Madrid está pateando mi culo

Last weekend, the program treated us all to an excursion in Extremadura, the autonomous community of Western Spain, right next to Portugal. We took a bus and left early on Friday morning from Cibeles in Madrid at 8:00am, which meant that us Alcalá kids had to wake up at 6:00am or 6:30 to catch a train that would get us there in time. I’m used to getting up at 10:30am in Spain, like most other Spaniards, so this was a surprisingly difficult thing to do. A few of my companions in Alcalá woke up just five minutes before our first train left (there were four possible trains to catch…), which made for an interesting/stressful morning.

Our first stop in Extremadura was Trujillo, the birthplace of the murderous conquistador of the Incan people, Cortes. There are statues of him everywhere, and his home is a museum, so perhaps I shouldn’t mention that he was a murderer while I’m in Spain. But the town was beautiful, of course, with old castles and bell towers in cathedrals, which offered gorgeous views of the town from above and the Extremeño landscape. We had lunch in Trujillo (an odd mix of breadcrumbs, judias, and carne picante…the traditional Extremadura meal) and walked around the town for a while, admiring the small twisting streets and cute little plazas perfect for sunbathing and relaxing.




Next was Cáceres, the capital of Extremadura. Again, we visited the sights with Arturo, our art professor, and he told us about the gothic, Arabic, and Roman architectures of the various buildings. That day, however, was the day of an enormous food fair, so after our tour, and just as the sun’s light took on that mustard yellow hue, we hit the fair and tried various types of chorizo, jamón, vino, and queso.





Then, we decided to buy a bottle of wine, but we didn’t have a corkscrew. We walked down the main street, looking for a place that would sell them, but after thirty minutes, we had nothing. I went into an expensive jamón store and asked the employee if he knew of a store that sold them. He took me to the back of the store and showed me professional-grade corkscrews with meters to read the temperature, humidity, God knows what. And for 30€?! I asked for something more simple…something that JUST opens bottles of wine. He ran up to his inventory room and brought down a little box with the perfect corkscrew. He handed it to me and I said, “Perfect! How much?” He replied, “Go ask the cashier.” I said, “Thank you so much!” And he started to laugh, and revealed his joke by saying, “No, no, it’s free. Take it. Have fun!” I love Spain.

Saturday, we went to a modern art museum full of odd sculptures and audiovisual exhibits, which mostly just confused me and gave me a headache. Outside of the museum there was a manmade lake and a beautiful walking path. On our walk, we saw flocks of sheep and a group of donkeys that we befriended.




After the museum, we drove to Mérida, one of the Roman Empire’s most important outposts, and the town in which Russell Crowe’s character from “Gladiator” lived. We walked through the ruins and saw the coliseum and the theater, both of which were astonishing. That night, we stayed in a monastery in the city of Guadalupe, and made a little too much noise.




Sunday morning we toured the monastery, which was incredible, with Arabic influence and a great story about St. Guadalupe. After, we sat on the steps of the monastery and some us sunbathed while others sang songs for an hour.



Monday, I woke up late and enjoyed a quiet day in bed, not really doing work. I was excited to go to my salsa class again, after missing the previous week due to my ankle injury. But, at 7:00pm, I got a call from Emily, who was in Madrid for a few hours, and convinced me to ditch my salsa class and instead walk around Madrid with her, getting some tapas at El Tigre, enjoying delicious chocolate and churros, and sitting in the gardens outside Palacio Real. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Monday night. She told me all about her adventures in Morocco with her friend Sarah, and now, I really want to get down there, if only for an afternoon.

Now, I am nursing my newest injuries from our fútbol game yesterday, during which I tripped and fell on the jagged rocks of the park, and ripped open my knee and hands. So…yea…I’m too clumsy here. As Erica so eloquently put it, “Madrid is kicking your ass!” It’s the truth. And I want it to stop. I felt like a baby at the beginning of my time here because of my inability to communicate. Now I can pretty much understand everything, but I still feel childish. Like I’m going through a giant growth spurt, and I’m just getting used to my height. I’m always tired, and I’m always hurting myself. I still need to find my feet.