el parque del buen retiro

In Madrid, Sundays are beautiful. I mean, each day is beautiful but today was especially lovely outside. After a rough night with less than two hours of sleep, due to circumstances out of our control, Sara and I needed to get away from the apartment. We decided to look like tourists with Nike shorts, yoga pants, and t shirts and pass some time in El Parque del Buen Retiro. One entrance is just a few blocks from Paloma's house, so our tired and sore bodies didn't complain that badly.

Once we entered the park, we both immediately felt peace. Sara and I walked for an hour or more, unintentionally, watching all of the interesting people and seeing all of the monuments and small attractions in the park. I don't think words do this place justice. First of all, it's humongous, 350 acres. Second of all, it's ancient, built in its original form in 1505 during the reign of Isabella I. It's been changed a lot since then, obviously, but wasn't open to the public until the 1700's. There's a huge lake, el Estanque del Retiro, and you can rent paddle boats or bring your kayak or whatever and row all day. There are roundabouts in the walkways and people roller blade there. It's kind of like an ice skating rink but with roller blades! There are yoga classes and work out areas and people running and walking every which way. Until the 10th or so of June, there's a feria de libros, which is just a huge walkway lined with kiosks of bookshops from all over the city.

Sara and I sat for about an hour and just watched for a while. There are so many children...most of them had like bikes, and if they were too young to actually bike, they had bike bodies without pedals and just ran while sitting on the bike. Precious. There are couples everywhere; Spain is big on PDA. Even the old couples hold hands and kiss each other everywhere in Madrid. It's sweet, but sometimes to much.

I think that's been the lesson I've seen the most today: adjusting to the culture is key. You have to get used to seeing couples be all over each other. You have to be aware of the customs and rules of the house you're staying in. Food is different here than America. But that's why you're here, to learn about a different culture and immerse yourself in their lifestyle and language. The older lady students staying with us here at Paloma's don't understand that. They had a big falling out with Paloma at dinner about how they didn't think breakfast was suitable, and Paloma went off on all of the things they do that offend her or that are just wrong here that she doesn't mention because she knows we don't understand. It was horrific, mostly because those two ladies don't speak Spanish and Paloma doesn't speak English...so I was stuck in the middle translating. The two students were being very rude and telling at me to yell at Paloma and they kept interrupting just to say what they wanted. Horrible. I don't think they are going to stay here anymore.

Funny how such bad and stressful things can happen, but God blesses me with a beautiful morning in the most amazing park I've ever seen. Whose name literally means "the park of good retreat." Thank goodness.