Tapas y Vino

En el viernes anterior durante mi viaje a Toledo , comí en un cervezería en la tarde. A causa de la lluvia y malo tiempo, me senté adentro del restaurante. Ordené paella de carne, queso manchego, y tinto de verano. Dos cosas, el queso y vino, fueron mis favoritos. Paella fue nuevo para mi. Pero la experiencia fue muy interesante. Estuve estacionario para tres horas en un lugar; vi la vida diario de la ciudad cerca del restaurante. Había muchos turistas, de otros países y de España, y las interacciones fueron muy cómicos. En la mesa a la derecha de mi mesa, había dos chicas, dieciseis años más o menos, quien no supieron nada en español. Se sentí un poquito orgullosa porque comuniqué mejor de ellas. Este día fue fantástico; hablé más con mis amigas y comí comida muy rica.

A Weekend Where?

Another day of class, siesta, Cafe y Te (my favorite coffee shop here), and homework. I have a short presentation on Isaac Albeniz, a musician from Spain. We stopped in a few shops we have been curious about since day 1, so that was fun! And dinner, as always, was full of laughter and good wine. Had pasta with mushrooms and onions, crackers, and tomatoes. Yum!

Found tickets away for the weekend for verrry cheap (downer- i have to leave at early hours!) to PARIS! I wasn't really planning on it, but a good friend of mine is there... and its cheap... and its close... and everyone is going to Barcelona.... so why not!? (I love you Mom and Dad!! aka, dont freak out haha)

Had an "intercambio," a sort of informal interview where we practice Spanish with students from Madrid, today as well. Really nice guy and he gave me some pointers about touring the city.

And thus, I'm off to bed... to class... and the weekend (yay for no class on Fridays)!
Ciao

Day of Exploring

After a long morning in class, Hayley and I relaxed in an afternoon at the Thyssen. It was also my first metro ride since arriving in Madrid. (Crazy no? Thats how close our flat is to everything; we walk everywhere!) The art was very interesting; kinda a strange mix- but it kept us on our toes! With the new addition, we were only able to get through the first and second floors before its closed...... so I guess we'll just have to go back!

On the metro ride home, I decided to get off at the Plaza de España to find the park Maria is always trying to describe to us. It ended up being a LOT farther away than I thought, so I got some exercise and an interesting walk along Grand Vía (the theater/movie/shopping street). And I didn't get lost! Hizzah!

This week we are busy with homework at night--reading assignments, questions, short presentations, and blogs. Especially since we are all going somwhere this weekend, we won't have the weekend to catch up on homework.

Tried palmeras de chocolate, a popular pastry, this morning.. very interesting. But just going to the pastry shop was an experience in itself! ¡Delicioso!

Week Two

Passing the week mark, I have sort of mixed feelings. In some ways it feels like we´ve hardly been here at all-there is so much left to do and see. But in other ways it feels like we´ve been here ages-we´re starting to know the area, comfortable in our new Madrid ¨home.¨ We´ve made friends with some of the local cafe waiters, who are fabulously hilarious. I feel so much more confident in my Spanish (though definately not perfect, or even close to perfect) and am learning so many new words and phrases. I am absolutely LOVING it here.

Everyone is preparing for a weekend away. My roommates and 3 more girls from the SU are going to Barcelona. I´m considering Paris if I can find flights under 50 € one way. But won´t have to pay for a hotel since I have a friend there. Also, they speak French, so I´d feel better about getting around. Waiting for online prices to drop!

Getting really close with Maria (our señora). Living with her has far exceeded my expectations- I feel so at home. Plus she is hilarious. Kas, Erika, her, and I have the best dinner chats--lasting over 2 hours sometimes--where I think we laugh more than we talk. Lots of good times and its only been a week!

I am loving to check on here to see all y'alls comments- makes my mornings so bright! Hopefully my ramblings aren't too trite or seem too outrageous. Don't worry mom and dad- we're being very safe. I'm not drinking that much wine! And I'm always in a pack of 3 (Erika, Kas, and I never leave each others' sides!)

So ciao for now from a very sunny day in Madrid!

Joy Madrid Disco (dancers included! haha)

Cathedral of Toledo

You have to turn your head a bit, but its the best I can do! haha

Cultural Assignment 1: Disco

La vida de la noches en Madrid es fabulosa. Hay muchos lugares a se visita para un tiempo bueno: los bars, los cervezerías, o los discos. Este semana, visité a muchos de estos lugares, pero los discos son más interesante. Mis amigas y yo vamos a Joy Madrid (gratis tambien porque encontramos a nuestro amigo nuevo de la noche anterior) La música es buena y es fantástico a bailar con Madrileños. Tambien, la mixcla de personas de países varios es muy divertida y la gente es muy amable. Adentro de la disco, conocimos a un equipo de futbol de suizo. A primero, pensé que son muy cómicos. Pero, más posterior de la noche me dí cuenta que fueron un poquito sexistas. Fue claro que pensamos que las mujeres de los Estados Unidos. Son objectos del sexo y nada más. Es interesante y muy triste que imagenes de mujeres estadounidense son en europa, especialmente en España. Es difícil para mi estar en la presencia de estas pensamientos. Posiblemente son más evidente aquí que en EEUU pero no es una excusa. Esto disco reveló la realidad que es necesario que tengo cuidado porque hay opiniones y estereotipos malas a los Estados Unidos.

How does one explain this?

I seriously cannot begin to describe how much fun I've had these past few days. Thursday night, we all went to a hiphop club called Sweet, which was a TON of fun (below is Erika and me before we went out). Met and talked to many people in the streets and a few people who work at the local bars. I cannot believe it has been only 5 days because I am learning so much every day-- especially from random encounters. Life here is so different, but it is very relaxed. And alive. People are out and about late at night, having dinner or eating in a chocolateria at 11:30pm. Despite the constant rain and cool temps---

Yesterday was our excursion to Toledo, which was fabulous--though very rainy and cold still. And lots of walking on cobblestone, ouch! But visiting the various churches and monasteries was well worth it, particularly the Cathedral. It was so ornate and unbelievable huge. 'The gals' (Erika, Kas, and I) spent the late afternoon in La Plaza de Zocodover, eating Paella (below is Kas and I with our meal) and having tinto de verano-- mostly so we could stay dry and warm haha.
And finally, last night we went to the ever-so-posh Joy Madrid, a club very near our flat. (Score: got free entrance!!) The disco was what one would call a stereotypical European club-- loud disco music, trippy lights, and an occaisional mullet. The highlight of the night was meeting the soccer team from Switzerland, whom we hung out with for awhile. Pretty darn crazy soccer players, I'd say!

Wine Day

Wine day was a fabulous day. We stopped in a cafe/bar near the Puerta del Sol to work on our homework. Had some local (and apparently famous) Tio Pepe, which was... errr not so good. But we talked to our waiter about our classes and he even helped us with a few. My bags thankfully arrived to the ISA office, and now I have clothes! We bought some wine to have with our dinner as well and then hung out with our señora. Which, p.s. she is amazing. Lots of jokes and learning new words... which, sorry Fernando, I will not write on here hahaha. The day was really laidback and fabulous all around. Still raining (got soaked on many occaisions)-- all yesterday and again today.

Tomorrow we are going to Toledo early in the morning, so I´ll get to tell you about that soon!

Jetlag free?

The third day in Spain has begun! Started the day handwashing some of my clothes so I have things to wear while I wait for my bags. Apparently, they came to the flat yesterday morning, but as we were gone, they could not leave the bags. But I asked the ISA office to redirect them to their building, but I have to wait until tomorrow or Friday. :( Anoche, it rained a LOT (and some hail-- so strange for this time of year!) Still pretty wet today as well. However, last night we had a totally amazing Madrid experience. Just below our flat is an amazing chocolateria, so Erika, Kas, and I went to work on our homework and have some churros con chocolate... yum! We´ve decided that we need to make it and the cafe next to it "our places." We are beginning to feel comfortable here, knowing our way around the streets of our neighborhood. But we have yet to explore the other areas of the city! Today, I have more class and hopefully more touring on our own... but its so hard to keep dry and walk the streets of the city at the same time!

Ciao

Iberia 1, Chelsea 0

Madrid: my new favorite country!

Iberia: my new enemy.... who left my luggage in Miami.. so I have nothing. ¡Gracias, Iberia!

Erika y Kas: my two roommates who are fab

Maria: mi señora, who we live with and we are all in love with already. When we arrived, we talked for 2 hours over lunch about Madrid, food, politics, discos, and chicos guapos. She is so fun; Erika and I have sworn that we are going to have to party with her at 4 story disco near our flat.

Puerta del Sol: the plaza very near where I live that is a very popular place apparently. We went to have tapas (pan con tomate y queso de manchego---bread with tomato and manchego cheese) y vino tinto de verano (red wine of the summer, aka wine with limon soda) at a cafe here. ¡Delicioso!

El Museo de Jamon: a funny musuem just down the street from our flat

Madrid´s Broadway: a little classier than the museo de jamon, Madrid´s Broadway is also just down the street from our flat (the other direction). All the musicals are lined up as well as a bunch of movie theaters. Mamma Mia anyone?

Bums: We have a regular homeless band down the street from our flat, too. Very odd group complete with scraggly dogs, but they don´t bother us much.

Funny problems: We´ve already almost broken the toilet handle.. yay us. And I think I called home a million times trying to get in touch.. can´t wait to see what that charges me!

y History: I cannot believe how much history is around in Madrid. THere is always some extravagent story to go along with almost every building!

More news soon!

I'm leaving on a jet plane....

Just when I think I'm prepared...

Now that it is almost a week until I leave for Madrid, I am shocked at how much I have left to do before I am on that plane on Saturday... Finals have grossly blinded me from the realities of pre-departure preparation:

1) I only own 4 pairs of socks... where'd they all go?
2) I own and wear a lot of tshirts... which are not "cool" Madrid fashion
3) Why do I own all this crap? Now I have to find a place to put it all!
4) I have 4 books to read before that plane lands
5) I really don't understand the vosotros form... this is not good
6) I'm really going to miss having my computer
7) The Euro exchange rate blows
8) I'm going to miss long, hot showers
9) I need more housewarming gifts
and most frighteningly.......
10) I'm saying goodbye to most people until January 2008...whoa