public displays of affection: the madrid edition

 [aww, how cute.]

***

so i'm going on my fourth week here in madrid and one thing that i constantly notice every time that i'm out and about it the heavy displays of public affection. and i'm not just talking about holding hands or cuddling while walking down the boulevard, i mean intense make out sessions right in the middle of sol or on the metro. and it's not that i'm staring, you just can't help but notice it when you're walking down the street. now personally, i've never been the biggest fan of p.d.a., but after learning why there is such a huge desire to show love here in madrid, i think it's awfully cute and romantic.

according to my tour guide when i first got here, madrid was under the very strict dictatorship of francisco franco from 1939 to 1975.  

***

el ley de vagos y maleantes (the vagrancy act) of 1954, franco outlawed homosexuality, pedophilia and prostitution, making them criminal offenses. so that meant no caking, no boo-loving, no nothing for Spainards. this also meant that women in madrid had to play the "traditional" role of housewife/mom/caretaker and really didn't have any rights to testify in court, be university professors or even have their own bank accounts. once franco died in 1975, it was like the citizens of madrid and in surrounding cities were liberated and so ecstatic to break away from the many restrictions they had under franco's dictatorship, thus explaining the culture of today.

***

it just goes to show that we shouldn't be afraid to show love to one another and that something as simply as walking down the street with your boyfriend/girlfriend shouldn't be taken for granted. now, i know that in the united states, whenever we may see a couple showing massive p.d.a., we always encourage to "get them a room", but here in madrid, they really don't care and would probably feel some type of way if you told them that. being over here in spain has allowed me to be more open-minded and observant. in the united states, we can sometimes be so one-sided about things, but once you step outside of the country, you definitely see things a lot differently. so to my american folk, don't be afraid to show a little love every now and then.

"sometimes it's better when it's publicly..." ;-)

☮ and  ♥, 

-*csc. 

let's see the world & never look back...

so as i was sitting in my new fave cafe here in madrid journaling (faborit, it's a better version of starbucks in my opinion), i began to think about the different places that i would like to travel to. it's still very surreal to me that i'm in spain right now, but i know that this is only the beginning of my travels around the world. originally, i have given myself 12 years to achieve this, but i'm pretty sure that i can do it in ten years (that's when my passport expires!)

in no particular order, here are my top twelve...

1. sydney, australia - not only do i want to go to the opera house, but i also want to throw a boomerang, hold a koala and see a kangaroo too. =]

2. paris, france - the city of love and romance. i want my photo in front of the eifle tower and to people watch while snacking on crossaints.

3. london, england - this seems like a pretty simple one, and achievable like the rest but there's something about the english culture that i find very intriguing. i also want to have tea with the queen *a girl can dream right?*

4. capetown, south africa - this needs no explanation whatsoever. the motherland, period.

5. hong kong, china - just seeing pics from my friends who have studied there, it just looks like it's poppington. and being a business major, i want to embrace the professional culture there as well.

6. tokyo, japan - like hong kong, the busyness of this culture seems very captivating to me, and i want to experience their transportation system there as well (the bullet train? i think so...)

7. egypt, africa - another one that needs no explanation. the pyramids, the history...just seems too good not to be on the list.  

8. mexico - yes, i know it borders the U.S., but i don't just want to go to cabo, cozumel or puerta vallerta, but the historical sites in mexico city, guadalajara and monterrey.

9. central america (jamaica, el salvador, costa rica, panama) - i know it's a long shot squeezing all of these places into one, and forgive me if i'm wrong for that. i just think that they are all beautiful and have very rich culture. island hopping will be necessary.

10. south america (peru, argentina, chile, columbia) - another beautiful country full of culture. i love the spanish culture even more after being over here in spain and i want to learn about another perspective of it by going to these places.

11. rome and florence, italy - the fashion, the monuments, the gelato. what else more is there to say?

12. india - let me just first say that i love bhangra and bollywood #boom. secondly, vividness and boldness of indian culture interests me a lot. lastly, the tahj mahal.



i'm going to try to remain a college student as long as i can so that i can be able to go see a few of these places *LBVS* -- who's coming with?

what are some places that you would like to see?



-*csc.

¡bienvenidos a madrid!

hi everyone!

so i've been in a madrid for a week and i must say that it has been a good experience so far. so many things are different over here, from the Metro system, to the ciestas in the middle of the day. I really want to be able to tell my story though pictures. below are just a few sights that we've seen thus far...

 la plaza de neptuno (above) ; the king's palace (below)

el sol (2nd above) ; kilometer zero (above)

i'm loving the lifestyle over here and how relax it is from the united states. i'm also learning a lot from my personality psych and business classes about the culture and society here in madrid. 

i'll update with more sites & sounds of madrid when i can!

¡ciao bella!

-*csc.