El Viejo Capital Toledo

Jan 30, Friday the AYA group took a bus from Plaza Eliptica to the old capital, Toledo. This quaint, very European city is a mix of Medieval and Renaissance everywhere. If you want to buy a sword or knife or a miniature knight or dragon... Go to Toledo! I bought a Damascene piece of jewelry, which is also very popular here. In fact, Toledo is the singular area that preserves this art from as far back as 6th Century BC. Of course many shops claim hand made products but use the machine. I went to a store, where the owner is friends with our director and is known as one of 12 remaining artisans. I videoed him working on another piece of jewelry and took a few pictures of the store. The product is made of steel or iron and 24 karot gold. The finished product is heated and oxidized so that the finished product is gold inlaid on black. I bought a necklace for a discounted price...~connections~ because the store owner sold me. He showed a comparison of machine made and handmade after 3 months!! Guay! Such a difference. Me mola la damasquinado a mano! The cheaper machine one was tarnishing already. And the hand made looked brand new. It could have been of course, but I trust him. Machines don't compare. And this technique can be done on anything practically! I came back to my room and recognized Susy's decorative plate of two flamenco dancers and a matador ~bull fighter~ as damascene. ~I plan on coming back here~ I saw La Catedral de Toledo and the synagogue too. And our group tried the Marzapan de Toledo ~carmalized almonds~ too. The photo of the brown castle is made out of Marzapan! But they have Greco's museum too and the baths! So I'll be back.

Los Jinetes de Los Caballos Andaluces!

Yesterday, January 31 I went out for a shopping and exploring expenditure with Michelle, Katie, and Bethany. We met at La Plaza Sol and started our day at the bakery. I got a ham and cheese empanada. It's pretty filling and good for breakfast. Better than starting off with the churros con chocolate that we had that first time with our program. We went to a few craft stores. And I bought my sister a katana envelope opener at El Gato Negro ~the black cat!~ I find that because the Japanese are huge tourists, there's a lot of Asian influence here in Spain. Signs are written in Spanish, English, and Japanese! Jaja. I have to try one of their restaurants sometime. So the main part of this blog is when we went into La Plaza Mayor, and I smelled horses and saw a huge crowd.... We walked up and I saw a dozen or more horses and riders waiting in a smaller ring for the show to begin in a larger ring that I noticed them making the last time I had been to this plaza. The signs advertised horses from Jerez, Andalucia! So I checked that off my list for things I had wanted to do and watched a free show in Madrid! It was literally the best horse show. The first was one jinete de caballo ~horseman~ with a long pole. He drew a lot of circles in the sand as he steered the horse around the ring. The second spectacle was a syncronization of 4 jinetes. They made these horses DANCE! I mean they had them trotting sideways, making formations, and their legs kicked high up in the air! But that was nothing. They left and came back lead the horse and had them do some amazing things, that I never thought a horse could physically do. The horses would jump straight in the air on all fours and do a kick in the air, stand on hind legs and hop across the ring, and buck and you name it! All of us were awed by this show! Afterward we met with Michelle's roommate Sarah, and another Catholic student, Andy at Malaspinas. A great Tasca that the AYA group went to the first night and we ordered 2 half chickens with fries and Sangria. ~love Sangria~ Later on Bethany and I stayed out and I bought Erica, Ashley, my niece, and my mom presents!! I only need to get one more present. Which is great because I have until March 9 when the stores are finished with their Rebajas ~sales~ It's required for all the stores in the winter months, starting January. A side note. Today I went to the Centro Commercial ~mall~ with Susy, my host mom. The malls here are way different. Like the bottom floor is a grocery market and the top is a department mix of clothing, shoes, and all kinds of housewares. Then another level had specific stores and I found the leather boots that I want! I was going to buy them, but they don't carry my size in any of their locations. It really bothered me, because I've been searching since I've gotten here. I've looked all over Sol and Gran Via, and either the price or the style doesn't work for me. I found THE boots I wanted, real leather, buckles and perfect toe width. But only in size 6! Jaja. So the search continues...

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.