Have you ever thought you can get to know one culture by experiencing its dark side? Have you ever thought you can learn so much about something by being evil? Have you ever wanted to be bad for at least a moment, to escape everyday life and go crazy, and that nobody would know? Well, we had a chance to do all of that for two whole weeks in Madrid!
You know that awkward moment when you meet someone new and you do not know how to act or to talk? Well, that did not happen to the participants of the Summer University (SU) of Madrid. It was like an instant bond between the people, like everyone could sense the rotten part inside of the other person and find something in common. Even though people did not know each other and the first night was supposed to be the ‘quiet night’, we went together to a bar to discover more about the bad side of each other. It was like we were friends for a long time.
In the following days, we learned more about the Spanish history suring the history workshop and sightseeing. Among other things, we learned about the most famous kings of Spain and how the Spanish Inquisition functioned. We visited the Royal Palace and learned more about it and its history. Also we made a trip to the famous residence of the royals, El Escorial, and learned more about Felipe II, the king who built it and was famous as a villain king, so he was closer to the heart of the participants than the other kings as we were as evil as he was.
Beside of the historical sightseeing of the city, we visited Museo del Prado, an amazing museum filled not only with paintings of Spanish painters but also with works by Rembrandt and Caravaggio.
After some sightseeing of the city, we went and enjoyed nature in the parks of Madrid, like Parque del Oeste and Retiro, where we played various games, relaxed and had some Spanish siesta time after hard partying the previous day. For sure the favorite game was the one called ‘ninja’, which was played also on train stations while waiting or wherever we had a chance.
One of the workshops we did on this SU was the sangria workshop. The organizers decided to teach the participants how NOT to make sangria. But as they are evil and rotten to the bone like the participants, their real plan was to make us “kill” each other with poisonous sangria. One of their tricks was to give onions as one of the ingredients for making sangria. Yes, it was a really good choice, because some participants fell for it and “poisoned” the other participants. Their evil plan worked. Also, there were sangrias like sugar bombs, which were as poisonous as the onion ones. In the end, the evil organizers showed how to make real and good Spanish sangria, so the participants will “poison” their families at home in a proper way. A lot of fun was also the salsa workshop. We learned a lot of killer moves so we were even more ready to discover the amazing clubs of Madrid and to heat things up a bit.
Water fights in part of Madrid called Vallecas were a complete revelation for a lot of participants, as many of them did not experience such an adventure. Vallecas was closed for the traffic and became a real battlefield, so evilness of the participants could rise to the maximum. Some people brought water-guns, some bottles and the games began! Everyone was splashing each other and having a lot of fun. There was also a DJ, so while splashing each other, people were dancing like there was no tomorrow.
For a lot of people the water fights were a treat, but also for a lot of them, especially for the male participants, the football stadium Santiago Bernabeuwas even better. The participants got to go through the halls filled with the football cups and pictures of the players and to sit in the press conference room of one of the best football clubs in the world. Inspired by the stadium and feeling the energy of it, we felt ourselves like a dream team.
Probably one of the best days for the participants to express their inner craziness was the day spent at the amusement park. Going on various roller coasters and feeling the adrenaline made our inner devil come out and a lot of us spent almost twelve hours on the rides.
Beside experiencing Madrid, we visited Toledo and Segovia. We felt the ancient and religious spirit of Toledo, learning about it and its importance for Spain through history. In Segovia, we enjoyed the architecture and monuments like the Roman aqueduct and Gothic cathedral which are UNESCO heritage sites. For sure people could feel even more the spirit of Spain while learning about this cities.
The SU Break Bad in Madrid was the best mixture of the past and the present. While we were learning about the history of the country and of the cities Madrid, Toledo and Segovia, we experienced the modern life of Madrid. We tasted the food (tapas, montaditos), drinks (sangria, tinto de verano and, of course, beer) and everyday life of people of Madrid. We got the full experience of Madrid so we almost felt like home. Then we can only say this Spanish saying “de Madrid al cielo”, which means “from Madrid to heaven”.
Written by Emilija Kesic, AEGEE-Beograd