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!!!!!
Hey Em! This is Mom, not Dad. But I wanted to let you know I loved reading this post. And I loved the pictures! Helps me better visualize :)what you are seeing/doing. Plus I now have a craving for that chocolate dip for the churros!
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