National Library Part 2

At the national Library, a conservationist talked about her work. The drawing with all the Clippys around it has been washed. ??!! Sometimes that is all it takes.  Other pages have been burned by acid in the paper. 

Other books have been eaten by bugs usually down the spine where the glue is. There are also some inks that eat away the paper. 

Lope de Vega is their famous playwright and acid ink afflicts his manuscripts. 

Here is a display of the kinds of works they collect: Manuscripts, magazines, maps, photographs, books, movies and music. 

This poster advertises cigarette paper that reduces nicotine. Uh-huh. 

Another photo of the board room. 

When a writer received the Cervantes prize, he gets his portrait painted. 

He chooses the painter and the setting of the painting. 

So you can see that they are all different styles, and the setting says something about the writer. 

Dark, light,

Sloppy, neat, worldly,

Simple, like the guy on the right. It makes me curious to kmow what they have written. 

Here is a beautiful display of some first editions, with the chandelier reflected in the glass. 

Past the first editions is the reading room. Usually this is as far into the library as a visitor to go. 

Tristan's favorite thing was the stacks. He imagined thousands upon thousands of science fiction books. 

They had us leave through the loading docks, where it all begins, they said. 

Back on the street we passed a beautiful garden. 

And their Independence Plaza, lined with little poofball trees. 

National Library Part 1

Tristan wanted to go to the National Library for his mommy date.  

Here we are parked in the alley behind the building with the spires. 

But it turned out that the spire building is the City Hall. It was raining so we did not stick around to ask about the balloons. But we know it was a race because people had on race bids with numbers. 

So at the library a couple of blocks away, people were lining up. 

It turned out that Saturday was the one day of the year when they have an open house. 

We had plenty of time to pick our favorite statue. Tristan of course picked the guy with the sword. I at first could not find a guy with a sword, but the hilt in his hand  does have a whole sword. 

Cervantes also has a bow and arrows. A  man in front of us in line told us that Cervantes was in a famous battle and also served in Morocco. Tristan mumbled to me that he would go home and look it up on Wikipedia.  I suggested that he ask the nice man right there, but he would rather look it up then ask somebody. 

The grand staircase leads to the Library Board conference room. 

The Royal tapestry makers still make tapestries based on these Goya cartoons. 

Notice the book on the door. 

Here is the United States right next to statistics. Some 20-year-old university students come in who have never seen a card catalog before.  

   Part 2 coming up. 

Museum Week

Winston came home thrilled about his trip to the Prado. He especially liked the park, and the rumor that there might be crocodiles there.  

We are going  back there this weekend for him to show it to us.

And for me to take my own photos.

Winston reported very seriously that there was a painting of a vamoire sucking a baby's blood.  Francisco Goya went through a "Black Period" and there is a whole gallery full of gruesomeness. 

Upstairs, where hardly anyone goes, are Goya's happy tapestries of garden parties.  I would not have know except that my Spanish teacher told me.

Tristan went to the Reina Sofia.  He liked all the hidden objects in this painting by Salvador Dali.  Can you see the dog, the reclining figure, and the neck of the guitar?  One of the baby's eyes is a boat.

     I meanwhile had my cancer society class.  All the presenters did a great job, and the time was very well spent.  We did role plays about how to be good listeners and how to behave so that we are approachable in a hospital setting.  I was one of 40 trainees, all of whom were glued to their cell phones, but then we went en masse to the nearest bar for coffee (or beer and potato chips at 11:00am).  Then everyone talked to each other.  The lady I talked to has a grown daughter with leukemia.  Today was about making the rounds of the inpatient cancer ward.  I hope they have a module tomorrow about going with people to the hospital for consultations or treatments or whatever, since that is what they had in mind for me to do.

Cherry Blossoms

Wyatt loved Parque Juan Carlos Primero so much that we went back. 

The sign says that this is the tree of love. We would call it Redbud, but Spanish doesn't seem to have a word for 'bud.'

All over the countryside are olive groves with a carpet of yellow flowers. 

These are the flowers of the inedible chestnuts. 

Wyatt made it up the red doughnut with Daddy's help. 

It's a friendship monument with Mexico. 

I hesitated to take MORE pictures of pink flowers, but why not?  I saw another ex-pat blog from Korea. She is insatiable for pink flowers. http://livinginanotherlanguage.com

Today we are going to look for the Goya cuckoo clock. Happy last day of Semana Santa!

Wyatt´s puppy Song, Cancer Society Interview

Wyatt has been singing little songs to himself, so here´s a tiny bit that Wyatt caught of himself on tape.  Plus, I´m trying out YouTube.

I really, REALLY want to be upbeat about the cancer society interview, because I love being around people who are enthusiastic about what they do.  For example, one friend loves cheese, and I have to go buy any ooey-gooey deliciousness that she tells me about.  No matter that I keep thinking, "Why does the pantry smell like dog poop?"  Cuddles apparently thinks the same thing, because I have never seen him so intent on climbing the counter.  

  SO, I had a really great interview.  Everyone was SO nice, and I'm going for a class 23-24 April about them and what they do.  After that, the hospital coordinator will call me when they have non-Spanish speakers going to hospitals who want someone to go with them.  

     The truth is, the hospital coordinator was really nice, but the 20-something interviewer was the epitome of Spanish obduracy.  She asked me what I had in mind doing (sitting with patients when the primary caregiver has to be away) and she had 20 reasons why my expectations were unreasonable.  I'm still stunned.  It was like failing a job interview with an intern!  I will say that I felt very confident about my Spanish.  I could easily say everything I wanted to.  I asked God not to let a root of bitterness take hold and He is faithful. 

Good Friday

Spain has an lovely tradition during Holy Week.  If We were Spanish Chistians, we would belong to a fraternity social group, probably based out of our church, devoted to some particular aspect of the Trinity or Mary.  We would build and dress and decorate statues that commemorate Holy Week events. 

For example, the photo below is from Rota. This brotherhood wears purple robes with pointy hats. They carry a float depicting Christ carrying the cross on the road to Calvary. 

We went to our little town of Pozuelo, where Mary accompanies Jesus's body to the tomb. The name of the church is "the Assumption of Our Lady."  Our neighbors tried to go to one in Madrid but it was an absolute crush of people. 

While we were waiting...

Some pictures of the old part of town...

Here are the cute retirees waiting for the procession to start.  Troy said "We could retire here," and Wyatt replied, "then YOU would be cute, Mama."

     The priest is gently admonishing us to keep silent, or sing, because the people watching are not Christians and we have to set a good example.  I explained the procession ahead of time, but Wyatt was still surprised. "It looks more like a funeral!  And that glass coffin makes me think of Snow White."

    The solemn processions are agood  reminder to take to heart the thrill and desolation of Holy Week that Jesus's followers felt. On Pascua (easter) Mary leaves from one church and Jesus from another, and when they meet, her black robe is exchanged for radiant white.