Hubcap(?)

So, that has happened to me quite a bit over the past month. Last Thursday, I decided to take control of my Spanish learning. I have decided to only speak Spanish at work, even though my Africa department colleagues and one intern friend all speak English. Frequently with these 4-5 people, I start a conversation in Spanish and when I get stuck or frustrated, I just switch to English. With colleagues who I haven't heard speaking English, I struggle and try and stumble until I have gotten the point across. Sometimes, I will explain in circuitous sentences for 5 minutes because I don't know one word.

I pity these people. One of these days, someone is just going to run away from me screaming.

On Friday, I attended a 4-hour course about the Spanish economy and crisis, and it was really interesting (it had to have been if I went on a Friday evening after work). The course took place in a library at a Spanish high school, which was really interesting for me to see. I was drinking coffee with Gabriel during the break, and a popular-looking girl shoved past me. Maybe I looked like I was a foreign student in need of bullying? Sorry, tangent.

Anyway, the course compared Spain's trajectory with that of Germany, because they're complete opposites right now. Last year, Germany had an unemployment rate around 7 or 8% and Spain around 20-22%! After the course, a group of 4-5 of us went to the restaurant across the way, and talked for a while. I met a Belgian woman who just returned from 3 months in India; she's a painter and a writer. She lives on a farm in Segovia, about an hour away, and has invited us to visit sometime.

Arr, matey! Sol gets very crowded on weekends.

Saturday, I slept in successfully, and then had lunch with Shannon's American friend Nate, who has lived in Spain for almost 3 years now. It felt good to spend two hours being sarcastic (Nate complained about how he can't communicate sarcasm in Spanish even after 3 years here, so maybe I will just have to succumb to my image of politeness). He showed me around Malasaña, which is a really cool neighborhood with lots of eateries and bookstores and pretty buildings.

Most important discovery: J & J's English-language (Used) Bookstore! I was perusing books when I had to pass by a man, and thought I would test the linguistic waters. I said "Excuse me," and he said "That's alright!"  The café upstairs was full of English-speakers: British, Australian, American, and more. Language brings these groups together. The owner smiled at me when I left and told me to come back soon. It'll be a nice English refuge, if I need it. After that, I walked around for almost 3 hours, exploring Malasaña, Sol, and Retiro (Madrid's Central Park).

And now...I am watching my Sunday slip out of my fingers!

Diamonds in the German Rough

Friday, I found myself on a Swiss Airways flight to Stuttgart, Germany, to visit my big brother for the weekend. This is how every conversation went in the week leading up to Germany:

Me: I am going to Germany for the weekend!
Person: Wow! How exciting!! Where in Germany?!
Me: Stuttgart.
Person: ..............oh..............What's in Stuttgart?
Me: My cousin.
Person: Oh, good! There's really nothing to do there, you know.
Me: Yep.

So, I had my expectations pretty low, and really I was just so excited to see Harsha for the first time since his wedding in November, 2010. Naturally, the lower your expectations, the better things turn out. I fell dead asleep as the plane took off from Madrid, but when I woke up next, I was flying over this:

Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France

The Pyrenees range didn't hold a candle to the Swiss Alps 

Can't we just land here and frolic?

Believe it or not, this is the moment when it dawned on me that I was in Europe, something I had dreamt of for a long time. Finding out I was going to Spain two months before departure did not allow enough time to wrap my head around this new reality.

It was pretty late by the time we got to Harsha's place, so Friday night we just stayed in, had dinner, and caught up. Saturday morning, I woke up to Nutella toast, coffee, and not terrible weather. We went for a walk at a nearby lake and park, and I stared at Germans.

Frozen lake. It's The Boots you should be looking at.

Love them!

After a small break back at the apartment, we set out, along with Harsha's friend Amshuman (who also gets credit for 90% of my Germany pictures), to seek what little there was to see of Stuttgart. I found a few diamonds in the German rough.

Legal Graffiti Zone

German guys asked for a photo at the Mercedes Benz Museum.

Stuttgart is quiet, not boasting of much more than its industrial prowess and some nice architecture in the central part of town. But the entire weekend, I didn't feel like a tourist, which is all I can ask for from any city I visit. I even said "Danke" (thanks) a few times.

The boys at Schlossplatz (Palace Square)

Köenigstrasse at dusk. Main shopping street!

Sunday morning. Rainy.

Sundays generally suck, and it didn't help that I was leaving good company and good food after just 2 days. We spent the morning Skyping with family, and then headed to the airport late in the afternoon. As boring as the flight home was (too dark to stare at the Swiss Alps), it was the first time I had thought of Madrid as home.


Tschüss!

Developing a bit of a crush on Madrid...

Thick, rich, not too sweet, and delicious.

So today after work, I was on a mission to find the Chocolatería San Ginés. Instead I got lost and found my perfect boots! They're black, and leather, and perfect, and Spanish, and on sale. I don't eat meat, you know, because it is gross...but oh my god, I want to collect every single leather good in Spain.

Yesterday, I had gone to Calle Fuencarral, which is a street full of shoe and clothing stores, with the sole purpose of finding those boots, but had no such luck. I did eat dinner alone at a small sandwich shop, which was an uncomfortable experience for me...but something I should get used to.

Today, after I had bought the boots and was literally skipping around the Sol area, I found Chocolatería San Ginés and had chocolate con churros, alone. Thankfully, Spain doesn't give much of a shit about Valentine's Day, and I didn't feel pathetic. I pretended to write something profound and important as I ate, but really just made boring work-related notes.

Work has improved significantly, with my Mondays & Tuesdays now devoted entirely to the Global Ignatian Advocacy Network (GIAN), and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday spent doing Africa work. I've been given a research project for Africa to be worked on over the next few months. I will be researching best practices in education in emergencies in Africa, and analyzing 4 of our current projects to see how they comply with emergency education standards. Pablo and I will meet every 2 weeks to discuss my progress, and I will be preparing a presentation for the Africa team to share my findings.

This really deserves its own post, but I want to share the thought before it gets stale. As I was reading through the GIAN materials, I came across a whole lot of Jesus and God references. But this time, I found something that helped:

"The mission of his disciples today is to understand the eloquent signs of God's presence and the call for change from those excluded. To do today those things that will return the dignity they were once denied, and work to promote opportunities for a worthy life, and thus we will meet God in our brothers and sisters and we will review our complicity with the systems that exclude them."

Those two actions, restoring dignity and the rejection of exclusion, are what I needed to hear. Adam Smith defines a nonimpoverished life as "the ability to appear in public without shame."

dignity = absence of shame

At some point we're going to have to discuss who exactly was responsible for the denying of dignity and the systems of exclusion in the first place...but we're cool for now.

Apparently I'm about to ride this roller coaster:

Where is the "Honeymoon Phase" on this thing? That's where Madrid and I are headed right now.

Spanish sun disturbs lazy person on Saturday morning.

This is why I bought the aviators.

Sarcasm & Shopping in Spain

This stolen-from-Google picture is pissing me off.
I can't place it near the shopping section at the bottom,
so it is just going to float up here like a loser.

Everyone I've come across in my first two weeks in Spain has been very welcoming and kind. In turn, I have been very nice, polite, and somewhat shy. Well, I hate being nice, polite, and shy; it's my least favorite version of me.

I haven't deadpanned, been sarcastic, or made a flippant remark in two whole weeks. It doesn't take me very long to open up to people and crack jokes, but my faltering and self-conscious Spanish has made it nearly impossible. (I like to think) I'm generally a hilarious, or at least fairly entertaining, person. Not so much when I'm speaking Spanish. Any attempt at humor so far has been met with concern or confusion. Or people laugh when I'm really not trying to be funny (though not in a mean way).

For example, yesterday, I went for Japanese food with the Africa team after work, and the conversation turned to the various ways steak can be made. They were hunting for the terms in English, so I said in fairly correct Spanish--"Rare, medium-rare, and well-done. Pues, nunca he pedido, porque no como, pero lo he escuchado. [Well, I have never ordered it, because I don't eat meat, but I have heard those terms]." HAHAHA, was the response. Oh well.

Bottom line, the day I make a sarcastic remark in Spanish (and people react with laughter, genuinely and not out of pity) will be the day I conquer the language.

After work today, instead of speeding straight home, I went to El Corte Inglés, which is the Spanish equivalent of Macy's. I am now in the second year of my quest for The Boots (they have to be perfect; I don't know what they look like; I'll know when I see them). El Corte Inglés is probably where I will find The Boots, so that's good to know. However, in the hour and a half that I spent milling around the Zapatería floor (yes, an entire floor dedicated to shoes), only one employee approached me and asked if I needed anything. I should have held onto her and never let go.

There were a group of at least ten salespeople hanging out chatting and trying their best to avoid customers. I hate talking to desconocidos (strangers) unless absolutely necessary, so I avoided it as long as possible. When I finally did ask someone for help, she mumbled something about her coworkers and went to join them...It made me miss the customary American "Can I help you find something?"--I never say yes, but it is nice to be asked nevertheless. So, it was an unproductive trip, but now I know my shoe size here is 38.

Meeting Madrid

Tabacalera. Not my picture, stolen from Google

Saturday, Isa introduced me to Madrid. It was bloody cold, but sunny. We took the Metro to El Centro, walked by the Palacio, a couple of gardens, a cathedral, a few plazas, and a market. We visited two museums. Tabacalera, which is an old tobacco factory turned into an amazing exhibit of alternative audio-visual art. It's a bit creepy because it's this huge airy dark maze, and in each passage there's some haunting video playing and the voices all echo at you. I want to go back, but not alone.

Then we saw Casa Encendida, a more typical museum of modern art. There was a huge line of people waiting for a Flamenco show for only 5 Euros! Unfortunately, they were sold out. Casa Encendida also offers inexpensive or free classes, and I have my eyes on one about black and white photography.

Then we went to Lavapiés, a more eclectic neighborhood with a big African, Indian, and Dominican population. We had a snack of crema de verdura (vegetable soup), with delicious bread, and Isa got a vino tinto and I had a clara con limón. We also went to a little university café in an architecturally fascinating building and I had a yummy white chocolate cake. I am going to LOVE eating out in Spain, just because 0.40 is considered a generous tip. I hate tipping in the US, because I don't really have a choice.

I took pictures, but cannot scatter them throughout my blog posts and make them pretty, because I don't have the camera cord, as mentioned previously. HOWEVER, MOM IS COMING! She will be visiting me for 2 weeks around Semana Santa in April. Besides the general awesomeness of this news, she can also bring me my camera cord. We will most likely be touring around Spain, Italy, and maybe France.

Sunday, I watched some Kannada movies, because I like how weird it feels to be doing that while sitting in Madrid. Did not get out of bed, except to eat and shower.

Also, I need to plan my meals better because I was so hungry when I got home that I ate all of my roommate's leftover pumpkin soup (I asked her as I put the spoon in my mouth, so she really had no choice) with a grilled cheese sandwich.

Fewer clocks than crucifixes

Yesterday marked my first full week in Madrid, and today is the end of the work week. Life is best when you have a sense of purpose or belonging. Until the second or third day of work, when people knew my name or face and I had more to do than read orientation material, I felt like I was floating and superfluous. Presently, I am translating a report on the project in Central African Republic from English to Spanish and giving some explanations for why the results of the project are what they are, and then we pass that on to the donor/funding source so that they understand how their resources were used.

That sort of work is going to get boring quickly, but luckily there are other tasks that I will be doing. I'm going to take on a few research projects, dealing with the issues of gender in education, and education in emergency or post-emergency situations. Both are either neglected completely or included as an afterthought in many projects, so I want to do something about it. Another research project will be with the Global Ignatian Advocacy Network (GIAN), which I will know more about next week, but it involves strengthening Jesuit organizations' unity and sharing resources.

I'll be honest. From the day I decided to attend Boston College, I was uncomfortable with its Jesuit identity. Coming from a super-secular California public university and then going to a Jesuit university where there are fewer clocks than crucifixes, I really didn't know how to deal with that change, so I ignored it. Now, it's kind of smacking me in the face. Today all EC employees gathered for a talk with the executive director about the organization's position during a time of financial crisis in Spain. We were in a Jesuit building, in a room with super-high ceilings and Jesus on all four walls in varying degrees of pain. I have read document after document that speaks about the spiritual inspiration behind the organization and its work and some of it is hard for me to swallow. For example, in one document of identity, I read a quote that made my skin crawl: "[Africa is] an ocean of misfortune and the paradigm of all the world's marginalised people." This is followed by a statement about how Africa is a priority for the Jesuit network. I can't help feeling like the religious mandate (or the way it is worded) is patronizing. Maybe I am just sensitive to anything that has even the slightest undertone of colonialism.

I'm going to have to learn more about the Jesuits and get used to the strong presence of religion (that too, one that isn't my own) in my time in Madrid. The outcome of the work is admirable, and the amount of transparency and dedication I have noticed in my short time at EC is impressive. There is also an emphasis on sustainability and empowerment. Maybe I will quickly get over my uneasiness when I see the power that the Jesuit network wields against poverty.