Arrival Into a Foreign Familiarity

It's very interesting to be returning to a place that is so unfamiliar and yet so familiar at the same time. Yes, I have spent time in Spain before, and I have spent time studying the language, but something such as a second culture (different from that which one grew up with) seems like it will always feel foreign. Ok, this is coming from someone who has spent minimal time in a second culture, less than a year overall, but with what little hindsight I do have and my very near-sighted look into the future I find it hard to imagine anything ever feeling as comfortable as what I first knew, or to even reach a place of it no longer feeling foreign to me. But alas, is that not why I'm here, to learn more, assimilate more, to lessen the unfamiliarity? So let us embark.

Our flight and travels into Madrid was like any group trip: a shuffle of suitcases, a collection of confusions, a set of different via-point destinations—the flurry of things a bit amplified by the over-seas distance and foreign destination. By the time I went to sleep on that first night in Spain (we flew out of Chicago the evening of the 1st of January and arrived the morning of the 2nd in Madrid) I had been awake for twenty-nine hours. Regardless, I feel like the jet lag has not gotten to me as much as it did last time, as I feel I've been rather functional. This could be, in part, due to the fact that after a semester of dance at UWSP I'm probably a bit more fit and healthy than I was last time I was here. Not that I was particularly unhealthy before, but I feel that my fatigue rate has gone down considerably and my body is better equipped to recuperate. The tricky thing will be to keep myself at this level of fitness while abroad, it is a dilemma I have yet to solve (though I am looking into Zumba classes and some other possibilities here in Valladolid).

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I'm having trouble writing this (I've had the above paragraphs written for about two or three days now), but I'm scared of making it too long, but I need to just buckle down and type this thing out. Hopefully it won't end up a novelette.

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Our first day in Madrid started off with getting picked up at the airport by Sandra, who accompanied us on all our adventures during our stay in Madrid. She is a very wonderful person with tons of energy, great patience, good English and even better Spanish, and an all-around fun person to have as a tour guide. We all loved her very much and were sad to say goodbye when the time came.

Upon getting picked up at the airpot, we had a short bus tour of Madrid "on our way" to the hotel. (These photos were taken from inside the bus, so there is some reflection and green tint, but enjoy la riqueza of Madrid)

Plaza de los Toros, Spain's most important bull fighting arena. It is interesting to me that I have yet to meet a Spaniard that condones bull fighting, it is sort of condemned as inhumane these days and seems to be kept alive largely just because of tradition.

La Puerta de Alcalá, one of the city's old main "gates"

The front of the Prado Museum, a treasure trove of rich art and beautiful things, more on that later.

A grand building, not sure what it is specifically, but I think it has something to do with some sort of department of communication, such as mail, television, and radio—not really sure.

The U.S. Embassy in Madrid

Me in front of El Palacio Real (the Royal Palace) in Madrid. (Thanks Gabe and Nelly for the awesome blue jacket, it is going to make quite the stellar appearance in a lot of photos).

A courtyard in el Palacio Real

A statue in el Palacio Real

Look how cool this little contraption is from our hotel. You can't turn on the lights without putting your card in it first. So when you leave the room it both reminds you to save energy and turn of lights, and it turns them all off for you by just simply removing it.

Also, this trip I didn't bring an actual camera, so you get the photos from my phone. They're not bad, but they're also not great, and there will probably be fewer of them than when I had a camera hanging around my neck. I've also noticed that without a camera always at my beck and call I tend to notice more detail, grandeur, and workmanship of what is around me, rather than just looking for the next snapshot or well-captured photo.

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Something I find very interesting in all of the architecture and art of Spain, having been a "Catholic" country, is the mixture of biblical stories and Greek and Roman mythologies. Here you have Zues next to Hermes next to Adam and Eve next to Artemis and Apollo next to Jesus and Mary. I think these sort of things stood out to me especially because I know both, both the biblical and the mythological (from my readings of the Percy Jackson Series, very good books), so the contrast and mixture of the two is really prevalent to me. Overall, though, what stands out to me the most is the Catholics glorification of Mary, seemingly even more so than of Jesus. It is something that for me, as a non-catholic Christian, view as peculiar. Is it not Christ who died for my sins? Mary did no more than any of the others who followed God's will for their lives and who allowed his work to be done through them, and yet here she is, crowned as the queen of heaven.

Their is a certain convenience to all this, and that is that it shares the bible story for me, in one or another. Either the tour guide explains a biblical story portrayed in a painting, or someone asks me what is going on with this or that representation or art piece, or I am asked what I believe in contrast or similarity to all this Catholic tradition that we see so much of here is Spain. It is handed to me on a silver platter, and all I have to do is answer questions or point something out, without getting in anyone's face or making it seemed forced. Thank God for a tourist's curiosity.

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Something that I am reminded of here is Spain, seeing all these old buildings and art and things, is just how much I love woodwork. There is just something so beautiful in its serenity, shine, and its ability to be either complexly simple or have a simple complexity. I think it might be my favorite medium. There was this one room in el Palacio Real that especially stood out to me. It was done in a Chinese style that was popular at the time (I think it was the 18th century if I remember right) with gorgeous vine work all over the walls and ceiling, in plaster and porcelain I believe, with these incredibly gorgeous, large, wooden-framed mirrors. It just had such a regal, wild, free, and natural feel to it, I wanted to stay in the room for a week just taking in all the details.

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Our second day in Spain we took a day tour to Toledo, the old capital of Spain and a city very diverse in its history, with influences from the Muslims, Jews, and Catholics. The city is full of the sacred buildings and artifacts of all three religions, the largest being the grand Cathedral of Toledo, in the center of the city. Our tour guide reverenced over and over again how the different things had been built, torn down, or changed not so much because of religious reasons, but because of power. If the rulers could "unify" the people under one primary religion, could display that power, and maintain that collective belief, they had total power. This was something I hadn't really ever thought much of before, but it is some interesting food for thought. With this history and mindset it makes sense that people could be fed up with religions always vying for "power" in the lives of people and their world.

Also, being such an old city, Toledo has very small streets, as you will see in some of the following photos. I loved what our guide said, "one person and one car create a traffic jam in Toledo."

Our group at a vista point overlooking the city

Toledo is known for its smithery and work with  precious metals. Here, a master goldsmith is inlaying gold into steal.

Here are some examples of finished products. The top three of from masters, the middle three are from teachers and students (I think, if I understood right), and the last two are machine made.

Of course I have to pose with a sword from the city known for its swordsmanship.

The grandiose cathedral of Toledo

A ceiling in the cathedral that I especially liked.

Unfortunately I don't have any great photos of this ceiling, but I  had to post a picture of it anyway because of how impressive it is. This is on the ceiling of one of the rooms in the Toledo Cathedral, and I wish I could remember the name of the Italian painter who did it. He used both hands at the same time and completed the whole thing in just four months.

A less blurry photo of a section of the ceiling.

A old roman road that was dug up in Toledo. Roman. Guys, that's two millennia ago! Wow, how time flies.

Me, if you couldn't tell :)

I believe it was this wall that the tour guide said the Muslims built around the Jewish quarters to protect the Jews from the Christians. Interesting to think how relations change through the ages.

Me again, on one of the bridges leading into/out of the city.

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What I'm about to say is probably something that could get me deported, but here I go. Paella isn't really my favorite. I like it well enough, but I think I could do without it. I know, I know, it is everyone's favorite Spanish dish, but for me it isn't really all that spectacular. I think one problem is that the most traditional paella is a seafood paella, and I do not really like seafood, like, at all.

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We got to see a flamenco show one of our nights in Madrid. I discovered that pretty much everything I thought about flamenco going into it was not at all true. I hadn't realized that traditional flamenco is actually pretty bare, no frilly, long, twirly dresses, no partner dancing, mostly just solo dancing (though with a little group dancing at times), and a whole lot of fancy stomping. It was a fast-pased mixture of tap, river dance, clogging, and I'm not really sure what else. It was really cool to see.

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On our last day in Madrid we toured the Prado Museum, which was probably one of my favorite places we visited. Not only did I not get to visit it last time I was here, but it is a place where history is embodied through art, a collection of some of the greatest works of art, depicting some of histories greatest (and sometimes not so greatest) moments. I loved the Valasquez pieces, and I particularly loved Tintoretto's El Lavatorio, which depicts Christ washing the disciples feet. It is this long canvas, with Jesus, the disciples and a table in the foreground, and a large stone gate and a pond in the background that as one walks up to it looks like it is off in the distance. But as you walk up to it and along the painting, the view shifts, and lo and behold the the viewer is now in line with the distant gate. I'm probably doing a horrible job of describing it, but it is incredible that the perspective changes with the change of position of the viewer. That, to me, is impressive for any painting, but especially for this one from the sixteenth century. I wanted to take a video of me walking past it so you could get an idea of what I am talking about, but no photos or videos are allowed in the Prado.

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Here are some other random photos from our five-day entry tour in Madrid.

The Palacio Real as seen from the royal gardens.

An Egyptian temple, in the middle of Madrid. Long story short, Egypt decides to build a damn, this will cause flooding which is not good for old artifacts, the rest of Europe steps in and brings said artifacts back to its own cities. Cool to see it again.

One of our group dinners.

El Palacio de Cristal (the glass palace) in Retiro park (more or less Madrid's Central Park).

Me riding a statue in Retiro, another reason I will probably be deported.

Look there are three of me :)

Circulo de Bellas Artes, a terrace on top of one of the buildings in Madrid that you can pay to go up, and they have a vantage point over the city.

My stuff in the hotel room, before I packed (stuffed) it all back up to come to Valladolid.

Me with out tour leader/guid, Sandra :)

Also, I got to see some of my friends from last time, but not many. I want to plan a weekend trip down to the Madrid area when I can see more people.

I would say that with that, I will wrap up this post. I hope to write again soon and tell you all about how sardines are not fish. I bet you can't wait.

Hasta luego,

Asher