Como dos gotas de agua

Today was Orientation day. Little did we know the day began with a  Spanish Placement Test. (Don’t worry, Mom and Dad: I earned a “superior” rating. Your money for college didn’t go to waste.) Then there were sessions about safety, culture shock, homesickness, transportation, etc. Then we went on a tour of Alcalá de Henares (where I learned several useful tidbits of Spanish history—see below). Then we went home to eat lunch (at 3:00 of course), and met back at the Universidad to catch the train to Madrid! We spent 4 hours traveling to and from Madrid and walking around significant parts of the city. We didn’t get to go inside any of the beautiful and amazing buildings (which were EVERYWHERE), so my roommate and I plan to go back (multiple times) to go into the museums, cathedrals, coffee shops, etc. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me all day, but luckily I’ll get to take pics when we go back (probably this weekend)! So I’ll share them then.

I learned a lot more today about Spanish culture. And I have several more observations to add to the list:

            1. The stores really DO close from 2:00-4:00pm for the siesta. It was weird.

2. Spaniards eat bread with EVERY meal. (side note: at breakfast there was orange juice, but it was so fresh it was basically a glass of pulp.)

            3. The police in Alcalá ride mopeds. The police in Madrid ride horses.

4. I’m kind of obsessed with all the balconies/windows/doors here. They’re EVERYWHERE, and they’re so beautiful! Everything looks like a movie set, or the set of a musical or something. It mad me want to break out in song, but that’s not the best way to stay under the radar.

5. Double-decker trains make double-decker buses look like a mere plate of meatloaf. (Don’t get me wrong, I like meatloaf, but it’s not the best mode of transportation.)

6. The side streets of Madrid are a lot like Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade in Harry Potter, except instead of wands they sell souvenirs, and instead of butter beer they serve, well, beer. And wine.

7. (this one is actually from yesterday, but I forgot to mention it, so forgive me): I found out that in Spain the phrase to describe twins who look exactly alike (i.e. identical) is “Parecen como dos gotas de agua” (Translation: They look like two drops of water.) This came up in conversation with my house mom (“Madre Carmen”) when I was telling her about my twin nephews. She said she has brothers who are twins and they ARE identical and I was telling her how my nephews are not identical, but she didn’t know the Spanish word for “fraternal twins.” When describing her brothers she used the phrase “como dos gotas de agua.” I guess it’s kind of the equivalent of the English phrase “like two peas in a pod.” Kind of a cool thing to learn.

8. I learned the top 4 important people in Alcalá’s history: 1. Miguel de Cervantes (famous Spanish writer, author of the novel Don Quijote de la mancha); 2. Cardinal Cisneros (founder of the Universidad de Alcalá); 3. Manuel Asañas (I think that’s his name… he had something to do with the Second Republic…); 4. Catalina (mother of “Maria el sangrienta” aka: Bloody Mary; and the only wife of Henry VIII who did not get beheaded.)

9. I also learned that the word “Alcalá” is the Arabic word for “citadel” or fortress. Henares is the name of the River around here (which I have yet to see, but I’m sure it’s out there somewhere).

Sorry I couldn’t come up with a nice round dozen again. But I should go to sleep. First day of class tomorrow! So there’s your ¾ of a dozen for today. Buenas noches. 

Hola España y blog

So I have only been in Spain for less than 12 hours, and I have already made some note-worthy observations that simply cannot be summed up in a Facebook post much less a Tweet. Therefore, I decided to start a blog to tell about my adventures in Spain, starting with the plane ride.

1. I was unable to sleep at all on the 7-hour, overnight flight to Madrid. Fortunately, there were in-flight movies available (I chose “Little Miss Sunshine” and “My Sister’s Keeper”. Both were good choices).
2. All I have seen of Madrid so far is rain, highways, and graffiti. (None of those are bad things, but I am excited to see much, much more as soon as I can!)
3. Alcalá de Henares, where I’ll be living and studying for the next month, is such a cute town! I love it already—the historical architecture, the friendly townspeople (which, by the way, this is the first environment I’ve ever felt a need to use the term “townspeople”. It’s just that kind of place.), the European storefronts, the plethora of apartments. I can’t wait to wander the sidewalks and sidestreets and explore some more! (Don’t worry, Mom and Dad, I won’t “wander” alone!)
4. I also love the European double-cheek-kissing thing. (Go for the right cheek first.) I may keep that up when I return to Oklahoma, so be prepared for that and embrace it.
5. I love the fact that our Madre (host-Mom) forgot to come pick us up, because she was taking a siesta. So European, and it was easy to forgive her for it.
6. Once she did come to get us, we had to walk several blocks. I found myself thinking “How do you say ‘All of my muscles hurt’ in Spanish?” (I’m pretty sure it’s “Me duele todos los músculos.”) I’m just glad I don’t have to lug ALL of my luggage with me that far again until I leave to go back to the U.S. (side note: I just realized where the term “luggage” came from—it’s stuff that you “lug”. Duh.). It was all quite heavy.
7. I was also surprised that my roommate and I have our own rooms! Pretty cool. (It’s about the size of my half of my dorm room freshman year of college. It’s just right!)
8. The next surprise was when I thought the bathroom had two toilets, then I soon realized it was a bidé. I’ve never used one of those, and this may be the prime opportunity to do so. I haven’t decided yet, but I have a whole month to make such a life-changing decision.
9. The apartment that is our “home” for the next month is nice, smells clean, and has the distinct appearance of a Grandma’s residence. It’s perfect.
10. Our Madre insists that we “Come fruta” (eat fruit). She’s very motherly/grandmotherly. And after we ate lunch she said that we can sleep and referred to us as “pobrecitas” (poor little things) because she knew we had been traveling and didn’t sleep much on the plane.
11. Which brings me to my next favorite thing: the siesta. I’m starting to feel like this place was made for me or something.
12. For some reason it didn’t occur to me that when I did my first Google search, all the results and Google site would automatically be in Spanish. I like it! (and I even had to create this blog with only Spanish directions. Which may or may not explain any mistakes and/or lack of physical appeal.)

Okay, so that’s the first dozen observations/things I love about Spain so far. (I would do a baker’s dozen, but I want to keep my readers guessing… and that’s assuming I’ll even have “readers”.) Hasta luego.