heard about it because they were having a photo exhibit ontop of it. So I went for the exhibit and the view. The exhibit wasn't my type of photography so much, but the view was great!

The famous Gran Via Metropolis building.

One of the few pictures I really liked; view of Madrid infront of a view of Madrid :)

This is a picture of Callao at night

The exhibit

The Caixa Forum

This regularly holds exhibits, I just never knew. I found out about it because they were hosting an exhibit of the winning photography collections from the FotoPres 2009 competition. It is all pictures of photojournalism, and right up my alley. It was absolutely amazing and shocking all at the same time. Some collections were incredibly sad, but others were less gruesome. In an small room, they have the photographers talking about each of their collections. I remember one of them saying something about how it is unfortunate, because, in his opinion, we can not really do too much to save the world. My favorite, and most touching, was the collection of the 1st place winner, Emilio Morenatti, titled "Gender Violence in Pakistan." The pictures were incredibly sad, but the background stories that accompanied them made them all the more touching. All of the pictures were portraits of women attacked by acid for some awful reason, such as they didn't want to marry someone, they divorced someone, they are getting an education, or their family is in a fued with other family members. Many of these women are blind, and some even are completely without faces for absolutely no reason. Many of these women have brought charges against their attackers, but to no avail.

These pictures aren't pretty, I warn you.

I can't remember every single story, but I believe this women was burnt because she didn't want to marry someone.

These first two are probably the least gruesome of the exhibit, some weren't fortunate enough to have a single operation in order to restore some kind of normalcy.

The most touching photograph to me was the girl in the red, behind him. She is completely without a face and looks like a skeleton. Her father threw acid on her when she was 5 years old because he didn't want another woman in the family. Then the father fled, the mother remarried and abandoned the girl to live with her aunt. She is completely blind and has never left her house since she was burned.

(p.s. these aren't my photographs, I had to get them offline because you can't take photos inside the exhibit.)

So these have been my adventures so far. There is a Tapas Fair this weekend and one of my friends is still here she just nannies during the week so finally we can hang out this weekend. Hope you enjoyed the photos!

San Isidro 2010 + Last weekend with USAC

This weekend was the "official" end of USAC. While some people still linger, many have left for other adventures or to return to the states. It was not as much of a tear fest as we all predicted. I think it's easier when people trickle out instead of all rushing out at once. Yet, it's been sad nonetheless. Luckily, it was the annual San Isidro celebration this weekend in Madrid! Lots of festivities to keep us busy and eternally remember our time here. Here are some pictures of this weekend along with some people I won't forget!

The madrileños were staring...who says you have to grow up?

USAC office girls: Gabriela and Susan. They did so much for us all!
Gran Via stage...celebrating 100 years!Fireworks show...amazing!Finale...beautiful among the old buildingsWe hadn't gone in months but it was our bar for the first two months. Last time at El Tigre!El Oso y El Madroño...the symbol of Madrid

Jessica and I are heading to London tomorrow...hopefully. The volcano is being naughty again so we're waiting to see what happens. Fingers crossed. We're staying with Jessica's parents' friends. Perfect! London is supposedly expensive enough as it is. I'll stop talking about London though because this volcano is making me nervous!

La Semana Última con USAC

My birthday weekend was so much fun! I would say about 3/4 of our program came and we all had a great time all the way up until the metro opened at 6am! It was a great way to see everyone off because some peope are leaving right after finals on Friday. Some are leaving Saturday, and the majority will be gone by Sunday, either back to the USA or to some other destination in Europe. I'm one of the few returning after my week in London. Then maybe to the North of Spain? I haven't quite decided yet. One trip at a time for now. Hopefully everything goes well though because the stupid volcán is acting up again, and now British Airways is going on intermitten strikes from the 18th until the first week of June. Grrrrrreat.

Foster's Hollywood dinner with everyone, blowing out my cake!

Finalmente!

But for now I've just been studying for finals (I only have two) and finishing up papers and what not. It's so surreal that it is coming to a close and in a couple of days I will have very few people to call when I am here. I loved that our program has people from all over the country, yet it makes it that much harder to stay in touch! Tomorrow we are getting "yearbooks" made by the USAC staff and some students that recount the past semester. I'm excited to see it! We're also giving our Spanish teacher, Sara, a picture frame signed by all of us with a picture of our class taken a couple weeks ago. Tomorrow is our last day of Spanish class. The best Spanish class I've ever had by far! It's going to be sad...

But for now I'm just focusing on my time left :) Love you all!

Feliz Cumpleaños & Dia de la Madre

It's a lot of people's last weekend in Madrid since some leave right after finals next Friday. It's also my birthday weekend! :) It's also a guy in our programs birthday today! So it's a big weekend for everyone to get their last hoorahs in.

For Saturday, I made reservations at a restaurant called Foster's Hollywood. It's an "American" food restaurant and I figured it's perfect because it can fit the most people and since I'm turning 21, I'll celebrate it American-style. Carmen actually made the call for me because it's hard to understand people on the phone and I didn't want to mess up. Then we're going out from dinner because it's close to a popular neighborhood.

Also, this Sunday is Mother's Day (Dia de la Madre). Last Sunday was Dia de la Madre in Spain. Therefore, Feliz Dia de la Madre, mamá! and Happy Mother's Day to all the other mothers I know/am related to as well! Love you all!

Icelandic volcanic ash

So Lindsey and I have been having a great time and she didn't want to leave, so she made an Icelandic volcano explode and now she's stuck here for who knows how long. Luckily, Carmen is the bestest and said she can stay with us! So at least she's not alone in a hotel :)

Here's some imagery

I only come out with the sun apparently...

Yesterday morning I woke up at 2pm to the sun shining brightly outside. I had stayed inside the day before because I had nothing to do and the weather wasn't inspiring. I had to get out yesterday though because it was sunny! Who knew how long that would last? I've been missing that SLO sunshine more than I imagined!

I went to Retiro since it's right around the corner and I could take pictures of newly blooming trees and plants. Here are some of the spring flowers :)

This is when I was laying down on the grass

Pretty in pink :)

Shedding

Vibrant orange in the sun, but the picture doesn't do it justice

It was pleasantly calm, not too many people

It was Easter so some people were passing out these books, which I skimmed to practice my Spanish; Jesus Christ = Jesucristo

After Retiro I met up with my friend Michelle and we walked around the Palace; here we have the Beatles performing

Padres visit, Barcelona, and más!

Sorry, I haven't updated lately! After Paris I was just living life in Madrid! Nothing overly exciting. It's beautiful today in Madrid. Nice and sunny! I have been on Spring Break and just got back from the Canary Islands with my amigas. I'm tan, FINALLY. Break ends Monday and then the next weekend Lindsey arrives!

*We went to the island of Tenerife. It looks a lot like Hawaii, but less pristine, like if Mexico had a resort island maybe. It was really nice every day, with a steady breeze. I didn't really take pictures because we spent our days at the beach, which were pretty standard in appearance, but exactly what we were looking for. It was a much needed relaxing trip. The islands are pretty cheap as well, so it was nice to save a lot of money over break.*

Now to when mama y papa visited! They arrived late Friday (March 19) so we just went out for a paella dinner that night at Café Principe. They loved it, and personally I think it's the best paella I've had in Spain. Then Saturday and Sunday I exhausted them by taking them all over Madrid by foot and metro :) We went to Plaza de España, where the Royal Palace is; Plaza Mayor, the oldest plaza in Madrid; El Rastro, one of the largest flea markets in Europe; and Retiro Park among the random places we walked through on our way to everywhere. We also had delicious dinners and lunches! One of my favorite was a restaurant built into Plaza Mayor called Las Cuevas (The Caves). We sat and watched all the tourists that seemed to have came out of no where all week! Saturday night we went to Real Madrid vs Sporting Gijon. Another good game! Real won of course, even though they had a slow start.

Dad and Mom in Retiro Park

Las Cuevas in Plaza Mayor

Real vs Sporting

The flowers are blooming everywhere!

In Plaza de España

Monday I had class all day, but I met them for dinner. They went on the Madrid open-top bus tour that day and apparently I had already shown them everything it drove to so they just rode it around since the weather was perfect.

Tuesday we took a day trip to Segovia after my morning class because it is only 30 minutes away by train. The castle there is supposedly what the Sleeping Beauty castle was designed after. The streets were small and winding and retained an old village feel. A Roman Aqueduct greets you at Segovia's center. It's a really amazing sight to see.

Roman Aqueduct

Mom in the castle windows

Gothic cathedral of Segovia

the Plaza Mayor of Segovia

Wednesday I didn't get to see them all day because I had class then a flamenco performance to go to for my class. They went on another day trip to Toledo, the old capital of Spain.

Thursday we went to the Museo del Prado, one of the most famous museums in the world. It was pretty cool, but like Mom mentioned, I wish it had more than just art. The Louvre in Paris was really cool because it had artifacts and sculptures and a variety of art rather than just paintings. I had to go home and take a nap because I was so tired, but we met for dinner later.

Friday we took the train to Barcelona. We took the hop-on hop-off bus and got off to walk around Park Guell designed by Gaudi. It was like nothing I've ever seen before! The houses looked like gingerbread houses and colorful tiles covered the walls. It was really pretty and I loved all the color. On the bus, we got to see all the amazing architecture Barcelona has. I never realized how rich it was in that aspect. We saw lots of buildings by Gaudi and lots of gothic inspired buildings as well. It's a really beautiful place and the weather was really nice!

Tiles lining the walls of Park Guell

Mom and Dad in Park Guell

One view of Barcelona from Park Guell + Gaudi's old house on the left

"Gingerbread" houses of Park Guell

Barcelona architecture

One of Gaudi's designs. The roof of this place is amazing

Saturday we went to La Sagrada Familia and Las Ramblas. Once again Gaudi's architecture blew me away! I have never seen such a cathedral. Gaudi is all about combining color and nature with architecture and I really liked how everything in the cathedral was inspired by something from nature. Then we went to Las Ramblas, a street filled with shops and kiosks and street vendors. I love street vendors so I liked it a lot. There were also a ton a street performers just like Madrid, but even more over-the-top! That afternoon we went back to Madrid.

Inside La Sagrada Familia

Explanations of Gaudi incorporating nature

Resembles a forest

Gaudi loved all things Barcelona & Mediterranean; Mediterranean amphibeans on La Sagrada

La Sagrada Familia has been in construction since the 1800s and is scheduled to be finished in 2020...

Old and new on La Sagrada

Dad outside La Sagrada

Plaza in Barcelona
Florists on Las Ramblas selling palms for Easter

Since their flight was delayed until Monday, we spent Sunday walking around. We went to El Botin, the oldest restaurant in the world. It was really delicious!!!! Later that day, I introduced Mom to chocolate con churros and we ate the whole plate! Nothing new for me and my friends when it comes to churros ;) Then we had our last dinner before I had to go to my friends place so we could split a cab to the airport at 4 am since our flight to the Canaries the next day was so early in the morning. It was a great week and lots of fun! Love and miss you all!