The 257th, and (most likely) final post of my Summer 2009 Adventure

I intend to use this same blog for future travels, but until then - here is my farewell.

All good things come to an end. My flight from Istanbul, KLM 8380 marked the beginning of that end. My final day was spent enjoying the present and pondering the future, the evening before, in contemplation of the time that has passed.

Last night I went to the Hamam again, as I wrote in a prior post, and there I contemplated the next steps in my larger all encompassing journey. When I return, I will be committing nearly all of my time to finding a full time position with a firm. In preparation of that, I shed the mountain man appearance I had acquired this morning with a straight razor shave and a haircut. Renewed (you can actually see my face without pushing around hair that had grown quite long these past months) I took a final walk, heading to the Blue Mosque. I have been there a few times, just to sit in the majesticness and enjoy the solemn nature of the Mosque. Today, was different. It was bustling with loud tourists, obnoxious tour guides, and rude people. There was little respect for the Mosque or those who had come for reasons other than to take pictures. I departed quickly, finding no peace to enjoy my final moments. I walked back up towards Cemberlitas, which is near my hotel. I had a pickup at 12:00 noon. I decided to keep walking, and found myself in a new neighborhood, with a large mosque. I wandered in to discover the peace and quiet I was looking for. It was nearly as large as the Blue Mosque, and yet only one other person was there. I sat on the red carpet, and basked in the solitude. When I felt peaceful, I stood up, took my shoes, and headed to the hotel to check out.

From the hotel, a taxi took me to the airport where after waiting on a long line, I finally checked in and made my way to the gate. I slept the first portion of the flight to Amsterdam, missing the meal, and instead was given a Banana that wasn’t quite ripe yet. I read some James Bond, and then started to put my thoughts down. Below I have summed up my adventures. Call it the executive portion.

I arrived in Casablanca after a connection through Amsterdam in late June. I nearly had missed my flight from New York when I missed the train to JFK, and had to take another. However, the company of my final farewells and coffees were quite worth the anxiety of running through the airport, walking onto the plane and hearing the doors shut behind me.

In Casablanca, I took a taxi to the train, and then a train to Marrakech. My first experience in Marrakech was a group of unruly children brining me to my hotel. They each wanted a tip. A kind girl across from the Riad Davia, where I was staying, invited me in to sit until the owner could be summoned. There was some confusion on the date I was checking in.

My first days in Morocco were hot, confusing, and pleasing to the senses. The food was alright, the smells were delightful, and the souqs were pure tourist traps. Luck fell into my lap in the final evening when the family of the owner arrived to stay, from Paris, and I was invited to go out with them. We left the Medina, the tourist traps, and went to a night club where we stayed until very late. It was a completely different Morocco from the place I had come to know. The following day, I was invited to come with them again and we went to more traditional souqs where we were served tea, invited to try things, and not pushed to buy things simply to buy.

That evening I went to the train station, where I met up with Susannah and Genna and a friend of Susannah. We traveled to Rabat where we stayed one night, and then on to Fez. Fez was very different, very beautiful, and just wonderful. I imagine I owe much of that to Susannah, who guided us away from touristy places and into little special area. At Café Glock, I had my first, and only, camel burger. It smelled like camel, but was otherwise quite good.

We visited many things I would never have known about just walking by myself such as the tannery, the weaving area where we saw large looms, and an herbalist. We had stopped at an herbalist in Marrakech, with the French. They had been speaking in Arabic and French for a while, and eventually someone had turned to me, “we are discussing how we are going to cure you of being American” he explained. Through Susannah, I told them I was having some trouble sleeping and heavy breathing (Genna who is a light sleeper had trouble sharing the room the nights previous in Rabat) sometimes snoring. He asked many questions about different parts of my body and other habits I have, paints and discomforts, he then prescribed a remedy that included eating 11 dates before breakfast, and drinking large amounts of water, and apple vinegar, that will take 40 days to get the various cycles in my body back into sync. It was all amazing, but not the most amazing part.

The most magical part was when Susannah invited me to join her host family for meals. We were treated as royal guests, and given a feast each time we came to dine. The couscous was incredible. We tried many different dishes.

The second most amazing thing was Hamam, the Moroccan bathhouse. We went for the luxury spa version. It was incredibly cheap, and amazing. I was twisted, scrubbed, rubbed, washed, bent, cracked, stretched and many more things. I left feeling cleaner than I had ever felt, my skin radiant, my smile from ear to ear. From Hamam I was introduced to Fez fruit salad, a wonderful mixture of avocado and other fruits. Delicious.

Before the Hamam, we got dirty going for a hike in a nearby mountain, to really feel extra clean comparatively.

I left Susannah and Genna and headed to Tangiers. I wish I could spend more time there, what I saw was not nearly as magical as what I had experienced prior. I suppose I had hit the high points of my trip in the meals with Susannah’s host family, and Hamam. I tried to recapture one final Moroccan meal at a restaurant, and left more disappointed than I thought was possible.

The boat to Algeciras was very peaceful. I chatted with a family from the Midwest, and upon arriving, went to wait for my train. From Algeciras I spent five hours looking at olives. Five hours of olive trees and I arrived in Madrid. It was very late in the evening. A series of metros, busses, and trains (a girl on the bus tried to ask me to go dancing) and I arrived at CTY. The site director’s fond memory of my arrival was me bouncing in, introducing myself, and apologizing for any smell after such a long journey.

The weeks that followed at the camp were a blur, save the beginning and the end. At the beginning, before the students arrived, the staff went out and had a lovely time. A group of us ended up spending the night getting to know each other between tapas bars and little restaurants. It was a great start.

With the arrival of the students, we became a little more serious and took to their safety and happiness. It was my first CTY, and for many of them, they had already done this many times. I often turned to them with questions. It is a camp of traditions. I have written many times about the lack of tradition in America as opposed to Europe, but I think summer camps are one place where tradition remains strong.

There were the usual frustrations of working for a new organization, learning the boundaries, defining relationships and getting to know everyone. It turned out that one of the other Residential Assistants (or is it Advisors, I have seen it both ways) was also from Swarthmore. We didn’t know each other at the start, but quickly became close – having many common shared experiences from Swat.

A little over a week in, groups of students began exhibiting the signs of sickness, and the beginning of a Swine Flu epidemic swept through. By the end, nearly 20 per cent of the students were infected, and the decision was made to close the camp early. I spent most of the last few days spending long hours with the quarantined students. It was clear to me that the problem was a lack of nutritional food, that their bodies were starved for vegetables and other nourishment. I had been shopping at the local place and feeding myself healthy food like at home, and wasn’t worried about getting sick.

With the last student gone, it became a question of what now. Many of the staff had plane tickets for the following week. I organized a small trip, taking 6 staff members with me to Valencia where there is a beach and Paella. After the long sojourn with the sickness, both sounded wonderful. We arrived, ate, and drank for a few days.

More farewells to most, and then Shiva and I took off for Barcelona. We arrived on the train and moved into our hostel. It was 16 beds in one room. We quickly sought alternatives. We went to a place called Travel Bar, where we happened to find an email address on the wall for a private room in an apartment. We ended up spending a few nights with Karenina, a wonderful Italian woman who opened her home to us. She gave me the master bedroom after another guest didn’t leave as expected, and I had a beautiful view up and down the street. It was also a chance to do much needed laundry.

From Barcelona I flew to Palma Mallorca, and then traveled to Deia, a beautiful Spanish town in the Balearics. I went snorkeling, and did a mud treatment with locals on a small beach. I walked one day from Deia to Soller, taking in breathtaking view after breathtaking view. I left, and joined Shiva in Ibiza. Ibiza I didn’t sleep. I put my small bag in his friends’ hotel, and we went to a club. There were only six thousand others at the club, a slow night I think for them. When we left at 6am, I grabbed my stuff from the hotel, and caught a bus to Formentera. An island of beautiful beaches, I spent the day speeding around on my moped I rented, and snorkeling everywhere I could.

Back to Barcelona, and then I traveled on to Venice.

What a beautiful touristy city. At this point, the momentum in my trip was picking up. I walked each day for hours, exploring new little areas, visiting museums, and eating lots and lots of Pasta. From Venice, I moved on to Florence – a city where it’s hard not to look at art. I saw many of the great masterpieces I have seen so many times before in textbooks. I also met up with Peta, a friend I had made in Barcelona. We went for dinner and drinks, and she showed me good food and very filling Gnocchi!

On to Pisa, where a not so impressive leaning tower stood… leaning. I moved on quickly to Rome, where Karenina had helped me set up another apartment stay with Maurizio. He was a very kind economist, who opened his home to me. From there, I explored the city, immersing myself into the classical history. I was treated by the guide from the synagogue to lunch, and met many families and couples and other travelers and locals just sitting at the dinner table, offering some wine or conversation.

From Rome I flew to Athens. In Athens I paused only long enough to catch a boat. On the way to the docks, a group of people convinced me to go to Milos instead. Bad idea. I headed from Milos to Santorini, where I was impressed in a mediocre manner with the mountain houses. I met many Parisian couples and travelers, some of which I had a splendid time going out with. I also met a very interesting girl who I stayed out talking with late from Kenya / UK.

And then back to Athens, this time to spend a few days, and further immerse myself into classical culture. I met a bartender who offered to bring me out for a drink away from the center of Athens, and in the same night, two girls traveling – one of which knew a friend of mine from High School. We went out the next day for a lovely lunch before I boarded my plane to Istanbul.

Istanbul was incredible. A clean city, alive and vibrant, it is filled with families. I arrived on the first day of Ramadan, and so most of the city it felt like had come out to the park in front of the blue mosque to dine together and picnic. The food vendors were harking their wares and all was amazing. I tried Hamam in Istanbul (disappointing after Hamam in Morocco in my opinion) and ate more Baklava than one should eat in their lifetime.

Paula, my aunt, had sent me her friend’s address who owns a restaurant in Istanbul. To say I was treated like a king or sultan, would do him no justice. He extended the greatest of hospitality to me opening his doors wide and treating me to culinary magic.

And so ended the trip, as all things should, with a splendid meal (two actually). It has been an incredible and magical experience. I have met so many wonderful people that shaped my experiences, that nudged me to do and try things I wouldn’t have otherwise. The culmination of these experiences spells a complete and utter success. I could not imagine a better way to have spent this final summer before I begin working.

If you were one of those people, thank you.

Final Night out in Madrid

The last 24 hours have been intense, fun, dramatic, and rather sleepless.

Our last student departed Thursday afternoon, and finally a sense of relaxation descended on the camp. Most of us slept all afternoon. A dinner was planned, though nothing thrilling. I hear it was supposed to be tapas, but after the amazing tapas I had the previous night, it would be a sin to call these tapas as well.

I do give it top billing though in terms of the food that came out of that cafeteria.

After dinner, most of us went to Madrid. We headed directly to the Hotel ME rooftop terrace called Penthouse, where we joined a club wide party that was a throwback to the seventies, and eighties. Though, in actuality, it was a mixture of the last 5 decades with flower power through afro's and bell bottoms, and some pretty recent tunes. Perhaps the 60's trends in America just didn't hit until the 70's or 80's in europe and thus the confusion. I really enjoyed it, if I lived here, I might a regular for the nice atmosphere. And for those following, it was basically a meeting for Mi Equipo.

Started chatting with a group of women also enjoying the beautiful night and setting, as well as the party (I think Moet and Chandon was sponsoring it), and it turns out they all worked for Banc of America in Madrid. Pretty sweet! We talked about job situations, or at least tried to as much as possible given the current state of my spanish. Their english was excellent though, two were sisters from the area, and their friend was from Mexico. Shiva really hit it off with one girl, while Kevin, Alex, a few others and myself chatted with the other two about Madrid, work and some fun places to check out our last night – none of which came to fruition.

At one point in the evening their was some saturday-night-fever-esque line dancing next to a Bachelor Party, and Shiva suddenly popped into the middle of it and joined in. It was almost as priceless as when they there were horns blowing from a traffic jam in Plaza de Pantalones Cortes (aka Plaza de Sta. Ana) and we sent him over to direct traffic the night before. They actually listened to him as he stood on the side and untangled the mess. Even the waiters stopped to enjoy the spectacle.

Some of our group had planned to meet up with Rachael and Anabelle by Joy, the club where the two had gone the previous time I was in Madrid with them, so we left just before two, stopping on the way for some Tapas just before the place closed. Kristin and some others went ahead to catch up with them, missing some awesome smoked salmon. It may not have actually been that awesome, but my jewish side has been so deprived and bagels and shmear, and lox… it definitely met a craving I didn’t realize had been getting stronger these past weeks. I also had some delicious cheese, and a glass of Sangria.

The conversation had been good thus far, the company excellent, the views beautiful, and the drinks and food filling. But it was missing the flair that makes a good story. Luckily, the night was still young.

The Drama: Act I:

I knew something was up when we approached and the two, Rachael and Anabelle who had come later in the evening, skipping Hotel ME, and all the sweet parts of the evening, were out on the street, not in the club. Kristin and others were with them. I was getting bad vibes the moment they entered my field of vision.

Apparently, they had gotten drunk together before coming to the club in order to save money [Jenn, if you are reading this, try to forget that last sentence]. Anabelle was betting on them staying together, and only brought enough Euros to cover her entrance, and portion of the cab ride, under the assumption that some of us would want to go back with them, and she could ride free or at little cost based on our kindness - she also didn't bring her credit card, placing her in a position she could sell as being the victim.

They had arrived, gone in (for free, if I understand it correctly), and then while in there it became apparent that Rachael didn't feel comfortable dancing alone, a very reasonable consideration given the language and cultural shock we have all been dealing with on various levels and circumstances.

Thus, Rachael asked Anabelle to dance with her instead of leaving her while Anabelle looking for spaniards to dance with. Then, Rachael wasn't feeling well, and told Anabelle that she needed to go home. Anabelle was furious, because she felt like they had an agreement to stay out together no matter what, and share the expense of the cab ride. Anabelle saw rachael as sabatouging her last and final hurrah in Madrid. Rachael had tears streaming down her face, and Anabelle was yelling towards us how much of a bitch Rachael was, expletive, expletive, expletive. She kept trying to win our sympathy away from the girl who clearly needed the comfort at the moment.

Ironic.

Fernando and Kristin decided to take Rachael back, which was really sad, I was really looking forward to having drinks with them both especially, since our schedules hadn’t really matched up to go out previously. I also really wanted to go Salsa Dancing with Kristin since I had been taking the class she gave a few times during activity period, and was really enjoying it, although I only barely know the basic steps.

However, the staff didn't feel that Rachael traveling alone in her state was a wise idea, of which I concur. I wish that we could have sent the two girls back together, perhaps not an ideal situation, but logical for the rest of us who had similar interests for spending our last night as a cohesive unit together.

Then Anabelle become angry towards them for leaving. I meanwhile observed from a distance still taking it all in, and not wanting to get involved. I only learned details afterwards of what had passed. She kept clinging to Kristin, who first was polite saying she needed to bring her friend home. Anabelle was unaware, and seemed confused why Kristin would want to help someone who was essentially ruining her life. At this point it was a combination of torture and comedy. Kristin became firmer that she no longer wished to remain, and departed. Definitely a smart choice in retrospect, although I did enjoy our one last hurrah after the drama was whisked off into the night.

Four of us remained now, unclear what we wanted to do, in addition to Anabelle. There was Alex who was up for the camraderie, Jenn who didn’t see the point of spending money for a club when it was already three and she wasn’t planning to stay out late, Shiva, and myself. I just wanted to enjoy their company, I would be fine with the club, but really had no strong interest in being in a hot and sweaty room listening to really loud music, and dealing with the morning after ringing that I just found out means that you have forever lost the ability hear a specific frequency!

We had only come to find Kristin and Fernando, none of us were really sold on the clubbing aspect - there was marginal interest, that's all. I made it clear that for me, it was about spending time with a group of people I really enjoyed chatting with, sharing stories with and going out with. In the club, we couldn't really talk, it would be hard to hear, and everyone would either be dancing with themselves, one another, or someone outside the group. It wasn't really ideal in terms of soaking up each other and enjoying our company. Anabelle tried to convince the four of us that we had to join her, that we had an obligation to. She also seemed to believe she was not only entitled to a night of clubbing, but also a shared taxi home. We didn’t even arrive with her. Jenn pointed out that she had already been out multiple times during the program.

Her pleading began as asking in a somewhat rude manner, and quickly became malicious, as she suggested that we were ruining her last experience ever in Madrid to go dancing. She was completely unaware of our lack of interest. Then she wanted us to come back at 5 and meet up with her. We weren't planning to stay that late, just another drink or two, and then home by 3:30 or 4:00. We were accused of many things, and she attempted to guilt us by discussing her financial situation. We offered some suggestions about staying late, and using the buses, but she shot them down saying she did NYC buses, not Madrid buses. She didn’t understand the system. Her lack of financial responsibility didn't convince me of anything, personally. Except that she needed a reality check, and some sobering up.

Act II:

Jenn at this point becomes vocal. It's been at least 30 or 40 minutes at this point. We are letting her know that she needs to make a decision, that she is an adult, and also needs to be financially responsible. She shouldn't be out if she can't cover the possible expenses that may be incurred. Finally, Jenn in a moment of kindness **cough** weakness **cough** offers her twenty euros, which she takes

[I stopped at this point while writing this entry to confirm with Jenn sitting across from me on the bus about using the word weakness, because it doesn't really hit the nail on the head, and I am glad I did ask. She elaborated for me that in fact in a stroke of brilliance, she was trying to buy our way out of the situation, to get Anabelle in a cab so we could go to a bar... or I suppose go clubbing. I think it was more about not wanting spend time with her at that point than a strong distaste for clubbing itself]

without even a thank you. Then she starts to ask if it would be possible to get back for twenty euros, or less, and spend the remainder of her money on clubbing and drinks, and she still wants us to meet her later, she is actually trying to make money from a kind individual who is trying to ensure Anabelle’s safety.

She appears completely unaware that Jenn's personal donation was meant as peace of mind and for her safe return to campus, as well as a hope for a fast exit strategy from the situation. Anabelle is disconnected from reality, and clueless. I hope that she was inebriated, and we were not seeing her character. That would be unfortunate if such a sense of entitlement existed so deeply rooted in her being, it reminded me of the old harvard light bulb joke:

Question: How many Harvard students does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

Answer: Just 1, he stands still and the world revolves around him. (her / her)

Act III:

We finally give her three options, come with us (none of us wanted to deal with that, and besides, 5 don't work in a cab), return the money and do her own thing and take responsibility, or get in a cab using the generous gift to get safely home.

Another period of time passes and now it is nearly 3 in the morning. The bars are all about to close and that drink that we really need is a shooting star across a dark sky, soon to be forever gone (or at least until they reopen Friday).

We hail a cab, I give her my special card and she yanks the door open, gets in, and slams it closed. No one knows what happens after that except that a minute or two later, the cab has not moved. The door is thrown open and slammed shut as she exits in a huff. We are clueless and confused, what happened?

The cab driver seems very annoyed that she is treating his property like this. She spins on her heal and comes back to the cab, and starts demanding, not asking, yelling for the card with the address for the Universidad. He says something, she starts to throw punches and kicks, he defends himself, maybe throws some back, and Jenn and Alex and Shiva step in to break it up. She keeps yelling as they restrain her from a distance. I am quite a few meters away at this point, and arrive just in time to kindly ask him to return my address card, the only momento I really wanted from CTY Madrid, which I had lent to her to get home. He crumples it up, and throws it on the street , yells something in spanish at her and we step away [just confirmed, he was yelling at her: You fucking fucking fucking bitch].

Alex and I walk up the street and find another cab. Luckily, no physical altercation this time, and after a few minutes of silence during which we waited, teeth clenched, each praying in some fashion, it drove off. I never got my card back, and we didn't see her this morning. Melinda though, gave me her card before we left, which was really cool. Apparently, she played a part in this story as well, receiving a note last night attempting to convince Melinda to come to Anabelle’s side of it. So, I suppose she did make it back after all.

Relieved, and feeling necessity for that drink we struck off towards the bars. Closed.

At the Hotel ME, I asked the concierge, and they directed us to a street with many bars, in hopes of finding something still open. As we looked down, people poured out like tributaries after a rainy day. Luckily someone was coming from a nondescript door, and we followed them back into a dark and dingy little bar. Polar opposite from our earlier experience at the airy and chic Penthouse lounge and terrace.

We had a round, and drained from the drama, headed out to catch a cab back.

I arrived, and hopped on Skype where I joined a dinner party serving beer bread that looked amazing, and for almost the next two hours enjoyed some relaxed conversation, just what I was looking for all night, and without doubt I the best company.

Bed around 5:30, awake at 8:15, shower, breakfast, took some photos of Shiva with David, our good spirited chef, and convinced a few more people to come to Valencia. We found a hotel with a rooftop pool, a restaurant, and are booked through Sunday. Sunday night is still up in the air. Kristin may (we are hoping!) join us later today or tomorrow. The saddest part is that Ryan took off this morning, and I didn't get to say goodbye. I guess it means a trip to philadelphia when I get back to catch up and share some good stories.

We have three hotel rooms, and am currently en route. I can only imagine what mayhem will ensue upon arrival.

Day off

I never really made it to bed after the previous night of clubbing. I arrived back, chatted on Skype, and slept for about 30 minutes before waking up to see off the remaining students who were quarantined. That is when my day began.

Quote of the day from yesterday: ''Diogo, that´s because you were to busy sticking your thermometer in people´s mouths.''

We took two cabs to Toledo. The first one, Jenn, Sean, Kevin and Myself arrived without problems. We did get lost, but made it in one piece. The second cab showed up with a grand entrance just as the bus was leaving. All on, I sat next to some random guy, and probably fell asleep on his shoulder. I apparently suddenly was out cold on the way back and spent most of it on Sean´s shoulder.

Toledo was beautiful and Sean brought it alive with his knowledge for us. It´s apparently also a Brooks Brothers subsidiary. Who knew, but that golden fleece is everywhere!

Started at the Mosque. It was small, and I decided to pass and headed instead for some breakfast and coffee. It was under renovations, which was how it was last time our guide, Sean, was there back in the nineties. Only then, it wasn´t even open to explore the semi-construction site that it is.

To the Cathedral. By the time we left I was done with gold and shiny things. Especially gold and shiny religious things. The place was beyond massive and was filled with artwork. It was actually quite amazing that so much wealth had been accumulated in terms of art and relics and what not in a single place.

Lunch at Sean´s old watering hole, and the group moved on. Alex and Kevin were providing architectural insight, Joel historical significance. It was an excellent group to travel with. We did the El Greco painting after, the Burial of Orgaz. That was really cool. I think the drinking started around then. While we were at the Cathedral, Joel had done a small pub crawl in the surrounding places.

The Jewish Museum was pretty cool, though I was hoping to find a living congregation of sephardic jews, and try to arrange a shabbat dinner. Apparently, most of the spanish jews are long gone, or no longer jews.

Saw some more sites, took a cascading set of escalators, saw the chains of prisoners and hopped back on the bus.

We arrived in Madrid, and met with Maureen, Emily, and Shiva at Puerta del Sol. That in itself is a miracle, considering all the construction - although I suppose it limits movement to two many paths.

The bebida consumption began immediately back in what we had previously nicknamed Plaza de Pantalones Cortes. You can find it on a map titled Plaza de Sta. Ana, or by searching the Hotel ME by Melia.

But the food was apparently expensive, so we set off for a tapas place. It was excellent. Let me repeat that. It was excellent. Sangria in abundance, and more. Then there were the tapas. We had a thing with goat cheese. It was awesome. We had another thing with smoked salmon. It was awesome! In fact the concept of a meal without ham was pretty much awesome enough unto itself.

I shared a well prepared steak for 2 with Diogo, and ended our visit to that establishment with a shot of something apple-y. And it was after dinner that we hit the higlight of the evening, the only cultural establishment for us in Madrid, El Museo de Jamon! It was Joel´s favorite place. I have to admit, drinking euro beers in the butcher shop is an entirely new experience. As is watching Shiva try to pick up girls by telling them that he has Gripe-A!

There may have been more, but it's all a little fuzzy at the moment. I know we went somewhere close to Hotel ME after being denied access to the roof, and from there Shiva disappeared and Diogo as well. Then it was Chocolate and Churros to end the night, a cab back, and early sleep (it was only two by the time we arrived. The Vigilante was out cold, and we had to wake him up. He apparently was not pleased at all.

I woke up with a bladder so full, I was afraid to remove myself from bed. By 9AM I was downstairs at breakfast, and ready to end my time here at Universidad Francisco de Vitoria.

To end it all, we woke up and there was a wet parking lot, and apparently a rainbow early this morning, which I missed. The rain in spain really does fall on the plain, after all. ç

Quote of the morning: Jenn talking about her cereal which can only be described as chocolate balls, ''I overmilked my cereal.''

What Country are we in?

Spain

Ole!

Airport trip and a night in Madrid

Morning:
I was scheduled to take Thammatat, my last student on my hall, to the airport this morning. We sat in the taxi, and arrived less than an hour after leaving. Checked his bags, and I sent him through security. Thammatat looked up at the board, walked left, walked right, looked some more. Finally turned and waived, grinned at me, and headed off towards somewhere. I began my wait for his flight to depart. There is nothing to do in the Madrid airport, at least outside of security. I tried to purchase a coke from a vending machine, but it never came. The manager of a cafe gave me one though. I walked back and forth. Finally, as it got close to his departure, I made my way towards the metro to wait. It was "final boarding call" forever, approximately an entire hour.

I took off once the flight cleared the board, and headed towards salamanca street. I heard there are some places there I wanted to check out. Oops. That was supposed to be an area called Salamanca. The street itself is somewhere up north, not a particularly interesting neighborhood. I did however find a place, and get the menu of the day. First course, Gazpacho. Second, Fish. I thought it was going to not be fried. I was very wrong. Third course, Flan. I asked for a cup of wine. She left the bottle, I clarified, I want only a cup. Drink as much as you want the waittress told me. It was to early for that, so I ordered a pitcher of tap water.

Found the streets I was looking for, found the perfect linen pants. Just formal enough, but just informal enough as well. Also, just a little big for me. I asked about alteration - but the guy helping me said unfortunately, that would put the back pockets on top of one another. Alas. We checked the system to see if any other stores in Madrid, and Spain have them. None in the computer. They were Ermengildo Zegna, white, linen. Very comfortable. So, when I got back, I looked up the other stores, and emailed them to check just in case the wrong sizes are in the system. I am hoping that they can find them, they were awesome.

On the way back, I got an email, and purchased additional facemasks. I then returned in time to meet Devon - Nick's replacement, and be sent on a salad purchasing errand for which Joel came along. We stopped to chat with his friend at the Mercadora, and had a nice Tapas with Anchovies. I also donated my own veggies to the salad upon returning. I had a lovely large salad as my first plate for dinner which was stupendous. It didn't even have any ham in it.

Night:
After a "surprise" pizza party, and a staff meeting where we were asked our plans should the site hypothetically close, 4 of us took off for Madrid. Shiva, Anabelle, Rachael and I caught the last bus which didn't go where we needed it. Luckily, the driver was nice, and took us to a station after he finished the route. We took light rail into Madrid from there. Again, last train, so no time to buy tickets. Luckily, we were able to buy the tickets upon arrival, and avoid any hassle and fine.

Once we arrived in Plaza del Sol, we couldn't decide what to do. I didn't want to pay a cover charge, as many of you know, I am morally opposed to paying cover charges on a number of grounds. I haven't once had a club where I left feeling like I would gladly give them money to gain access to their facilities again.

We found some places that offered welcome shots, which most likely explains my upset stomach. Sometimes they were mixed drinks, which were very sweet. Shiva, in his usual outgoing manner, met a few people, and I danced by myself most of the time. In the Plaza De St. Ana, Shiva was practicing his spanish with three girls from spain. He decided to tell them all about our little epidemic. After that, they gave us a lot of space, which was nice, since I had the whole rail to sit on by myself in that case.

We went to Sol y Sombra, which wasn't very exciting this evening. Hotel ME was closed - I was hoping for a nighttime view of Madrid city lights. Then we ran into the pub crawl people, who were also kind of boring. I took some pictures for them climbing all over a statue with their phones, and we parted ways until Shiva befriended a group looking to go Flamenco or Salsa dancing. I was excited about seeing some salsa and flamenco, until I realized that they didn't have a destination, just a desire. We ended up back at Joy, where we had left the girls the night before. One of the guys in the group had sandals, and the group couldn't go in. We bid them farewell, and went for chocolate and churros until the time we planned to meet the girls.

Caught a taxi right in front of the club, and came straight here. Nothing spectacular, but had a good time without spending significant money on anything.

A day in Madrid, a last party, and some good conversation

It was cold this morning. After a late start, and one of the better breakfasts (chocolate croissant), I headed into Madrid along with the students. Our first stop was the Palace, where I became the personal banker for CTY. They weren´t equipped with currency, and so I lent them the necessary funds to cover the entry for most of the students - thus leaving me broke.

I already had seen the Palace last week with Ryan, and so I meandered through not paying as close attention, instead focusing more on not losing anyone. Success on that front, and we moved on to the park where the kids had lunch.

I feel like I learned such good manners in Morocco. When I sat on the bench, there was already someone there. I offered him the bag of chips that came in the lunch, similar to how you always shared food on the train in Morocco. It creates a nice community atmosphere. He declined, and I ate my sandwich.

I then asked Jenn if we could do the churros, and she seemed fine with it, but wanted to know if we could be accomodated. I grabbed Ryan, and we quickly walked to the place we had been last week, and set it up with them.

Classic CTY, no previous planning.

We brought the kids in, and frankly, the churros were not their best. Not quite hot enough, but still tasty. When the bill came I reasoned with him in my broken spanish, and he picked up the bill for two of us since we just brought them a bunch of business. I attempted to get them to cover the whole staff, but as I was covered (good since I had no money after lending it all to CTY), I wasn´t going to keep attempting since the others aren´t as confrontational or as willing to ask for things as I am.

Then it was some shopping in the Plaza Mayor. One of our students almost had her stuff broken into, apparently the other students grabbed the woman´s arm - but the two women working the scam made off down a street. We ''shopped'' there, not much as it is a tourist trap for about 20 minutes, and then headed to La Reina Sophia. On the way, we stopped in Plaza Del Sol, and the kids were able to shop a bit more. It was a waste of time, to much time to just hang out, to little to actually look at more than a single store.

Moving on we went in a very circular route to La Reina Sophia. The temporary exhibition was not thrilling at all. Guernica was pretty huge, and pretty cool, and the dali collection wasn´t to shabby, but also not particularly thrilling. I finished what I wanted to see, found three students down in the courtyard who were thirsty, and agreed to take them to Starbucks. I thought it was by the book. They were accompanied, we were back in time, I made the executive decision that we could make this small move without casuing harm, putting anyone in danger, and make it a better experience for a few students. I thought it was all about the students...

I took the students across the plaza (we didn´t even cross any streets) and returned before the meeting time. I was told much later when we returned to campus that it was not ok. Apparently there were students roaming the plaza in front of La Reina Sophia. I am not sure how those roaming students were my responsibility, as I was only required to be at the meeting place not guarding the doors. It was a very stressful day for some of the staff, but I found that if I just rolled with things, it was fine.

Got back, and met the Nick replacement.

I was missing a student at dinner, and on the way got sidetracked for about ten minutes with origami. I made a quick crane, and saw a really cool ball that I want to learn how to do.

Dinner was undescribable. I really have no idea what I ate. I sat with Alexandra, and another CTY Espana student who was from the states. Alexandra I found out is Swedish and Peruvian and heading to Oxford. The conversation was really nice. One mentioned wanting to be a banker, and so I told them both about Mergers and Inquisitions and later showed her the Damn it Feels Good to be a Banker video on youtube. She seemed to enjoy them both, hopefully they are helpful. If I remember, I will have to recommend the book as well.

Afterwards we had a party, inviting the kids to donate their food they had purchased in anticipation of the coming week. Music was not great, mostly because of a poor quality sound system set up. Kristin, another RA, explained some of the traditions of CTY with regard to the final song, American Pie. It´s apparently an integral part of every CTY dance, and epitomizes the whole experience.

For a camp being shut down because of an H1N1 epidemic, things are reasonably calm here and the students are in surprisingly good spirits.

And I thought the thing at Swarthmore was original work...

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Hanging by the skin of [my] teeth

La Reina Sophia
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Diogo in palacio real

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overlooking madrid

CTY Begins

I arrived on July 2nd, as required, at CTY Madrid where I will be working for the next three weeks in the capacity of an RA. Let me start by saying that this program is wraught with misrepresentation. When I first was given an offer by CTY, I spoke at great length with Katherine Kidd, the director of CTY about the role in Hong Kong. Katherine spoke extensively about how as long as I was prepared, I would be able to spend a lot of time during the day, while classes were going on for the students, exploring the city. After Hong Kong was cancelled and I was switched to Baltimore and then Madrid at the last moment, I continued speaking with her regarding the opportunities to explore Madrid during my free time should it be possible.
The administrative staff here however are not so keen on us leaving the campus, at all. ever. They run a tight ship here, the students can't do anything without an adult present - not even go to a bathroom, an adult has to be outside. I would understand if we were in an urban area, but we aren't. We are in a rural area surrounded by nothing, there is nowhere for them to go - nothing mischevious that could happen. We might as well be in New Jersey. Some of these students are 16 years old. I was traveling alone to the city at that age. They are going with quite a literal translation of complete supervision. It's a recipe for disaster. It's the classic question for college students, if you are to vigilant, then they find alternative less safe means of doing the same things you are trying to prevent. Students who are smart will figure out ways to do things they want, but with the tight supervision, they may put themselves at risk and sneak around. We should be taking a much more hands off approach. oOne learns when every moment of their life is planned, they are just sheep being herded from place to place.
So, the first bit of misrepresentation comes from the website:
"Welcome to CTY’s program in Madrid, Spain—a three-week residential summer program for academically talented high school students in grades 7 and above. Housed at the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, a beautiful, private university located on the outskirts of the city, CTY-Madrid combines the strength of CTY’s summer programs with the benefits of a studying and living in a historically rich and important European capital." - http://cty.jhu.edu/summer/spain/index.html
Already there is a bit of a discrepancy going on - "located on the outskirts of the city" and "studying and living in a historically rich and important european capital." We are on a bus route that comes very infrequently, and it's an hour bus ride to the metro station, plus more time to get from the farthest station into the city itself. This is not the outskirts of the city, it's the country, it is rural.
Second, the promise of opportunity to explore. Keep in mind that many of us paid additional funds out of pocket that will not be reimbursed for the plane ticket here. We wanted to be at CTY Madrid because we wanted to be in Madrid when not working with the students. As Katherine explained to me, it's a great opportunity for the students and the staff. Except, the staff has created a scenario in which the RA's are incapable of traveling into the city on a frequent basis. I have been discussing this at some length during the RA meetings, yet mine is pretty much the only voice to be heard on this matter. We all agree outside of the room that we were worked over, but no one else will say anything. It was drawn quite a bit of attention to myself in the course of these past few days, and I have had little success in changing things as I see reasonable. We are technically free from responsibility for the children directly between breakfast and late afternoon activities. However, they have placed a small task of eating lunch with the kids, not interacting otherwise in the exact middle, breaking a 9 hour exploring opportunity into two very small opportunities, and with the bus system, making it impossible to go off.
I have a sneaking sensation that the other RA's are frustrated at times with me because I am continuing to push this issue, and not cave in. I am Jewish, and I am a New Yorker, when I am told that I am to get something, I expect it to carry through - we are, after all, the generation known for having a sense of entitlement as so many of older generations have pointed out in various instances to myself and others of my generation (we are also the instant gratification generation, which I think is incredibly interesting). Today, one of the administrators accused me of coming to CTY just to explore Spain, that I don't care about the children, and never gave me a chance to let him know that isn't true. Rather, I chose to do CTY because I think it would be a great way to do something great for students, and I chose Spain because I think kids learn best in new places when all their senses are awakened. And I would also of course like to do some exploration.
We will see what happens with the proposed plan that would give us each a day off. Falls short of expectations, and limits our ability to explore together. In my opinion, the program doesn't respect these students at all. Rather, it treats them like babies. If you desire people to respond in an adult manner, you need to give them the chance to and treat them as adults which may include things such as giving them some responsibility. This program doesn't seem to further them in that capacity. I question the pedagogical methods used on the residential side for the students sake.
So, what has happened. Since arriving I have been spending my time mostly in very poorly run meetings. They like to give us sheets of paper, and then read them to us, very slowly. And painfully. Questions aren't generally answered, and there is a loquacious tendency to repeat things that makes it at time excruciating. I don't feel like I know that much more than I did upon arrival having read the RA handbook.
I went out one night in the local area to find somewhere to sit down and get to know my coworkers. The solution we were able to find in walking distance was a chinese restaurant. Not very exciting. Possibly the only summer solution. Then, we had more meetings, and nothing interesting happened until Saturday, when we went to Madrid as a group. The ideas was to familiarize ourselves with the areas that we would be leading tours around. How exciting. We went to the outside of the prada museum, outside of reina sophia, were given some basic information and herded through the city.
After the tour, we could stay in Madrid and so in a moment of brilliance, I invited the two site directors to join us for tapas. I do mean brilliance here in the traditional form, as a positive thing. They accepted and we were off. What a night of fun, sharing stories, drinking wine together, getting plates of different things. We went from cafe to cafe, witnessing Madrid, doing Madrid. For about 7 hours we enjoyed their company, we being Diogo Shiva and myself and Ryan and Nick for the earlier hour or two.
At some point I went to the toilette, and when I returned, they had launched into Never Have I Ever while I was gone. I wasn't expecting to learn so much about my site directors, and the conversation turned to stories of past travels and other experiences.
At around 11:30, the two directors caught a taxi home and Diogo, Shiva and I went to find a pub or something for a bit more. We ran into some friends of Shiva that he met in Prague, and bumped into a group that does pub crawls in various cities around the country. Not my thing, it was mostly Americans at it. I would prefer to meet locales, practice my spanish and enjoy it. Sadly, I was probably the most qualified spanish speaker at that point. Diogo can speak some and understand, but he grew up with Portugues. Shiva's spanish has become a sort of project for the group, as he quickly learns to put together sentences and build his vocabulary. I successfully returned us home around 3, and promptly fell asleep after making a phone call on skype.
More meetings today, and preparation. CTY Espana, run here as well, just had their students arrive.

Looking over Madrid

From hotel ME in Plaza Santa Ana
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Curvy madrid streets

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Post office in madrid

Nice.
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Algeciras to Madrid

(Written 6pm July 2nd, 2009)

I am sitting on the train en route from Algeciras to Madrid. I am surrounded by a sea of green and a backdrop of blueish mountains in the distance. The green is almost wholly olive grees, with the only variance being those groves that are aligned perfectly, and those that are more chaotic. Whitewashed houses speckle the horizon, and the occasional town in the distance. In the beginning, we traveled through the mountains, through tunnels and along beautiful gorges. I kept falling asleep - so I went and had an espresso. Now we seem to be in a large valley heading in the direction of Cordoba. The train itself is quite comfortable, I have no one next to me, and teh snack car is one train up. I rarely feel any vibrations from the tracks, and the cars are exceptionally clean. Amtrak should try modeling their service off of these punctual and clean trains with friendly staff. It might turn around the use of trains in America which seems to have declined rapidly over time.

I am surprised how much spanish I remember when I need, although the phrases are gone - but the vocab remains. I am pleased to say I have received a few compliments on my spanish. Of course, grammar is another story. But I can get the point, even if I implicate myself in the same conversation as being a he, a she, and a we (el, ella, nosotros). I am sure with time it will get more focused.

I wish I had my camera ready, on the left, I just glimpsed a beautiful little white washed town flowing over a hill and into a valley of olive grees and grapes. On the top of a steep mountain overlooking the town was a beautiful castle.

As I mentioned in my blackberry post, I met a very nice family on the ferry also traveling to spain (I guess that is rather obvious as we were on the ferry to spain). We chatted about other adventures and far off lands. They live in Ohio, but the mother was born in Morocco, and kept a house in Casablanca. They were kind enough to give me their numbers so that should I be in casablanca again, or Ohio, I can stay by them. I shared my information as well, should they be in the city (for those confused about the concept of "A city" and "THE city", please speak with a New Yorker, any resident of "THE city") I can give them some ideas of places to explore.
In the station, after a sidewalk lunch, and some clothes shopping (unsuccessful, no linen shirts to be found), I met a mom and daughter traveling together also waiting for a train (they tried to book a hostel using my blackberry, but the final page wouldn't load, unfortunately). They had gone into Morocco for a few days, and were on their way back into Spain. The daughter, just finished university, and is planning to teach biology. The mom now lives in Costa Rica, and we chatted about the American School. Perhaps a sign since less than 24 hours before, while letting Genna take some time to explore the different bag options, Susannah and I threw around some ideas for our respective futures, and the American School came up as a method of exloring new international locales, while working at the same time.

How it came to be that I ended up packing at the moment for a trip to the Mediterannean

I was originally scheduled to work with children in Hong Kong this summer. I have never been to Asia, and so I scheduled some time after the trip to explore Japan as well. All was going well until I received a mysterious phone call. I recognized the number as my employer in Hong Kong, answered, and was told, sorry wrong number. pause. "we'll call you later."

Strange I thought, and then I moved on with what I was doing.

Later that afternoon I called the office with another question relating to an airport pick up and the main person got on and started to apologize for earlier, and then started to explain.

Hong Kong site has been canceled she told me. I was shocked, dismayed, and very sad.

What are the options I asked at the end of our conversation. All of the staff are being re-evaluated I was told for other placement. Are any international positions open I inquired. No, I was told - only domestic.

I later wrote an email thanking her for taking the time to explain things, answer my questions, and also to reiterate that I am still working for the organization. I also emphasized that I would really like to work at an international site. She responded that it would be very unlikely a position would open up.

Soon after I was offered a position in Baltimore where I could work both sessions with the students. I agreed, and the paperwork began. I emailed again reminding them that I was still available and very interested in working abroad, I also thanked them for finding me an opportunity domestic at the same time.

Then, I got a phone call. Apparently, the Madrid director walked into the director's office. We have a problem they said, someone dropped. Give me five minutes said the director.

I was her solution. I accepted immediately.

I will be in Madrid for most of July working with the students.

Not just Madrid:

I booked my ticket to arrive in Casablanca, Morocco. In one week I will have both feet planted firmly on the streets of North Africa, of this I remain amazed. From there it is only important that I arrive in Madrid by July 2nd. After the program ends, I will stay in Europe and explore for a month, returning from Istanbul to New York August 26th.

The journey from Madrid to Istanbul is the adventure, and I hope to share it with you through this journal of my experiences.