Museo de Américas

I was not quite sure what to expect when I decided to go to the Museum of the Americas; I did not know how the Spanish people who were once the colonizers of Latin America would portray the artworks and artifacts from that region...most of which were stolen. The museum was a long metro ride away, the last stop of line 3 near the university. It was a hip side of Madrid that I hadn't seen and that few tourists ventured to. The museum itself is a gorgeous, tall building with several courtyards with fountains. It was too impressive for its distance from central Madrid. I was one of 3 or 4 people there and it made me feel bad that such a gorgeous building was not being used as much as it should be. For the first time since arriving in Spain, I enjoyed the service the museum guards provided. I met one woman named Clara who actually took the trouble to help me locate all the Incan artifacts (a big deal considering they were many and scattered throughout the entire museum. The guards were mostly elderly women who enjoyed seeing a young person in the museum and chatted nicely with me as they reiterated what "incredible things the museum had." They were really right. The museum was incredible, but not in the way the term is  normally used. I was mostly amazed at how primitive the feel of the museum was. The rooms were dark with bright spotlights illuminating pottery shards and gold pieces. Time periods from 5000 BCE to 1400 CE were organized randomly, haphazardly, and side-by-side in glass cases. The supplemental information was in the form of European paintings made during the colonial era to explain the artifacts. WOW. I could not believe that such racist paintings from a period hundreds of years ago were used to explain hundreds of different cultures that spanned thousands of years. I was shocked. And I was more shocked that it was not recognized by anyone else in the museum. They looked at the pieces like they were simply cool artifacts that were quite "developed" for the time. It was infuriating but also so exciting because it reflected the exact phenomenon that I am covering in my thesis. The Spanish are proud of their collection, which is worth noting. They are trying to get their culture out there to the public, but they have a long way to go as far as museum curating and cultural studies go.

Hermosa Juventud (Beautiful Youth)

Hermosa Juventud (Beautiful Youth)

            This week I ventured out to see a Spanish-French Film directed by Jaime Rosales, with a new friend of mine Eric. The evening was very eventful. First we were late to the first screening of the film because he was showing me around Plaza Espana, and Puerta Del Sol He was showing me all the various places to find drinks and tapas for a Euro each, also places where do so some scenic viewing of famous statues and places where the locals go to “hang” out and converse. One of the most interesting things of the night was watching parts of the Brazil Vs Mexico game and having various people ask me what part of Mexico I was from. I also learned why people eat so much ham here in Madrid and it has to do was the inquisition. After eating and watching part of the game we finally made a screening of Hermosa Juventud, which I read a translated version of the description of the film online that said it was a love story comparable to the Notebook, which Eric and I found out within the first 2 minutes that wasn’t the case. It happened to start off as porn. Completely a different type of time then we expected which made us start laughing I theater a little to loud. But as the story progressed it just showed the struggle of the Youth here in Madrid and finding jobs and what one girl did with her boyfriend in order to support their little family (later in the film she becomes pregnant) and that learning a second language was seen as something valuable here but only if you’re a foreigner from America. Overall I would say this was a great night to be able to go out and learn about the Spanish and even more amazing that I could go to a movie and understand 90% of it without subtitles!

Casa Patas

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• Dear Madrid Blog •

This week was Quite tough for me. On top of a slight broken heal, my stomach was acting up all week Which made it hard to get out into the Madrid social scene to interact with some Locals. With this being said my interaction Came yesterday for Spain's first game against Holland in the World Cup. Kao and I left the house at 8:30 to find a local bar or pub to watch the game, Which started at 9 After searching we ended up Arriving at a tapas Locals hang out Where España jerseys where in the plenty, as we knew we were in the right spot. The game started off well but ended in a complete disaster Spain loosing 5 to 1 My interaction lies and conversing with David, a passionate Spaniard with the love for football. We talked about the team and the WHO had made the final rooster Discussing are points of view. As the game went on and Spain started to fall more and more behind we talked disappointment and shock. The number one ranked team just lost to the number 15th ranked team, Which no one saw coming. Although the interaction was not huge and the discussion it was huge and emotion. Being Able to share something with someone who is so Different from me is why sports are so beautiful. David and I shared the sadness of loosing a Spain team, We Were Pissed. 

Dear Journal,

Yesterday we watched the Spain and Netherlands play each other in the World Cup. Spain lost by 4 point so we left the restaurant disappointed. Walking back, we passed other restaurants and bars; all of which were full of people with palms on their faces and tears in their eyes. On the train, a guy around my age, wearing the Spain’s world cup jersey, came and stood next to me. I could see he was as disappointed as the rest of Spain. I was talking to Ryan and the guy next to me turned and asked, “Hey did you guys watch the game.” And responded, “Yeah, Spain was pretty bad.” I smirked. He gave us a nod agreeing with us. I mentioned that his English was really good and he said that he studied in London. This was a brief conversation because he got off a couple stop after getting on.  “Hey, I still have faith in my country. Spain will win the next game!” He said prior to leavening. “Hopefully.” I said waving good-bye.

Vivian:: Siete Picos en Segovia

This week has flown by honestly. I cannot believe how much has happened to us individually and as a group. Michelle and I made a last minute decision to join a hiking group for one of the Sunday all day hikes. This one took place in Segovia which only took us an hour and 15 minutes by bus. Also, the bus was completely packed with hikers and two little girl from Colorado ready to tackle some mountains. The name of the area was Siete Picos where there were seven peeks one of which we spent the day on. Even before leaving on the bus we met Rachel, a Madrileño, her boyfriend from Connecticut, David from Ireland teaching English in Madrid for business people, Katie (Michelle's friend) traveling from Florida, two Americans teaching English in Madrid for the past year, a few people from Holland, a few other Madrileños just wanting to hike and so many more. I honestly could not be happier with how that whole day went, other than a woman getting lost, I hope she made it back okay.  But it was only 12 euro for the whole guided hike, snacks and lunch. Joseph, our guide could have been a little more cautious but meeting everybody was definitely worth it. We learning so much about how other have adjusted to living abroad and I could definitely see myself teaching English in a Spanish speaking country some year of my life.

Siete Picos

Sunday was an all day event. Vivian and I met up with a my childhood friend, Katie, to Hike Siete Picos (Seven Pikes) with a local meet up group called Hiking Madrid. The leader Joseph has helped out for five years and is an english speaker from Canada. However, we met many madrilenos. The closest to our age was a girl named Raquel. She was a sweet girl whose boy friend of two years (also on the hike) was a firefighter in Ohio. She is studying to become and English teacher in Spain but has had a lot of trouble finding work. She says it is unheard of for teenagers to work even in the supermarkets or at the movies. Ironically most of the other english speakers our age had jobs through either the Spanish or American government teaching English as a second language.

The group stopped and had a nice lunch with beautiful views of the Segovian mountainside. We learned lots of good tips from young adults who have lived here for years (even where to take free yoga classes!) My favorite part of this week has to be walking though the beautiful yellow bushes that cover the mountains and stumbling upon a small herd of cattle, complete with cow bell. Although a close second is getting to see Sorolla's Strolling along the Seashore in person, a favorite of mine since a seeing it in the game Masterpiece as a child.