Hostel-ville

Dealing with the ridiculousness of yesterday... Erika, Kas, and I are now safely in a hostel. We've escaped the concentration camp of yesterday (our host mother would not let us use the restroom, go into the kitchen, and she took our keys...which made trips across the street to pee an interesting adventure) and finally got a hostel near the ISA office--- thank god for ISA! Now for the discussions today... why the last week of the trip!?

A plus of being in the hostel.... I finally finished my interview for the project. The owner of the hostel was more than happy to fill me in on his opinions of the monarchy--and almost every other aspect of Spanish government haha. But was really interesting and got a few books recommended to me.

Presentation today and IM DONE WITH WORK. Alls left is to repack my things in a semi orderly way and I get to leave for Trier. Im soooooo happy about it!

Trying to enjoy the last day as best I can!

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!

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!