La vida madrileña

Madrid surpassed everything I expected it to be.

I flew from Sioux Falls to Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Madrid with a few hours in between each flight. While travel is draining, there were several highlights. I enjoyed the long flight across the Atlantic, watching three films and a few tv shows on my personal viewing screen. The Amsterdam airport was filled with people speaking Dutch, and I loved it so much. The flight attendents were blonde and adorable and gave us Dutch snacks in Delft print packages. Such a delight.

When I arrived in Madrid, I made my way to the baggage claim and gathered up my suitcases. After walking clear across the airport, I changed my money to euros and met up with my group. Heidi, one of our directors, quickly found me and welcome me in Spanish. I met seven of my classmates, all girls, and we waited for a bus to come and take us to the hotel.

Our hotel was named NH Nacional Hotel and was amazing. I roomed with Matteo, my future roommate in Malaga, and Felipe, a guy from Dubuque, Iowa. Two things--I am giving everyone on my study abroad nicknames and there are 5 of the 30 people doing ISA Malaga are from Iowa. Their names are actually Matt and Phil. We marveled at the gorgeous view, spacious bathroom, and curious bedet.

That night we had a driving tour of the city courtesy of our native ISA director, Rrrrraquel, but I kept falling asleep. Madrid is beautiful and fascinating--definitely a European city with an international feel. At times I felt that it was remeniscient of Manhattan--at other times it was a completely new experience. Please take a look at my photos of Madrid--it was absolutely breathtaking. We had dinner at a little cerveceria around 8:30 or so and then headed back to the hotel for the night.

I think I should clarify a few things for people unfamiliar with the Spanish schedule. Spanish people live their lives around the sun. They eat desayuno (breakfast) after the sun rises--at 9 or 10, and then eat a huge comida (lunch) around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. After comida they take a siesta. During this time, most of the stores are closed. Around 4 or 5 the stores reopen. Spanish people do not eat dinner until 9 or 10 at night. The sun does not fully set here until about 9:30-10:00 so daylight goes forever. After a few days, I am totally used to this schedule and actually prefer it.

Also, I will probably write about going to a lot of bars and cervecerias. In Spain, they really do not have places that just sell food or just sell alcohol. The Spanish bar is a place where you go to get tapas (little meals) and talk with friends. I think this clarification is important so that no one thinks I have become an alcoholic while abroad.

On Domingo we got up and had a delicious breakfast at the hotel before walking to the Museo del Prado. Tragically, we could not take pictures inside, but I go to see paintings by El Greco, Velazquez, and Goya, three famous painters of Spain. Thank you CivArts and Dr. Munson. I loved getting to see Las Meninas, Saturno, and many other famous works, as well as understanding most of what our excellent tour guide said.

After a break for lunch and having some montaditos at the cerviceria, we visited el Palacio Real, the royal palace of Spain with more than 2000 rooms. We only saw a handful of these rooms, but it was so chic. Each room had a different purpose and type of decoration. There was a throne room, a room for lunch, a room for dinner, a room for drinking, a room for drugs, etc. The palace also have 5 Stradivarius instruments. If you know what that means, you are impressed.

We had the afternoon off, so we took are time walking back from the Palacio, heading through the Plaza Mayor and the Plaza del Sol. Felipe, Rubia, Pedro, Alejandro, and I found a little back-alley cafe where we enjoyed delicious paella with gambas and conejo (shrimp and rabbit). Paella is my favorite Spanish food so far--it is basically just rice with meat on it and generally it is a dish that you share. We spent almost two hours there--Spanish meals are meant to be leisurely endeavors, and you have to be aggressive when asking for the check. The mesero (waiter) will not bring it until you get his attention and forcefully demand "la cuenta, por favor!" On a positive note, tipping is uncommon, and if you tip more than one euro per twenty euro bill, it is considered very strange.

After lunch, I went with Alejandro, Pedro, and Rubia to el Jardin Botanico. The gardens are really beautiful, and we took some fun pictures. Afterwards, everyone got dressed up, and we went back to my favorite Cerviceria 100 Mondaditos for two euro jarras of sangria. Then we found another little cafe and enjoyed each others company. I had a wonderful conversation with a girl named Helen (no nickname yet!) who encouraged me to try the "dos besos" wherever I go. "Dos besos" is the customary girl-girl and guy-girl greeting in Spain where you touch cheeks and air-kiss on each side. It is far more natural that it might seem.

I headed back to the hotel afterwards and decided to get some sleep before heading to Toledo the next day. Life is beautiful.


Click here for photos!

I need a time machine

If only I had been born 25 years earlier...

I know that in a previous blog entry I claimed Kristen Wiig as my wife. However, if I had been born a at least ten or fifteen years earlier, I would be chasing a different woman. And her name is Vanessa Williams.

Vanessa Williams joins Heidi Klum and Beyonce in the trifecta of the world's three most attractive women. Interestingly, they are respectively in their 40's, 30's, and 20's. But no one is counting. Amongst the three stars, Vanessa stands out as having maturity and experience, having excelled in a variety of venues.

I first became aware of the wonder of Vanessa by watching Ugly Betty. Vanessa plays Wilhelmina Slater, a conniving, heartless woman who dominates the fashion magazine Mode and makes life miserable for everyone around her. She is fantastic. Her look is always flawless and her fashion cutting edge. As Wilhelmina faces each setback and manipulates her way back to the top, her lioness attitude and stylistic perfection make the show really shine.

Vanessa does not look like a woman of 47. Ugly Betty jokes about all of her supposed botox and plastic surgery, but she looks normal and can actually move her face. Furthermore, she always looks good and has maintained a level of fitness few manage to attain. I love it.

Four years before I was born, in 1984, Vanessa became the first African American Miss America. She soon received death threats and hate mail, another first for the Miss America pageant. Like the star she is, Vanessa ignored that mail and continued on with her life.

However, a controversy soon followed. A few months into her reign as Miss America, nude photos surfaced Vanessa Williams and Penthouse published them. Vanessa stepped down as Miss America after receiving pressure from the pageant officials. The photos themselves were taken in 1984, but Vanessa never signed a release for them. A photographer had convinced Vanessa to pose nude "artistically."

Never ever take nude photos of yourself. Do not record yourself on film in any way. They will surface and they will embarrass you. Nude photos are always a stupid idea.

Although she initially tried to sue the photographer and Penthouse, Vanessa eventually decided to be the classier person saying, "The best revenge is success." She went on to record several hit albums, star in films like Soul Food and Eraser, and most recently dominated Ugly Betty.

I was also excited to hear that Vanessa will be joining the cast of Desperate Housewives in its next season. Since Nicollette Sheridan's character died last season and Dana Delany's character went crazy and then moved away this season, the show needs a fifth regular housewife. Vanessa could bring some of her powerful drama to the show for a much needed face-lift. I cannot wait to see what Vanessa's character's deep secret is--it seems that by now, every housewife has killed someone, saved someone's life, undergone a personal tragedy, covered up their child's horrible action, and gotten in a huge fight with all of the other housewives.

I am guessing that Vanessa is a bit nicer in real life than she is on Ugly Betty. But even if she is not, I still would marry her if the age gap was a bit smaller. After all, Wilhelmina Slater treats her gentlemen on the show much nicer than everyone else.

Maybe I will invent a time machine and go marry Vanessa. Sorry Kristen Wiig.

Hot (mess?)

Only Heidi Klum can look hot all the time.

Regardless of Heidi's activity--walking the runway, buying clothes, mowing the lawn--she always looks great. I am certain that when she wakes up in the morning, she looks good enough to be shot for the cover of any fashion magazine. When Heidi is pregnant (and that seems to be constantly), she somehow looks even more beautiful. Amazing.

However, the rest of us have to deal with the fact that we will not look hot every day. Hotness requires more than good genes--it also means good hair, skin, and body, stylistically cohesive clothing choices, and proper carriage and attitude. It is something that must be pursued daily--one day's achievements or failings have no bearing on the next.

I want to clarify something before you think I am as shallow as a Hills cast member. When I say "hot," I do not mean beautiful. Beauty is something intrinsic to all things that God has created because they reflect His beauty. Hotness is a quality created by the human fashion industry and culture. All people are beautiful and infinitely valuable--however, not all people are hot.

As an alternative to hotness, we have the hot mess. Urban dictionary defines hot mess as a situation "When one's thoughts or appearance are in a state of disarray but they maintain an undeniable attractiveness." The concept of the hot mess has been popularized by pop personalities like Christian Siriano on Project Runway. It is the opposite extreme on the hotness spectrum. Instead of being perfectly put together, a hot mess retains the magnetism despite his or her chaotic appearance or behavior.

To illustrate this concept, let me share my daily routine from past summer. Every day, I rolled out of bed, put on my matching sweatpants and sweatshirt, added a pair of chic black glasses and drove to the swimming. I ate my breakfast of blueberries and oatmeal with Diet Coke and got the cash boxes ready for the day. My sleep and caffeine-deprived brain buzzed at a low frequency and my poor early morning motor control caused me to knock things over a lot. I was a mess--the attention to detail and appearance made me a hot mess.

Later, after teaching a water aerobics class, I headed home and showered. I put in contacts, added high end cologne and moisturizers, spiked my hair, put on a nice, short swimsuit suit and grabbed my Hospers Swimming Pool zip-up hoodie and aviators. With my spinach and hard-boiled egg salad and iced coffee in my bag, I headed back to work. By the time I arrived at the pool, my brain was high functioning, and I quickly took control of the situation. Hotness achieved.

One star who regularly demonstrates the hot/hot mess paradox is Britney Spears. Britney is consistently hot in her music videos. She looks great, wears the right clothes, and has an appeal rivaled by few. However, in her personal life, Britney is such a hot mess. She pulls up to the KFC drive-through in her perfect SUV and perfect clothing and then gets a tub of chicken to stuff her perfect face. She shaves her head. She attacks paparazzi with designer umbrellas. Hot mess!

Hot is better than hot mess, but hot mess shows that you are at least trying. It is better to shoot for hot and stumble into hot mess than to only achieve the mundane.

Always be hot or a hot mess--never anything in between.