A close call.....

Perhaps you remember at our meetings prior to coming to Spain that I frequently mentioned pickpockets and the need to care for your belongings. Yesterday the boys (and I, once again!) got a good lesson in just how slick theives can be.

Our day got a little convoluted...we were going to visit the Parque de Oeste and the Templo de Debod - a gift of a 2000 year old temple from the Egyptian govt to Spain. It has been reconstructed in the part and is a fascinating structure. But we got our time a little wrong and arrived too early. So we had some time to kill. We took a few photos, enjoyed one of the finest views of the Royal Palace and the Cathedral, and then settled under the trees to share a little "siesta time". I walked around a little, and when I returned to join the 19 other members of the group esconced under the trees, they were all dozing, sharing some iPod music, taking or looking at photos, chatting, etc. I listened to a few conversations for a couple of minutes, then took my iPod out of my bag and put on a little soft music. The kids were all around me and I put my head down for a minute.....
I guess the kids all moved - and while I dozed totally unsuspecting, a man sat down very close to me ( I had no idea) and looked as if he were a tourist snapping photos. When he got up, he took my camera bag with him, I sort of heard the movement, but I thought it was the kids. Marek saved the day. He saw him take my bag and yelled and the young man who accompanied us from International House yelled at the guy who immediately tossed my bag back at me. I had jumped up, but was a little disoriented and barely realized what happened until it was all over. The rest of the students were totally unaware! We were a group of 20, there were police on foot patrolling, a police car making rounds of the park and two mounted officers...and still in broad daylight, this brazen individual had the verguenza to attempt to take my bag. I´m just glad it was me and not one of the kids. In the end nothing happened but that the guys got yet another lesson in "you can´t be too careful". Last time I take a siesta in the park...

Catedrales, desfiles y otras cosas.....

Saturday was a long day. We began at 9 am meeting a coach to take us to Toledo, the medieval capital of Spain (Before Felipe II decided to move it to the small town of Madrid. It is located about an hour south of Madrid and is known for being hot! Fortunately, those medieval builders knew what they were doing and built narrow streets with high walls to keep out the sun. It helps to keep the houses cooler - not much help for us who were walking around, but an interesting topic of conversation, nonetheless.
The Cathedral in Toledo is the second largest Gothic cathedral in Spain and in my opinion, the most beautiful. It houses the vestments of Cardinal Cisneros about whom we learned last week in Alcalá de Henares and the most amazing transparente - constructed behind the main altar in the 18th century. It is an alabaster rococo sculpture of the Virgin and Child with the Last Supper above it. In order to illuminate it, a large window was carved in the gothic ceiling surrounded by frescoes in the italian style and more alabaster cherubs. It is phenomenally beautiful.

One of the most important aspects of Spanish history, and one about which the Spanish are most proud, is the fact that for hundreds of years, the three cultures, moorish, christian and jewish, cohabitated this peninsula in relative peace. Their coexistence made for a rich culture. Toledo is a perfect example of this heritage. We visited the Alcazar, the sinagoge, the Church of Santo Tomé, which houses the masterpiece of El Greco, El Intierro del Conde de Orgaz and finally went up to the tower of the Iglesia de San Ildefonso - the Jesuit church. From there one can get some of the most beautiful vistas of Toledo and its surroundings, the bell tower and rooftop of the Cathedral and a wonderful view of Castilla/La Mancha, the province in which Toledo (and Madrid) is located. Our final stop in Toledo was the ever-favourite, sword factory, where various modes of medieval weaponry were purchased by the boys. Unfortunately Facebook has been the depository of most of the photos... and since I don´t have access to their facebook pages, I can´t get the pics. I´m working on getting my camera in working order so that I can take my own photos and no longer have to depend on them....


Every summer in Spain one of the largest festivals of European Gay Pride takes place in Madrid. The parade was on Saturday night with over a million people (and 15 Prep students)in attendance. From all accounts, they enjoyed the parade and the spectacle, street music, food, parade, all manner of stuff! Not being a fan of huge crowds, I stayed at home and watched it on tv. I didn´t see any of my kids on tv so I considered this a good thing!

On Sunday morning we toured the 16th century house of playwright Lope de Vega. It is the only remaining house of this epoch in Madrid. It is located in the Barrio de las letras, which is also home to the Convent of the Trinitarians, where Cervantes is buried and also the church where Lope de Vega is buried. I then gave the boys a free afternoon - a rarity - some went to the rastro, some to the park, some to the pool and some to the bullfights. Since it was our last Sunday in Madrid, I wanted them to be able to do and see what they wanted before we head south on Saturday next. I took a nostalgic (6 hour) walk through the neighborhood where I lived as a student and then out to the University where I studied 100 years ago. It was a beautiful day, sunny in the 80´s with a nice breeze. I hear it is STILL raining in CT.

Monday began our last week of classes. Some of the students who have been with us, especially Andreas from Farmington, CT and Shane from Maine are now gone. But there are new students every Monday and while some friends depart, others arrive...it is all good. Our afternoon activity was to visit the Reina Sofia museum. It houses the Spanish art from the 19th century on... so we got to see Picasso, Miró, Dalí to name a few. The highlight of course, is Picasso´s masterpiece Guernica, a testament to the brutality of the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39.


Tuesday was a quiet day, we took a lovely afternoon walk through the Botanical gardens...a nice shady afternoon on a hot afternoon. The boys are getting tired. I have kept them so busy and they have seen and done so much! They are ready for their little "cultural vacation" to the south of Spain. They think they are going to get to rest - but I, as usual, have other plans! Our days will be full and very eventful, but I can assure you that they will have memories to last a lifetime! I´ve encouraged them to do as much as possible in the few days they have left in Madrid, sleeping just isn´t an option!

Trains, Art and Movies

The Palacio Real de Madrid is a majestic, white, 2000 room palace modeled on the Palace of Versailles and overlooking the Casa de Campo and the River Manzanares. Originally built by Felipe II when he moved the capital of Spain from the midieval city of Toledo to Madrid in the 16th century, it is currently not the residence of the Spain´s royal family. They live is a small palace outside the city called "El palacio de la zarzuela". The Palacio Real is used for events of State, such as formal dinners, receptions, document signings - official business. Parts of it are open to the public: the main staircase, many of the private quarters of the king and queen, reception rooms, the dining and ball room and the armory. It contains an extensive collection of art, armor of Felipe II, Carlos III, and Carlos V and there was a special exhibit of Carlos IV. Our visit included about 25 rooms including one of the most extensive and amazing exhibits of violins and violincellos created by the master Stradavarius. There were at least 6 original magnificent instruments from the 18th century.
I began taking a class last week - an advanced level in preparation to take a language proficiency examination for certification in advanced Spanish. So after the tour of the royal palace, the students dispersed to their respective homes for dinner. On Wednesday, we left school a little early in order to go to the Museo de Ferrocarriles - the Train Museum. What a fascinating place! Our guide was a retired train conductor who leads tours as a volunteer. He explained how steam engines worked from the time of wooden fire driven locomotives up to the present electric, high speed trains. We got to sit in some 1950´s rain cars, view the sleeping compartments and see the various classes of cars available to the public. The highlight was a room filled with model trains which the attendant worked from a remote control. Every kid´s dream. The boys thoroughly enjoyed their visit.
There is a special exhibit at the Prado Museum featuring the art of one of the most important Spanish artists of the 20th century, Joaquín Sorolla. I arranged a special time to go and some (about 8) of the students elected to attend with me. On Thursday we are going to see his house, which is a museum in its own right, but this particular exhibición temporal is very important as it contains much of his work that is not usually exhibited in Spain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ESPq8JsPU4
Sorolla was commissioned by Archer Huntington (of Fairfield Co. fame - Huntington Park in Redding)to paint 14 large canvasses for the HispanoAmerican Society in New York. Much of that work is being exhibited in this show. Sorolla is noted for his impressionist style, use of bright colours and beach scenes.

On Thursday the entire group went to see Sorolla´s house which is also a museum and today, they have a movie, El Laberinto de Fauna - Pan´s Labyrinth. Tomorrow begins our last weekend in Madrid: we head for Toledo. Hopefully there will be lots of photos.

We are on the go all the time.....

I should never let the blog go for this many days - there is so much to write about! Here goes!
On Thursday we had a tour of Estadio Bernabéu - the stadium that is the home to Real Madrid football team. Real Madrid is best known as a football team, but in reality it is an entire conglomoration of sports - tennis, golf, basketball and others. The stadium is huge and seats approximately 70,000 fans. We saw the history of the club, trophies, videos, team photos, shoes, balls and all manner of memorabelia. The trophy room is expecially spectacular. We couldn´t quite get down to the pitch level as they were stripping the turf with a very interesting little machine that just lifted the turf right off the field and loaded it into a little wagon that was then transported to a waiting truck outside. After our tour, I walked by the pile of turf and was actually tempted to grab a little tuft...until I realized that I had no idea what I would do with it....temporary insanity brought on by spending inordinate amounts of time with teenage boys. The highlight, I think was the chance to sit in the team seats on the sideline. They are SO comfortable that you just want to relax there for hours! And I have no idea why, but the locker room is always a hit... like they never saw one before! The tour ends in the Real Madrid store where everything you ever dreamed of owning (and some things you NEVER) dreamed of owning, has the RM logo on it. Televisions, action figures, underwear, stuffed animals, pet beds, bed linens...you name it!

On Friday afternoon the guys were supposed to have a salsa/merengue class... but it kind of turned into a "hip-hop" class with a young instructor who was quite the dancer. He ended is hour of instruction with a short demo using "Billie Jean" and "Thriller" in tribute to Michael Jackson. He was quite the amazing dancer!

Then, I took the guys to see the Manzanares river, the original border of the ancient city of Madrid. Since they had been to the Prado on Tuesday and had seen the work of Francisco de Goya, we also went to see the church of St. Antonio de las Floridas - one of the first churches that Goya was commissioned to paint in Madrid and the site of his tomb. It is no longer used as a church, but rather they built an exact replica (isn´t that redundant?) along side that is now used for Mass. The church itself is just a museum, with mirrors so that you can easily view the frescoes in the dome and the vault. After that visit, I sent them home as we were going to have a very busy weekend!

Our Saturday excursion was to Alcalá de Henares, a suburb of Madid just about 30 minutes away by commuter train. It boasts a wonderful University founded by Cardinal Cisneros, Cardinal of Toledo and personal confessor to Queen Isabella. He also became the Chief Inquisitor, so famous, or infamous, he is quite an important figure in spanish history. We got a great explanation of the entire university from a recently graduated law student. Her knowledge was excellent, although her Spanish was a little fast for the students to understand. We did get to see the room where Ignatious Loyola failed his examinations and was sent out in disgrace! Fortunately, he went on to have success in other ways....

The other important figure to have studied at the University there was Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha. We went to visit his home, which has been restored as a museum with many of the first transcripts of his work in a variety of languages. It also houses many of his original furnishings and the house is a typical example of the mudejar style with which the boys will become so familiar as we begin preparation to head south to Andlucia in a couple of weeks. Mudejar is the Christian use of the Moorish art, arquitecture and style and includes tile (azulejo), horseshoe arches, central patios with fountains that are open to the sky and geometrical designs decorating the ceilings and walls.

Following lunch and a some free time to wander about the city, we returned to Madrid for an evening of social activity at one of the most famous of the Madrid discotecas, Kapital. Now most of the boys were reluctant to go... since for some reason they were under the misconception that this was going to resemble a Prep mixer. However, to a man, they agreed that it was not at all what they expected and that at least, it was not the worst thing they every had to do, and some even had a lot of fun! Discoteca light occurs on Saturday nights in Madrid from 7 to 10:30 pm and is for young people under the age of 18. No alcohol is available, and the music is geared toward their age group. All the kids go - it is a great time! Some of them even met spanish girls whom they met the next day at the flea market. At 10:30 the club closes and reopens at 11 for the adult crowd featuring 7 floors of different kinds of music to suit nearly every taste. The discotecas in Madrid stay open usually until dawn. They are extremely strict about ages and everyone is expected to have identification - including the young people. No one under 14 is allowed to go.

On Sunday morning, I met a group at the Rastro. We went there the first Sunday, but some students wanted to go again. It was kind of a "free day" - they have had their time very structured - so some slept in, and others met me. They went home for dinner, a first for many of them, eating the main meal of the day at home with their families. We then met a 5:30 at the Plaza de Toros to buy our tickets for the bullfights. After getting the tickets, I spent about 10 minutes explaining how the bullfight goes; I think it is important that the students understand some of what they are seeing. It is a fascinating spectacle; some of the boys appreciated it, others did not. I do not make anyone come to the bullfights if he does not want to, nor do I make them stay if, after watching it, they prefer not to see anymore. However, it is an important part of spanish history and culture and so I make it available to them.

We had a few days of rather nice weather - warm, but not oppressive, but now the heat is returning to Madrid. The temps are in the mid-30s and the air quality has dropped somewhat. Everyone with allergies is feeling it.

After classes on Monday, some of the boys wanted to go to the swimming pool again. I gave them time for that and others met me to go to see the Iglesia de Santiago and the Catdrdal de Nuestra Señora de la Almudena. Almudena is an arabic word pertaining to the moorish section of the ancient walled city of Madrid. The area near the river Manzanares, the Palacio Real and the Cathedral is where the original moorish city existed. The legend is that the Virgin appeared at or near the city walls"al-medina" which is now almudena. The Virgin of the Almudena is the partroness of the city of Madrid and the Cathedral is new, consecrated in 1993 by Pope John Paul II. It is in direct contrast to the Gothic cathedrals they will see in Toledo this weekend and in Sevilla in two weeks.

From the Cathedral we walked to the Plaza de España to see the monument to Cervantes and El Quijote and then we went to the teleférico to ride the gondola over the city to the Casa de Campo. It has fantastic panoramic views of the city and Casa de Campo on the southwest side including the amusement park, the zoo, the river and the lake.

The students are much more familiar with the city now and have taken to walking much more than in the beginning. That is how they become familiar with their surroundings. They realize that the distances between metro stops is often short and they can stay above ground and get a good look at the wonderful sights and arquetecture of the city instead of riding everywhere. One of the things that I have learned is the cost of text messaging! I never texted on my Spanish cell phone - always called. However, this group began texting me and so I responded in kind. I went through 80€ in two weeks! I have never spent 80€ ever with my spanish cell phone so when I recently recharged it, I made a point of inquiring as to the cost of texting here. It is at least double, sometimes triple the cost of a call! The kids text each other the same way they do at home - as if they have unlimited texting. Additionally, many of them have american cell numbers so every text is an international one - I have told them to stop texting and to only use their phones when needed. However, many are so wedded to their phones that it is nearly impossible for them to stop. Please be aware that if their run out of minutes on their phones an cannot make calls, you can still call them. They can always receive calls, even if they cannot make them.

Today we have a tour of the Palacio Real. More tomorrow.

Well, I completely fouled up the plan for yesterday! We didn´t go to the pool (that´s today!) but rather to the Prado Museum in the afternoon. The Prado is a huge museum that houses Spanish art up to the end of the ninteenth century ending with Francisco de Goya. In the museum the boys saw the"big three" Spanish painters, El Greco, Velazquez and Goya, but also works by Murrillo, Ribeira, Fra Angelico, El Bosco and a special exhibit of Sorrolla. We spent about two hours there and I will return, taking anyone who wants to go with me. They get an explanation of the art, and although many of the students are overwhelmed (read bored) by staring at paintings by old masters, they do get a sense of appreciation for the art. Many of them have seen pictures of the artwork in classes and it is really wonderful for them to see the work in reality.
Today is the feast day of Saint John, a very important feast day here in Spain. The fiesta began last night at midnight with fires, queimada, fireworks and general celebration. Ted and Max went with their Señora to a celebration where she jumped over the fire (they graciously declined) and tasted the quemada - a blue, flaming drink typical of the celebration.
I watched fireworks from my window at midnight - they were occurring all over the city. It was impossible to sleep when they were everywhere, but watching from my high window was quite enjoyable. I´ve learned a new way to keep in touch with my niños - I´ve learned how to text on my Spanish phone!
Today is the swimming pool... and it is still hot!

The Zoo and kebabs.

Sorry, no photos today. I came to Spain without the battery charger for my camera, so I am completely without photos and am depending on the students to supply me with photos. We spent yesterday afternoon at the zoo/aquarium and I know they took tons of photos, but as yet, no one has given me any to upload. NOTE: Having posted that yesterday, I now have gotten some photos so am editing the post!
The Madrid zoo is located outside the city in the Casa del Campo. It is a huge zoo, with a dolphin show, birds of prey show and a large assortment of strange and unusual animals. The students alsways find it strange to see animals that we take for granted, such as the Canadian goose, or the north american duck in a zoo. It is a particularly enjoyable day, as the animals are in open habitats, at eye level and separated from the human viewers by a moat or a fence as opposed to cages. The boys particularly enjoyed the limurs, bears and various birds that came wandering over to us looking for treats. Apparently everyone feeds the animals as they were clearly well accustomed to getting peanuts. The birds, monkeys and limurs came right over to us as we stood outside their enclosures.
We spent the entire afternoon at the zoo, until it was time to go home for dinner. It was not crowded at all, and we strolled and spent as long as we wanted at each exhibit. It is pleasant to wander under the shade of the trees going casually from exhibit to exhibit, continent to contenint. Although we spent about 4 hours there, I know we did not see it all.
All over Spain, but particularly in Madrid, kebabs are very popular. Now I have never tried them and some of the students, familiar with kebabs informed me that I had no idea what I was missing! So, I enlisted them to choose a kebab restaurant that they liked and to take me for kebabs, which we did after dinner. How these boys can have dinner, and one hour later eat a kebob is beyond my comprehension. They were huge! But really good. So now they are teaching me! It´s all good.
The heat wave continues with temperatures reaching 37 degrees (98 F) in Madrid today. We are going to a swimming pool....

Weekend Adventures

Well the students are all back in class this morning with lots of stories to tell of their weekend adventures! On Friday evening we sampled some tapas and went to some of the "cuevas", caves in and around the Plaza Mayor. They sampled local specialties like patatas bravas, calamares, tortilla española, gambas al ajillo and we topped it off with churros and chocolate. The chocolate is more like a melted semi-sweet, thick chocolate - not drinkable in my opinion, so it never ceases to amaze me when the students consume it out of a cup! Heaven forbid anything sweet should be left behind!
On Saturday we met our guide at school and traveled in bus to San Lorenzo del Escorial a town about 50 km outside Madrid. It was built by Philip II as a palace, basilica, monastery, museum, library and pantheon for the Spanish kings. Today it is a school and monastery, and the basilica is still used for Masses. It is a massive, imposing granite building set into the side of the Guardarrama mountains. Our tour lasted about 2 hours - I think that was all the boys could take! They had some free time to wander around the town and then we were off to the Valle de los Caídos, also a basilica and the final resting place of Generalissimo Francisco Franco. It is imposible in photos to really get a sense of the awesome size of the basilica at the Valley of the Fallen.
The basilica is very dark and austere inside: filled with demonic angels and dark images. Although it is still used regularly for masses, it is primarily a mausoleum. The students seem to like the modern lines and the fact that it is cavelike in that it is carved into the mountain. The 150 metre high marble cross is atop the main altar and rises out of the rock into the endless blue, spanish sky.
We continue with the blistering hot heatwave, but I must say everyone has been really good about drinking plenty of water and as far as I can tell, no one is suffering inordinately from the extraordinary heat.
On Sunday I took the group to Segovia, an important roman town about 100 km north of Madrid. To get there we crossed the Guardarrama again emerging on the north side of the mountains and getting a great view of the meseta as it stretches across Castilla Leon as far as the eye can see. The highlight of the Segonian skyline is the Baroque Cathedral, rather small by Spanish standards, but beautiful nonetheless.
As we climbed into the fortressed city, we got a great look at the original "murallas" or city walls that surrounded the entire city during midieval times. We suddenly heard music and followed the sound. Turns out there was a festival going on and we got the full benefit of the parade and the giant figures that are carried in procession through the streets. What a great surprise for the kids!
We followed the parade up into the Plaza Mayor and then continued down through the narrow streets of old Segovia until we arrived at the Alcazar. An Alcazar is different from a castle in that it was a palace fortress. Not only used to defend a city, but a royal residence as well. This particular alcazar is important also because it was the model for the Disney Kingdom castle in Disneyland, CA. It is also the place where Isabella was crowned queen of Castilla in 1474 and the boys got a great visit of the throne room, chapel, armory, bedroom and finally got to climb the tower to the top of the Alcazar. One of my favourite things about this particular castle is that the students can take as many photos as they want of the interior. In so many places no interior photos are permitted... but in Segovia there are no prohibitions at all.
After the Alcazar, we found pizza for lunch (that was a hit!) and then went to the Cathedral for a visit. It is on the Camino de Santiago route from Madrid. Although I have not walked this particular route, I showed the boys the chapel of Santiago in the Cathedral and they were fortunate enough to be able to get a "pilgrim stamp". I asked at the entrance if they would allow them to see the stamps that pilgrims receive when they visit the places along the pilgrimage route. Each of them received their own pilgrim stamp on their entrance ticket! From there we walked down to the roman acueduct which was in use until the 1980s. It still works, bringing water 13 km from the mountians into the town of Segovia, but has been turned off in recent years. It is a dry structure, no mortar or cement in the lower part and it over 2000 years old. We got back to Madrid at about 8:45, just in time for them to get home for dinner. It was a long day and a long weekend, but I think they enjoyed it. The teachers have told me this morning that the boys had many things to talk about and are much more animated in their classes. They are beginning to ask to visit certain museums and asking lots of questions (besides, "Can we eat now?"). And they are starting to keep up with me - soon, I´ll be the one lagging behind!