A class field trip: part II

Fun's not over yet!! The field trip continued as we arrived in Cordoba late Saturday night after a busy day and a half in Granada. 

Class photo in a patio in Cordoba

I was lucky enough to enjoy an Arabic dinner with a group of classmates. Two of the students, Ayub and Ahmed, are Muslim and we spent dinner talking about cultural differences and our families back home...and devouring cous-cous with lamb and hummus. Ayub and Ahmed both come from families of 13 kids but Ahmed's father has three wives. So naturally I began asking many prying questions about his family and culture and I learned a lot.

Spanish guitar player at the flamenco show

 One of my classmates, Jen, used to be a dancer and had been telling us the whole time how great the flamenco in Cordoba was. When we arrived she went to her favorite flamenco place and asked for a group discount and luckily they obliged! So we all headed to El Cardenal to watch flamenco Saturday night. Some of the dancers were national prize winners in Spain and I was blown away. Nothing like having flamenco connections in Cordoba!

Gran Mezquita

We began Sunday morning with a bang, seeing the Gran Mezquita. Cordoba was the first city to be ruled by a Muslim Caliphate in Spain. I have learned in my Spanish class that this was a prosperous and beautiful age in the city. More recently, the Great Mosque has been converted into a Cathedral and it was one of the strangest religious buildings I have ever seen. When you enter the Mosque you are greeted with rows upon rows of beautiful red and white arches, these are preserved from the originals in the 12th century. But if you step farther inside you find a Catholic Cathedral, with typical wood carvings, religious paintings and a giant altar. The extravagant Catholic decoration is plopped down right in the middle of the simple, streamlined Moorish architecture. A very strange combination. But I was happy the Catholic church respected the period of Muslim rule and built around the original architecture because it was a pretty breathtaking building.

Calle de las flores in the Jewish Quarter

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the Jewish quarter and seeing the traditional Arab baths where they used to bathe the Caliphate. Let me tell ya, that guy had a serious spa routine. The class I traveled to Andalucia with is the very same class for which I keep this blog. It was really fun getting to know everyone better and seeing the architecture firsthand. (So much more interesting than when it is in books!)

I only have 47 days left of my study abroad experience. The fact that my experience is winding down has begun to kick in. I am nervous to return to the United States and get back to my old life that doesn't involve frolicking around Spain and Europe every weekend (but excited to eat Chipotle upon arrival). The hardest part will be getting rid of my new "spanish instincts," like slipping spanish words into English sentences and expecting everyone to know what I'm talking about.

On Friday I will be on the road again, this time to Valencia! I'm excited to see another autonomy of Spain but mostly I am pumped to eat some serious paella (after all, it did originate in Valencia). That's it for now, I'm currently sitting under a giant palm tree outside the library and it is 70 degrees and sunny. ¡Que bonito!

¡Hasta la próxima!

En Córdoba, vimos flamenco. He visto flamenco en Madrid con mis padres pero el flamenco en Córdoba fue completamente diferente (y un poco mejor). A nuestra compañera de clase, Jennifer, le encanta flamenco y ella nos dijo que el flamenco mejor es en Córdoba. Cuando llegamos, ella fue a su lugar favorito de flamenco y le preguntó si nosotros pudiéramos asistir por un precio reducido. ¡Tuvimos suerte porque ellos dijeron si! Estaba emocionada ver las diferencias entre el flamenco en Madrid y Córdoba. En Madrid, solo había dos bailarines y seis personas tocando instrumentos. Parecía más un concierto pero a mí me gustaba la cantidad grande de guitarra española en la obra. En Córdoba, había siete bailarines y ellos usan accesorios, por ejemplo abanicos, chales, y castañuelas. El nivel de drama era igual entre las dos ciudades. Pero los bailarines en Córdoba son ganadores de premios nacionales y tienen mucha fama. Mi favorita bailarina fue la segunda y ella bailó con tanta pasión y movió maravillosamente. Fue una noche espectacular. 

A class field trip

At the Alhambra with my classmate (and roommate) Anna

Over the weekend I took my first college field trip! My Spanish class loaded up the bus and headed for Andalucia, first stop Granada. Definitely beats St. Joe's annual trips to the Minnesota Institute of Art!

We spent Friday afternoon touring the city. We saw the Cathedral and many other landmarks in Granada. But my favorite part was wandering down a skinny little alley to do some shopping. The alley was covered in little stores selling Moroccan handicrafts and tea sets. Everything was so beautiful and different from things I had seen before!

Saturday morning we took a tour of the Albaicin, which is a neighborhood of winding streets built into the side of the mountain. Granada was the last city to be ruled by Muslims in Spain and the Moorish evidence was everywhere in this part of the city. On our tour we ran into a group of Asian tourists all wearing the same blue track suit. We thought it was pretty funny and were trying to take pictures without them noticing, but of course they did, and decided they wanted to pose with us. So we took the stereotypical yet quintessential "Asian peace sign" picture with our new friends!

The Alhambra was definitely the highlight of the weekend for me. The Alhambra was constructed in the 14th century by Moorish rulers and it is gorgeous. The flowers were budding and the panoramic views of Granada were breathtaking. I couldn't believe the amount of detail in the tiles and carvings on all of the walls and ceilings. We spent a few hours exploring the gardens, ruins, buildings and palaces of the Alhambra. We even saw a wedding party!

Alhambra

View of Granada from the Alhambra

At a restaurant on Friday night, there was a wall filled with photos of places around the world. I was excited that I was able to say I had been to a good number of places on the wall! Sometimes I forget how much I have seen and learned since I came to Spain. At the same time this semester has been a reminder that there is so much of the USA that I haven't seen.

After exploring Granada we headed toward Cordoba. I loved the city of Granada because it was so full of character and culture, I only wish we could have spent more time there. Pictures and a post about Cordoba coming soon!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Cuando salimos para Córdoba y Granada, estaba emocionada para pasar tiempo con mis compañeros y ver las cosas que hemos estudiado en clase. El viaje empecé sin Adam (porque él estaba durmiendo…) pero fuimos a Granada de todos modos. ¡Me encanta la ciudad! Tiene mucho carácter y cultura. No sabía que Granada tenía una mezcla tan grande de culturas pero fue divertido verlas y crean un ambiente acogedor y diferente de otras ciudades que he visitado en España. Disfruté tiempo con mis compañeros y fui a comer en un restaurante multicultural con algunas chicas. Mi parte favorito fue la Alhambra porque a mí me encanta el estilo de arquitectura y los mosaicos que cubren las paredes. Aprendí mucho porque entiendo mejor cuando puedo ver las estructuras de los musulmanes en vez de leer sobre ellas. 

Sangre y arena

I felt like I was at a baseball game. We hopped on the metro and stood in line to get tickets for the cheap seats. There were people selling snacks at little stands with umbrellas and we stopped to buy a coke and some peanuts. I might as well have been wearing my Mauer jersey. Except that I was in Madrid and going to my first bull fight.

Stephanie, Liz and me at the bull fight

 Let me start by saying I was expecting to hate bull fighting. My language exchange partner had told me that I wasn't going to like it. My host mom said she thought we would find it ''interesting'' but that we would probably not return. And I have heard stories of other American students who left in tears. Mostly I was worried for my roommate Liz, who doesn't enjoy the idea of dead animals (and is afraid of meat on a bone). Nonetheless I was excited. I was experiencing a huge part of Spanish culture!

sol y sombra

SPOILER ALERT: I am going to describe the corrida de toros, the bull dies at the end.

First all the picadores, banderilleros, and toreros entered the ring in a procession. They began to warm up while we admired their outfits and began to pick out which ones we thought were ''good.'' A bugle is blown and here comes the bull! The banderilleros, who are essentially the torero's assistants, begin to test the bull by waving bright pink capes. Then the picadores enter the ring. Picadores are two men on horseback whose job is to begin to weaken the bull by stabbing it in a particular place on its back. This part was sometimes hard to watch because the bull would ram the horse continuously while it was being stabbed. The horse was blindfolded and wasn't reacting. We wondered if the horses were sedated, an idea that was later confirmed by a google search.

After the picadores, the banderilleros came back into the ring. Their job was to stab two sticks, called banderillos, into the back of the bull. They would run at the bull, jump, stab, and run away as fast as they could. Sometimes they would start to approach the bull, get scared and run away as fast as they could. It was pretty funny to see them running for their lives and jumping the fence to get out of the ring. After the banderillos were attached you could clearly see the blood coating the sides of the bull.

bloody bull with banderillos on his back

 Now it was the torero's turn (torero is a more commonly used term than matador in Spain). The torero walked to the middle of the ring, lifted his hat, and tossed it. It was go time. The pink capes were replaced with a red one and no one else was in the ring. The next few minutes were filled by passes of the cape and a very tired bull. The torero stabs the bull behind its neck (sometimes twice or more if necessary). Sometimes the sword would even go all the way in and you couldn't see the handle. After the bull fell, the banderilleros would come out and make sure it was dead. Then the horses would come out and drag the dead body across the ring leaving a trail of blood. I didn't find these last two steps to be necessary or fun to watch so we usually covered our eyes while the Spaniards stood and cheered.

There are three toreros in every corrida de toros, each kills two bulls. We were not a fan of the second torero (we called him ''Greenie'' because he was wearing green) because he was dragging out the bullfight. We wanted him to put the bull out of it's misery but he wouldn't. When he finally went for the big stab it didn't go so well. The bull knocked Greenie to the ground. I couldn't look away as he was trampled by the bull. Eventually he stood up and could hardly walk. His front side was covered in blood (shame, those suits are made of gold and I bet that stain doesn't come out!) He eventually killed the bull and even returned for his second fight which shows how important pride is in the bull fighting tradition.

I had a lot of fun at the bull fight and I can see how it became such a big part of Spanish culture. But I do know that I am not cut out to be a bull fighter so I can check that off my ''what I want to be when I grow up'' list.

This weekend I am off to Cordoba and Granada for a hopefully less-bloody class trip.

¡Hasta la próxima!

Animals were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Fui a mi primera corrida de toros el domingo. Yo estaba nerviosa porque muchas personas me han dicho que es difícil ver especialmente porque no soy de España. Pero quería ver una tradición muy importante en la cultura española. Entonces fui con mis compañeras de cuarto. Los movimientos entre el torero y el toro son como un baile, es muy rítmico y hay una coreografía. A mí me gusta la corrida de toros salvo algunas partes. En mi opinión, es triste que los caballos de los picadores estén sedados. Puedo entender la razón pero es triste porque ellos no tienen ningún idea de lo que está pasando. Otro parte que no me gusta es cuando los banderilleros aseguran el muerte del toro después del toro cae. Y cuando los caballos arrastran el cuerpo del toro a través de la corrida podía ver la huella de sangre. No vi esos partes de la corrida pero me disfruté mucho la experiencia.

Acqueducts, tapas and impressionism

Spring has sprung in Madrid! I am writing this post from my bedroom with a warm breeze blowing through the balcony and the background music of the accordion player in the Palace gardens. ¡Que bonito! 

 
After a not-so-Irish St Patty's day in Madrid, I headed to Segovia for the day to see the acqueduct! It is amazing to think that these have existed for over 2000 years, you don't see that kind of sturdy construction these days. I was able to see the murrallas, or city walls, that were also constructed by the Romans. For lunch we ordered cochinillo, which is roast suckling pig. I tried cochinillo with my parents last week and loved it. Then I found out Segovia is known for their cochinillo so I had to try it again.

Saturday morning the sun was out and we were ready to see some more of Madrid! The day began at El Tigre for lunch. This is a tapas bar that I have been hearing about since I arrived but for some reason have not been to. Man was I missing out! Every drink you order comes with a tapa, which isn't out of the ordinary for most restaurants in Madrid. However these tapas were enormes (enormous) and deliciosas. We went for lunch and couldn't even finish all the food they brought us. The bar was packed and we were shoulder to shoulder with other Madrilenos the whole time. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring parks and seeing the lake. We ended the evening by watching the sunset in Parque del Oeste.

Children in the Sea, Sorolla

I have a language exchange partner named Alberto who is from Cadiz. He studies law in Madrid and we meet every week to speak Spanish and English together. This week we met to go see the Museo Sorolla which is Joaquin Sorolla's house filled with his works. Sorolla is from Valencia and his paintings depict scenes from many Spanish cities. His house was beautiful and built in typical Andalucian style with a patio in the middle. The walls of the rooms were covered in his paintings which made for an interesting mix of Sorolla's daily life and his career. This was one of my favorite art museums so far because I love the colors and light Sorolla uses in his work. My favorite paintings were the beach landscapes. When my parents and I went to the Prado my mom loved his paintings. Next time she comes to Madrid we can go to Museo Sorolla and see more!

Tonight I am off to see a bull fight. I am sort of nervous because I feel like I am off to the slaughterhouse but I am excited to see another Spanish tradition at the same time. Although I am a little worried about my roommate Liz who hates the idea of dead animals...this could get interesting.

Check out the pictures from my week with my parents! And if you want to see all of the places I have been so far click show recent on the map in the right hand sidebar.

¡Hasta la próxima!

El acueducto de Segovia es una de las cosas más impresionantes que he visto en España. Es increíble que fue construido hace 2000 años. Es más difícil ver la influencia del imperio romana en la vida y cultura de España hoy pero hay mucha evidencia física. En Segovia por ejemplo, la muralla que rodea la ciudad. Podía ver los sillares, o piedras grandes, que conforman las paredes. He estudiado los sillares y la construcción de las murallas en mi clase de español y por eso es más interesante ver. Sin conocimiento de las murallas romanas y la construcción de ellas es probable que las paredes parecieran como piedras grandes y nada más. También puedo compartir mi conocimiento con mis amigos y ellos piensan que soy muy inteligente.

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain...and in Barcelona.

Overlooking Barcelona at Parc Guell

After covering the city of Madrid, my parents and I packed up and headed to Barcelona for the weekend! We saw our friend Liz and covered lots of turf in 3 days on foot and on a segway. It rained pretty heavily all day Saturday and I was SO thankful for my rainboots and umbrella but we didn't let the rain hold us back. We saw Parc Guell, Montjuic Fountain Show, the beach (where Shakira has filmed music videos), the Sagrada Familia, the Joan Miro Museum, Las Ramblas, La Boqueria, Casa Battlo and the Picasso Museum.

Rainy las Ramblas

If you ask my dad where he went in Barcelona he will tell you the Park Bluff (aka Parc Guell) and the Strafelda (aka Sagrada Familia). Obviously the language barrier was no issue for him...kidding. But it made for some good laughs for me and my mom.

On the Segways...no hands!

Let's cut to the chase, the Segway experience. Friday afternoon we took a Segway tour of the city. If you ever feel like being stared at by every single person who passes you than you should ride a Segway. But it was so fun! We went through Barrio Gotic and out to the beach. We even saw the beach where Shakira filmed her ''Loca'' video (youtube it to see the beach). If only they had been filming Friday afternoon, we could have zoomed through the background on our Segways! My dad was pretty scared and almost didn't come with. But it ended up being his favorite thing of the whole trip! Our tour guide was from Barcelona and we had a very lively conversation about Catalan politics (which are highly controversial and you aren't really supposed to bring politics up at all but I asked him his opinion and refrained from giving mine, so I thought it would be okay). He was very proud of his Catalan heritage and believed Catalonia should be a separate nation from Spain. He told me the weather was better in Catalonia, the people worked harder, and they had more to be proud of.


On the Barcelona Beach there is a famous naked man. By famous naked man I mean there is an old man who is always walking around naked on the beach. Seriously, all of my friends who have visited Barcelona know who he is. Unfortunately it must have been too cold and rainy for him on Friday and we weren't able to see that famous Barcelona sight.

That night we went to the Montjuic Fountain show. We loved every minute! It was 15 wonderful minutes of choreographed lights, music, and fountains. Celine Dion's ''My Heart Will Go On'' even made it into the soundtrack.

You can't go to Barcelona without seeing some Gaudi. We saw Parc Guell and Sagrada Familia and I went into Casa Battlo. Before going into Casa Battlo, I realized I had left my cell phone in the taxi. So I went in feeling pretty stressed out and dumb for forgetting it. So I plugged into the audioguide and tried to forget about it. Casa Battlo was my favorite sight because it was so unique and it was cool to think that a family actually lived there. The audioguide said there was not one straight line in the whole place! After the tour I found my mom, dad and Liz who had my cell phone! They had repeatedly called the cab driver until he finally got so annoyed with the ringing that he answered and drove it back. What a relief! Many thanks to my parents, Liz Pearson, and the cab driver for the joint effort to collect my belongings all over the city of Barcelona.

Liz and I in Parc Guell

I loved having my parents here and seeing my friend Liz again. I got a much needed dose of Minnesota halfway through my Spanish adventure. Now it's back to reality (if this is reality...) and back to school. This weekend I will be enjoying Madrid and taking a day trip to Segovia. Only one more month until spring break!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Mis padres y yo queríamos ver mucha de la ciudad de Barcelona, pero es una ciudad grande. Entonces, decidimos tomar un tour de la ciudad en Segway. Mi padre estaba nervioso y él tiene miedo de la maquina. Pero fuimos de todos modos. El Segway fue muy divertido y vimos la playa, el estadio olímpico, y barrio gótico. Nuestro guía fue un hombre de Barcelona y empezamos hablar sobre políticos y los problemas entre la región Catalunya y España. Él ha vivido en Barcelona toda su vida y habla catalán con sus padres y amigos. Muchas personas me dijeron que no es buena idea para discutir políticos en España, especialmente regiones donde hay tensiones. Pero él inició la conversación y yo quería saber más sobre su perspectiva. Él dijo que las personas catalanes son más trabajadores y cree en una Catalunya separada de España. Fue interesante escuchar a una persona de Catalunya. Y cuando llegue en Madrid después de nuestro viaje, fue un alivio para ver anuncios en español castellano en el metro.

Highlight Reel: Parents come to Madrid!

My parents landed in Madrid and we set off on a whirlwind of sightseeing. My dad was dead tired from travelling but we dragged him through the city to avoid the wrath of jet lag.

with my mom in Toledo

 In 5 days we went to El Rastro, Parque del Retiro, Plaza Mayor, the oldest restaurant in the world, Toledo, SLU Madrid's campus, the Prado, El Escorial and Casa Patas. We rowed a boat, saw our first flamenco show and tried lots of Spanish tapas. My dad even had two doner kebabs! (one of my favorite lunches in Spain...cheap and delicious and sort of like a gyro).

The first night we dined at Botin, the oldest restaurant in the world and a favorite haunt of Hemingway. I ordered the famous roast suckling pig and let me tell ya, it was a delicious roast suckling pig. The food was great and they even had gluten-free cheesecake for my mom! After dinner I was able to meet up with my friend Katie from high school! She is studying in Rome and came to Madrid with some friends for Spring Break. So many visitors so little time.

Dad trying churros for the first time!

 Another highlight was the Prado. I hadn't been before this week (it's a shame, I know) and I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of masterpieces in one building. In high school we studied Spanish art and surprisingly I remembered quite a bit. My teacher Mrs. Murray would have been very proud! I was able to recognize a number of paintings by Goya, Velazquez, Ribera, Murillo and el Greco.

Tuesday afternoon I showed my parents SLU's campus (which isn't really a campus). After a 5 minute tour we headed to the Golden Cock, a hangout for SLU kids and the best tortilla espanola in town! The women who work there are friendly and recognize us because we are in there so often. After lunch they came over and offered my parents chupitos (shots) at the bar to celebrate their visit to Madrid. Talk about a warm welcome!

My parents and I had coffee with my host family on Tuesday evening. I was excited for my two ''families'' to meet and to show my parents where I have been living. But my host mom doesn't speak much English and my parents are more than challenged in the Spanish department. So I spent the majority of the time translating and munching on chocolate covered almonds. I learned a lot about my host mom, we talked about everything from her childhood to her ex-husband and the divorce...slightly awkward subjects that all came up thanks to my mom drilling her with question after question.

At the flamenco show

 For our last night in Madrid we went to a flamenco show at Casa Patas. We headed into a small room in the back and the chairs were crammed in and covered the floor. 5 guys came out with their instruments and sat down and began playing. I loved it! The music was beautiful and it only got better when the dancers came out. The dance was so passionate and emotional and I couldn't look away!

After a fun week in Madrid, we left to spend a weekend in Barcelona. In the interest of keeping this post from becoming a novel there will be more to come on Toledo and our weekend excursion later! For now, check out some pictures of our time in Madrid and Toledo on the right sidebar.

Más temprano en el semestre, había planeado ir a Toledo con un grupo de estudiantes de SLU. Pero estaba enferma y por eso no pude ir. Entonces quería ir pero todos mis amigos ya fueron. Pero mis padres querían ir y nosotros fuimos a Toledo para pasar un día durante su visita a España. La ciudad es hermosa y mi parte favorita fue el Catedral. ¡Es enorme! Y es lleno con obras de El Greco. Es horrible decir, pero me prefiero el Catedral en Toledo al Vaticano en Roma. El Catedral es muy diferente de otras iglesias y hay tanta historia de España. Hay un capillo mozárabe y fue interesante ver las diferencias entre la arquitectura en el capillo. Desafortunadamente, no pudimos entrar en el capillo ni asistir una misa. La riqueza y el tamaño de la catedral fueron impresionantes. También a mí me encanta el paisaje con las montañas.

A Colorful Carnaval

While the nutty natives of St. Louis were celebrating Mardi Gras last week, I was in Madrid celebrating Carnaval.  Carnaval is sort of like Mardi Gras except everyone dresses up in Halloween costumes and there are no beads (or boobs).

Roommate Stephanie and me with our Carnaval masks!

Saturday began with a bang, we found a sushi restaurant! We were pretty excited. Afterwards we went to meet Guillermo, my roommate Stephanie's language exchange partner. We watched him order a cup of melted chocolate and proceed to pour an entire packet of sugar into it before drinking the whole thing. Crazy Spaniards. After sugar-ing up we walked to Parque del Retiro for the big Carnaval parade. We lined the streets and waited for it to begin, not really knowing what to expect. But we were not disappointed! There were so many people dressed in exquisite costumes and performing different dances and acrobatic feats. It was the perfect setting with the Puerta de Alcala lit up in the background, the sun setting, and all the lights and sounds of the parade. I love Saint Louis, but this parade was MUCH cooler.

One of the floats in the parade

 There were some pretty interesting parts of the parade, some of the highlights were the Bank of Spain handing out fake 100 dollar bills that said ¡Viva la crisis! (long live the crisis). That's a good one! My favorite group in the parade was a group of kids dressed up as priests and nuns. The clergy members were dancing to songs like "Everybody Dance Now" and "Cupid Shuffle" and other various Shakira songs and they had the whole routine choreographed! It was pretty funny. I tried to take a video on my camera but it ended up being mostly of the woman in front of me and her white fuzzy hat. Here is one from Youtube.

A handy Spanish saying I learned this week: when you are sharing an appetizer with friends and there is one left on the plate it is called "la verguenza" (which means shame or embarrassment) because everyone is too embarrassed to be the greedy one who takes the last bite! No verguenza here!

In other news, some very sad news, the body of an American student studying abroad was found in a river in Madrid this week. To all my friends studying abroad and those at home: please be safe!! Here is a link to the story.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/03/08/spain.missing.student/index.html?hpt=T2

I'm off to spend more time with my parents. They landed safely on Sunday and I have spent all week tiring them out and sightseeing. So far we have seen most of Madrid, Toledo, and El Escorial. Tonight we are going to see a flamenco show and tomorrow we are off to Barcelona for one last hoo-rah before they head home to the states.

Happy 21st birthday to my sister Maddie today!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Mis padres y yo fuimos a El Escorial para ver el monasterio. ¡Es enorme! Cuando estábamos comprando billetes, no podía creer la lista de construcciones en el mismo lugar. Incluye un palacio, una biblioteca, unos panteones, las tumbas, algunos museos de arte, la Basílica, las tapices, un museo de la construcción y muchos jardines. Fue extraordinario. Mi parte favorito son los jardines y las salas del palacio. Son muy diferentes del Palacio Real en Madrid. Había un cuarto con una vista magnifica de las montanas y el paisaje donde el rey y sus hijos andaban en las noches. Es una sala hermosísima pero es interesante que ellos no anduvieran afuera del palacio.

Hide yo kids, hide yo wife, Kim Smith is coming to Madrid

This post is dedicated to my parents who will be landing in Madrid in just a few short days!

Me with a peacock in Parque del Retiro (this picture has nothing to do with the rest of the post but I thought it was cool)

Mom and Dad, here are some warnings and tips and tricks that I have picked up during my short time here:

1. Get ready to walk! Stretch out those calves and bring your A-game, we've got ground to cover.
2.  Don't ask for the baños! Instead say, ¿Dónde están los aseos? If you ask for the baños people will look at you like you are nuts.
3. At some point over the next week you will be silently approached by someone who will shove various light up toys in your face and expect you to buy them.. This will likely happen when you are eating. Just say no.
4. Practice saying "gracias" like "gra-thee-as," the Spanish will very much appreciate an attempt to emulate their accent. 
5. Bring your SPF (I doubt this will be a problem knowing how seriously my family takes sunscreen) but Madrid is the sunniest city in Europe!
6. It is Carnaval in Madrid this weekend, Carnaval is the equivalent to America's Mardi Gras. I have no idea what this will entail but I can imagine lots of shenanigans and some interesting sights. 

I can't wait to show my parents around Madrid! On top of seeing Madrid, we will be taking a day trip to Toledo and a weekend trip to Barcelona, both cities I have been dying to see. And there has been talk of a segway tour...this could get interesting. I will definitely have much to update after this week, from Carnaval, to travels, to sight seeing in Madrid, to watching my parents try to communicate in Spanish.

Spotted: K and P packing their bags and ditching town. Looks like things are about to get picante and these two Minnesota tourists are about to get trapped in the language barrier. You know you love me, XOXO.
(I've been in Gossip Girl withdrawal since leaving America so I had to add a reference.)

Here is the link to the youtube video that inspired the title of this post for those who are living under a rock.

This is a big week for everyone in my family! To my parents, can't wait to see you soon! Hope your flight is smooth (and there are no more snow storms in Minnesota to delay you). Little bro Grady, have so much fun in Ireland this week! I can't wait to hear all about it, you will love it. Older sis Maddie, happy birthday and good luck turning 21...that one's pretty self explanatory.

 

¡Hasta la próxima!

 

En mi clase de español, mi profesora ha mencionado el chotis, un baile distinto de Madrid. El chotis es un baile tradicional de Madrid y es bailado en las fiestas. Tiene origen en Bohemia y se bailó la primera vez en un festival en el Palacio Real en el año 1850. A mí me interesan mucho los bailes distintos de culturas porque todas tienen una manera completamente diferente para expresar emoción por la música y muchas veces los bailes vienen de la historia de un país. He encontrado muchos videos del chotis en Youtube, videos con mujeres jóvenes, grandes marionetas falsas y niños. Aquí es un video adorable de niños bailando el chotis. (Lo siento el video esta de lado)