Hell Week: Madrid Edition
- Natalie Penry
- Jun 19, 2022
- 5 min read
Cue the Hallelujah Chorus because the heat wave has broken!! As I write this, it is a chilly 78 degrees here in Madrid. I may even need to use a blanket tonight.
And we are more than halfway done with the Iberian Peninsula! What a week. For those who read my last couple of posts, you’ll know that this week was a scheduling masterclass, with several workshops, tours, and excursions planned each day - not to forget midterms in both of my courses at the University! Couple that with the uncharacteristically high temps and UV indexes, and you truly get Hell Week: Madrid Edition.
As every theater kid knows, Hell Week isn’t *truly* damning, it’s simply a ridiculously long week that pushes your limits in every way. And much like El Bosco’s “Jardín de las Delicias Terrenales,” you typically find that Edén, Utopia, and Infierno are linked closer than you think.
MONDAY
Monday’s mini excursion took us to El Palacio Real (The Royal Palace). While the Royal Family doesn’t typically spend their time there, it’s a gorgeous building to walk through and transport yourself back a few centuries. Personally, I don’t think I’m a fan of their interior designers because Carlos III kept his walls busy, but anything to augment the bougie factor I guess! The Palace doesn’t allow photographs past the first two rooms, but if you ever find yourself in Madrid, the Stradivarius collection and the Throne Room were personal favorites of mine!
Tuesday
Last week saw us tackle Latin Rhythms; this week, we took on Flamenco! Although the class was only 90 minutes, Profe Teresa was really throwing the choreography at us. Her words of wisdom: “You cannot learn flamenco in one class chicos.” Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that we learned Flamenco for Tourists…I’m sure my parents will be glad to know that 10+ years of dance classes didn’t go to waste - Flamenco incorporates a lot of tap-like stomping/footwork, as well as “ballet arms”. Teresa even complimented me on my dance skills :)
Wednesday
Every day this week was hot, but it felt particularly aggressive on Wednesday. After powering through my Art midterm (quiz me on Spanish art from 1100s-1700s I got this), Liz and I joined the rest of the program at Museo Nacional Reina Sofia, colloquially referred to as the Reina Sofia. This is a contemporary art museo, as opposed to the more classic Prado art. Built at the site of the former General Hospital of Madrid, Reina Sofia is a sprawling museum you could spend days perusing. Since we were limited to a couple of hours, we naturally sought out a couple of standout pieces, but there were also some surprisingly touching exhibits. And, as is becoming typical, pictures were discouraged inside most rooms of the museum.
Two of the more well-known pieces we saw were Guernica (Picasso) and Dalí. Guernica is one of those pieces that you can study for years in a classroom setting and not truly appreciate until you’re staring at it face-to-face. The enormity, the composition, the contrast - it doesn’t sing as loudly on paper. Dalí is already known for his unique style, but I was able to identify and appreciate how his art matches up with that of El Greco, one of the artists we covered in class. Both have the ultra-stylized, elongated manierismo feel.
The exhibit that truly spoke to me covered political commentary. All roads truly lead back to Chile, as I stumbled across a room dedicated to La Dictadura & Los Desaparecidos. I’ve been to the Museum of Memory and Human Rights in Santiago and I’ve talked to people who lived through Pinochet’s rule - it never gets easy to process. When you stand in a room, staring at homemade posters and signs that represent the Desaparecidos, it’s impossible to not be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of silence, the number of unanswered questions that hang over the lives of those left behind.
Thursday
For anyone who may have missed it, I actually did a mini-vlog for Thursday, which you can access here:
Another day, another midterm! This was a less stressful event, covering the first few lessons of my Culture & Society class. I made another trip to El Prado for art class (only one more!) and tried my best to avoid melting in the heat.
The real high of the day came from Tapas class, although it could easily be renamed “Spanish Cooking 101.” Through an extracurricular program, I helped my classmates prepare paella, tortilla española, gazpacho, and torta de Santiago. I’ve made a lot of progress on the picky-eater-abroad thing and actually tried all the food, though the gazpacho caused a visibly unhappy reaction. Not for me…Still, a really fun way to spend the afternoon before heading back to the apartment for food made by an *actual* Spanish chef, Host Mom Pilar.
FRIDAY
The last mandatory excursion of the trip! The Purdue contingent headed to Segovia on Friday morning and spent the day walking around the little city. Honestly, Segovia is a sleepy city. There’s not much to her aside from the Roman aqueduct and Gothic church, but in a way, that was incredibly refreshing. Despite living in the more residential area of Madrid, I find that the urban environment is especially draining in a no-AC-heat-wave situation. We did visit a “special church” of the Knights Templar, where we supposedly could feel the Earth’s magnetic energy interacting with our own. Call me a skeptic, because not even my love of Dan Brown books/movies was enough to convince me that I felt anything other than tired! Regardless, the church itself was in stark contrast to the Gothic one we’d visited earlier, and I rather enjoyed the relative isolation of this one.
In true party animal fashion, Liz and I spent Friday night recharging at home.
SATURDAY
This was a low-key weekend in general. Host Mom Pilar had some family visiting, so Liz and I spent most of the day hiding from the heat in various places like the gym and La Doña. There was talk of visiting a public pool, but the unfriendly UV index scared me away. No reason to test the Water Babies sunscreen that much, right?
We also got to have dinner with our host mom's daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter! Both very nice, but very tired from having a toddler in the midst of a Madrid summer...
SUNDAY
That brings us to today! Liz and I spent the morning shopping before our lunch reservations at Bar La Gloria. Apparently, Bar La Gloria has the best paella in the city, but I had my hesitations: they make their paella with chicken and rabbit.
I'm still a picky eater, but I swallowed my fear with several bites of rabbit. The paella was indeed delicious, and you can tell the restaurant prides itself on both flavor and atmosphere. It felt like a home-cooked meal, down to the IKEA plates. For our lunch postre, Liz and I split a version of Spanish cheesecake which was *so yummy* it completely made up for the eating someone's pet thing.
Also, before lunch, I had a quick call with Dad, who is probably somewhere in the Indianapolis Zoo at the moment. Happy Father's Day Dan! Thanks for supporting me and encouraging me to keep exploring the world :)
The upcoming week is set to be a lot slower and a lot cooler, almost like the eye of the storm. I’ve got two more big adventures planned for this trip - ifykyk - and I’m oh-so-excited to see how they play out.
Have a wonderful week & ciao for now!
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