Alcalá de Henares

Yeah, so much for resting today, but I think I beat the jet lag anyway. I’ve been feeling pretty amazing, although that may have to do with the fact that I’m chilling in paradise. Just a guess.

Today we went on a mini tour after our test (it was freaking hard, but I guess they need to know what I don’t know, which apparently is a lot). The lady talked super fast so I didn’t understand too much of it. Luckily a bunch of us went on an impromptu exploration of the city later. Alcalá is technically part of Madrid. It’s like what the Bronx or Manhattan or Queens are to New York. I often find myself forgetting that I’m walking down streets, not sidewalks or pathways. In the center especially, most of the streets are cobblestone. So much care is taken to keep the city beautiful. There are people hired specifically to clean the city. Although, there is graffiti EVERYWHERE (except on important monuments and historical sites). Maybe it’s considered an art? Or maybe it’s because I’m a white girl from North Idaho and I never see graffiti. Who knows, but it looks cool.

I think what I love most about the people here is that they are so relaxed and they take so much time to just enjoy life. They only work to live, instead of only living to work. The career is a much larger part of our culture than of theirs. I sometimes wonder if they even work at all! There are so many people outside, walking around with friends and family, right in the middle of the day. And of course there is the siesta. Between 2:00 and 5:00 almost all the shops are closed so the owners and workers can go home and rest. Could we please introduce this tradition to the US?

So it turns out that I have one class a day for an hour and a half and no class on Friday. Heck yes! That means lots of free time, which hopefully translates into lots of exploring. Alcalá is actually quite large. I’ve really only been to el centro. El centro is the main part of the city with all the historical sites and most of the cafés with tapas! Tapas are a wonderful thing. When you go to a restaurant here, you usually order tapas. They are like appetizers to us. I’m sure you could order an entire meal but most people go for these tapas. Usually they are finger foods and you can sit at tables outside in the plazas and eat them. On a side note, they go great with Fanta! It’s very fun and a big part of the social life here. Supermarkets are highly uncommon. You won’t find a Walmart or a Target anywhere, at least in Alcalá. Maybe if you go to a bigger city, like Madrid. Anyway, they have little shops with specific needs. At a carnicería you’ll find meant. At a frutería you’ll find produce. At a panadería you’ll find bread, and also ice cream strangely enough. But there are also heladerías for that. There are so many of these shops that you never live far from one. So the people don’t stock up on things like bread and meat. They often get it fresh for the day.

I saw the Museo de Arqueología. It goes through much of the archeology they have done in Spain. It’s rumored that los vascos (Basques, a group of people in Northern Spain) are descended from Neanderthals so there is some pretty old stuff. They’ve also uncovered things like elephant remains. Hannibal did go up through Spain in his invasion of the Roman Empire, maybe that’s how they got here?

I also went in la Catedral Magistral. It’s a Catholic cathedral dedicated to los santos niños Justo and Pastor, who were martyred by a Roman emperor. It was breathtaking. You walk in and the entire structure is made of marble. As you walk around the perimeter there are multiple alcoves dedicated to different saints (possibly the patron saints of the city, but I’m not sure). There are places for the people to pray to each saint, and in the center of the large hall are lots of benches. I believe they still hold mass. In the back is a little shrine for los santos niños. It’s interesting, since the rule of Franco when everyone was forced to be Catholic, Spaniards have become very apathetic toward religion and many avoid it, but there is still a lot of devotion to the patron saints. Each city has a holiday and festival for its saint. I guess any reason for a fiesta is a good one!

It was Madrid versus Barcelona today in none other than fútbol. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go to the actual game. That would have been sick. So I did the next best thing. Watched it on TV in Spain, obviously way cooler than watching it on TV in the US. Some other members of the group and I tried to find a restaurant or something to watch it in, but the one we ended up at was basically empty. Boring. You have to watch soccer with a bunch of crazy fans. So I ended up going back to their house to watch it with their familia. The family was rooting for Barcelona so I did to. I didn’t want to get kicked out! You just don’t mess with those rivalries here. But we have to keep that on the DL, because being so close to Madrid, naturally the majority of the city roots for them. Barcelona dominated 2-0. Better luck next time!

Here are some other photos of Alcalá. Enjoy!