I was able to "sleep in" today! I woke up at 7:30 and took my sweet time getting ready. I didn't have class today until 11:30, because my first class had a time change. Since it's an art class, and we're in one of the art museum cities of the world, we had class in the Prado Museo today. Before that, and after I woke up, I spent two hours, the time I normally would be in class, working on my final presentation for my conversation class. It's a ten minute presentation using PowerPoint over whatever topic we wanted that would be interesting to the rest of the class.
My presentation is about my trips here in Spain. I don't know if the rest of the class is interested, but I don't really care. I can easily talk for ten minutes about my trips. My PowerPoint has slides from Barcelona, Bilbao, and San Sebastian. It was pretty fun to put together, I kind of did it like a scrapbook, with each slide resembling a white erase board, with each photo designed as a Polaroid stuck on with a bright red magnet. Then my captions are all "hand-written" as if with a dry erase marker. I probably put too much time into it, but at least the visuals will be good.
Then I went off to class. It was still awesome, except we had someone else join our class today. He was actually supposed to be in it from day one, but on the schedules it says M-F. He apparently read it as Monday AND Friday, not Monday THROUGH Friday, so he didn't show up to class at all until today. Some people... but it was good. We got our homework for Monday. We were each given a photo of a well-known Spanish person and I found it highly ironic that I was the only one in the class that received a photo of a child. Then after class I headed to the supermarket to buy my lunch. I didn't buy a sandwich today, instead I bought a tortilla fresca. It's potato and eggs, and I took the package with onions. That shows how much my taste buds have matured. I also gave into my chocolate craving and bought a chocolate bar with almonds, which made me think of momma. I miss her. The chocolate tasted good though. I ate one row of the chocolate bar on my way home on the metro.
I stopped into one of the Alimentacion stores to see if they have root beer, since the supermarket doesn't. It's weird wondering if you're able to buy something that you're used to having around... normally I wouldn't have a problem getting root beer. Here, though, I don't think they have it. I did buy some more crackers since my tub is almost empty, and some ham flavored chips, since they were awesome at the pool party. Now I have plenty of snacks.
When I got back to the apartment I was going to ask Pilar if I could use the microwave, but she was busy with Carlitos. I waited and got on my computer for the wait, fine-tuning my presentation and drafting my speaking outline. It was super easy. It's also a page long, which I think is good, but still not too much. Then, after about a half hour of being home, Carlitos was in his room, whether for a nap or play time, I don't know. I asked Pilar, and she said yes, and gave me a plate because she wasn't sure if the package was supposed to go in the microwave. I didn't say anything because it's her microwave, but I'm pretty sure the package was designed to go in the microwave. She gave me a fork too, which was awesome. I ate my tortilla in the kitchen as Pilar was putting away groceries. It was delicious, a nice change from the sandwiches (and for the same cost as a wrap!).
After that I took a quick power nap. I woke up at 3:30 and headed out to get to the Prado for class. I got to the right metro station, and then tried to use my phone to see where I needed to go. Of course my internet decided not to work then, so I was wandering around aimlessly as my phone semi-worked. I finally found the Prado, and was only three minutes late. I considered that an accomplishment for how fast I was walking. Needless to say, I was glad the museum was air conditioned.
The actual class was good, much better than the lecture. We saw several paintings, and she was able to explain to us the story behind the painting, as well as the techniques behind the brushstrokes. It was a really interesting lecture. Toward the end, one of the girls asked if we could see the Rafael exhibit, and our professor said she wasn't supposed to lecture us there, but proceeded to take off her name tag and lead us down the stairs. It was really cool. She's got so much passion about the artwork, not only how it was made, but also why, by who, and when. She knows so much! After the Rafael exhibit, she told us class was over and we were free to do what we wanted. We all followed her into the elevator, and she reminded us again that we could stay. I had been planning on it, since I had a free afternoon and was in the museum for free.
When we got out of the elevators, everyone else followed her to the exit. I guess I was the lone wolf. I found the painting that I had wanted to see on our way to the elevators. Las Meninas. The little girl in the painting (who I was able to read about on the plaque next to the painting) has been made into a doll and is sold in many parts around Spain, not just here in Madrid. I saw several in Toledo, and one again in La Mancha. It was really cool to be able to see. All the artwork in the Prado was amazing. I never thought about art history before, so it kind of took me by surprise to see how many were based on biblical stories, but it's not surprising one bit when I think about it.
Seeing all the paintings made me really jealous though. I love love love the way the artists can make the paint work! I've never been able to command paint, though I think I'm decent with colored pencil. It was actually pretty cool to see the folds in the clothes of the figures in the paintings, because it kind of reminded me of my drawing of the clothes hanging on a clothesline with the wrinkles, highlights, and folds. The museum has inspired me to look into more art classes at Tech. I'm not sure if they offer many more though... I'll have to see.
After the Prado, I made my way back to the apartment. Once back, I was home alone. I sneaked my last milk carton into the fridge to get it cool so that I could drink it with the last bit of chocolate cake. Then while that cooled, I read my reading for class, as well as part of the chapter for Monday as well. Then I ate my cake while I worked on planning the trip to the south of Spain at the end of the month. After that, I sat on Facebook and was very anti-productive.
Then I was called to dinner. It was the dark bean soup today, not my favorite soup. I was disappointed, but it was still really good. I got a slice of bread with it. Then I had yogurt for dessert. As usual, I ate alone. After dinner, I came back to write this blog. Now I'm going to go shower, and then read some more of the chapter for Monday. It's been a pretty productive day I'd say.
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