This last weekend was full of Spanish culture for me.
On Saturday, Marta insisted I go to the Museo del Prado, a museum which is really famous, and I guess it's is up there with the Louvre from what Marta told me. So I went, but it really wasn't that cool in my opinion. Marta showed me the works of the most famous Spanish painters, and their artwork was good, but I didn't enjoy it that much. I prefer museums with dinosaur bones and stuff..
But Sunday was amazing.
I got up and went to church with a family friend, Gabriella, who's from Argentina. Although many Spaniards are baptized Catholics, almost no one goes to church because they associate the Catholic Church with Francisco Franco and his authoritarian regime, which, to me it's sad that that part of Spain's history still affects people today. But anyways, I went with Gabriella, and we went to the children's mass, and it was one of the coolest masses I've ever been to.
During the mass the church had a very special atmosphere about it. All the readings were read by kids, and during the songs everyone was standing and clapping their hands to the beat, and the little kids were dancing around. During the homily, the priest held a little boy in his arms, and the homily (although I didn't understand all of it) was related to God in the kids' lives, and the priest would ask kids to raise their hands about certain aspects of God in their lives so that they were involved. And whenever the priest was standing up, little kids would sneak up and sit in his chair. It's funny because usually when you're in church and you get that one little kid that won't stop whining it's so annoying, but in this case, screaming kids was what made it so great.
After church, we took the metro to this Japanese restaurant to have lunch with part of Alfonso's side of the family. (It was soooo funny how all the waiters and waitresses spoke Spanish with Asian accents, just like they speak English with Asian accents)
But after lunch, we decided to walk home, and Las Ventas (The stadium where they do bullfighting in Madrid) was on the way home from the restaurant. Alfonso asked me if I wanted to check out the stadium, and of course I said yes, and when we got there, there happened to be a bullfight going on.
Some guy offered us tickets for 5€ each, so Marta took me in.
Going to a bullfight was something I had to do while I'm here, and I'm really glad I did it, but I'm not sure of how much I liked it.
It was fun and really intense, and it's crazy how close they get to the charging bulls so my heart was always beating really fast. And the cultural part of it was really cool, too, the costumes, and the music, and Marta told me a little bit of the history while we were there also.
But it's also kind of sad how the whole objective is to kill the bull, and they stab the bulls back and neck to a pulp. And the worst is when they finally kill it and horses drag it away leaving a trail of blood.
But hey, I got my fair share of culture this weekend. Still high on my list, though, is to go to a Real Madrid game...
Also, today, I had a pretty good day at school. I can tell that each day I understand a little bit more, and each day gets a little easier. But then came Philosophy class, which I had for the first time today.
I don't think I understood a single word.
Actually scratch that, I think he talked about the ancient Greeks once... (But who wouldn't be able to guess that?)
But at one point, the teacher randomly called on me with a question. Like I could understand a question about philosophy right now. And to answer it? Not a chance. So I just said, "Uh, I don't understand anything right now, I'm American, and I don't speak Spanish that well."
So what did he do? Repeated the question. Once, twice, three times. I don't think he got the memo about how I don't understand, because repeating the question definitely did not help. Other people in the class even tried to save me from the teacher, but he was relentless! And the whole time I was just laughing, and trying to tell him that I didn't understand. Finally, my friend mouthed the answer to me from behind his back, and I said it, and he walked away from me and continued with his lecture.
Ahhhhh. This class is going to be a BLAST!
I think it will take a miracle for me to pass it..
Since it was the first day, we really didn't do much but get our schedules, and for each class listen to the teacher talk about rules and stuff, so I don't really know how hard school will actually be for me.
I do know, though, that I understood much more than I thought I would have.
Like in tech class- the teacher talked for about 40 minutes, elaborating on all of his points, but I understood the essentials- No drinks, no food, no gum, no social networking, make sure to save your work so you don't lose anything, he gave us his email address, he asked who was in the class last year, he showed us the textbook we need for the class, and he had a small conversation with me about how I'm an exchange student. I think I did well enough.
A couple good moments from school today:
1. The math teacher insisted my name is actually pronounced "hawk-eh" After saying "No, it's Jake" multiple times, and him still saying "hawk-eh" it was like whatever. I don't even care. Hawk-eh it is for this class.
2. All the math teacher did was take roll call. So the rest of the class we and a few others compared the sounds animals make in English and Spanish. They thought that "cock-a-doodle-do" was the funniest thing in the world. But here are a couple in Spanish:
- Rooster- Ki Kiri Ki
- Cats- Miau Miau
- Chicks- Pio Pio Pio
- Dogs- Guau Guau
- Cows- Muuuuu
- Frog- Crua Crua
Language
Last year in my English class we had to read and analyze a story about a Chinese family that immigrated to the United States to start a new life. Story short, the kids learn English soon after starting school, and the father at work. The stay at home mom, however, never really learns because she doesn't have to use it often. The point of the story is that people viewed the mom as dumb because she didn't talk much, but in reality, the mom wasn't dumb- her head was full of insight, it was just that she didn't have the words to express them.
Right now, that's me. I'm like the Chinese woman in the story. I understand much more than I can speak, so I listen to all these conversations, and I want to contribute, but much of the time I don't know how to express what I want to say, and you have no idea how annoying that can be.
It's true, though, that I'm doing much better than I ever would have thought. Even on day one with my family, I was appalled at how much I understood what they were saying. My biggest problem then was their accents. In school in the U.S. we learn Mexican Spanish, but here, though it's basically the same, some words are different than in Mexican Spanish, and the accent is different so some words don't sound like I previously thought they did.
Thankfully, now I'm over that problem. I'm now used to a 'z' sounding like a 'th' for example. Now it's vocabulary. My Spanish vocabulary is not very extended, so that's my biggest problem now. I'm finding myself always looking up simple words like 'cherry' or 'bowl' - words that are just so automatic in English, but in Spanish, I don't even know where to start.
Also, verb tenses. I don't know them all yet, but it's easier to get around. Sometimes I'll just say something like 'to eat, but in the future' instead of 'I will eat'.
But- everyday I understand more and more, and I'm learning new words everyday, so I'm getting along just fine. School starts on Wednesday, so that should help a lot because I'll be reading and writing and talking more. God, I can't wait for English class, though.
Life
Before I got here, I thought that life would be fairly similar to that in the United States. But no. Not. At. All.
Difference #1: Transportation. My family doesn't own a car. It was weird at first not just hopping into a car when you need to go somewhere, but actually it's not that bad. Between the city bus and the metro (subway), it's so easy to get anywhere. I prefer the metro though, because it's so easy, and so efficient- no stop lights, no pedestrians, no dumb drivers, just go. And one comes every four minutes, just boom, boom, boom. And actually, I'm kind of glad my family doesn't have a car. Drivers here are a little scary, and I don't think they understand the concept of lanes of traffic. Everyone is just in a big mush down the road half the time, and roundabouts are the worst.
Difference #2: Food. Prepackaged, manufactured, artificial flavors and colors? Ha, good luck. The only thing like that I've had since I've been here? Coke. Every day we buy fresh bread from the bread store. Fresh fruit and vegetables from the fruit and vegetable store. Fresh ham from the ham store. Fresh fish from the fish store. Etc. And the only thing we've bought from a supermarket? Coke.
Difference #3: Meals. I knew before I got here that the meal schedule is way different. More or less it's breakfast at 9, lunch at 3, and dinner at 10. But the bigger difference the formality of mealtimes. Every meal means tablecloth, setting the table with plates and glasses, and knives on the right, and forks on the left, and cloth napkins to put on your lap, and the whole family sitting down together to eat. A fend for yourself dinner? Not gonna happen. Also dinner is very social. As much as we eat lunch or dinner as just a family, we eat with friends or family or neighbors, either here or at their houses.
Difference #4: Television. First of all, they just don't watch TV much in general. The only thing I've watched on TV since I've been here is the movie United 93, which was on 9/11. My host brother, Mateo, watches a Disney Channel show here and there, and it's so weird to listen to because the voices are different. I didn't think Hannah Montana's voice could get any more annoying...
Difference #5: Computers. For the most part I've only used my computer for 3 things- sync my phone with iTunes, upload my pictures, and this- writing on my blog. We have wifi here (though they pronounce it as 'weefee') but again, it's just a lifestyle thing- it's not something they use often, except for stuff like their work. Also, my school doesn't have computers in the classrooms.
Difference #6: School. I haven't started school yet, but today I had to attend a presentation sort of event at the school for an hour, and so although I don't know all the differences yet, I know a couple. The teachers change classrooms, not the students. I have classes with the same kids everyday, and when English class ends, and Spanish class starts, the English teacher leaves, and the Spanish teacher comes in. You can have tobacco products at school. You can't smoke inside the buildings, but you can have cigarettes, and you can smoke outside. Grades are out of 10 instead of letters, and your grade counts mostly on tests and not little stuff like homework.
Difference #7: Chores. What I have to do- Make my bed, keep my room clean, help set the table, and help do dishes. That's it. We have a maid come every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and she does the rest- all the laundry, sweeping, cleaning the bathrooms, etc. This is definitely one of my favorite changes. Unfortunately, though, for those of you that know Rita's story, we don't have a Bimby.
Difference #8: The Only Difference I Can't Stand. Almost everyone smokes here. My family doesn't, and I think they're the only exception. When we landed in Madrid, and entered the airport we experienced an instantaneous smell of cigarette smoke, and one of the other AFS kids sarcastically said "Mhmmm. The smell of Spain." At first I felt claustrophobic because smoke is everywhere, but I'm starting to get used to it. I keep thinking that from this year, I might as well be a lifetime smoker. It's terrible. And I don't think I've met a single kid my age yet that doesn't smoke.
My Name
No one here can properly pronounce the 'j' sound, and therefore no one can pronounce my name very well. So the other day we were having lunch, and we had another family over, and everyone went around the table to see who could say 'Jake' the best. They were getting a little better, until it got to Mateo's friend who said 'Shrek!' I still laugh everytime that moment pops into my head.
Berta, my host sister, is in the United States right now studying abroad with AFS, so I've taken her place, like Rita has taken mine. Berta's friends have really taken me under their wings, and they've been taking me places, showing me around the city, for which I'm so appreciative. We had a mini AFS orientation yesterday, and some of the other AFS kids have been a little bored because school hasn't started yet, so they haven't really made friends. So anyway, I'm really happy they want to get to know me, and that they want to do stuff with me, they've all been really welcoming and nice to me.
So anyways, they of course can't really pronounce my name very well either, some can better than others, but still, no. Spanish is different than English in that things are either masculine or feminine, and generally, things that end in the letter 'a' are feminine, and things that end in 'o' are masculine. And since I'm taking place of Berta, they're calling me Berto (the masculine form of Berta). I think it's hilarious, and hey, at least they can pronounce it.
Other Tidbits
Other little random things that are different that I've noticed.
I've had toI'm still trying to learn how to eat french fries with a fork.- Pieces of paper are a longer and skinnier, not 8.5 by 11.
- Before cooking, you wash your hands in the bathroom sink, not the kitchen sink.
- Decks of cards have 40 cards, the suits are different, no ace, the jack is the same as the 8, the knight (not queen) is the same as the 9, and the king is the same as the 10.
- I don't understand money here. You can get a Denny's style breakfast with pancakes, eggs, bacon, french fries, and coke for 3€, but I haven't seen a pair of Levi's for less than 100€.
- Here, numbers are written differently. For example: 1,500.00 is written 1.500,00 - for some reason the commas and periods are switched.
- They don't understand the word Coke. It's Coca-Cola. Diet Coke? It's called Coca-Cola Light.
Let's just say I got off to somewhat of a rocky start this morning: I had to go through security about three times.
I thought I put everything necessary in the bins- my change, shoes, jacket, and I took my laptop and camera out of their cases...etc.
But I buzzed at the metal detector because I forgot about my phone in my pocket. So I took it out, added it to the bins, and got through the second time just fine.
Then, after getting through, I started putting my coat and shoes back on when I was notified that my carry-on had to be searched by hand- I forgot to take out my liquids. So after the security guard took my quart-sized ziploc of less than four ounce bottles of liquids out, it had to be x-rayed again.
Meanwhile, apparantly you're laptop and your laptop case can't be in the same bin, so security had put both back through the x-ray a second time in separate bins. Through the ordeal of getting my carry-on checked, I completely forgot about my laptop, and my camera which was with it. I left for my gate without them. It wasn't for a while down the airport that I realized what I did. I instantly freaked and SPRINTED back to security. Thank God both were just sitting there and no one had taken them!
By this point, my dad and I had wasted so much time that we were cutting it close for my flight. We ran through the airport to my gate, and got there at just after 6. My flight was scheduled to leave at 6:10. So that was a sigh of relief.
Getting onto the airplane we were stopped. Apparently the overhead space had been filled, so Delta was checking everyone's carry-ons. It took awhile for them to take the information for each bag, so they would know its final destination, and people were NOT happy. One lady argued with the flight attendant (who was not very friendly and obviously stressed) for at least 10 minutes, until finally the attendant gave her an ultimatum: check the bag or get off the flight. Another person in front of me had a good comment to the attendant: "Well, that's what you get when you charge for checked baggage..."
It didn't matter to me that my carry-on was getting checked, but I was annoyed when I got on the plane and there was a TON of space left in the overheads. Plus, then we got to sit and wait for at least a half hour while they checked and loaded the new baggage.
Why does it seem like life always works like that? We rushed to the gate to then wait for a half hour. It was a total "hurry up and wait" moment.
So now I'm in New York. I leave for Europe tomorrow at 9pm, and in the meantime we have orientations, and activities, and we get to meet some 130 other American exchange students going to certian European countries. I guess it's cool to see and meet a lot of people that are doing the same thing as I am (especially the 30 other kids going to Spain), but for me, I just want to get there already! And all the orientation stuff is just review anyways.
It still hasn't hit me yet that I'll be gone for 10 months, and I don't think it will until I'm actually in Madrid.
But I send a HUGE thank you to everyone who have wished me luck these past few days. If the rest of the trip is as hectic as today was, I could use all the luck in the world.
