Taking It Easy

So, the past week has been pretty non-descript. I'm taking classes in literature, Hispanoamerican history, vocabulary, poetry, and Spanish art. The teachers are pretty mellow and all the homework gets done in class, which is sweet. It's kind of hard to take it seriously since Spanish students are hard to find on the campus, but as long as the credits transfer, I'm happy. I got bumped up from Intermediate 2 to Advanced 1. Not sure how well it'll work, but I get more credits from UO, so that's cool. We're leaving for Barcelona tomorrow at 6.45 AM. Definitely the part of the stay abroad I'm looking forward to the most. Anyways, here's a few more pics of Madrid to tide over.

Umbrellas

This town is addicted to umbrellas. The slightest bit of rain and every single person on the street has their umbrella out. They have shops devoted to nothing but umbrellas. Never seen so many posh umbrellas.

Classes are going ok, but I'm thinking of bumping up a level or two. The levels are pretty flexible, nothing is assigned, so I'm going to check with my advisor at UO and see if it will help me take care of credits.

The University of Oviedo isn't set up like your average American university. Rather than having one central campus, it's got buildings all over the city, actually all over the region, each one specializing in a different topic. I guess it integrates the university into the community, but at the same time it makes it harder to have an association with the school as a whole, rather than a specific building. Anyways, here are a few pics of the section of the university that I go to, the Milán site.

Oviedo

Oviedo, capital of the Spanish state of Asturias, is located towards the northwest corner of the country. Surrounded by mountains, it was the center of the pushback against the Moors in the 1400s and was the one part of the country Franco was not able to dominate. Oviedo has about 200,000 people, so it's about the size of the Eugene/Springfield area, but it's much more densely built. Therefore, it doesn't have as much landmass, but it feels like a very dense, large city. It loves its statues. Not sure why, but they're all over. They have the Prince of Asturias cultural award, which has been accepted by some big folks, including Woody Allen and Johnny Depp. Woody Allen even has his own statue in the shopping area. Oviedo is also famous for its cheese, hard cider, and ham. The cider has no bubbles, so they have to pour it at a height and split the flow on the rim of the glass, which forms bubbles in the drink. They pour you about an inch and you have to chug it. If you're sharing a glass, you have to leave a bit in the bottom that you pour over where you drank from to "sterilize" the spot (the cider is only like 5 or 6% alcohol. Food here is super-cheap and tastes great. A full bottle of cider, enough for 3 or 4 rounds at a table, is 2.20 euros. A glass of good wine is about 1.50 euros. You can get a good sandwich and a soft drink for about 2.30 euros. And their hot chocolate is basically hot chocolate pudding, it's so thick.

Madrid

I guess I got here on a fairly pleasant day, but this morning it's pouring. Madrid has some really neat places to visit, like a glass-enclosed market (kind of 5th Street Market-esque), some plazas, and some incredible old buildings. Unfortunately, yesterday was the day after Three Kings Day, I think it's called, which is their big Christmas day, rather than December 25th, so all the museums and such were shut down. They've got some amazing Christmas light displays set up throughout town. Some really incredible lights that looked kind of like ceilings in some of the squares. We just wouldn't see this sort of thing in the US, since Spain is an officially Christian nation. The guy sharing my room at the hostel, Bobby, is from Florida had already been in town for a few days, so he took me on a great walking tour of the central area of the city. There are beautiful buildings and great spots, but overall Madrid's vibe is a little underwhelming. It's definitely a city you'd live in, not visit. Anyways, here's some pics:

for starters

OK, this isn't gonna be some soul-searching exercise. Too many bloggers talk too much about themselves. This is just gonna be to document what I've seen. Easy peasy pumpkin squeezy.