Madrid

"One of the funniest street performers I've ever seen - a fat spiderman in Madrid's Plaza Mayor"





Hola. For the four day "puente" last weekend I went to Madrid with my friend Celia. The weather typically fall-like. Reminded me much of New England. The light was white, air crispy. I was able to visit both big museums there. The Reina Sofia, which contains more modern works, and has an addition by Jean Nouvel, was my favorite, mostly because of a wonderful contemporary photography exhibition. Gursky and others, whom I am growing to love.


The second museum, the Prado, contains mostly paintings of the old school hoighty toighty type, big masterpieces by tons of famous people. The Prado was free for the week, as it was opening weekend for a brand new addition by Rafael Moneo. Fairly quiet, and simple, but with a few wonderful details, such as this large door textured like a tree trunk, and a fun light well connecting all three levels.

Both museums tend to hurt my cabeza after an hour or two. Too much to see, very dense. I think I tend to prefer smaller exhibition spaces. Perhaps if I lived in Madrid I would be able to enjoy such places little by little.

I also was treated by real paella on Sunday when we went to Celia's parents house for lunch.



Madrid is lovely city. People keep asking me "Which one do you like more, BCN or Madrid?" Oy vey, who are these people? It has forced me to come up with the following thought, which I don't know is true or not as my Madrid experience is so limited. Barcelona is a bit more gritty, young, progressive. Madrid is a bit more wholesome, family-like, classical. There is certainly a different feel about Madrid, but I haven't yet been able to put my finger on it.

two dinners

Here you will see two dinners.

The former took place in the mellow, clean, natural city of Eugene. This was my official going away event. Most everyone biked here. The picture is in black and white. The people speak primarily English. It is warm, we are sitting outside on a patio. These are the people I spent the summer of 07 with.


The latter is a dinner here in my flat in Barcelona. There are street trees here, and a few parks. This particular meal lasted from ~10:30pm to ~3:30 am. The pictures is in color. Most of the people speak primarily brazilian, but are speaking spanish on this night. We are inside, it is warm, and there are no direct views to the outside world. Some of these people are my roommates, some will become friends, and some are people I'll never see again.

Thaz all. I'm going to Madrid today.

Architecture: EMBT St. Catarina Market

I walked by the new Santa Catarina Market the other day. It was closed at the time so I look forward to returning. If I had my druthers, EMBT is where I'll be working in a month. I was interested to see how it would respond to the context since all I'd seen was pictures of its multi-fruit-colored mosaic roof wave. It does respond quite well to context I'd say, using materials and colors from the environment, exposing it's old brick foundations in playful ways and incorporating classical elements such as arches. Here are some images:

Spanish and English Classes

After my first week I enrolled in a 4/hr a day spanish class at a local school - Speakeasy. The teachers were actually quite good. I took a placement test, and though I was familiar with most of the grammar and understood why I got some of the questions wrong, we (the director and I) decided I would be best located in the upper intermediate class. It was perfect because I really did need some review. And its not that my Spanish was ever that amazing. I definitely spoke a little better than most people in the class (which was quite small, me as the only american), which helped because I now really understand some things that before, were kinda foggy. I took 2.5 weeks of class. I stopped b/c after I found my flat, I realized it was more important to find myself an architecture jobby job.

An English teacher in the class informed me of a temporary teaching gig at International House language school in Mataro' - a coastal town 1/2 hour north by train. My classmate had been teaching there and was about to return to england. I ended up getting the job, since I have experience and certifications from my previous life in bcn. They pay well (which should take the edge off things with the weak dollar), and the classes are in the evening, leaving my days open to do work and whatnot.

I teach 4 groups - two adult lower intermediate, and two children's groups ~10 years old I think. Mostly good people. In general the kiddies here aren't quite as well as behaved as their american compadres. Top picture is my Spanish class, the bottom four are my the English classes I teach.

Bienvenido a Barcelona

ARRIVAL

September 18th. I arrive in BCN. For my first two weeks i stayed in the flat of a friend of one of my Architecture Prof's from the UO. The friend wasn't there. He lives in Germany. But another friend of his, Peter - an experimental electronic musician stays there from time time and uses it as a studio. It was a quite place, near Villa Olympica. The only problem was that I had to commute to downtown. Though our paths didn't cross and we didn't meet, Brian Eno stayed with us for 3 days. Yes, THE Eno.

THE PISO (FLAT) HUNT

This part wasn't too fun. 4 years ago when I moved here the first flat I looked at was large and with good people and in a great neighborhood. This time around however, it took me 2 weeks. Predictably, when you are staying with a friend of a friend for that long, and want time to begin looking for a job and start having a life, it gets quite tiring. So I finally settled on a place that was just slightly better than what I had been seeing.

Nearly all the flats here are architecturally weak. Long hallways, rooms and spaces completely divided from one another. Even the kitchens. They feel like oversized bathrooms. I don't know what they were thinking.

MY FLAT:

I live with two Brasilian girls, Anna and Aisha So far we get along well. We have VERY high ceilings. I get a big bed and a quiet room, but only with indirect light. One of them smokes which is annoying. They are social and we go out sometimes, have dinner parties and the like.


my room

the living room

MERCE':

My first weekend here was the lovely Merce' festival. For three days the city celebrates the end of summer and "Saint Mercy" the patron saint of bcn. Many major streets close and elaborate stages are erected within the many public plazas and squares. All night an eclectic mix of jazz, rock, world, and electronic musicians take to the stages (something like 400 performances in 3 nights). People drink in the street and wander from party to party. Student groups drum and parade in the streets, with fireworks and sparklers. There is also the super Catalan gigantes: huge sculptures of people dressed in traditional Catalan garb. Carried by single people, and used in many of the daytime parades. It was a super fun weekend.

Welcome to my world.

More cyber presence is what we all need. And I will teach you all the ways of the cyber existence. Be excited. Be afraid. This is only a test.