I love Madrid! I have had so many wonderful encounters with the locals already. The city is beautiful, with large pedestrianized zones in the center and modern parks throughout. September has been very sunny, hot and dry. I am looking forward to cooler weather in October.
Notes about the Castellano here: I find the Madrid accent easy to understand. The people speak very clearly here - I can even understand directions that old men on the street give me. The only difficulty I have is with the lisp. (corazon: cor-a-thon, Zaragoza: thar-a-go-tha, hacer: ha-ther). Sometimes my understanding of an entire conversation will be thrown off by that difference in pronunciation from Latin American Spanish.
I'm learning that my academic Spanish allows me to have lots of philosophical/social/political conversations with my amazing roommate, Teresa, but that my everyday-objects Spanish is lacking. The kitchen sink drain wasn't working at all when I arrived, so we had a plumbing adventure that turned into an intense language workshop (plumber, clogged, drain, de-clog, screwdriver, washrags, bucket, "big pain", etc.)
Phrases that I LOVE from the Castellano here:
todo el mundo = everybody. This is an extremely common way to say "everybody," but literally means "the whole world." It usually refers to a select group of people. For example, last night I went dancing in the center and tried to leave the club in time to make the last metro (it closes at 2:00am). I was able to make the first leg of the journey, but not the connection to the line that takes me to my house. The sign said "El servicio ha finalizado." A very nice and contenta (tipsy) middle-aged woman who was trying to go in the same direction as me and another couple - all of us disappointed at the timing - asked if we wanted to share a taxi. "Todo el mundo va en un taxi?" (The whole world goes in one taxi?) By this, she meant the four of us.
hombre = man/listen. This is peppered throughout conversation here. It doesn't matter who is speaking or to whom. My roommate says hombre all the time, as in, "hombre, I need to find someone to rent out the other room," or "hombre, not everyone in Madrid is open-minded." At my orientation for the teaching program this week, the government official who spoke to us was very formal and proper. At one point she explained that people in Madrid are very direct and blunt. In the past, auxiliares have thought that their school coordinators or cooperating teachers were angry with them, but she assured us that this is just their manner of speaking, that they are not angry. Then she said, "hombre, sometimes we ARE mad at you. But only if you have done something to deserve it." :)
Surprises: I didn't know that they write numbers differently here. The number 1, in particular, looks more like a 7 to me. And the number 7 has to be written with the horizontal line through it, like a t.
I have not been very good at taking pictures, but I did take some with my phone my first Saturday here when I did the Rick Steves walking tour of downtown Madrid. Let's keep our priorities straight - food pictures first!!
A woman posing sexily by kilometer 0. There were hordes of Spaniards (not from Madrid) jockeying to do the same.
Europe's largest Palace. From Rick Steves' Madrid: "Since the ninth century, this spot has been Madrid's center of power: from Moorish castle to Christian fortress to Renaissance palace to the current structure, built in the 18th century. With its expansive courtyard surround by imposing Baroque architecture, it represents the wealth of Spain before its decline. Its 2,800 rooms, totaling nearly 1.5 million square feet, make it Europe's largest palace."
I gasped when I finally came around the corner and saw the Palacio, not because of the imposing and ornate building itself, but because it has a gorgeous view of the surrounding hills and open horizon. I'm such a country girl! After several days of feeling oppressed and claustrophobic from the weight of city buildings, I was so shocked to see this open expanse/vista in the most famous location in all of Madrid.
Also on the walking tour, a cute little bookstore that Rick says is "clinging like a barnacle" to the walls of a very old church. This bookstore has been in business since 1650.
Speaking of my apartment, here is a picture of my building. I'm in the tercer piso (third floor), which is actually what we would call the fourth floor in the U.S. I have circled my apartment above with yellow highlighter. To see the inside of the piso, see my previous blog post.
Orientation for los auxiliares de conversacion y cultura de Madrid. I got a lot of good information and also met some new friends - I need to post (take) photos of them soon.
I was excited about wearing a new dress to go out to Club Independance in downtown Madrid. It was a special Beatles/The Doors/Elvis/Queen night, including a costume contest. I didn't bring anything suitable in my suitcase, what was I thinking?! It was so fun to dance the night away with 20-somethings from Madrid who were singing along to all the oldies, even ones I had never heard before. What an enthusiastic crowd! There were also a number of people in their 50s and 60s, which I attributed to the theme, but that my friend told me is super common in all the clubs/nightlife in Spain in general.
Warning: The following video features HORRIBLE audio courtesy of my iPhone. I can't remember what the song was - can anyone tell?
Current musical obsession: I can't listen to Pandora here, so I've actually been listening to the music I paid for on my own computer. :) One of my favorites is Jesse & Joy, an awesome singer/songwriter duo from Mexico City. I really love their music. I used their songs to teach my 1st year Spanish students in Shoreline about food (thank you, Linnea!). You can watch their videos here:
Chocolate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bapO8qCaDyk
Una en un millon, my favorite, just the song, no video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQfRceHDt9U
I will start teaching at the elementary school this Tuesday, October 1.
If you would like to text me for free at my local cell in Spain, just download What's App Messenger. In Europe, todo el mundo uses it. :)
Notes/preview for a future blog:
Difficulty with eating/sleeping schedule
Friendly middle-aged women in Madrid: Isabel, taxi share, other piso landlady Arancha
Notes about the Castellano here: I find the Madrid accent easy to understand. The people speak very clearly here - I can even understand directions that old men on the street give me. The only difficulty I have is with the lisp. (corazon: cor-a-thon, Zaragoza: thar-a-go-tha, hacer: ha-ther). Sometimes my understanding of an entire conversation will be thrown off by that difference in pronunciation from Latin American Spanish.
I'm learning that my academic Spanish allows me to have lots of philosophical/social/political conversations with my amazing roommate, Teresa, but that my everyday-objects Spanish is lacking. The kitchen sink drain wasn't working at all when I arrived, so we had a plumbing adventure that turned into an intense language workshop (plumber, clogged, drain, de-clog, screwdriver, washrags, bucket, "big pain", etc.)
Phrases that I LOVE from the Castellano here:
todo el mundo = everybody. This is an extremely common way to say "everybody," but literally means "the whole world." It usually refers to a select group of people. For example, last night I went dancing in the center and tried to leave the club in time to make the last metro (it closes at 2:00am). I was able to make the first leg of the journey, but not the connection to the line that takes me to my house. The sign said "El servicio ha finalizado." A very nice and contenta (tipsy) middle-aged woman who was trying to go in the same direction as me and another couple - all of us disappointed at the timing - asked if we wanted to share a taxi. "Todo el mundo va en un taxi?" (The whole world goes in one taxi?) By this, she meant the four of us.
hombre = man/listen. This is peppered throughout conversation here. It doesn't matter who is speaking or to whom. My roommate says hombre all the time, as in, "hombre, I need to find someone to rent out the other room," or "hombre, not everyone in Madrid is open-minded." At my orientation for the teaching program this week, the government official who spoke to us was very formal and proper. At one point she explained that people in Madrid are very direct and blunt. In the past, auxiliares have thought that their school coordinators or cooperating teachers were angry with them, but she assured us that this is just their manner of speaking, that they are not angry. Then she said, "hombre, sometimes we ARE mad at you. But only if you have done something to deserve it." :)
Surprises: I didn't know that they write numbers differently here. The number 1, in particular, looks more like a 7 to me. And the number 7 has to be written with the horizontal line through it, like a t.
I have not been very good at taking pictures, but I did take some with my phone my first Saturday here when I did the Rick Steves walking tour of downtown Madrid. Let's keep our priorities straight - food pictures first!!
The fried squid sandwiches that this restaurante (El Brillante) is famous for. Thank you, Rick Steves! This was my first experience going into a place, sitting at the bar, and ordering food on my own. I don't know why this was so intimidating for me. I also pictured Spain as a European place where meals were meant to be lingered over and last for hours, but in reality, they have the original "fast-food" culture, because you can always hop into a bar and grab some pinchos/tapas that are ready-to-eat.
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| Kilometro zero, the symbolic center of Spain in Plaza Puerto del Sol |
A woman posing sexily by kilometer 0. There were hordes of Spaniards (not from Madrid) jockeying to do the same.
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Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Almudena, across from the Palacio. It tooks 100 years to build and just opened in 1993.
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| My favorite place in downtown Madrid, Plaza de Oriente |
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| You can watch the live soccer game while waiting for the metro. |
I was really excited to discover that Madrid's second-largest park is a 20-minute walk from my apartment. The following pictures are from Parque Juan Carlos.
It's so easy to spot other language/culture assistants from the U.S. A girl from Austin, Texas was sitting adjacent to me on the flight to Madrid. This is her third year in the program, so I asked her for advice. This week she took me out to her favorite restaurant in el barrio de las letras. For 10.50 euros/each, we had a 3-course meal, including wine. Delicious!
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Warning: The following video features HORRIBLE audio courtesy of my iPhone. I can't remember what the song was - can anyone tell?
The metro in Madrid at midnight. Busier than rush hour! I took these photos right before it got crowded. At the next 3 stops, people got on, and no one got off. |
An update about my life would not be complete without a bit about my nephews. This is William dressing up as a Care Bear at his new pre-school in Seattle. I showed this picture to Teresa, who informed me that they also are familiar with the Osos Amorosos (loving bears) in Spain.
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Chocolate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bapO8qCaDyk
Una en un millon, my favorite, just the song, no video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQfRceHDt9U
I will start teaching at the elementary school this Tuesday, October 1.
If you would like to text me for free at my local cell in Spain, just download What's App Messenger. In Europe, todo el mundo uses it. :)
Notes/preview for a future blog:
Difficulty with eating/sleeping schedule
Friendly middle-aged women in Madrid: Isabel, taxi share, other piso landlady Arancha
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