Los Amantes de Teruel

Friday in grammar we played a trivia game. We had to make up questions using past tense and we went around choosing categories and answering in the past tense. It was a lot of fun, and a great way to end our week. Culture class was really neat. We started with things that we had noticed that were different in Spain that at home. Oddly enough, a lot of the differences had to do with the bathroom, haha. Just that the toilets are smaller, have less water, the lights a lot of times are on the outsiide (that is common for a lot of rooms), etc. However, some others included from the fact that elevators are very small here (which is SO true) and that people are very independent, especially the children. It is normal here to see kids, maybe 10 or 11 riding the metro by themselves in the school in the morning. They also are walking around the streets sometimes by themselves, or with another person. Our main topic, however, was "Los jovenes." This them means "young" in Spanish. Referring to people, it can range from around 16-30 here. We talked alot about the age at which people are staying in their parents homes here. The age has increased since the fall of the dictator Franco (1975) as many people have more educational opportunities than before. This means that they are going to school longer and cannot afford their own place, especially on one salary. The job market is also down here too. That's actually what I ended up doing for my article assignment, is the unemployment (though this summer does look promising for Spaniards). Still, Rosa told us that it is completely normal for people to live with their parents until they are 30. She even has a friend that is 35 and his girlfriend is 32 and they both still live with their parents. She said it's more acceptable now for people like that to live together if they are not married, but there are still many families that are against that. We asked if that was due to religious reasons, but she said that most people here will associate themselves with the Catholic faith, or another Christian faith, but many do not practice. She said it's more due to what other people will say. She also said that the normal marrying age is 30 here. If people get married at 25, it is "Oh my gosh! Crazy! How young!" We explained to her that people tend to get married younger in the South in the US but it is a little older in the North, or can be. She has been married for a bout a year and her and her husband dated for 11 years! She got married when she was 29. We then asked her about weddings. They do not have bridesmaids or groomsmen. However, they do have equivalents to bachelor/bachelorette parties. They usually last the whole weekend though and a lot of times they make the "novia or novio" dress up in some sort of traditional spanish costume for fun. We actually saw a group of girls in Segovia today celebrating. She said it's because "supposedly" you are leaving your friends for your husband, but she says that's a lie ;). They do, however, have people that sign the wedding certificate which would be the best friend of the bride and the best friend of the groom. These would be honorable positions, but they don't wear anything special or anything. A lot of culture Friday! We also talked about the slang used for younger kids, and just compared things here with home a lot. We really found a lot more similarities than differences. I truly do not feel prepared clothes-wise. The younger people hear dress very fashionably, flashy, and really wear a lot of things we wear at home, including jeans, all the time! We were told to only bring one pair as they don't really wear them over here. We look a bit like the older generation. O pues. After school, we came home for a bit of a rest before El Museo Del Prado. I thought I had understood from our Madre that she was going to make us sandwiches for lunch as it would be a small amount of time between her getting home and our leaving, but I was mistaken. That was the only time I got a bit stressed, was because she was cooking us a full lunch that we were able to eat at 3:00 and we had to be across town by 3:45 to a place we had never been. Still, we made it exactly on time and most of our group was late anyways. El Museo Del Prado is basically the classical art museum in Spain. It has the famous painting of Velazquez- "Las Meninas" as well as others of his works, along with Goya, Rembrandt, and many many others. One of my favorites was "Los Amantes de Teruel" by Munez Degran. It depicts the two lovers in the Spanish version of Romeo and Juliet, lovers from Teruel. I could've spent all day in there. There were some phenomenal paintings and sculptures. One head of a sculpture was even dated BC! I started with a group but of course was taking too long so I just kind of wandered and did my own thing so I could read and see what I wanted to. After my back couldn't take anymore (after about 2 1/2 hours) I decided to catch up with my group who was just about to leave too. As I walked out the door, however, I realized I did not have my red cardigan I had just bought at home. I ran back to the bathroom, knowing I left it on the hook inside the door, but it was not there. I checked with the desk and the lost and found but my "sueter rojo" was no where to be found. It ruined my next thirty minutes or so, but oh well, what can ya do. Next, we went looking for churros again, but everything was full so some people went and had a little food, and I chilled with them and had a coke, but then headed back for dinner. Everyone was really tired, as many had stayed out late the night before, so we all stayed in pretty much last night. I had a very nice skype chat with my Corrie Sue. It was so good to talk to/see someone from home :). Then, however, the boys came to our stop looking for the ice cream place we had been, so we took them as well as one of the girls, Nikki, from the US too and enjoyed some incredible ice cream outside. Then we went to bed to rest up for Segovia today! Just wait for that adventure! It was so nice to just relax and hang out with people, I really like getting to know everyone. I am feeling, however, a lack of Spanish. Still, I want to be doing something! A lot of them said that next week they want to start only talking in Spanish, but wanted to get their bearings a little, because they are 100 and 200 level, so I'm excited!