Updating for the first time in over a month! Wow. I didn't think that I would get as busy as I did during the month of March, but I'm going to give a quick overview for whoever out there is wondering about my life. I am about halfway through the program now-- I got here a little less than 3 months ago and will be leaving 3 months from this past Monday! I'm already sad about it, but I know that I'm going to have SO MUCH FUN in these next few months, and even though it will go by crazy quickly, I have a long way to go!
Here was the craziness that was the month of March:
London March 2-4
Geneva, Switzerland March 9-12
Lisbon, Portugal March 16-18
Visit from LK from London: March 22-25
Spring Break: Valencia: March 30-31; Malta: March 31-April 5; Bari, Italy: April 5-7; Rome, Italy: April 7-9
Andddd that's just traveling! I am incredibly grateful that I was able to do all of those things, but am glad to be back in Madrid and staying here this weekend! I am also really content with all of the places I traveled to- each one is so unique from the others!
Here is a quick synopsis of my life:
Geneva, Switzerland:
I flew to Geneva, Switzerland kind of on a whim; I wasn't planning on going but there was a cheap flight to Geneva so we went!! It was crazy interesting. Switzerland is obviously one of the most expensive countries in the world, and Geneva is one of the most expensive cities. We didn't miss that. First of all, we stayed just over the border in France because we couldn't stay anywhere for less than 100 or so euro a night in Geneva since everything was booked! So I guess I can check that one off of my list.. not that it was really there before so I guess it's more of a surprise that I went to France!! The town that we stayed in was super cute, and on Saturday we walked through its market! After a short bus ride, we got to Geneva. We walked around, saw all these reallllllly fancy stores, ate some Swiss chocolate, saw the fountain in Lake Geneva! We decided to take a boat tour on Lake Geneva as well, which was GREAT!!! We saw so much that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. Also, Saturday, the day that we did this, was so beautiful and clear, so the mountain ranges looked ridiculous. I couldn't believe it was real!!!
On Sunday we decided to go skiing!! Now neither I nor my friend had ever skied before, so we got a recommendation from the tourism office that we should go to this little Swiss town up in the mountains which had a small hill that was good for beginners. So we decided to do that! The train ride was obviously beautiful, going through the alps and all. We got to the ski hill and I got super nervous.. I'm really nervous with balancing and wasn't sure how it was all going to work out! But we rented skis, and some guy gave us a free "lift" pass (in quotes because it was a rope tow..). We needed another one but the man working the lift saw me standing and watching my friend Marisa go up and walked over to me and pulled my onto the tow by my pole.. haha. So we both skied for free! I was really bad, partially because I made myself so nervous. And partially because I was on the beginner hill obviously and there were a bunch of little Swiss kids running around on the hill the whole time and I was bad at steering. haha
SOOOOO that was Switzerland!! Glad we went, it was incredibly beautiful!!!
Lisbon, Portugal:
Portugal had been on my list because it is so close, obviously, and I had only heard good things!! We flew into Lisbon and went to our AWESOME hostel! On Friday night we walked around Lisbon and then went back to our hostel to eat (pretty good food!) and to go on a pub crawl with the hostel! We met a lot of interesting people in our hostel, and ran into some others from our school as well.
On Saturday we took a free walking tour from our hostel. Lisbon has so much character and it was really cool to see! Obviously everything is old but it just added character to the city, didn't make it look run down or anything! We were followed by some pickpocketers, we went to the flea market, it was great. Then we broke off on our own and went to a realllllllly good lunch and then walked around some more. We decided to go to an area called Belem in the afternoon, which was beautiful and really fun! And they made this really good pastry thing that was AWESOME! And then at night we went back to our hostel to eat there again and talk to more people from our hostel, so that was good!! I also decided that would be a good weekend to start the Hunger Games.. bad idea, all I wanted to do was read!!!!
Until spring break, or Semana Santa (holy week), I really had to focus on classes. There isn't too much classwork here, so it was hard to pull everything together. I had midterms for 3 of my classes. In one of my actual Complutense classes there is a project, and the topic that we picked just happened to fall on the Wednesday before spring break! So when everyone else was done on Tuesday, we still had this presentation and huge paper to write for this class! But luckily, class was cancelled on Thursday (kind of) due to a general strike, or huelga, in all of Spain. Evidently, it could have potentially been dangerous for us to go to school.. works for me! Extra day of break!
Thennnnnn it was time to get ready for SEMANA SANTA!!!! 11 days of vacation, wow. We saw so many different places!! Here are the highlights!!
Valencia, Spain! We took a bus to Valencia because we got a cheap flight out of there to go to Malta! Plus it's a good place to see, anyway. We got there and immediately went to the beach (surprised? we've been landlocked!) It was really fun! After that we walked around town and waited for the rest of our friends to arrive! So all in all, it was good to go, but definitely didn't see everything that we should have! And we also missed dinnertime aka a bunch of the kitchens closed that were serving paella.. only an issue because Valencia is famous for paella! But we ended up getting some good tapas, which is always okay by me!
Malta!
We basically went to Malta because my friends were looking for cheap flights and for someplace they thought would be warm! It was a really interesting place to go to for sure- the terrain was really cool and the water was beautiful! It was a lot of relaxing.. which I'm bad at! We rented an apartment which was fun, and had a pool and were close to town (by close I mean walking up hills and more hills..but still)! My favorite thing to do was go to Blue Lagoon- the water was insanely blue and I have never seen more beautiful water in my life! It was ice cold though and really difficult to swim though.. we tried!!!
Bari, Italy!
We flew to Bari from Malta on Thursday. I have been to Italy before, and LOVED it and never wanted to leave!! So I was excited to be going back to another town that I'd never been to! The food was great, and we stayed in the Old Town of bari, so everything was super Italian- the streets were small and stone and everyone's doors were open right into their kitchen!! So it was definitely really interesting!!! Our hostel was super sketchy, but it quickly turned into something comical!
ROME
I have been wanting to go back to Rome since I left a few years ago. It is probably my favorite city that I have ever been to! So after I researched Bari a little bit, I realized there wasn't incredibly a lot to do there, so I decided to meet up with some of my other friends who were going to Rome. And I'm so glad I did because it was my favorite part of my trip! I did a lot of walking around, which is my favorite thing to do, as most people knowww. The weather was a little weird/rainy which prevented me from going to the Colosseum and Roman Forum again while I waited for my friends to get there on Saturday, but that was okay! We saw it at night and they went another day after I left. One of the main reasons I went to Rome though, was because I wanted to go to Easter Mass and the Vatican. It was so worth it, and absolutely incredible. It was so cool to see how many people gathered for mass in St. Peter's Plaza outside the Basilica, and how far people came for the pilgrimage to the most holy day of the year at the Vatican! I was so blessed that I had the opportunity to go! And I saw the pope, which is awesome in itself! My favorite part of the 2+ hour mass though was when the pope gave the crowd his blessing- probably in 30 or so different languages. And when he announced the name of each country, people would cheer and wave their flags! It was great!!
The rest of Sunday was spent walking around to Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Spanish Steps, then back to the apartment to relax before dinner! It stormed then too, a little bit- thankfully it held out during mass though!
I left Rome super early on Monday and had a huge travel day before I finally arrived back in Madrid!! Thankfully we don't have class on Wednesdays so I'm easing back into things!
So, I'm updated. Hopefully another month won't pass by without me updating! I don't really have too many plans- I'm here this weekend and going to Extremadura- a state in southwestern Spain- the next with my program. I need to plan a weekend of travel after that because we have a five day weekend but my next trip will be CRETE!! In GREECE!! So excited!!!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Adventures in London
So today is my catch up day. AKA I uploaded pictures on facebook, went grocery shopping, and now am going to talk about my great trip to LONDON on here! Oh and also, for those of you who can't but want to see my pictures just ask me and I'll send a link!
So first of all, I was really hesitant about going to London. For some reason, it just never really sparked my interest as somewhere I would like to visit. I thought it would be more interesting to go somewhere where they spoke another language and the culture was completely different, I guess. But as I heard more about London from other people I realized I was the minority as this city is a lot of people's favorite city they've been to. Since one of my friends from home is studying there for the semester, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to see it- she could show me around and I could see what she liked to do in the city, as opposed to only doing tourist activities which I have minimum patience for on most days, depending on what it is.
I only spent about 30 hours in London; in retrospect it was a realllllly short trip but I did everything I wanted to do! On Friday night when I got to the city, my friend Laura (the one studying in London) and my other friend Franny (who is actually studying in Madrid but flew to London on Thursday because she didn't have class Friday) met me at the station and we got on the TUBE! Which was great but I am still partial to the Madrid Metro. Then we went to a pub that Laura heard was good but had never been to, Sherlock Holmes, and had our traditional Fish and Chips dinner, which didn't disappoint. I opted out of a Guinness though, sorry London. We went back to the hostel (at King's Cross station, what up Harry Potter?) and got ready to go out! I was so exhausted though, and was almost falling asleep while walking. Not to mention that I am an idiot and jumped off of a really short curb a week and a half ago because I evidently can't do anything like a normal person and landed on my foot weird and have a bone bruise or something. Soooooo that was good. But London was so pretty at night! We walked across the Thames, saw really pretty shots of the city, and went through Trafalgar Square. Then we finally got to where we were going, and there was a 10 pound cover. Note to self, London is expensive. Then I proceeded to take multiple mini naps in the booth until the bouncer woke me up because he thought I was passed out, but I was just napping. Most expensive nap ever.
LONDON AT NIGHT!!
Saturday was our day to fit everything in! We woke up and went to Buckingham Palace, and accidentally saw the changing of the guard!!! Which was really cool but it was packed. Another note: London cares. A policeman on a horse came down to where we were standing to warn us that about 20 feet away there was a pickpocketing incident, so to mind our things. How nice is that? There were also signs everywhere telling us about pickpockets. I haven't gotten any warnings or read any signs in Madrid, which seems like it has more of an issue than London does.
After that we met up with Laura and walked past St. James Park back towards Trafalgar Square. Which is still beautiful during the day. Obviously. We were deciding where to eat, and per her advice, decided to go for an international (kind of) meal. Apparently even British people don't want to eat British food. So we went to Chinatown which is always good. Plus we never went over winter break in Chicago so this was like a traveling Chinatown adventure. Awesome. Then we went to walk down the Thames to see Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and other sights in between. Everything was completely beautiful. We didn't go into anything, which was fine by me! I like to see things but am not necessarily down for paying 18 pounds to do something insanely touristy... multiple times. Then we walked back along the Thames and back to Laura's flat, which was great! We hung out there for a while and then went to this great little market by her house and then out to dinner- sushi! My first sushi ordering experience. I'm really expanding my tastebuds over here. I eat tomatoes too. whatttt
After that we went to get gelato and went to the Picadilly Circus stop and walked around Soho in London for a while. It was definitely really cool! But we had an early flight the next day, aka we left at 1 am, so we didn't do anything too crazy. When I finally got back to Madrid I was exhausted....I mean I didn't sleep but I was TIRED! Nothing has changed!! Instead we went to Retiro Park, which is the big park here, and rented boats which you can row on the little lake in the park. It was great!!!! So many adventures!!!
PS- I'm making progress in my piso. I talked to the Italian today, in Spanish, and the Spanish girl finally came home! Everyone is great. I'm also loving my Danish friend from my Complutense class, I see her all the time. Next stop: making Spanish friends. We'll see how that goes. Maybe I should email my intercambio?
WATCH THIS really you don't have to but it's what I was thinking about when I went to Westminster Abbey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-ma0ZDQ6Ig
So first of all, I was really hesitant about going to London. For some reason, it just never really sparked my interest as somewhere I would like to visit. I thought it would be more interesting to go somewhere where they spoke another language and the culture was completely different, I guess. But as I heard more about London from other people I realized I was the minority as this city is a lot of people's favorite city they've been to. Since one of my friends from home is studying there for the semester, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to see it- she could show me around and I could see what she liked to do in the city, as opposed to only doing tourist activities which I have minimum patience for on most days, depending on what it is.
I only spent about 30 hours in London; in retrospect it was a realllllly short trip but I did everything I wanted to do! On Friday night when I got to the city, my friend Laura (the one studying in London) and my other friend Franny (who is actually studying in Madrid but flew to London on Thursday because she didn't have class Friday) met me at the station and we got on the TUBE! Which was great but I am still partial to the Madrid Metro. Then we went to a pub that Laura heard was good but had never been to, Sherlock Holmes, and had our traditional Fish and Chips dinner, which didn't disappoint. I opted out of a Guinness though, sorry London. We went back to the hostel (at King's Cross station, what up Harry Potter?) and got ready to go out! I was so exhausted though, and was almost falling asleep while walking. Not to mention that I am an idiot and jumped off of a really short curb a week and a half ago because I evidently can't do anything like a normal person and landed on my foot weird and have a bone bruise or something. Soooooo that was good. But London was so pretty at night! We walked across the Thames, saw really pretty shots of the city, and went through Trafalgar Square. Then we finally got to where we were going, and there was a 10 pound cover. Note to self, London is expensive. Then I proceeded to take multiple mini naps in the booth until the bouncer woke me up because he thought I was passed out, but I was just napping. Most expensive nap ever.
Saturday was our day to fit everything in! We woke up and went to Buckingham Palace, and accidentally saw the changing of the guard!!! Which was really cool but it was packed. Another note: London cares. A policeman on a horse came down to where we were standing to warn us that about 20 feet away there was a pickpocketing incident, so to mind our things. How nice is that? There were also signs everywhere telling us about pickpockets. I haven't gotten any warnings or read any signs in Madrid, which seems like it has more of an issue than London does.
After that we met up with Laura and walked past St. James Park back towards Trafalgar Square. Which is still beautiful during the day. Obviously. We were deciding where to eat, and per her advice, decided to go for an international (kind of) meal. Apparently even British people don't want to eat British food. So we went to Chinatown which is always good. Plus we never went over winter break in Chicago so this was like a traveling Chinatown adventure. Awesome. Then we went to walk down the Thames to see Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and other sights in between. Everything was completely beautiful. We didn't go into anything, which was fine by me! I like to see things but am not necessarily down for paying 18 pounds to do something insanely touristy... multiple times. Then we walked back along the Thames and back to Laura's flat, which was great! We hung out there for a while and then went to this great little market by her house and then out to dinner- sushi! My first sushi ordering experience. I'm really expanding my tastebuds over here. I eat tomatoes too. whatttt
After that we went to get gelato and went to the Picadilly Circus stop and walked around Soho in London for a while. It was definitely really cool! But we had an early flight the next day, aka we left at 1 am, so we didn't do anything too crazy. When I finally got back to Madrid I was exhausted....I mean I didn't sleep but I was TIRED! Nothing has changed!! Instead we went to Retiro Park, which is the big park here, and rented boats which you can row on the little lake in the park. It was great!!!! So many adventures!!!
PS- I'm making progress in my piso. I talked to the Italian today, in Spanish, and the Spanish girl finally came home! Everyone is great. I'm also loving my Danish friend from my Complutense class, I see her all the time. Next stop: making Spanish friends. We'll see how that goes. Maybe I should email my intercambio?
WATCH THIS really you don't have to but it's what I was thinking about when I went to Westminster Abbey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-ma0ZDQ6Ig
Thursday, March 1, 2012
TIME IS GOING BY TOO FAST!!!!!
The past few weeks have clearly been super busy, considering I haven't posted in a while, updated my travel journal thing I'm trying to keep up with, I went nearly 3 weeks without talking to my mom, still waiting to talk to my dad, and haven't done anything for classes.. not that I really need to, all of my homework is fake. And fake means we are assigned 4 pages of reading and then read the same 4 pages aloud in class.. why would I do that? Obviously cuts into my hanging out time.
So I mentioned Carnaval, a huge festival internationally around the start of Lent. I didn't end up doing anything, surprise! Madrid time is always late, so when I showed up for the beginning of carnaval it didn't start for 45 more minutes, and by that time we were hungry.....so that was that. But Madrid is crazy basically all of the time, so it works well.
Side note. Not too much bothers me here. It's very different, sure, and there are certain cultural norms here that aren't the same as those in America, such as being late to everything, splitting the bill evenly no matter what people ordered, everyone smokes, and you need to be wary of pickpocketers basically everywhere. However, I have noticed that I am wayyy to American to wait patiently in line while Spaniards take their time. McDonald's is fast food right? Nope, not here. I got fries the other day and waited in line for 15 minutes. I do everything quickly: talking, walking, eating (okay that one is bad) so I still need to learn to slow down and be patient!!
ALSO, Madrid is HUGE! I learned this when I unknowingly walked nearly 13 miles (yes, I procrastinated my real life with mapmyruns.com to see how far we walked) all over town. Loved it, walking is one of my favorite things to do, but I was honestly just surprised. Oh annnddddd I'm just going to mention my little mishap with my intercambio.. who I have yet to see again. That day that I walked all around, I was gone from 12 noon to 830 pm. On Tuesday she mentioned in an email we should meet up on Wednesday. I replied, obviously, but by the time I left on Wednesday she hadn't emailed me. She has my number though so I thought it was fine. At 8 pm I got a text from her saying she was at La Latina.... uh oh. Okay, so I actually felt really really bad, but whyyyyyy would you just go somewhere without confirming it? Hoping we're going to hang out again though, obviously, because I need to practice my Spanish. Today she emailed me and said Hola guapa so I don't think that's a bad sign?
COOKING CLASS! Yes, I learned to cook paella, patatas alveoli, and natillas or something like that.. it was a small donut thing. It may or may not have been worth it, but either way it was really interesting and then I got to eat, and now I have Spanish recipes, which is clearly going to be important for the huge withdrawal I am 100% sure I will go through when I leave on July 9th.
Sooooo anyway that is my update. I'm going to LONDRES (London) tomorrow afternoon to have a good ol' high school reunion with some of my favorite people. Except I kind of don't want to leave Madrid. What are ya gonna do. It will be AWESOME and it starts my crazy European adventure lifestyle. I'm just going to talk about it for like 4 seconds because I'm crazy excited.
This weekend: London. Next weekend: Geneva, Switzerland. Weekend after: Lisbon, Portugal. Then my friend from London is visiting. Thennnn it is finalmente spring breakkk and I will be going to Valencia, Malta, and Bari, Italy!!!!!!! WHAT! This is a crazy amount of traveling and I have plans in the works for Germany and Greece, and would really like to go to Scandinavia...and in June I'm pretty positive I will do anything in my power to go to the motherlands: Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and I would love to see Austria. My Austrian roommate said I could visit and she would show me around. No big deal. Love my life. So judging by this, it looks like I will be saying hey to Mariano's this summer for a couple weeks.. can't wait. Just kidding. Spain is obviously worth it!
Okay, off to maybe pack for London.
Oh, and PS, it's crazy warm.. Pretty sure I've gotten some color by sitting in the park this weekend and today. OH!! Today my friend and I took a nap in the park. And when we woke up, this crazy man with no pants was peeing or something behind a tree just down the hill. And then he kept peering out from behind the tree and started dancing.. real awkward, real scary. So naturally we booked it out of the park. Now aware of crazy naked men in Parque del Oeste. Noted.
So I mentioned Carnaval, a huge festival internationally around the start of Lent. I didn't end up doing anything, surprise! Madrid time is always late, so when I showed up for the beginning of carnaval it didn't start for 45 more minutes, and by that time we were hungry.....so that was that. But Madrid is crazy basically all of the time, so it works well.
Side note. Not too much bothers me here. It's very different, sure, and there are certain cultural norms here that aren't the same as those in America, such as being late to everything, splitting the bill evenly no matter what people ordered, everyone smokes, and you need to be wary of pickpocketers basically everywhere. However, I have noticed that I am wayyy to American to wait patiently in line while Spaniards take their time. McDonald's is fast food right? Nope, not here. I got fries the other day and waited in line for 15 minutes. I do everything quickly: talking, walking, eating (okay that one is bad) so I still need to learn to slow down and be patient!!
ALSO, Madrid is HUGE! I learned this when I unknowingly walked nearly 13 miles (yes, I procrastinated my real life with mapmyruns.com to see how far we walked) all over town. Loved it, walking is one of my favorite things to do, but I was honestly just surprised. Oh annnddddd I'm just going to mention my little mishap with my intercambio.. who I have yet to see again. That day that I walked all around, I was gone from 12 noon to 830 pm. On Tuesday she mentioned in an email we should meet up on Wednesday. I replied, obviously, but by the time I left on Wednesday she hadn't emailed me. She has my number though so I thought it was fine. At 8 pm I got a text from her saying she was at La Latina.... uh oh. Okay, so I actually felt really really bad, but whyyyyyy would you just go somewhere without confirming it? Hoping we're going to hang out again though, obviously, because I need to practice my Spanish. Today she emailed me and said Hola guapa so I don't think that's a bad sign?
COOKING CLASS! Yes, I learned to cook paella, patatas alveoli, and natillas or something like that.. it was a small donut thing. It may or may not have been worth it, but either way it was really interesting and then I got to eat, and now I have Spanish recipes, which is clearly going to be important for the huge withdrawal I am 100% sure I will go through when I leave on July 9th.
Sooooo anyway that is my update. I'm going to LONDRES (London) tomorrow afternoon to have a good ol' high school reunion with some of my favorite people. Except I kind of don't want to leave Madrid. What are ya gonna do. It will be AWESOME and it starts my crazy European adventure lifestyle. I'm just going to talk about it for like 4 seconds because I'm crazy excited.
This weekend: London. Next weekend: Geneva, Switzerland. Weekend after: Lisbon, Portugal. Then my friend from London is visiting. Thennnn it is finalmente spring breakkk and I will be going to Valencia, Malta, and Bari, Italy!!!!!!! WHAT! This is a crazy amount of traveling and I have plans in the works for Germany and Greece, and would really like to go to Scandinavia...and in June I'm pretty positive I will do anything in my power to go to the motherlands: Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and I would love to see Austria. My Austrian roommate said I could visit and she would show me around. No big deal. Love my life. So judging by this, it looks like I will be saying hey to Mariano's this summer for a couple weeks.. can't wait. Just kidding. Spain is obviously worth it!
Okay, off to maybe pack for London.
Oh, and PS, it's crazy warm.. Pretty sure I've gotten some color by sitting in the park this weekend and today. OH!! Today my friend and I took a nap in the park. And when we woke up, this crazy man with no pants was peeing or something behind a tree just down the hill. And then he kept peering out from behind the tree and started dancing.. real awkward, real scary. So naturally we booked it out of the park. Now aware of crazy naked men in Parque del Oeste. Noted.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Stage 2?
So one of the things that everybody supposedly experiences while moving abroad is culture shock. The worst stage (as told to us by our program coordinators)? Stage 2, where everyone starts to miss home and/or get irritated at Spain/people in Spain/food in Spain etc. For the past month (I can't believe it has already been a month) we have all "hit" stage 2. Eat McDonalds everyday? Stage 2. Listen to songs that remind you of home? Stage 2. Personally, I have started stage two-ing when I hear songs that remind me of my friends or just of home. So basically I don't listen to any song longer than a minute-- but actually that is pretty normal for me! Short attention span! BUT, I can maybe see where I would leave the honeymoon phase soon! Hopefully not though!!!!!!!! But here are some of the major things that happened this week:
1. This week we started our Complutense classes, the ones with Spanish students! For some reason I thought it would be okay? But then on the first day one of my professors stood in front of me and started making jokes to the class that I didn't understand.. so that was great. Luckily, there are a couple of other people from my program in my class! The other class was a disaster, too. I switched it already but then the class I switched into had a professor I couldn't understand. He is really nice and came up to us Americans after class and made sure we could understand him. Nope, but here's to hoping next Thursday is better!
2. FINALLY MOVED INTO MY PISO!!!! It is SO great. It is adorable, it it close to everything (hey, 12 minute bus ride to class), and a bunch of people live nearby! My roommates are all super nice and it seems like things are coming together! It only took me three attempts to figure out the washer and I haven't broken anything yet so I would say I'm doing well. Oh, and I overlook a convent. What?
3. Started my intercambio! I met with a Spanish girl last week to do a language exchange. We walked around a mall at a metro station then went to get something to eat!!! She was really nice and it is good to practice my Spanish! Side note: while I was waiting, some random guy came up to me and said, you're really attractive, can I talk to you? (in spanish).. good job for being forward, but it's just a little weird?
This weekend starts Carnaval, a huge festival around fat tuesday etc- like mardi gras. A bunch of people went south, to Cadiz, Spain, to celebrate it! I didn't....that's a lot of money to spend to party the entire weekend. But there are plenty of crazies walking around Madrid in costumes and celebrating anyway.
1. This week we started our Complutense classes, the ones with Spanish students! For some reason I thought it would be okay? But then on the first day one of my professors stood in front of me and started making jokes to the class that I didn't understand.. so that was great. Luckily, there are a couple of other people from my program in my class! The other class was a disaster, too. I switched it already but then the class I switched into had a professor I couldn't understand. He is really nice and came up to us Americans after class and made sure we could understand him. Nope, but here's to hoping next Thursday is better!
2. FINALLY MOVED INTO MY PISO!!!! It is SO great. It is adorable, it it close to everything (hey, 12 minute bus ride to class), and a bunch of people live nearby! My roommates are all super nice and it seems like things are coming together! It only took me three attempts to figure out the washer and I haven't broken anything yet so I would say I'm doing well. Oh, and I overlook a convent. What?
3. Started my intercambio! I met with a Spanish girl last week to do a language exchange. We walked around a mall at a metro station then went to get something to eat!!! She was really nice and it is good to practice my Spanish! Side note: while I was waiting, some random guy came up to me and said, you're really attractive, can I talk to you? (in spanish).. good job for being forward, but it's just a little weird?
This weekend starts Carnaval, a huge festival around fat tuesday etc- like mardi gras. A bunch of people went south, to Cadiz, Spain, to celebrate it! I didn't....that's a lot of money to spend to party the entire weekend. But there are plenty of crazies walking around Madrid in costumes and celebrating anyway.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Getting Real.
So for the past few weeks that we've been here, we haven't really had many responsibilities. No complaints!! I really enjoyed just relaxing, hanging out with friends, exploring, and going out at night! Though there is so much more I need to do!! But, it has changed within the past week and is about to change even more! This program is different than those of a lot of people I know, being that we work off of a Spanish class schedule, with classes on Fridays. What? Classes on Friday abroad? How do you travel? Exactly. So we are going to have to work around that a little bit. Our second round of classes start this week. We are now adding two more classes to our course load. These are with all Spanish students and only a couple of Americans in each class, which will be great for immersion but is a little intimidating. This week I will also start meeting with my intercambio, who is another student- a native Spanish speaker- learning to speak English. The idea is that we meet for an hour or so and spend half of the time in each language. I'm super excited! Apparently this is a great way to make friends!
This past week I started teaching English. This is a job for one hour twice a week where I go to a Spanish home to act as a tutor to these kids. I tutor 3 kids-- they are all between 2.5 and 3 years old and are a little crazy. But great at the same time! It is a little difficult because of their attention spans and also because the mom only wants me to speak in English. I agree that the immersion is very important but it is just going to be tough at first because they are so young and don't speak any english, whereas it was possible to tutor a kid who has been working on English for a while. Anyway, this pays 18€ twice a week. Not too bad! I mostly sing songs with them, show them pictures and talk about them, and play with them too. The mom wants me to bring a CD on Tuesday, so I guess that is my mission for tomorrow.
This week I also tried a choir practice. I am not sure why I am doing it.. I thought that it might be cool to meet other Spaniards, but I don't know if I will. This week there were 5 girls from my program there and 8 Spaniards. I haven't sang in a choir- just taken voice lessons- since high school, and I forgot that the actual choir wasn't my favorite part of everything, but the people. So we'll see how it goes!
New Experiences of the Week:
1. La Misa (Mass): On Sunday I went with a few friends to la misa at Almudena Cathedral in Madrid. It is right across a courtyard from the royal palace and was one of my favorite things I've done so far. It was all in Spanish, por supuesto (of course) and was a little different than what I've been used to the last 20 years of my life. There was no singing, only an organ that would play once in a while and a cantor who sang a couple hymns. Also, during communion time, there was no order to people going to the altar. Instead, some people just kind of went when they felt like it, and others didn't go at all. We were pretty confused by this but ended up going right before they finished communion. The whole mass took a maximum of 40 minutes. Here is a picture of the outside of the cathedral:
2. Tapas! Okay, so I have been eating some tapas, but there are a few things worth mentioning. First of all, there is this chain in Spain (and in Miami, for some reason) called 100 Montaditos. Montaditos are little sandwich/tapa type things. This is important purely because on Wednesday, everything on their menu is a euro. Yes, even a pint. So it was PACKED on Wednesday, but we went and it was so good! New tradition! This Wednesday is moving day (aka, moving to my new piso!) and I am recruiting the help of one of my friends from home. This is how we are celebrating!!!!!!! I think it is a good idea. But what I mostly wanted to mention about tapas is that on Friday, I went on a Tapas tour with some people from my group. We walked around different neighborhoods of Spain trying some of the best tapas restaurants in the city and got sangria with each one! They were all really good, and I really enjoyed trying some new food! (Octopus and fried anchovies?)
3. Salamanca!!!!!!!!!!! We last minute decided to go on a trip to Salamanca, Spain this Saturday and Sunday. It is about a 3 hour bus ride or so and it is northwest of Madrid. Maybe it wasn't the best plan, considering it was cold, to go north, but we made it work! It wasn't actually cold, we are just waiting for that beautiful Spanish weather, which is rumored (by weather.com) to continue at the end of this week. We got to the city and found our hostel and went exploring. First we ate at a restaurant which only had locals and got the menú del día, which is a multi-course offering for about 10 euro. This meant we filled up on wine, bread, paella with chicken and shrimp, tortilla de jamón (spanish tortilla with ham-tortilla from eggs and potatoes), patatas fritas (french fries), and helado (ice cream). Done eating for the day.
In Salamanca we walked around a lot. We stopped at Plaza Mayor, the grandest plaza in Spain, allegedly. It is made of granite and it beautiful. There were so many people out socializing in the Plaza, even on a cold day like yesterday. We walked to the cathedrals also. There are two- the old and the new. The New Cathedral is free entry and we looked around inside. It was crazy beautiful. We had plans to go to mass this morning but that didn't end up happening. Then we walked around Universidad de Salamanca, the oldest university in Spain. We also stopped along the bridge leading into the city. My Rick Steves Spain guide (thanks mom and dad for the suggestion!) helped a lot!!
All in all, Salamanca was absolutely beautiful. A quaint town with stone streets and beautiful old buildings everywhere, full of history and all so architecturally interesting. It is so completely different from Madrid and other places that I've ever seen! That being said, I don't know how I could live there after living in Madrid. This week, I completely fell in love with it and pretty much decided I don't want to leave. We'll see how that goes.
This week is bittersweet- I have to leave my lovely señora but am moving into my new apartment finalmente! It will be so nice because so many people from my program will be living in the same area, and it will be SO FUN!!!!!!!! Wish me luck!
This past week I started teaching English. This is a job for one hour twice a week where I go to a Spanish home to act as a tutor to these kids. I tutor 3 kids-- they are all between 2.5 and 3 years old and are a little crazy. But great at the same time! It is a little difficult because of their attention spans and also because the mom only wants me to speak in English. I agree that the immersion is very important but it is just going to be tough at first because they are so young and don't speak any english, whereas it was possible to tutor a kid who has been working on English for a while. Anyway, this pays 18€ twice a week. Not too bad! I mostly sing songs with them, show them pictures and talk about them, and play with them too. The mom wants me to bring a CD on Tuesday, so I guess that is my mission for tomorrow.
This week I also tried a choir practice. I am not sure why I am doing it.. I thought that it might be cool to meet other Spaniards, but I don't know if I will. This week there were 5 girls from my program there and 8 Spaniards. I haven't sang in a choir- just taken voice lessons- since high school, and I forgot that the actual choir wasn't my favorite part of everything, but the people. So we'll see how it goes!
New Experiences of the Week:
1. La Misa (Mass): On Sunday I went with a few friends to la misa at Almudena Cathedral in Madrid. It is right across a courtyard from the royal palace and was one of my favorite things I've done so far. It was all in Spanish, por supuesto (of course) and was a little different than what I've been used to the last 20 years of my life. There was no singing, only an organ that would play once in a while and a cantor who sang a couple hymns. Also, during communion time, there was no order to people going to the altar. Instead, some people just kind of went when they felt like it, and others didn't go at all. We were pretty confused by this but ended up going right before they finished communion. The whole mass took a maximum of 40 minutes. Here is a picture of the outside of the cathedral:
2. Tapas! Okay, so I have been eating some tapas, but there are a few things worth mentioning. First of all, there is this chain in Spain (and in Miami, for some reason) called 100 Montaditos. Montaditos are little sandwich/tapa type things. This is important purely because on Wednesday, everything on their menu is a euro. Yes, even a pint. So it was PACKED on Wednesday, but we went and it was so good! New tradition! This Wednesday is moving day (aka, moving to my new piso!) and I am recruiting the help of one of my friends from home. This is how we are celebrating!!!!!!! I think it is a good idea. But what I mostly wanted to mention about tapas is that on Friday, I went on a Tapas tour with some people from my group. We walked around different neighborhoods of Spain trying some of the best tapas restaurants in the city and got sangria with each one! They were all really good, and I really enjoyed trying some new food! (Octopus and fried anchovies?)
3. Salamanca!!!!!!!!!!! We last minute decided to go on a trip to Salamanca, Spain this Saturday and Sunday. It is about a 3 hour bus ride or so and it is northwest of Madrid. Maybe it wasn't the best plan, considering it was cold, to go north, but we made it work! It wasn't actually cold, we are just waiting for that beautiful Spanish weather, which is rumored (by weather.com) to continue at the end of this week. We got to the city and found our hostel and went exploring. First we ate at a restaurant which only had locals and got the menú del día, which is a multi-course offering for about 10 euro. This meant we filled up on wine, bread, paella with chicken and shrimp, tortilla de jamón (spanish tortilla with ham-tortilla from eggs and potatoes), patatas fritas (french fries), and helado (ice cream). Done eating for the day.
In Salamanca we walked around a lot. We stopped at Plaza Mayor, the grandest plaza in Spain, allegedly. It is made of granite and it beautiful. There were so many people out socializing in the Plaza, even on a cold day like yesterday. We walked to the cathedrals also. There are two- the old and the new. The New Cathedral is free entry and we looked around inside. It was crazy beautiful. We had plans to go to mass this morning but that didn't end up happening. Then we walked around Universidad de Salamanca, the oldest university in Spain. We also stopped along the bridge leading into the city. My Rick Steves Spain guide (thanks mom and dad for the suggestion!) helped a lot!!
All in all, Salamanca was absolutely beautiful. A quaint town with stone streets and beautiful old buildings everywhere, full of history and all so architecturally interesting. It is so completely different from Madrid and other places that I've ever seen! That being said, I don't know how I could live there after living in Madrid. This week, I completely fell in love with it and pretty much decided I don't want to leave. We'll see how that goes.
This week is bittersweet- I have to leave my lovely señora but am moving into my new apartment finalmente! It will be so nice because so many people from my program will be living in the same area, and it will be SO FUN!!!!!!!! Wish me luck!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Isn't Spain supposed to be warm?
So, the past few days all of us here have been disheartened by the Spanish weather. Spain is known for its sun and temperate weather even in the winter. Those days enjoyed in the nearly 60 degree weather a couple weeks ago? Gone. So, it's been kind of rough for a lot of us. I am personally realizing how bad I am at packing because 1, I have nothing warm to wear besides a northface jacket- my thin trenchcoat does not help, and 2, because María, my señora hadn't done my laundry for a while and I have 2 shirts left. Dryers aren't common here, and usually line-drying, which I am totally in support in thanks to my mother, works well in the sun, but of course it's not here... Yesterday I dried one with a hair dryer. Whoops. Also, it is INSANELY windy, which makes it difficult at night to go out! But it is all fine, I have clearly survived and don't mean to be so complain-y, because I know a lot of other European countries are having very terrible issues right now, I'm just surprised/not prepared.
I mentioned my señora, María. I'm not sure how much I have said about her yet, but she is seriously the best. I am so sad to leave her when I move into my piso in the next week or so! First of all, my situation is really different because she doesn't live with us. Instead she lives with her husband Cortés a few stops away on the metro. So this really sets us up for an independent living arrangement which we take full advantage of. We have people over, friends come over after going out and eat, and we can have friends sleep over (María has a surplus of beds..). It's really nice! Though it is kind of strange only seeing her for an hour or so each day. Earlier this week she stopped in at 11 am and I was completely confused. And this week, we met her marido, or husband. He is so great, obviously, just like María. He's a broker-- the first thing they told us was that in the spring, when it's nicer, we have to come over to the penthouse to have lunch on the terrace... uh, okay. No complaints. We kind of assumed María lived this lifestyle considering she usually comes in and said that she got nothing done- she just slept all day. Or when she noticed my roommates Prada glasses and raved about Prada for a while since when she is in London, she goes there every afternoon.. alright. Besides that, we have told María about a couple of our friends and she has met some too. Somehow, she decided that one is my boyfriend.. and then she gave me another. I'm not really sure what is going on, but I do know that I can't stop laughing during dinner with all of the different things that she brings up.
Classes started this week for Reunidas, the American portion of the program. So far, they are all alright. We will see how everything pans out though! Complu classes won't start for another week, so I'll be enjoying my last week of semi-break. Earlier this week, we got our assignments for teaching English!!!! This is something we can do to earn a little extra pocket money while we're here- we didn't need a work visa or anything, so we get under-the-table cash. This is PERFECT. I will be teaching two hours a week and working with 2 3-year-olds. I'm pretty excited about the whole thing, because as I quickly learned, Spanish kids are about 83 times cuter than American kids.. and I love American kids. So you can imagine my excitement over this! Since I can't create a lesson plan for then (they are way too young, clearly), I will just be playing with them and teaching them American songs. All for 32 € a week (I HAVE NEVER MADE THAT EURO SIGN BEFORE THAT WAS THE BEST!!!!!).
I know this is lengthy, but I feel like a lot happened this week. Here are quick updates about 3 more discoveries in Spain:
1. CHEAP BREAD- I know this is super weird, but when you just want to have some bread for lunch, warm and out of the oven, all you need to do is wander to the local Dia, a supermarket here, or my personal choice (a block from my new apartment), Mercado de Argüelles. Bread is 45 centimos, or cents, for a loaf. BEST THING EVER.
2. KAPITAL!!!- We finally decided to go to Kapital, a major discoteca in Madrid with 7 levels, on Friday night. This can't be a habit, considering in cost 18€ (euro sign again, this is awesome) to get in the door with one drink (I forgot my coupon.. ugh, which would have given me 2 for 15€). Of course, like my dad told me, there are some things that I have to do for the experience, and this was one of them! It was completely worth it and I had a great time!! People came over here first for wine (perfect because we knew the drinks would be super expensive) and then we headed to Kapital. We ran into so many other people from our program, and one girl had a friend who had bottle service in one section of Kapital. It was pretty ridiculous. We stayed out until the metro opened again and I kept my heels on the whole time!!!!!!! Just had to point that out considering heels and me don't mix. Though I was struggling to stand on them (purely because I hate heels) by the end of the night. I think I might have broken a toe. haha. But from now on, I am going to go on Thursday nights when it is free for girls and just suck it up through my 8:30 am class on Friday. I end early, anyway. (I realize this method probably isn't sanctioned...but this is Spain.)
3. Last night, I went to a concert- Don Omar- with a bunch of people from my program. Now, this isn't my typical concert that I attend (I miss Interpol), but I knew it would be a fun experience purely because it was in Madrid. I only knew two songs..haha. It was SO much fun! Besides that 1, I had to pee, and no matter how much my friends tried to convince me, I was NOT going to squat behind a pillar at the top of the stadium. And 2, I was under the impression that the concert hall would be really hot because everyone was dancing, and also under the impression that since the doors opened at 8:30 pm and we got there at 9:40 for a 9:30 show, we would get in right away. Nope. Cool. Remember that bitter cold and wind I talked about earlier? Still a problem. We waited in line for an hour outside, and I was just wearing my 3/4 length blazer. haha...and it was still cold in the concert hall. But that's okay!!!!! It was a great experience and I'm warm now, obviously. haha
Sorry for the lengthy post, I have to crank out some contemporary lit homework before going out for the super bowl tonight!
I mentioned my señora, María. I'm not sure how much I have said about her yet, but she is seriously the best. I am so sad to leave her when I move into my piso in the next week or so! First of all, my situation is really different because she doesn't live with us. Instead she lives with her husband Cortés a few stops away on the metro. So this really sets us up for an independent living arrangement which we take full advantage of. We have people over, friends come over after going out and eat, and we can have friends sleep over (María has a surplus of beds..). It's really nice! Though it is kind of strange only seeing her for an hour or so each day. Earlier this week she stopped in at 11 am and I was completely confused. And this week, we met her marido, or husband. He is so great, obviously, just like María. He's a broker-- the first thing they told us was that in the spring, when it's nicer, we have to come over to the penthouse to have lunch on the terrace... uh, okay. No complaints. We kind of assumed María lived this lifestyle considering she usually comes in and said that she got nothing done- she just slept all day. Or when she noticed my roommates Prada glasses and raved about Prada for a while since when she is in London, she goes there every afternoon.. alright. Besides that, we have told María about a couple of our friends and she has met some too. Somehow, she decided that one is my boyfriend.. and then she gave me another. I'm not really sure what is going on, but I do know that I can't stop laughing during dinner with all of the different things that she brings up.
Classes started this week for Reunidas, the American portion of the program. So far, they are all alright. We will see how everything pans out though! Complu classes won't start for another week, so I'll be enjoying my last week of semi-break. Earlier this week, we got our assignments for teaching English!!!! This is something we can do to earn a little extra pocket money while we're here- we didn't need a work visa or anything, so we get under-the-table cash. This is PERFECT. I will be teaching two hours a week and working with 2 3-year-olds. I'm pretty excited about the whole thing, because as I quickly learned, Spanish kids are about 83 times cuter than American kids.. and I love American kids. So you can imagine my excitement over this! Since I can't create a lesson plan for then (they are way too young, clearly), I will just be playing with them and teaching them American songs. All for 32 € a week (I HAVE NEVER MADE THAT EURO SIGN BEFORE THAT WAS THE BEST!!!!!).
I know this is lengthy, but I feel like a lot happened this week. Here are quick updates about 3 more discoveries in Spain:
1. CHEAP BREAD- I know this is super weird, but when you just want to have some bread for lunch, warm and out of the oven, all you need to do is wander to the local Dia, a supermarket here, or my personal choice (a block from my new apartment), Mercado de Argüelles. Bread is 45 centimos, or cents, for a loaf. BEST THING EVER.
2. KAPITAL!!!- We finally decided to go to Kapital, a major discoteca in Madrid with 7 levels, on Friday night. This can't be a habit, considering in cost 18€ (euro sign again, this is awesome) to get in the door with one drink (I forgot my coupon.. ugh, which would have given me 2 for 15€). Of course, like my dad told me, there are some things that I have to do for the experience, and this was one of them! It was completely worth it and I had a great time!! People came over here first for wine (perfect because we knew the drinks would be super expensive) and then we headed to Kapital. We ran into so many other people from our program, and one girl had a friend who had bottle service in one section of Kapital. It was pretty ridiculous. We stayed out until the metro opened again and I kept my heels on the whole time!!!!!!! Just had to point that out considering heels and me don't mix. Though I was struggling to stand on them (purely because I hate heels) by the end of the night. I think I might have broken a toe. haha. But from now on, I am going to go on Thursday nights when it is free for girls and just suck it up through my 8:30 am class on Friday. I end early, anyway. (I realize this method probably isn't sanctioned...but this is Spain.)
3. Last night, I went to a concert- Don Omar- with a bunch of people from my program. Now, this isn't my typical concert that I attend (I miss Interpol), but I knew it would be a fun experience purely because it was in Madrid. I only knew two songs..haha. It was SO much fun! Besides that 1, I had to pee, and no matter how much my friends tried to convince me, I was NOT going to squat behind a pillar at the top of the stadium. And 2, I was under the impression that the concert hall would be really hot because everyone was dancing, and also under the impression that since the doors opened at 8:30 pm and we got there at 9:40 for a 9:30 show, we would get in right away. Nope. Cool. Remember that bitter cold and wind I talked about earlier? Still a problem. We waited in line for an hour outside, and I was just wearing my 3/4 length blazer. haha...and it was still cold in the concert hall. But that's okay!!!!! It was a great experience and I'm warm now, obviously. haha
Sorry for the lengthy post, I have to crank out some contemporary lit homework before going out for the super bowl tonight!
Monday, January 30, 2012
I LOVE SPAIN
So it's been a while since I posted anything and I should probably be in touch more. In the week that I haven't posted anything, we have all had an extremely busy week with orientation programs, the housing search, and adjusting to Madrid!!!! This week started with me finding an apartment- SO EXCITED! It is in the neighborhood I wanted to live in, which is really nice. I can move in on the 1st, but probably will stay in my homestay a little longer than that (free food...).
This week we also had orientation programs at the Museo del Prado and a tour of Old Madrid. Both were really interesting! I really want to go back to the Museo del Prado (on a free day.. haha) and explore more. And the tour was good for helping me gain my bearings in the city. The rest of the days we had more orientation programs and our intensive January course to give us some background on issues in Spain.
Besides that, this past week was dedicated to becoming "acquainted" with the nightlife of Madrid. One of the most popular places to go is Sol, in the center of the city. On any given night of the week there are tons of people and things going on at so many bars and discotecas. BUT the nightlife doesn't even get going until 2 am or so here (inconvenient since the Metro closes at 1:30) and most people stay out until 6 am when it reopens for the next day. Keeping up with Madrid is exhausting!
This weekend was also full of exploring! On Saturday a bunch of us met up at Parque del Retiro, a beautiful and huge park in Madrid. There were tons of things going on- street performers, rowboats in the lake, soccer, rollerblading, you name it. Sunday we went to a famous market called the Rastro.. it basically has a bunch of stalls with purses, clothes, scarves, you name it! Everything was super cheap (aka that is where everyone's souvenirs are coming from). Then we took an hour bus ride out to Sierra de Guadarrama on the outskirts of Madrid to go hiking! Except we weren't really that prepared..we assumed there would be a sign or a visitor's center or SOMETHING indicating what we were supposed to do. Nope. Guess it didn't help that it was Sunday. Then we started seeing a bunch of hikers (all of whom were in giant coats, snowboots, and had walking sticks and huge backpacks.. I think we were underprepared). We followed and eventually we did find the trail! haha It was beautiful, but I want to go back again when it is warmer for sure!!!!
Today is the start of classes- the three classes that we take at the American consortium. It is certainly easier to continue this vacation in Spain.. but after a 7 week break it will be nice to get back into routine!
This week we also had orientation programs at the Museo del Prado and a tour of Old Madrid. Both were really interesting! I really want to go back to the Museo del Prado (on a free day.. haha) and explore more. And the tour was good for helping me gain my bearings in the city. The rest of the days we had more orientation programs and our intensive January course to give us some background on issues in Spain.
Besides that, this past week was dedicated to becoming "acquainted" with the nightlife of Madrid. One of the most popular places to go is Sol, in the center of the city. On any given night of the week there are tons of people and things going on at so many bars and discotecas. BUT the nightlife doesn't even get going until 2 am or so here (inconvenient since the Metro closes at 1:30) and most people stay out until 6 am when it reopens for the next day. Keeping up with Madrid is exhausting!
This weekend was also full of exploring! On Saturday a bunch of us met up at Parque del Retiro, a beautiful and huge park in Madrid. There were tons of things going on- street performers, rowboats in the lake, soccer, rollerblading, you name it. Sunday we went to a famous market called the Rastro.. it basically has a bunch of stalls with purses, clothes, scarves, you name it! Everything was super cheap (aka that is where everyone's souvenirs are coming from). Then we took an hour bus ride out to Sierra de Guadarrama on the outskirts of Madrid to go hiking! Except we weren't really that prepared..we assumed there would be a sign or a visitor's center or SOMETHING indicating what we were supposed to do. Nope. Guess it didn't help that it was Sunday. Then we started seeing a bunch of hikers (all of whom were in giant coats, snowboots, and had walking sticks and huge backpacks.. I think we were underprepared). We followed and eventually we did find the trail! haha It was beautiful, but I want to go back again when it is warmer for sure!!!!
Today is the start of classes- the three classes that we take at the American consortium. It is certainly easier to continue this vacation in Spain.. but after a 7 week break it will be nice to get back into routine!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Aventuras!
It's hard to believe that a week ago I was getting ready to leave home!! This week has flown by, and has been super busy!!! We are well into orientation and starting to embrace the Spanish culture.
Okay, to start off, I LOVE THE METRO! It is like 20 stories underground and there are all these lines stacked on top of each other and they are super fast at getting you anywhere. I thought I was a CTA fan, but I didn't know what I was missing. Although there are some days where I feel like all I do is ride the metro!!!! To get to school, we go about 6 stops down, which takes about 15 minutes, and then we have to walk or take the bus. It's not too bad!
Okay, so anyway, we live right off of a really busy street in a piso. There are 3 of us from our program and 1 from another who has lived here for a while. Our señora doesn't live with us-- she just comes for dinner and, I guess, to do our laundry once a week. It's definitely different than I expected, but it is really nice and has an independence element to it. This is a really bad picture of our habitación:
There were 2 main reasons that I chose this program over others, both will immerse me more into the Spanish culture. One is our classes. There are 3 classes we take with other Americans from 8 universities, but 2 we actually take at Complutense, the university here, with other Spanish students, and there can only be a maximum of 5 American students in each class. Earlier this week I had to pick them out and it was a nightmare, but hopefully everything will turn out alright! I got my classes and am not really sure if they will transfer, but it's all okay!!!!!!
The more interesting part is that we have to find our own apartment, preferably with other Spanish students, a search that my roommate and I are well into because pretty soon there is going to be more competition from other European students and even Americans. I have a few showings today which is super exciting, and hopefully I will soon know where I'm living!!!!! Right now I'm looking in the student area, right next to the university, known as Moncloa. So hopefully today will be the day I find something!
Other than that, I have enjoyed exploring the city. There is still so much I haven't seen, but it is full of life all of the time- even at 3:30 in the morning. One really interesting place is Puerta del Sol, which is this major plaza in the center of town. It's full of people and has about a million streets with shops extending from the main plaza. The other night my roommates and I went to get churros con chocolate. The chocolate is literally melted chocolate; it is extremely rich and I couldn't really drink it after using it for my churros! But it was great!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, so this blog post is super long and I'm sorry if you are still reading!!! But I need to talk about our trip to Toledo yesterday!!!!!! It was SO BEAUTIFUL. It was really interesting coming from a major city like Madrid, still full of history and its own culture, to a small town such as this. We took a guided tour through the city, a cathedral, synagogue, a churches. We tried mazapán, (I think that is how you spell it) which is Toledo's specialty. It is a really sugary pastry.. I'm not sure how else to describe it. Here is a picture looking towards the town when we stopped as we were driving into the city.
Anyway, I'm off to look at some pisos. Cross your fingers for me!!!!!
Okay, to start off, I LOVE THE METRO! It is like 20 stories underground and there are all these lines stacked on top of each other and they are super fast at getting you anywhere. I thought I was a CTA fan, but I didn't know what I was missing. Although there are some days where I feel like all I do is ride the metro!!!! To get to school, we go about 6 stops down, which takes about 15 minutes, and then we have to walk or take the bus. It's not too bad!
Okay, so anyway, we live right off of a really busy street in a piso. There are 3 of us from our program and 1 from another who has lived here for a while. Our señora doesn't live with us-- she just comes for dinner and, I guess, to do our laundry once a week. It's definitely different than I expected, but it is really nice and has an independence element to it. This is a really bad picture of our habitación:
There were 2 main reasons that I chose this program over others, both will immerse me more into the Spanish culture. One is our classes. There are 3 classes we take with other Americans from 8 universities, but 2 we actually take at Complutense, the university here, with other Spanish students, and there can only be a maximum of 5 American students in each class. Earlier this week I had to pick them out and it was a nightmare, but hopefully everything will turn out alright! I got my classes and am not really sure if they will transfer, but it's all okay!!!!!!
The more interesting part is that we have to find our own apartment, preferably with other Spanish students, a search that my roommate and I are well into because pretty soon there is going to be more competition from other European students and even Americans. I have a few showings today which is super exciting, and hopefully I will soon know where I'm living!!!!! Right now I'm looking in the student area, right next to the university, known as Moncloa. So hopefully today will be the day I find something!
Other than that, I have enjoyed exploring the city. There is still so much I haven't seen, but it is full of life all of the time- even at 3:30 in the morning. One really interesting place is Puerta del Sol, which is this major plaza in the center of town. It's full of people and has about a million streets with shops extending from the main plaza. The other night my roommates and I went to get churros con chocolate. The chocolate is literally melted chocolate; it is extremely rich and I couldn't really drink it after using it for my churros! But it was great!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, so this blog post is super long and I'm sorry if you are still reading!!! But I need to talk about our trip to Toledo yesterday!!!!!! It was SO BEAUTIFUL. It was really interesting coming from a major city like Madrid, still full of history and its own culture, to a small town such as this. We took a guided tour through the city, a cathedral, synagogue, a churches. We tried mazapán, (I think that is how you spell it) which is Toledo's specialty. It is a really sugary pastry.. I'm not sure how else to describe it. Here is a picture looking towards the town when we stopped as we were driving into the city.
Anyway, I'm off to look at some pisos. Cross your fingers for me!!!!!
Monday, January 16, 2012
FINALMENTE
After what seemed like forever, we finally made it to Madrid!!!!!!!!!! The flight was long, and I'm super tired, considering I'm starting my 24th straight hour of being awake and it's only 1:45 in the afternoon. BUT it's all okay because we're here! There are two girls from my program in my homestay, which is nice! Instead of taking a taxi from the airport, one of my roommates wanted to take the Metro (I mean, it was free!) so we began our first adventure. As Madrid is allegedly a petty-crime hotspot, we had to be super careful since we were obviously exhausted tourists arriving at 7:45 in the morning and carrying huge suitcases. But everything was fine! The metro stop was super close to the piso and luckily it has an elevator so we didn't have to climb all of those stairs!
We met another student and our señora, both of whom are very nice!!! We've spent the day so far talking and going on a couple of errands with our señora, which is good to see the city! Bad thing is that it is raining here. But tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm!!! And pretty soon it's off to our first orientation meeting!!!! Excited!!
We met another student and our señora, both of whom are very nice!!! We've spent the day so far talking and going on a couple of errands with our señora, which is good to see the city! Bad thing is that it is raining here. But tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm!!! And pretty soon it's off to our first orientation meeting!!!! Excited!!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Counting Down!!!!!!!
I AM SO EXCITED! Five days from now I will be sitting on a plane on my way to Madrid!!!!! But for now, I am attempting to sort through my things and conquer my to-do list. Somehow, for every item crossed off, I tend to add two more. I'm not sure this counts as productivity.
I am trying out this whole blogging thing for the trip. Don't worry, it won't become a habit that I'll continue back home next year. Be wary that this is going to be written haphazardly, and my speaking voice will be pretty evident by the overuse of capital letters and exclamation points. (!!!!!!!!!) Sorry not sorry about the grammar issues.
ANYWAY, I will be studying in Madrid until the end of June!!! I will be going with a program through IU. Though I'm a tad overwhelmed, I can't WAIT to start this adventure!!!! YAY!
I will enjoy my last few days home with adventures in the good ol' DTA and Chicago! Seeeee ya soon, Madrid!!!!!!!!!!
I am trying out this whole blogging thing for the trip. Don't worry, it won't become a habit that I'll continue back home next year. Be wary that this is going to be written haphazardly, and my speaking voice will be pretty evident by the overuse of capital letters and exclamation points. (!!!!!!!!!) Sorry not sorry about the grammar issues.
ANYWAY, I will be studying in Madrid until the end of June!!! I will be going with a program through IU. Though I'm a tad overwhelmed, I can't WAIT to start this adventure!!!! YAY!
I will enjoy my last few days home with adventures in the good ol' DTA and Chicago! Seeeee ya soon, Madrid!!!!!!!!!!
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