Madrid Museum visits

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The last few weekends I have gone into Madrid and visited museums.  It takes about an hour on the bus to get into the city and then it’s a metro ride to where ever I want to go.  As Madrid is huge, most of the time it has taken me about 25 minutes or so to get around to where I want to go. 

There are three main museums in Madrid that are listed in the guidebooks: the Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Reina-Sofia.  Of these three the Prado is the largest and of course then has the most extensive collection with many masterpieces.  As I found my way from one masterpiece to another, I quickly remembered what I had discovered about myself by the time I had finished going through the Uffizi in Florence:  Renaissance art is really not my thing – oh, what a surprise!  St John the Baptist’s bloody head on a platter or a gruesome scene from mythology just don’t grab me as art I want to study for hours.  Neither does another Virgin with baby Jesus or the Annunciation.  Ok, I get it.  This was the way to get the message to the masses that could not read, and it was also breaking ground in the world of art and representations, but enough already!!! 

 

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There was plenty of other art and other periods, including some religious art that I really did enjoy.  There was a Rubens painting of the Immaculate Conception that looked very familiar to me and it made me wonder if perhaps a copy of this was in the old St. Ann’s school building where I went to first through third grades.  

 

And then these was this portrait by Vela'zquez of the infanta Margarita, daughter of Felipe IV (1605-1665), surrounded by her servants or “family” in a hall of Madrid’s Alcázar Palace, that I could have studied for hours: 

 

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The Prado is huge and although I spent about 5 hours there, I didn’t hit all of the exhibits. There was a special exhibit on the Spanish landscape artist, Martin Rico that I really enjoyed as well. Here is a link to the Prado if you are interested in seeing some of the wide variety of art displayed: this is for the recommended three hour visit:  http://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/what-to-see/3-hours-in-the-museum/

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The second museum I visited was the Thyssen, which was a private collection of a Baron’s that was then donated to the nation.  Along side this collection a second collection has been added of work collected by the Baroness.  This museum had some Van Gogh, Renoir, Pissaro, Degas, Ce’zanne and Monet, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Of course there were a few Picassos and Miro’s as well as they are favorite Spanish artists.  At this museum I actually felt I saw everything I wanted to and took my time and enjoyed it.  After I went to a “American Store” that I found on line that sold British and American grocery products.  This is where I found the things I needed for making the Thanksgiving dinner.  I’m either going to have to go back there to get some more canned pumpkin or try to find some fresh pumpkin at the local stores so I can make more pumpkin pie! (I have also promised to make an apple pie for Irene before I leave!)

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The last museum I went in to visit was the Reina-Sophia which I did on a Monday.  What a mistake!  I rode into the city with Sagrario on her way to work and then caught the metro the rest of the way.  I had to be back by 2:30 for a lesson with Jaime.  This was to give me three hours in the museum.  Don’t know what I was thinking!  I now will be going back there after I leave the family, as I barely touched on the pieces I wanted to see.   (It ended up taking me 3 hours to get back home and I missed having a lesson with Jaime that day!)

When I arrived, I was advised to go to the fourth floor, as three school groups were in front of me for the second floor which holds the famous Picasso piece, “Guernica”.  I found the art on the fourth floor fascinating and spent a lot of time there.  It included two different photography layouts from Life and Harper’s Bazaar magazines from the 1950's of life in Southern Spain. 

  

 There was also sculpture and many other interesting pieces.

Equipo 57 (1957-62) Various artists in collaboration

 

And this piece reminded me of my kid’s Grandpa Antrim, as he loved Alexander Calder and his mobiles: 

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Alexander Calder, Constellation, 1944

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By the time I got to the second floor, I only had time to find “Guernica” and study it.  I am not a huge fan of Picasso, although I do enjoy some of his work.  This piece though I would not use the word "enjoy", however it is quite moving especially when you have it deconstructed for you into all of the parts and see through pictures the construction of the piece and to have it's history explained.

"Probably Picasso's most famous work, Guernica is certainly the his most powerful political statement, painted as an immediate reaction to the Nazi's devastating casual bombing practice on the Basque town of Guernica during Spanish Civil War.
Guernica shows the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. This work has gained a monumental status, becoming a perpetual reminder of the tragedies of war, an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace. On completion Guernica was displayed around the world in a brief tour, becoming famous and widely acclaimed. This tour helped bring the Spanish Civil War to the world's attention." 

 

(Both text and quote are from http://www.pablopicasso.org/guernica.jsp ) 

Dinner and other food...

While traveling for two weeks with Shawna prior to my home-stay, we ate a lot of tapas.  Tapas are basically any small portion of food served with a drink.  It’s not a starter/appetizer, although they appear to be in size and design. Sometimes if you are lucky one will come gratis with your drink.   But, even if you get the first one free, it’s impossible to stop at just one, because they are so good and varied, and this then becomes your meal:  you just keep selecting different ones until you have made a meal of it.  The cost is very reasonable for both the tapas and drinks.  You can get a glass of wine and a tapa for 4 Euros. Individual Tapas run from 1.80 to 2.50. 

Seafood based tapas are very popular.

Just had to try to quail egg.

I made many a meal with croquettes

 But, that’s not what I wanted to tell you about.  I wanted to tell you about dinner – the last meal of the day.  While Shawna and I were traveling, I think we only sat down to a dinner – as we know it – twice. Otherwise, we made a meal of the tapas each night for our dinner.  The reason for this was that the tapas were available at a time we are accustomed to eating dinner, while a sit down meal is not available until 8pm AT THE EARLIEST!  My hosts here in Guadalajara eat dinner each night at 10:00pm.  Yes, 10:00pm!  If you consider the whole day of meals though, you will understand this – at least to some degree!

Breakfast is a very small meal, usually consisting of coffee and a croissant or other small pastry.  Churros con chocolate is also common in the cafés.  The kids in my host family put Nestlé’s powdered chocolate into their milk with their cereal or broken bits of crackers/biscuits/cookies. (Not sure what to call them, as they are like a British “biscuit”, but what I might call a wafer type cookie.)  They also heat the milk in the bowl before dipping the biscuits.  For a weekend breakfast treat, they will have a doughnut for breakfast.  I posted a photo last week of a Burger King in the mall closed at noon – it opens at 12:30….there just must not be a market for fast food breakfast sandwiches here!

The biggest meal of the day is lunch.  Sagrario’s office takes two hours for lunch and they go out.  Jaime gets home at 1:15 from school and we do our hour English lesson and then he has lunch and heads back out to school at 3:00 for more classes and/or sports activities.  The girls get home from high school around 2:30 and have their lunch then.  Sagrario’s sister, Ninas, come every day and makes the lunches and prepares the dinner for later. 

The meals have two or three “plates”.  The first is usually a soup or a veggie dish:  maybe cream of asparagus, cream of spinach, or chicken broth with small noodles, etc.  Sometimes they have a dish with garbanzo beans, tuna and olives.  Other times I have seen flat beans in a sauce, or pasta with tuna.

The second plate is typically a piece of meat (chicken is common) and a side dish; maybe a salad or a starch if the first plate didn’t have much starch.  The green salads we’ve been having are loaded with other things besides veggies.  There are almost always hard-boiled eggs and olives in it and sometimes tuna and I think surimi.  A baguette is eaten with the meal as well. Butter is never served or put on the bread. The kids drink water with their meal and the parents drink wine.  Sometimes Jose adds sparkling water (agua con gas) to his wine.

On school days, the kids have sports activities or homework and are back in the kitchen (which is across the hall from my room) around 6:30 or 7:00 for a snack.  I see them having yogurt, toast with honey, left overs, etc.  This is also about the time Sagrario and Jose get home from work – they definitely have long days at work.  They also have a snack about this time. So, they really don't go from 3 in the afternoon until 10 at night without eating.

Dinner – the last meal of the day – is of the same layout as the lunch, only in smaller quantities.  On Sunday nights we usually have pre-made pizza for dinner with a salad – no first plate.  For meats we’ve had fish, chicken, hamburger patties, thinly sliced Iberian ham and calamari.  Most of the time, the meat is fried (in olive oil), but is in much thinner pieces than what we do at home.  No big ol’ hunkin’ pieces of chicken breasts here!  And, every night, the meal is finished by one of the girls getting the bowl of fruit and everyone having a piece.  This is a drag for Jaime as he doesn’t really like fruit and it can be an ordeal at times to get him to eat a piece! 

We usually finish dinner around 10:30-:45 which would seem to be bedtime.  But, this is the time everyone heads to watch TV as this is the time of the sitcoms.  Bedtime for the kids is around midnight and Jose is usually the last to head upstairs, around 12:30 or so.  Since this meal is so late, and I really don’t want to go to bed right after dinner, I have had to adjust my sleeping hours.  I’ve been going to sleep around 12:30 or 1:00 and I have also made a point of going for a walk before dinner. 

Last night was the first time we ate restaurant food – we had Chinese food delivered as the girls were out with friends and ate out.  It tasted pretty much the same as at home, although the spring rolls weren’t really “rolls”, but more like “flats”!

We just finished our Sunday lunch (3:00pm).  My starter was a small bowl of spaghetti with tomato sauce with sausage.  We then had a traditional Spanish dish called Migas, very much like our Thanksgiving dressing with bacon in it.  It wasn’t quite as sticking and heavy as our dressing though. This was served with small cut-up pieces of orange.  Jose said grapes are more traditional to be served with it, but that oranges are used also – and they didn’t have grapes!  And then for the final plate, we had baked chicken and home made French fries.  The fruit bowl came out and was passed around.  If this sounds like a lot of food, the difference is that the portion sizes are definitely much smaller – the oversized American servings have not hit this household which is great! 

I don’t think this kitchen could function without  the olive oil and olives.  The size of the jug of wine made me think of a few of my friends, and I just had to include the ubiquitous ketchup.  What is not in the picture and is also a required item in the fridge is hard boiled eggs.  Not for breakfast, but used in many different dishes at lunch and dinner.

A common dish we saw for tapas and that Ninas made this last week is Russian Salad.  They all laughed about it being called Russian, as it is a Spanish dish.  After one try as a tapa when we were traveling, I avoided it as it was loaded with mayonnaise.  Ninas made her own mayonnaise for it and again seemed to use an awful lot.  But when it was served, I was surprised to see and taste that it was ok.  It’s much like a potato salad, but with peas, diced carrots, green olives and tuna added to it.  Don’t think I will order it as a tapa again, but will definitely eat it with the family again.

Another very popular tapa and homemade dish is the Spanish tortilla.  Totally wipe from your mind the Mexican tortillas we eat – these are a totally different dish.  In fact, it is basically a potato omelette.  The potatoes are precooked in slices and then layered in the pan with beaten eggs and cooked on the stovetop.  We have had this as a second plate followed by the meat and salad for the third plate.  I have eaten it many times now in the bars and cafes. 

Of course ham is a staple, but there is so much to tell about it, it will have to have it’s own entry!

Walking around town

I have set a goal for myself to walk 20-25 miles a week while I am here in Guadalajara.  I use an app on my iphone as a pedometer to track the distance and I either listen to podcasts or music as I walk.  I've been listening to NPR's "Wait, wait, don't tell me", Spanish language lessons, "Coffee Break Spanish", and am just starting a iUniversity course on linguistics.  Having these, as well as music to listen to keeps me going and make my twice daily walks even more enjoyable - I just can't help it;  I have to multi-task!

One evening my first week, I got lost and had to ask a policeman for help.  (It reminded me of lessons with kids -- "The policeman is your friend"!) Since then, I do not go in new directions in the evening and I also make sure I have my map with me.  (Can't use the map on the iphone, as I don't have cellular service here.) I was quite frustrated as I knew I was close to home and as it turned out, I was within a block of home twice!  I have now studied each corner around here and the map!

This city is very walker friendly.  There is a path that circles the city (or so I am told that it circles it; I haven't made it all the way around yet.)  It parallels the freeway along the side where I live, but the path is removed enough, and has plenty of trees and other shrubbery around it, that the highway noise and smell doesn't come through. To get to the shopping center there is a pedestrian only bridge over the freeway.

In addition to this path, the sidewalks are wide on the streets and a number of streets have an additional sidewalk down the middle of the street with trees and benches.  There is also a very large park that was a pathway through the center of it, with pedestrian only streets at either end.  One of the pedestrian only streets is the main street in the old town section lined with small shops.

I have yet to be on a path by myself, regardless of the time of day or evening that I am walking.  There are always others out and about.  I see babies being pushed in strollers, usually by older women (grandmas?) and I have seen one man pushing his baby a number of times now.  Age does not seem to slow people down.  I see more elderly men than any one else!  They are usually in groups of three to four, walking along slowly or sitting on the benches. The elderly women usually have their shopping carts with them and are usually alone - except when I see a cluster of women who have met up while out doing their shopping -- instead of standing in the aisles of the grocery stores catching up with their friends like we do at home, they are on the streets doing the same thing.

On Sundays and holidays most of the shops are closed, but this doesn't stop people from window shopping.  I saw this in other towns as well.  Sometimes you'll see a few women, or a family, looking in a shop window, pointing at goods and talking. They'll stand there for sometime, before moving onto the next shop window.  It made me realize that we (or at least I) don't really do that.  I might glance in a shop window on my way past, or, if I am really interested in something, I will want to go in and try it on or look at it closer, check out the price, etc.  I saw an elderly couple looking in a shoe store window at boots, and I wondered if they were seriously looking to buy a pair of boots (do you really need to buy new boots every year?) or just checking out this year's styles. I have to admit though, I did stop for some time to study these: 

 

Another thing I have noticed are the closed store fronts.  I have seen a number of store fronts with their grates down and locked up and trash and leaves building up in the entry way.  Their windows may be covered in newspaper, cardboard or plain paper.  There may be left over signs in the windows showing a going out of business sale.  The downturn in the economy has definitely hit here, although I would say all-in-all the town's economy is quite vibrant.


Although there is a bus system here, most of the places I go are a mile or less away.  The bus station for Madrid buses, the library (yes, I got a library card!), the museum, the shops, the shopping center, cafes, etc. are all within walking distance.  One morning when out walking, I stopped in a cafe for coffee and a Spanish tortilla (like a potato omelet) and the owner asked me where  was from.  When I told him Alaska, he pointed to the TV and The Deadliest Catch was on! But I have noticed that in the food court of the shopping mall and on the streets, some of the big name places aren't open at noon...I guess it's still to early for lunch and most people don't eat anything more than a roll or croissant and coffee for breakfast - ah, but that is another post! 

Arrival in Guadalajara, Spain

Well, it's been just about a year since my last post!  I'm on the road again, this time in Spain!  I just spent 18 days traveling around Spain with my friend Shawna, and am now participating in another "Conversation Corp" through GeoVisions again. I hope to be blogging regularly again about my experiences as an English tutor to this family of five.

 

I arrived at my host family’s home yesterday and have been getting settled in.  Jose, the father, walked me down the main street of the Guadalajara, showing me where everything is that I might want to make use of: the library, the museum, the tourist information center, etc.  He pointed out how to get to the mall in the other direction by crossing a pedestrian bridge over the main freeway between Madrid and Barcelona. (I went there this morning.)

Sagrario (the mom) and Jose both showed me around the house and showed me how everything works.  We discussed the schedule for teaching and basically got me organized.  This experience will be quite different from my families in Turkey in a couple of ways.

First, I am the 6^th tutor that they have had come and stay with them!  The last one was only here for one week before she became homesick and returned home.  But the others all seem to have been here for 3 months.  One was from Manchester, England and the rest were from the U.S.  So, they are accustomed to having someone in their home and have a good sense of life in the U.S.

Secondly, I have a very set schedule to work with each member of the family.  Jaime, the 11-year-old boy, will have an hour lesson each day.  Sofia and Irene, the 15 year old twin girls, will have one hour each, three times per week.  Sagrario will also have 3 hours per week, while Jose will have just one hour. 

Third, the parents were able to identify exactly what they wanted me to work on with each of the kids and with themselves.  I will definitely need prep time each week to prepare lessons.  I am looking forward to preparing these lessons and seeing the growth in all of them.

And now, a bit about the family: Jose is a chemical engineer and works for a pharmaceutical company.  He worked for an American company for 18 years, so he has used English in his work and although he has a very strong accent, he communicates very well in English. He is also a runner and ran two marathons this year.  He reminds me a lot of Kyle!  Sagrario is an IT manager and works in Madrid, making the 40-minute drive daily.  She hasn’t used English much at work, but needs to more and more but is apprehensive about speaking it.  She also has a hard time understanding all the different accents of her co-workers from other European countries when they speak English.

I had my first “lesson” today with Jaime.  We started with my showing him some pictures from Alaska and I immediately discovered he loves animals and knew quite a bit about the animals from Alaska.  We were able to understand each other as we talked about the animals here and there, but we certainly were not communicating in complete sentences!  He is quite bright and I think he will be a lot of fun.

Sofia and Irene attend high school and are in the same classes together this year for the first time.  Until now, they have had different classes to allow them to develop individually, but now they are together.  They had a math exam today and apparently spent most of the long weekend they just had preparing for it.  I can tell already they are at different levels for their English and I am hoping it will be fun to work with each of them individually. They both play basketball and have practice a few times a week.  This Saturday will be a big match that they are anxious about.

During the day, Sagrario’s sister comes over to help out since the parents are gone all day, but the kids get out of school at 1 and at 2.  She speaks less English than all of them, but we had a great conversation sharing with each other about our families: she in her broken English and me in my broken Spanish – so we both got to practice!

My room is very nice with an attached private bathroom.  This is the first time in all my homestays that I have had my own bathroom!  Kind of nice!  The house is a single-family house and is quite large.  On the main floor are the eat-in kitchen, laundry room, living room/dining room, my bedroom and a half bath.  Downstairs is a huge two-car garage, a spare room that is the dog’s room (no kidding), and a very nice den with fireplace, large dining table, sofas and TV.  Sagrario said they don’t use this room much: usually just when they have a number of people over. On the second floor are the family bedrooms and two bathrooms. And then, there is one more floor!  Half of this top floor is basically a rec room with board games, exercise equipment, and stuff left over from when the kids were younger.  There are two more rooms up there: one is set up as an office but I got the impression that it is not used much, and the last room is just an empty room!  On this street it looks like all of the homes are detached houses, however I there is an apartment building just one block over and I saw a number of others around town as well.  Jose explained last night that they like living here as houses are much less expensive than in Madrid and the kids all go to school very close by – Jaime’s school is just around the corner.

So, that’s it for now about the family.  I must go and figure out syllabuses for each of my students!