AixPatriots: Our Semester in Aix en Provence: When in Spain, pretend you are fluent in Spanish

Last weekend Sara, Emily, Laura (a vandy friend), and I went to Madrid en España! It was easily the most enjoyable weekend I have had so far. I really loved Madrid. The city was quite pretty (unlike many other European cities that are in a troubling state of disrepair - read scaffolding everywhere). It had some very nice architecture - I would class in traditional. Also many of the buildings had ornate but not overly so friezes.

We arrived very late Friday night so we just took the metro to our hostel and collapsed into bed. Fun fact #: Spanish people love to fête (party) on the metro! Meaning that they have to-go cups of alcoholic drinks that they enjoy in transit whilst singing. It was hilarious!!

The next morning we grabbed a quick (free) breakfast at our hostel - we were late so they only had donuts left. Then we dashed off to meet Karen and Katherine, two Duke friends who are studying in Madrid this semester. Our first stop was their favorite chocolatería to get the oh-so-popular churros con chocolate (fried dough with chocolate sauce, which can be eater with the churros, or by itself). I was so excited about this that I had even dreamed about it the night before. It was a stupendous way to start our day!

After that we walked around, seeing the palace (though there is a royal family, the Spanish are not as obsessed about their royals as the English are with Elizabeth II and her crew), a park that offered a wonderful panoramic view of the city, and several plazas (del Sol, Mayor...). We also went to the Marcado de San Miguel - an indoor food market with tons of stalls. We saw tons of sides of pork - Spanish people get the ham freshly cut. Also one stall had some dried fish thing hanging. It was all spread out so it resembled some sort of bat creature. Spooky! ¡Muy extraño! (super bizarre) Eventually we stopped for lunch. I had paella for my started and it was divine!! They gave me a huge slice of lemon so I was able to make my meal as citrusy as I wanted (very). My second course was less pleasing and more sickening. I had calamari (squid) that was drenched in olive oil and paprika - not my fave. But I also had a nice sangria with my meal - my first one and I was wonderful. After lunch, we saw some more landmarks (Katherine and Karen were excellent tour guides). We went my a wonderful park (my second favorite in all of Europe - Jardin de Luxembourg in Paris is the best). We saw some Spanish wildlife - los gatos (cats)! After that we went to the Prado Museum. In the Prado you will find Fra Angelico's Annunciation, Goya's The Third of May, and many many other paintings from Rubens, El Greco, and Velázquez. I really enjoyed the medieval art section (comme d'hab). There were some very cool old (early medieval) wooden altar panels.

Fra Angelico's Annunciation (1426)

Goya's The Third of May (1808) - depicts Spanish Army's resistance to Napoleonic forces

After the Prado we all broke up for naps (this was around 7pm). Around 9:30pm (!!) we all met up for dinner at this amazing tapas place called El Tigre. It was packed, so much so that to move around you had to pretend you had no bones and squeeze through tons of people. But it was incroyable (unbelievable)!!! They brought us tapas with our drinks - we all ordered Sangria again. Fun fact #2: all food in Spain is fried (this is either great or disastrous for your stomach). With our Sangrais we got wings (yuck! no thanks), bread and cheese (delicious in every country) and croquettas (fried balls of cheese - thus delicious) all for the low low price of 5 euros. While there (for several hours) we caught up with Karen and Katherine and met up with some other Duke-in-Spain people. After tapas (a highlight of the trip) we took the metro to a dance club. Fun fact #3: the metro closes at 1:45am. Though it was not that late, the metro was half closed - meaning that the trains still ran but all the escalators were stopped. To exit the metro we had to walk up six very long flights of stairs. Eventually we got to the club and danced for a few hours. The music was a mix of Spanish and American top 40 - I preferred the American songs (I knew all the words) but it was really great to hear Spanish music too. We got back to the hostel and our blessed beds around 4am (!!!!!). It was a feat indeed!!!

The next morning, Sunday, we grabbed a not-so-good breakfast (the Spanish version of pain au chocolat is far inferior to the French version) and headed off the Reina Sofia museum for a spot of art before heading back to Aix. The Reina Sofia houses modern art - so I was quite skeptical at first. But I ended up really enjoying it. We saw Picasso's Guernica, which was magnificent up close. It is a very large painting in person. Also, even though Picasso's figures are so abstract and simple, he communicates the pain and horror of the scene very well. We also saw some Dali and a colorful portrait of Tristan Tsara (the founder of the Dada movement). I really enjoyed the museum. Emily explained Picasso's theory of art, which I found quite helpful for appreciating art (especially modern art). Here is how she explains Picasso's theory on her blog:

"He states that he does not believe in art criticism, and his argument is that art is by nature the realm that is not burdened by rules (so one cannot impose rules on what one regards), and that the viewer cannot know the soul or the aims fo the artist, and that, since every artists is seeking truth, one cannot discount another's work; one must say, "This pleases me" or, "This pleases me not.""

Typical Emily - just being super smart and somehow making me smarter along the way. ut I think that for the most part, the art I saw this weekend pleased me. The trip was indeed a grand success! Katherine and Karen were wonderful hosts and tour guides.

It was a bit strange being in a place when I had no idea how to communicate. Luckily, Sara, Katherine, and Karen are all fluent in Spanish so they did all the talking. But whenever I was called upon to speak, whenever I bought something in a store, I kept spitting out French! I said "merci" instead of "gracias" and "oui" instead of "si". I was quite flustered. But I did manage to pick up a of Spanish here and there. So you might say I am trilingual at this point.

Quote of the weekend:

After a disastrous lunch "Ugh. Spain: 1, Emily: 0." - Emily Gall