Greetings from Madrid, where it is currently hace caloring outside!
*note: this was also written in June and never published
Anyway, I ended up having a 2 hour long conversation with an old lady who happened upon me, sitting on a bench alone. I was happy to understand her and converse with her about life and her advice for me (though I couldn't figure out how to say politely that I was starving and needed to head out). At the end, she insisted on walking me to the metro and gave me her calling card (?????!!! which she still carried in her wallet!!! It was so cute!) if I needed to call for anything. Today, after visiting many many many a cathedral, I finally got to go to a masjid (mezquita) myself. I think the one I visited was the largest in Europe. I was so happy. It was beautiful, and I found myself amongst Muslims here and I wasn't the minority in my "conservative" ways any longer. I met an American and I just felt like I was at home.
I like Europe, and Madrid. I don't think Spain is a country that calls to me in the way India did, but I'm glad I came, because (wow, this is bordering on slightly meaningful/roll-eyes-worthy) I think I've learned a lot about myself. Spain has tested me- never before have I lived with another family? In a place where there was no concept of the word "halal," and where not drinking alcohol is more than just extraño. It's very..different here, though similar in the ways that all big cities are similar. I like the siestas, and I like the humor. It's honestly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. America is a land of opportunity and working hard and achievement and so many different people and issues stuff like that, but Europe to me seems like a place to enjoy la vida. To live life pleasantly. This is obviously not really the case for many Spaniards on account of "la crisis!" economically here, but the laid-back lifestyle seems to indicate that people take their time to smell a few more roses than we do. I got lucky and got placed with a great host family, one that I genuinely enjoy spending time with and joking about hilarious miscommunications. I will miss them when I leave, actually. My abroad group is cohesive and I've enjoyed wandering around the city with them.
Things I Didn't Think Would Happen/Never Expected:
-thwart a pickpocketer and publicly catch him in the act and then later denounce him and save someone's wallet!! I noted someone shadily following my friend and I one late-ish evening on the streets near Kapital (un club). Working on my inheret Law & Order-like instincts, I urged her to hurry along and switch to the other side of the street. Before this could happen, I heard a yelp and my friend shouting at this villainous short man to get off her bag! She pulled it away from him and he glowered menacingly at us before slipping away into the night. We both clutched our bags tightly while hurriedly trying to find our group, recovering from this incident while congratulating ourselves on escaping untouched. Alas, before we got away, he struck again! This time on a discombobulated-looking girl who seemed a little less alert than usual! Before he could put his hand in her purse, I started yelling HE'S TRYING TO PICKPOCKET YOUUUUUU!!!!!!! and after a few great yells on my part (after years of dominating my sibling-fights thanks to my solid vocal cords) she noticed I was addressing her and pulled her purse away in the nick of time. He glowered menacingly at us yet again (repetitive, this look was, at least for a villain as himself), for thwarting him not once but twice, and my friend proceeded to address the crowd about his previous attempt at pickpocketing (aka she started shouting, "HE ALMOST PICKPOCKETED ME TOO!"). After her denouncement of him, he slapped her, and then she slapped him, and then his 2 female minions (quietly following him...it was a group effort) looked meanly at her while she narrowed her eyes at them. We were thanked for the saving of the wallet (great feeling by the way. Superheroes do it just for the kicks, yo.) and continued on humbly to meet our group.
-that I would enjoy a Dali exhibit, or sleep on a roof
-argue in Spanish about my nun-style choice of atire
-wear 5 inch heels and not die
-learn so many curse words
-make up stories in class about two lovers frolicking under the trees for practice in the subjunctive
-drink a lot of strong coffee, learn some merengue
-fail to row a boat
That's all for today.
Thanks Macaulay for enabling me to have such priceless experiences.
Amirah
*note: this was also written in June and never published
Yesterday, I went rollerblading in Madrid's version of central park! In my ever-enticing day wear, I succeeded in furthering the already high level of stares (undoubtedly accredited to my redonkulous good looks) I was receiving from the españoles. I know that it was the suave way in which I wore my t-shirt and pants get-up that attracted many a look in my direction from all park-goers that day. That, and the faces I was making while flailing my arms as much as possible, in addition to maintaining my steady hum to "Ill Make A Man Out of You" and trying to translate it in my head (this proved to be difficult). Thoughts I came away with after skating through the park: Why are attractive spanish guys walking around with babies? Are they just like Josh Duhamel was in Safe Haven? Where is Enrico? Why are red-eyed demon pigeons following me?
Anyway, I ended up having a 2 hour long conversation with an old lady who happened upon me, sitting on a bench alone. I was happy to understand her and converse with her about life and her advice for me (though I couldn't figure out how to say politely that I was starving and needed to head out). At the end, she insisted on walking me to the metro and gave me her calling card (?????!!! which she still carried in her wallet!!! It was so cute!) if I needed to call for anything. Today, after visiting many many many a cathedral, I finally got to go to a masjid (mezquita) myself. I think the one I visited was the largest in Europe. I was so happy. It was beautiful, and I found myself amongst Muslims here and I wasn't the minority in my "conservative" ways any longer. I met an American and I just felt like I was at home.
I like Europe, and Madrid. I don't think Spain is a country that calls to me in the way India did, but I'm glad I came, because (wow, this is bordering on slightly meaningful/roll-eyes-worthy) I think I've learned a lot about myself. Spain has tested me- never before have I lived with another family? In a place where there was no concept of the word "halal," and where not drinking alcohol is more than just extraño. It's very..different here, though similar in the ways that all big cities are similar. I like the siestas, and I like the humor. It's honestly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. America is a land of opportunity and working hard and achievement and so many different people and issues stuff like that, but Europe to me seems like a place to enjoy la vida. To live life pleasantly. This is obviously not really the case for many Spaniards on account of "la crisis!" economically here, but the laid-back lifestyle seems to indicate that people take their time to smell a few more roses than we do. I got lucky and got placed with a great host family, one that I genuinely enjoy spending time with and joking about hilarious miscommunications. I will miss them when I leave, actually. My abroad group is cohesive and I've enjoyed wandering around the city with them.
Things I Didn't Think Would Happen/Never Expected:
-thwart a pickpocketer and publicly catch him in the act and then later denounce him and save someone's wallet!! I noted someone shadily following my friend and I one late-ish evening on the streets near Kapital (un club). Working on my inheret Law & Order-like instincts, I urged her to hurry along and switch to the other side of the street. Before this could happen, I heard a yelp and my friend shouting at this villainous short man to get off her bag! She pulled it away from him and he glowered menacingly at us before slipping away into the night. We both clutched our bags tightly while hurriedly trying to find our group, recovering from this incident while congratulating ourselves on escaping untouched. Alas, before we got away, he struck again! This time on a discombobulated-looking girl who seemed a little less alert than usual! Before he could put his hand in her purse, I started yelling HE'S TRYING TO PICKPOCKET YOUUUUUU!!!!!!! and after a few great yells on my part (after years of dominating my sibling-fights thanks to my solid vocal cords) she noticed I was addressing her and pulled her purse away in the nick of time. He glowered menacingly at us yet again (repetitive, this look was, at least for a villain as himself), for thwarting him not once but twice, and my friend proceeded to address the crowd about his previous attempt at pickpocketing (aka she started shouting, "HE ALMOST PICKPOCKETED ME TOO!"). After her denouncement of him, he slapped her, and then she slapped him, and then his 2 female minions (quietly following him...it was a group effort) looked meanly at her while she narrowed her eyes at them. We were thanked for the saving of the wallet (great feeling by the way. Superheroes do it just for the kicks, yo.) and continued on humbly to meet our group.
-that I would enjoy a Dali exhibit, or sleep on a roof
-argue in Spanish about my nun-style choice of atire
-wear 5 inch heels and not die
-learn so many curse words
-make up stories in class about two lovers frolicking under the trees for practice in the subjunctive
-drink a lot of strong coffee, learn some merengue
-fail to row a boat
-spend my 19th (?!!?!!) birthday at a picnic filled with both classy and ratchet-food items, olives & cheese and fanta limon, with company I genuinely enjoyed as we discussed aspects of life under trees that were shedding pollen on us.
I wouldn't have imagined learning intangible lessons about people, and the judgments that we make, here in this seemingly care-free city in Europe. II didn't know I'd learn so much about the things I like and don't like about myself as a person, and this time it was more than the regular "I hate my forehead!" kind of deal. I laughed a lot, rode the metro a lot, and got to live in Europe for a month. I met little kids with the names Diego and Javier, forgot about the trials of school and for the first time in a while was truly aimless. This was both good and bad. I did not exercise vigorously, or at least regularly. I tried my best to learn palabrotas from my 13 year old host brother, with whom I think I've formed a genuine sibling-like bond. I tell him I hate him and that he is annoying and he graciously continues to mock my spanish and correct me with sarcasm and true enjoyment. I observed the amount of love between my single host mom and her son, smiling internally at their rapid banter during lunch, the close affection between the two, and hoped that neither ever had to lose the other.
I also ate a fancy dinner solo, wondering the entire time if my entire existence at the table was socially unacceptable. My pensamientos, that I probably would have said aloud had I dined with another human being (for the record, it was late, people in my group were sick and at home, and taking the train is annoying), are here in sequential order:
1. Is it possible to eat olives incorrectly? Because I am pretty sure I am eating my olives wrong. Am I supposed to use a fork? Will the people shake their heads internally at my American fingers?
2. I am really hungry and want my hake fish to arrive. What is hake fish?
3. Will just gulp down olives in waiter's absence to avoid issue entirely. (while maintaining fake lady-like demeanor)
4. All the young people passing me are definitely envying my quiet peace and solace found within my notebook and copy of the Joy Luck Club. That is why they are shooting me weird glances. That or I am obviously too attractive for their eyes.
5. Why didn't I just order calamari?
6. Where is the cream in the strawberries in cream? (after several minutes of covertly looking at the dish and glancing around trying to see if anyone else had ordered the same, or if the waitress had forgotten my cream, or if you just ate it without cream because Europe is healthier than the US, the waitress keyed me in that it was at the bottom...very cleverly concealed, I tell you)
7. Why did he bring me containers of oil? Whatever do I do with them?! Why is this bread so hard? I didn't order bread! They're going to charge me for it!
8. Are those old ladies across from me secretly holding their own version of the Joy Luck Club? If so, why do they have so many carrots? Maybe it's like, a ritual of their Spanish version of the joy luck club? Are they reflecting on how refreshing it is to see a young person reading a a book at a table alone?
My impressions of my group changed radically or subtly, for each person. As I learned about their lives, I saw them in different lights. I feel as if I shouldn't really say this here, but I do so because I loved the experience. Now that I have spent all this time with them, they're all ...their own person to me. They're all beautiful in their own way, honestly. I'm glad for this block of time in which I got to know people in a non-superficial way. As in, I don't really know their favorite colors or favorite books or who their boyfriends are, but I know more intangible things about them - their interactions, facial expressions, tones of voice, thoughts on life (some). Not to claim as if I actually know them know them, but I know them in a certain way now that I didn't before. And I'm glad for it.
Also, my professor is old but weirdly attractive to all the girls in my class in the way that a lot of history professors can just be extremely attractive.
That's all for today.
Thanks Macaulay for enabling me to have such priceless experiences.
Amirah
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