Running of the Bulls

(I wrote this 3 days ago)

Today we woke up at the crack of dawn to go to Chinchón to see a mini running of the bulls. It was awesome!!! The big running of the bulls takes place in Pamplona and is a huge deal. People party beforehand and party for like 10 days straight afterwards. And when I say straight I literally mean 24/7. They do NOT sleep. The Spanish take their festivals and traditions very seriously. And they LOVE to party. On the first day of the festival (July 6) there is a huge celebration in Pamplona and during my morning class on that day we actually took a break and all went downstairs to watch the opening ceremony on the tv. There was literally a SEA of people. They have a bull run (encierro) every morning from July 7 to July 14. It attracts one million people each year!

The running in Chinchón isn’t as big of a deal as the one in Pamplona but it’s the same thing. Today was a holiday and everyone was off from work/school so it was still crazy. Chinchón is a cute little town, pretty much what you might think of as the stereotypical Spanish town. You know, white buildings with the red and brown roofs, Spanish flags everywhere, built on a hill, etc. The bus ride was beautiful to get there, right through the Spanish hills and countryside. I’m assuming they had partied all night (or at least from 6am, which is the tradition in Pamplona) because the town bars were all overflowing when we got there (around 8:45am). We got a decent spot to see the running, and it ended up being a point where the men would run into for safety just in case. We were near the end of the run where it meets the plaza. A rocket goes off to mark the beginning of the festival and another goes off to mark the release of the bulls. They were pretty loud and I always jumped when they went off!

The runners wear all white and wear red handkerchiefs around their necks. The runners today weren’t wearing that though. Each run took maybe 5 minutes each, since this town is fairly small. We were surprised that the street for the run was uphill and made of old cobblestone. It seemed really hard to get good traction! The main plaza of the town was transformed into the bull ring. After the bulls do the run through the town, they run into the ring where a mini bull fight takes place. I guess it’s not really a bull fight, it’s more like a ‘training session’ for the young men of the town. Well it’s more like a taunting session. A taunting of the bull. They just make them run around and get really tired. You almost feel bad for them. Someone told us that they kill them later in the afternoon. The run took maybe 10 minutes and the taunting was about an hour. We explored the town a little bit afterwards. Although everything seems dangerous to us, and yes the running is, the Spanish are raised with this. When we were walking through the streets after it ended, there was a group of little boys playing in the street running past us. It was like a game of tag, but the boy who was “it” had a pair of bull horns in his hands and was chasing the other little boys with them. The boys who were running even ran into the safety of the bars like the real men did in the actual running. These kids were so cute! The boys here are trained to do all these dangerous things with bulls right from the start. It’s natural to them even though it may seem so foreign to us.

My teacher ran today and guided the students in my class that wanted to run too. She’s so cute, her name is Elsa (Elsita). The whole thing was very exciting. Even though it wasn’t the main one in Pamplona, it was still so worth it. I think it was even better because Pamplona is so crowded that it gets out of control. Overall this was one of my favorite experiences here! Cross this off my life list!! :D

(PS- No one was hurt that I know of. There was one close call when one of the guys couldn’t jump over the wall quick enough and the bull was getting at his feet, but he was fine.)

This is the video I made of it!! 

Okay, I don't know how to make it bigger, so if you want to see it larger just click HERE

Spanish Cuisine

So let’s talk about food.

Spanish food: Ham, tapas, and wine. Seriously, everything they eat is some form of pork or ham. The pig is like a god here. They even have ham museums!! They drink wine (sangria or tinto de verano usually) with every meal. One night when Melissa, Sasshine, and myself went to the café near our campus and all ordered cokes, we were made fun of by the waiter. All in good fun, I guess. When we were there for ice cream the next day a different waiter jokingly said, “Quieres sangria?” (Do you want sangria?) as he passed by us. They must have been talking about us! We must be known as the lame American girls. Tapas are appetizers. They're pretty decent (although, they usually revolve around ham or potatoes). The only real Spanish dish seems to be paella, and there’s not much variety in it. Paella is basically rice, sometimes made with seafood or vegetables, or chicken. Usually seafood here. Anything else they eat is some form of potato or egg. They also eat ice cream here a lot, which is fine by me! The flan (Spanish custard dessert) that I tried at the dorms was disgusting. While we’re on that subject…

Dorm food: Salad and bread. That’s pretty much all we eat here. There is literally bread for every meal, and salad at every lunch and dinner. No, not salad. I meant lettuce. There’s a difference. At breakfast there is cereal and gross slabs of lunchmeat and cheese (which no one eats). Lunch and dinner usually have some kind of meat… wait, let me re-phrase that—some kind of pork. Lately we have been getting chicken more often because word has gotten out that everyone is sick of pork. The salad is usually plain, sometimes with olives, or mixed with tuna and random veggies. The good part is that…. searching for a good part….... hmmm….... ice cream on Sunday afternoons! Yay!

Needless to say, we like getting out into the city. We especially like finding places with great (American) burgers. Ham and paella are just a little bit old. Can’t wait for Italy!

(Side note about burgers: The McDonalds here is awesome. Legit.)

Week at a Glance

Let me give you a quick update. I've been so busy that I barely have time to post. Last Saturday a bunch of us girls went out to the city, shopping in the Plaza del Sol and eating at a sidewalk cafe (finally some real food). Sunday was church, dinner (again, REAL food) and the bullfight, which was incredible. One of the most thrilling experiences of my life. Monday through Wednesday were classes. Tuesday was fun because for my morning culture class we went to the Prado Museum (huge art museum) and for my afternoon class we did a walking tour of the city. Each person was assigned a place and had to do a little report on it when we got to it. It was a lot of walking (and so hot) but it was worth it. Some of us got ice cream after - AMAZING. Best and creamiest ice cream ever. Can't wait for gelato in Italy!

Thursday through Sunday we have had off for midterm break. After much planning and un-planning we decided to stay here in Madrid and do some day trips and see things here. Thursday we went to Segovia and saw the aqueduct, cathedral, and castle there. Loved the castle!! It was like a dream come true. Corny maybe but true nonetheless. When we got back we went swimming and hung out here in the dorms. On Friday five of us went to Valencia, a city on the coast. We saw the cathedral, ate paella (traditional Spanish dish that originated in Valencia), saw Berklee Valencia, and went to the beach. Swimming in the Mediterranean Sea!! It was great but it was so windy on the beach that we were covered in sand from head to toe. There were were tons of vendors from Africa/Morocco (and Spain) on the boardwalk and we did some shopping. It was very neat. The sea, palm trees, pink flowers, African music... a very fun time. It didn't really feel like Spain though, it felt like we were somewhere else entirely. They even speak a different language there (Catalán). You don't have to travel far to get somewhere that feels so different. My friends that went to Barcelona said the same thing.

Saturday we slept in because we got home around 4am (4 hour bus ride) and spent the day outside swimming and laying out, and later after dinner stayed in and watched Cars. We needed a day just to chill. Today (Sunday) I went with some girls to El Rastro, which is like a huge flea market. It goes on for many blocks. Lots of vendors selling things from clothes to antiques to artwork. I ended up buying a scarf for only 2 euro. We came back and had lunch, took a short siesta, and now are trying to do homework and study for midterms (UGH!!). Tonight at 9 for my culture class we are meeting for tapas (appetizers) and then going out to some festival at 10. Every night here is a late night, no matter how hard you try to avoid it. It just doesn't happen! It's the culture of Spain.

Recap: I love Spain.

(Okay, minus: Always feeling tired, eating the gross food that is served here in the dorms, having homework and classes, and having sunburn on my eyelids - who gets that?)

Let's have church!

 Last Sunday I went to the UPC church here in Madrid. I took a taxi there (my first time in a taxi) by myself. I went to the 10am service and then stayed for the 12:30 service as well. They have a 10, 12:30, 5, and 6pm English service. It was so much fun!! I loved the music and there was a great move of God. The AYC choir sang "Our God" - one of my favorite songs at the moment. The AYC was a group of about 50 young people from around the US, here on a missions trip for about 10 days. The Next Steps group is a different group that my friend Kyla is in, and they are here for two months, living at the Bible school here. They have about 12 people. It was nice that there were other young people from the states here! Both services on Sunday had an English translator.

Let me just say that it's a good thing that I bought a fan the day before, because I sure needed it! It was SO HOT in there. It reminded me of camp meetings at Watson Homestead (can I get an amen?!). AC or no AC, God was still there! The 12:30 service especially was really lively and I felt like I was at camp. It was great! The pastor - who reminded me a lot of my pastor - introduced me to one of the Next Steps girls, Natalie, who showed me around the Bible school and took me around the area. I got to practice my Spanish a lot at church with a bunch of the women there, everyone was so nice. They also cook for everyone after each service, and I got a 'helado,' which was more like a fruit icee thing than ice cream. Very tasty! Natalie took me down in the metro and showed me how to get home. I took the metro home and actually met a lady from the church on the metro going the same way as me, so I wasn't alone for long :) She practiced her English with me, and made sure to tell me about her son who is a doctor in Argentina...

Tuesday and Wednesday the church was having special services with the Hernandez family from San Diego. Yes, the same Kathy Hernandez that just spoke at our NY Ladies Conference in Buffalo! I was able to make it on Wednesday night and got to talk with her afterward (love her). She played a song on her sax, her daughter sang a song (so cute) and her husband preached. The service was great. He talked about the fear of the Lord. Even though there wasn't an English translator near me, I could understand most of what he was saying (yay!). Afterwards I was finally able to meet up with Kyla, and her, Natalie, and myself grabbed some food nearby and then took it up to their Bible school dorms and hung out with the rest of the group. I really enjoyed spending time with them. (Side note: I was the 4th Rachel in a group of 12...) When it came time for me to leave, some of the girls went with me to the metro and rode with me until I had to switch trains since it was about 12am. Ironically we ran into two boys from the church who were headed to the same stop I was, so again I didn't have to be alone at all. Isn't it amazing how God protects his children? :)

La Tuna y El Palacio

So I'm enrolled in two classes. One is called Art, Music, Folklore, and Traditions of Spain and the other is History of Spain. The latter is taught entirely in Spanish. This one is more difficult, seeing as I've never taken a lecture class completely in Spanish before. So far I've gotten the worst of my presentations over with - my coloquial presentation, which is where I teach my class for 10-15 mins on the new material for the day, and my informal presentation, where I get to pick any topic relating to Spain and report on it for 10 mins. For my coloquial luckily I got to teach about Christopher Columbus and the cultural Renaissance in Spain, and for my informal I picked La Tuna. What is La Tuna, you ask? Let me back up a little. 

For my first class (Art, music, folklore yadda yadda... I'll probably just refer to it as my culture class) we get to go out and do things in the city to help us better understand the Spanish culture. Thank the LORD, because sitting for three hours in that room is not cool. Literally. lol. The first 'activity' was actually held at our school in the teátro. La Tuna is a musical group usually made up of university students, performing traditional Spanish music, singing and playing instruments like the guitar, tambourine, mandolin, sometimes the lute, bandurria -- you get the picture. The tradition goes back to the 11th century I believe. The purpose of a Tuna was to win over the ladies that they had been courting. Needless to say the tunos (members of a Tuna) are very romantic. Or at least they try to be romantic. This particular Tuna had only 4 members in it and were a bit older, but they were still really fun. It was a great way to be introduced to the Spanish culture! I'll try to post a video below so you can get a taste of it. 

The next morning we had another activity: an outing to the Royal Palace! It was more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside :( but take my word for it, every room was ornate and gorgeous. There was not even one little hallway that was ugly. The throne room was my favorite, with red velvet walls, huge chandeliers, and silver embroidery on the walls. Every room had a fresco, a painting on the ceiling. Fact: The Royal family never sits on their thrones because they think it is rude if they are sitting while their guests are standing. (How nice!!) Fact #2: There are 2800 rooms in the Palace! We only saw maybe 15. Fact #3: The Royal family does not actually live in the palace (darn) because they think it is too big. But all the important meetings and such still take place there. Needless to say our visit to the Palace was incredible. It makes me wonder what Heaven is going to be like, where we will get beautiful mansions of our own!! :) I can't imagine walking on streets literally made of gold. What was cool about this trip was that I ran into a group of young Apostolics out in the courtyard! They were a part of AYC (Apostolic Youth Corps) and were here for about 10 days. It was pretty cool. More on that and my church outings later... For now, a picture:

Room Number, Please!

Okay first off, I forgot to mention yesterday (or whenever I last posted, all the days here blend together) about my little mishap at breakfast. I was cutting a roll, in my hand – I know, stupid of me – and I cut MY HAND! It was bleeding a lot so I went back to my room and fixed it up * Thanks Mom for the first aid kit * And now it’s fine. I’m just glad it wasn’t any deeper.

I feel like I have so much to write about and don’t know where to begin. Yesterday we went on the Madrid city tour, which was mostly by bus. We only got off twice to take some pictures, at the Plaza de España and the Plaza de Toros (where the bull fights are).  The internet here in my room isn’t that good; it’s better in the morning and then it comes in and out throughout the day. It’s very temperamental. Aka annoying.

Today was the first full day of classes and I can definitely see a daily routine forming. We go to breakfast at 8, morning class at 9:45, lunch at 1:30, afternoon class at 2:45 and dinner at 8:30. From 6 to 8:30 I have time to do homework, read, go outside, or sleep (yes, sleep – still adjusting). Also after breakfast there is some time to read or catch up with things online. I think I actually like how the meals are spaced out. Yes, I’m pretty hungry by dinnertime but it gives us time to digest and it fits with the feel of the day. What I mean by that is this: Tonight I went to dinner around 9:30 after I took a nap and it didn’t feel weird because the sun was still out. It doesn’t go down until maybe 10. And the whole place (the whole country, really) is so alive still. Last night was hard to sleep because it was SO LOUD. Outside, I mean. I was woken up around 2:45am because a group of young Spaniards were being obnoxious outside our building, shouting for us to come down (literally “PLEASE COME DOWN!!!”) and shouting “ROOM NUMBER PLEASE!!!” at the top of their lungs. Trying to get in. This went on for a good 20 minutes. No one, police or any security person, said anything to them. Being loud in the middle of the night is normal here. I was woken up several more times by different things and people. I hope I sleep better tonight! The weekdays are most likely going to be filled with classes and homework so we’ll hopefully be going to the city a lot on the weekends when we’re not doing other tours.

I hope I don’t sound like I hate it here or like a big complainer. I like it a lot, it’s just a lot to adjust to. I’m sad I missed the 4^th of July and I think I am a bit homesick. I am realizing what a great opportunity this is and that not many people get to see other parts of the world. Ever. I am very lucky and don’t ever want to take it for granted. Or take things for granted like my health. I am very blessed.

Pictures from the tour:

La Plaza de Toros

(More to come... and many to come on Facebook)

Movin' In

28.9 at the moment. That's 84 degrees Fahrenheit. Nice! It's pretty comfortable today. I'm just sittin' here at my desk feelin' the nice breeze on my face. My room is pretty breezy with the window and the window out in the hallway open. Yesterday it was hotter when we arrived. Around 90 at about 6pm. Although here on the 8th floor it felt a bit hotter than 90. It definitely reminds me of being in the dorms at camp. Hello anyone?! Arriving on Tuesday and unpacking in those hot dorms... the ratio of girls to boys is about the same here, too: floors 1-2 are the for the boys and floors 3-8 are for the girls. Go figure! Last night by the time we got settled in we were famished and very dehydrated so we decided to go out in search of food and water. After a few unsuccessful tries to find places we finally found the Burger King a couple blocks down the road. More like a couple blocks up the HILL. Water never tasted so good! By the time we were done eating it was after 11pm. But that's completely normal here. They have breakfast, dinner (lunch), and supper. Dinner is later than we're used to and supper is ridiculous - for us I believe it starts at 8:45pm. In Spain and I think most of Europe they eat dinner around 9:30. It is normal for people to eat dinner and then go to a bar and not come home til the middle of the night (or what would be the middle of the night to us Americans). Sometimes on the weekends they go out dancing or something and then stay up until breakfast and then go to bed. Completely normal! The sun didn't go down until almost 10pm either. So that was weird, because it felt much earlier than it was, especially because our internal clocks are still 6 hours behind. I kinda like it though. When we got back to the dorms we got acquainted with more of the girls on our floor. I've met some really nice girls already. :) I went to bed later than I wanted seeing as I didn't nap like others did, but I slept comfortably and thankfully woke up at 7am even though my alarm didn't go off! (If you know me, you know I got very lucky that I woke up on my own). Today we went to our orientation and then to our classes. Classes were short today because it's the first day. In about a half hour we'll be leaving for our Madrid city tour. Our college isn't really in the heart of Madrid so you have to take the metro to get downtown. I'm so excited!

The 'virtual tour' of my room:

If you are having problems viewing it or want to view it larger, click Here!

Hello, Spain!

So I’m safe and sound here in Madrid. The flights weren’t too bad. The overnight flight from JFK to Paris was alright; I could not get to sleep because I was uncomfortable and cold. The lady next to me ended up putting her blanket over her head to keep warm. It was kind of scary opening my eyes and seeing this mummy looking figure to my left! She was really nice and was traveling to northern Spain to do a wine tour with her friends. She spoke English, French, Italian, and had picked up some Spanish, which she said was from all the Spanish men she dated... She reminded me so much of Elizabeth Gilbert from Eat, Pray, Love. I made friends with the girl to my right, Sasshine, who is ironically in the room right next to me! I’ve made new friends and so far we’re all on the same floor. Anyway back to my flights… The plane we took from Paris to Madrid was HUGE, with double levels. The best part was watching TANGLED on my tv!! I was in my happy place lol. I love that movie. The flight was extremely turbulent which made sleeping extra difficult. So I only ended up getting about 15 minutes of shut-eye. Needless to say I’m still tired and adjusting.

I left my sunglasses on the plane from Paris to Madrid *tear* but I did sleep for almost the whole flight. I started feeling really sick towards the end though. The entire descent into Madrid, which lasted about 30 minutes, was extremely turbulent but more of like a fast up-and-down shaky movement. My stomach got really upset and I was never so happy to be on solid ground as I was when we landed in Madrid. It was funny, my brain had snapped into Spanish mode and I was trying to figure out all these ways to say “I am going to be sick,” but luckily I never had to use them :) The terrain of Spain from the air was very hilly and, well, brown, with scattered trees and such. It was quite a drastic difference from the French terrain, at least what I saw near Paris. It was very flat and everything was very straight and organized looking. At one point it looked like a puzzle. There was not one tree out of line. Spain was almost the opposite.

France from the air

When we landed in Madrid my luggage never came and it turns out it was still in Paris. They had put it on the next flight so Melissa and I had to wait about an hour for it to come. I got it pretty quick but then we had to wait for the other FORSPRO (Foreign Study Program) kids on that flight, and that took at least another hour – which felt like five at this point – because two of them lost their luggage as well. They stayed behind just like we had to so we were finally able to take the bus to our dorms. After about 30 hours of travel, we arrived safely :) All in all it wasn't so bad, it could have been a lot worse! I'm glad we didn't have to deal with flight cancellations and being put up in a hotel for a night, like some of the kids had to do.

 PS: Thank you to Katie McGuire and DiAndrea Lewis for their lovely plane mail :) I love you guys!

Goodbye, New York

Rapunzel: "What if it's not everything I expected it to be?"

Eugene: "It will be."

Rapunzel: "And what if it is everything I expected it to be?"

Eugene: "Well, that's the good part I guess. You get to pick a new dream."