Monday 17 Jan. 2011
Wake up 7:45, breakfast, catch my metro, pick up my coursereader from the photocopy store (I was very pleased because the shopkeeper understood me without needing to ask me to repeat myself; I'm hoping this is a sign my pronunciation is improving...). My flamenco class has only 6 people (apparently this is the first time the class has been so small). I actually can't imagine how the classroom could fit many more people (it's a very oddly shaped dance studio, made up of a narrow rectangle joined with a triangle)...
Afterwards, Health Systems Class with Baker -- we discussed the US health care system (or at least the components relating to American health care, since there isn't really a system) and started talking about the Social Insurance Model of Health Care designed by Otto Von Bismarck in 19th century Germany. Made me miss AP Euro with Mrs. McKee! Afterwards, returned home for some homework and lunch (lentejas y tortilla y manzana), then back to the Institute for Women in Art. Probably the phrase I heard most often was "pecado original" -- original sin. We continued talking about Eve for a bit and then moved on to the Virgin Mary and the whole debate/controversy about Immaculate Conception (which was declared dogma by the Pope in 1854). If the Virgin's Conception was Immaculate, is she exempt from original sin? If she doesn't have original sin, how could she be human? If she's a woman, how could she be exempt from the pains of childbirth to which all of Eve's descendants are condemned? Is she also exempt from death, did she die? But how could she be exempt from sin if Christ was her son and thus only redeemed humanity from sin upon his own death? If she was exempt from the "putrefecation" of death, does that make her "more divine" than Christ who spent 3 days dead? All these questions in Spanish, oh dear. What makes it difficult too is that our reading was in English but we have our discussions in Spanish. Trying to switch between languages tends to me very difficult for me haha. But at least I understand the reading :)
Afterwards, visited the library a bit to tackle my Spanish homework, then took the metro to Sol to meet Gustavo. We went to a café down Arenal street for coffee. At first we talked mostly in English; I asked my questions about expressions to use with Consuelo, differentiating between synonyms, colloquial Spanish, etc. Somehow we switched over to using only Spanish which was excellent practice. Gustavo highly recommended visiting the North of Spain (especially San Sebastian), Camino de Santiago and Sevilla, and we used up many little napkins writing names of places, words and drawing maps. He's still skeptical of the idea of biking to Toledo or Segovia, but hopefully he can help me find a bicycle so I can prove him wrong haha... Weather is cooling down a little here. Lots of "niebla" (fog) in the morning and evening.
Tuesday 18 Jan. 2011
Spent the morning at home, went for a run in El Retiro, then arrived at the Institute in time for "charlas" with the Spanish girls (Laura came today and talked about her favorite discotecas -- she recommended places in Moncloa and Arguelles? -- Spanish lifestyle, lack of sleep, the changing the tobacco laws here -- as of Jan. 1 2011, no more smoking in resturants or bars, which is excellent for all us Californians haha -- and a monument in El Retiro erected for victims of a terrorist attack in Madrid some years ago). After charlas, I got on the internet to buy a ticket for the upcoming Real Madrid v. Atletico Madrid on Thursday! It's supposed to be a good game and a bunch of us Stanford kids got seats together so hopefully we can't protect each other if things get vicious, and hopefully won't get trampled... We were warned to wear neutral colors in case we find ourselves somehow lost and in the wrong crowd. Last year, one of the Stanford students had to solicit protection from the police because he was wearing the wrong colors in the wrong part of the stadium... yikes. Anyway, purchasing these tickets was an adventure in itself because the tickets are not sent to you online. Once you buy them over the internet, you have to go to a particular kind of ATM machine (La Caixa?) in order to print your tickets. It's a very bizarre system, but apparently it's used for lots of events and ticket sales here. Maybe not many Spaniards have printers at home? Who knows. Luckily Alycia helped me figure it out over tapas at the Institute. It's funny how little things like printing out tickets can differ so greatly between countries, and I just have to allow for sufficient time to get accustomed to those kinds of things. Español class was super relaxed and fun -- we talked about las diversiónes of young Madrileños and all the things they do for fun :)
Afterwards, roamed the streets with Ashley and Annie in attempt to get Ashley's phone functioning. Those sim cards, pin numbers and prepaid plans can get confusing, and I'm just glad my phone is working. Then dinner with Consuelo (mixed vegetable rice, empanadas, pear, and some sort of curious fish/crab croquette which used the claw of the crab as the grasping utensil? No sé...). Consuelo has repeated many times over the last week how the most important issue for Spain right now is the lack of jobs and the fact that 20% of the population is unemployed. She says something about how the government is just talking and talking and the Spanish people are just watching partidos de fútbol all the time and now it's been 3 years of economic crisis and nothing is getting better for Spain. She listens to the news a lot, and she's mentioned that at times she can't sleep because she worries about her grandkids and her kids...
Talked to mamma on the phone for the first time in 3 weeks, then realized how tired I was and went to bed without finishing any homework haha
Wednesday 19 Jan. 2011
Early morning, breakfast at 8, read the free paper on the Metro (an article about some poor Spaniard with 2000 tumors and a rare genetic disorder who sought money from Spain's national health system to finance some experimental treatment in the US but was denied...). It was funny because the lady who stands outside my metro station passing out the papers has a tendency to lunge at people as she offers the paper. In fact, it almost looks like part of some modern dance routine-- she lunges to the right, then pirouettes and lunges to the left, then right, etc. I was a little scared of her the first time she lunged at me last week, but now I know that she's harmless and just wants to get rid of the huge stack of newspapers. She's probably cold too...
Anyway, flamenco class was excellent (I had my shoes and mi falda -- skirt -- for the first time!). Being able to pound the floor with proper heels and swish my skirt with gusto makes all the difference in flamenco... Our teacher gets really into the rhythm and tries to encourage us to use dramatic facial expressions to accompany our dance moves -- it's very entertaining!
After flamenco, Sistemas de salud with Baker. Talked all about the National Health System model pioneered by Great Britain -- Spain begin developing its own version of the NHS in 1986. It's still "in the works" and obviously very young, but at least it's a system with a design (unlike US) and with a core principle to provide universal, quality health care to everyone in Spain regardless of ability to pay. Also, for the most part (judging from the studies Baker has examined and the anecdotes we've heard from our host families), Spaniards like their health care system. Basically everyone gets the national health care for free, and that works quite well, but if you want shorter lines or to do alternative treatment or something, you can also purchase your own private insurance. The Spanish health care system is also regionalized -- each of the 17 autonomous communities exerts some power over the health care in their region. Also, like Britain, the Spanish system is designed according to what the data indicates to be the needs of a population -- the system is designed to provide a lot of primary care, easily accessible throughout the region or city (everyone has to go through their general practitioner first), some secondary care in hospitals (the number of hospitals built depends on the number of people in the region) and tertiary care in a few selected locations (again, the number and location of specialized centers are determined according to population size). Then we talked a bit about philosophical goals of health care systems and philosophies of utilitarianism and liberalism...
Next I went to the Museo of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, right on Calle de Alcalá. They had some fascinating engraving by Goya (including the original copper plates that had been etched!). I recognized many of the grotesque, tortured, deformed faces from the Pinturas Negras in the Prada. I liked the Caprichos -- especially the derisive ones that made fun of the aristocracy and portrayed them as donkeys in suits... There were also a bunch of etchings depicting "desastres de la guerra" and heaps of twisted corpses and people suffering.
Upstairs there were many more paintings -- a very dignified-looking San Geronimo by El Greco, mythical scenes by Rubens, The Last Supper by Tintoretto, many small paintings by Goya (children playing) and large Goya portraits too. I really liked one painting called The Taking of Christ by Gerard Seghers. It reminded me of Rembrandt's "The Night Watchmen" because of the contrast of lights and dark -- only the faces of the men were illuminated by the light of a lantern of sorts. Exemplary of "Caravagism" -- Caravaggio's influence on the handling of light. The rest of the painting was so dark, in fact, that from certain angles it looked like the hands and faces of the men were floating in darkness. (I think this actually helped emphasize the expressions of the figures..) Anyway, of course, Christ's head was best illuminated, centrally located, and most carefully detailed -- as the heads got progressively further from him, they became darker and more loosely painted.
My favorite painting though was the 1815 Autorretrato (self-portrait) by Francisco Goya. He did it when he was about 70 yrs old, which was right after he had lost six of his children and his wife and it was around the time of the Peninsular War. He has painted himself very serene, stoic, calm, introspective and rather loosely. Light illuminates his forward, which gives him a somewhat humble appearance (as if he's below something or someone). His mouth is calm, relaxed and pensive, no indication that he needs or wants to speak. He gazes upwards ever so slightly, searching for answers? Curious? What struck me most about this painting was his somewhat tilted position. Goya appears to be leaning to the left a little -- his right side. I don't know if it's an indication of feeling off-balance or overwhelmed or just aging? The longer I looked though, it appeared to me he was perhaps leaning to left as if waiting for someone or listening to someone behind him. Perhaps leaning backwards and down a little to catch the words of a child, down to his right and out of sight? I don't know, but I like self-portraiture very much, and this one especially intrigued me -- especially after having seen all those Pinturas Negras and all those curious etchings alongside Goya's enormous portraits of noblemen, kings and generals.
After the museum, walked home (going through El Retiro is definitely my favorite route haha) for la comida (salad, broccoli, potatoes and shrimp omelette -- I was happy to have many vegetables haha). Then dashed off again through El Retiro for my art class in the Prado. Even though our group is a little large to walk through the Prado, museum visits are definitely the best part of the class. Started off studying the life-size panel paintings of Adam and Eve by Durer (or Durero as they call him in Spanish). The serpent looks like an evil snake--not like a woman. Eve is almost Adam's double/mirror image; she looks very infantile and innocent, even though she's holding the apple (our teacher suggested that this was one of the early examples of infantilization of the body of women). Durer was apparently a master of human anatomy and even wrote a book about human anatomy. Also interesting, Durer (as I think I've mentioned before) was very concerned about elevating the status of artists, and his signature appears quite prominently in the center of the Eve painting.
Next, another Adam and Eve painting, this time by Titian (known for his use of color and interest in mythology). This time, the serpent looks like/is disguised as a child (to deceive Eve). Adam is seated while Eve stands to take the apple (this arrangement is unusual because Eve clearly has the more active role and in fact towers above Adam, who makes a feeble attempt to stop Eve). Then some Flemish painters depicting the Virgin Mary with a crown or as the queen of a "new church" -- beginnings of the Cult of the Virgin Mary and the Immaculate Conception. More paintings in which the virgin looks like a flower in a garden -- stark contrast to Eve in the garden of Eden. Our professor suggests Mary succeeds where her predecessor (Eve) failed.
El Jardín de Las Delicias triptych by Hieronymous Bosch. Profesora said the center panel (of the wold in chaos, fighting, sin) looked like Disneyworld. Lots of figures of monstrous, dangerous women. Then a few enormous Immaculate Conception paintings by Murillo. He specialized in these kinds of pictures of the Virgin Mary as young, innocent girl, ensconced in divine light who resembled the angels more than humankind.
After class, it was 5pm and I still had 1.5 of daylight so I decided to go on a walking tour through the barrios Lavapiés (old Jewish quarter, full of 19th century corralas -- tenements-- and mostly populated by Moroccan, Indian and Chinese immigrants today, though there are over 50 nationalities in just a few dozen streets!) and Letras (which got its name because so many important Spanish writers lived here, close to the theaters and cultural venues). Started off at the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (museum which opened in 1992; before that, the building had been a hospital since the 18th century). Walked past many Arab tea rooms, Indian restaurants and stores selling goods from China towards the Plaza de Lavapiés, location of the very modern-lookingTeatro Valle-Inclán. Passed a beautiful old library Escuelas Pías and eventually found myself in the middle of a flower market in Plaza de Tirso Molina (which is also one of the entrance points to the Sunday El Rastro market). At the corner, there was a beautiful old café with Renoir-imitation paintings on the sides, and a former prison which had been turned into Bar Avapiés. Up on Calle de Santa Isabel I saw one of my program directors, Renata, on her way to her evening flamenco class! Passed by a very cute orange and white Art Deco-stye Cine Doré (which opened in 1923) and is one of the National Film Archive sites.
Once I reached Plaza de Antón Martín and crossed the Calle de Atocha, I entered the Letras district. Found the house where novelist/poet/playwright Miguel de Cervantes (author of Don Quijote) lived and died. When he died, his body was taken to the nearby Convento de las Trinitarias. Today, the convent is closed to the public, and according to Lonely Planet, nobody actually knows where Cervantes' bones are located in the convent -- they're just floating around somewhere so it's lucky for them that the public isn't allowed to go in haha. Continued my meandering over to Plaza de la Cortes, right across from the Congreso de los Diputados (Chamber of Deputies -- the lower chamber of Spanish Parliament) with its big old bronze lions at the entrance. The lions were "smelted from cannons" that Spain used in in battle in Africa in the 1800s. This is where, in 1981, some members of the Guardia Civil tried to stage a coup (and failed) -- many took it as a good sign that Spanish democracy was here to stay. Amazing views of the city at dusk from up on this street! The streets signs around here aren't so good, but eventually I found Teatro de la Zarzuela (Zarzeula is a typical 17th century Spanish light opera, characterized by singing, dancing and dialogue) and the Círculo de Bellas Artes (a huge, very active multidisciplinary arts center). It was a fun little adventure through many different worlds of Madrid -- from the old, international, working-class zone to the most classically Spanish, Madrileño institutions!
Thursday 20 de Enero 2011
Visited the "aire libre" (outdoor) Museo de La Escultura Abstracta, right outside my Rubén Darío metro stop. 17 abstract sculptures by Eduardo Chillida, Joan Miró and Alberto Sánchez. The sculptures are hidden under the overpass, but I enjoyed taking pictures of passers-by as they passed the sculptures. I really liked the water sculpture which ran parallel to the staircases -- it looked like a forceful river but somehow it was only a few feet long. Then I ventured over to Estación de Chamberí at the corner of Calles Santa Engracia and de Luchana. It took me a while to find the entrance to the museum until I realized it was just a tiny elevator going underground! It's actually a cute story: this was one of the early metro stations on Line 1 (between stops Bilbao and Iglesia) until 1966 when the Madrid metro trains (and platforms) were lengthened. Since Chamberí station is a curvy little place, the new metro trains couldn't fit and the station basically disappeared from the maps! Thus it was abandoned until 2008 when the station reopened again as a museum. It is set up to look like the early metro stops when the metro network was inaugurated in 1919. The walls are lined with the same white tiles used back in the day; there are big advertisements for lights to light up your home, and the ticket office and passage-points look so miniature haha. Today, Madrid's metro network is the 2nd largest in Europe (after London) and 3rd largest in the world; it has 14 lines, 292 stations and more than 700 million users annually. It's also been one of the fastest to expand, particularly in the last decade. It was a very cute little museum -- and I like it's name!
Then I had Spanish class -- we learned how and when to use the present perfect, preterite, imperfect and pluscuamperfecto. The theoretical timeline makes sense but I continue to get confused in practice... Afterwards, met up with Ashley, Adam, Jonathon, Annie and Shira at La Latina for a quick dinner "para llevar" (to take away). Then walked to the stadium for the fútbol game! 10pm Real Madrid vs. Atlético de Madrid in the Atlético Stadium. The stadium was absolutely packed and the fans were raging mad. Whole sections would chant and jump in unison, and practically everyone had a red, white and blue "bufanda" (scarf). Anything that vaguely resembles Real Madrid paraphernalia is justification for attack... One of the Stanford kids was wearing his blue Larkin (as in, Larkin the freshmen dorm at Stanford) scarf under his coat, and some drunk old guy behind us ripped the scarf from Adam's neck and threw it ten rows down. We were in the lower section in the cheaper seats so that probably explains why it was rougher--lots of swearing and snickering and sloshing of cervezas. At half time (around 10:45) everyone in the stadium took out their aluminum-foil-wrapped "bocadillo" (baguette sandwich) for dinner. It was almost cute how they all were eating the same thing at exactly the same time--it reminded me of elementary school when everyone brought a packed sandwich from home, haha! As for the game itself, it wasn't very exciting overall, but Real Madrid won 1-0. Afterwards, we were freezing cold and so wandered over to El Tigre for drinks and tapas. It was packed with people, but somehow we squeezed in and reunited with other Stanford kids before heading over to the club Joy on Calle Arenal, right next to our former hotel. I definitely liked Joy better than Moondance--better music (Moondance played a weird mix of things including the YMCA song...) and sunken dance floor and also upstairs balconies around. They did have some weird people (I want to say they were "for decoration" but that sounds odd) dressed in all metallic just dancing on random pedestals throughout the club -- like backup dancers or animated statues? It was very bizarre. Anyway, stayed at Joy until 5:30am when the music stopped and we all went to San Gines until the metro opened at 6am. We were the first people into the station. Got home around 6:30 and fell asleep inmediatamente.
Friday 21 Jan. 2011
Woke up at 11am for breakfast but promptly fell back asleep afterwards until 1pm. Showered, had my comida (Spanish rice -- which Conseulo said was "picante" but it definitely wasn't spicy haha.. I don't think spicy Spanish food is possible -- fish, salad and one of the cute little pears). Bumbled around at home for a bit because I was still so tired but went out to meet Annie at 4:30pm to try to arrange weekend travel plans for the upcoming quarter. Weren't so successful but got the Paris tickets at least! Then I headed over to the Institute to meet up with Ariana, Brittany, Ravina, Meca and Xavier to get Mexican food. One of the guys had a rough night last night -- he took a cab home at 4am but didn't have any cash on him and couldn't really understand what the cab driver was saying, so he ended up giving the cab driver his phone because the driver started grabbing for things... oh dear. We had to laugh pretty hard. Anyway, the restaurant was a cute little place near the Chueca metro stop -- covered in murals and paintings and billboards, very colorful. It was impossible to recognize most things on the menu (only enchilada seemed to be the same) but we ordered and the food was pretty good. The salsa was not spicy though haha -- the "picante" stuff tasted like olive oil. Again, affirming what I had learned about spice at lunch! Anyway, it was fun to try out a new place. Went home and relaxed, did some Spanish homework and went to bed by midnight :)
Wake up 7:45, breakfast, catch my metro, pick up my coursereader from the photocopy store (I was very pleased because the shopkeeper understood me without needing to ask me to repeat myself; I'm hoping this is a sign my pronunciation is improving...). My flamenco class has only 6 people (apparently this is the first time the class has been so small). I actually can't imagine how the classroom could fit many more people (it's a very oddly shaped dance studio, made up of a narrow rectangle joined with a triangle)...
Afterwards, Health Systems Class with Baker -- we discussed the US health care system (or at least the components relating to American health care, since there isn't really a system) and started talking about the Social Insurance Model of Health Care designed by Otto Von Bismarck in 19th century Germany. Made me miss AP Euro with Mrs. McKee! Afterwards, returned home for some homework and lunch (lentejas y tortilla y manzana), then back to the Institute for Women in Art. Probably the phrase I heard most often was "pecado original" -- original sin. We continued talking about Eve for a bit and then moved on to the Virgin Mary and the whole debate/controversy about Immaculate Conception (which was declared dogma by the Pope in 1854). If the Virgin's Conception was Immaculate, is she exempt from original sin? If she doesn't have original sin, how could she be human? If she's a woman, how could she be exempt from the pains of childbirth to which all of Eve's descendants are condemned? Is she also exempt from death, did she die? But how could she be exempt from sin if Christ was her son and thus only redeemed humanity from sin upon his own death? If she was exempt from the "putrefecation" of death, does that make her "more divine" than Christ who spent 3 days dead? All these questions in Spanish, oh dear. What makes it difficult too is that our reading was in English but we have our discussions in Spanish. Trying to switch between languages tends to me very difficult for me haha. But at least I understand the reading :)
Afterwards, visited the library a bit to tackle my Spanish homework, then took the metro to Sol to meet Gustavo. We went to a café down Arenal street for coffee. At first we talked mostly in English; I asked my questions about expressions to use with Consuelo, differentiating between synonyms, colloquial Spanish, etc. Somehow we switched over to using only Spanish which was excellent practice. Gustavo highly recommended visiting the North of Spain (especially San Sebastian), Camino de Santiago and Sevilla, and we used up many little napkins writing names of places, words and drawing maps. He's still skeptical of the idea of biking to Toledo or Segovia, but hopefully he can help me find a bicycle so I can prove him wrong haha... Weather is cooling down a little here. Lots of "niebla" (fog) in the morning and evening.
Tuesday 18 Jan. 2011
Spent the morning at home, went for a run in El Retiro, then arrived at the Institute in time for "charlas" with the Spanish girls (Laura came today and talked about her favorite discotecas -- she recommended places in Moncloa and Arguelles? -- Spanish lifestyle, lack of sleep, the changing the tobacco laws here -- as of Jan. 1 2011, no more smoking in resturants or bars, which is excellent for all us Californians haha -- and a monument in El Retiro erected for victims of a terrorist attack in Madrid some years ago). After charlas, I got on the internet to buy a ticket for the upcoming Real Madrid v. Atletico Madrid on Thursday! It's supposed to be a good game and a bunch of us Stanford kids got seats together so hopefully we can't protect each other if things get vicious, and hopefully won't get trampled... We were warned to wear neutral colors in case we find ourselves somehow lost and in the wrong crowd. Last year, one of the Stanford students had to solicit protection from the police because he was wearing the wrong colors in the wrong part of the stadium... yikes. Anyway, purchasing these tickets was an adventure in itself because the tickets are not sent to you online. Once you buy them over the internet, you have to go to a particular kind of ATM machine (La Caixa?) in order to print your tickets. It's a very bizarre system, but apparently it's used for lots of events and ticket sales here. Maybe not many Spaniards have printers at home? Who knows. Luckily Alycia helped me figure it out over tapas at the Institute. It's funny how little things like printing out tickets can differ so greatly between countries, and I just have to allow for sufficient time to get accustomed to those kinds of things. Español class was super relaxed and fun -- we talked about las diversiónes of young Madrileños and all the things they do for fun :)
Afterwards, roamed the streets with Ashley and Annie in attempt to get Ashley's phone functioning. Those sim cards, pin numbers and prepaid plans can get confusing, and I'm just glad my phone is working. Then dinner with Consuelo (mixed vegetable rice, empanadas, pear, and some sort of curious fish/crab croquette which used the claw of the crab as the grasping utensil? No sé...). Consuelo has repeated many times over the last week how the most important issue for Spain right now is the lack of jobs and the fact that 20% of the population is unemployed. She says something about how the government is just talking and talking and the Spanish people are just watching partidos de fútbol all the time and now it's been 3 years of economic crisis and nothing is getting better for Spain. She listens to the news a lot, and she's mentioned that at times she can't sleep because she worries about her grandkids and her kids...
Talked to mamma on the phone for the first time in 3 weeks, then realized how tired I was and went to bed without finishing any homework haha
Wednesday 19 Jan. 2011
Early morning, breakfast at 8, read the free paper on the Metro (an article about some poor Spaniard with 2000 tumors and a rare genetic disorder who sought money from Spain's national health system to finance some experimental treatment in the US but was denied...). It was funny because the lady who stands outside my metro station passing out the papers has a tendency to lunge at people as she offers the paper. In fact, it almost looks like part of some modern dance routine-- she lunges to the right, then pirouettes and lunges to the left, then right, etc. I was a little scared of her the first time she lunged at me last week, but now I know that she's harmless and just wants to get rid of the huge stack of newspapers. She's probably cold too...
Anyway, flamenco class was excellent (I had my shoes and mi falda -- skirt -- for the first time!). Being able to pound the floor with proper heels and swish my skirt with gusto makes all the difference in flamenco... Our teacher gets really into the rhythm and tries to encourage us to use dramatic facial expressions to accompany our dance moves -- it's very entertaining!
After flamenco, Sistemas de salud with Baker. Talked all about the National Health System model pioneered by Great Britain -- Spain begin developing its own version of the NHS in 1986. It's still "in the works" and obviously very young, but at least it's a system with a design (unlike US) and with a core principle to provide universal, quality health care to everyone in Spain regardless of ability to pay. Also, for the most part (judging from the studies Baker has examined and the anecdotes we've heard from our host families), Spaniards like their health care system. Basically everyone gets the national health care for free, and that works quite well, but if you want shorter lines or to do alternative treatment or something, you can also purchase your own private insurance. The Spanish health care system is also regionalized -- each of the 17 autonomous communities exerts some power over the health care in their region. Also, like Britain, the Spanish system is designed according to what the data indicates to be the needs of a population -- the system is designed to provide a lot of primary care, easily accessible throughout the region or city (everyone has to go through their general practitioner first), some secondary care in hospitals (the number of hospitals built depends on the number of people in the region) and tertiary care in a few selected locations (again, the number and location of specialized centers are determined according to population size). Then we talked a bit about philosophical goals of health care systems and philosophies of utilitarianism and liberalism...
Next I went to the Museo of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, right on Calle de Alcalá. They had some fascinating engraving by Goya (including the original copper plates that had been etched!). I recognized many of the grotesque, tortured, deformed faces from the Pinturas Negras in the Prada. I liked the Caprichos -- especially the derisive ones that made fun of the aristocracy and portrayed them as donkeys in suits... There were also a bunch of etchings depicting "desastres de la guerra" and heaps of twisted corpses and people suffering.
Upstairs there were many more paintings -- a very dignified-looking San Geronimo by El Greco, mythical scenes by Rubens, The Last Supper by Tintoretto, many small paintings by Goya (children playing) and large Goya portraits too. I really liked one painting called The Taking of Christ by Gerard Seghers. It reminded me of Rembrandt's "The Night Watchmen" because of the contrast of lights and dark -- only the faces of the men were illuminated by the light of a lantern of sorts. Exemplary of "Caravagism" -- Caravaggio's influence on the handling of light. The rest of the painting was so dark, in fact, that from certain angles it looked like the hands and faces of the men were floating in darkness. (I think this actually helped emphasize the expressions of the figures..) Anyway, of course, Christ's head was best illuminated, centrally located, and most carefully detailed -- as the heads got progressively further from him, they became darker and more loosely painted.
My favorite painting though was the 1815 Autorretrato (self-portrait) by Francisco Goya. He did it when he was about 70 yrs old, which was right after he had lost six of his children and his wife and it was around the time of the Peninsular War. He has painted himself very serene, stoic, calm, introspective and rather loosely. Light illuminates his forward, which gives him a somewhat humble appearance (as if he's below something or someone). His mouth is calm, relaxed and pensive, no indication that he needs or wants to speak. He gazes upwards ever so slightly, searching for answers? Curious? What struck me most about this painting was his somewhat tilted position. Goya appears to be leaning to the left a little -- his right side. I don't know if it's an indication of feeling off-balance or overwhelmed or just aging? The longer I looked though, it appeared to me he was perhaps leaning to left as if waiting for someone or listening to someone behind him. Perhaps leaning backwards and down a little to catch the words of a child, down to his right and out of sight? I don't know, but I like self-portraiture very much, and this one especially intrigued me -- especially after having seen all those Pinturas Negras and all those curious etchings alongside Goya's enormous portraits of noblemen, kings and generals.
After the museum, walked home (going through El Retiro is definitely my favorite route haha) for la comida (salad, broccoli, potatoes and shrimp omelette -- I was happy to have many vegetables haha). Then dashed off again through El Retiro for my art class in the Prado. Even though our group is a little large to walk through the Prado, museum visits are definitely the best part of the class. Started off studying the life-size panel paintings of Adam and Eve by Durer (or Durero as they call him in Spanish). The serpent looks like an evil snake--not like a woman. Eve is almost Adam's double/mirror image; she looks very infantile and innocent, even though she's holding the apple (our teacher suggested that this was one of the early examples of infantilization of the body of women). Durer was apparently a master of human anatomy and even wrote a book about human anatomy. Also interesting, Durer (as I think I've mentioned before) was very concerned about elevating the status of artists, and his signature appears quite prominently in the center of the Eve painting.
Next, another Adam and Eve painting, this time by Titian (known for his use of color and interest in mythology). This time, the serpent looks like/is disguised as a child (to deceive Eve). Adam is seated while Eve stands to take the apple (this arrangement is unusual because Eve clearly has the more active role and in fact towers above Adam, who makes a feeble attempt to stop Eve). Then some Flemish painters depicting the Virgin Mary with a crown or as the queen of a "new church" -- beginnings of the Cult of the Virgin Mary and the Immaculate Conception. More paintings in which the virgin looks like a flower in a garden -- stark contrast to Eve in the garden of Eden. Our professor suggests Mary succeeds where her predecessor (Eve) failed.
El Jardín de Las Delicias triptych by Hieronymous Bosch. Profesora said the center panel (of the wold in chaos, fighting, sin) looked like Disneyworld. Lots of figures of monstrous, dangerous women. Then a few enormous Immaculate Conception paintings by Murillo. He specialized in these kinds of pictures of the Virgin Mary as young, innocent girl, ensconced in divine light who resembled the angels more than humankind.
After class, it was 5pm and I still had 1.5 of daylight so I decided to go on a walking tour through the barrios Lavapiés (old Jewish quarter, full of 19th century corralas -- tenements-- and mostly populated by Moroccan, Indian and Chinese immigrants today, though there are over 50 nationalities in just a few dozen streets!) and Letras (which got its name because so many important Spanish writers lived here, close to the theaters and cultural venues). Started off at the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (museum which opened in 1992; before that, the building had been a hospital since the 18th century). Walked past many Arab tea rooms, Indian restaurants and stores selling goods from China towards the Plaza de Lavapiés, location of the very modern-lookingTeatro Valle-Inclán. Passed a beautiful old library Escuelas Pías and eventually found myself in the middle of a flower market in Plaza de Tirso Molina (which is also one of the entrance points to the Sunday El Rastro market). At the corner, there was a beautiful old café with Renoir-imitation paintings on the sides, and a former prison which had been turned into Bar Avapiés. Up on Calle de Santa Isabel I saw one of my program directors, Renata, on her way to her evening flamenco class! Passed by a very cute orange and white Art Deco-stye Cine Doré (which opened in 1923) and is one of the National Film Archive sites.
Once I reached Plaza de Antón Martín and crossed the Calle de Atocha, I entered the Letras district. Found the house where novelist/poet/playwright Miguel de Cervantes (author of Don Quijote) lived and died. When he died, his body was taken to the nearby Convento de las Trinitarias. Today, the convent is closed to the public, and according to Lonely Planet, nobody actually knows where Cervantes' bones are located in the convent -- they're just floating around somewhere so it's lucky for them that the public isn't allowed to go in haha. Continued my meandering over to Plaza de la Cortes, right across from the Congreso de los Diputados (Chamber of Deputies -- the lower chamber of Spanish Parliament) with its big old bronze lions at the entrance. The lions were "smelted from cannons" that Spain used in in battle in Africa in the 1800s. This is where, in 1981, some members of the Guardia Civil tried to stage a coup (and failed) -- many took it as a good sign that Spanish democracy was here to stay. Amazing views of the city at dusk from up on this street! The streets signs around here aren't so good, but eventually I found Teatro de la Zarzuela (Zarzeula is a typical 17th century Spanish light opera, characterized by singing, dancing and dialogue) and the Círculo de Bellas Artes (a huge, very active multidisciplinary arts center). It was a fun little adventure through many different worlds of Madrid -- from the old, international, working-class zone to the most classically Spanish, Madrileño institutions!
Thursday 20 de Enero 2011
Visited the "aire libre" (outdoor) Museo de La Escultura Abstracta, right outside my Rubén Darío metro stop. 17 abstract sculptures by Eduardo Chillida, Joan Miró and Alberto Sánchez. The sculptures are hidden under the overpass, but I enjoyed taking pictures of passers-by as they passed the sculptures. I really liked the water sculpture which ran parallel to the staircases -- it looked like a forceful river but somehow it was only a few feet long. Then I ventured over to Estación de Chamberí at the corner of Calles Santa Engracia and de Luchana. It took me a while to find the entrance to the museum until I realized it was just a tiny elevator going underground! It's actually a cute story: this was one of the early metro stations on Line 1 (between stops Bilbao and Iglesia) until 1966 when the Madrid metro trains (and platforms) were lengthened. Since Chamberí station is a curvy little place, the new metro trains couldn't fit and the station basically disappeared from the maps! Thus it was abandoned until 2008 when the station reopened again as a museum. It is set up to look like the early metro stops when the metro network was inaugurated in 1919. The walls are lined with the same white tiles used back in the day; there are big advertisements for lights to light up your home, and the ticket office and passage-points look so miniature haha. Today, Madrid's metro network is the 2nd largest in Europe (after London) and 3rd largest in the world; it has 14 lines, 292 stations and more than 700 million users annually. It's also been one of the fastest to expand, particularly in the last decade. It was a very cute little museum -- and I like it's name!
Then I had Spanish class -- we learned how and when to use the present perfect, preterite, imperfect and pluscuamperfecto. The theoretical timeline makes sense but I continue to get confused in practice... Afterwards, met up with Ashley, Adam, Jonathon, Annie and Shira at La Latina for a quick dinner "para llevar" (to take away). Then walked to the stadium for the fútbol game! 10pm Real Madrid vs. Atlético de Madrid in the Atlético Stadium. The stadium was absolutely packed and the fans were raging mad. Whole sections would chant and jump in unison, and practically everyone had a red, white and blue "bufanda" (scarf). Anything that vaguely resembles Real Madrid paraphernalia is justification for attack... One of the Stanford kids was wearing his blue Larkin (as in, Larkin the freshmen dorm at Stanford) scarf under his coat, and some drunk old guy behind us ripped the scarf from Adam's neck and threw it ten rows down. We were in the lower section in the cheaper seats so that probably explains why it was rougher--lots of swearing and snickering and sloshing of cervezas. At half time (around 10:45) everyone in the stadium took out their aluminum-foil-wrapped "bocadillo" (baguette sandwich) for dinner. It was almost cute how they all were eating the same thing at exactly the same time--it reminded me of elementary school when everyone brought a packed sandwich from home, haha! As for the game itself, it wasn't very exciting overall, but Real Madrid won 1-0. Afterwards, we were freezing cold and so wandered over to El Tigre for drinks and tapas. It was packed with people, but somehow we squeezed in and reunited with other Stanford kids before heading over to the club Joy on Calle Arenal, right next to our former hotel. I definitely liked Joy better than Moondance--better music (Moondance played a weird mix of things including the YMCA song...) and sunken dance floor and also upstairs balconies around. They did have some weird people (I want to say they were "for decoration" but that sounds odd) dressed in all metallic just dancing on random pedestals throughout the club -- like backup dancers or animated statues? It was very bizarre. Anyway, stayed at Joy until 5:30am when the music stopped and we all went to San Gines until the metro opened at 6am. We were the first people into the station. Got home around 6:30 and fell asleep inmediatamente.
Friday 21 Jan. 2011
Woke up at 11am for breakfast but promptly fell back asleep afterwards until 1pm. Showered, had my comida (Spanish rice -- which Conseulo said was "picante" but it definitely wasn't spicy haha.. I don't think spicy Spanish food is possible -- fish, salad and one of the cute little pears). Bumbled around at home for a bit because I was still so tired but went out to meet Annie at 4:30pm to try to arrange weekend travel plans for the upcoming quarter. Weren't so successful but got the Paris tickets at least! Then I headed over to the Institute to meet up with Ariana, Brittany, Ravina, Meca and Xavier to get Mexican food. One of the guys had a rough night last night -- he took a cab home at 4am but didn't have any cash on him and couldn't really understand what the cab driver was saying, so he ended up giving the cab driver his phone because the driver started grabbing for things... oh dear. We had to laugh pretty hard. Anyway, the restaurant was a cute little place near the Chueca metro stop -- covered in murals and paintings and billboards, very colorful. It was impossible to recognize most things on the menu (only enchilada seemed to be the same) but we ordered and the food was pretty good. The salsa was not spicy though haha -- the "picante" stuff tasted like olive oil. Again, affirming what I had learned about spice at lunch! Anyway, it was fun to try out a new place. Went home and relaxed, did some Spanish homework and went to bed by midnight :)
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