not a goodbye

Every weekday coming out of the metro station to get to the Institute I pass by a large mural with a poem written by the admirable doctor Gregorio Marañón. He writes a line that I´ve adopted as my own:

"Amo tanto a España, porque la conozco."

I got to know Spain for three and a half months, and I love her.

Hasta luego.

Bittersweet

I feel like my life ever since I started college has been incredibly bittersweet. I’m always experiencing new things, yet constantly leaving them behind. I have many homes, and I love and feel loved in all of them. When I’m in Miami, I enjoy the weather, the food, the dancing. In Peoria, I enjoy nature, the relaxation, my church. When I’m in Boston, it’s the pronounced seasons, the academic feel, the nightlife. In Madrid I’ve enjoyed the history, the constant activities, the aesthetic beauty of the city. And in all four places, I LOVE the people! And it’s great to be in any of these places. But by being in one of them, it means I’m not in the other three. Bittersweet.

I have two days left in Spain. I am so psyched about going back to P-town. But I am so sad to be leaving Madrid. It’s been an incredible semester. Alicia and I sat down today and decided to thank God for every big and little thing He’s blessed us with this semester. It was a long list. One of the praises mentioned was giving thanks for all the things that will happen as a result of this trip. For the things we don’t yet see. I love that. Already I feel like I’ve learned a lot, but I’m sure I’ll realize even more later on, and I know God will continue growing what was planted in the past three and a half months.

It’ll be so weird not to be able to swing by the Prado after school, or go get some tapas and sangria for dinner, or row a boat on the lake at the Parque (or at least, watch Julia row). I’ll miss Madrid. And I will definitely miss the people I met in the program. Some of them go to BU, and it’s so cool that we’ll be able to see each other again. But some of them are at USC or Northwestern or Brandeis and I will miss them like crazy! We’ve shared so much since September 6. And in two days, it’ll actually be goodbye.

La Granja

As mentioned in my previous post, I went with my host family to a place outside of Segovia for the day on Saturday. La Granja is the first Bourbon palace and has beautiful grounds. It was so cold that day, but we bundled up and headed to the mountains. We saw the palace, and walked the gardens picking up pinecones and pretty twigs to decorate their Christmas tree. We tried waking up the bats to no avail. We walked into a small cave and climbed up a mini-waterfall. We almost got lost in the labyrinth and took many pictures of the fountains and of Ignacio and I getting eaten by a statue. After our nature walk we had lunch at a tavern nearby and were almost in a food coma by the time we got to the car. We stopped by a Home Depot-type store on the way back to pick up paint and got back around 5pm. All in all, ‘twas a very good day with the host family.

Lost in Translation Again

There have been embarrassing moments throughout the semester when I supposedly knew Spanish, yet was completely mistaken on the meaning of certain words. In my defense however, Spanish in Mexico IS different from Spanish in Spain. Even so, there have been two recent instances that taught me some more about Spanish vocabulary:

Throughout the semester Ignacio, my “little brother”, has felt free to inform me every time he is “constipado.” In my mind, he’s informing me he’s constipated…why I would ever need to or want to know that, I have no clue. But every once in a while he makes this weird face and tells me he’s constipado. One time at the dinner table he asked his dad if he was constipado and the dad said yes, and I felt kinda awkward. One time he asked ME if I was constipada and I gave him the weirdest look and said NO. APPARENTLY “constipado” does not mean constipated. It means congested. Aha! This new meaning makes a lot more sense now. He asked me if I was constipada right after I had sniffed. It’s good to know he doesn’t refer to bowel movements all the time.

Last week Pilar, my host mom, invited me to go to the family to a place outside of Segovia because every year they pick “piñas”. It’s their tradition. Piñas is pineapples. I’m not too familiar with the customs of Spain, but I’m pretty sure pineapple-picking in the middle of December is NOT too common in these parts. At first I thought I had heard wrong, but she kept saying piñas so I knew my hearing was fine. So, partly because I wanted to spend time with them, partly because I was extremely curious as to the pineapple-picking ordeal, I went with them on Saturday. Alas, piñas can mean pineapples, but it can also mean pinecones. Once again, aha! It makes more sense! It was so cute. We went through the forest picking up pinecones and twigs with lichen to decorate the bottom of their Christmas tree.

I really like I when misunderstandings clear up in non-embarrassing ways.

Ten years later...

Last Wednesday, Marina and I explored Madrid…again. =0) A lot of sight-seeing, a lot of walking, and a lot of great conversation. On my request, we headed over to the area of Príncipe Pío. Why this area? Ten years ago, little 5th grade Ximena stayed in the Hotel Príncipe Pío for two weeks with about 75 other little 5th graders for our field trip. I didn’t even know if the hotel still existed, but sure enough after much walking around randomly, eureka! I give you the crappy hotel I stayed in a decade ago (don’t mind the family in my picture).

Proud moment

Tonight was a proud moment for me. A semester accomplishment if you will. I, Ximena Valdes, finished reading all 866 pages of "El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha."

It's a big deal yo. I didn't slack off on the reading like I've done with countless other books in literature classes. This book has traveled to many cities throughout Spain and has accompanied me on many many metro rides throughout Madrid.

I think I'll buy myself one of those Certificate of Accomplishment they give you in kindergarten.

Small world?

I saw a couple at the Cantata that was presented at church that morning. The woman was originally from Pamplona but had married an American and moved to the States. They were visiting for now but feel called to move permanently to work with college students in Pamplona. I wanted to introduce myself ‘cuz I’ve basically inherited the whole “let me talk to random strangers” attitude from my mom. So I start chatting with the couple and find out they’re from Florida. “Cool! I’m from Miami!” “We’re the leaders of Gator Christian Ministry at UF” “No way! Do you know Giorey?” “Of course we know Giorey!” As soon as I mentioned our mutual friend, everything came to me. Giorey, a friend of mine from Miami who’s now at UF had told me about this couple who was returning to Spain and she was praying about coming for a bit. This is so awesome! I’m studying abroad in Madrid, visit Pamplona for a weekend where I meet a couple living in Gainesville who know a friend of mine from Miami. Small world? Big God.=0)

Pamplona

My sincerest apologies to my readers (all four of you) for the lack of posts. However, I’m back! Assignments, outings, more assignments, etc have kept me from blogging. So here we go: Pamplona!

Last weekend I took my last trip in Spain to the northern city of Pamplona (where the famous run of the bulls occurs every July 7th). I went to visit some family friends from Mexico that moved there in 2000. It’s a family of five who I hadn’t seen since I was six years old. Honestly, I really couldn’t remember anything about this family I hadn’t seen in 14 years. However, I felt like I was visiting family. For one thing, they’re Mexican and I have this concept in my head that Mexicans I know from Mexico=family. Secondly though, this is a couple that was super good friends with my parents when they were newly-weds. They shared so much together, including having kids around the same time (their oldest son is ten days older than me). So since last week was such a crappy week what with ridiculous assignments mixed with homesickness, I was really excited about spending time with people who loved my parents and who loved me.

So apparently I’m the same today as when I was six (just bigger). Diana (the mom) found me at the station right away telling me I looked the same. Then Daniel (the dad) tells me he remembers that the last time they saw me I was obsessed with Beauty and the Beast and sang the songs ALL THE TIME. Um…is it bad that I haven’t changed since 1992? Whatever.

They have three kids: Rodrigo (20), Bárbara (18), and Samuel (17). I sooo needed this weekend with the Jimenez family! Oh the Mexican food I ate, mmmm. We put up the Christmas tree while watching Shrek in Spanish. I walked all over the old part of the city with Bárbara. I got to get to know all three “kids” really well this weekend, and by Sunday I wasn’t ready to come back to Madrid yet! They spoiled me so much with food, generosity, and hugs! I’ve been needing family hugs for a while now. I think I set a personal record for longest church service attended on Sunday morning: three and a half hours. Whoa buddy. It was cool for a day, but I doubt I’d be as positive having a three and a half hour service every week.

Sunday night was the first presentation of the church’s Christmas Cantata. It was really cool ‘cuz they sang it in a huge Parrish Church all decorated and stuff. Everyone was chatting afterwards for such a long time that they had to kick us out of the Parrish. Man was I missing my family as well as Mexico in those moments! Maybe I should move back someday…
Monday morning I took a train from Pamplona at 7am. It was a sweet train ride. They bought my ticket and everything! I got to stretch, watch a movie, take a nap. Once you take a train you start asking yourself why you’ve been wasting your time with busses, and then you remember the price difference. I got to Madrid 10 minutes before my art class started so I raced to the Institute and showed up not too late. This was the perfect weekend to recharge me for the last two weeks (now one week) left in Spain.

Craziness

They said it couldn’t be done, but I did it! In just one day I visited the three main museums of Madrid (the Prado, the Reina Sofia, and the Thyssen) PLUS an exhibit on Sargent and Sorolla’s artwork. CRAZY! Yesterday, Lensay and I spent from 10am to 7pm with a quick lunch break analyzing art, answering questions, choosing paintings all for one class that demands way too much. Am I done with my projects? Not even close. But they first step was taken, and in only 9 hours.

Segovia

Friday: we took a “field trip” to Segovia for the day and it was pretty sweet (despite the crazy wind attacks throughout the day). We saw the cathedral (shocker), the Aqueduct (sooo cool), and the Alcazar (I’m in love with that castle). Oh, we also spent THREE HOURS eating the biggest meal of our lives! It was amazing! I guess as a “last meal together” type thing (*tear*), our program took us to this famous restaurant and rented out the bottom area. We had so much food! Menu: salad with lamb, mushrooms and apple; leeks and roasted pepper; scrambled eggs with potatoes; grilled vegetables with olive oil; roasted suckling pig (yes!); wine; an incredible chocolate/crepe/ice cream dessert; and café con leche. Mmm…I’m not gonna lie, even the girls all wanted to unbutton their pants we were so full.

Right before going into the castle I all of a sudden remembered I had been there ten years ago. It was a really cool feeling knowing that I was coming back with new knowledge, taking the same pictures I had when I was half the age I am now. I love being here. I love it so much. I only have three weeks left so I’ve been reflecting a lot. And I’m so excited about returning to friends and family, but I know I’ll miss so many things once I go back. Okay, I’ll get more emotional later, I can’t afford to right now. Hasta luego lectores.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving

This past week was a bit tough emotionally, for everyone here I think. Work is piling up on us, and we weren’t going home for Thanksgiving. Good thing is, we all realized the reasons for our grouchiness so we were pretty quick to forgive when tensions rose. Anyway, on Thanksgiving Day I got to talk to my mom on the phone, which definitely helped. But I was just weirded out that this was the first Thanksgiving since moving to the States that my family wasn’t together celebrating. In fact, everyone was pretty spread out. My dad and Rodrigo were in Germany, my mom and Alvar in P-town, and I in Spain. Alas, I wanted to do something, even if it was small, to celebrate. So a group of friends and I decided to go out to dinner to an American-style restaurant. So I call my host mom to let her know I wouldn’t be home for dinner and she was like (translated) “What are you saying?! But I’ve prepared an entire Thanksgiving meal for you! I just put the turkey in the oven and we’re using the placemats you gave us!” Yes, everything needs to be in exclamation points because everything was at a very high pitch lol. It was so nice, I got to the house and we had Thanksgiving together. And just to keep it Spanish (because God forbid we should skip eating some kind of pig meat), the turkey, that looked so beautiful on the outside, was STUFFED with pig meat. Ahh! It was really thoughtful though, and I appreciated it so much. So yeah, there are always a million reasons to give thanks, and Thursday night was an added bonus.

What's in a name?

My little bro’s special I guess. He has a city AND a palace named after him. My family’s last name is on a dumpster…that can’t be a good thing can it?

Will we ever learn?

I love Mexico dearly. And because I love it, because I love its people, I’m truly saddened by events like the one that occurred on Monday. I could go into a century of political history explaining the “democracy” of Mexico, past and present, but I won’t. I’ll just say that the 2000 presidential election was a turning point in Mexico’s government after 71 years of single-party domination. The past six years haven’t been peachy, but it was starting to appear like a greater sense of order was taking place. Then Monday happened.

The 2006 presidential election had declared Felipe Calderon as winner and new president of Mexico. Although it was an extremely narrow victory (very similar to US 2000 election), the democratic process declared that the people voted for Calderon. So what happened on Monday? Andres Lopez Obrador, who lost the election, decided to declare himself president and start his own government. Are you kidding me?! At a glance, it may seem like something to laugh at. But it isn’t. First of all, he actually has supporters. He’s not some crazy guy no one’s paying attention to. Second of all, guess how the Mexican Revolution started? (Not that I’m saying the 1910 Revolution was a bad thing, but another one now would bring more harm than good). Third of all, by declaring that the results of the election don’t matter, Obrador is spitting in the face of what Mexico is trying to become. Doesn’t he realize that he’s hurting the very people he claims to represent? This seems to be a cycle in Mexican history...

I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I pray things don’t escalate. Here’s an article for more info: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15820551/

PS: I hate the title of the article: “Mexico loser starts own government” um…how are we supposed to take that seriously?

Pasión Eterna: Christian Performing Arts

Tonight after church, there was a performing arts night at a nearby club where different people from the church would perform “Christian pieces.” So Alicia, Juhee, and I walked over together to check it out. There was a cover charge of 6 euros (which I’m pretty sure I can get reimbursed for). Then I ordered the most expensive coke of my life, which cost 4 euros. Some interesting things happened at the club:

1) I must confess that I have a huge distrust in guys here. In the past two months I’ve had to restrain myself from yelling/slapping several individuals of the male gender. In fact, there was an episode where I chose not to restrain myself. Anyway, it kind of sucks because even if a guy has no bad intentions in approaching me, I assume he does. So at the club this guy tried to talk to me and I kind of blew him off. But then I thought, this is “Christian night,” and if he’s not a Christian and is assuming I am, what kind of impression am I giving here? Then I started thinking what I usually start thinking in these awkward guy situations: How am I being the light of Christ? I go around with a mean look about me and I’m not friendly to strangers…at least not guy strangers. I mean, it seems like the safe thing to do, but what if I’m supposed to be sharing Christ with that person? Arg, it’s frustrating. Well, if I failed the evangelism test that time, God gave me another opportunity right away. This other guy who was sitting at the table next to me started asking me about the church. So I gave him some information on it and stuff. Then we got on the topic of faith and he kept saying things like “earning you way to heaven” so I started sharing about God’s grace. It was a good conversation, and was the first time I’ve shared my faith like that in Spanish. We didn’t talk too much since there was always a piece being performed, and my friends and I decided to leave at the intermission, but I hope that what was said will stay with him. He was invited by one of the performers and told me he was a great guy. So I’m glad to know that there’s at least one person in this man’s life shining for Christ.

2) Alicia’s majoring in theater, so clearly she has a passion for the performing arts. Tonight her heart was hurting a little (and I’m going to have to agree with her) because of the quality, or lack thereof, of the pieces being performed. While some were pretty decent, others made me want to look away they were so bad. Why is it when a song has the word Jesus or a dance is a Christian “interpretive movement” we automatically accept it as good art? Why do we lower the standard for performance pieces? If we believe that God is the author of creativity, why aren’t we overflowing with it? But then again…God wants heart. And you can give all the talent you want, but if it’s not done with a praising heart, it’s not a sacrifice the Lord will accept. Scripture tells us to “Make a joyful noise to the Lord,” not necessarily a “beautiful” one, or “talented” one. Where’s the balance? As Christ followers, we should be at the forefront of the creative arts, business, inventions, social work. But is it one of those things that’s easier said than done? Could we really turn away someone who wants to serve the Lord with their talent, even though they don’t have much of it? Any thoughts?

3) While I was talking to the guy from point number 1, I looked over and saw that a friend of mine from BU was there. Weird! So I excused myself from the conversation for a sec and went to get her. She was there taking pictures of the event for her internship. She knows Alicia and I are Christians and now she knows we go to that church. I think Alicia and I were both kind of holding our breath because she would be witnessing not so great Christian performances, but also thinking, God can use absolutely anything to bring others to Him.

And the mountains rejoice

I always feel so loved in nature. I feel as if God is giving me all these sights to take in, to be overwhelmed and wowed by Him. Oh God, how beautiful is Your earth! I got together with four other friends to go hiking on Saturday. Does Madrid have places to go hiking you ask? No, not at all. Which is why we took a train two hours out of Madrid to ESCAPE CITY LIFE! I really had no idea I was so in love with the outdoors until I moved to Peoria. I still love big cities, but there’s so much time that can go by before I head out to nature again.

It was a work out, and I certainly “felt the burn,” especially getting out of bed this morning. But it was such a surreal feeling to enjoy such majestic mountains and forest and lagoons in Spain. And the five of us had a blast together trying to figure out the trails, joking around the entire time, enjoying our packed lunches on top of huge rocks overlooking the lagoon, acting as a cover for one of the girls who had to “pop a squat,” and just getting to know each other even better than before. What a blessing to enjoy such a gorgeous day with such great friends!

A night of dinner and dancing

I love my internship. Hate the commute, but very much like my internship. Not only did I learn of what I don’t want to do for a living (lol), I also continue receiving awesome perks. Friday night I spent absolutely no money on a formal dinner that actually costs 31 euros. I got to dress up, have a HUGE meal (three main courses), and enjoy the company of really funny Spaniards. Before dinner, some gifts were raffled off (I didn’t win) and my boss shared some “inspirational words.” Then there was a comedian who was pretty funny, but once again, Spaniards have a really different sense of humor than Americans and even Mexicans for that matter. But w/e, dinner was great and as before mentioned, gigantic. After dinner there was dancing to burn off the calories. I went to bed at 2:30am to wake up at 7:30am for the next day’s adventures. But of course it was worth it. I like these people.

Staying connected...way too much

I’ve fallen into quite an unhealthy habit. I refuse to be alone. I always feel like I need to somehow be connected to the outside world. I check my e-mail (both hotmail and BU), facebook, and other blogs way too many times a day. I’m constantly surrounded by people and if I’m not, I sign onto AIM to talk to someone. The only time I’m not communicating with others is when I’m reading or sleeping. I hate that.

I’m definitely an extrovert so I recognize that I get my energy from others, but I also love being by myself and reflecting. Maybe I’m like this here in Spain because I don’t want to completely fall behind with what’s going on with people in the States. And I certainly appreciate the technology that allows me to keep in touch with friends and family. But this obsession has to stop, or at least decrease. I have a month left here, and while I don’t think I’m wasting all my time and not exploring things, I’ve been procrastinating in my schoolwork, not going to sleep on time, and falling behind on the reading I’d like to and have to do. I realize by posting this blog I’m once again choosing the cop out and “connecting” to the outside world. But meh, I’ll start working on it tomorrow. =0P

Superficial Complaints

Complaint #1: I know it’s very un-Christian of me, but I really cannot stand my “little brother” here. I tend to stay away from him as much as possible, yet he seeks me out and doesn’t leave me alone. He’s 12, yet to me, he acts like a five year old. He’s incredibly disrespectful to his parents, has one of the loudest voices in the world, and is just plain aggravating. It’s sad, because I’ve gotten to a point where he doesn’t even have to do anything annoying but I still get irritated in simply having to talk to him. I know I shouldn’t be taking this attitude, but it’s so hard not to. I really have to pray about this, ‘cuz I still have a month left here to deal with this. Only a month?! Where does the time go?!?!?!?!

Complaint #2: So…I guess my face has just been informed that puberty took place a while ago and wants to catch up. I had pretty good skin in middle and high school. And now…there is never a moment I’m not breaking out. Yuck, most definitely an annoyance right now.

I realize these two issues are nowhere near real problems, hence the title “Superficial complaints.” I just needed to vent a bit…

Salamanca

…was so cool! A high school friend of mine is studying in Toledo this semester and asked me last-minute if I wanted to go. Why not?! So we took a bus over for a couple of days and explored the beauty that is the “casco antiguo” (the old part) of Salamanca. It impresses me so much how every time you turn a corner you come across yet another incredibly old building that has been around since way before we were even a nation. The University there is one of the oldest in the world (1243) after Paris and Bologna and I got chills reflecting upon the fact that I was walking through halls that have been filled with countless brilliant scholars of the past. It’s kind of like walking through Harvard, but ten times better. The Cathedral was also really impressive (not as amazing as Sevilla’s, but still very awesome). My feet were totally worn out by the end of the trip from all the walking we did. I didn’t think I’d make it to Salamanca this semester, and I’m so psyched I was able to. Check out the pics: http://www.ximenainspain.shutterfly.com