Our first two days in Spain were spent in the center of Madrid in what is called El Barrio de las Letras, one of the many crowded and lively areas of the city. It is a place filled with excited tourists, such as our group, who are looking for adventure and cultural immersion. Even though almost everyone in our group fell in love with the city in only the first few days, we were given the opportunity to visit two of the most beautiful and historical towns of Spain, an experience that many tourists do not get to visit. When people think of Spain, they think of big cities such as Madrid and Barcelona, which are indeed beautiful and exciting places to visit. However, Almagro and Segovia are special and breathtaking, for their unique histories and beauty.

Almagro

Almagro is a small town about 2.5 hours outside of Madrid, and is famous for  Los corrales de comedias,  one of the oldest open air theaters in the world. When the theater first opened, the lower class men would stand on the lowest/bottom level of the theater and the women stood separately on the first level. The nobles, on the other hand, would sit on the higher levels away from lower class people, and their smell. Thankfully, this tradition has been abandoned for modern audiences, so we were able to enjoy the performances in chairs and with mixed company. Being present in the space and acknowledging the long history and influence it had many years ago was something truly special. We saw two entremeses by Miguel Cervantes; these being short plays that would normally be in the middle of a longer play to provide comic relief. The two entremeses that we saw were El rufián viudo y Laguarda cuidadosa. We were all laughing along the entire time – the plays were so funny! And when the show was over, us and the other audience members were able to ask questions, which was definitely a unique and educational experience.  Following that, we ate at a lovely buffet with our professors for lunch. (Side note: the food here is AMAZING!)

Next, we had the privilege of meeting up with one of the actresses, Codi, from the entremeses. She ran through a variety of acting exercises, which introduced us to the world of acting.  During our short time together, we found ourselves running around, improving short scenes, and performing dramatic readings of a skit about olives! It was an amazing experience where we were all able experience how actors and actresses go through their creative process.The final part of the workshop was to perform a short entremese of our own. Everyone did an amazing job performing their scene and improvising in Spanish the parts that we did not remember.

Segovia

Our second day trip! Segovia is a old city in the northwest of Spain about an hour outside of Madrid. We stepped off the bus and were immediately enchanted by the giant arches of the aqueducts in front of us. The aqueduct dates back to 1 AD and is a remnant of from when the Romans conquered Spain. One of the most amazing facts is that the stones have no mortar in them, only the other stones surrounding it to hold up the structure . It was a breathtaking sight and the picture barely does it justice.

We then walked around and took in the other sights of Segovia like Plaza Mayor and Burgos Cathedral. We took a pitstop for lunch to consume an excessive amount of food at a good price. Our favorite part of the trip was visiting the Alcazar of Segovia. A castle as beautiful as the ones in the Disney movies. It is absolutely breathtaking that there are no words to describe it. It is definitely a place to visit if you are a history and/or an architect lover, or simply looking for adventure.

Can’t wait for the adventures that await in Seville and Granada!

Hello everyone – we have arrived in Madrid! Our 5:30 PM flight landed at 6:30 in the morning,  and we immediately took a taxi to our hostel in “el barrio de letras” (in English, “the neighborhood of letters”). There was practically no one on the streets and Madrid seemed… empty.  We were all pretty exhausted when we got to the hostel, but we decided to get some breakfast. For many of us, that meal our first experience trying Spanish food. We ordered cafe con leche, which is a coffee with hot milk. This is a typical coffee in Spain, but to us it was so small. After we ordered, we noticed that the portions are a lot smaller than they are in the United States.

After breakfast, while we waited for our rooms to be ready, we visited the Reina Sofía museum. We found the museum to be very visually interactive. The whole museum was beautiful, and allowed us to begin cultivating an impression of Spanish culture and art. After this, we went back to the hostel and took a siesta. As we found our way back, we noticed the streets filled with people – Madrileños seem to love their sleep!

Later that night, we had our welcome dinner with both of our professors: Professor Lokos, who came with us from Holy Cross, and Professor Juan Iso, who is a professor in Spain. Surprisingly, when arrived at dinner at 8 PM, no one was in the restaurant. We later found out that this is considered an early dinner in Spain; most Spaniards dine around 9-11 PM. Because dinner is eaten so late here, many people end up staying up and on the streets until 3 or so in the morning on the weekends. The night-time is very lively. It was difficult to fall asleep because of all the commotion going on outside of the hostel.

The next day we had our first class! Our classroom is located in the basement of our hostel, which makes it very easy to get up and out every morning. After our first lesson, we got to roam around Madrid and we go to one of the largest flea markets: El Rostro. It was a really great experience to see what the locals were making and selling, and how many people were out on the streets buying stuff.

That night we had our first theatre production: “El concierto de San Ovidio”.  Written in 1962 by famous Spanish playwright Antonio Buero Vallejo, the play details the lives, loves, and trials of six blind men in Paris in 1771 who sing and play music at the request of a cruel philanthropist. No spoilers here, but we all loved it so much, and it was a really great introduction to Madrid and Spanish theater. We are so excited for what is to come! With several more shows and trips and our imminent future, be sure to stay tuned!

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Holy Cross Madrid Maymester 2018 blog!

Today we are off to Madrid, the capital of Spain and our home for the next four weeks.  We are all maybe a little nervous,  and definitely very excited! Over the course of our trip, we will be attending daily classes, traveling around the entire country, attending performances of classic and modern theater, and immersing ourselves completely in the Spanish language.

Keep checking in with us, and we look forward to taking you along for the ride! ¡Hasta pronto!