The Iceberg

Last week we had a cross-culture workshop, in which we talked about culture shock and other issues that may arise when studying abroad. It was most interesting, and the woman who spoke to us, Claire, was very funny and made it a worthwhile experience for all of us. She explained several models for understanding cross-culture differences. The most interesting to me was The Iceberg.

The Iceberg has two components: those that are above the surface, and those below the surface. Above the surface are the things that you notice on an obvious level: that teenagers are expressing their affection very publicly; they have very unique senses of style; family relationships are very tight-knit; stores are closed for siesta from 2-4. And then there are the explanations which lie below the surface: after the fall of Franco, many things have changed in Spain. People have more freedom to publicly express feelings, without getting thrown into jail or being punished. Spaniards prefer a sense of community over individualism, and actions in this sense are judged in a very different way here. Eating at your desk in the US means that you are working hard and saving time by multi-tasking...eating at your desk in Spain makes people feel bad for you because you don't have time to relax and spend with your family and friends. Just think about the iceberg! There is always an explanation for things that you don't understand on the surface.

We also talked about the possibility of culture shock, and I admit that I had been worried about feeling afraid or frustrated when I cannot understand what is going on around me in a new country. But after nearly 6 weeks (wow, time flies!) I have not experienced any discomfort being here in Madrid. I feel completely at home, and love most things about this city. Well, here are some of my likes and dislikes:

Like: McDonald's McFlurries are much better here--they use hot fudge! I'm bringing this idea back to the states...

Dislike: The bathrooms are almost all disgusting. Unless you are in a nice piso or a very fancy building, the toilets are dirty, there is never toilet paper, only cold water runs in the faucets, and there is never a way to dry your cold, wet hands. Most unpleasant experience.

Like: You can get beer anywhere, at any time of day, even the school cafeteria. Even McDonald's serves beer...so as you can see, McDonald's of Spain is superior to that of the states--I always thought Mickey D's was an American thing...but the Spaniards have really got it down...

Dislike: People here naturally stare at you for longer amounts of time. You know...that once-over, full-body inspection that often times leaves you feeling a little like your personal space was invaded. But the plus side of this is that I think you are allowed to stare back--or at least I do.

Like: The Metro system! A fun, miraculous invention. Whoever thought up moving tubes underground is a genius. Even after 6 weeks I am still so impressed with the Metro system and the public transportation in general, and I'm pretty sure that Madrid must have the most efficient ways of getting all over the city. It is a wonderful change from driving long distances in the suburbs of Minnesota in order to find things to do.

Dislike: (Some) People have little to zero sense of personal space, and think they have the right to invade your space. The personal bubble is smaller here, but don't worry, we were told we are allowed to take a step back if we feel immensely uncomfortable. And there are many people on the streets who think being weird and creepy is acceptable.

Like: EVERYTHING ELSE! I love being surrounded by culture. Real culture! I didn't realize how much culture could exist in one city until I left the Midwest! (No offense to the states...) But Madrid is just an intriguing, beautiful city. I couldn't have picked a better place to study! It has many things to offer--and the latest, favorite place is El Parque de Buen Retiro.

This is the Palacio de Cristal at El Retiro--absolutely breathtaking! As are all of the sights in this enormous park! I now know where I will spend a lot of time. There are lots of things to see, and many directions that the park can take you in. It is a wonderful place. There is even a little "lake", and you can rent row boats to take out~I plan to do this at least one time. And I highly encourage you all to come visit me in Spain to see the beauty for yourselves!!

Until next time :-)

Home Sweet Home

It has officially been one week in my new piso! In case you're unsure of this so-called piso, let me explain: there are no houses in Madrid. Every family lives in an apartment, some bigger than others, some nicer than others. And typically children, or rather adults, live at home with their parents until the age of 40. But some people say that there are Spaniards who really brave the world and leave home by age 28. Imagine that!

Anyways, I found my piso compartido, which is basically a floor that you share with other residents, with much luck, and love it thus far. I'm glad to call it home for many reasons...

a) In total there are 8 tías (girls) living here...Jessica from Colombia, Bárbara from Brazil, Nadia from México (who now needs a roomie), and then there are my friends Alex and Breanne from UW-Madison. And Sonya, my other half, will be moving in at the beginning of March. And I, of course, am the 8th resident here. And this is great because the other international students are wonderful, helpful, funny, and refreshing. And my friends from my program are loveable and comforting. Basically the best. Obviously we speak in spanish with our international roomies, and we attempt to speak spanish most of the time that we are together at home...I've been trying to push it lately because I feel lame when I speak in english! I hope to eventually eliminate english from my life in Spain...


b) Sonya and I did indeed push our beds together, creating a more spacious place to convene. This is a great aspect of this piso because it reminds me of home. As strange as it sounds, my friends and I like to just hang out on my bed at home, because it is big and comfy...and although this bed is less comfortable, well, we still like to hang out here! We don't have a living room in this piso, just our bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a kitchen--and in international student housing like this, the kitchen is the typical place to convene. But as you can imagine, our bed is far more popular. Plus we have the biggest bedroom since it's a double, so there is room for all of our friends to hang out here!

c) Location, location, location! We live literally 10 steps outside of the San Bernardo Metro stop. It is convenient, and so much closer to the University than my señora's piso was! I no longer have to walk through the park where a homeless man shouted at people and slept under trees and hid items in the bushes. Now I walk out my door, after greeting my loveable, friendly portero (doorman) Juan, see the spouting fountains, and hop down to la línea 4 en route to La Ciudad Universitaria. Plus, our neighborhood is close to all of the "student" neighborhoods, and in walking distance of Sol, the center of Madrid, as well as many other awesome things. You should be jealous about this.

Apart from moving into the new piso, classes have been going well. I still thoroughly enjoy my classes through the Reunidas program, but have been having a hard time figuring out how to get classes I need from Complutense into my schedule. There is a tricky rule about only 5 Reunidas students being enrolled in classes--and we all conveniently need to take the same classes in order to fill credits at our respective universities...and there are 100 Reunidas students. At least. A lottery system will determine our fate as far as deciding who gets to keep the classes that we all need...since I don't have the best luck in the world, you all better keep your fingers crossed for me! I didn't realize I would have to compete with my fellow Wippers (kids in the Wisconsin-Indiana-Purdue program) for both housing and classes! Either way I plan to make the most of my educational experience here in Spain. In addition to classes, I have been given an intercambio. I have yet to meet César, but we just got in contact with each other. An intercambio is a student who is eager to practice language, so we'll spend half of our time together speaking in spanish, half in english. Plus he might show me the "cool" parts of town or neat places to go. It will be an overall helpful experience.
←And this is Edificio B, where I take my classes! Just one building among many here--it is an enormous campus, and I have not yet explored it since I'm always in one building!

If I made it seem like I'm all work and no play...think again! I still have been enjoying nights out with friends. We went to La Champandaz, which looks like a cave, and tried one of their famous drinks--milk with some sort of alcohol..and some other mystery ingredients. Needless to say I will never try it again--although the milk did come out of the ceiling (which was cool), the taste was not desirable. We even left part of that 9.50 euro drink on the table. Unheard of! And on my first night in the piso, my roomies threw a big party which was incredible! I got to meet many people from all over Europe...and actually made it until almost 6am! Which is not an easy feat for someone who loves sleeping as much as I do.

Since I rambled longer than intended, I will spare you for now. But later this week I will fill you in on a few things I learned today in my Cross-Culture Workshop. It left me feeling even better and optimistic about my Spain experience! Talogo (how Spaniards say "hasta luego", meaning until later!)

A Wonderful Weekend

There are many, many things I would love to write about--we'll see how well I can randomly mash the latest happenings into this post...

The latest highlight: Sonya's arrival in Spain! It adds a whole new level of excitement to being in Madrid. I have already made some great friends here--people who I really get along with and love--so everything concerning this aspect is just wonderful! And now my best friend from home is here with me! It is exhilarating. And we had a very fun, interesting weekend here in Madrid. For the first time, I stayed out past 6am, waiting for the Metro to re-open (it closes from 1:30am-6am). I'm not going to lie--it was hard! I was very, very tired..with sore feet, but we were determined to make it all the way til morning so we didn't have to pay for a cab home (I'd rather spend that money on food later...). And it was an eventful night to say the least. Don't worry Mom--all of us girls stayed together & avoided creepers! And best of all, we had a lot of fun and made lots of memories that should last...

After recuperating our bodies on Saturday, we decided to head to the Rastro on Sunday morning, which is the ENORMOUS flea market that expands across so many streets in Madrid that it'd never be possible to see it all in one day! I fell in love with the Rastro--which is a mixed blessing. I know I want to go wander these streets every Sunday--but I also found a ton of great jewelry and clothes, which are going to be hard to resist...and there is literally anything you can imagine. Looking for car parts? Or an old, dusty remote control? Or somebody's used clothes or other junk?? The Rastro is perfect for you! The little side streets have more "junk" (somebody else's treasure?), and it is interesting to see just about everything there. But I mostly enjoyed looking at the uh, regular stuff.
I also had my first IKEA experience ever on Sunday. I've never even been to one in the U.S., and it was fun to see all that they had to offer. Sonya and I are looking for the cheapest bedding options for our piso. Planning to push our beds together so we can buy one set of sheets...innovative, right? I'm just realizing how many things I forgot to factor into my budget. I wish I had more money! But hey, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride...

On another note, I started my Reunidas classes last week. These classes are taught in spanish by spanish professors, but there are only students from study abroad programs--from different universities all over the United States. First of all, there is Dialectología--study of dialects...I think that it will actually be interesting, as long as I can stay awake for it. 8:30 feels much earlier here...And then I have my Composición class, which is just as it sounds--writing! And I am oddly very, very excited for this class because we get to write a descriptive, narrative, expository, and journalism paper--I'm leaving something out, but not sure what. And also personal stories. I just love to write in Spanish, so it should be really wonderful. And surprisingly I tested into the "higher level" class with all of the year-long students. There are only 4 of us "new arrival" students in this section, so I'm excited about that! And my professor seems pretty cool. And then there is my Literatura Española class. If it weren't for my professor, I'd be much less excited. I'm not crazy about lit classes! But my professor is young, and she absolutely loves what she does, so it will make the whole experience a lot better for all of us students. I got really excited to have a professor who outwardly expresses her passion for what she teaches, so I'm hoping to get a lot out of this class. I start my 2 Complutense courses within the next two weeks (classes with all of the real Spaniards--much more difícil!)

I must say that waking up at 6:45am in order to transport myself to class on time is not pleasant. Four days per week! Especially since the sun is still not up until I'm already at the university...but don't worry: on my way to and from class, or rather on my way to and from anywhere, I am greeted by a massive amount of babies and dogs. Two trends here that do not involve sagging-crotch pants, face piercings, or rat-tails/mullets. But yes, the latter are just as common...I'll try to capture some of the latest Spanish trends in some photos to share.

And as I continue to explore the city, I will share my experiences and thoughts. This is my last week living with my señora, so soon you'll be hearing about my piso experience! Hasta luego :-)

Three Weeks and Counting...

After a wonderful, fulfilling weekend in Cuenca, Spain, I have returned to the real world. Only the funny thing is--I'm in Madrid! It is far better than returning to the "real world".

My 3-day weekend get-away to Cuenca was better than I imagined. We spent two nights in a surprisingly clean/nice hostal, sleeping four girls in two twin beds pushed together...and in the other room, four boys, much larger than us, did the same thing. What good sports! Overall, we felt pretty lucky that we got a nice hostal. For a reasonable price!
As usual, we dined out--we even went to a Chinese restaurant. In Spain. If you ever feel that it is a sketchy idea, don't second guess. It is. I enjoyed the rice, which obviously had ham in it, since nearly everything here revolves around jamón. But the chicken--well, one bite was enough to tell I would not further enjoy it. But luckily, we did receive Happy Dent gum, whose strange flavor lasts all of 5 seconds, along with I ♥ NY keychains, and rings with heart-shaped beads. Oh, and free shots. So overall that meal was a success.

Saturday morning we visited La Ciudad Encantada (Enchanted City), where the wind has formed interesting shapes out of rocks..for example, La Cara del Hombre (man's head--seen to the left), the alligator fighting the elephant, ships, etc. Very interesting, and although it was bitterly cold, we all enjoyed the spectacle. Saturday evening we climbed up the mountainside to check out the view. The most worthwhile experience-it was the most incredible view I have ever seen. We stayed until the sun set, and let me tell you, pictures can never describe what I saw last weekend in Cuenca. Photos could never do justice for the beauty that lies in the valley below. I feel very fortunate to have visited this city!

We also visited the Museum of Abstract Art, located in one of these Casas Colgadas--hanging houses. I was personally more interested in the building itself over the art, as well as the god-given views from the windows. I know that my mother would have had the same interest in the intricate details on the doors and windows that seem to be everywhere we go! Mom--I think of you every time!

Anyways, that was quite the tangent, but I had such a lovely weekend in Cuenca that I wanted to share as much as I could. If only you could all come and see for yourself...

More to come on the Madrid experience!