Week 35

Exploring the City: As promised, week 35 brings a recounting of the time spent with the one and only Christopher Breckenridge.  Per usual both Joni and I had to fit in quality time with our friend around our various and ever changing class schedules.  Chris didn't let this stop him, first piggybacking on the Crossman's lone Madrid day and then striking out on his own to brave the urban landscape.  He likely thought that a trip to central Spain in late March would bring sunny skies and temperate weather.  Well folks, IT SNOWED IN MADRID last Thursday for the first time since we've been here (and, as reported by several students, the first time in over a year), and it just so happened that Chris was walking around the Templo de Debod park area at the time.  The snowfall didn't accumulate, and the flurry lasted all of two hours, but Joni and I were quite excited to see the skies erupt with powder for whatever duration. Ben and Cat's dog, Andazi enjoyed the rare treat of snow as a refreshing afternoon snack.



Chris and I share a love of books, and we set out in search of browsing used bookshops.  With the whole of the city at our feet, we opted for a small corridor off the main drag of Gran Vía - Calle de los Libreros.  Promising as the name appeared to be, we were greeted with three or four bookshops that mirrored the traditional layout of a Spanish pharmacy.  That is to say, a very small area with a smattering of books with the majority of tomes guarded by a counter top.  This seemed quite contrary to our aim of browsing and while we eventually ended up at an intriguing comic book/game store, the mission was thwarted.  With our never-say-die attitudes, we reconvened (after I flew off to give a couple classes) at the Biblioteca Nacional de España.  Once more we were denied the literary pleasure for which we so rabidly hungered, as a library attendant insisted that we needed an appointment in order to see the books.  Still shunning failure as an option, we proceeded to explore the adjacent Museo Arqueológico Nacional...which turned out to be incredibly worthwhile even as we originally had no intention of ever visiting.  Feeling a change in the winds of fortune, we dared to venture to the famed Prado museum to cash in on the daily window for free admission.  Given it's proximity to our apartment, the level of international reknown it possesses and the ample hours during which the public is granted free admission, I've been to the museum an embarrassingly low number of times.  This visit gave me a chance to see the Goya paintings people generally seem to rave about, and I'll admit their tortured darkness did hold a certain appeal.  While slightly different than we had envisioned, this was an excellent day.

Just before Chris left, the two Arizona natives watched the NCAA March Madness tournament game between University of Arizona and Xavier. Sadly, Arizona was not victorious, but it did not diminish the quality time we had together.


After Chris departed, we had a busy weekend filled with a few gatherings of friends.  First off was a progressive party thrown by Teresa that originated in a traditional Spanish bar, then headed to an 80s themed bar.  It's amazing how culturally transcendent some things are (American toys, games and movies were omnipresent), and how regional others remain (the music was all Spanish, but most definitely from another era).  This is also the event at which we met one Nate Day - a visitor of our friends Matt and Charlotte - who went to Goshen (somewhat of a sister school to our alma mater, Bluffton) and turned out to know some of our good friends and even my great aunt Hilda.  Furthermore, we determined that Joni and I performed in a choir concert at Nate's high school back in 2008!  It was an unbelievable coincidence, and I'm still reeling a bit from the absurdity of it all.






Later in the week, Joni and I went to a cheap late-night screening of the new Beauty and the Beast movie from Disney.  It's always entertaining to see a movie here and see how certain lines are translated in the subtitles, but this was the first instance of getting to see a familiar movie with well-known songs translated.  Joni had some preparation, as one of her (younger) students went through a phase of playing the Spanish version of the classic Disney soundtrack on an endless loop.  It was also funny to see which French words were translated to Spanish and which words remained as French in the subtitles.

Memorable Meal: Our friend Jenna, who we know from our TEFL course at TtMadrid, just moved back to the UK. We attended a dinner on Friday night to bid farewell and wish her luck upon her return. It was sad to say goodbye, but we also had a lovely time catching up with many of our TtMadrid friends whom we hadn't seen in quite a while. Besides the good company, we were delighted to dine on Mexican food! There are not very many Mexican restaurants in Madrid, so it's a rare treat to have this type of cuisine. Joni was extremely excited and overwhelmed because there were too many delicious-sounding options on the menu from which to choose! This is a rare occasion compared to her usual experience at Spanish restaurants where there are only two or three things that appeal to her: "Patatas bravas and a tortilla española again, I guess."

En la clase: Joni has really been enjoying her new Spanish classes that she and Cat started a few weeks ago, and every day seems to contain some new revelation that makes it even better.  Paloma, her teacher, appears to have lived a very interesting life.  Among the more intriguing details: she once worked at Disneyland Paris, and she just published a book of short stories.  In addition, Joni says Paloma makes her feel smart (by speaking in a manner that is both slow and clear without becoming patronizing). We actually attended a book reading/signing of Paloma's book this week and did our best to decipher the Spanish presentation. We look forward to practicing our language skills by reading these short stories!



It was also a fruitful week for Joni on the other side (...of the desk?  The classroom? The equation?) as she picked up two different one-off classes with individual acting students wanting help with English lines for an audition.  One actor mentioned that the role was for someone with a Mexican-American accent, and that studios are looking to hire actors from all over the world in order to appeal to a broader audience base.  Still, it seems strange that a US-based production company would journey so far to cast someone for such a role when there are certainly a lot of actors much closer to Hollywood.  Regardless of the reasons for the audition, Joni enjoyed these classes and may be in the market for regular acting consulting work if word spreads!

Final Notes: This was a week of rest before our last scheduled wave of visitors for a while. This weekend we'll meet our dear friends Gregg and Lavonne in Dublin, Ireland, and then they will accompany us back to Madrid for a visit. More on that next week!

On another note, we are continually grateful for the magic of technology to keep in touch with friends and family. Despite the distance and time difference, we were still able to have our annual change party, even if it was a couple months late. During the change party we, along with our friends Cody and Keith, discuss the data for our year-long competition to see who can find the most money in the streets. It turns out there's less money up for grabs on the cobble-stone sidewalks of Europe than there is in Lancaster, PA. Cody handily won this year's competition with $53.75.

Week 34

Exploring the City: Once again this week we were blessed with several more visitors who made the trek from the USA to see us in Spain.  Rachael and Wade Crossman arrived last Saturday, and on Sunday we all took a bus to the beach port city of Valencia.  A few weeks ago, Joni had a student recommend Valencia as a great spot to visit - particularly during the Fallas festival, which just happened to coincide with our visit from the Crossmans.  Fallas is a celebration of Saint Joseph, wherein massive animated statues are erected all around the city...before all being set on fire on the last day of the festival.  This is an opportunity to artistically satire various political or social grievances and then join in the cathartic experience of demolishing the targets of said criticism.  Some of the critiques were straightforward, though it was even more difficult than usual to decipher signage - a regional variety of Catalan is the co-official language in Valencia. The main source of pleasure was simply to take in the expert craftsmanship that surely went into constructing each piece.  We heard that there was a Donald Trump falla at this year's festival, but we didn't manage to find it.






In addition to the artwork, a more crude form of expression littered the airwaves as people young and old set off fireworks and pelted the sidewalks with noisemakers.  This created an aural environment that very closely mirrored that of many war zones we had seen on TV.  Before the fallas were set on fire, a "fire parade" marched through the city.  This consisted of various floats and marchers carrying multicolored sparklers, sometimes accompanied by musicians and/or beautiful ornately costumed women wearing dresses that maybe would have been at home in the 1800's.  This culminated with possibly the best fireworks display I have ever seen.  I can't recall a spectacle that managed to surprise me with a finale the way the booming semi-automatic assault peppered the sky and left my eardrums ringing. Despite the noise (and the large amount of people flooding the city) it was a very safe environment and, while we may never have gotten totally used to it, the experience was wonderful.

We also stumbled upon these really cool trees. Can you find us in this picture?

After waking and questioning our shared experiences from the previous night (Were there really giant art pieces set aflame in the middle of the street all across the city last night?!), our crew ventured out to take in the rest of the city. From the scenic expanses of the beach to the futuristic "City of Arts and Sciences" and the awesome confines of the Valencia Cathedral, this city seemingly has it all. 

That is supposedly THE Holy Grail inside that glass case.

It reminded me of a mix between Barcelona and Sevilla, and I really admire the feat of containing incredibly ancient history whilst dedicating a lot of space to the idea of the future. 

Joni's highlight of the weekend was getting to roll around in a ball on the surface of the water in the City of Arts and Sciences.



There was also much fun to be had at Park Gulliver, which is solely comprised of a giant jungle gym in the shape of a man lying on his back (Gulliver as in "Gulliver's Travels").  The majority of the patrons were fairly young, but that didn't stop us from climbing around and zipping down the various slides.





Lost in Translation: After the parade, we were in search of a snack to tide ourselves over as we endeavored to tarry on in exploration of the festival.  We found a churro stand, and Wade bravely attempted to order the deep fried delicacy.  He was hoping to sample two churros, but ended up with twelve!  To be fair, "dos" and "doce" sound very similar.  Luckily we were all game to aid in the vanquishing of the over-sized order. This is quite possibly the tastiest lost in translation story we've had to date.

Memorable Meal: The night Rachael and Wade arrived, we went to dinner at Bodegas Rosella, a restaurant near our house we hadn't yet sampled.  Upon arrival, we found that there were two restaurants with the same name located side by side.  After entering the far emptier building and being told we needed to go next door, a somewhat frazzled man told us we needed to go back to the first building.  After getting everything straightened out, we had a delicious meal of Spanish food.  Or, as Joni and Rachael and Wade might describe it, Spanish food.  The croquettes were some of the best I've had, featuring stuffings of queso de cabra (goat cheese), jamón and bacalao (cod).  Joni ordered a Spanish tortilla (something between an omelet and a frittata), and it was the perfect mixture of light and hearty - typically in my experience this dish is either too thin or too dense to be enjoyed fully.  Wade was not all that impressed by his jamón tosta (just bread topped with jamón ibérico) and I can't really blame him.  Rachael ordered fried mushrooms, and we were all perplexed as the dish that was delivered looked and tasted a good deal like fried chicken.  I took a liking to the strange food, although Rachael (a vegetarian) found the similarity a little too off-putting.  Everyone agreed that the bread served with the meal was delicious!

En la clase: This week Joni started YET ANOTHER JOB, this time one that can be done from the comfort of home.  After being tipped off to the company VIPKID by our friend Alex, Joni successfully completed the semi-rigorous training process and had her first ever computer class - teaching English to children in China via an online platform.  VIPKID utilizes the Total Physical Response methodology (TPR), which means that our apartment is now filled with involved introductions ("My name is teacher Joni.  What's YOUR name?), exclamations of praise ("Very good!"), and occasional moments of technical difficulty ("What?  Hello?  Should I call the firemen?").  It is a pretty relaxed gig thus far, requiring zero travel and resulting in pay that equals or eclipses all her other jobs.

Final Notes: 
We recently had our debut with Coro Xenakis, the chamber choir we joined back in January at Teresa's behest. The concert was held at Ateneo de Madrid, which is sort of a mix between a commmunity center and a performance space.  At any rate, it was beautiful and clearly steeped in untold tradition. Typically the choir performs alone, but this concert featured two high school choirs - one of which was directed by a former member of Coro Xenakis.  The repertoire of these choirs skewed decidedly more toward pop, which provided a nice contrast with our more classically influenced program.  We really enjoyed both performing and listening to the other groups sing, and look forward to future concerts.





Here are a couple excerpts from the concert:

Chris Breckenridge arrived at the tail end of Wade and Rachael's visit on Tuesday.  Tune in next week to hear daring tales of the roaming bachelor as his unique brand of humor and fact finding hits Madrid.

Week 33

Lost in Translation: I'm happy to report that these days the funny tales of a lost translation are more often found in our students' English as opposed to our Spanish.  Don't get me wrong, I think these errors are a result of confidence in trying to put together a phrase rather than incompetence.  Joni and I are continuously improving our Spanish, but many of the Spaniards in their 20s and 30s have had some form of English education for a majority of their lives.  With that experience, I suppose, comes a carefree attitude for making mistakes - quite essential in any pursuit!  At any rate, this week features a Spanish idiom of sorts that doesn't exactly translate literally.  Near the end of a class with her actors, Joni had one student wish another good luck on an upcoming audition by uttering a friendly wish for "A lot of shit."  In Spanish, the equivalent of "break a leg" is is apparently mucho mierda - a lot of shit.  While it appears rather counter intuitive, I've now got something to tuck into my back pocket the next time I think someone is laying into me with an expletive!

Exploring the City: Ellen Sunderland and her mother Carol visited last weekend, and we enjoyed the various sights of Madrid with them.  Along with the classic standbys, we also ventured out on a new day trip to the city of Cuenca.  We were attracted to this place by the casas colgadas (or 'hanging houses') that line cliffs of the older part of the city.  And while these were indeed quite impressive, we were surprised by the beautiful landscape and paths leading up to and through the city.

This dog climbed to the top of a view point atop an arch in Cuenca (using stairs) and hopped up on the very edge of this stone wall.  It was equal parts exhilarating, cute, and nerve wracking - clearly the dog had done this before, but the extent to which it flirted with what would have surely been a fatal fall had me grimacing through my dropped jaw. 

Joni had been craving this sort of a vacation - one that would take us to a less-well-trod corner of Spain.  That said, there was still a great deal of classic tourist value to Cuenca.  We stepped inside the cathedral, and in addition to it's external beauty the overlook just outside the rear of the church provided a pretty excellent view of the peaceful river valley that flowed into the rest of the city.  I'm used to these sprawling feats of architectural triumph being located in an urban center, and so the cathedral in Cuenca's placement on the edge of this town seemed notable.  That said, I'm no expert on the matter, it's just pretty unique in the scope of my cathedral viewing experience.

A bridge spans from the old city across the ravine to a complex that used to be a monastery but that now is home to a resort (as was evidenced by the tennis courts that now lie adjacent to the presumably much older structure containing accommodations for tourists). The historical significance seemed outweighed by commercial opportunism, so Ellen, Joni and I ventured just far enough to touch the other side before retreating to the side of the river where the common folks walk.

               

   

We also had a brief but wonderful visit with our friend Mark and his girlfriend Kristyn during their overture in Madrid kicking off a whirlwind week around Spain and Portugal.  It was fun getting to stroll through Retiro and sing along with the travel-sized ukulele our friend had brought along.

Memorable Meal: The last night of our visit with Ellen and Carol, we set out in search of a place serving croquettes.  Ordinarily this would be pretty simple - the fried potato cheese balls are prevalent throughout the various bars and cafeterias in Madrid.  But apparently there are a lot of restaurants that are closed on Monday, so we passed on three closer locations to get to Hermanos Egea - about a 10 minute walk from our apartment.  In addition to sampling two varieties of croquettes - veggie and traditional (jamón) - the table was also adorned with a spanish tortilla (similar to an omelet), cheesy fries, and a scrumptious dish of shrimp marinated in some sort of sauce.  We dined at about 8:30, which of course meant that we were essentially alone.  At first I took this as some kind of sign that the restaurant wasn't worth patronizing, but of course it is simply a reflection of Spanish meal times; by the time we departed close to 10, a few other tables had started to fill in.

En la clase: From time to time, I look at my white board after class and it cracks me up. Before the Sunderlands arrived, I told the class that our friend Ellen was coming to visit. They had a problem pronouncing her name, and so I wrote it on the board.  All of the other words were unconnected.



Final Notes: We are gearing up for another week of guests - first with Rachael and Wade Crossman who arrive on Saturday, and then with Chris Breckenridge who will grace us with a visit on Tuesday.  March is busy for visitors, but we've really enjoyed seeing all these familiar faces in a place that is feeling increasingly more like home each day.  Joni started Spanish classes with Cat this week, and I have been making a more concerted effort not to allow people to speak English to me when my Spanish falters.

If you've made it this far, reward yourself with the video of what may be the most amazing thing we've seen in nearly 8 months of being in Spain.

Week 32

Lost in Translation: If you live in an apartment building and aren't expecting visitors, it is always a little disconcerting to hear the sound of your doorbell.  When someone is on the street attempting to be buzzed in, a different sound chimes and the welcome buffer of an intercom keeps the unknown voice at bay until some measure of identify confirmation can be negotiated. We do have a peep hole, but it is pretty dated and is essentially a tiny door.  In my mind, opening it conveys a certain distrust of humanity that I do my best not to entertain.  At any rate, this past Monday I was faced with this very situation.  Upon hearing the doorbell I girded myself and opened the door to find a man in a smock announcing his duty as a canvasser for some well-meaning social aid organization.  Generally the conversation was cordial, and I was able to glean meaning from maybe 75% of his words.  After respectfully declining to contribute to his cause, I sent him on his way with a wish for him to have good dreams ("buenos sueños") instead of good luck ("buen suerte").  It's not the worst mix up, but potentially a little creepy if the man were to read too far into it.

Exploring the City: After a week of eating slightly more Spanish food than usual (various combinations of cheese and meat and bread), Joni and I set off on our first joint run in about a month.  We started by running through the crowded streets of Calle Atocha to get to the fabric store where Joni picked up some snap tape.  I've felt under-dressed plenty of times in my life, but this was one of the most blaringly obvious disparities.  The older women in fur coats, the smartly dressed children, and the employees at the rather large store all in uniform all drew a stark contrast to our increasingly sweaty gym attire.  It was a really beautiful day - highs have been in the mid-60s to low-70s as of late - and so after removing ourselves from the store we headed down a quaint side street en route to Retiro.  It's always nice to pass the time in this elegant place, but especially so when the trees are in full bloom and the sun is out.  Joni stopped to pose betwixt the florid boughs, still donning the attire of an aspirational high school track athlete.  The trees, to my recollection, cast no untoward glances and welcomed us to linger as long as we liked.



Memorable Meal: Our last night with our Illinois visitors brought a feast of baked potatoes and guacamole.  It's not impossible to make guac here, but the generally high price of avocados prevents us from doing so.  This meal also caused me to contemplate the infrequency with which I've made baked potatoes in my life.  It's a quite easy and cheap meal that yields fairly consistent results.  After dinner we made a return trip to one of our favorite spots, El Jardín Secreto (or as Leah called it, Teddy Bear Island) for some incredibly sweet drinks complete with dry ice and candy tapas.









Who’s Coming to Dinner: We had the pleasure of hosting María and Alex and returning the meal they prepared for us in week 30.  The menu for the night: Creamy thyme chicken with rice, fruit salad and oatmeal cookies for dessert.  Amongst many other topics of conversation was an explanation of a county fair in Ohio.  Alex (originally from Las Vegas) was quite familiar with the rural American staple, but I'm not sure if María (born and bred in Mallorca) ever really got the idea.  The closest thing to a county or state fair in Spain would likely be the various community-centered festivals, though the comparison really doesn't extend beyond the notion of people gathering together.



En la clase: This week Joni spent her time with peanut butter loving Ignacio in preparation for the Trinity exam (one of several such tests setup to measure proficiency).  One of the tasks on the exam is to talk continuously for five minutes, and Ignacio was worried that this was far too long of time to speak uninterrupted.  To be honest, I feel for him; there are many times when I'm sure it would be hard for me to carry on in English for five straight minutes.  Add in the pressures of being monitored by an examiner and change the language to Spanish, and I'm out.  As it turns out, however, Ignacio had absolutely no problem exceeding and obliterating the five minute mark.  He had chosen to discuss the movie Futbolín (Underdogs in English), and so Joni asked him to tell her about it.  The 8 year old wunderkind proceeded to hold forth for OVER AN HOUR giving what Joni would later describe as the most detailed plot synopsis she'd ever heard.  The speech made her want to see the movie but also made her feel as if she had already seen it.  Everything I learn about this kid makes me believe he is not real.  That would be an incredibly blog-worthy twist, and I'll keep you informed on any developments with imaginary students and Joni's accompanying psychosis.

Final Notes: After a gap of five days, Joni and I are excited to welcome our guests Carol and Ellen (from Joni's hometown) to Madrid.  Go-go-gadget 2017 visitor group number 2!