Andando la Ciudad

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Yesterday we had off from class but had a tour of the Spanish Senate building (el senado) at 10 am. The Senate is only a few blocks away from the Royal Palace and the Almudena Cathedral. Our tour guide showed us the new room where they go when in session which was built in the 1990s. It has big screen TVs to show the vote tallies and there is a viewing section at the very top just like at our US Capitol. The parties sit together in a group in certain sections. The leaders of the parties sit up front risen up behind a large desk/podium. In front of them sit the legal advisers to make sure everything is following protocol. Then our tour guide showed us the old room where the senators meet, which looked very similar to England's Parliament with two sections of many long fancy benches facing each other. The tour guide said that this room is only used for special occasions, which is a shame because it had beautiful wood furniture and ornate decorations all around. Here they use switchboards to show the tally of the votes. After that the tour guide showed us a fancy room with four huge paintings, each depicting a famous scene in Spanish history. I had too much trouble understanding her to fully comprehend their meanings since the tour was entirely in Spanish. Then at the end of our tour we got a group picture and we received these really neat day planners with the Spanish seal on the front.

When the tour was finished our group broke up into smaller groups to get a snack since it was around 11 am. I went with Tom, Ellis, and Andres to a little cafe across from the Palace. As you could imagine, it was pretty expensive so I decided to wait to try something from the cute bakery between my house and the metro and just sit and talk with them instead. When I got off the metro I got a delicious chocolate pastry. Mmmm. I ate it as I watched the Spanish version of Wheel of Fortune on Patricia's little TV in the den area. Then I started to take a nap, but Patricia came in knocking on my door and freaking out. I had washed my dishes from breakfast and hadn't eaten lunch yet because I wasn't hungry after the pastry and she forgot I went to the Senate tour, and so she thought I hadn't eaten all day and was sleeping until 3 pm from the night before because I was sick. So much for my nap, but at least I know she cares. Haha.

When I woke up around 3:30 pm and wanted to check out the supermarket a few blocks away named Alcampo. Boy, was that an adventure. It was the biggest supermarket I've ever seen! It had a huge selection of food in addition to clothes, mattresses, electronics, books, CDs, you name it! I'm going to love this place. I bought what I think are snack bars, a hair dryer on sale for 15 Euros (the plus are different here in Europe, plus American ones have too high voltage), and a Special K cereal I've never seen in the US (flakes with yogurt clusters, dried cherries, raspberries, and strawberries..mmm).

After I dropped my stuff off I decided to finally make use of the great Madrid guidebook that Reese gave me as a going-away present. I started to browse through all of the cool places to visit and came across 3 different walking tours with maps and points of interest with pictures and descriptions. The map also had guides to El Escorial and Toledo, both of which I visited this weekend, which was cool. I should have brought the guide book along but I ended up seeing everything they mentioned anyway, so it was ok.

I decided to do the 90 minute walking tour of Chueca, the area where I had gone out before to bars with friends. I thought it would be cool to go in the early evening and try to get to know that part of the city. I learned that as Spain transitioned to democracy after Franco, Chueca became a place for trendy bars, clothing stores, and restaurants. The gay community has become a large presence there as well. I kind of think of compare Chueca to DC's Dupont Circle. The tour was really fun to do although a little difficult at first to orient myself with the map once I came off the metro. I went in one cute boutique and tried on some clothes since everything in the store was 1/2 off. I actually walked past places I had already seen and so it was good to connect the places all together and learn some history about the old buildings and churches. The guide also pointed out the hip bars and clubs along the way.

Then I took the metro at 8 to be home in time for dinner. I forgot to mention that in Madrid there are a lot of musicians playing or singing on the trains. People will just roll a little speaker system on wheels and start to sing. The instrument that I had seen most often by FAR is the accordion! There are accordion players everywhere! But last night I saw the best act of all: four men playing together. One was on the accordion, one on a clarinet, one on a saxophone, and one actually was playing a bass. They did a great rendition of Joplin's "Entertainer" and then moved on down the car. Usually the performers can be really annoying (one man played this flute contraption that looked like something out of a fairytale- totally weird) but their jazz was awesome!

For dinner Patricia made me mushrooms with eggs, cous cous with veggies (there is an actual Spanish word for it but I forget it), and a wonderful chicken broth with veggies. It reminded me of the chicken noodle soup from ABP but was ten times better. Yum. Then I had a banana for dessert and finished my homework.

Today I was back at class. Language class was pretty entertaining as we went over grammar and then colloquial expressions and slang words used by the people here. We also read an interesting article for homework about the independence of Spanish youth and had a cool discussion comparing and contrasting their lives to American teenagers. Today's culture class was my favorite we've had so far. We did a quick recent history of Spain and discussed politics here. I learned that since Franco's death Spain has abolished the death penalty, and that Franco did not allow civil marriages or divorces.

After class I went home and ate some of the cereal I bought. Then I started to research the different museums in the city with my guide book and the student discounts I can get at each of them using my student ID. The Museo Arqueológico Nacional looked interesting and I decided to go. It was free for everyone since they are remodeling the entire building. I didn't get to see everything because of the construction but I hit the main stuff. They exhibits were arranged by era/civilization and all had a lot of cool artifacts. I spent a little over an hour there and then walked around the city to get to know the downtown area better. I took lots of pictures of the huge Spanish flag in the main Plaza de Cibeles which looks so cool during the day and especially at night with the floodlights.

To kill some more time, I looked around in El Corte Inglés. I've discovered that there are different ones, and this one was specifically for school supplies, electronics, and had a huge selection of books. It was a few stories tall. The entire time I was there they played Springsteen on the radio. I think I read on the front of my metro newspaper that his new CD came out today. I left Jersey but I still cannot escape The Boss! I also stopped into the boutique I visited yesterday and bought a dress I really liked.

At 7 pm I walked over to a church I had seen on my walking tour yesterday, called the Iglesia de Santa Barbara. It was built in the Baroque style and is very ornate. The thing about the churches here is that there are usually people entombed INSIDE of them! A little strange. At mass there were less than 10 people and all were elderly people. It was nice, although sometimes I'd rather look at these old, famous churches than go to mass there because they seem like they belong to a different era. For example, most still have the guardrail between the people and the altar.

Then I came home for dinner. Patricia made delicious baked ziti (although she called it macaroni), cole slaw (which she called salad), and more of that chicken that looks like tuna (I sound like Jessica Simpson- "Is it chicken or is it tuna?"). I was so hungry because I couldn't bare to eat my sandwiches with the same stuff on them (yesterday she made me pbj which was good but then one with just bread and butter in between. What is that??). She asked me if I was hungry during the day and so I decided to suck it up and ask for something else for lunch. After class I had talked with Carmela about me being really hungry because the sandwiches are usually just two pieces of wheat bread with a spread, and with a light breakfast of tea and a piece of toast at 7:30 am and my big dinner not until 8:30 or 9 pm, the sandwiches just aren't cutting it.

Carmela agreed that I shouldn't have to eat sandwiches every day and that it wouldn't be impolite to ask for something else or for something that I could reheat or make myself. I told Patricia that I would like cereal as a snack (she had offered to get some for me before but never did because I requested Cheerios which she couldn't find here), and I told her I also thought a sandwich with meat and cheese would be better. I suggested ham and cheese and also turkey and cheese. She totally gasped at the latter. Spaniards are funny- the other Senoras will pack my friends one bocadillo with cheese and another with meat, completely separate. What would they think of the Subway commercials with 30 different meats, cheeses, toppings, and sauces piled on? They refuse to combine perfectly normal things! Anyway, she said we could go grocery shopping on Friday together. I also suggested that I could have leftovers for dinner the next day, but she kind of gave me a hard time about it because she said she works long hours (which is true and I understand) and sometimes uses the leftovers for another meal. Basically, it was a really awkward and uncomfortable conversation but I'm glad I had it, because as Craig pointed out this is my meal plan and I should be eating! Here's to better sandwiches.

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Photos

My mom's favorite movie.
Instead of "Groundhog Day" it's "Trapped in Time"

Comments

[Christine]

Good for you!
Good job asking for other food. I'm sure that you will look back and be glad you did! I feel like I am learning more about Spain just by reading your blog, which is awesome!