Something New Every Day

The best thing about Madrid is that there is ALWAYS something to do or see or be entertained by.  I don’t think the concept of a dull moment even exists in the city, which is really an amazing thing.  I feel so comfortable and familiar with the city, but it’s not getting old because I still haven’t run out of new things to do.  I made a To Do list a while back of all the things I wanted to accomplish throughout the semester, drawing from the advice of my guidebooks, friends, and professors, but just as often as I mark one thing off the list, I feel like I add three more to it.  Thus, the past few weeks have been filled with random and exciting adventures.

For instance, walking through the main streets of Puerta del Sol, the bar/restaurant/shopping hub of Madrid, you are approached by several club/bar promoters (Thursday night we counted 18 that talked to us within about 3 blocks!).  They offer free entry to their clubs, free shots, and even free drinks occasionally, but one time we got talking to a club promoter that ended up offering us free salsa lessons! Every Wednesday night, he holds lessons for whoever is interested.  He’s from Cuba and definitely a talented salsa dancer.   I honestly think that his moves would intimidate Shakira, no joke.  He taught us the basic steps and quickly moved on to some more complicated twists and turns.  It is a lot of fun, but a little frustrating, too; I’ve been back three times now, but somehow I am still painfully awful at it…  He’s giving me some salsa music at the next lesson so that I can practice at home, so hopefully that will help! And that’s just my Wednesday nights…

One weekend there was a huge festival celebrating the Americas with exhibits in museums, various performances, and special events that culminated in an extravagant parade and concert. The parade drew an enormous crowd, but luckily we actually ran into the salsa instructor guy, who led us to the front of the crowd where the parade was just beginning.  The parade was led by Karamba, a reggae band from Cuba.  We danced alongside the moving concert the entire stretch of Paseo del Prado, which took about and hour and a half. We were exhausted from dancing, but we still had the rest of the parade to see! Several Latin American countries participated in the parade, showing off their traditional dances and costumes. They were all so impressive; I couldn't believe how elaborate and beautiful all of the costumes were!  I took lots of pictures, but they really don't do it justice, so you should check out this video: La Marcha 2010

Karamba playing on top of a semi-truck stage

My salsa instructor dancing with my roommate at the parade

As you can see in the video, the last "float" in the parade is another semi-truck stage complete with strobe lights and huge speakers.  This one is carrying Calle 13, a rap group from Puerto Rico.  When they finally made it to Plaza de Cibeles, they held a free concert! My roommate is OBSESSED with the group (actually writing her senior thesis about them), so it was a BIG deal that we got to see them, and for FREE! She'd given me some of their music beforehand, so I was familiar with their music, and could actually sing along to some of the songs. It was so much fun!

The other day, after a nice picnic in the park, I thought I'd partake in a very Spanish pastime, una corrida de toros (bullfight).  It was... interesting. The pomp and circumstance, as well as the costumes and music, were really awesome and intriguing.  All of the toreros (bullfighters) have intricately bright and beautiful outfits, and the way they interact with the bulls is fairly poetic. However, the violence, and the majority of the crowd's response to the violence, were pretty awful... Let's just say there were six bulls, but we only saw stayed for the first two.  I can't imagine how people can stand to watch it over and over again, especially those that are involved with it every week!  It was definitely a one time experience.  Even within Spain, it is a very controversial tradition, and after much protest, they are most likely going to ban bullfighting completely in the next few years. 

At the bullfight

Like I said, there really is something new to see or do just about every day that I'm here, which really makes for a fabulous semester! In the next few weeks, I will be taking a break from Madrid to see some other amazing places in Spain.  I'm really excited to see a different side of the country and dive deeper into the Spanish culture.