After Spanish class I ate three perritos and drank una cerveza in the cafeteria...with a full stomach and a quenched thirst I was in a better mood going into my next class, government and politics of Spain. This class is taught in Spanish, so I knew it was going to be hard beforehand. My teacher is very nice, but it was really difficult to understand her rapid speech. I did my best, and felt like I learned something. I think that I am going to try to stick that class out because listening to her talk will definitely benefit my audio comprehension skills (audio comprehension skills? HAH). There are only 6 personas in the class, which means that I can't disappear into the crowd - there is no crowd. There are two French girls in my class, and one gal from Finland. They speak beautiful Spanish. They were sitting outside the classroom before class started - I approached them and started a conversation. I told them that I was from the U.S. and I lived near the beach, which I guess is funny because they started to laugh. It was probably the way I said it or the clothes I was wearing. Literally, I am the only kid in the entire population of students at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos who wears a hat to skool. No one wears hats or wears long, white socks - I wear both.
After my politics class I decided to take the subway north to metro station Francos Rodriguez. I was tipped off that there was a basketball gimnasio up there where a select group of Spaniards play pick-up games. I would like to tell you how I found out about these games and this gym, but, like I said it is a SELECT group of Spaniards and they asked me not to reveal their identities as it might compromise their pickup games. Anyway, I rode the metro North for about 50 minutes until finally I reached my destination. As I rose from the depths of the metro station, I saw that I was in a shady part of the city. Graffiti everywhere. Housing projects. Barbed wire fences. Closed down leather boutiques. It wasn't a pretty sight, but i'd come that far so I was determined to find this gym - El Gimnasio Fernando Martin. I walked in the direction that I thought was correct and asked two Spaniards if they knew where it was. Neither of them did. Luckily, I asked a third Spaniard in a business suit and he pointed diagonally across the street - I had found the gym. I walked to the front desk and said the secret password that I was told to say, and was granted entrance into the bball courts. I walked in and all eyes immediately fell on me, the American wearing a Volcom collared shirt, glasses, and red converse...needless to say I felt out of place. Perseverance. I laced up my Nikes and called next game in Spanish.
First play of the game - I get a screen from Cesar at the top of the key, pull up and shoot....the ball barely grazes the rim and goes out of bounds. First shot in Spain: Not a success. Things only got better from there, though - i scored 3 out of our 7 points before the lights were shut off and our time was up. I only got to play 2/3 of a game but it was worth it. I plan on going back this Friday.
This Saturday is el Noche en Blanco! It's a cultural experience like no other - or so i'm told. All the museums, theaters, and any other cultural Spanish buildings are open all night, and live music and festivities go on in all the major plazas...and everything is FREE! (not like bier and food and stuff, just free to visit the museums and go the concerts and things like that). I'm really looking forward to it - the whole city is buzzin with excitement!
That's all I got for now. Estoy muy cansado. Big city livin takes a toll on you.
Sincerely,
C.M. Stassel
p.s. TIP OF THE DAY: they sell bottles of Sangria for 1 Euro at the Supermercado across the street from my house.
...and pictures coming tomorrow - solely a picture post...no words....maybe a few words, but more pics than words.
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