Another Week of School: Edward Hopper and Discoteca

This week of school has been a lot better so far than the first week. I feel like I finally am getting the hang of things here and have figured out and memorized where all my classes are. I also have got to explore a little bit off campus and found places for lunch and a cheap grocery store. Everyday is an adventure here.****I'm loving these four-day school weeks, and three day weekends. It makes the week go by so fast, its awesome. This week I had a pretty uneventful Monday and Tuesday. I just went to school and studied/rested when I got home. However, Wednesday night I went to the Edward Hopper Exhibit at the Thyssen Art Museum in Madrid. I think its one of the smaller art museums (behind the Prado, which houses my classic Spanish works and The Reina Sofia, which has modern art). Here is the description of the exhibit I saw "The exhibition brings together the largest and most ambitious selection of works by the US artist ever to be shown in Europe, with loans from major museums and institutions including the MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, in addition to various private collections and with a particularly generous loan from the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. The latter is sending 14 works from the Bequest of Josephine N. Hopper, the artist’s wife.****Within the context of Europe, Hopper is one of the best known and most highly appreciated American painters. Despite this, however, his works have only been seen here in public exhibitions on a limited number of occasions. With the aim of rectifying this situation and of bringing his work to the attention of a wider public, two major cultural institutions of particular importance for the artist and his work have joined forces. The Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza houses the most significant collection of Hopper’s works outside the United States, while in the case of the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris and early 20th-century French painting were key reference points for the start of Hopper’s career.
This exhibition in Madrid includes 73 works and it offers an analysis of the artist's work structured into two principal sections. The first opens with Hopper's time in the studio of Robert Henri at the New York School of Art and covers the years of his training, with works from around 1900 to 1924 that start to reveal his particular and distinctive style. Paintings drawings, prints and watercolours are displayed alongside various works by other artists including Henri, Felix Vallotton, Walter sickert, Albert Marquet and Edgar Degas in a dialogue that recreates the one that existed between Hopper and these artists at the time" (Thyssen, 2012).
So that’s a long description of what we went to see. It was very cool. I only wish that I had an audio book because there were no descriptions of the paintings and I like to read about the art I'm seeing for some background. I think we were supposed to get audio books with our tickets, but they were out of the English version :( It was still a very cool exhibit though and since I am taking an oil painting class now I can appreciate how hard it is to make those painting. He uses amazing colors and a lot of my favorite ones were the ones he painted of water scenes. It looked so blue and refreshing I wanted to jump right in.
When I got home from that, It was already 8:30 p.m. and it was the first time I had been home since I left that morning at 8:30 a.m. I made it in time to eat dinner with my roommate though; we usually eat around 8 pm, so that was good. 
That night I was just chilling in my room, doing homework with my other roommate and she invited me to go out and get sangria with her friend, who lives down the street from us and who is also a study abroad student. I wasn't planning on going out that night but since it was casual I was like "why not?" It ended up being a really relaxing and fun night. We went to this really packed bar, full of basically all college and young adults, which was cool. Then after that we just wandered around Madrid, got some more sangria and then sat in Parque de Oeste and chatted. We only stayed out until midnight so it was perfect because all of us were tired. Overall, it ended up being a good roommate bonding night and I met a new friend so it was a good night.
So that was Wednesday. Thursday is my last day of school each week but its a really long day for me. Both my Tuesday and Thursday I basically have class straight thru from 10 am to 5 pm. Luckily, none of my classes are that difficult, my only issue is finding a time to each lunch. In my art class on Thursday I think I basically finished my first painting! I still need to do a little bit of finishing touches but I had no idea what I was doing the whole time during it and I think it turned out pretty good. My teacher also told me he likes my "wild style" of painting, which I have to take as a compliment because he showed us some of his works and he also has a "wild style". So i'm happy with it. I'll hang it up in my room at home or school.
Thursday night I decided to go out just because I don't have class on Friday and with the exception of the museum and the parque I hadn't really gone out all week, which is basically unheard of in Spain. So I went to my first discoteca in Sol, an urban, going-out area of Madrid. It was cool; the clubs here are definitely different than America and more fun. They also cater to college age kids and a lot of them have specials if you get there before 1:30 am. Many have free entry and/or some kind of drink special and there are always people in Sol handing out coupons/fliers for discounts at different clubs so you can try a bunch of different places. We actually got a flier from this one guy and he walked us to the club the flier was for and he let us cut to the front of the line so that was pretty cool.
The clubs there usually have just college age kids so they are safer, not as many creepers. However, last night, there was this one older Spanish man who was being a little bit weird. Usually in America if a guy comes up and tries to dance with you, you can just politely refuse and they walk away or you can walk away and they get the hint. This guy was very persistent. He grabbed my hand to try and dance and I was like "no!" and he wasn't gonna let go so I just grabbed onto one of my guy friends and kind of hide behind him. Then the old guy grabbed my guy friend to dance with him. So that was kind of sketchy and not something I’ve ever experienced before in the states.
After a while we left, around 2 am, and none of us wanted to go home yet so we found a bar to just chill at. The bar was supposed to be an Irish bar but they played American sports on the t.v.’s. That was the first time I’ve watched American t.v. since being here. It was weird. I got to see some of bears/packers game though so that was nice. I think it was in real time because it was 2 am in Madrid so it would have been 7pm game at home, which sounds reasonable.
That bar closed at 3 am so we left there and tried to find another place and ended up in this weird “club” that looked just like someone’s apartment converted into a club. It was tiny and weirdly laid out so we left there pretty quick too. By that time it was already 3:30 am and my foot was kind of hurting so I decided take a cab home. My friend Marshall came with me because he was ready to go home too I think and helping me is a good excuse to leave anything early.

Carrying my backpack to the museum because im crippled, what a great friend

3D Edward Hopper Perspective

Some Spanish and English description about this painting by Edward Hopper, which I forgot the name of

All of us at the exhibit

Thyssen Museum

My roomie, Maureen

My basically finished painting, the first time I've ever done an oil painting!

First discoteca experience con mis amigos 

Looking classy, as always

Exploring Espana: First Saturday in Spain

This post is out of order, It should have come before the Toledo one, but because of technical difficulties (inability to upload photos/connect to the internet) I am posting it now as is. On Saturday September 8^th, I explored around Madrid with my roommate, and permanent student, Maureen. She took me to this Spanish kebab place close to where we live that she discovered by chance one day. It was really good. They had huge hunks of meat on these big rotating, stick-things and they just sliced it off fresh for the kebabs. The kebab actually reminded me a lot of gyro, because they put it on pita bread and put lettuce and special sauce on it.

After we go the kebab’s she showed me this park called Parque de Oeste, which translates into Park of the West. It’s a huge park with a great view of the city of Madrid. There were a lot of people there just laying-out, reading, walking around or playing on the playground. It was really pretty and had palm trees. It looked a bit tropical. There was also this big old building made of stone that is some kind of museum. Unfortunately it was not open when I went there but since its pretty close to where I live Il go back another time and see it.

After visiting the park, my roommate had to work so we both went home and I took a siesta. I’ve been taking at least one nap everyday since I’ve been here and its really nice. Since a lot of stores close from around 2-6 pm it’s the perfect time of day for a nap. Its usually reaches the daily high at that time too, about 90 degrees, so there is no need or reason to go outside anyways.

Since our host parents were gone most of this week, dinners were really fun. Dinners are always kind of fun because everyone gets together to talk but it’s easier when we can all talk in English. Jorge, our host brother also likes to talk to us and practice his English and he is quite a riot. He makes jokes and his accent is funny when we try and teach him new words.

At the cave bar

posing in front of my door

eating my first spanish kebab

kebab meal

Parque de Oeste

Parque de Oeste

That night we went out with all the roomies for the first time. It was super casual, and we went to this bar right by our house that we’ve gone to before, it’s called El Chapandaz or The Cave Bar, for us Americans. It’s called the cave bar because the inside of it looks like a cave, its very cool. It was really fun to go out with all the roomies for the first time, usually it is just me and other two girls studying abroad this semester because our permanent student (my actual roommate, that I share a room with) is taking 18 credits plus she works so she is usually two busy. I got this drink called “tinto verano” which means “summer wine” in Spanish and is basically red wine mixed with sprite, or the equivalent. Its called tinto verano because it is light and refreshing, ideal for Spain’s hot summers. We got back pretty early because two of us, Kendall and I, were both going to Toledo in the morning but it was a fun night.   

Toledo!

On Sunday, September 9th I visited Toledo as a SLU Madrid day trip. Toledo, as described by SLU is "a world heritage sit located just outside of Madrid. It is known as the "city of three cultures" because Christians, Arabs and Jews lived together in this city for centuries. Behind it's walls, Toledo preserves an artistic and cultural legacy in the form of churches, palaces, fortresses, mosques and synagogues". So thats a little background. We took a coach bus to get their and had a tour guide with us the whole way. I thought id be nice to have a tour guide but then after having this lady, I dont think id want another one. She was really bossy, and got mad at us for walking slow, even though I have a broken foot and me walking that much at all is pretty impressive. She also was very restrictive on where we could go, treating us like elementary school kids on a field trip. It was quite annoying. Luckily, I had some nice friends that walked slow with me and didn't leave me behind. Everyone also shared my frustration of the tour guide and her strictness.
Anyways though, besides the tour guide I thought Toledo was a really cool city. You can definitely see the three cultural influences strongly in the city. Right when we got into Toledo we went to a gift shop where artists hand-make these gold pendants that are unique to Toledo. They have three different levels of artistry of the pendants; beginner, intermediate and master, and the prices go up based on skill level. The master ones were stunning. Some where blue and green with silver gold and black designs. My favorite one was beyond pretty but it was 150 euros. I tried to take a picture of it but my camera was being wierd so unfortunately I can't post what it looks like. It was beautiful. I was debating if I should get one, and I couldn't decide if I should just get a cheap one even thought they weren't as pretty as the upper level ones so I just splurged and got a master level ones (I still attempted to be frugal and got one of the cheapest master level pendants). I feel a little guilty but its stunning and its a unique pendant that can't be found anywhere else in the world so thats how im justifying it.

We went to a mosque church thing that was really pretty. You could definitely see the tri-cultural influence in it. There is a picture above. Im my art history class we learned that islam style is characterized by horseshoe shaped arches, as you can see above, and poor materials that are decorated to make them look richer.
We also went to this really pretty church. I forgot the name of it but it was HUGE. It was also like a church museum with artwork from El Greco, and a 15th century bible and other historic artifacts.

I probably would have known the name of the church and everything if I had been listening to the tour guide but she just talked so much my attention span only lasted the first minute or so. Also, my foot was hurting pretty bad from a lot of walking, mostly all uphill, so there were times on the tour when I just sat on floor. That’s probably frowned upon, especially since we were in a lot of religious establishments but no one yelled at me so it must have been ok. Sitting on the floor in one part of the big church actually worked out very nicely because there was a cool painting on the ceiling that I took a picture of while I was laying on the floor.

15th century bible, written and illustrated by hand

The crown of queen Isabel of Spain

really pretty ceiling

really pretty stained glass window

resting in the church

painting on the ceiling that I laid on the floor to get a picture of

view of toledo

me and tyler in toledo

All in all, the trip was worth it for the scenery, the churches and meeting new people but I was exhausted by the end of the day. Since my senora was gone this weekend, and she usually drives me to school, after the trip I had to walk all the way home. It’s only like 1.25 miles away but after a full day of walking it was just exhausting. When I finally got back home, it was only 6 pm, I took a nap until dinner (8 pm) and then basically sat in my bed for the rest of the night. 

escuela: my first day

So I've been so busy this is the first day I've been able to make another post. Today is Friday and I survived my first week of school. Tuesday was my first day and it was a little rough. I was so jet lagged I woke up at 10:30 am, 30 minutes into my first class, and I missed it. Whoops. My next class started at 11 so I ate breakfast with my host parents, which was wheat toast with peanut butter, coffee and a banana, and they my senora drove me to school. Thank goodness. Since I missed the orientation I didn't even know how to get to school. Luckily its pretty close to our house (1.25 miles) and it is only a 5 minute drive.
After I got there I had to find my first class. the school is really cute and tiny but the layout is kind of confusing. Its three stories but then there are also three levels of classrooms on the outside that are only accessable by one specific staircase. Tuesday and thursday are also my busiest day of the week (I have class basically straight thru from 10 am to 5 pm) so that combined with not knowing anything made my day kind of overwhelming. I found my first class, Art and History of Madrid, pretty easily but I was the last one to walk in. I really like the teacher, she is Spanish and has alot of pride and passion for Spain. I think im really going to like that class. She said we would go on trips to different museums around Madrid so we can look at all the famous works of art. I can't wait for our first trip.
My next class was History from 1500 to modern times, and my teacher is awesome. He is british and really sassy. He says the funniest things and makes the class really fun.
My next class after that is painting. I was kind of freaking out because on my schedule there was no room assigned for that class and the classroom that was assigned was in a building that is being rennovated and is not open. I had already been to student life 3 or 4 times that day and I went into again and asked where the classroom was, they told me it was down the street w a black door. So then I walked all the way down the street and I couldnt find it. So I went back to student life and kind of had a mental breakdown in there because I was stressed, tired and my foot hurt and I didn't want to walk down the street again without knowing where the classroom was for sure. Luckily there was a girl in student life who was also in my class and she walked me to class and carried my backpack for me. Shes in another one of my classes too so I'm really glad I met her and shes really nice. The art class ended up being really cool too. We are gonna do 5 oil paintings. Ive never painted with oils before but I like the way it looks so I'm looking forward to it. The teacher also showed us some of his works and they were really cool. He's very talented.

So far I really like the school. Its very international. The students and teachers are from all over the world. Its a really interesting atmosphere and the school is mostly all outside which is unlike any school i've ever been to but I really like it. The weather is very warm so everyone sits outside during the day and people stay at school all day long. Everything is later in Spain so alot of people are still at school at 6 pm or later. There is never a rush to do anything or go anywhere. Everyone is relaxed.

The start of my oil painting, just learning the basic oil painting techniques

repping the billiken on campus

Made it to Madrid!

Finally made it to Madrid! At the airport going to Madrid I by chance was on the same flight as one of my childhood friends and neighbors who coincidentally is also studying abroad just outside of Madrid. It was a nice suprise and I was so happy to see a familiar face. The flight was pretty long but not as bad as I thought it would be. I got a decent seat because of the boot but then realized I was in the baby section; sitting next to not one, but two babies (ages 9 months and 15 months) which caused me to slightly freak out because who knows what can happen in over eight hours in close proximity to two infants. Luckily, for the most part, they were fine. The both cried a little but not too much and they were both cute so it was entertaining to be near them. I took a Tylenol PM the second I saw that was by the babies but it never affected me. I didn't sleep at all even though I really tried to. I was tired but I just wasn't gonna fall asleep in a seated position. Oh well.
Throughout the entire process of preparing for studying abroad and traveling, I didn't start to feel really nervous until we were about to land. Thats when it finally became real to me. I definitely regret not brushing up on my spanish over the summer but I guess thats all part of the culture shock. Since I needed a wheelchair I was last off the plane because I had to get on this bus thing to go to the wheel chair area. Then from there I got my passport stamped and had to get on another bus thing and wait for another wheelchair. At the second location they basically dropped me off in this remote area of the airport and left me there unattended for at least 20 mins. With my already limited spanish speaking skills I was pretty worried I was forgotten and would never get my luggage and get to my host family. Finally someone did get me with another wheel chair and we got my luggage. It was already over and hour and half after my plane had landed and my luggage wasn't even on the conveyor belt because it had long since stopped. It was in the storage room of unclaimed luggage and I breathed a big sigh of relief when I finally found it.
 After that I was wheeled to the pick up area and where my host mother met me. She knew who I was right away and I felt instant relief knowing that I had finally made it. She commented how long it took me to get to her and how I now wouldn't be able to make my orientation because it was starting in 30 minutes. Just another minor issue in my traveling process. There is another one this week though so I'm not worried about it.
On the way back to my host mother's house, she asked me alot of questions about everything: school, family, hobbies, ect. She made me answer all he questions in spainsh was a little rough since I haven't spoke or practiced spanish since last may. I'm pretty sure I'll be good at it by the time I leave though because she seems determined to teach me.
The drive from the airport to the house was alot further than I expected. It was cool to see alot of madrid though. My host mother pointed out important places, such as the REAL Madrid stadium and government buildings, famous streets, as we went.
When we got to her house her husband helped bring in my bags. He reminded me alot of my grandpa and he seemed like a happy older man. I was happy it was on the ground level so I didn't have to climb any stairs. The house reminded me alot of my grandparents house they way it looked and the way it smelled, beautifully old and ecclectically antique. It was very soothing to me.
I was also so happy to find out I have a roommate. And shes perfect. Shes already lived with this family for a year and will be here a year more and so she knows Madrid really well. I really couldn't have imagined a better roommate situation.
So for the rest of the day I just took a nap, unpacked a bit and watched the news with the host parents. I still probably need to find out where the school is and get some schools supplies and my roommate said she would help me with that. But so far so good. I'm happy to be here and start this adventure.

Second times the charm

Wheelchairing it at the airport

Madrid bedroom

Detours...

Today I was SOPPOSED to be getting on a flight and going to Madrid but thru a series of unfortunate events it did not happen :( When i woke up this morning and saw that it was raining I had a bad feeling that the cold rainy darkness would be a reflection of my day (pathetic fallacy, if you are an english nerd like me) but I pushed it out of my mind. Then the not making my flight then happened and I knew it really was a bad omen.
Luckily, I have a flight booked for tomorrow with a guaranteed seat so I will be getting to Madrid but just very, very late. I had a slight mental breakdown about it today because obviously getting bumped off a flight in any situation is terrible but with my broken foot I was already worried about traveling and being on time just being a slow walker and such and now I am arriving 24 hours later than I needed to be there which is devastating. I am missing a whole day of getting metro passes, unpacking, meeting my host family, (the one semi-relaxing day they give you before school starts) and I'm barely gonna make it to my mandatory, very critical orientation. Its super frustrating and stressful. I am just praying that tomorrow everything will go as planned.

pre-not getting on my flight

End of summer reflection

Well, today is my really last day at home and the official marking of the end of my summer. I had a very lovely summer, better than I could even have imagined. I met alot of new people at the beach and with doing the waves swim team. I spent alot of time with my family and with my friends from high school that I havent seen in a long time and everything was very low key. Taking stats online wasn't the best experience but I met some nice people from that too and im blessed to have friends and family who  could help me thru it with tutoring and moral support. And I passed! So thats a good thing.
It was my last summer working at the beach and I was kind of sad on the last day. It was definitely a bittersweet feeling, having worked there for 5 summers, there are alot of memories attached with the job. Even though it can be insane working there at times, I think it was a valueable work experience that I'm glad that I got to be a part of it. I really do feel that I've gotten to work with some of the best lifeguards around who are also amazing people. I definitely want to come back and visit next summer at some point.
Swimming with the waves was also great. Its a wonderful group of people and it reminded me that swimming can actually be fun. Sometimes that gets forgotten when you are doing millions of yards in high school, college or club swimming, but during waves practices it seems like everyone is genuinely happy to be there and thats makes a big difference. I'm very sad I broke my foot and haven't really been able to come to practices this week but I'll be looking forward to coming back and swimming over winter break when I am home again.
I also completed a half marathon this year with my friend Jenn. I did not train enough for it but it was a good experience. It was only my second half but I liked the format of this one alot better than my first one. It was the rock and roll one so it was fun even though I struggled thru it.
I got to hang out with a lot of my good friends from high school this summer, which I feel like I haven't done for a while and it was really nice. I discovered a new favorite t.v. show thanks to my friend Aubrey, Extreme Makeover: Weightloss Edition. Its inspirational because people lose up to 60% of their body weight in 365 days and the trainer is pretty easy on the eyes too ;)
I was home with my family more this summer but it was a welcome change. I did alot of things with my mom and became good friends with all the neighbors from walking my dog so much.
I also started my ebay selling career and I feel that I was successful. I think I made about $1000 selling old clothes, jewelry and shoes. It was a win-win situation too because I was basically getting paid to clean out my closet. I also sold alot of my ex-bfs stuff and made about $300 off of that alone, which was both cleansing and satisfying. So pretty much, ebay is my new favorite hobby.
The only thing I didn't really get to do this summer was sew something. I just ran out of time and I'm very particular about fabric so I usually have to drive to Vogue Fabrics in Evanston to get something I like, which is kind of a hike. I have a few patterns that I like though, and if I'm not too poor I'll try and start something over winter break.
Overall, I had a good summer. Being single for the first time in a long time was awesome and I felt like it made this summer so much better. I got to do everything I wanted to do and just focus on my self, which was much needed. I feel like I accomplished a lot this summer and I'm happy where I am right now and ready to go to Spain. My next post I will hopefully be all settled in with my host family in Madrid :D!