Oct 2005

Sunday morning i woke up much too early to the sound of my ever-so.obnoxious alarm clock (who decided that a sequnece of 3 screaming beeps, much like the fire drills at school, was an acceptable wake up call anyway??? They and I need to have a little heart to heart). Despite my reluctance wake up, as soon as I realized why the alarm was going off, I jumped my tired little tush outta bed and got ready. Not only was I going to go to Madrid to see a Real Madrid fútbol (soccer) game, but I was going to get to see Kiki, one of my future roommates, teammates, and friend!!! After a solid week of homesickness, I was ready to see a friend!

Sunday morning i woke up much too early to the sound of my ever-so.obnoxious alarm clock (who decided that a sequnece of 3 screaming beeps, much like the fire drills at school, was an acceptable wake up call anyway??? They and I need to have a little heart to heart). Despite my reluctance wake up, as soon as I realized why the alarm was going off, I jumped my tired little tush outta bed and got ready. Not only was I going to go to Madrid to see a Real Madrid fútbol (soccer) game, but I was going to get to see Kiki, one of my future roommates, teammates, and friend!!! After a solid week of homesickness, I was ready to see a friend!

So, onto the train I went at 8am on sunday morning and 2 hours later I was standing in the Madrid station and staring at the old station, bombed in March of 2003 by terroriest, and since then made into a sort of tropical garden and cafe as a memorial. While gazing, half in wonder at what exactly I was looking at, and half ridiculously excited to see Kiks, she popped up right in front of me. And like giddy school girls who just got a note from the cute guy in the back row we screamed with excitement and hugged....yeah, i kno, really mature...but hey, i miss my fam and friends!

From there, it was off to the stadium to knab some tickets for that nights game against Mallorca. Before heading to the Museo del Prado, one of Spain`s most famous art museums, and home to the works of Goya, Velasquez, a Rembrant, Rubens, Vecellio, and various other Italian, French and Spanish artists.

I am not a musuem person (if you can typify people as museum or non-museum people), let alone an art museum person, but considering I am in a country with a history in art almost as rich as Italy, it wouldnt be right to pass up the opportunity to see (what is essentially) culture on canvas. The work in the Prado are very representative of the significant events in Spain´s history, and the moments of pride in thier culture. Since it would take hours to describe (and most likely 16 cups of coffee for both of us) I will save you the play by play and run through my fav artist at the Prado: Fransico de Goya. Goya´s specialty is eyes and faces. He has painted many portraits, all of which share the same intense, clear, large and staring eyes. The eyes of all his subjects have this sort of piercing, almost enchanting feel, and you really do just have to (excuse the cliché) stare into their eyes. While his eyes are not so realistic, almost a little fairy tale or something, the way he captures bodies is much more realistic. He uses color very well to accentuate every part of the body he paints. Even the series of works known as the “Pintas Negras” (dark, grotesque, and graphic paintings), uses paint to almost illumintate the bodies. As a souvenir of my positive experience at the Prado (and yes, I would probably go back), I bought a slide of my favorite work by Goya, Cristo Crucificado, also the work that best exemplifies Goya´s almost romantic interpretation Christ on the Cross. Jesus´ body is posed, almost femininely, and it is the most innocent and peaceful depiction of Jesus. Its the most beautiful of all the crucifictions I have seen, and being in Spain, that’s saying a lot.
After the Prado we walked up to Retiro Park, famous for all the staues and sculptures littering the Central Park-like atmosphere. You can rent row boats on the pond, walk your dog, sit on the edge of a fountain, munch on some frutos secos (snacks), chat with your friends, take pictures, or just people watch (my visit was a combination of the later 5). Kiki, her friend Will, and I soaked up a beautiful day in Madrid on that bench. As much as I hate to let summer go, all the great weather, days on the beach, relaxation, friends with similarly vacant agendas, its days like Sunday that make me welcome the fall. A little brisk, slightly windy, trees rustling, people dog walking, colors changing...i love summer for all it means but autumn really is the most beautiful. Sitting in the park made me change my mind about Madrid. After my first visit to Madrid, I didnt really like the city. It is huge, dirty in parts (like most big cities), a little too crowded at times and slightly overwhelming. But on Sunday, when we leisurly made our way around, I absolutley loved it. Maybe it was that I loved the weather, seeing a friend, and learning to appreciate art and a new artist´s work, or maybe the city really was different. Who knows, but it was a day well spent.

THE GAME: As if the day wasnt good enough, we still had more things to do....the Real Madrid game. Real Madrid (the most famous of the regional teams in Spain, notorious for their star mid-fielder David Beckham, thier flashy all white home uniforms, and thier crazy fans), was not to be missed. Although their opponent, Mallorca, was no major competition (Real won 4-0) we got into the spirit purchasing the notorious “fútbol scarves” (you will know what Im talking about when you see it) uncapped our water bottles (mandatory as you walk in so that if the fans get rowdy and start to throw them they will be empty, or nearly empty that is), pulled out the digital cameras and climbed up, up, up to our nose-bleed, but still great seats. Having never been to a pro football game in the states (i know, real american of me, huh?) i cant actually compare the feel of it. But the sheer mass of people, crazy and loyal fans sporting thier teams´ colors and going crazy for goals, or for fouls was fabulous!!!!!!!!! Unfortunatly, 90 minutes later, the game was over (that was pretty much the only time i wished for ´football´ minutes) and we were hurded out of the stadium.

NIGHT LIFE...even on sunday. Our sunday night out on the town left nothing to be desired out of our trip to Madrid (except maybe some sleep). Our hostel that night was hosting a night out on the town for all the guests and we headed out with an obnoxious group of Austrian soccer players (too old to be staying in the hostel) and some other travellers from all over. 7 hours, 5 versions of “Tengo mi Camisa Negra”, two salsa dancing partners, and almost too much fun later, i was back at the hostel, showering, packing and heading back to the train station (note that its now 6am on monday morning) to catch my train to Córdoba. I got on and slept for the first time in 24 hours, setting my alarm to be sure I woke up at my stop. At 9:15am I rushed off the train, hailed a cab to school and at 9:30am was in my seat, with the rest of the (not so tired) students in my program. Needless to say, a siesta that day was nothing less than mandatory!

Madrid was exactly what I needed. I miss you guys so much...I think Kiki might be coming to Córdoba soon, which will, im sure bring more good times, but until then, i pretty sure i still have some sleep to catch up on.

If the weekend starts on Friday mornings, then my weekend was off to a horrible start…. This Friday there was no excursion for us, instead they filled the morning with another of my favourite activities: exams. On top of having to take an exam, they (being the ever-so-thoughtful UCO staff) decided to have just MY class arrive a half an hour earlier than the rest of the students, (I know, I was excited too). Two hours later it was over, and I was free to enjoy the rest of the day, and weekend.

After class, I decided to play tourist in Córdoba…you sometimes forget to do all the tourist stuff in your own town cause you either forget its there, or just assume it will always be there and you could technically go whenever so it gets put off. Since, I cant exactly say that either of those are true for me, I didn’t really have any reason not too enjoy the rest of the morning visiting the Sinagoga (synagogue) and Alcázar (castle and gardens). Lucky for me, lots of sights in Córdoba are free to the public on Fridays, which also meant battling the hoards of tourists that visit Córdoba. Although to us here, Córdoba seems pretty remote and far away from the rest of Europe, that distance doesn’t seem to divert the masses that arrive every weekend.

SYNAGOGA: The synagogue is the old synagogue in the Judería that is not in use anymore, if fact there is no active synagogue in Córdoba at all. It is one rectangular room with some ornate designs carved into the walls and around the few windows near the ceiling that provide the only light in the room. Its disappointingly not much to look at, and although there was a significant Jewish population in Cordoba over 1000 years ago, their culture and religion has been pushed aside for the richer and more grandiose Christian and Islamic influences.

ALCÁZAR: was actually the 3rd site on my list, but the museum about the history of bullfights was closed for `obras´ (renovations) and I found my way out of the labyrinth of streets, and popped out just north of the river and west of the Mezquita at Alcázar. The Alcázar de los Reyes Cátolicos, is the castle Isabel and Ferdinand built for themselves in Córdoba (although they never lived there together). The castle itself is only slightly imposing with two towers, which you can walk up, around and between. The more impressive part of the castle is found in the chapel where there are huge mosaics (not part of the original castle) that have been placed there and cover almost the entire wall of the Chapel. The sheer mass of a huge mosaic of black,white, and red tiles is pretty impressive. Still, the best part of the day was yet to come. I headed out to the courtyard and gardens and was greeted first by the large marble baths surrounded by flowers and flowing water (the Arabic influence) before walking past a roman column (remnants from some of the first developers of the area) into the gardens of los Reyes. Essentially a miniature version of the gardens at the Palace of Versaille, the ponds, flowers, trees, statues, and paths extend out from the terrace behind the castle. Mom, you would have loved this! It was so nice to see so many flowers in Cordoba, which are few and far between during the hot summer months. After taking a few pictures, establishing myself yet again as a tourist, I reluctantly left the gardens to browse the crowded streets before heading back for lunch.

FRIDAY NIGHT: This was the first night I would have considered myself to have acted like a true Spaniard. And by that I mean staying out until 6am. We headed to the Botellón en Jardín Victoria, the long narrow park running up the middle of the main drag in the Jardín district (where I live). Its here that I got to hang out with my American friends, but also meet more Spaniards and speak in Spanish....slowly but surely i WILL get better!!! (Si se puede, Si se puede: I think I can, I think I can!). After that, the discoteca was calling our name, so Cody and Chris and I, headed to Cortuva, one of the clubs in Córdoba. We danced the night away and before I knew it, the numbers were dwindling, exhaustion set it, and I was ready to go home!

SATURDAY: wasnt much of a day actually due to the fact that I slept all of the morning and a good chunk of the afternoon away before lounging around for the rest of the day....a complete lack of productivity: I love weekends!

SUNDAY: Sunday was great, and Ill tell you all about it....in the next entry!