As promised....

Pictures of Toledo

Sidestreets (This was the only one blogger would post in the correct position)

A painting in our last synagogue I really liked

This is by far the only way we got around in Toledo. The streets are so intertwined that the maps really aren't as helpful as you would think. Pluse because it was a Muslim city, all the houses are dull and ugly on the outside, the beauty is within. So its very hard to tell which rock building you are suppose to be entering haha

Panoramic tour of Toledo

Me!

Inside one of the synagogues. Those are herradura arches, a muslim design, inside a jewish place of worship!

The beautiful cathedral!

Toledo

I figured I would catch up on some blogging instead of reading my rather dull cinema packet...

Last Friday was our first group trip of the semester. At 9:30 a.m., all eighty-three of us piled into two large buses and made our way to the beautiful town of Toledo. The town is one of the only places in the world that at one point in time muslims, cristians, and jews lived together peacefully. From the architecture throughout the city, visitors can piece the timeline together and view the influence each group had on one another.

As we pulled into Toledo, we were all stunned at this beautiful, medieval town. Although it is small, Toledo is filled with history! There is a large catedral located near the middle of town, a monastery near the outskirts, and two synagogue to the southwest (I forgot how to spell this in English and had to look it up lol). Additionally, in between the two synagogues you will find the museo del greco, which is actually a house similar to El Greco´s that was turned into a museum. Unfortunately this museum has been under renovations for the past six months or so and we weren´t able to go in. We were able to go into the church which contains the famous painting, The Burial of Count Orgaz, by El Greco. We weren´t able to take photos (although one person did and I have yet to get ahold of it), so I have posted an internet version of the painting.

Now a little history on El Greco. El Greco, or "The Greek", was actually Doménikos Theotokópoulos; however, this was clearly too difficult to pronounce hence the nickname. He was a famous painter who is known for his dual scenery (depicting two different scenes within the same painting), realistic colors, and elongated figures. El Greco was very confident in his art and considered Michelangelo´s work on the Sistine Chapel somewhat unappealing. When El Greco heard of the construction of El Escorial in Spain (which I will visit later in the semester), he traveled to Spain in hopes of proving his talent within the chapel. Although he never painted in El Escorial, his work was distributed throughout many churches within Toledo, a major city at the time.

Now, The Burial of Count Orgaz. When you first view this painting, you notice the dual scenery almost instantly. Below is the count´s mortal death on earth surrounded by all his family and friends, while above is the count being welcomed into his new life in heaven. As you will notice, Mary sits just below the count´s spirit to the left and Jesus is to the right. Directly on each side of the count are two angels (I can´t remember their names at the current moment) welcoming the count into the afterlife. Just below the angel on the left you can spot a man holding keys dangling from a string...this would be Saint Peter.

The most interesting aspect of the death scene below for me would be the gentleman starting straight ahead in the painting. All the figures in the painting are concentrated on the count except for this one. This figure is actually a selfportrait of the artist himself. As in many works of art of this time, the figure staring straight ahead in the painting is the actual artist placing himself in his own work.

We also went into the catedral, which was absolutely stunning! And freezing I might add. Photos were forbidden in there as well; however, because little sunlight was able to filter into the catedral, I doubt any photos without flash would have given the catedral justice.

After our guided tours, we were given two hours of free time to roam the quaint town. Unlike Madrid, Toledo still follows the afternoon siesta, so many shops and museums were closed during our spare time. Therefore, we walked through the winding streets taking in the beauty of this ancient city.

As many of you have heard me complain about this week, the only downfall to Toledo was the streets. Because asphault was not readily available in the early seventh and eighth centry, the people used small, round rocks to construct their streets. Although pretty, this is not the most comfortable walking surface especially if you are wearing Converse senakers. Of course being the intelligent person I am, I neglected to pack my running sneakers due to lack of space. Therefore, by the end of the day my feet were in immense pain. During the rest of the weekend my feet continued to spasm in pain and yesterday I was forced to purchase new running shoes. (Which ended up being 120 Euro Nike sneakers because regular shoe stores aka zapaterias only carry boots fashonable sneakers without support.) My feet are starting to feel better, so hopefully in a week or so they should be back to normal!

I´m posting from work so I will put up photos later this evening, as well as a post about my afternoon at the Reina Sofia!

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!