Week 2 in Madrid

[7:20pm, my home-stay apartment]

I’ve been in Madrid for a week and a half, and I’m loving every minute.   Today was the last of our daily intensive language course and Spanish History/Art/Politics seminars at our university.  The language course introduced us to colloquial Spanish words and phrases (“Es la leche”, “Son guiris” and “Tiquismiquis” to name a few of my favorites) as well as reviewed the common Spanish grammar (they use “vosotros” here, unlike we’re taught in the US).  Plus, our profesora went a little off the required curriculum one day and taught us all the naughty Spanish phrases.  One of the G-rated curses translates to “you’ve got that bad milk” (Spaniards really enjoy talking about their milk).

In my free time, I’ve been touring the city and trying to live the Spanish life: hitting up different neighborhoods at night (Sol, Chueca, Plaza de Espana, Gran Via, etc.); taking bus and walking tours around Madrid; eating churros and chocolate on a Sunday morning; walking through the big el Rastro flea market; watching Real Madrid lose twice to Barcelona at local bars with angry Spaniards; eating 1euro bocadillos and drinking 1euro cervezas and sangria at the popular 100 Montaditos; strolling through the beautiful Retiro Park two blocks over; playing outdoor basketball as the sun sets; talking to a Spanish cab driver who thinks all Americans carry a pistol in their glove box; and of course taking the occasional afternoon siesta after eating lunch with my host parents.

Upcoming scheduled events: tomorrow night we’re going to watch a flamenco show; on Monday we begin choosing and auditing classes; and next weekend some of my friends and I are taking a trip to Interlaken, Switzerland.

Here’s some interesting things I’ve witnessed so far:

-The Spanish tradition of Botellon (drinking in the streets) is not nearly as common as you may have heard.  In fact, it is illegal to drink in public, and the police have apparently been cracking down in the past few years, issuing 150euro fines to violators.  Because most parks in the city are now closed at night, the most common way to Botellon is to walk around with Fanta cans.  

-Religious practice in Spain is not what you may expect: over 90% of the people are baptized Roman Catholics, but less than 1 out of 5 attends church at least once a month, and over 50% regard themselves as non-practicing. Being baptized has more to do with the national identity, being a “Spaniard”, than is does with being “religious”.  One comment I read said that people are baptized in Spain for the sole purpose of not being identified as a Moor. (Side note: Only some 14,000 Jewish people live in all of Spain).

-Also interesting is Madrid’s view of itself in relation to the rest of Europe.  Madrid is one of the top five “Centres of Commerce” in Europe and a major city for foreign investment and international business.  And yet, nearly every day I read comments in the local newspaper saying things like “I guess we’re the idiots of Europe” and “Once again doing the ridiculous”.  Madrid, it seems, still has much of its history to get over before a sense of national pride and global prominence fully emerges.

Quick fun facts:

-There are 25 or so bears in Spain, in the north.

-There’s a worrisome number of blind people using the metros.

-Madrilenos love their tiny dogs, fur coats, and Spotify.  

-My host dad was not very happy about the Megaupload website shutdown; Spain happened to make more searches for the file-sharing website than any other country in the world.

-The results of the South Carolina primary were the second biggest headline on El Mundo, Spain's largest digital newspaper, second largest printed newspaper (another story mentioned the banning of beards for Disney employees).

I have enjoyed all the comments and emails I have received from everyone.  Keep it up: charliemegaman@yahoo.com

I've made it to Madrid

[4:35, my home-stay apartment]

I've made it to Madrid, and so far I'm loving it. The nine-hour flight here went quickly and smoothly, except for the inability to turn off my overhead light and only getting an hour or so of sleep.There was complimentary beer on the flight so I thought it was only appropriate to begin my European journey by saying cheers to the Spaniard beside me and enjoying a cold can of Heineken while crossing the Atlantic.

After landing in Madrid, I was immediately taken to my new home for the semester: a cozy apartment in one of the wealthier areas of Madrid, very near the heart of the city, two blocks from Madrid's largest public park (Google Map of my Home-stay). My home-stay parents are both very nice; they've been hosting BC students for the past twenty years. The dad, Lalo, (65 or so) is a painter/art teacher with a studio down the street, and he looks and acts very much like a cartoon version of a Spanish painter with lots of hand gestures and facial expressions (Picture of Lalo). The mom, Maria Jose, teaches computer science and loves to play board games and cook. And they have two daughters in their late 30's who live in Madrid and have children of their own: one is a bilingual (Spanish-English) language teacher, the other is a psychiatrist/former professional ballerina.

As for adjusting to Spanish, its been smooth sailing so far. My roommate and I are both Hispanic Studies majors and both parents speak little English, so in the house its Spanish 24/7. But I'm able to understand surprisingly most of what they say, and they seem to understand my roommate and me without problem. Plus, my home-stay parents love to talk, especially the dad, so we just ask them a question about politics, culture, movies, etc. and let them do most of the talking for awhile. 

The apartment itself is pretty small, with a kitchen and bathroom not much bigger than arms-length in both directions, but my room is rather big with a large window that overlooks a popular street (see photos). However, the bathroom is shared by both parents, my roommate and I, and our shower contains only a hose without a holder above, so we must hold it over our heads when we shower.





Spaniards don't eat typical large, American breakfasts with eggs and bacon. Rather, our host-mom serves two pieces of toast, a cup of coffee (very strong Spanish coffee), and a old, tin box of Kellogg's cereal with room-temperature milk (something to get used to). Then we will have lunch together every day at 3pm and dinner around 8:30pm; we sit down with at least one of our home-stay parents for both meals, and we talk and eat for nearly an hour each meal, everyday.

Another fun fact about eating habits in Madrid: they serve beer, wine, and liquor in our university cafeteria. There's no central heating in the university buildings so when its 30 degrees outside and 40 degrees in the classrooms, as it was on Monday, it only makes sense for students to warm themselves up in other ways.

I hope to have some more pictures up later this week. Hope all is well in the U.S.

Carlito Hombrefrito

On my way to Spain

[3:15pm, Sojourner’s café in the Atlanta airport]

Today is the start of my seven-month study abroad trip to Madrid, Spain.  I depart Atlanta at 6:45pm and arrive in Madrid at 2am central time, 9am Madrid time.  If I can’t get some good sleep on the plane, tomorrow could be a very long day.  But I’ve got an aisle seat, and apparently we’ll be watching “Moneyball” and “The Smurfs” movies on the way there so things are looking good.

I will be enrolling in Universidad Complutense de Madrid (http://portal.ucm.es/en/web/en-ucm), which is Spain’s oldest, largest, and most prestigious public university (check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complutense_University_of_Madrid for a review of its history, academic offerings, and famous alumni, such as Albert Einstein).  At the university I plan to take courses which count towards my Psychology and Hispanic Studies majors, as well as one or two additional courses to augment my immersion in foreign culture or just for fun.  However, this being a “Boston College Program”, I must still complete the same amount of work as I would at BC: I must take a full 5-course workload, and my semester grades will affect my cumulative GPA.  But I have 4 weeks before classes begin, so I’ve got some time to drink in the streets, coquetear con algunas españolas, and explore Madrid before getting back to cognitive dissonance theories and the subjunctive tense.

I’ll be 4,000 miles from most of my friends and family in the U.S., but I won’t be lonely. Over 100 other BC students are going to be studying abroad in Spain this semester, most of them in Madrid, and about 30 are in the same university as me.  (Nearly 50% of all BC students study abroad; 8 of the 12 people I shared a house with in the fall will be abroad this spring: 5 of them at other universities in Madrid).  And I’m sure I’ll run into a familiar American more than once along the way. 

I plan to update this blog frequently with posts and pictures. Please comment below or email me with any comments or questions; I’d love to hear from y’all.

Email: charliemegaman@yahoo.com