Monday, March 29 - Madrid

Today we woke up at 8AM, made a Dunkin' run (apparently Spain runs on Dunkin' too), and then headed to Plaza Mayor. Rick Steves gave this one triangle, he was wrong ... again. But he redeemed himself later. The Plaza is a very large square near the royal palace and just has a lot of cool shops and restaurants around a portico perimeter. It's a place to gather and watch people and I really enjoyed it!

Me at the Puerto to the Plaza Mayor.

Plaza Mayor.

We then headed to the Palacio Real, the center of the Spanish monarchy. The complex is fairly large, with a plaza in front of the Palacio and it is bordered by the Campo del Maro which is where the royal family used to hunt for recreational purposes, but it is now a large public park. The most impressive parts of the Palacio were the grand staircase (I've come to the determination that grand staircases are the way to go to impress your friends) and the throne room where the Spanish monarchy entertains guests. Imagine going to meet King Juan Carlos and having to meet with him in his royal throne room where the thrones of the sovereign are guarded by two golden lions. You'd think twice about what you were doing.

Palacio Real.

They keep peacocks at Palacio Real. They were just chilling.

Following Palacio Real, we went to the Catedral de Ntra. Señora de la Almudena. In retrospect, this was the least impressive of all the churches we went to, which is a bit ironic seeing as it sits adjacent to the Palacio Real. But there was a painting in the church that looked like a depiction of the Sound of Music, complete with a Mother Abbess, Maria, and Captain Von Trapp.

The Sound of Music painting.

We made our way back to Plaza Mayor for lunch as recommended by Rick Steves. We found a standing only lunch counter where they served 'bocadillos calamares' a.k.a. calamari sandwiches. You'd think that this would be disgusting, but I'd just like to say to whomever thought it would be a good idea to put fried calamari between two pieces of bread ... thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the greatest idea ever. Sandy and I then walked around the perimeter of Plaza Mayor to Fraggi, which served the infamous churros and chocolate. Rick Steves described the chocolate as basically steamed pudding. Might as well get all the bad eating in during one day, eh? I got the churros (deep friend dough) and Sandy got a napolitano (chocolate croissant) and we both got chocolate. I didn't think the churros were good, but the chocolate .... oh the chocolate. If Willy Wonka were real and you could go to his factory, he would serve this chocolate. It was heavenly.

Bocadillos calamares ... so good ... but so bad.

Thanks Rick for the awesome recommendation.

Sandy ... chocolate ... churros ... and Sandy's napolitano.

After this horrific eating session, we went back to the hostel to recover a bit. We returned to the Puerto del Sol to give it one more chance to improve itself sans bull fighting protesters. I still wasn't impressed. Oh well. We then walked the Gran Vía, the main avenue of Madrid down to the Plaza de Independencia with the giant puerto dedicated to a Juan Carlos (name of just about every Spanish king) that died long ago. We proceeded to the Hard Rock Cafe for an early dinner, and to see Bono's motorbike which was allegedly parked inside. All I can say is the Hard Rock website lied. There was no motorbike on the premises, least of all Bono's. Boo. On the way back, Sandy asked if we could stop at the Longchamps store. I went in with no intention to buy anything. I walked out with a Longchamps duffle. In my defense, I needed a second bag to carry all our souvenirs home in, and it is a high quality bag that I can use for years to come. And it's pretty. And compact when folded up. I mean INCREDIBLY compact. I was impressed. When we left, Sandy and I both said, 'Well, guess we're not going to Morocco.' Boy were we wrong ....

Doing tree pose with the yoga-esque statues in the park along Paseo de Recletos.

The Puerta de Alcalá in the Plaza de la Independencia.

Quite possibly the biggest flag I've ever seen in my life.

Toilettes from the future in Madrid.

Sunday, 28 March - Madrid

Sandy and I woke up this morning at 9AM and were too late for breakfast, but that was fine because we found Dunkin' Donuts and stopped for coffee and a donut. They're actually quite tasty here and aren't as sugary as donuts at home, which I like.

We got really familiar with this place.

We then walked to the Reina Sofia, an art museum that houses pieces by Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and others, and is free on Sundays. Score! The most important piece in Reina Sofia is 'Guernica' Picasso's most famous painting about the terrors of the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s. It was especially cool to see it because we had discussed the peace in my Political Culture of Postwar Europe class. The lady told us no cameras, but I took this secret picture of it to prove I'd seen it. My Model UN stealth skills come in handy again. The pieces itself though is MASSIVE and I could've stared at it and all its intricacies for hours. It's amazing because there didn't seem to be any real security measures besides a guard posted in each room, but nothing was really preventing you from touching priceless art work by painters who died long ago. It was a bit disarming. Oh well ... welcome to Spain I guess.

Me in front of the Reina de Sofia.

My favorite piece in Reina Sofia, a Dali painting called 'Girl in the Window'.

These life-sized outfits look like something Lady Gaga would wear.

My secret photo of 'Guernica'. It's in the background.

From there we walked to the Real Jardín Botanico, a beautiful garden that had a student discount so we only paid €1.25 to get in. I'm definitely liking this student discount thing. It was gorgeous and the flowers were in full bloom. Being the grandchild of Eleanor Young, I took LOTS of pictures of the flowers!

The beautiful flowers in Real Jardín Botanico.

The Leaning Tower of Tree-sa.

We had lunch at this place called VIPS and I bought a container of fresh tomatoes and mozzarella balls in olive oil and pesto. Unfortunately, I'm fairly convinced they made me nauseous later. Didn't get that again. We ate lunch in a park across the street from the restaurant and enjoyed the music of a Spanish guitar player and a New Orleans-style jazz band. It was a mixture of, the words of Neil Diamond, 'beautiful noise'. Speaking of Neil, here's some music to read this to. The man will come into play later as well, so brace yourself for more Neil!

Guitar guy!

A NOLA-spin on Frank Sinatra's 'My Way' in Spain ... surreal.

Sandy and I made a point to stop at every playground. We are clearly 5 years old.

From lunch, we walked to Puerto del Sol, which Rick Steves gave two triangles on a scale of three. We gave it one, because there wasn't really much to do there. However, we did get to see an anti-bull fighting protest, which was a bit hilarious to watch because you've got all these people passionately opposed to the practice walking around chanting to free the bulls and right above them is a giant ad for men's cologne featuring a very seductive picture of Enrique Iglesias. It all seemed so very out of place.

Protesters ... and Enrique Iglesias. Another surreal moment.

After going to the Puerto, we walked back to the Prado Museum, which opened for free admission at 5PM. All the locals were laying on the hill outside the entrance soaking up the sun and Sandy and I felt obliged to follow suit. The Prado has a lot of Goya pieces, the most famous being '3rd of May' which depicts three Spaniards in front of a firing squad during the civil war. It's been in every Spanish textbook I've ever had, so it was definitely cool to see it in real life. Unfortunately no pictures in the Prado, especially unfortunate because there was a painting where the subject looked like Mr. Darcy as played by Matthew MacFayden in the most recent version of the film. I stared at that for much longer than is traditionally acceptable in society.

Sitting on a hill with a bottle of Pellegrino. Where is the Russell family?

After going through the Museum, we chilled on the hill some more, I was still feeling nauseous and Sandy was really patient with me. We returned to VIPS for dinner and I just got a chicken caesar salad and then from there walked back to our hostel. Definitely a busy day and a great introduction to Spain!

We found Restaurante Edelweiss. Unfortunately, Captain Hottie von Trapp was not to be found. He's a lover, not a fighter.

Back in Action!

Hello everyone! I apologize for not having posted in a while. In my defense, for those of you who don't know, I got very sick off of what I can only assume was hall food last week, and that, combined with my presentation I did last week and my 5,000 word essay due this week, I haven't had a break since ... well Break. But, I'm back in action and have so many stories to recount.

First, on the academic front, I'm doing VERY well thus far. I received my first graded essay last week. The grading system here at St. Andrews is very peculiar, and I think it's based on a logarithmic equation. There are no letter grades. You are on a scale from 0-20 points, and your number grade is divided into various levels of Sub-Honours and Honours. As a student in third year courses, I am at the Honours level. So here is my scale:

0 = You fail at life.

1-4 = Fail: considerable further work is required

5-7 = Pass: performance meets minimum criteria

8-10 = Third: fair with significant short comings

11-13 = 2ii: generally sound work with a number of notable errors

14-16 = 2I: above the average standard with some errors

17-20 = First: outstanding performance with only minor errors

It is VERY difficult to get in the 17-20 range, and I have not heard many of my friends say they have gotten a grade in this range. Now, this scale 'converts' to the U.S. scale in the following manner:

0-4 = F

5 = D

6 = D+

7-8 = C-

9-10 = C

11 = C+

12 = B-

13 = B

14 = B+

15 = A-

16-18 = A

19-20 = A+

Alright, now that that is all defined and dandy, I can tell you what I got. On my paper, I received a 15, which is an A-, and on my presentation I received a 15.3, another A-. So, I'm doing quite well here so far. Both those grades are for my 'Political Culture in Post-War Europe Class', a class that requires a lot of high level thinking on my part, so I'm glad to be doing so well! My professor gave me good feedback on my paper and pointed out that I have a tendency to make broad generalizations and I should work on making specific points, something I had never been told before. So thank you James for pointing that out to me. It definitely helped in writing my 5,000 word paper for my other class 'Peace Processes and Violence'.

Speaking of that 5,000 word paper, I believe it is the best work I have done in my college career. My writing has vastly improved while here at St. Andrews and I feel I have made great strides as a student and researcher. Being here has confirmed that I truly enjoy research and upper level academics, and my desire to go to graduate school for at least a Masters degree has just grown as the semester has gone on. Who knows, maybe I'll return to Scotland for studies again in the near future? :) It also helps when your 'Peace Processes and Violence' professor is the advisor for the Master's program in Peace and Conflict Studies. How convenient. And I'm convinced Roger loves me ... so .... yeah ...

It occurs to me that I haven't talked much about my classes on this blog, and it's high time I do so. This semester I have a whopping two classes. That's right: TWO. I have class from 9AM - 10AM on Tuesdays, a tutorial, which is like a small group meeting for that class where discussion occurs, from 9AM-10AM on Wednesdays, both of those for my 'Peace Processes and Violence' class which will hence be referred to as PP&V, and on Fridays from 9AM-11AM I have 'Political Culture in Postwar Europe' which is a hybrid lecture and tutorial. That class will be referred to as PCPE. It's a pretty awesome schedule that I'll never be able to repeat at Elon.

So you may be thinking, 'Ehm, Catie, you have 4 hours of class a week. Do you even study?' Let me tell you, I study all the time. With having only 4 hours of class comes A LOT of personal responsibility. If you don't read, your professors know. There is no winging it around here. I usually read anywhere from 150-200 pages of material each week per class. So it's like reading a longer novel every week. And that's if I'm not doing research. If I'm doing research, I'll add usually around 200-300 pages of reading a week. But with having only two classes I find it is much easier to manage than at Elon. I'm not stressed out, I have time to really do well on my work, and I think that shows in my grades. It's nice to be able to focus on academic work and still have time to go out and have fun and get my exercise in. I've found I'm much more relaxed, much healthier (well ... with the exception of that unfortunate food poisoning last week), and much happier overall. I have not had a bad day here. I've had a day where strange / at times bad things kept happening, but using one of my favorite British phrases, 'I can't be bothered'. I'm too busy enjoying myself and enjoying life.

Anyway, my PP&V class is AMAZING. We've covered the following topics: What is peace?; What is a peace process?; The security dilemma; International actors and peace implementation; Spoilers; Security sector reform and disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration; Post-peace accord crime; and Gender, peace processes and violence. Next week is our last lecture and we'll be covering cultures of violence. My professor is particularly knowledgeable because he grew up in Northern Ireland and is an expert on that particular conflict. And the fact that he's from Ireland just adds to the class. He really challenges us to think critically on the issues and expects us to contribute to discussion and be knowledgeable on the topics we discuss. Yesterday when we were discussion gender, I raised the question 'Does militarization of individuals inherently negate gender?' and he looked at me and said, 'That's a good question. Actually that's a really good question. I'm writing that down.' I find I'm thinking about international relations differently now, and this class has really demonstrated to me that this topic in particular, conflict and how to end it is what I"m truly interested in. It seems all that People to People / NSLC / Invisible Children involvement was pointing me somewhere, and it was this way. My research paper addressed the question, 'What methods can parties use to transcend the security dilemma when attempting to begin a peace process?' and I think this paper was a spring broad for my independent research I'll be conducting with Dr. Kirk in the fall. I want to expand it, make it better, and I think I could really do some good things with it.

My other class PCPE is really interesting. It's a history class but it rarely feels like one and honestly feels more like a psychology class than anything. We talk a lot about historiography, collective memory, and how societies in post-war climate overcome memories of war that are still present all around them. My last paper addressed how silence was used by the governments of Spain, and East and West Germany to overcome a past of fascism in each case. Pretty intense stuff. Last week I presented on Wim Wender's film 'Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire)' as a historical narrative of West Germany. I'm feeling pretty smart right now!

Over the next few days I'll be uploading pictures about my trip to Spain, as I'm sure you're all excited to see that!

Regarding the situation with the volcano. All European airports have re-opened - for now. Merrill, Amanda and I are planning to go to Ireland on a tour of the country. We were going to do the 7-day one, but due to the tight schedule, and the simple fear of losing so much money if the volcano begins to act up again, we've decided to downgrade to the 5-day trip. We will miss Northern Ireland, which is EXTREMELY disappointing for me. But it just means I'll have to return to Ireland. The civil war in the region is essential to my research and I personally want to see places like Bogside in Derry and Falls Road in Belfast, where some of the worst moments of the Troubles occurred. It's just one of those things for me. So, Northern Ireland, we will meet at some point, just not this year. But taking the 5-day tour allows us a few days in Dublin, which I'll be able to spend with my good friends Ruari and Michele whom I met at the @U2 Conference I attended in Raleigh this past year. They're a fantastic couple whom I gave a lift to between venues at the conference. Michele is an American who graduated from NYU. She went to Dublin to see U2 play on the Vertigo Tour and while there, she met Ruari, also a U2 fan. They're now married and live in Dublin together, and have been so wonderful, offering to let me stay with them while in town. Wonderful, wonderful people and I cannot wait to see them again. They also want to take me to Slane Castle, which is not only where U2 recorded 'The Unforgettable Fire' it's also where the infamous 'U2 Go Home' show was filmed, and I believe they still hold the record for largest audience for an event held at Slane ever.

Alright, I'm off to Starbucks to do my reading, but I'll probably pop back in later to start working on getting my Spain log on here! Until then ...

Back in Britain!

And it feels so good! I'm back in my own room and will sleep in my own bed tonight. Yes!

In other news, in 14 days, I took 1745 pictures. I think that's a new personal record.

Alberto Contador Fever, and 'Oh, hey Africa. Nice to see you again.'

Sandy and I have arrived in Tarifa, the southernmost town in continental Europe, and let's just say I'm wearin shorts, a sleeveless shirt, and my Rainbows. Life is good. While I have just a bit of time, I figured I'd update with a little more substane than previous posts.

Coming down to this part of Spain was a really beautiful bus trip from Sevilla, although it's definitely a lot greener than I expecte4d it to be. The mountains, if I recall my Panea history correctly, were once connected to the Appalachian Mountains when Europe and North America were squashed together. So it's nice to see some 'familiar' terrain. Our hostel is basically a five minute walk from the Strait of Gibraltar, and a five minute walk from the Atlanti Ocean. Oh, and did I mention it's heaven? Yeah, it is.

One thing I was very surprised to see was a bunch of cyclists all over the road between Algerias, where we took the bus to from Sevilla, and Tarifa. It's like Alberto Contador won Le Tour de France / La Vuelta España, and all of Spain decided to get on a bike. I have nothing but the utmost respect for these guys though, as these mountains are tough, and the roads twisty. I now understand why Alberto makes powering up a mountain like Mont Ventoux or Alp d'Huez look like child's play; becasue for him, it is. Don't let my talk of Alberto's powerhouse legs though lead you astray; I am a Lance fan. 100% In fact, I'm even going to risk potential ridicule and general shunning by wearing my 'Go Lance Go' shirt in Girona, but more specifically, on Alberto Contador's home turf. Take that Pistorello.

Lastly, I do need to say thi: 'I can see Africa from my window.' Literally, Africa is right there. Sandy and I will be taking a ferry across the Strait tomorrow to, forgive me, rock the kasbah of Tangier. Oh yes. Anyway, I should probably head off so we can get some real food, as lunch today consisted of a large, shared bag of crisps (sorry mom, no other option). Can't wait to give everyone a full debrief of Spain though!

Lance giving Alberto the cold shoulder - as he should.