London and Recent Adventures

Wow...already only 3 weeks left. I was telling someone the other day that I think it has yet to sink in that I've been in Europe traveling to all of these wonderful cities for a semester. Each place had only been the setting of fairy tales, history books, and literary genius before this point, and somehow I was able to be a part of them! The most recent city visit was to London where I was lucky enough to get to stay with my cousin, Robbie. All Cafferys will be happy to know how wonderful it was to keep the family connection while in Europe!

Here's a little summary of some of the adventures while there:

*A night bus trip from the airport through the already holiday-lit Oxford Street to Robbie's townhouse.

*Watching the extravagant changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

*Surviving a weekend in another country without cell phone access (not something I'd recommend, but I did get to know the fun red pay phones very well)

*Visiting Hamley's Toy Store packed with children and parents looking at the newest Christmas goodies

*Window shopping down Regent Street, Savile Row, and Soho (Carnaby Street)

*Taking the London Eye (humongous Ferris Wheel) to the best view of the city!

*Visiting Abbey Road, complete with taking a picture of crossing the street-this was a little dangerous, as it was a busier street than expected!

*Hilarious tour guides on a double-decker red bus, and later a river tour down the Thames

*Riding the famous Tube and receiving the polite reminder to "Mind the Gap"

*Visiting Parliament, Big Ben, London Bridge, and Globe Theatre

Needless to say, it was a wonderful trip!

Here are the facebook albums which you should be able to see with or without a facebook account by using these links:

First Album

Second Album

Later that week I had the pleasure of cooking dinner with Meghan, Amy, and Caroline for our Spain Thanksgiving dinner for our host families. Menu items included turkey, pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, chocolate chip cookies, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, and more. None of us could believe we were making our first Thanksgiving meal away from home (we felt very grown up). We also managed not to burn the kitchen down...it actually turned out absolutely delicious! The actual meal was as much fun as the two evenings of cooking as we explained the Thanksgiving tradition to our host families, went around and said what we were most thankful for, and of course enjoyed the profit of our work.

The next day I had two friends visiting from BC: Will, who is studying in Barcelona this semester, and Scott, who ventured to Europe from Boston for the week around Spain and Northern Africa. It was wonderful to show them around the city and even experience some neighborhoods I had never visited before while looking for the best tapas restaurants and cut-throughs between historic sights. Some highlights included: visiting the three biggest museums of Madrid-Museo del Prado, Reina Sofia, y Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, visiting the streets of El Rastro (open-air Sunday morning market that goes for blocks and blocks), and attending a Flamenco show and later spanish salsa club.

Also this weekend, we took another BC sponsored trip to a beautiful old palace named El Escorial and later, Valle de los Caídos. The latter was extremely interesting because this weekend was the anniversary of Francisco Franco's death-leader of the oppressive government in Spain that only ended in 1977. As a result, there were many people there to attend mass in the humongous monument/Basilica. It was very interesting to be in a Catholic church that had been used as negative propoganda for such a long time. 

This weekend I'll be going to Portugal with Meghan, Amy, Meghan's mom and her best friend. It should be absolutely beautiful and will mark the last trip I have while in Europe!

Un abrazo y muchos besos (A hug and many kisses),

Clare

Paris, Democrats Abroad, Cordoba and Granada

Hello family and friends!

Here is another crazy-packed entry with my activities the past few weeks. I can't believe how much has occurred! If you have access to facebook, that's been the easiest way to put up pictures and I already have too many albums up on that site. Let me know if you don't have facebook/ or know someone with it and I can try to send you some links.

 After the Rome trip, I spent two very nice and comparatively quiet weekends in Madrid with friends and my host family. The following weekend, my amazing friend from Charlottesville, Emily Wheat, and I were able to meet up in Paris (que romántico)! Here are some highlights:

*Very political Frenchmen (every single one that we met) who were sure to share their opinion about why Emily and I should vote for Obama, if we hadn't already.

*Emily and I eating some wonderful meals on the quaint streets of Paris, able to catch up on our respective abroad experiences and look back to memories from high school.

*Visiting the top of the Eiffel Tower the first night. I was in shock at the beauty and size of this structure that I had read and heard so much about!

*Checking out Moulin Rouge while enjoying our freshly made crepes.

*Seeing the incredible Notre Dame at night and on Sunday morning for mass. 

*Walking the Champ d' Elysees with Emily and her friend from William and Mary, Stacey.

*Emily made a wonderful nerdy-english major walking tour, which brought us to several homes of Ernest Hemingway over his years in Paris and the historic Shakespeare and Company book shop.

*Climbing up to the beautiful Sacre-Ceur church to witness a gorgeous nighttime view of Paris

*Finding the stereotype of arrogant Parisians not to be true

Overall, it was an amazing trip, and it was so wonderful to enjoy it with a friend who also appreciated the beauty and fun.

In case I was in danger getting too much sleep (apparently not a possibility in Europe for me), two days after coming back from Paris, the Democrats Abroad program held a huge bash for any American citizens abroad on Super Tuesday (which really became Super Wednesday for us). Below is a more eloquent article from my friend Caroline that she wrote for the BC Heights about the experience.

It was so wonderful to be with Americans of all ages, from many different states celebrating the election night. There were people from both parties there, as there was no big party that we knew of for Republicans Abroad. Unfortunately, as I had class the next morning at 8am, I wasn't able to stay for the final result, but got pretty close, and received a call at approx. 5am from my mom telling me about the new president!

This past weekend the group from BC in Madrid went to visit Cordoba and Granada to witness some of the most gorgeous Arabic artwork and architecture. We enjoyed getting to experience the cities in a different way than usual, with some formal education included from our BC professor. 

While there we were able to partake in some traditional cultural activities of the Andaluz region such as: Turkish baths (a sauna with baths of different temperatures), delicious traditional meals, and a Flamenco show in the historic caves of the gypsies.

This week I'm trying to accomplish as much work as possible while getting ready to visit my cousin Robbie in London. Schoolwork is starting to heat up as we get closer to final exams.

I feel very disconnected from US life these days, with the exception of some pretty funny stories from Chris and my family, but I'm glad to hear that gas prices have dropped considerably! It seems that it's already only about 4 weeks until I head back to the US, so I'm trying to soak up every single moment!

Rome and Madrid Sporting Events

Here I go again, procrastinating on updates! But once again, what an amazing few weeks it has been.

The week after Ireland I was so lucky to have Chris come a visit me here in Madrid (my boyfriend, for those of you who haven't met him). He's been working very hard in Charlottesville, so I was extremely excited to be able to get to spend some time with him. During the week in Madrid we spent some time visiting some of the need-to-see Madrid sights such as Plaza del Sol, the Basilica, Royal Palace and Cathedral, rowboats en el parque Retiro and visited some great restaurants where we enjoyed local tapas. We also took a cheesy bus tour called MadridVision, which I needed to take for a class, and ended up being quite fun and informative!

Roma-The weekend Chris was here we traveled to Rome together. What an amazing city.

Friday we spent touring the Vatican including Saint Peter's Cathedral, the Sistine Chapel, and basically the entire small country of the Vatican (yes, it is it's own country, passports and all!). That evening, as with the rest, we spent exploring the beautiful streets of Rome and visiting some of the tourist spots in their full glory at night. I especially enjoyed the Trevi fountain. And not to worry, every meal included either pasta, pizza, or gelato...sometimes all three! God bless Italian food.

Saturday we spent exploring the older sections of Rome including ruins, the Colosseum, and the Pantheon. While wandering, we enjoyed watching three separate wedding couples (complete in tux and dress) compete for the best background for their wedding pictures in front of the Colosseum (which turns out not to be difficult, since it's huge!). While exploring, we came upon a Picasso exhibit in a museum which we decided to check out. I was amazed at the diversity in Picasso's work, having only previously seen some of his staple pieces.

Sunday morning was spent at mass....with the pope! In the plaza along with what had to be over 35,000 people we were fortunate enough to possess free tickets to mass (we got them two days before from the Swiss guards in the funniest outfits I've seen in a long time). We were very lucky that this weekend at mass not only was Pope Benedict saying mass, but was canonizing 4 saints! I'm not sure exactly how often this happens, but apparently it was the only time during 2008. There were pilgrimages from the countries of each new saint, including India whose saint was the first canonized for their country! It was quite a remarkable experience and I was especially impressed and thankful for the diversity of languages during the Sign of Peace and in el Papa's (spanish for pope) homily-we counted that he spoke at least 5 languages throughout the mass.

The last day that Chris was in Madrid flew by, but we did get a chance to go out to eat once again and a cute restaurant in the Chueca neighborhood named Bazaar and to the world-renowned modern art museum-El Museo Reina Sofia.

Since then, life slowed down a bit in terms of trips out of the country, but my Spanish Culture and Civilization class did visit Toledo, the precious first capital of Spain. It's known for it's abundance of christian, arabic, and jewish architecture and culture. All three religions were at one point in power in the city.

Somehow the past two weeks ended up being quite a series of Spanish sporting events, which is great because I have been a bit homesick for BC, UVa and Redskins football this time of year.
On Friday the 17th, Meghan, Andrew, and I went to the Madrid Masters Tennis Tournament. Some of the amazing athletes we saw included Federer, the Bryan brothers (US doubles), and Murray. We just missed Nadal's match, much to the disapointment of his future wife, Meghan Gavin.
That Sunday, anyone from the BC program that was interested in going had tickets to a Madrid Bullfight, considered a huge part of the culture of the city and country. I was glad I went to witness the tradition, but it was definitely more gruesome than for what I was prepared. More details about that can be given outside of cyberspace.
This past weekend Meghan and I joined some of our new friends from a bunch of California universities also here in Madrid at a Real Madrid fútbol game. What an experience! The staduim holds a capacity of 78,000 and as far as I could tell, it was full to the brim. To give a comparison, the Redskins stadium that is the biggest in the NFL holds about 92,000 people. The pictures at the top of this entry are from the game.

Well I miss you all! I counted today and there are only 7 weeks left until I'm back in the US, unbelievable.

Love,
Clare

Barcelona, Ireland and more Madrid

To start out, apparently living in Madrid can be as crazy as some of the silly soap operas we watch midday!

Missing abuelo: Our family is very close with a woman named Mamen, and her father (who is 103 years old!) down the street. Mamen also hosts two BC students and we enjoy getting together as families every once in a while. Unfortunately let's see...two weeks ago, we received a phone call at the house from one of students at Mamen's house, Amy, saying that her spanish grandfather was missing! Now, considering his age, he never leaves the house, except to go to church on sundays with his daughter, get a cerveza (beer) on the way back and go straight home. Everyone was worried sick and we literally formed a search party looking for him around the neighborhood and in every restaurant and bar we could find in a mile radius. After calling the police and the only other relative in town, the grandfather came walking back into house, complete with sweater and cane as if nothing had happened. Apparently there had been some dispute earlier in the day, and he refused to tell anyone where he had been.

El Diario: The day before, my spanish sisters were both involved in the equivalent of a less trashy Jerry Springer. They told Meghan and I that they would be on a talk-show and we were already shocked. Elvira and Belen had no idea why they were going on the show but knew that they were going to be used to interview. Apparently, we find as we're watching Elvira live on TV from Mamen's living room, Elvira has a friend whom she grew up with that is living with her boyfriend who has two children by another woman, one of them very sick with leukemia, and refuses to pay any bills. The goal of the host was to have her friend's mom and Elvira (best friend) confront this girl and tell her to leave her boyfriend. Get that? I sure didn't at first! Especially when it was explained in Spanish.

After these two days, Meghan and I pondered whether or not we were actually on some kind of reality show ourselves.

Barcelona=absolutely gorgeous! Friends from BC, Matt, Mike, Sam, Jenny, Caroline, and I explored one of the other biggest --*cities in Spain two weekends ago from now. Highlights included visiting:
*the architecture of Gaudí
*a huge market with fresh seafood, fruit, candy, and everything else one could think of
*attending mass in the Cathedral of Barcelona with at least 10 priests, incense, altar boys, all in the language of Barcelona, Catalán
*two amazing mornings relaxing on the beach, complete with much more nudity than on your average US coast and some amazing, clear, blue ocean
*watching beach volleyball in the Olympic village with helado (ice cream) as the sun went down
*trying to sleep on an overnight train twice, and getting to know each other better in the process
*sampling local tapas with two locals that we met


Ireland:
Probably the most pleasant and effortless trip I will go on while here. Being raised a Sweeney (and Caffery) I felt a bit as though I was going home when arriving in Ireland. I stayed with a wonderful friend from home, Rosemary, to whom I will forevermore be indebted. Her host family let us stay in their beautiful house in the small, charming town of Enniskerry, right outside of Dublin. Again, there's so much to tell later in pictures and stories, but here are a few highlights:

*the first morning we were there, we had some coffree and hot chocolate in a place named Poppies café in downtown Enniskerry (about the size of a very small neighborhood) where Rosemary had been able to get to know the owner, Peter.
*finding an adorable restuarant named Quay's in the Templebar area of Dublin for a filling meal and some Irish music-"Galway Girl" was what was playing as we walked up the stairs to our seats
*going to get my "first proper pint" in a dublin bar called The Celt Pub with Rosemary, and meeting some of her lovely friends.
*visiting an amazing property of gardens and a cute giftshop called Powerscourt where we witnessed one of the most beautiful views of Enniskerry seen thus far and once again sipping some coffee and eating a glazed chocolate croissant...gosh, life is hard
*Saturday we took on the task of driving from coast to coast, which our host family thought was ridiculous, in order to go from Dublin Sea to Galway Bay and see County Clare (for which I was named), the town of Quin, and the adorable streets of Galway. The drive did not dissapoint either as we saw beautiful countryside, cows, and some castle ruins.
*The last morning, Rosemary's host mom, Maeve, made us some fresh Irish Soda Bread before our trip home. We enjoyed it with some jam sitting in the kitchen complete with beautiful hardwood floors and a big green warm stove heating the room.

Well, I hope to update more frequently from now on, so as not to let entries pile up like this. I do apologize for I'm sure the many spelling and grammar mistakes, but I have so much to say and not enough time or patience to make it perfect. I hope everyone is doing well in the States. I've been enjoying keeping in touch a bit by watching the SNL clips on-line and the new episodes of the Office when possible.

Love,
Clare

Palace, El Rastro, and some interesting meals...

Right now I'm writing from our tv room of the TV house with my wonderful mother and two sisters of Spain, Elvira (madre), Elvira (hija) y Belén. We're watching Gran Hermano-or Big Brother, a still popular reality show here. Most of the tv shows I watch with my family would be considered very cheesy in the states. Right now I also should be working on my Teatro (theatre) homework that's due tomorrow, but have been putting off for much more diverting activities. Just to make sure that my parents know that I'm actually taking classes here, let me share the names:

Historia del Presente-all about what's going on in present day spain-politics, social issues, etc.
Teatro-reading 6 plays famous in Spain and analyzing
Idioma-Spanish language, practicing our skills and learning important conversational spanish.
Cuentos-short stories in spanish, analysis
Spanish Culture and Civilization- a class taken with the professor who corresponds with BC, a wonderful woman named Ana. We will go on trips, take notes, and write papers on Spanish life and history.

A little bit about my family...they're hilarious. They are extremely patient with Meghan and I while learning Spanish and love to fill us in on Spanish insults and humor. All three woman are very into fashion and love to recommend the perfect place for cheap this, or fashionable that. They are also not shy to voice their opinions, and make sure to ask why we didn't finish our plate, or their opinions on the looks of celebrities.


There have been many highlights in the past few days but I'll just go over a few briefly:

The Royal Palace: unfortunately I came down with a bad cold the other day, but was still able to appreciate the beauty and magnificance of the Royal Palace! Every single room (Apparently there are over 2,000 of them, yes, 2,000) is completely different and decorated with all sorts of cloth, paintings, etc.

El Rastro: An amazing market place that takes up at least a few streets of either side. You could find anything from shoes, to jewelry, to scarfs, ohh all sorts of great stuff. And as far as europe goes, it was all very inexpensive. Meghan, Jenny, and I very much enjoyed walking around and trying to barter in Spanish...it didn't work very well for any of us.

Meals: Spanish food certainly is some of the best in the world. Everyone loves the tapas, jamón, sangría, and pretty much anything served at a restaurant. With the families though, many of the students feel they have perhaps been served an overabundance of the culture. Let's just say, Spain is no place for a picky eater.

Capital: Spain is also known for it's night life. The other night a bunch of BC students went out to a discoteca, or nightclub for our friend, Andres's birthday. The discoteca was called Capital and had 7 floors, each with a different type of music, very exciting!

Well...I really must get to my actual homework. Make sure to send updates of anything going on in the US that we need or would want to know about!

Hello family and friends!

Today Meghan and I took a spontaneous and wonderful walk around downtown Madrid, guidebook in hand. We visited several plazas and came upon the Royal Palace, Cathedral and the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. In the basilica we decided to take the guided tour because we had heard there was a beautiful painting of Goya over one of the altars. For only 2 euros, this was one of my most magnificent spectacles I've seen so far. In every corner of the huge cathedral there was a gorgeous painting, carved choir benches, marble altars, and painted ceilings. This website shows you a little bit of the outside and gives a little history, but unfortunately it doesn't touch the beauty of seeing it in person:
http://www.gomadrid.com/sights/san-francisco-grande.html

Afterwards, Meghan and I decided to venture to find a dulcería, or a place that we could get pastries. We found a little spot down a small street that sold all sorts of types of tratas (cakes) including chocolate mousse cake (of which I got a large portion) and banana and chocolate fudge cake (meghan's choice).

A fun cultural note: I was noticing today how although I sometimes think Spaniards aren't as friendly as American's, it may be only because I don't understand half of what they're saying. Every place that we go the departing words are "Hasta Luego!" (See you later!), even at the post office and dulcería when we likely won't meet these people again.

As usual, hope you're doing well!

First week

Well, it has been quite a long time since I've been able to post! It has been quite a long and busy week since I first arrived. In the morning each day, we have had orientation with the school that we are attending while here: Carlos III (named after an important monarch from Spain). In the afternoon, the students of BC have been attending culture and language classes at a school called Sampere, located right next to the Central Park of Madrid: Retiro.
This morning I'm waking up at 8:00am (2am for most of you!) and it's still dark out. It's been something to get used to, the absence of sun until later in the day here. Soon, with tickets in hand, I'll be heading on the metro and then a bus to get to Carlos III for our first days of normal classes. Since I last posted, I've thoroughly enjoyed getting to know my family: madre, Elvira, and Belen. Meghan and I end up speaking to them in Spanish for an hour or more over meals and around the TV (blasting out hilarious Spanish soap operas, or often news about our american election). Unfortunately, I've slacked a bit this morning getting ready, reading the BC newspaper on-line, so now I must rush off to school. If you're interested, there's a great article from my friend and neighbor also staying in Madrid here:
http://media.www.bcheights.com/media/storage/paper144/news/2008/09/15/Features/World.Record.Madrid.Spain-3429840.shtml?reffeature=htmlemailedition
The picture used is of the royal cathedral and one that I took.

Also, I've been taking lots of pictures which can be found at:
www.shutterfly.com
username: sweenecm@gmail.com
password: pictures

I hope that everyone is doing well, and make sure to keep me updated on everything in the States!