An Amazing Story

http://flux64.wordpress.com/2006/11/13/his-cathedral-is-dedicated-to-nuestra-senora-del-pilar-madre-de-jesus/ Justo Martínez is 80 and has been working on Nuestra Señora del Pilar for 40 years. Just so I don't have to explain the whole story the link is above here. It's in a quaint European town on the outskirts of Madrid where Patricia my director lives. She is originally from NY and has been living here for the past 18 years and I can see why. I might follow suit. But besides all that this cathedral in the making is becoming famous slowly and Justo uses coca cola as his promoter. I'm routing for him and who ever it is that will undertake the rest of the project. I went shopping w/ the Catholic Kids after viewing the cathedral and finally solved my phone problem! I remember Erica having a problem in Japan and I was nervous about that but I was able to purchase a yoigo sim card and use it in my att phone as a prepaid phone w/ perfect service! No more dead zones in the metro, gracias a dios. Yesterday I went to La Casa de Sorrolla, located in Iglesía, which is actually his mansion, still somewhat furnished with some Arabic, European, and NY pieces (Tiffany´s lights). You can see in the garden the Arabic influence with all the symmetrical water fountains. Every wall is filled with his famous paintings or cuadros which are considered modern mostly using light wispy strokes of la playa (beach) and ciudades de españa (spainish cities). I took a lot of pictures of the yard and indoors. There was a school field trip going on while we were there and all the Spanish niños were wearing school uniforms and were separated into groups. Each group had a different color distinguished by a drop of paint on their nose! It was precious. There´s a elementary school right behind were I live too. I did my laundry today, which is only a lavadora in the kitchen. While I was hanging my clothes on the balcony to dry I heard the kids singing in school. Muy linda!

So this is Madrid....

There's a snapshot here of some of the beautiful sights around la plaza Santiago where I have stayed for the past two nights in a hostel and then in the hotel that the program provided for us. The group of us girls from Catholic Jill, Kara, Jeannette and I arrived a day earlier than the program starts and so we had to provide our own accommodations. That part worked out so well for us because our director, Patricia picked us up from Barajas airport and drove us almost to the front door of our hotel. She was 4 or 5 numbers off, but it was fine because we didn't have to use the metro with the mountain of luggage we all brought. I've been pretty exhausted with the time change since the first day because once we got to the hostel around 12 we slept till 7pm and went out for a stroll of the city. The hostel, Mucho Madrid was on the 7th floor and we had a balcony!! I took some snazzy pictures of some memorable places from the first two days. Already I feel like a wine drinker, but I'll take the Sangria over the wine. It was delicious the first of the tapas bars we went to the first night with our director Patricia. I'm really happy with our director. She is very laid back and knows her gig. My host mom Susy Herreros is equally awesome. I feel almost fluent when we talk because I can ask and she can explain in Spanish and we almost never use any english! It's great! I feel like I'm finally doing the things that I'm here to do. And the great news is that I'm not going to have any trouble with getting around the metro and all because we went on a nice hike around the neighborhood Hortaleza and I got a feel for the metro stops and bus stops near me and how to use them. Plus I have a couple of malls and centralized businesses all around a few parks, tennis courts etc. I'm happy I'm not directly living in the city. I can walk for a while around here and feel pretty safe. I just finished eating and watching some Spanish TV and it's almost 12. I have to get used to the late dinner part but it was nice cooking and cleaning with Susy and in the process finding more phrases to learn. Well there's a lot on my mind about everything going on. I guess the other thing I wanted to record is just that I discovered that Susy has 3 places. Madrid, Málaga, y Valencia. She was born in Valencia and studied in the US at the same age that I´m now. She said the first thing she noticed about me, is that I have the same natural hair color as she did growing up! Well that´s all for now folks!

2 weeks to go

So if you can believe it. I have exactly two weeks before my flight leaves and I already packed everything. Ha! I can't wait to go. But I also didn't want to worry about fees for my luggage going over the weight of 23 kg or 50 lbs.... I see a lot of good coming from this abroad experience. For one I'm actually going to using the metric system in everyday life and two I'll finally will be learning another culture at first hands experience outside of my country. So the whole point of this post and the ones to come is for my records. More a less an online journal. So anyone can post me if they so choose. I wouldn't mind having some contact from the USA. Despite your busy lives, I hope you guys get some enjoyment out of following up w/ my experiences and show me you do with a comment once in a blue.