One month later...

9-30-07

Hello again, dear friends! Sorry I haven’t been writing as frequently as I thought I would. I’m not sure where the time goes, but I’m certainly managing to keep busy. :-)

Return to Segovia:
¡Paraíso! I am definitely enjoying Madrid, but going back to Segovia felt like going home. I couldn’t escape our guided tour, but not all of the information was repeat, and I even got to see something new. Aside from touring the alcazar (and going up all 106 steep spiral stairs for that spectacular view from the top) and the cathedral at top speed, and staring up at the aqueduct of course, we went up on top of the muralla (wall around the city) at the Puerta de San Andrés for a very nice view of the streets. Oh, how I love those streets! Tranquil, fresh air, big sky, mountains, familiar places….
As soon as the tour let out for lunch, I ran home: mi familia segoviana invited me for lunch (mmm, lentil soup). I got to see my old host mother and all three of my host brothers. Augusto’s arm is finally all better, and he’s the same as ever—arguing with his mother, asking me if I’ve found a Spaniard yet…. Alfredo was, as always, fun to talk with. And, though I didn’t get to see her, Ana (host sister) is getting married! I’m hoping to go to the wedding in March; it sounds like I’ll be able to. They also invited me to their pueblo some weekend when their current student is on a trip, and I really hope that works out. Alberto didn’t get home until about 5 minutes before I had to leave, but we did at least get to chat a bit—and I know I’ll be back there before too much time goes by. I love that city! It may not have nearly as much to do as Madrid (then again, what does?), but I feel so at peace there.

Toledo:
As long as I’m on the subject of trips, we just had a day trip to Toledo on Friday. Luckily the weather was much better this time: it was chilly in the morning, but sunny all day long. We certainly ran around the city enough to keep warm! It’s an enchanting place, though the hills get a little tiring. It’s also an absolute labyrinth. The streets are so narrow that whenever a car comes along (or, even worse, a truck), all the pedestrians have to jump into doorways to let it by.
We toured a tiny old mosque, two synagogues, and the giant, glorious cathedral. I love the opening in the ceiling—not the cupola, but a different opening cut out (and decorated with paintings and sculptures) to let light fall right onto the place where the Holy Communion is (or at least was) kept. And on a more bizarre note, the chairs in the choir section are a big tourist draw. Artists of the Inquisition era didn’t exactly have a lot of freedom with their work… but no one ever looked under the chairs. So all the seat bottoms are decorated with mythological monsters and caricatures of the clergy and other powers-that-were. Random fact of the day.

Classes:
I have a strange schedule: I only have class on Mondays and Wednesdays. (It’s wonderful!)
Monday: Journalism and Translation (9:30-10:50)
Translation of Literary and Non-Literary Texts (11-12:20)
home for lunch…
History and Culture (3:00-5:00)
Linguistics/Spanish Lexicon (5:30-6:50)
Wednesday: Translation of Literary and Non-Literary Texts (11-12:20)
Research Methods/MA Project (12:30-1:50)
run down to the corner to buy a sandwich
Workshop: Language & Translation (3:00-5:00)
Linguistics/Spanish Lexicon (5:30-6:50)
In Journalism we translate newspaper articles (about everything—international news, economics, sports, art… you name it) from English to Spanish, and in Literary Translation we translate from Spanish (at the moment, a short story) to English. Though in Lit Trans we spend most of the time on what the prof calls “typical situations,” translating various English expressions and sentences into Spanish. The funny part is when we go the other way and debate about how to say something in English. Half the class, for example, has never heard the expression “work like a dog.” Maybe it’s a Midwest thing?
All the translation classes are small. History/Culture and the MA Research class are the only ones when everyone is together. I have to admit that History isn’t my favorite class, nor the most stimulating, but we have visiting profs every week and they’re experts on their subjects, so that’s interesting. A lot of (occasionally dry) reading.
Léxico is probably my favorite class. The prof is fantastic, and we tend to run overtime every class—and no one minds, because it’s so interesting. Linguistics, etymology, new words, colloquial phrases…. Definitely my cup of tea. And I’m not the only one who gets excited about all of it! Hooray for not being the only nerd :-)
All in all, I’m loving the classes—they’re basically everything I hoped for. And we as a group continue to mainly speak Spanish among ourselves, which thrills me to no end.

More of Madrid:
I still take nearly daily walks “por ahí,” as the Spanish say—out and about. The Retiro is just fabulous, and we certainly haven’t explored it all yet. I still haven’t seen its Crystal Palace, but I’m definitely in love with the rose garden. It also boasts (?) one of the world’s few statues of the devil. It’s called the Fallen Angel, and it is a little bizarre… but strangely beautiful. It shows Lucifer cowering with a snake wrapped around his legs. Grotesque gargoyles spout water at the base of the statue, which of course is surrounded by happy yellow flowers. Go figure. On a completely different note, there are some odd trees in that park! They look like something out of Dr. Seuss.
I’ve gone to the Rastro market three out of the four Sundays I’ve been here (has it really been that long?), and it keeps changing. It’s fun to walk around, but not if you want to get someplace fast: it’s well and truly clogged with people.
I keep seeing little plazas and avenues from the bus that I want to return to—just to wander around or take pictures. The other day I saw a giant bulbous sculpture of a hand. Odd. But then, we have a cherry on a spoon.
The next couple weeks will have me running around to a bunch of literary festival activities, including author readings and talks about the creative process and the role of memory: I’m rather excited. I haven’t found a short-term affordable creative writing workshop yet, but I’m keeping an eye out. There’s also an opportunity to teach English that I’m considering…. I love my free time to explore, but that would be awfully good experience, especially considering that my assistantship in the spring isn’t teaching after all.
Last Saturday was the Noche en Blanco, an art festival that sprawls across Madrid. I’m afraid I didn’t see very much of it, aside from a light display in the Torre de España and a strange bit of theatre in a random garden; we left too late and didn’t plan our itinerary very well, so we ended up chasing after exhibits without much success. It was still a fun night, though. The streets were packed! (Yes, that is a theme here. Something happens, and the city empties itself into the streets.)

More randomness:
I love the metro station Goya. Each platform is lined with his art: the eerie Capricho etchings, the soft pastels of his early works…. Other stations have their own delights, like the irreverent cartoonish mural of the Retiro Park, a 3D mural/relief of books, and a giant mosaic, among others. One day I’ll play the cheesy tourist and take pictures of them all.
A lovely slogan that made me laugh out loud: Mi suegra es encantadora, pero de serpientes. The word play doesn’t work quite as well in translation: “My mother-in-law is enchanting… snakes,” is about as close as I can come.

Bad translations:
French fires and soop. A movie subtitle translated “se fusionaron,” which should mean “they fused,” to “they got fusioned.” OW. And I picked up a postcard titled “Lessons in English/Lecciones en ingles” which doesn’t have a single good translation on it. It takes a bunch of colloquial Spanish phrases and tries to put them in English, but each translation is disastrously literal. (I really, really hope it's a joke.) Even “Hola” gets mixed up by translating the homonym “ola.” Thus, “hello” becomes “wave” (like on a beach). “It is not turkey mucus,” “My happiness in a hole,” and “Great sissy the last” are other little gems. Uy, madre.

Pictures:
I think I’m nearing the 1,000 mark already, and I still haven’t gone on a grand photo-taking extravaganza of Madrid. Of course, a lot are of Segovia and Toledo. New link: http://picasaweb.google.com/mary.dellenbach

I finally bought my ticket home. I’ll be back in Minnesota from December 17 through January 8… and I’m sure the weather will be just lovely. Right? Anyway, let me know how things are going back home! I may take a while in responding, but I do love getting mail and hearing what you all are up to :-)

Un abrazo fuerte,
Mary

c/ Segre 8
28002 Madrid
+34.675.572.153
mary.dellenbach@gmail.com

Photos:
http://csbsju.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2043392&l=c8247&id=93401331: First Impressions of Madrid
http://csbsju.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2043785&l=7eba0&id=93401331: Parque Retiro
http://csbsju.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2043890&l=dc89a&id=93401331: Segovia

I'll try to put them up in a more easily accesible format later...

Week 1

Hello from Madrid!

These first few days have been a whirlwind. I don’t even know exactly how many days I’ve been here, since I lost a few hours and brain cells somewhere on the flight over. But here I am, safe and sound and reveling in speaking nothing but Spanish.

My host family: a mother and daughter, both named Rosa, both very educated and kind. Rosa 1 (for lack of a better way to differentiate here) works at the Ministry of Culture and writes books on art. As a delightful consequence, the apartment is filled with paintings and bookshelves! (I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I’m not going to question it.) Her daughter, Rosa 2, is about 26 and works in montaje, which roughly translates to editing, though in more of a layout kind of way… I think. She’s going to show me some of her projects, since I told her I’m interested in that field.

The apartment: small, of course, but exquisite. I’m in a building in a very nice neighborhood, the barrio of Salamanca, just around the corner and across the street from a metro stop. The apartment itself opens into a little entry way and a living room (filled with books and art), with a little terrace overlooking the street below. That and the kitchen (extremely roomy and modern by Spanish standards… there’s even a dishwasher) are where we talk most. The kitchen table really only fits one person, and we don’t exactly eat at the same times, but it does seem like I’ll have enough opportunities to chat, which is exactly why I wanted a host family in the first place – and, once again, I seem to have been extremely lucky. My room is adorable, and I even have my own bathroom. The only thing is that dinner (the smaller meal of the day) isn’t included in the contract, but one way or another that will work itself out. Lunch is so big that I’ve had leftovers for supper the past couple days. I certainly won’t go hungry!

The campus: small, but nice. It’s only two buildings connected by a patio, and it will probably fill up more when the undergrads arrive, but it’s got wireless – and I now have a laptop. I’m finally joining the electronic age! Okay, so I’ve had a computer and a camera. Now I have a cell phone. I just don’t know how it works; Rosa (2) has been showing me a bunch of tricks. Anyway, the profs seem nice. It will take some time for me to get used to the British program director, though: his Spanish has a very British accent!

The city: I haven’t yet done the full tourist thing, and – astounding though it may seem – I’ve barely taken any photos. Madrid is a different city than Segovia. I know that sounds obvious, but I’m waiting to get my bearings a little, get comfortable in crowds, and get to know my classmates so perhaps I can find a walking/photography partner. And yes, I’m being careful of pickpockets. The best advice I’ve heard on that so far was from a Spanish police officer in Barcelona, who said just start shouting at the pickpocket – draw attention, and he’ll leave. And I still remember a few choice words from one of my host brothers in Segovia, so I should be fine. :-)

I’ve walked around the center of Madrid a couple times now, including el Parque de Buen Retiro. I’ll probably end up taking periodic walks through there; as pretty as the central neighborhoods (including mine) are, I know sooner or later I’ll start yearning for some peace, quiet, trees, and a lake (even if it is man-made). And it really is a gorgeous park. Last night the whole group had a guided tour of sorts through the oldest part of Madrid, and I finally started to fall for this city. Oh, it’s definitely fascinating and fun, and the architecture is great, and there’s so much life everywhere – but the old part, with the little plazas, the old palaces, the cobblestone streets, and the tranquil atmosphere, definitely made me feel more at home. It was an excellent survey of places to take photos, too. I think this weekend might be a good time to take out the camera and go a little crazy. I’ll upload some photos online and show them off when I do :-)

The group: seems excellent. I don’t know everyone yet, of course, but several bunches of us have gone out for tapas (appetizers). One wonderful sign of things to come is that (for the most part) we’ve all been speaking to each other exclusively in Spanish. We have orientation (not just to the school, but to Madrid) for the next week or so, so we’ll all get to know each other a little before starting class. (Just now I’m at NYU and all the undergraduates are passing by, half-shouting in English… amazing how annoying that suddenly is! Ooh, story time. I heard a couple younger American girls talking on the metro about a friend who went to a pharmacy and asked for pills… but she asked for pilas, not pastillas – that is, batteries, not pills.)

Randomness: I’ve already seen a 3-legged dog, a 1-legged pigeon, and one of the actors from Aquí No Hay Quien Viva! Klutz that I am, I tripped in the park today and ripped up my jeans and knee a little bit. A random Spanish woman stopped and gave me a nice big band-aid. Three cheers for helpful strangers!

I’m still looking forward to returning to Segovia, of course (Friday). But little by little I’m growing accustomed to Madrid, and very much enjoying myself.

Until the next installment, here’s hoping your weather is as deliciously sunny as it is here!
Mary

Welcome

Hello from -- well, still in Minnesota. Just setting up a place for brand new adventures...