International Experiences
Weblog of the Organization of International Health
JoAnn: Madrid me mata!
Posted 12:29 AM, June 24, 2006, by jaczechoHello friends. As many of you know, my Pre-Malabo itinerary involves a brief stopover in Madrid to take a descansito and catch up with my host family from a 2002 study abroad experience here. Two things have impressed me about my return to Madrid: first, how wonderfully little my host family has changed, and second, the art.
This awesome family of four contains Andrea (a German, progressive, tapestry artist/stay-at-home mom), JuanJo (a bearded Spanish gentleman, with radical tendencies, who's studying to be a lit professor), Lea (a 12-year-old pixie who's read everything and who's going to be the most interesting 25-year-old in the world), and the new addition, three-year-old Ulysses (who speaks way more German than Spanish and who replies with an adorable, Vas? to all my questions).
We've been enjoying my favorite foods: jamon Serrano, queso manchego, tortilla Espanola, vino lambrusco, along with a few German additions including a delicious kind of seeded bread.
To comment on the artistic highlights, I've seen a Picasso retrospective spread out over the two major museums, a remarkable series of giant color photographs by Yann Bertrand installed in the Retiro Park, and this amazing exhibit from Korean artist, Kimsooja, who used mirrors and transparent light-diffracting film to turn the park's Crystal Palace into a giant prism. I also saw "Volver," the newest movie from Pedro Almodovar (Spain's big cinema dude). I leave tomorrow for Equatorial Guinea (!). Visiting Madrid is a bit like coming home, but Malabo will be an entirely new adventure. Stay tuned for more medically oriented postings!
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Comment by: David at December 25, 2006 09:18 AM
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I enjoyed your comments about your visit to Malabo.
I hope you will continue to write. I am looking at retiring to Africa and since I speak Spanish, I have considered this country. I am a university administrator and I hope I could contribute in some way. Thanks again for your comments.