Un otro dia (another day)

Well this week has definitely had its share of events and experiences. For one: I had a few major breakthroughs concerning the Spanish language. To create pity (and to advance concern to my plight) allow me to demonstrate a few of the problems that the Spanish language presents to the average American learner:

-two tenses for the events in the past
-two different words for "for"
-two verbs for "to be"
-a plethora of verbs that are irregular

for example:

If I want to say something as simple as "to talk" in Spanish, these are the things I need to consider:

Present Tense:

Hablo (I talk)
Hablas (you talk)
Hablain (y'all talk)
Hablamo (we talk)
Hablaman (then talk)
Habla (he talks)

Past tense (1) situations that have happened

Hablo (I talked)
Hablaste (you talked)
Hablaies (y'all talked)
Hablamos (we talked)
Hablaron (they talked)
Hable (he talked)

Past tense (2) situations that occured in the past over time

Hablaba (I talked)
Hablabas ( you talked)
Hablabaies (y'all talked)
Hablabamos (we talked)
Hablaman (they talked)
Hablaba (he talked)

And there are also different verb forms for future tense, conditional tense, subjunctive tense. Hablar (to talk) is an example of a verb that is not irregular. I would like to consider 40% of verbs to have a completely different way of working than the described methods above. It is difficult :D.

However, when I am not attempting to "master' this language, I am attempting to simply have a good time. During the afternoons I enjoy Coca Cola (or beer) and a delicious "tapas" (a complimentary meal that comes with the drink: a sandwich, olives, fruit). I go to class, I hang out with Americans and Spaniards alike (this past weekend I journeyed with a group of Spaniards to a very ancient university), and I give myself necessary "meditation" time.

Tomorrow I will be meeting with the parents of two Spanish children that I will be (trying) teaching English to this semester. Also I have an "intercambio" (exchange) student. He is from Turkey; he wants to learn English and I want to learn Spanish. We basically learn from eachother in our own domestic languages.

Well, that is all for now. Thank you for reading! Have good day/night/afternoon and peace be with you!

A walk (continued)

Palacia Real, the Royal Palace. This isn't a very wholesome shot, in reality it goes forever in both directions, the top is crested with statues and various figures. Behind me is a gigantic statue and a fountain, on both sides are grass and statues.















A standard scene from the bowels of the Metro system.











































Scenes from a street market. This one is only open on Sundays and takes up the entirety of 3-4 streets.















The Almudera, I believe that it was a mosque that was torn down and rebuilt in the 19th century as a Roman Catholic cathedral.

That's it for now!

Walkin' on a Sunday

Below are selected pictures that I took this last Sunday during a stroll that my host mother took me on.















This is a pretty common scene in a large part of central Madrid. Apartment buildings from the 20th century sit next to cornered buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries. In the
background is a cathedral.
















Southern and Central Spain both have had a variety of influences from different cultures. This is an example of an Arabic archway, distinctly different from the more common and better-known Roman archways.



















An entrance way to el Parque Retiro (Retiro Park). Spaniards usually congregate in cafes and in parks, it is uncommon to entertain in your house. Parque Retiro is completely amazing, enormous, and old. (third largest park in Madrid, I think?)

I'll submit more pictures later. I guess I can only put up three at a time.

Hola de Espana!

Bienvenidos!, (Welcome!)

To begin, I do apologize for have such a belated start concerning the documentation of this trip. It has been quite a hectic past week and even now I would hardly consider myself to be adjusted.

So far, all is well in Spain. I am enjoying the time spent with my host family: my "host mother", Purificaion and my "host sister" Elena. They have been very supportive of my language disability and are extremely hospitable, amiable people. I think that their attitudes reflect appropriately on what I have seen to be the personality of the Spanish people: blunt, honest, kind, helpful, and hilarious. This past weekend I went to a pub with Elena and a large group of her friends, rarely have I seen a group of people so fun loving and gregarious.

The university I go to is called the University Rey Juan Carlos (King Juan Carlos, the current monarch of Spain). It is a relatively small university; four buildings (one a library), two cafeterias, no dormitories, one basketball hoop. In the future I will put up some pictures of the campus, as it is actually very nice and has a warm, modernesque atmosphere. This semester I am taking a Spanish composition class, a European political institutions class, and a dance class (the last one is a long story. It wasn't my initial choice but I don't have to defend myself this is my blog!) which are all actually pretty fun. I have plans to sign up for an intercambio (speaking partner) and, possibly, to teach English to Spanish children. Other than that, though, my time has been filled with homework, pub crawling, exploring the city, meeting people, and practicing my language.

I will attempt to keep this updated weekly, posting pictures and stories. My aim is not to create an online journal but to instead illustrate my (mis)adventures and to share the cultural experience. So, if you made it this far, thank you for reading and stay tuned!