Let me begin by saying that NU needs to incorporate some class trips (and no, walking tours of Boston do not count) into their courses. Not only was it an amazing time for everyone, including my professor, but it was easily the most effective way to drive home the entire point of the class. The class is called Building States, Building Cities: London, Paris and Madrid. The concept of the class is hard to understand, and perhaps even harder for me to articulate, but it is essentially a class that looks at the history of the urban development of these three cities and determine how its position as the capital within the state changes (or doesn't change) its role as a city. So what better way to understand the history of urban development than to go to the city itself and see for our own eyes how the city has evolved. We do it here in Paris all the time and are all encouraged to visit London and do the same.
This is one of the things that I like best about my life here and studying here compared to Boston. While I would never consider going to AUP full time or never want to go to AUP full time, I really appreciate how much they encourage us to travel and learn new cultures and make the most of our lives while we can. I understand that it's probably a lot easier for a school like AUP to be so accommodating and helpful with this kind of stuff due to its small size, but being here makes me see how much Northeastern (not to mention practically every other university that I know well of) doesn't encourage us to take advantage of everything we have at our fingertips. I'm not saying that NU should suggest that students hop a plane to Madrid for a long weekend because I understand that something like that is a lot less feasible than it is here. But there are so many areas where NU can be more encouraging, or help us broaden our horizons.
AUP has a TON of lecture series or seminars or discussions that are open to all students as well as the public. They are typically on a large array of topics ranging from literary topics, to the environment, to social problems like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to a million other topics, and whenever I go to one, there's always a bunch of AUP students there too, regardless of what their area of study happens to be. They're just there to learn something new, broaden their horizons. I feel like Northeastern seriously lacks in encouraging students to learn new things and getting the most out of what the world has to offer.
Ok, NU vs AUP/US vs Europe rant over.
So, Madrid? Absolutely amazing. I loved it there more than I can even begin to describe. Going with my class was a great advantage because I was able to see essentially all of the city and learn about everything that I was seeing as well. Even though we went as a history class, my prof was really helpful in our getting the most of the culture as well. He took us to museums even though they weren't on the itinerary, as well as to his favorite areas for nightlife or dining or dancing because he wanted us to really experience everything Madrid had to offer. It was great.
We saw Guernica at the Reina Sofia and it literally took my breath. I've seen prints of the painting before, but I was in no way prepared for how powerful a painting it truly is. We also saw Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights which was on lone at the Prado. I really dug it and dug how radical it was for its time.
We ate the most amazing food as well. Tapas is perhaps the greatest thing in the world. Also, half the class became obsessed with croquettas and sangria by the first night, so we had to make sure to somehow incorporate them into every meal. The sangria was pretty easy to incorporate into our eating habits, but we had to get a bit creative in where we ate and what we ordered so that croquettas fit into the aesthetics of the meal. We enjoyed it though. Sangria became such a significant motif for the trip that we're even considering getting t-shirts made up that say "This class runs on sangria". Which is true. The class did in fact run on sangria. All the walking tours and educational aspects of our days were essentially just things that we did in between when we got to sit down in a plaza and order some jarras de sangria.
Man, the weather was perhaps the best part though. 27 degrees (75 degrees F) everyday and not a cloud in the sky. I was so excited for really warm weather that I didn't even bring a jacket with me. Rebellious, I know.
We all have the Madrid blues now, though. I need to go back to Spain as soon as it's financially possible. I don't think I'll make it back this semester, and I really don't have a clue when the next opportune time will be, but I'm going back as soon as I get a chance.
On another note: siestas. Man, whoever came up with that idea is a genius. Seriously.
