Real Madrid vs. Malaga

Alright, so here is probably my favorite and most exciting post so far! (sorry ambassador!)

Sunday, nine of us purchased tickets to go see Real Madrid play Malaga at their home stadium, Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, in Madrid!! This stadium was enormous and located right in the middle of the city!

Now I must comment on the efficiency of this building. First of all, it has its own stop on the metro and the city runs extra trains on the line during game days. Therefore, nearly everyone takes the metro to the game, causing little to no traffic. When you enter the building, all outside drinks and food are allowed inside except for liquor. The only hassle is all bottle caps must be removed from beverages before entering the stadium. Because most items are allowed inside, bag checks are minimal and people flow very quickly into the stadium. Gillette could learn a thing or two from this! We were in our seats within ten minutes of exiting the train! And after the game, we were home within the hour by the metro.

Another thing to mention about the stadium...All beer inside the stadium is nonalcoholic. Of course, this being the combination of the World Series, the Superbowl, and the NBA finals all in one and the drinking age being eighteen, I believe this is a rather intelligent decision by the owners. Also, because of the meal times in Spain, only light food is sold inside such as peanuts and chips.

So the game. It just so happened that this Sunday was a league game...meaning Cristiano Ronaldo was playing! And trust me, he did not let us down. He definitely stuck true to his critics, making over dramatic falls and rolling around on the field in "agony" (he even sprawled out as though making a snow angel). He was quite the entertainer! However, there was also something to be said about his soccer, or futbol i should say. Ronaldo also scored the only two goals of the game, gaining a W for the home team!

Shockingly, he also received a red card during the middle of the second half for hitting another player in the face and breaking his nose!! The details...

Cristiano had the ball and was making his way down the field, while an opponent was attacking him from behind. As is common in European futbol, the Malaga player was tugging on Ronaldo's shirt. In attempts to get the player off his back and let go of his shirt, Ronaldo swung his arm behind him. Unfortunately, the Malaga player had his head downwards watching the ball and received Ronaldo's arm to the face. With just enough force, the Malaga player was down for the count with a broken nose.

Now, usually a red cards means a player is out for the rest of that game, as well as the following league game. However, the big controversy here in Madrid and the reason this game has been headline news all week is, because the injury was so severe, they are making Cristiano Ronaldo's suspension two league games rather than one! People have been up in arms over this decision, often comparing this to a similar situation with Messi a while back who only received a one game suspension. The funniest commentary I was told from a fellow student was one of the coaches stated that refs should be more lenient towards the certain players who provide a large portion of the entertainment! haha

Even though we had nosebleeds seats (no pun intended), we could not have been happier with our game selection! This was definitely the game to see of the season thus far! =)

Corner Kick

THE INJURY!
The girls at Real Madrid!
The inside of the stadium! (its gigantic!)
The Stadium!

Oh and I do have several videos, including a Cristiano Ronaldo free kick! =P

Palacio Real

Hey guys! Sorry for the huge gaps in between my posts! Things have been a little crazy here.

In order to properly catch you all up to date, I am going to make individual posts for each event throughout the past week. Just a forewarning...there are lots of photos! I will keep my posts limited with photos, but when I come home there will be a very long slideshow to see!

Last Saturday a group of us girls decided to get out and see the key tourism spots of Madrid. Our first selection was el Palacio Real. It is the Versailles of Madrid! The royal family use to live in this palace until about fifty years ago. Although it was not nearly as impressive as Versailles, it was still quite a sight to see.

It is very interesting to walk throughout the rooms of the palace because as you move from room to room, the development of the building is extremely evident in the decor. At times, it often seems like certain rooms don't even belong in the same palace! Unfortunately we never saw bedrooms and no photos are allowed inside the building; however, I have plenty of images of the outside as well as the outside of the royal family's church located right next door.

Images:

Royal Church (under renovation on the left wing)

The Courtyard

(I don't know where my other photo is but from under that bridge you lookout into the countryside. I imagine its quite breathtaking in the warmer months)

The Palace

(Looking from inside the courtyard)

The Main entrance

(This is not where visitors enter the palace. I couldn't find my full length photo in the folder, I must have misplaced it. If you look at the lampposts, those little white balls are actually decorated to look like soccer balls!)

Me and the Embajador!

Sorry for the delay. I had to upload it at work.

Coming soon......Real Madrid entry!

First Time Feeling Like a True Outsider

Normally I would not post anything about a random night out with the girls but last night was an important learning experience that I feel must be shared.

So last night...

We decided as a group that we were going to this discoteca called Pacha right in a popular area of the city. After finishing our McDonald McFlurries around 12:30 a.m. (this is still early for people to go to clubs), we decided to make our way to the area of the discoteca.

A train was arriving just as we reached the bottom of the stairs at the station, so we all quickly made our way into the car. As the doors were about to close, a group of six people pushed their way into the car, compressing us like sardines in a can. While waiting for the train to pull out of the station, one of the men glared at me and hurried to pull his bag into his tight embrace. I was aware that this man was slightly suspicious, so I refused to reach up and hang onto the bars for standing guests. Instead, I hugged my wallet (acting as my purse for the evening) and used the people around to me to stay standing if I was about to fall.

Just as we neared the entrance to the next stop, I heard a guy to my left yell at my girlfriend and push her. She yelled back at him, but he merely mimicked her words in English, saying "fucking step on foot". Other passengers simply watched. We all rapidly exited the car at the next stop and checked our belongings. Turns out my friend had caught one of the men with his hand on her wallet and she yelled at him. He had managed to unzipper her bag from behind and slip his hand in without her noticing. What she had felt was another man touching her upper thigh, and as she turned, she caught the thief. After she caught him, another man in the group started a fight with her in order to distract her (She had not actually stepped on his foot).

Unfortunately, they had managed to swipe another one of the girl's wallets in our group. Although the flap of her purse was facing her, her bag was still low enough for them to reach in without her feeling them.

Here is what we have concluded about the way these thieves strategically accomplish these dirty acts:

1) They travel in large groups. On our train it was about six of them.

2) They wait for trains they know they can crowd so they are easily up against other passengers.

3) Obviously Americans are easy targets.

4) They divide and conquer groups they see.

5) They are very good at what they do. They know how to get in your purse and get out without you feeling it, while only grabbing your wallet and nothing else.

6) If you happen to catch them, other members of the group will attempt to start a fight with you to distract you.

7) Other people on the train will not help you. Period. No one cares if it isn't them.

8) It is not uncommon for men to push or hit women...so don't expect another man to stand up for you.

No matter how long we are here, how well I speak Spanish, or how well I dress like a Spaniard, I will still always look like an American. This is by no means a bad thing because coming here has made me realize how proud I am to live in the states, however; it does mean that I will always be a constant target and I must be more cautious than the average traveler.

Now that we know what to look for and ways to protect ourselves from it, it will be easier to prevent our things from being stolen. This doesn't mean it still won't happen unfortunately. One of our teachers explained that they even attempted to rob her, and she is a tall, rather intimidating Spanish native. They will never stop attempting to gain quick cash, so we can never truly stop guarding ourselves. This is unfortunately one of the aspects of living in a foreign country with a different way of life. We can't let our fear of it control us, but we can learn from it and start to learn how to live the way the Spanish do.

Boy does this make me miss the T!

FITUR

Hey everyone!!

So this week has been unbelievably intense! I almost don't know where to begin...

Monday:

I had my job interview at 10:30 a.m. at Junta Castilla y Leon, a small tourism office near the Retiro Park in Madrid that promotes traveling to the Castilla y Leon region of Spain. I arrived around 10:15 a.m. and by 10:30 my boss (Rafael) already had me walking out the door to a convention! This week happened to be the biggest week in the tourism industry for Spain. Every year Spain hosts a convention called FITUR where countries around the world set up booths to draw Spanish travelers to their country. This convention is by the most extravagant thing I have been to! They used about six exhibit halls, which took up about the size of the North Shore Mall. Below I've posted photos of some of my favorite booths.

Monday through Wednesday were also my classes. Normally I will work from 9:30-2 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and then have class from 4-7 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and from 5-8:30 Tuesdays. This week, however, with the convention I was working until 3/4ish and running to my classes! I will greatly enjoy my relaxation between work and class this week

Wednesday:

I walked into work on Wednesday and upon my arrival the four of us in the office had "breakfast" (a piece of toast and coffee or tea) over our daily meeting. (I also get breakfast at home before I head in. I eat two breakfasts, which is the only reason why I can make it to 2:30 p.m. until I lunch! lol) The meetings are slightly difficult for me to follow because they each randomly insert comments while other is talking. There was one major concept I did follow however. Wednesday, Rafa asked if it would be okay if he called my professors and excused me from class. They were going to have a meeting with a very big client from the US and they wanted me to translate for them! This piece of business alone was likely to bring in close to $7,000 and was extremely important. Now, of course, only being in Spain for less than a week, thinking of having to translate for a major business deal for them was rather frightening! They continued to discuss the plan in which they would approach the Americans (which I found rather amusing since it was a strategy to approach us on a cultural matter).

When we arrived at the convention, we walked over to the American booth. While waiting for the client I was informed that the client was not just any traveler, it was the United States ambassador (ambajedor) to Spain!! The ambassador, only having been in office for two weeks, speaks very little Spanish other than "hola" and "adios" haha so my job was rather important.

The ambassador eventually made it over to our booth to express interest in a particular religious walk, "Camino de Santiago" , that has turned into more of a tourism attraction than a religious ritual. Anyways, once at our booth, it became a big issue to have me meet the ambassador personally (being a US student studying in Spain) rather than discussing work matters! In fact, I was in nearly half of the photos with them! haha. Turns out the ambassador and his wife are from Boston, having lived in Brookline for a few years, and is a very big Sox fan! Fortunately the business transaction went just as well as far as my bosses were concerned, so that was a relief.

FITUR photos

America: (a little boring for me)

Colombia: (they were also giving out free coffee!!)
My bosses: (Rafael, Esther, & Augustin)
My company's stand area (we had the whole back rather than a single stand)
Esther and the Tucan at Costa Rica
Galicia: a region in Castilla y Leon
Argentina
Costa Rica

This weekend we hit up the Palacio Real and have done a little shopping =) I need to buy somethings in order to blend in around here...particularly boots! Tomorrow we are trying to go to the Real Madrid vs. Malaga game so hopefully that works out.

Hope all is well on the homefront! Love you all!

Almost forgot

My mailing address is at the Instituto:

Victoria Bean

c/o Boston University in Madrid

Instituto Internacional

c/ Miguel Angel, 8

28010 Madrid

Spain

(It's a lot I know)

I also purchased a cell phone; however it has yet to work. My number is 662006661. It's free for me to receive calls and texts. Placing them is another story lol

I will be taking three classes this semester:

History of Spanish Culture Monday/Wednesday 4-5:20 p.m.

Translation through Film and Theatre Monday/Wednesday 5:30-7:00 p.m.

Spanish Film Tuesday 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Carmen y papito

Hello everyone!

So yesterday was the big day when I finally moved in with my host family!! =)

Upon arrival at twenty-eight el calle de San Emilio, I proceeded to carry my fifty pound bag up three flights of stairs to my family's apartment. As I neared the last few steps, my host family came out of the apartment amazed to see I didn't use (what they thought was obvious)...the elevator. Oh well lol. Anyways, I live with grandparents in a cute little apartment in the more Allston area of Madrid. The woman's name is Carmen and her husband is Vincente (I believe), but Carmen calls him papito around me.They are very cute and extremely welcoming. Quite social I might add also.

Here are pictures of the house:

Hallway Right (entrance is off to the right)

Hallway Left (Kitchen off to left)
Kitchen

This is my room. It is much larger than I expected and quite comfortable. It's like having a dorm room inside my house lol

Timing in Madrid is extremely different than in the United States. Here, breakfast is around 9:30-10, lunch is at 2:30 pm and dinner is at 9:30 p.m. Bedtime isn't until about 2 a.m. lol They take lots of little naps and no snacking! And their diet is filled with jamon! (ham)

After meeting the family, it took a few hours to get the internet working so I unpacked and relaxed a little. The grandparents then gave me a walking tour of the area for about an hour, showing me the train stations and el estanco (a tobacco shop where you can buy stamps, load minutes onto your cell phone, and reload your metro card). When we came back to the house I finally got the internet to work and arranged dinner with my friends on the program. My host family provides me breakfast, lunch and dinner Monday through Thursday. Friday and Saturday I eat breakfast and lunch with them and then receive a stipend from BU for dinner. I returned relatively early for Spanish time in order to skype back home with the family and catch up on events back home! My host grandparents came in later than I did, around 1:30 a.m., from a family birthday party! Much different than at home.

Today, my program met at el Parque de Retiro, which is the Central Park of Madrid. It was beautiful; however, photos will come later in the semester when the weather is nicer and the flowers are in bloom. Today, as well as the past few days, is overcast and drizzling. This is the most rain Madrid has had in a while. Madrid is more of a desert...very dry. Most of us in the program are from the east coast, so we are all use to the moist weather. We feel as though we are dehydrated. Every meal we seem to go through at least one large glass bottle per person!

Later today I am going shopping at el Corte Ingles (the scale of Harrods with more reasonable stores like our malls, as well as small grocery stores and staple types of stores). Basically your go to for all things shopping!

Tonight...preparing for a big day tomorrow!! Interview for my internship at 10:30 a.m., then my first day of classes starting at 5 p.m.!! I'll check in with you then!

Happy 50th Anniversary Grammy and Grampy!! =) Wish I could be there to celebrate!!

a world without cellphones

So I have been in Madrid for what feels like an eternity and I finally remember what it was like to live without cell phones....and I don´t miss it. lol Yesterday (which contained the 13th in boston and the 14th in madrid as one continuous day) felt like an eternity!

First off, leaving at security was a mess...emotionally anyways. I guess I didn´t realize how hard it would be to continue walking out of sight as my parents were waving at the gates behind me. (Good thing I didn´t go to GW or I´d have to do that every semester!) After pulling myself together and waiting for a delayed flight (yeah my flight didn´t start loading passengers until 630), I spent six hours rather uncomfortably attempting to sleep on the plane. Surprisingly the food was very good, so that made things slightly easier despite my "sick" landing.

After that I successfully made it through customs and into the other terminal via "el verde autobus", as described by the airport attendant, and waited for the group flight to arrive.
All 84 of us successfully made it to the hotel rather jetlagged and eager for communication access to back home. Unfortunately, the hotel internet is not strong enough to hold a connection so none of us have internet access. Additionally, our cellphones (which we purchased eagerly) are not activated for 24 hours we discovered to our dismay hours after purchasing them. Thankfully, today orientation is at the college so I found a computer lab!

We attempted to sleep for a few hours after our shopping; however, that decision was a fail, making us more tired for the evenings events. The evening was spent discussing our nonfunctioning cellphones and details of our classes.

Last night a group of us went out to celebrate a student´s 21st birthday/find our way around the city with the help of a female student in her second semester abroad here. There are lots of solicitors trying to pull you into their bars and we´re pretty sure they put in the "gringo" cd the second they got us inside, but all in all it was a pretty fun/early evening.

This morning was an early rise. It doesn´t light out here until about 830 or so in the morning so it is very difficult waking up. Our day started off right at the instituto after breakfast and this is where we have been all day in numerous orientation meetings, getting organized and loaded with information. Thank goodness a friend and I toured the building after our last meeting and we discovered this computer lab the professors have been talking about! No one is here but us, and we are oh so happy to have internet access for the first time in days! There is no other way to make American students abroad in Madrid happier than providing them internet access for longer than 5 mintues lol

So it is currently504 pm here (idk where the colon key is on this spanish keyboard) and it is still very strange thinking that back home it is six hours earlier. It is making it rather difficult to communicate in ways other than email, but at least I have found communication!

I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you all terribly and can´t wait until I can update again for you! =)

This is it!

So it is roughly a quarter past ten in the morning of DDay and I have just finished the last episode of Charmed (which if any of you have spoken to my family in the last week I would like to state that I am not "obsessed" with the series, merely determined to finished a beloved show within a deadline). Just like when I finish other series I watch for long periods of time back-to-back (a.k.a. Dawson's Creek), I am in slight shock that it is finally over and there is no new episode for me to move onto. Except today is different. Although it is strange that there are no more demons left for the sisters to vanquish or family to save, I realize that my real adventure in Spain is about to being in less than 24 hours. I have said most of my good-byes and received many blessings from loved ones in the past week; however, it has yet to hit me until now that my dream of going to Spain is finally about to happen. I have spoken for years about eventually studying abroad in Madrid, so the past few weeks have seemed more like me rambling on about this future trip that never seems to come rather than this flight in eight hours lol I am excited and nervous, which is to be expected. The airport good-byes will be difficult but walking out of the airport in Madrid should make most of my hesitations disappear. All in all, this will be a semester I will never forget and I can't wait for what's to come!

Thank-you to everyone for your support, wishes, and generosity! It means the world to me! =)

Love always...