Olé Toro!

The festivities continue. There was no way that I was going to leave this country and not sit through a bullfight. Since the season was coming to an end, I decided to take advantage and just go. I rounded up the troops and we went to the stadium, bypassed all the stupid expensive offers for foreigners, and set in on a fight. According to a "Bull medic" sitting behind us, we are quite lucky to even be sitting where we were. Apparently the section we were in is where you can catch the most action and we are lucky that Real Madrid and the Athletico de Madrid are both playing tonight to people went to that and those seats were available. It was truly a cultural experience. Despite the blood and the hits, it was a very comfortable and enjoyable place to be in. I would recommend it 100%. Check out the pictures below:

 Las Ventas Stadium

Olé

AND....DEAD!

Night view

Holy Toledo

Plenty has happened since Mallorca. I've started my work-study job and my volunteer work as part of my internship class. However, the best news I got all week was a post-grad job offer from State Street. So, what did I do? Celebrate of course. Last night was a rainy day but that didn't stop the fellas and I from going out and having a few buckets. Another celebratory yet exploratory thing we did was to take a trip outside of Madrid and visit Toledo for the day.

Only a 50 minute bus ride away, the fellas and I got up early (11am..haha) and took off. It's incredible rural is gets once you get out of the city yet it is one of the most beautiful sightings ever. Apparently Toledo is a fortress town and we climbed up the vibrant cobblestone streets and simply explored. Most of us had bocadillos from our host moms so we posted up in the main plaza, had a bite to eat (plus a tallboy) and enjoyed the ambiance like typical americans. For the rest of the time we simply got lost among the narrow streets and tourists and checked out their cathedral among other old establishments. All in all, it was refreshing and enjoyable experience; it was good to get out of the city and see something different. Check out a few pics below.

 Toledo

Album cover!

BROvantes

Literary boss

Crazy view

Thank you camera timer

Mallorca: Sleep, Beach, Eat...Beach

In my first opportunity to really celebrate my birthday and travel outside the iberian peninsula, friends from the group and I decided to take a trip to Mallorca. If you didn't know, it's one of the Balearic Islands off the eastern coast of Spain in the Mediterranean.....yeap, I said the mediterranean. I swam in it, no big deal.

It was the most relaxing time I've had in years. We stayed at Hostel Atlanta, which was only 2 blocks away from the beach. We were fortunate that one of the girls' rooms had a balcony so we hung out there during the night (pre gaming) then we would go to Palmas (the capital of Mallorca) and danced our feet away at Tito's nightclub. This was an expensive place to dance in but when you have 10-12  girls with you that are eager to dance...you gotta do it; I call it paying for the "experience." Anyway, after a long night of dancing, drinking and taxi rides one deserves to spend all day at the beach. That is exactly what we did. Camped our behinds out on the sand, get some sun and take a dip in the water. What more can one ask for on the weekend after his 21st birthday? Nothing! It was an incredibly fun experience with an incredibly fun group of young people. Check out a few pics from the trip; More coming soon.

 Andres, Brand, PappaG n me

 The Bogler n I

 Buckets on Buckets

 Yeap...that's the beach view

Loner Swag

"Tío Pedro" from the group Los Chichos

Real Madrid Vs. Manchester City

I've never been a huge soccer fan but I've always been a sports fan so I know enough about soccer to know that this was going to be a good game. To watch Real Madrid, more importantly Cristiano Ronaldo, was definitely on my bucket list and I've now checked it off.
This was by far the most exciting sports game I've ever been to. Man City scored the first goal in the second half but Marcelo made a sick goal to tie the game. However, Man City came back and scored another goal a few mins after that leaving about 5 mins left on the clock. Real Madrid fans started to leave the stadium at that point and I yelled out: "Believe in your team" and a minute later they scored to tie the game BUT right before the 90min mark they scored AGAIN....by who? you guessed it: CRISTIANO RONALDO strikes in heroic fashion! I could have died after that, my life seemed complete. haha. Check out some pics below.

Here's the link to the highlights: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1163521/late-ronaldo-goal-stuns-city-in-five-goal-thriller?cc=5739

 Santiago Bernabeu Stadium

 Nico, Brand, Andres, PappaG n myself

 PappaG at his best

 Ronaldo with the crossover

 Incredible seats

Vuvuzelas are the most annoying things on earth

Ronaldo_Game_Winning_Goal.gif

Happy Birthday to me!

I've been waiting 21 years so say this but world, here is your newest edition to the 21 club! I truly feel blessed to be this old and be able to look back at the things that I've done but also at the things that I have yet to do. I'd like to thank my momma for bringing me to this earth, my father for being a mentor and my grandmother for raising me into the person that I am today. I couldn't be more happy with the things that God has thrown my way; Looking forward to 21 more years! 

As I've said in previous posts, I'm going to celebrate in the island Palmas de Mallorca (google it, it's beautiful) from Thursday-Saturday so I'll come back with crazy pictures. For now, here is a picture of a stud when he was about 5-6. cmon!

What a stud!

Oh yeah, Class!

So this week was the first official week of class. By first week I mean 4 days because if you don't know yet I have no Friday classes! Three day weekends every weekend. Anyway, I'm taking 4 really interesting classes: Economics of the European Union, Phonology and Phonetics, Flamenco and an internship. For my internship class, if I'm lucky, I'll be teaching english to high school students. It is totally voluntary work and by the end of the semester I will complete at least 60 hours and write 40 pages (20 field note pages and a 20-page research paper). It sounds like a lot of work but I think it will be a fun and enriching experience.

First week of class means first week of going out in Madrid. Given that we are so few, the guys in the program have gotten together and we've had the chance to hang out and get to know each other. We've been to 100 Montaditos a few times for causal 1euro beers or taking strolls through the Retiro park and meeting girls our age. And as we can infer, young girls means going to the clubs during the late nights. We've been to the most stereotypically European clubs with a predictable amount of Americans. Nonetheless, they are fun places to meet people my age, dance and simply enjoy Europe.

I haven't been proactive enough to take pictures at the Hamilton Center, where we have class, but here is a photo I found of most of the group at Joy Escava nightclub from last night. Gotta get ready to go out again...peace!

Joy Escava nightclub

 Shots = 1euro

Dubliners Irish Pub

Galicia - Santiago de Compostela

After a long 8 hour bus ride from Madrid to the Northwest region of Spain (Galicia), we arrived in Santiago de Compostela. This is the oldest city I've ever been to in my life. It's very renown around the world as millions of pilgrims travel (most on foot from central Europe) to the beautiful cathedral; some for religious purposes as it is believed that Saint Santiago was buried here in the 1st century. Some people believe that completing the pilgrimage will cure illnesses or simply confirm their faith. We got the privilege to stay at a really nice hotel that is also extremely old; If I'm not mistaken I believe it was completed in the early 1800s by the royalty as a hostel for pilgrims who come from very far.

We also got opportunity to visit Paz de Galegos, one of the top wine vineyards. We were able to see the grapes, learn about the cultivation and maintenance process as well as the production of the wine. Albariño, the type of wine they produce is officially my favorite. I've learned to not drink the wine to get drunk but instead appreciate it and pay respect to the makers of the wine since they devote so much time and care to making it. It was a humbling experience.

A great addition to this trip was a quick visit to Portugal. It was literally on the other side of the river from where we first were in staying. We were in a small fortress town called Valença do Minho, where we were able to see the fort that is built around this small city that was previously used to protect it from Spanish, French or Moroccan invasions. I was also able to walk around the town markets and practice my portuguese with one of the vendors. I bought two really nice scarfs: one with the Portuguese flag and another with a picture of Cristiano Ronaldo (very fitting).

We finished our trip in Baiona, the town where Christopher Columbus' Pinta voyage returned to Spain from the New World with "goods." This town also gave our group more exposure to Spanish night life. We went out and came across a Cuban bar with a live band where the owners recognized my Hispanic ass and started conversation. They were very welcoming and curious as to why a dominican was roaming the streets of this small Spanish town. Anyway, to sum it up, the rest of the night was incredible but I regretted it the morning after.. Check out the pictures below:

Cathedral Santiago de Compostela

Outside of the Cathedral with the group

 

 Lunch at one of the Paradores Hotels

Wine Tasting 

Pazo de Galegos Wine

 Mejillon y Vino in a tour boat

By the water with the girls and Pedro

Valenca do Minho, Portugal

A cold beer with the guys of the trip

 At the Castros: Ancient Celtic ruins

 At the top of the mountain where there Celtics ruins reside

Baiona, Spain

Madrid is getting real

Here we go, now this is starting to get good. I've been in orientation for the past two days taking culture/grammar classes as well as registering for classes. First of all, the Hamilton center is really nice, really clean and really welcoming. The staff is really outgoing, encouraging and approachable. We also have been split into 5 small groups that are led by Spanish college students so they know the ins and out of the city life and culture. They are by far the coolest kids around the block. One of them is named Danny and even though he is not my guide I've gravitated towards him because I feel like he's the guy to learn from. My guide, Elena, is a sweetheart who also knows a bunch and is very encouraging.

We spent the past 2 afternoon/late nights with them showing us around the city to all the cheap bars and enjoying a variety of delicious tapas. I've been drinking wine like a fish...well, fish don't drink wine of course but you catch my drift. Vino de Verano is a really soft drink composed of red wine, some sort of soft drink and lemon. SOOOOO GOOD! I've had it in almost every bar I've been to and I've been to about 10 in the past 2 days. I truly enjoy the drinking culture here because it's very casual. People go out before dinner to have an aperitivo and that can include a small bite to eat and a beer or some wine and it's completely social. Much different compared to the Hamilton drinking culture but this suits me more.

Well, I'm off to Galicia (northwest Spain) on Tuesday and returning Saturday so I'll take plenty of pics to post. In the mean time, check out the ones I've taken around the city including my host mom's Paella, which I just had. I'm off to a quick siesta. 

Cats

                  Cerveceria 100 Montaditos (Jarra a 1euro)

 Vino de Verano (Danny on my left)

My Host Mom's Paella