Lost in Translation: This week we took in our first official European fútbol match. Well, kind of. We live about a 30 minute walk from the Atlético Madrid stadium, and jumped at the chance to see the final match being played in this stadium before the team relocates next season. I knew the match was a friendly (non-competitive game with nothing at stake), with a team comprised of "legends" who had long since hung up their professional cleats. That is where my understanding ended and the confusion set in. The stadium was nearly sold out, and I think we may have been the only people in attendance that knew absolutely nothing about the club and it's history. Chants celebrating players, songs venerating Vincente Calderón (the name of the stadium the team was honoring) and patriotic team jerseys and scarfs permeated the entire stadium, and we couldn't really make out anything. Adding to the confusion was the fact that the Atlético Legends were facing a squad from Fundación Scholas. I later learned that this is a foundation run by Atlético, and that the Scholas team was also comprised of former players. This makes sense now, but wow, was I ever confused during the match when a goal from either squad would garner ecstatic applause. Oh, and apparently in Madrid you are not allowed to serve alcohol inside stadiums BUT people are free to smoke to their heart's content. Overall, as with our experience with the Real Madrid basketball match earlier in the month, spectacle was very much lacking compared to any professional sport I've attended in the US. Different, and enjoyable as its own thing, but certainly confusing!
Exploring the City: Another weekend staying put in Madrid left us hungry to not stay put in Madrid. This time we traded in the concrete sidewalks of the city for the boundless dusty trails in the mountains near Manzanares el Real, a small community to the north of Madrid. We'd long been planning an excursion to this region to escape the city and experience the nature so relatively close at hand, but it wasn't until the night before our trip that we realized Manzanares el Real is home to the Castillo de los Mendoza dating back to the 14th century. It was striking as we entered the town and there was no way we were going to pass up a chance at entering such a towering relic of another time. The castle has been extremely well-preserved, and struck the perfect balance between acting as a museum reflecting the culture of ages past and serving as an impressively accessible feat of architecture. We had the pleasure of visiting on a day when close to 50 children were touring the place. In addition to getting stuck behind a few aggressively slow-moving lines, this also meant that tour guides decked out in period-appropriate garb were in top form as they conveyed what I assume were stories of knights and damsels and dragons.
After a leisurely visit to the castle and a picnic lunch beneath a bridge leading out of town, our hiking aspirations began to be satiated. We had a map and some advice doled out by the helpful person manning the tourist info booth, yet somehow we managed to take the long way round to reach our destination. This turned a two hour hike into a three and a half hour hike, but luckily the scenery was beautiful regardless of whether a trail was present. I got rather grumpy after realizing we didn't had a huge surplus of water (much needed in the dry 90 degree heat), but after reaching our destination - Charca Verde - an accidental nap set my mind at ease.
As with many things in life, we found beauty juxtaposed with fear in the forms of a few nerve-rattling animal encounters.
We'd heard the ominous sounds of bells ringing and had caught a glimpse of some bulls lingering gently at a distance. And after a student warning me just last week that bulls are dangerous, we met one face-on in the middle of our path back into the city. "Joni, I'm wearing red," I softly uttered as I pondered whether this was really a trigger to incite the creature to charge. Ever cautious, I suggested we proceed on an alternate route down the hill to avoid the animal, and as soon as we made our move it appeared he was following us! Turning slowly, we headed back up to the trail as the (probably innocent) bull continued down the slope away from us. After that close call, I was hyper-aware of anything that sounded even remotely close to the sound of a bell. Maybe 30 minutes from the city on our way back, I had a far worse scare when a snake slithered across the trail. I've always been quite afraid of snakes, and I think my panic caused Joni to be more frightened than she otherwise would have been. This should have been much less debilitating, as the snake's size did not warrant such a reaction, but I was very quick to pass through any tall grass and to avoid the edges of the trail from that point on. Somewhat surprisingly, this was the first serpent we've seen in our time here. I wonder if snakes are common in other parts of Spain...but really I'm probably better off not knowing.
After the eventful and quite tiring trek through the mountains and along the river, we arrived with the intention of grabbing a bus back to Madrid. Per our research, we knew that the bus to Madrid leaves every 30 minutes. We ended up waiting for an hour and half and, I believe, ended up with the very last bus out of the town. It was a long and frustrating way to end an otherwise pretty great day, and we were incredibly thankful to see our beds on that particular night!
Thanks to the bus's tardiness, we did get to see the castle at night:
Memorable Meal: After a long day trip on Friday, Saturday left us eager for a more laid-back itinerary. A tranquil choir practice gave way to dinner and games at Cat & Ben's house, and on this particular day we were joined by other friends from church, Albert and Yunita. Albert is here as a grad student at IE, where Ben works, and Yunita is teaching dance. Ben prepared the classic southwest salad complemented by a cilantro lime dressing that has yet to be matched in our Spain experience, along with a delicious chicken chili. Dessert was our responsibility, and after a long and grueling process of baking, our delicious peanut butter blondies looked to be edible. The final product was much closer to a peanut butter crumble, but in any form the dish was delicious. We stayed up playing Pounce just past our self-appointed bed time (dictated by the metro schedule) and took our first Uber in Spain to get home. It was a great night of food and company, and we really enjoyed getting to know another couple calling Spain home for a year.
En la clase: This was Joni's last week teaching several of her classes - coincidentally all the children she has taught (except for those through VIP Kid). In addition to some painfully endearing jeremiads, a few of the students showered Joni with gifts. The parents of one of the three four year-olds she taught gave her flowers and a bottle of cider from San Sebastián - confirming a long-held suspicion that she had unknowingly drank on the job just before teaching small children because the student's father offered her some apple cider. Joni loves apple cider, so she said yes. It didn't take long, however, for her to decide that she didn't much like this drink and wondered if it contained alcohol. I'm sure she's not the first to be guilty of this. As is the case whenever she has left a group of kids, severing these ties has been tough for Joni. Needless to say, every child loved her, and each seemed to make a unique plea for Joni to stay for just one more game or craft.
Final Notes: It is with a deep sadness and yet, also, a sense of peace that I must note my grandma passed away on Monday morning this week after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just a few days earlier. While this was rather unexpected, I've been taking solace in the relatively painless and expedient end to her life. We were planning to spend a week with her after receiving news of the diagnosis, and now our plane tickets are serving the purpose of transporting us to Arizona for the funeral. I'm sure the week will have it's own adventures and excitement, albeit of a more somber variety than what we've been used to in the past year. Still, it will be wonderful to see family and celebrate the life of this amazing woman.
I'm sorry to hear about your Grandma! Safe travels!
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