RuGby 101

I never thought that one day I would end up playing rugby. Rugby had always been that sport that I could never understand and never bothered to watch. That changed when I came to Suffolk and joined the San Pablo CEU ( private Spanish university that Suffolk has a joint agreement with) rugby team just for fun. I have learned a lot about this noble game. Rugby might seem like a brute game but it is far from that, and it is technically quite similar to American Football. It is filled with rituals and a respect for old traditions, therefore I have learned to love it. For instance, in Rugby a player cannot talk to the referee, and if he does there is a foul called against your team. The only person allowed to talk to the referee is the captain, whom he addresses as "Sir". Another tradition is the passage, which is when the game is over, the winning team stands and forms a corridor and claps for the losing team as they pass through the passage, the other way around. The best tradition, normally referred to as the third half of the game, is the tradition of going to a bar with the other team for a manly drink. I love the sportsmanship of the game. "Rugby is a beastly game played by gentlemen; soccer is a gentlemen´s game played by beasts; football is a beastly game played by beasts"-Henry Blaha-, and a gentleman´s game it is. Last Wednesday was our first game against Complutense (Madrid´s biggest university). Despite the fact that we lost, it was the most exciting thing I had ever seen. Our very own Conner, who our spanish team calls "Santy" to avoid the difficulty of pronouncing his name was the star player. He was, as the coach put it, "all over the place". He tackled, ran, dove and even shot the ball. Overall it was an overwhelming experience and now that I have had a taste of the action, I can´t wait for more.

Becoming a Madrileño

Since I have been in Madrid, I have had the most fun when I am discovering Madrid . This weekend on Friday I got a call from one of my cousins who used to study in Madrid. It was quite a surprise that he was going to be in Madrid in a few hours and was only staying for one night. So naturally, we planned to meet later that night. Late that night I headed down to Sol (downtown area of Madrid) and there was my afro-haired cousin standing with about seven other people. I went up to him and introduced myself to all of them. Apparently, those were his Spanish friends, (great people), and I had the chance to spend the whole night practicing my Spanish. My cousin is extremely knowledgeable about Madrid so he took us to a small, insignificant bar nearby . However, as I found out, that bar was anything but insignificant. He told me it was the oldest bar in all of Madrid, founded in the early 1800s. This bar offered some fried fish as a tapa (Spanish appetizers that usually accompany your drink) that was the best in the city. People were almost fighting to get their hands on some of that delicious fish. It was a 100% Spanish outing. Although it is just a small bar, it is apparently an institution: it was overflowing with Spaniards. The best part of the night, other than the unforgettably good food, was that I met great Spanish people and I was spending a night out the way any ordinary Spaniard would. That night I got one step closer to becoming a real Madrileño.

The Madrid status so far..

Unique, that is one way (among many more) that I could describe the atmosphere here in Madrid. From the moment I stepped foot on the Suffolk Campus here, the friendly Madrid people have shown me nothing but a smile. Even Madrid itself has been smiling, with its great nightlife and its beautiful parks and cafes. I can’t forget Madrid’s lively downtown area, where I’ve found a lot of places where I can enjoy myself. From day one with our Salamanca orientation excursion, to our excellent excursion a week ago to the heart of the Portuguese capital, Lisboa, everything has been enjoyable. I have been meeting new people, making a ton of friends, and even - believe it or not - SPEAKING SPANISH. I’ve had lots of new experiences during the past two months, and I am loving every Spanish moment of it.

Halloween

It was the 31st of October, and the Halloween spirit had been going around campus for a week or so. The SUMC (Suffolk University Madrid Campus ) student council put together a Halloween costume party. It was lots of fun, and the costumes and the music made it worth the journey to campus on that strangely cold Madrid night. It was definitely a great success thanks to our student government. This was the first time I had ever celebrated Halloween, since I am not an American nor have I ever lived there. I must say, it was extremely different, in a positive way. The pie eating contest was fun to watch, and the music was great so everyone was dancing. I loved it! The main event was the costume contest, which I think was the highlight of the night. People who had dressed up had to dance as they presented their costumes. For example, the Blues Brothers danced to a Blues song, Fred (me) and Barney (my friend) came in with their car to the Flintstones theme song, and my personal favorite was "I am a Barbie Girl", which was dedicated to our very own Barbie. I can’t forget the priest that showed so much enthusiasm on the dance floor that he won 3rd place. I don’t know if this is what people normally do on Halloween but regardless - it was a blast! Our campus got egged or as people would say "tricked", but I guess that all was fair on the evening of Halloween. After that, we went out and roamed the streets of Madrid, and I was surprised to see that quite a few people know about Halloween and actually dressed up. Walking around the streets was fun and the costumes we saw were very original . The night was a great success and Halloween was celebrated in Madrid on the 31st of October, thousands of miles away from its American home. What do you think of that?