Currently listening to Of Once And Future Kings by Pavlov’s Dog while perched in my favorite spot in the campus library with Morgan.
Through Berkeley, I’m studying at The University of Carlos the Third Madrid (UC3M). My schedule Tuesdays and Thursdays takes me back to high school, as I am quite literally on campus from 10:45am-8pm. UC3M loves to give us 2 hour breaks in-between classes, but on the bright side I’m given dedicated time to write these blogs each week. Last weekend my good friend from North Carolina, Jess, visited with her friends for an EDM concert called Circoloco.
The venue was gigantic and I got put onto a new DJ: Mochakk. We had a blast, but metro-ing home at 6am sucked all the energy out of me so I spent this past week binge watching Harry Potter with my roommate, Eamon. I never thought I’d like Harry Potter much since I’m not a fan of fantasy or J.K. Rowling. I was wrong, the series is fantastic, and I am still reeling from Dobby’s death.
On Tuesday Erika cheffed up a drool-worthy Lunar New Year’s meal with lychee martinis, lo mein, dumplings, and bok choi (which I was overjoyed to find out exists in Madrid because I have been trying to make my mom’s bok choi salad since I arrived here.) The leftovers were great to wake up to. I am beginning to grow accustomed to the general Sol area where we live: recognizing neighbors, shop owners, and recurring characters in Plaza Mayor. I woke up to a Mariachi band blasting trumpets below my window Sunday morning. It made me smile and reminded me where I am.
My camera directing class is super interactive and project based, so I look forward to it every Tuesday despite it being from 6-8pm. Intermediate Knowledge of Spreadsheets is the most boring 2 hours of my life every Wednesday, and my Spanish teacher reminds me of Ms. Frizzle. Spanish is my earliest class at 10:45am and she loves to cold call, but I have a few friends in the class and the professor’s energy tends to wake me up. I had my first Television Studies class today and the professor started off by asking international students to raise their hands: roughly 85% of us did. He responded “What the fuck” in a thick Spanish accent. The chuckles that erupted felt like the academic version of breaking the fourth wall, setting the tone for a wonderful lecture.
On the exploration front, I finally made it to El Retiro Park yesterday, although it was getting dark and cold so we didn’t linger as long as I would have liked. Something I love about Europe, but specifically Spain, is how easy it is to stumble upon magnificent 16th century (or earlier) Catholic churches. Before the park (and perhaps why it was so late by the time we got there) Eamon and I walked through a very secretive double door into La Iglesia de San Jeronimo el Real. My jaw dropped. Paintings and statues predating the birth of the United States lay in every corner, hymns played through the speakers, but it was so loud and beautiful I initially thought a chorus was singing behind the alter. I am not religious at all, but I would be blind not to appreciate the grandeur of details in European churches.
