As I previously mentioned in my last post, my brother has recently visited me here in Madrid which led me to experiencing some very new things for the first time! With the knowledge that I have less than 4 months left here in Madrid, I wanted to make sure I definitely did some things that I know I would regret if I left and hadn’t done, such as going to see Real Madrid play football live! I’ve never really been into football, let alone ever seen a live football game – or any sport live for that matter! However, after my friends went to some matches here and said how amazing the stadium and atmosphere was, I really wanted to go for the cultural experience. I also wanted to go particularly to a Real Madrid game as I know they’re one of the top teams in the world and I wouldn’t really get this chance again! So, my brother and I bought tickets before he arrived and we went to a game on the Saturday! The game was Real Madrid vs SD Eibar in the Santiago Bernabéustadium, we of course bought the cheapest tickets available as neither of us are that invested in the sport but just wanted the experience of going, so we were seated on one of the top rows of the stadium seating – which is pretty high up!
We both really enjoyed it, the stadium is overwhelmingly huge and the whole experience was such an exciting event (even if we didn’t know exactly what was going on the entire time…). It was definitely a stimulating cultural experience, even noticing the little things that are different in Spain compared to back home such as the fact that they only sold non-alcoholic beer inside the stadium and there were not many drunken/rowdy fans – which doesn’t take an expert to know that that’s the polar opposite of England football games.
Now, my brother is a very generous person and he is also very into theatre. On the last night of his stay with me, he surprised me by telling me he had bought us both tickets to see Madrid’s West Side Story theatre performance at Teatro Calderón, just a 5-minute walk from my flat! We have both seen a touring West End version of West Side Story back in England, so it was really interesting to see how different this Spanish one was!
We both really enjoyed the performance and there’s no doubt that the entire team involved are incredibly talented. However, compared to theatre performances we’ve seen back home, they weren’t quite as well-rehearsed or professional in terms of the dance moves, orchestral performances and singing. Nevertheless, it was a really good opportunity for me to practice my Spanish. I was surprised at how much of what they were saying I understood as the whole performance was entirely in Spanish, although I knew the narrative already, I wasn’t expecting to understand as much as I did. I think this goes to show that my Spanish tutoring lessons and independent Spanish practice is paying off! It was particularly helpful to decode the language when the songs were being performed, as I know the lyrics fairly well and so could translate some of them easily. This was also another amazing cultural experience, being able to see how theatre here in Spain compares to back home in England. Additionally, for one of the first times, I really felt like part of the Spanish community as I was able to watch an entire play in Spanish!