Hi all! My name is Joe, and I’m a junior SOAN major with Spanish and GWSS minors who is currently on the Fall 2021 Carleton Spanish Studies in Madrid OCS program.
After a year of being on-campus during the pandemic, I was thrilled to hear this program was still going through. Studying abroad had always been part of my college plans because I wanted to become fluent in Spanish and I had heard great things about the Madrid program prior to applying. Now, I can echo all those wonderful things! In these first five weeks the eleven of us in the group have been to Toledo, Asturias, Valladolid, Soria, and “la España vaciada” as part of the program to learn about geographic and religious identity in Spain and the consequences of capitalism and neoliberal economic policy on each of these sites. Additionally, we’ve been able to visit Segovia, Sevilla, Granada, and the País Vasco as weekend trips and part of longer “puentes” (extended vacations). We are booked and busy, to say the least.
This trip has been an educational journey in both formal and informal ways. Every week, program director Palmar Álvarez-Blanco has brought in guest speakers in disciplines ranging from economics to counter-publicity to performance art. We approach every topic by trying to understand the “official” version of the story as well as the “silenced” version to gain a deeper understanding of the social issues at play. Outside of the classroom, I have become more confident in my Spanish-speaking skills every day and am slowly familiarizing myself with the city of Madrid. My highlights so far have been El Rastro, a weekly market in Embajadores/La Latina that is great for second-hand clothes and artisanal jewelry, and chatting with students at the Complutense, our university during our time in Spain. I’m looking forward to tapping into the queer community in Madrid even more (the neighborhood Chueca is a standout) and to my four-week internship following the program!
I created a photo gallery highlighting some great moments and scenic views from the trip so far. It’s hard to believe that it’s already been five weeks – I’ll continue to make the most of every moment and take beautiful pictures. Special thanks to Emmanuel Gimeno for being a wonderful presence and for taking many of these pictures, and to Palmar for being a spectacular program director and the best support system we could ask for. Enjoy the photo gallery!
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The picturesque Asturian landscape. -
Inside a sidrería in Asturias, where we got to sample local sidra (cider) and practice our pouring skills. -
A cave in Cavadonga, a town in Asturias where the first battle of Spanish Christians against Muslims is fabled to have occurred (although recent work has revealed this may not be true). -
A flower in el Real Jardín Botánico in Madrid, near el Museo del Prado. -
One of the gardens in La Alhambra. It was wild to walk past trees with ripe granadas (pomegranates)! -
An interior view of La Alhambra. -
A surprise meeting with Kayla Passino ‘23 and Rachel Ziems ‘23, two other Carleton students on a different OCS program, at La Alhambra, an ancient building complex in Granada. -
A ceramic enclave near el Parque de Maria Luisa. Legend has it that if you kiss the bride on the mouth, you’ll get married in the future! -
The exterior of La Plaza de España. The size and detail of the architecture is unbelievable! -
The interior of La Plaza de España in Sevilla. -
El Mirador de Sevilla, a stylish piece of tourist architecture from my trip during the first Puente. -
Inside the massive Catedral de Sevilla. -
A view of La Giralda, a bell tower in Sevilla. Thirty-four flights to the top, but it’s worth it for the view! -
Street art in Madrid which reads, “No es crisis es capitalismo,” or “It isn’t a crisis, it’s capitalism.” -
El Edificio Metropolis, a building in Gran Vía in Madrid that I’m writing my final essay on for our art history class. -
Some beautiful street art in Madrid. -
Views from a battle wall in Toledo. Que linda! -
Henry Rosseau ‘23, Sawyer Blair ‘23, Sophie Baggett ‘23, Thomas Gatewood ‘23, and I at a Real Madrid game. They lost :/ -
A typical Spanish lunch – just kidding. The sausages were delicious, though. -
Impromptu roof picture! -
A talk with Mercedes Álvarez and José Ángel González Sainz following a screening of Mercedes’ movie, “El cielo gira.” -
La Iglesia de Santo Domingo in Soria, Spain. The front archway depicts the birth of Christ to the reincarnation. -
A view from inside el Colegio de San Gregorio. Much of the architecture is influenced by Jewish and Muslim architectural design. -
El Colegio de San Gregorio in Valladolid, Spain.