Some Time Lapses and Salamanca

Alright, I deserve a slap on the wrist for how negligent I´ve been towards this blog lately. After some reflection, I´ve discovered three things that can explain the lapse:
1. The Segovia Trip: For those lucky enough to have escaped my Segovia story, all you really need to know is that it wasn´t a good time. I went with three busloads of fellow Erasmus students, and the whole thing was poorly planned, ending with me being incredibly tired, hungry, and irked (but the city itself was really cool- the aqueducts and the Cathedral were stunning). So anyways, I tried writing about it several times, but each attempt quickly digressed into nothing more than a rant against Erasmus and its stupid, stupid planned trips. And y´all deserve more than a pissed-off rant. But, thankfully, I´ve moved on, and am much more at peace.
2. I learned how to Stream TV shows via a European site: We all know sites such as hulu, sidereel, ch131, etc., but none of those service the European browsers (or I may just be incompetent with regards to video streaming... still not quite sure). But anyways, a friend gave me a working site, and I´ve been dangerously addicted to watching “How I Met Your Mother". I know, I know, kind of pathetic, but true.
3. I´ve been busy!: Such a blessing, guys. I´ve been so occupied with classes, coffee dates, bar hangouts, and trips that I haven´t had time to write. I´ve been surprising even myself with how much I´ve been doing.

So, enough with the excuses already, and onto a more exciting topic: Salamanca. This past Thursday night, I had an itch to get out of the city; I chose Salamanca for its proximity to Madrid, as well as for the architectural beauty and nightlife (such a wonderful combination, no?). I was able to convince three equally spontaneous friends to go with me, and so Friday morning we boarded the train and departed for the city.

The train ride in itself is worth mentioning, because the landscape in Northern Madrid is beautiful. Hills, mountains, cliffs, farmlands- we passed by it all. I passed time alternating between admiring the scenery and studying my guidebook (such a nerd, I know), trying to plan out the course of action for the day. The guy I was citing next to, a Salamanca-native named Pablo, saw me doing this and began to offer his own opinions of the city and the best places to go (nothing he said was in the guidebook. Fodors isn´t the best, guys). He also was kind and patient enough to help me with my Spanish for the remainder of the train ride, and didn´t even laugh at me when I started writing down vocabulary words! Such Spanish hospitality!

Arriving in the city, our plan of action was to find Plaza Mayor, the center of the city, and then work our way along the "tour walks" that our guide books had mapped out. Plaza Mayor was incredible; considered by many to be the best façade in all of Spain, it lived up to the hype.

One interesting fact about the plaza is that portraits of famous Spanish figures adorn the surrounding buildings. The most controversial is one of the late dictator, Franco. Because so many people objected it, and so many people vandalized it, Franco´s portrait had to be constructed out of an entirely different material than the rest, to allow for easier cleaning. You can kind of see the paint remains.

Leaving the Plaza, we saw the typical, touristy sites, including:
La Casa de las Conchas (the House of Shells),

the new and the old cathedral,

the University (there´s a sculpted frog hidden in the front façade of the building. Legend has it that if you can find it on your first try, you´ll have success in your academic career. Don´t worry- we found it).

After all the walking, we decided to unwind with some delicious tapas at a local bar. Then we found our hostel (Hostel de CUZCO) and relaxed for a while, enjoying the surprise luxury of private rooms.

When night hit, we set out again into the heart of the city, on the prowl for a cheap and authentic Castilian meal. We were lucky enough to find it at a place called Chico!, where I enjoyed some delicious paella and tiramisu. Afterwards, our night truly began. Because I could write several blog posts about the specifics, I´ll just leave it that it involved a 80s cover band, a Michael Jackson-themed bar, a bachelor party, and a man dressed as chicken. What a night.

The next day we had a delicious lunch and then hung out in Plaza Mayor until it was time to head back. And was that enough of a weekend for me? Was that enough adventure in such a short amount of time? As you can guess, no, it was not. After I got home, I had about 20 minutes to change and freshen up before I went to a Real Madrid soccer game, with my friend Jen.

I know the picture is terrible, but I want there to be some evidence that I was actually in the stadium.

So, all in all, it’s been an exciting time. Having officially been here a month, I’m finally starting to settle into a schedule, becoming familiar with the city and my life. Aside from my confusing classes and the fact that I’m still struggling with Spanish, life is very good. I’m so excited for the opportunities to come.

With my love, from Spain,
Krista

Tiempo en Toledo: Una Realización

All right guys, so I’ve kind of alluded to this in my past posts, but I felt like I needed to address it directly (and so here we are). I’m gonna get a little deep here, but if you can make it through that, I have pretty pictures of Toledo to follow it up. Away we go!

Spain is awesome, and I’ve been blessed enough to meet some really interesting and fantastic people. But there are moments when it’s hard. Moments not necessarily of homesickness, not necessarily of sadness, but moments of just… emptiness. Moments when I just feel very alone, and that no one truly understands what I’m going through. These can occur both when I´m with others, or when I´m by myself. Since arriving in Spain, I’ve been afraid of such moments, trying everything I can to avoid them. Therefore, much of the socializing I’ve been doing has been driven by the fear of being alone.

Such a drive to feel wanted, however, has only led me to crave the approval of those around me. I want friends, I want companionship, and I want to be liked. I want to fit in, and I want to have a good time. Perhaps this isn’t the worst of motivations, but on Friday night, I listened to Austin Stone’s(my church back home in Austin) sermon on idolatry, and it wrecked me. I’ve been so caught up in myself, in adapting to life in Spain, to making friends, that I hadn’t realized how much the approval from those around me had become an idol to me. This realization, along with the fact that I was extremely tired, and that I was having a problem booking train tickets, and because I had had a disappointing day, left me feeling incredibly broken, extremely frustrated, and most importantly, very alone. I mention this, not for your sympathy, and definitely not to be dramatic, but because it was this evening that led to a change of heart. A shift in perspective. I might feel alone, but I am never alone. God has promised to always be with me and to help me through any problems that I could ever have, assuring that he will never leave me and never forsake me (Hebrews 13:5). I don’t have to chase after him, I don’t have to coordinate a date, I just have to remember that He’s there. And let’s be real- how awesome is that?!

For Saturday, I had planned a day trip to Toledo, and while I had tried to coordinate with other people, no one was able to join me. Saturday morning, however, I woke up, excited to just spend the day with God, and looking forward to get away from the city and listen for what He had to say to me. While the emotion from the night before still lingered over me, I found myself smiling as I looked out the window, found myself hopeful with the day to come. Not only was this was to be my first of many travels, but Toledo was supposed to be beautiful.

And let me tell you- it was. It’s only a 30 minute train ride from Madrid to Toldeo, so I only had time to flip through a couple pages of my guidebook before I had arrived. The train dropped me at a precious little station on the outskirts of town, from which I had a lovely view of the city at large.

The Train Station

The City at Large

A winding, and uphill road brought me to the Hospital de Tavera, a stronghold on the Northern edge of the city.

View from the inner courtyard

Despite its title as a “Hospital”, it’s actually a sort of stronghold/palace of sorts, built by the Cardinal Tavera in the second half of the 16th century. In addition to a hospital and pharmacy, the building housed an incredible library, salons for the elite, several meeting rooms, a chapel, and even a crypt (which I ventured into by myself and it freaked me out! Centuries of the dead was a little too unsettling). If the antiquity of the rooms themselves weren’t interesting enough, sprinkled throughout were El Greco paintings (legend has it that he came to Toledo to study and chose to stay there because it was so beautiful. The citizens are pretty proud of this).

Once I had had my fill of el Hospital, I ventured through La Puerta del Arrabal into the heart of the city.

La Puerta del Arrabal

Because I had time, and no one’s agenda but my own, I spent the next while just meandering through the city, leisurely admiring the architecture and the twisting, hilly streets.

And I mean extremely hilly streets. Check it out:

Because Toledo sits atop its own little hill, if you stick to an edge of the city you can get a great view of the surrounding countryside. The patchwork of roofs, the large expanses of field, and cobblestone roads peeking out here and there… it left me speechless, completely in awe of God and His beauty. I felt so comforted and so loved, as if he had been saving this view for me, for when I really needed it. And I wanted to have a picture with it. All day I had been taking pictures of things, but I wanted to be a part of this. I heard the people next to me speaking English, so I turned to ask for their help. And do you know what? I knew them; they were also Americans attending Comillas and I had met them the other night at a bar. When I told them that I was there by myself, they invited me into their group. Oh, well, and they took my picture.

With my new companions, we stopped by el Acazar, an old Roman fortress built in 192 BC that now houses a weapons museum. Opting out of the 8 euro entrance ticket, we admired the architecture and then began looking for the renowned Cathedral of Toledo. Because the city is so small, as well as confusing, we decided not to follow our maps, but rather just look for spires with crosses. And eventually it worked! Actually, it’s pretty hard to miss.

This Cathedral was built in the 13th century, on the site where a Moorish mosque once stood. If you’re not familiar with the history of Spain, you should know that the country was occupied by Moors for several centuries before it was reclaimed by the Christians through the Reconquista. For Toledo, the city’s Moorish rule ended when Alfonso VI captured the city in 1085. For these reasons, the city has an incredibly interesting mix of Islamic and Christian culture. For example, in the cathedral, while paintings and frescos dominate the interior, its outside courtyard has tiles and geometric patterns in a typical Arabic fashion. What’s more, the numerous sculptures and murals depict not only Biblical images, but images of the Christians taking Grenada from the Moors. But all this backstory aside, the cathedral was amazingly beautiful; I stopped taking pictures because I didn’t think I could capture it all with my camera. But pictured below is me in front of the main alter, graciously taken by my friend Katie.

The only downside to the Cathedral was that it was so cold! That day it was only in the lower 40s outside, and being in the dark surrounded by marble only made things worse. Although I wanted to stay there all day, I was driven out when I lost feeling in my fingers.

We stopped for a quick lunch, and then made our way over to El Museo de Santa Cruz , where we were able to admire art spanning several centuries. The most notable was another El Greco: The Immaculate Conception (I tried to post a link to it, and its not working, but I'd highly recommend checking it out).

At this point, I had to catch my train back to Madrid, so I said good bye to the group and hiked back on over to the train station. The sun was setting, illuminating the western fields and covering Toledo in a hazy darkness. As I turned for my final glimpse of the city, I saw a Spanish flag atop a hill, catching the remaining light of the day. I know, I know,its BEYOND CHEESY, but I couldn´t help it. I´m a Romantic at heart.

So in short, this day was fantastic, filled with eye candy and history and good company. After such a bleak night before, it was certainly a blessing. But it was more than a fun time in a foreign city, more than a string of pleasant events. What made it was the fact that for the first time in a long time, I was acutely aware of the presence that God holds in my life. Corny? For sure. But true. But I don't want to fprget this lesson and continue to have those moments of frustration and loneliness. Because I'm done with loneliness. I'm done with it, and I'm ready for whatever lays before me.

With my love, from Spain
-Krista

Tourist: Take Two

Hello lovely people! So I´ve officially been abroad for almost two weeks now. Yikes! Since my last blog, I´ve not only finished up most of the touristy things that I had wanted to do in Madrid, but I´ve also settled down more, preparing for the school year and establishing myself here.

On Friday night, there was a meet-and-greet for the study-abroad students at Comillas University. Having been surrounded by only Paloma and other Americans, I was really looking forward to meeting more Madrileños and international students. The gathering was to take place in this dinky, hole-in-the-wall bar in the center of town, accurately named, "The Hole". It was Atari/old-school video game themed, with pixilated Space Invader ships and colored Pac Man ghosts plastering the walls. Even though I had arrived half an hour after the stated start time, I was, awkwardly, the first person there. It took only another half hour, however, until the place was packed, with fragmented conversations in French, Spanish, German, and English filling the air. I talked about the Spanish culture with several French guys (all of them quite the stereotype), reminisced about Austin with another American, conversed about cultural differences in America with a French girl who had studied in San Francisco, as well as chit-chatted with people from Sweden, Germany, and Spain. Needless to say, I felt incredibly cool all the while.

On Saturday, I met up with a fellow American and trekked along the Western side of the city. We began the day by heading southwest, to see La Puerta del Toledo.

On Paloma´s recommendation, we visited Real Basílica de San Francisco el Grande. Located off La Gran Vía de San Francisco, it sits next to a beautiful park that offers not only respite from the city, but also a breathtaking view of the surrounding countryside.

And the Church itself was pretty awesome too.

Striking as it was from the outside, we decided to spend the two euro and take a tour of the inside. The Basilica, like most Basilicas, had a main, circular worship space, with the ceiling stretching far overhead into a dome. Seven to eight alcoves then clustered around this central space, each of them having its own alter. It was incredible! Neoclassical paintings were everywhere; almost every ceiling and wall was covered with an elaborate picture. Six foot statues of Saints lined the outer rim of the central room. Due to the no-flash policy, my pictures didn´t turn out very well, and they definitely do not capture the overwhelming sense of awe. I did get some good pictures of the detailing and specific alters, though.

Something I think is worth noting was the endurance our tour guide. Because the onlookers trickle in, as opposed to having set tour time, this poor man just goes around and around the Basilica and the individual alcoves all day long, endlessly repeating the same forty minute monologue. And I thought Cinemark was monotonous .

Inspired by the Basilica, we decided to go to La Catedral de La Almudena (while I had been here the other day, I had yet to go inside). As it turns out, the cathedral is both a place of worship and a very large crypt. Check out the hallways:

Kind of creepy, right?

While we were looking at the statues of Mary and the intricate crosses, we kept getting distracted by the fact that the floor was little more than an array of marble coffins (not the best of feelings).
What´s more, mass was going on while we were looking around, and so we just felt awkward and loud and out of place.

On Sunday, I met up with Yvonne, a lovely German girl I had met on Friday, and she and I went to El Rastro, a giant flea market that surrounds the La Latina metro stop. Much like many markets and fairs in Austin, artisans from all around the area had brought their homemade jewelry, knickknacks, and clothes to sell to tourists and local alike. Unlike Austin, however, there was a much wider array of items for sale. For example, one vendor was selling unpolished brass candlesticks. Another sold Levi´s. Another sold blank CDs and cables. I lucked out with a tent of overstocked shoes, where I bought grey high heels for 3 euros! Such a steal!But the only problem was that the streets were just a huge mass of people, and so Yvonne and I had to push and elbow our way out of the market. I'd say while it was an extremely interesting experience, I won't be going back for a while.

Since then, I've started classes and I'm just trying to be a student(more to come on school, classmates and Comillas in another blog!). I've somewhat settled into a routine, I'm getting better at Spanish, and I'm continuing to make friends. It's getting to the point where I'm no longer perpetually on edge, not always worried about the next task to overcome. It's getting to the point where I can relax and enjoy the adventure. While I still have moments of loneliness and homesickness, they're outnumbered by ones of joy and excitement. Going out into the streets, talking to strangers, even trying to order foodm is hard. But I'm getting better at it. So bring on the bullfights and soccer games, bring on the sangria, bring on the tapas and train rides! I'm ready.

With love from Spain,
Krista