Nuns of Cloister

Ok. I had to look up the word "cloister" in English just to write this blog. Anyway, I have a short story on our quick visit to Lerma on the way home. Lerma is a town north of Madrid that has a huge palace and monastery that define the old part of the town and the nuns of cloister have a bakery there. Let me describe the experience.

We enter the side of the monastery and there is a menu with words I have never seen. I'm in line and everyone is buying their cookies/bizcochos/pastries at the wall where there is a round-a-bout shelving system. I get to the wall and you can't see the lady on the other side, but she has a sweet, and young voice. As I don't know what I'm buying, we ask her to explain what each item is, on the 2nd shelf. Mind you, I still don't know what "cloister" means in Spanish. We tell her we are interested in buying "mostachones" and she tells us the price. I'm confused, but Manu saves the day and puts the money down on the first shelf and tells her that we have put it down because otherwise she has no idea. She turns the shelf around, picks up the money, then turns the shelf again to give us our change.

I noticed that this was a weird system and it would be a lot easier if we could just see the lady because facial expressions can help you a lot. I mentioned to Manu once we got outside that "wouldn't it be better if they had a little window so you could more quickly finish the transaction? I wanted to tell her that but I decided not to."

Manuel looks at me, a bit horrified, and repeats to me - "but Sara, they are in cloister!"
Sara - "Yes you said that but what does that mean?"
Manuel - "That they have dedicated their life to the monastery and never leave / see others."

Good thing I didn't open my mouth.


Some more info: Cloistered nuns observe "papal enclosure" ^[9]rules and their monasteries typically have walls and grilles separating the nuns from the outside world. The nuns rarely leave (except for medical necessity, or occasionally for purposes related to their contemplative life) though they may have visitors in specially built parlors that allow them to meet with outsiders. They are usually self-sufficient, earning money by selling jams or candies or baked goods by mail order, or by making liturgical items (vestments, candles, bread for Holy Communion).

Easter Processions

Easter processions here are rather interesting. We managed to go to the ones in Bilbao, Burgos, and Madrid. Of course, these are really long processions so we just hang out long enough to see the virgin or Jesus and then we go get dinner.

The first thing that shocked me was the religious brotherhoods wear robes and caps that make them look like KKK to me. It really scared me at first and I had to make sure I could translate that image into a positive one. The picture above is a good example. In any case, here are some quick, interesting tidbits about Easter processions:

1. Usually one brotherhood is responsible for the procession on a given night (this goes on for the whole week). The other brotherhoods are in the procession too but they aren't holding the relics.

2. Depending on where you live and what the tradition is, the brotherhoods might be carrying the relic on their shoulders (imagine 12 guys underneath and on the sides). In Bilbao for example, the really heavy statue with San Juan had wheels below it and the brotherhood still carried it but did not have the entire weight to carry. However, the virgin was carried directly on the shoulders for hours.

3. Apparently in some pueblos, the brotherhoods aren't in charge of the procession and rather people PAY money to carry the virgin on their shoulders. I was told that in this case, the town has an auction and people pay thousands of Euros to have this pleasure.

4. In Madrid we even saw a guy who had his feet chained and was barefoot. Ok, now for me this is sacriligious considering it's still cold outside!!! Manuel explained to me that in this case, most likely this person was a prisoner (not for a serious crime) and they have let him free in Easter week / forgiveness and all that jazz. So he has to walk the procession barefoot and chained.

Guggenheim, Guggenheim

Next on the trip was Bilbao - the most important industrial city in Spain. When we arrived, it was freezing cold there, much colder than in San Sebastian. So we had to be strategic with our day planning to make sure that we used public transport to the fullest (tram, bus, metro).

Most of our visit was focused on the Guggenheim museum, and believe it or not, we were probably in the museum for about 6 hours total. If I remember correctly, there are 3 main floors in the museum, with more than 8 exhibition rooms on each floor. Outside of the museum there is a large flower sculpture of a Yorkshire Terrier, another metal sculpture of tulips, and others that we didn't walk to because it was too damn cold. The 2 main expositions were "300 years of Art in America" and "Surrealism". The permanent exposition is a bit difficult to describe without a picture -- it's humongous pieces of metal that are formed into spirals and other forms and you walk inside of them. Imagine that there are 12 foot high walls of metal all around you and you walk through the path to find that it's just a wavy path or it's a spiral and all of a sudden you are in the middle of it. Pretty cool.

San Sebastian

This city is absolutely breathtaking. As a Californian, the only reason I could have for not wanting to live here is that it rains a lot and the breeze from the Atlantic can be quite cold. I can learn to deal with it though! I can, I can!

The people in the North of Spain are very proud to be a part of their community, and there is a longstanding disagreement of their inclusion as a province of Spain. Without getting too much into the details, basically some of them feel strongly that they should be completely independent of Spain as its own country. It is unfortunate because in this area (widely speaking) there is a group, called ETA, that supports this cause with terrorist acts. For many Spaniards this is a difficult topic to discuss and as you can imagine, political views range across a wide spectrum. Now that I have scared you, onto the cool stuff.

My top 5 for San Sebastian:
1. The balconies were so beautiful. The horizon of the city is varied with beautiful coppolas, french-style balconies, and large intricately carved wooden doors.
2. The food. Oh man, the food. If I could just replicate some of the plates we were served, I would be that much happier.
3. The bay. Walking by the bay is really nice. I have to say in many ways it made me miss San Francisco.
4. Chillida open air museum. I like to call this the "rocks and metal in the ocean". What is best about it is the symbolism that these "rocks and metal" are windcombs, literally combing the wind that comes through. But my favorite part was the windholes that you can stand on. Once a wave hits, hold on tight because it's a strong wind!
5. Casco Viejo. Most cities in Spain have a "casco viejo", which is the old part of town. San Sebastian's casco viejo has tiny cobblestone streets with millions of tapas bars. It's just nice to walk around, pick and choose which bars to enter and of course, people watch!

Semana Santa Vacation - North of Spain Roadtrip

What's on the agenda?

1. No books, no talk of business plans, no studying. No work for Manu.
2. Rent a cheap car with PepeCar and drive up to the North of Spain.
3. Eat lots.
4. Check out San Sebastian, Bilbao, and Burgos -- and anything else on the way that is of interest.

If you check out the map, all of the little blue spots in the North of Spain are where we drove to, and many of the smaller towns in those areas we also visited. The landscape varies quite a bit and is beautiful. Since it tends to rain a lot in the northern part of Spain, the land is very green and lush. We of course caught a bit of the rain and a lot of the COLD fronts, but it was still a great trip. Of all of the cities that we went to, San Sebastian was our favorite. The city is absolutely gorgeous with a beautiful bay, detailled balconies, and scrumscious food. It's a good thing we don't have a scale at home because I'm sure we would be depressed by how much weight we have gained. The food was THAT good.

We are now back and it seems surreal to have to return to work / school. Well, it's not surreal. It just plain sucks. But life goes on and we'll get more vacation soon enough. I hope!

Voting in Spain

No, I can't vote in Spain but I sure as heck can stalk the voters here to find out what it's all about! I followed Manuel to the high school where he could vote. I'll do my best to explain how different it was.

First you have to figure out what room is designated to you (according to what zone you live in). Before coming to vote, you would have received some information that would help you know some of this. The first thing Manuel did was verify which room he was on a looooong list of names. There were different name lists hanging from the walls with a big number on it (I'm assuming the zone) and on the paper is everyone's name, DNI (national ID number), and birthdate. My first reaction was surprise that so much personal information could be read by others and copied for identity theft, but then again I am a pessimist.

Now you go into the room. One table is for Congress and the other one for Senate votes. You pick up the paper that corresponds to your vote and place it in the appropriate Congress or Senate envelope. There are many different papers on the table. Each pile of paper is specific to one political party. You choose the political party, not the person. Anyway, once you are done licking your envelope, you go to the box where you actually cast your vote and there is a person there who makes sure you are who you say you are, and they manage the security of the voting box.

VOILA - that is voting in Spain!

EL CHIKI CHIKI

This is so horrible that it merits some time to share with you. There's a Europe-wide music contest called "EuroVision." Apparently ABBA won it years ago. But don't let that fool you. That doesn't mean that this contest only has good, quality music. I myself have just discovered quite the contrary. From my understanding, each country has contests to elect one music representative (group/person) who will participate in the EuroVision contest.

Spain will be entering EuroVision with "El Chiki Chiki" song. Even if you don't speak Spanish, you can tell that this is the new Macarena. Electric Slide, MOVE OVER. Here's a part from the chorus that everyone loves:

1. El brikin dance
2. El cruzadito
3. El Maikel Yacson (Michael Jackson with a really bad Spanish accent)
4. El robocop

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=8RviZkSdMes

FAMA

I love this reality show "Fama! A bailar!". It's basically "Fame" where contestants dance in partners and live in a dance school, learning different choreographies. I'm addicted and so is Manu. It's so popular that there is even a "Fama, 24 horas" so that anytime I want to see crap, I just turn on that show and it relaxes me. I know it's pathetic, but when you're doing homework nonstop, it is nie sometimes to just veg and not do any heavy thinking.
(photo courtesy of TV Channel "Cuatro")

Sick of Being Sick

So I know that I tend to get colds pretty easily, and being spoiled with California weather doesn't help, but this is out of hand.  I arrived in Spain October 4th, and since then, I think I've been healthy/feeling good probably for one month total.  Of course getting bronchitis/pneumonia in December and January pretty much meant well over a month of me under treatment. So I can understand that.  Now it's February and I keep getting allergic reactions to something and we have to start all of the typical tests to figure it out. In the meantime, I just want my lips back - normal size and without pain.  

So let's see - if I look at a calendar, I've been here 5 months and in those 5 months, I have seen 8 doctors in total, of which 3 were for urgent care. Most of the hospitals here tend to focus on specific areas or specialties, which means if you need something different, you might have to go to a different hospital. I have been to 4 hospitals here in Madrid.  Since I got sick in Granada, I had the lovely opportunity of going to urgent care in Granada.  Fun stuff.

So I'm thinking once I'm done with the MBA, I might be really knowledgeable about the health system and should look into if there are any business opportunities there that I should consider. Why not change it for the better? The health industry doesn't really excite me, but ya never know. 

Money, money, money, MONEY

I thought I hated financial accounting.

I was wrong; I didn't know a good thing when I had it.

I HATE cost accounting.

Finish First Term - CHECK!

My last day of the first term was last Thursday.  There are 5 terms in total for this program, which means I'm 20% finished with the MBA - woohoo!  In any case, we had one final exam per day and in Marketing we actually had a presentation and a final paper to turn in.  Needless to say, it was a stressful week with many hours spent working on all of the deliverables. All of last weekend I spent with my workgroup unless I went home to sleep or have lunch.  Many times we just decided to have lunch together so we could continue plugging away at our work.

In any case, right after our exam on Thursday, a couple of girls and I decided to go shopping.  Stress relief strategy!  In January there are post-holiday sales "re-bajas". For those of you who haven't been to Europe, it's a bit different. The sales season literally is once per year.  There are no other small sales during the year like there are in the U.S.  Throughout the year, everything sells for the originally set price (aka no clearance racks, no weekend sales).  So last week was definitely strategic. Go shopping while most Spaniards are working and find some good sales!

Later on Thursday night all of the students organized a night out at a bar with the professors.  It was great to party with them and just let loose.  We started at an Irish pub around midnight (normal time to start to go out in Spain) and then around 3pm we went to another club.  By 6am I went home in a cab.  Since it's not illegal to smoke in clubs and bars, anytime you go out here you basically need to detox your body with a good shower before going to bed, otherwise you smell like a cigarette.  Yuck.  In any case, we had a blast and now we're supposedly re-charged for our next term, which starts tomorrow morning. 

Merry Navidad!

I have had a really nice Christmas here in Madrid with Manuel and his family. It is fun to see small differences in how the same holiday is celebrated and at the same time it is really nice to be so welcomed into someone's family when you are far away from your own.  

About a week ago, Manuel bought some little red and blue ornaments for us to hang around the house. Since we don't have enough room for a Christmas tree, we decorated the hanging house plant instead.  I wanted to put out the presents below our innovative tree, but Manuel thought I was nuts. Apparently here in Spain you never should see your presents until you are about to open them, because that's when Santa has brought them.  I'm used to having presents under the tree a few weeks before Xmas and half of the fun is wrapping them so that the person who will receive the gift has no idea what they have gotten.  Christmas cultural lesson #1 for Sara.

On Christmas Eve ("noche buena"), we were invited for dinner at Manuel's brother's house.  He lives outside of Madrid in a beautiful house that is very modern in its architecture and decor. Among the guests, there was Manuel's brother and his family, his wife's 2 brothers and their significant others, his wife's parents, and of course Manuel and me.  Dinner started around 10pm with appetizers first:  prawns, king prawns, some really small shrimp that I don't know how to say in English nor have I ever seen before, Spanish ham (jamon serrano y lomo), cheese, white asparagus, bread, and red wine to accompany it.  Then they brought out a big lobster to be shared among everyone.  By the time the lobster came around, I thought we had already finished dinner because it was that much food!  But oohhh no, out comes the lobster and a potato salad (ensaladilla rusa).  After they finished the lobster a few people were mentioning that they were going to serve beef for the men - whaaat!!! More food? 

In any case, the beef never arrived and the focus of the night was changed to Santa Claus and the kids.  One of the girls got dressed up as Santa Claus and everyone took out their presents for the kids from the car to give it to Santa.  This is the first time anyone had seen any presents (see, I learned from my cultural lesson #1).   The kids went nuts.  They were so wide-eyed at seeing Santa Claus and more excited about the presents.  For the next half an hour, all you could hear were the kids ripping open their presents, opening them up to play with them and to make a mess on the floor, and the adults playing with the kids.  In the meantime, miraculously little pastries and champagne was on the table and of course, I had to have some. As the night wound down, we exchanged the adult gifts and then it was time to go home...I think it was 1.30am.  Merry Christmas Eve!

The next day we had two celebrations for Christmas:  with Manuel's parents and a nice Skype invitation with my mom.  We went over to Manuel's parents' house at about 2.30pm for Christmas dinner (realmente es la comida - no la cena - pero ya me pueden entender).  Manuel's mom always cooks for an army.  I would estimate that she served almost the same quantity of food that we had on Xmas Eve but we were only four at the table!  So what was on the table?  Well, this will seem somewhat similar to the Xmas Eve dinner:   Spanish ham and cheese, white asparagus, smoked salmon, smoked sardines, bread, wine, prawns, and a big stuffed chicken (stuffed with dried fruits and more meat).  I could barely get past the appetizers I was so full.  Manuel and I couldn't even touch the dessert that she served, and when we went home we slept for a couple of hours.  Our bodies were too focused on our digestion for us to do anything else. 

Of course, while we were sleeping is when mom and I were supposed to talk on webcam --great invention by the way.  I asked her to let me sleep another hour and become a live human being again.  We got on Skype later on and we each opened up our presents in front of one another. It was nice to see her and Lance preparing the house for their guests, since it was noon in California.  Almost made me feel like I was at home!

I got mail, I got mail!

My presents from mom came - WOOOHOOO! It was the best experience I have ever had at a post office.  I went in with the delivery notes, was the first in line, they came right out with my packages and even gave me nice, strong bags to carry them home!

Financial accounting

SUCKS!!!

And that's all I have to say about that.

GOLLLLLL!!!!!!

That's right. I went to a soccer game! Manuel surprised me with tickets to the Spain v. Sweden game at Bernabeu stadium in Madrid. SOOO COOOL! We went to the game with double socks on, beanies and scarves, all ready for the freezing cold stadium. To our surprise there were a few heat lamps in the rafters, which just helped enough so you can still feel your toes.

Spain 3
Sweden 0

It was so cool to be at the game and see what the Spanish crowd is like. They did the wave about 5 times around the entire stadium - pretty impressive although a bit tiring after the 4th time! And the coolest thing to hear was that at every break they put traditional Spanish songs "Que viiiiiva Espana". Oh man, it almost brought tears to my eyes. It reminded me of all my Spanish classes in high school! I didn't even think I could remember that far back! Really funny, but it makes sense since it is the national selection.

If you want to see a really awesome sports page where you can keep up to date on statistics of pretty much any sport (ALL IN SPANISH THOUGH), you can check out 20minuto's multimarcador.