July 9th Update!

By Jordan Nelson
This is my third update from Madrid, I believe. All is well. The festivities of San Fermín (better known to us English speakers as the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain) have begun and are broadcast live on television every morning at 8:00am (they run each day for a week, not just once). Even though that's in Pamplona, you can see some people in Madrid in the spirit of things, wearing the traditional white pants and shirt with the signature red scarf and sash.

My high school is going on a similar trip to the one I went on in 2005 and they arrived in Madrid this past Monday (the 7th). We arranged a meeting and I ate tapas with them and my old tour guide (from Sevilla) at the Museo del Vino restaurant close to Puerta del Sol.

Classes are going well. The placement test was alright (I think I already told you about it) and I tested into the Advanced level (there was Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced) and sublevel 2 (out of 4 Advanced). However, upon going to class, level 2 was surprisingly basic. We spent the first few days reviewing conjugating past tense verbs and describing a "monster" we created using adjectives :roll eyes: Those are great activities, don't get me wrong, but are simply not at the level that I need in order to get something out of this trip; I have simply already learned that stuff.

So, I asked for a change of levels and now I'm in Advanced 4, which is the highest that is offered here. This is good and bad. First, it's good because it's a challenge and I think that my Spanish has already begun to benefit from such "intensive" learning, however at the same time it can be really tough! For example, a friend of mine I met through this program is in the same class and we laugh because my conversation class teacher talks like a taxista (cab driver). She talks extremely rapidly and mumbles a little bit, and her accent is extremely "fuerte" (strong).

Today in that class we discussed television and how it can be good and how it can be bad. However we got way off topic when we were started to talk about how sometimes television substitutes parents in some households. The class is made up of people from lots of countries and someone said that all American parents leave their children alone at home. I said in Spanish that when I was little my mom did not work and so I was not alone at home, but I guess that phrase doesn't translate very well because about 50 people jumped on what I said and were accusing me of not considering housework "work." Well, of course I do, but in English many people say "he/she does not work" to mean that they do not work outside of the house in a store or business, etc. and in English, everyone understands what you mean from context. Well, even one lady, who is a Spanish teacher from America said that the phrase made her "angry" (enfadada to be exact) so she doesn't like me :-/ Instead of focusing on what I was really to say and communicate, this teacher (not my Spanish teacher, but the American Spanish teacher who is also a "student" in the program...confusing) started to nitpick on all my grammar and mistakes :roll eyes: [I thought you might like that story, mom ;-) ]Oh well....tomorrow I don't think I'll be participating much in the conversation :-) I absolutely hate confrontations, so sometimes it's simply easier to remain callado (mouth zipped) :)

I went to see the Monumental de Las Ventas (Madrid's bullring) yesterday. All controversy ignored (I don't support or not support "los toros". Consider me Switzerland on this one), Las Ventas is a must-see in Madrid simply for its sheer size and cultural ties. It's also in a very cool neighborhood which didn't seem touristy to me at all. After taking pictures at Ventas, I went exploring the neighborhood nearby and liked it a lot. Anyone more knowledgeable than me know anything about it they'd like to share?

Other than that there's not much to tell. Oh wait, yes there is! I just remembered I never told you about Toledo. Our study abroad program organized an optional trip to Toledo and El Escorial last weekend. I had already been to El Escorial, but it was one of my favorite places last time and I had never seen Toledo. We took a tour of Toledo and the group split with the choice of 2 different tours...one in Spanish and one in English/a little Spanish. Me and a few friends from the program chose the Spanish version (we're only here a month, you know! Immerse! Immerse!) but it was super frustrating because the lady at first kept asking if we understood after every sentence. Then, she started to not only ask if we understood after EVERY 2-3 sentences, but she also began translating into English even when we told here we understood. Arrgh. So, we were listening to everything twice, AND in Spanish and English, but we were a group that was all at a level that could easily understand the Spanish version. Finally, after it became obvious that I was not the only one who felt this way, I worked up the courage to ask our program director if he could ask the lady to speak only in Spanish. He was really nice about it and talked to her so we finished the day completely in Spanish! Success!

Toledo was nice, and I learned that the swords of West Point are made there (Toledo is famous for its swords/daggers/general all-around knife-ery. At El Escorial we toured the monastery and everything (my favorite room is the Library with all the near-ancient books), and we also headed to Valle de Los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen) which was also on my top-list of places from last trip. Our program director (who is from Madrid) told us that a lot of Spanish people have never been there. In fact, our driver (we took a bus there) had never been, so he accompanied us inside.

P.S. I got a haircut today...finally. I was starting to get a natural greñita (props to all you hard-core Spain lovers who knew that was the word for the phenomenon that is the Spanish mullet :-) )



Go HERE to view my images from Spain thus far. Please EMAIL ME at jordan.nelson(AT)okstate.edu if this link does not work (replace the (AT) thing with the symbol...this is to prevent spam).