Madrid Weekend

Well, I spent another lazy weekend in Madrid. I woke up early on Saturday, ate breakfast, and then took a two hour nap. The day was really cloudy and I didn't feel like sightseeing. I had heard there was free wireless internet at Starbucks so I headed over to the Starbucks at Callao, near work. I should have realized that Starbucks would never offer free internet as it cost about $10 for two hours. Although I felt a bit lame hanging out in Starbucks all afternoon, I figured I should use all of my two hours (I actually began writing this same post when the two hours were up yesterday). After my time at Starbucks I headed home, dropped off my computer and went out to dinner. I went for a few drinks, which turned into many as I met two guys who SPEAK ENGLISH!!! One is Irish/Greek who is studying in an international MBA program and the other is a Spanish Architect. It was very calming to have a night of conversation in English. I feel a bit more recharged now to face a week of speaking Spanish with my friends and co-workers.

I had a very late night as we went to a dance club until 4:30am. I have to pontificate for a second and say how much I LOVE NO SMOKING LAWS. Seriously, the Spanish smoke like fiends. My eyes, fresh off of problems with my contacts, are getting quite the workout not only when I go out, but in most places where I've gone to eat as well as in the OFFICE! Anyway, I got up a bit late, discovered that the movies in the apartment had an English option and I watched Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. I didn't feel guilty about hanging around the apartment because it was raining. But once the rain cleared I made my way up to the northern part of Madrid to see the Puerta de Europe. The "Gate of Europe" consists of two leaning office towers. They are quite impressive, especially because there is little modern architecture in Madrid. From some angels, they seem to have a lot of the same lines as the John Hancock Tower in Chicago.

Weekday Sightseeing Pt. 2

After the museums I saw on Thursday, I made my way to two interesting sights in Madrid. The first was the Plaza de Espana and the second was The Temple of Debod. The Plaza de Espana is in the heart of Madrid, off of Gran Via. In the center is a monument to Miguel de Cervantes. I was able to go to the Plaza right at sunset. My pictures, I think, are pretty cool. They are very rich because I didn't realize I left my camera's blue filter option on so my pictures are VERY blue. However, I think they have a cool effect.



The Temple of Debod is an ancient Egyptian temple which was rebuilt in Madrid in 1968, it was a gift from Egypt. The Spanish helped save some ancient temples in Egypt after the construction of a dam threatened several historical sites in Egypt. The temple was rebuilt in a park with amazing views of Madrid. The sunset on the park was amazing. My pictures can't do the scene justice. Also, as I mentioned, I had my blue filter on which took away a bit of the detail from the buildings in view.

Weekday Sightseeing

My boss was in Mallorca on Thursday so I had a free day after my Spanish lesson. I used the weekday off to see the Prado and the Reina Sofia art museums. I figured it was best to see them during the week and avoid the weekend crowds. I was a bit disappointed by the Prado, although I should admit that I'm not a big fan of "old timey" art. I appreciate these works; I think they are breathtaking, but I can only stand so many pictures of Jesus, saints, and allegorical situations. I was also disappointed by the false advertising on the map of the museum. I believed that one room was devoted to Carvaggio, one of my favorite old timey artists. When I got to the room, they had one, ONE! Oh well. I did enjoy the paintings by Goya and Velazquez and I guess it was good to enjoy two Spanish artists in Spain. One painting in particular was amazing to see in person, Velazquez's The Family of Philip IV or "Las Meninas". I have seen this picture before in a book or in a class, as well as a piece of the picture in a bookmark from the Prado from my friend Mike. I love the reflection of the king and queen in the mirror in the back of the room.

The Reina Sofia was a great museum with art more to my liking: Picasso, Miro, Dali, as well as contemporary art. The most famous piece in the museum is, of course, Picasso's Guernica:


No picture could ever do this painting justice. It is the exact opposite of Leonardo's Mona Lisa at the Louvre. You go to the Louvre, to see this famous work of art, and it is about the size of my laptop monitor and you think, this is it? When you enter the room that houses Guernica at Reina Sofia, the painting dominates the room. It is amazing. Also, the museum has a collection of sketches and paintings by Picasso of the individual elements within the painting.

The other interesting aspect of the Reina Sofia is the architecture. It is a rather simple building with a modern plaza and two glass elevator shafts that provide an amazing view of Madrid. I took lots of pictures which will appear in my next Kodak Gallery, but here are a few with me:

Obama v. Clinton

The 2004 race for the Democratic primary was pretty boring compared to what is shaping up to be quite a competitive race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The media is going to be obsessed with this story for a lot of reasons: whoever wins will become a historic figure among presidents, the media is interested in who will win the black vote (a half-black man or the wife of the so-called "first black president"), and of course the media loves the Bushes and the Clintons so you know they will track whenever Bill campaigns for Hillary. Editor and Publisher has a great summary of Maureen Dowd's column about this competition:

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003548043

El Palacio Real

Two nights ago I checked out the Palacio Real, the Spanish answer to Buckingham Palace. It was a bit cold at night, but I took some nice pictures. I would love to walk around the same area on a summer night and I plan to check out the area during the day. In front of the palace is a fountain and statue that isn't as impressive as the statues in front of Buckingham, but I think I got a good picture of it:

Fin de Semana

I used last weekend to relax. On Friday, I went out for a small dinner and a drink with two guys from work. Although both speak English, we spent the whole night speaking in Spanish. I slept about 14 hours on Saturday which was great because I was worn out from a week of speaking Spanish and learning my new job. Saturday night I went to dinner with my friend Rafa to an Asian restaurant which was a smaller version of Republic, a great restaurant in Union Square, NYC. The tables are the same: you have to share them with other people and there is an area under the table for bags and jackets. The crazy thing was that Erik and his friend went to Republic the same night! On Sunday I experienced a typical Sunday for "madrileños." I met Rafa in the La Latina area of Madrid and we walked through El Rastro, which is a huge open air market. It was very interesting not because of the products offered, but because of the large amount of people who were out and about. On Sundays, it seems like everyone spends the day outside or in a bar. After you walk through the market, there is a main square area with lots of tapas bar where young and old enjoy the weekend with wine, beer, and tapas. We had a glass of wine and some tapas at one bar, went to a very popular and traditional Spanish restaurant to make reservations, then went to a different tapas bar for another glass of wine. We returned to the restaurant and ate a Spanish soup with beans and mussels as well as a salad with a Spanish "rosa" dressing. Below is a picture of Rafa and me walking through a side street where dealers were selling some interesting antique items.

Statues

Madrid has a lot of buildings with huge statues on top. I finally had my telephoto lens and sunlight to capture these impressive statutes.

Learning Spanish

My brain is fried after four days of learning Spanish. I begin each day with a private tutor, and then I work in a store and speak with the staff and customers in Spanish. While my training is in English, most people only speak Spanish so, like last night when I went out with some people from work, I spoke and listened to Spanish the whole night. It is a great experience and I know I will learn a lot, but boy is my head tired.

Madrid at Night

Plaza de Banco de Espana

Depsite my long day at work, I couldn't resist taking my new camera and mini tripod out for a spin. I think I got some great pictures (I hope to send out an album after this weekend, depending on my internet access) I walked from work all the way to the Parque del Retiro. It was a bit cold (althought nothing compared to the weather in NYC) and I have bit of a sniffle this morning, but it was well worth it.

Yo Vivo en Madrid

Madrid Metro

I made it to Madrid! Yesterday I went into the office to get my apartment keys and spent the rest of the day walking around the area around the office. The office is in the center of the city, off the Gran Via.

Yesterday was overcast, so I did not get an opportunity to take pictures, but I have six weeks. The architecture is quite impressive in its grandeur. There are many buildings that have huge statues on their roofs. I am looking forward to a sunny day with my telephoto lens.

My days will be very intense, as I experienced today. I started with two hours of Spanish with a private tutor. After my lessons, I went to work in the shop in order to learn more technical and specific words which I will use in work conversation. My friend is the manager in the store I will be working in, so it makes it enjoyable. During my lunch, I ate quickly and then took a few pictures as the sun finally came out.

The rest of my day was spent training for my new job. Unfortunately I do not have internet in my apartment. Until I find a cafe with free wireless, I am stuck with working in the office during breaks. Oh, well

Leaving New York

I'm sitting in the airport right now. I got a lot accomplished: spoke with my Dad,talked to my bank, cell phone company, Erik, and sent out my photo gallery for NYC. I've never had an experience like the one I am beginning today, so it is hard to know what it is going to be like. I've travelled in Europe, but I've never lived in one place for six weeks. Here we go . . .

Barack in Iowa

From Political Wire

"Barack Obama is off to a stellar start in Iowa," writes the Des Moines Register's David Yepsen. "The Illinois senator had what is likely to be the largest kickoff ever seen for any candidate in the history of the caucuses."

"His crowds in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo were huge - two or three thousand per event. In Ames, about 5,000 people were at the Hilton Coliseum. Even a lowly house party in Iowa Falls attracted 200."

CNN, where art thy integrity?

CNN has been on a downward spiral since the creation of Fox news. CNN has participated in a race to the bottom to compete with the Jerry Springer of news. When I'm around in the morning, or Erik and I are running late to work, we catch the late morning show featuring Tony Harris. This guy drives me insane! I reached my breaking point as I was packing this morning for Madrid. Here is my letter to CNN:


Dear CNN,

As if your lack of serious coverage of the world's events wasn't bad enough, you have Tony Harris reporting the news. This "reporter" should be an embarrassment to CNN. He has the journalistic depth of a small town sports reporter for a Fox News affiliate. Seriously CNN, it is hard for me to stomach listening to the good reporting you have from real journalists like Christian Amanpour and Michael Weir, when I know that I am going to have to listing to this laughing fool, Tony Harris, when the real report is over. I'm sorry, but we are at war and there are serious issues to discuss on the news, and Tony Harris seems to find something funny in everything he does while looking bored when there are important reports because he can't find a humorous segue into or out of the story.

Frustrated CNN viewer

More Obama-mania

Because of the password-protected NY Times, I have a summary of this great article by Frank Rich through Rawstory:

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/
Frank_Rich_Stop_Obama_before_hes_0210.html

Rich, obviously reading my blog, makes the argument that Obama's lack of experience in Washington is a plus. The money line of the summary by Raw Story is: "New York Times columnist Frank Rich has dismissed criticism of freshman US Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) for not having enough "experience" by noting that before the invasion, the 2008 presidential candidate "had the judgment about Iraq that his rivals lacked."

Isn't judgment what we want in a president? Nixon had years of experience: congressman, senator, vice-president. John Kerry should have won against George Bush based on Kerry's years of political experience and the time he spent in Vietnam. At the end of the day Americans thought it was better to have someone who used his father's influence to get out of war over a man who volunteered to fight, despite being wealthy and very likely able to get out of serving. (Although what does that say about America's need for good judgement??)

Yes, a lot of the hype over Obama is due to his charisma and public speaking abilities. However, when you combine that personality with good judgment, a commitment to a core set of ideals, a willingness to compromise, a history of hard work and an impressive resume, you have the makings of a great leader.

Obama's Illinois roots

Barack Obama is going to announce that he is running for President. I know a lot of people have discussed how his weakness will be his lack of experience (this, of course, is the approved story of the media, which you hear repeated over and over again). I think this is ridiculous, given the fact that Obama has an impressive resume.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/08/AR2007020802262.html

The idiot, I mean president, we have, had a series of unsuccessful businesses and won election to the Texas governorship based on his name. Without the last name Bush, this president would have been a mid-level manager at a pencil company.

I think Barack represents the hope that President Clinton brought to the electorate in 1992, but (hopefully) without all the controversy that surrounded that campaign (and presidency). Obama is someone new but also someone who can move Americans beyond petty partisanship Partisanship is good, as long as it is productive. Voting Republican because you are anti-abortion is pretty unproductive when most Republican policies do not help those who might choose to keep their pregnancy if, say, they had national healthcare and a higher minimum wage.

I like Hillary, but I want to move America beyond Bush v. Dukakis, Bush v. Clinton, Clinton v. Dole, Gore v. Bush, Bush v. Kerry, H. Clinton v. ?, Jeb Bush v.? and then the young George P. Bush (Jeb's half-Mexican son) will think it is his right to run for president. Seriously, SERIOUSLY, lets shake things up a bit!

I'm officially announcing my support for Obama 08.


updated:
The New York Times article about his announcement http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/us/politics/11obama.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5094&en=b4428f9eb8e50583&hp&ex=1171170000&partner=homepage

Ok, I'll get my s--t together

Ok, I'm going to get my shit together and keep this blog updated, if for no other reason then to get back into writing . . . something. I was reminiscing with Erik the other day about how often I would write to the Loyola Phoenix and bitch about some bone-headed thing the University was doing that week. Although I am still critical about the world around me, I haven't put things into writing in a long time. The reason I tried to start this blog two years ago was in reaction to the loss of John Kerry and what I saw as the beginning of a new era of conservative control of America (thankfully, I think that era was short lived). Maybe its the hope of 2008 and Barack Obama, maybe its being with Erik, maybe its the idea of being in Madrid for six weeks, but I feel like I need to recapture something I've lost and hopefully writing in this space will help me find what I'm looking for. (damn, I've set the bar really high)

Three days until Madrid

For those of you who haven't heard the whole story, I found out about three weeks ago about my new job with Camper. I am going to be the merchandising manager for the U.S. Camper stores. It is a position I was interested in last year at this time. One of the main reasons I moved with Camper to New York was the hope that the company would create this position (I knew that the job would require living in New York). I will be in charge of the product in each store which includes ordering the product before the season and then managing the sales and stock levels as the season begins. I think it will be an exciting job because I've been very interested in our product(many of you have seen my shoe collection!) and it will be a great opportunity to travel the U.S. (L.A., Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco) as well as travel to Spain three to four times a year (and I'll be able to have more flexibility to travel to other European cities before and after my work trips to Spain).

Originally, I was told that I needed to train for my new job in Madrid for three months, without coming home. However, that has changed to about a month and a half. I leave for Spain on Monday and will return to the U.S. sometime around the end of March or beginning of April. I plan on keeping this blog up-to-date while I am in Madrid. Also, I know I'll be sending out some Kodak Gallery links because I bought a new camera to document my time in Madrid. (send me your email if you want to receive them)