Photos!

Here are the links to some photos from the last few weeks I was in Spain. I promise I will write a more detailed post summing everything up in the coming days!

Mom and April visit!

Toros!

P.S. My flight back was great and all of my luggage made it home!

M.I.A.

I have been/will be m.i.a. for a while because my mom has been visiting and then April is coming on Thursday. I´ll update about everything that´s been going on later!

P.S. Some of the symbols in this post look funny because I´m typing on a Spanish keyboard. It is not my favorite thing to do.

Mall Round 2

(photo courtesy of madrid.lanetro.com)

Yesterday Kathleen and I went back to the mall and it was open! Hooray! Most of the stores in the mall are the same as the ones you can find in the city center (H&M, Bershka, Desigual, etc), but the reason we had to go to the mall was to go to Primark, which is an Irish or British chain that sells super super cheap clothes. Yes, they will probably fall apart after one season, but oh well. (I know, I know--I'm buying more clothes even though I'm freaking out about whether or not there will be enough room in my suitcases as it is. It's foolish.) After Primark we went to Ikea and we had a good time designing our future living spaces...and trying out every comfy looking chair in the store.

(this was seriously the most comfortable chair I've ever sat in)

(Kathleen can't resist a good sale and was trying to figure out how she could pack this chair if she bought it--she didn't buy it.)

After some more wandering we found ourselves at Carrefour. Normally going to Carrefour would not be a big deal--it's the grocery store down the street that I go to all the time, but what I go to is a Carrefour City. What we went to yesterday was a Carrefour hypermarket, or pretty much the European Super Walmart (except I don't think they had clothes there other than underwear, but then again I was only there to buy toothpaste so I didn't look for them). I've gotten used to everything being relatively small in Spain, so to see a huge store filled with so much stuff (it's a different kind of stuff than El Corte Inglés because it's not like a department store) was really overwhelming, but it was also kind of exciting to have more than two brands of toothpaste to choose from and to be able to find Dove stick deodorant instead of the normal roll on/spray crap that is usually the only thing on the shelves. While I know that malls/hypermarkets are kind of the ultimate symbol of American consumerism (being in a mall in Spain feels just like being in a mall in the U.S), I am bit ashamed to admit that it felt oddly comforting to be at a place in which so much stuff was congregated. It was just so convenient to know that I could find everything in one place! So while I pretend to be more "cultured" now that I've lived in Europe, the truth is that I'm still a typical American in so many ways.

(I just look so happy to be among so much stuff, but I reality I was yelling at Kathleen not to take a picture of me.)
(We thought the digital price indicators were cool.)

Random fact:

Today I learned on Wikipedia that on this day in 1293 Sancho IV, king of Castilla-León, established the Complutense!

Today I also survived my art history exam. Three classes down, one to go!

Ha

Today Kathleen, my roommate, and I decided to go to the mall. I was really excited because we decided to go to the one that's a good 40 minute metro ride away but has an IKEA. We got off the metro in this very strange neighborhood. It was strange because it was just so...I don't know. It just had this very prefabricated feel to it. It didn't look like Madrid at all and instead felt like we were on some sort of movie set. It was also weird because there was practically no one outside on the streets. I told Kathleen like it looked like it was the day after the zombie apocalypse (sans zombies of course...I guess the non-zombies won). Anyway, we trekked over to the mall and I was really weirded out by the fact that there were no cars there. We got in the mall and then realized that only the food court was open--today is Madrid's San Isidro festival. I knew that, but forgot to think that because of it all stores would be closed. So yes, my effort to put off studying for my exams by going to the mall turned out to be an epic fail.

School is officially done. I have one kind-of exam for language on Monday, and then my finals for history on Tuesday, art history on Wednesday and lit. on Monday the 25th. I know that if I actually study I'll be all right, but it's really hard to sit down and do it. It's been especially hard because people that I've gotten to know from other programs are starting to leave now, and it's just hard to focus in the middle of saying goodbye. One of my really good friends is leaving on Sunday...

The two pictures at the top of the post are ones my friend Sonya took of these two mosaics up in Sol. They're recreations of the paintings the 2nd and 3rd of May by Goya. Apparently they made them with over 80,000 pictures sent in by Madrileños! They're really beautiful at night when the lights from the windows illuminate them from behind.

Oh! In other exciting news there was a small fire in the building across the street from my apartment building. I don't think anyone was hurt and the firetruck was only on the street for about 15 minutes, so I don't think it was a bad fire, but I did see smoke!

Segovia

Numbers:
8 days until finals start
20 days until my mom visits
26 days until my friend April visits
38 days until I return to the U.S.

Those numbers look so small compared to the numbers that I started out with...

Yesterday, as one last hurrah before the last week of real school (and thus having to study the next two weekends for finals) my friend Caitlin and I took a little day-and-a-half trip to Segovia. It's only an hour and 15 minutes outside of Madrid, but it was nice to get away because I've been stressed out lately with the papers I've had to write and the tests that I've had to start studying for. You know, it was great to not really have to do anything other than attend class all semester, but now...now, I don't remember how to do work! It's ridiculous.

Segovia was the perfect cure for my anxiety though. It was a really joyful little city. There were multiple puppet shows in the streets, carousels, lots of small children running around and gorgeous views of the landscapes surrounding the city. There were times where I would just look out towards the mountains and I would think, "Wow, this is what I used to picture when I would think about Spain." Picturesque--that's the word I'm looking for. The city was picturesque without being overly precious (for comparison, Salamanca was overly precious). And of course we saw the aqueduct, which is what Segovia is known for. The aqueduct was built by the Romans almost 2000 years ago! It's just an amazing feat of engineering especially when you consider that it was made with no mortar--the bricks are cut so that they just fit. It was really stunning.

The aqueduct is at the top of the post and the Alcázar (this kind of cool-looking castle) is the other picture. Right by the Alcázar we found a good spot to take pictures and we were doing that when this guy gets out of a van parked near-by and says (in English), "Hi...umm, just to let you know i am going to make pee pee over here, so you might want to stand somewhere else." We moved and after a few seconds he was like, "Oh okay, I'm done now. You can come back." Caitlin politely thanked him for the information (I was too busy holding back fits of giggles), but we didn't go back over there.

Click here for more pictures.

Salamanca

A lot of people who study abroad in Spain from UWO go to Salamanca (especially the people who go in the summer) and I had the option of going there for the semester. I love Madrid, but I've heard great things about Salamanca and have occasionally wondered if I should have studied there instead. However, after spending the weekend there, I know I made the right choice to come to Madrid. Salamanca was quaint and pretty with a fair bit of history, but also too small. Had I not gone along on the guided tours I probably could have seen every point of interest in the city in under three hours by myself. I enjoyed visiting it, and the trip was great because I got to hang out from some ISA kids who go to the other school that I like but never see, but by Sunday morning all of us were ready to get back to Madrid.

So anyway, check out the photos and my travel tip is: if you are in Spain visit Salamanca, but don't bother spending more than one night there. (But you should spend at least one night there so you can see the Plaza Mayor at night because it's absolutely stunning!)

P.S. The first few pictures in the album are from Ávila because we stopped there for a few hours before getting to Salamanca.

P.P.S. My mom comes to Spain in 31 days and I'm super excited!

Una procesión de Semana Santa

I meant to post this on Easter, but I forgot to. Throughout Holy Week various groups arrange processions which commemorate different aspects of Holy Week (e.g. Christ's death, the resurrection, etc.). On the Saturday before Easter I went to the procesión de la soledad and it was unlike anything I've ever seen. Everyone was pushing and shoving to get a good view of the figure of "Nuestra Señora de la Soledad" (my picture of her is at the top of the post). I got elbowed by so many little old ladies, and some of them even took to climbing up lampposts just to see what was going on!

Anyway, I put two little video clips together so you can see what happens as the procession begins:

Flashback (not the LOST variety though)

Today I saw this little girl who was probably about four years old on the metro. She was wearing these really cute pink glasses...and had an eye patch over her left eye. She had brown hair and, though she didn't look exactly like me, the resemblance was close enough that I felt like I was looking at myself from 17 years ago. It was strangely funny.

Barcelona!

This past week has been Semana Santa which essentially means spring break! Because a general rule of studying abroad is that if you have more than three days in a row off of school you have to go somewhere, my roommate Kathleen (and her dad and brother for the first two days) and I went to Barcelona. For the record, I think that's a good rule :-).

Barcelona was a really exciting city. It's on the Mediterranean Sea, so it's kind of a beach town, and yet if you traveled just up the main thoroughfare, Las Ramblas, and then went down one of the little streets you found yourself in an old Gothic neighborhood. If you went up the street from that you felt like you were on Michigan Ave. in Chicago. I guess to me Barcelona felt like it was a lot of different places all rolled into one. But as Kathleen's guidebook said, when you're in Barcelona "you're not in Spain, you're in Catalunya." And that sentiment was very true; Barcelona felt significantly "less Spanish" than a lot of the other places I've been...and it makes sense concerning the history of the region--Catalan culture and language were so repressed under the Franco dictatorship that now the differences between the region and the rest of Spain are highlighted a bit more as a matter of pride I guess. Honestly, I wish I knew more about Barcelona's history in general because I think I would have appreciated the city even more if I knew more about it, but also, by the end of the trip I missed the "Spanish-ness" of Madrid. However, I would definitely visit Barcelona again and again because there is so much to do there!

Anyway, the highlights of the trip were seeing the buildings and the park designed by Gaudí. I had seen pictures of his work before and I knew it was trippy, but just looking at these buildings that seemed to have no angles and this park that, as Kathleen's brother said, looked like Willy Wonka designed it really makes you reexamine your own perspective. Other highlights of the trip included hunting for beach glass on the shoreline (I grew up on Lake Michigan and never had seen beach glass like that before! I pretended I was finding emeralds instead of worn down pieces of beer bottles). I saw an amazing (free!) art exhibit about an abandoned prison and the grafitti found on the walls there and also these letters written by a woman to her lover, a political prisoner. I also enjoyed going to the Olympic stadium because I have memories of watching the '92 games with my mom when I was four and I think that was when I first learned about Spain. Perhaps the funniest thing on the trip was that the best meal I had was at an Irish pub--I don't know, it's just funny when I think that I was in Spain, but really in Catalunya (with the Sagrada Familia behind me--it's the most famous Gaudí building and is the picture at the top of this post) eating Irish food with a traditional Irish band playing in the background but hearing American pop music blasted over the speakers.

For some reason, it's really hard for me to come up with words right now to describe any more about Barcelona, so I'm just going to let you check out the pictures:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

What I'm going to do the first week I get back to the States

I am going to eat these things at these restaurants:
1) Steak Grilled Stuffed Burrito--Taco Bell
2) Pepperoni Pizza & Garlic Knots--Politos
3) Hamburger w/ Pepper Jack Cheese--Becket's
4) Pepperoni Stix & Berry Stix--Toppers
5) $5 Footlong--Subway
6) Chicken Strips & Nickel Nuggets--Glass Nickel
7) Pork BBQ--Pearson's
8) Wings--Buffalo Wild Wings/The Bar
9) Short Stack--IHOP
10) Japanese Pan Noodles--Noodles and Co.

And I'm going to drink as much Diet Mountain Dew as I can find!

Almodóvar

Pedro Almodóvar is not just my favorite Spanish film director, but is probably my favorite overall film director (yes, he beats David Lynch and Wes Anderson). The trailer above is for his newest movie Los abrazos rotos. (If you've never seen anything by him go out and rent/add to your Netflix queue either Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Todo sobre mi madre, or Volver--you won't regret it.) This past weekend I saw Los abrazos rotos and while it doesn't come close to breaking into my top three or four favorite Almodóvar movies, it was such and enjoyable experience because I am in Madrid! It is completely different watching an Almodóvar movie in Spain than it is in the U.S. I've seen a lot of the places that were shown in the film, I was watching it in Spanish without subtitles, and I was laughing along with my friend (and about half of the other people in the theater) to the references to Women on the Verge... I don't know--I guess this was just one of those little things that will end up being really memorable someday. (Also I am glad that I got to see it now because it doesn't get to theaters in the U.S. until October or something.)

Last week I also toured the Palacio Real and it was gorgeous, but disappointing because I could not take pictures inside.

Speaking of photos, here are some from my wanderings last week.

Oh and I'm going to Barcelona next week for Semana Santa, so expect a big update with lots of photos after that!

Long Weekend

I found out on Monday that we didn't have to go to school this past Thursday and Friday because it was Father's Day on Thursday (which apparently is a national holiday--things were closed!) and then they just gave us off on Friday because they probably figured no one would show up anyway. Thus I had a long four day weekend in the city because I was too lazy to try to throw together a last minute trip somewhere.

I'm glad I stayed in the city though because my care package from my friend April finally arrived with my new camera in it! However, the arrival of this new package meant that I had to deal with the Correos again. I had the package sent to the ISA office and they emailed me saying that they had a slip to give me to go pick up the package at the post office in El Corte Inglés. This slip informed me that I had to pay 44 euros to pick up the package because of import taxes or something. While I was not pleased that I had to pay this, I was still excited to pick up the package. I got to the post office and then the lady told me that getting the slip actually meant that the package was in the district...but the package wouldn't actually get to the post office until the next day, so I would have to come back and pick it up then. Dumb--I'm just not sure why they would give you a slip saying "come pick up your package!" only to tell you that it doesn't mean you can actually pick up your package. But the good news is that it was there the next day and it contained my camera and other wonderful things.

The arrival of the package was not the highlight of my weekend though. No, the best part of the weekend was going to the Madrid Zoo/Aquarium with my roommate Kathleen! We saw pandas, koalas, sea turtles, chimpanzees, and lots of other animals. It was a beautiful day and the zoo is in this huge park called the Casa de Campo so it was fun walking around there a bit as well. The only sad thing was that my camera battery died, so I did not get any pictures of the lions, zebras and giraffes, but I'll add those to the post when Kathleen puts her pictures up.

Click here for zoo photos.

Spring is blooming in the city!

Click here for more photos.

O Valencia!

This past weekend Rachel, Sonya and I went to Valencia and it was amazing. The city is on the Mediterranean coast and strikes a nice balance between being a beach town, a historic city, and a cutting edge cultural center. I really enjoyed it there and I think that if I lived in Spain permanently I would vacation there at least once a year. We visited at a good time because Valencia is gearing up for Las Fallas. Fallas is a celebration of Saint Joseph, which sounds a bit unexciting but it's not because it involves lots of fire and lots of noise. The different neighborhoods build these elaborate sculptures called ninots and then on March 19 they burn them! So we didn't actually get to see any burning, but we saw lots of other things.

Some highlights from the trip included:

La Mascletá: At two in the afternoon everyone gathered in the main plaza and there was a fireworks show! Now it may seem a bit foolish to set off fireworks when it's not dark out, but in this case the Valencians don't care about the pretty colors and whatever. No, the Valencians care about the noise. I seriously thought my eardrums might burst during the mascletá because it was so loud. Imagine packing over 100 fireworks in an area less than the size of a football field, surrounded by buildings and then setting them all off in less than 15 minutes...that's what the noise of the mascletá was like. It was so exhilarating though--everyone was there and the crowd just gave off this palpable energy that climaxed when the last rocket had sounded and we all broke through the barriers. It was amazing. (Later on we witnessed other fun things in the main plaza that you can see in the photos.)

The Beach: Valencia is right on the Mediterranean and even though the sea was cold, it was beautiful. Along the shore Valencia feels just like a little beach town and that is a vibe that I have not felt in a long time. I liked it.

The Aquarium: Honestly, all I can say about this is that it was everything I had hoped it would be. You have to check out the pictures! The architecture alone was beautiful! I got to see all sorts of fish, sharks, sting rays, beluga whales, walruses, penguins, sea lions, etc. etc. (no turtles though...sad). The best part was the dolphin show. I've always loved dolphins and they always amaze me with their intelligence. Going to the aquarium was by far the best part of the trip. (The aquarium was part of the Cuidad de las Artes y las Ciencias, which included the Museo de las Ciencias as well and that was pretty awesome too.)

We did so much in the two and a half days we were there, but those are the best parts. The only bad part of the trip was the Valencia Metro. In Madrid the metro is very easy to use, very efficient, and very quick (in other words, it is very un-Spanish hahaha). In Valencia the metro made no sense. Trains from two different lines would run on the same set of tracks, a line would just randomly split in two without changing numbers or colors, and if you missed the train you wanted it was like a 10 minute wait for the next one (in the middle of the day in Madrid the wait is never more than 4 minutes). So this is a warning--if you go to Valencia make sure you pay attention to what the particular train says about its destination; don't trust what you think the signs in the station are telling you.

Photos!
Day 1
Days 2 and 3
Oceanográfico

Valencia fun that has nothing to do with the trip I went on (well, that's not entirely true because I sang this song to myself almost all weekend):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbsHwuyfnnw

Happy Birthday Elena Maria!

It's my roommate (back in the U.S.), Elena Maria's, 21st birthday today! Because of this, it seemed worthwhile to mention that in Spain you can order beer at McDonalds or Burger King. What's very funny to me is that I rarely see Americans order beer with their food; instead the Spaniards are the ones walking around with these clear plastic cups of beer on their trays next to their fries and Big Macs. Anyway, that's just a random tidbit I thought I'd share.

(Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but I'm going to Valencia this weekend and I will write a big update after that!)

So I'm finally speaking Spanish...

This is the week that I have finally gotten serious about speaking Spanish here. Yes, I know I'm six weeks (maybe seven) into my adventures (and it isn't like I haven't spoken any Spanish since I've been here), but I'll be honest, it's been pretty easy to get away with speaking a lot of English. This week though I've spoken more Spanish than I ever have in my life.

On Monday I went out with Sonya, Julie and Sonya's friend who is Russian, but would only speak to us and let us speak to her in Spanish. That was a solid two and a half hours of Spanish conversation and it was nice because while Sonya's friend's Spanish was really good, she isn't a native speaker so I didn't worry about sounding super dumb in front of her.

Then on Tuesday I sat next to a woman on the bus who had books that really interested me and I spoke with her in Spanish. She ended up being a professor of geography at my university. It's funny, and I don't know if it's because of the sorts of topics that I'm used to talking about in Spanish or what, but I'm much more confident when I speak about academic topics (like books, history, etc.) than I am when I speak about my personal life. Later on I played fútbol with some people from ISA and that was an interesting mix of Spanish and English. It was so much fun though. I've been sore for two days because I'm so out of shape (and also because I did this awesome slide-tackle sort of thing...on a surface like a tennis court), but I think fútbol day will be something I very much look forward to each week.

Yesterday (Thursday) was the best Spanish-speaking day. I went to this talent show at the ISA office. I don't really have any talents; I just went to watch. I got there at 5, when the email said it would start, because I really cannot bring myself to be Spanish and arrive late to things. I try, I really try. I tell myself that I will leave my house later and such, but I always get to everything on time. Anyway, I met these two Spanish girls there who came for an intercambio. The "rules" of an intercambio are vague, but the idea is that you practice Spanish with a native speaker of Spanish and they practice their English with you (a native speaker of English). I ended up talking with these girls (mostly in Spanish) for three hours. One of the girls, Esmeralda, thought I was funny because I was so "tactful" when I corrected her. She was like, "I might seem rude when I correct you; I can't help it--I'm Spanish." But I told her that Spaniards aren't rude, they're just very forward. (They are also very good at giving backhanded compliments.) Anyway, both of the girls were really nice and we exchanged phone numbers and email addresses so that we can go get coffee next week and continue practicing with each other. I'm jealous though--they say their English isn't very good, but if I spoke Spanish half as well as they speak English, I'd feel pretty good about myself.

Granada!

(Katie, me, and Kathleen)



(My new friend Katie and me at the Alhambra)

Wow. I just have to say right away that I had so much fun in Granada. It was an excellent weekend and I met some really fun people from ISA that go to the other university.

On Friday we left Madrid at 8:30 and then had a six hour bus ride to Granada (it's in Andalucía--in the south of Spain). I slept most of the way there. When we got there we settled into our hotel and then had some free time to explore the city. We all met together later that night and went on this crazy, twisty walk through the Albayzín which is a very old neighborhood in Granada. We saw this beautiful view of the Alhambra all lit up at night. But the best part was when we finally (after getting lost or something--I don't know, the directors did not seem very sure about where they were going) got to the espactáculo de flamenco. The flamenco show was amazing. It involved dancing, singing, clapping, guitar playing...It was just incredible to see how the whole body was used as an instrument and how each element of the show added something to the overall energy of the performance. The show was probably one of my favorite "cultural experiences" that I've had on my trip so far. After the show we went out for tapas and I had the yummiest pork and garlic sauce sandwich. Mmmmm. (If you haven't noticed I love eating and then talking about the deliciousness of the food later.)

The next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel (and they had real bacon! not Canadian bacon like they serve everywhere else--alas they did not have pancakes.) Then we saw the Alhambra. I've seen pictures of it before and I read about it before, but those could not compare to actually seeing it in person. The Alhambra is this fortress/palace/town that was built near the end of the Muslim rule in Spain. It is the perfect example of Islamic architecture. Granada was the last city to be re-conquered by the Christians, so when that happened the Reyes Católicos moved in. We were in the room in which Columbus asked for money to fund his trip to find his voyage to the Indies. (Usually I'm rather indifferent to the whole Columbus tale, but the history of the room felt pretty overwhelming--until my friends started cracking jokes about what Columbus would have said to the queen: "Yooooooo quierooooooo dineeeeeeerrrrrooo." Hahahaha--it was funny at the time.) Overall, the gardens and palace were gorgeous. If you only look at one set of pictures look at the set for the Alhambra.

In the afternoon Katie, Kathleen and I walked through the city until we found the Parque de Ciencias. Because I sometimes have the maturity level of a five year old I had so much fun. It was a hands-on museum and we saw this huge exhibit about the human body (I found out how much water weight I have--a lot). We saw an exhibit on Antarctica. We went though some butterfly gardens. I hyperventilated though the exhibit about venomous animals and saw like 20 (live) poisonous snakes, like cobras, vipers, mambas, etc., in tanks (I'm terrified of snakes; they are my biggest fear--I guess I watched Indiana Jones too many times when I was little). We did a lot of other things there too; it was well worth the five euro admission. If you're ever in Granada, whether you have kids or not, go there--it will bring out the small child inside of you.

Sunday morning we went on a walking tour around the city center and such. We went inside the gorgeous cathedral. We also went to the Royal Chapel and saw the tomb of the Reyes Católicos. After that we had a bit of free time before having to get on the bus, so we got some diet cokes and sat out in the sun in the plaza and watched the musicians and Pooh Bear, Pikachu, and the red Teletubby entertain people. It was the perfect lazy Sunday afternoon. Later we hopped on the bus and I did not sleep (well maybe for a half hour). Instead I took in the scenery and read. It was a very relaxing bus ride. Yet, after everything, when we got back to Madrid I was happy. I liked Granada a lot, but it was very small compared to Madrid and it just felt good to be back in the big-city vibe that Madrid gives off.

Photos:
Friday
La Alhambra (Saturday morning)
Saturday Afternoon
Sunday

Quick Update

So this week has been a pretty normal week so far, so I don't have much to write about it. I just didn't have anything happen that was story-worthy! But I am going to Granada tomorrow through Sunday, so expect a long update Monday!

To pass the time while I'm gone, check out some of the other blogs that I've linked to (if you haven't already). You can find them on the right side of this page under "my blog list."

Weekend Fun!

I cannot believe that it is only February. I don't mean that in a bad way; time is flying by. But the weather here has fooled me into thinking that it's April already. I'm pretty sure the temperatures yesterday hovered around 60 and the sky was so blue. Today feels a little cooler, but it's warm enough that I have my balcony doors cracked open a bit to let some fresh air in.

This weekend I didn't go on any sorts of excursions, but like I said in my last post, I love Madrid so I had a really good time just staying in the city. Friday night my friends and I went to this cute restaurant called El Jardín Secreto for dinner and then saw Revolutionary Road. The acting and directing were really good, but it's kind of a downer of a movie. It's definitely not a first date sort of movie.

Yesterday we went to the park and had a picnic lunch and people-watched. I wanted to take a boat out in the estanque, but there was a line to rent them! I'll have to do that next time I guess. At night we went to a birthday party for our Italian friend. The picture with this post is of my roommates (Kathleen left; Kendra center) and me at the party. I stole this picture from Kathleen's facebook and her caption that goes with it is awesome: "Roommates! When you live three four metro stops from everywhere, never underestimate the wonder of having someone to split cab fare home with." While that is true (the cab ride home was really cheap!), Kathleen and Kendra are so sweet and I'm just so glad that they moved in for reasons other than cheap cab fare.

Click here for park photos!

I love this city.

It struck me this week that I have been in Spain for over a month and I realized that I'm really content here. I do miss my friends and family a lot, and there are things that get on my nerves here (like the lack of Diet Mountain Dew), but I honestly can say that I am having a great time.

I think one thing that has lifted my spirits is that the weather has been gorgeous the past couple days. Madrid is especially beautiful when the skies are blue. Today, I couldn't see a single cloud. Really, the city is an entirely different place when the weather is nice compared to when the skies are gray and it's cold and rainy. All the people walking around just seem happier. Yesterday my friend and I walked from Puerta del Sol to the metro stop near her house (well she walked home then) and it took over an hour, but the walk was just so refreshing that the time passed so quickly. Most of our walk was along the Paseo de la Castellana and I really like that street because although it runs through a fairly commercial area, all of these new buildings sit right next to these old buildings and they just seem to fit together. I think that street will be really beautiful in the spring. Actually I think the whole city will be beautiful when everything is finally blooming in the spring.

Also yesterday in the late afternoon I had to go back to Sol for an ISA meeting and after it two other friends and I wandered around for a bit. I never really get sick of Sol. I've seen it many times now--I've seen a lot of things in the city over and over again--but it still amazes me each time. I'm glad that I'm not getting jaded and that I still feel a bit of a sense of wonder about the sites, even the ones that I see as I walk to the bus stop to go to school every day.

I think I'm going to take a nap now. I have turned into a real Spaniard in that I take a nap almost everyday. Tonight is 1 euro night at 100 Montaditos (this little kind-of-like-a-tapas-bar that we go to every Wednesday) and I want to be wide awake to enjoy the best patatas fritas con salsas in Madrid.

Toledo!

Hi everyone,

Yesterday ISA took us to Toledo and it was a lot of fun. For one thing Carlos and Carmen led the trip and they're the funniest ISA directors. (Carlos loves to get on the bus microphone and talk about absolutely nothing. It's funny.) We also had this entertaining, passionate tour guide, Marcos.

Toledo is beautiful. It's on top of a hill (we actually took this outdoor escalator to get up the hill) and surrounded on three sides by the Río Tajo. We went on a walking tour of the city and explored the Monestario de San Juan de los Reyes and the Sinagoga de Santa María la Blanca. The synagogue was so interesting because it was a Jewish synagogue, but the architecture was very Moorish. Later on Christians converted it into a church. During the Middle Ages all of these cultures coexisted in Toledo (before the unification of Spain under the Reyes Católicos and the subsequent expulsion of Jewish and Muslim people) and it was interesting to see all of the cultures leave their own marks on one building.

We walked around some more and stopped for a quick bathroom/snack break. I bought a Coca Cola Light at this one taberna so I could use its bathroom and they gave me this little plate of chorizo and potatoes in this delicious tomato based sauce. It was amazing and I don't know what it was called because I didn't ask for it; the woman behind the counter just gave it to me. I'm seriously craving it right now. Then we went to the Iglesia de Santo Tomé and saw one of El Greco's masterpieces, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. I really enjoyed seeing the painting because we studied it for almost two days in my art history class this past week. I've really come to like El Greco's work. We also walked past the cathedral and on to the Plaza de Zocodover.

After that we had some free time. My new roommates (the other ones moved out because they wanted to have someone cook for them) and I went to lunch at this cute little restaurant. We ate and then sat and talked for a while and really got to know each other. I love Spain because you can just sit forever after you're done with your meal and they don't try to hurry you out of the restaurant and they don't annoy you by asking you if you want dessert 50 billion times. Eating meals is really relaxing here. Anyway, I really like my new roommates a lot and we went shopping a bit after we left the restaurant. I had kind of wanted to go to the Alcázar, but it was okay. It was nice exploring more of the winding streets. And after all that, we got on the bus and I took an hour siesta until I arrived back in Madrid.

Click here to see my photos!

The Corte Inglés Rant

I have mentioned it a few times on this blog, but today I'm going to expound on my dislike for the Corte Inglés. Corte Inglés is this Spanish chain of stores. The stores themselves are huge and are kind of like a department store (like Macy's) with a grocery store in the basement. Then outside of the main store you can usually find a Corte Inglés bookstore and/or music/movie store. Some of the stores also have travel agencies in/around them. Pretty much this huge store is located in almost every neighborhood of the city. (There is one two blocks away from my house in one direction and about five or six blocks away in the other direction.) Also, outside of Madrid there is Hipercor (which is owned by Corte Inglés) which I haven't been to, but I'm guessing is kind of like Costco or something. So I guess my first reason for disliking the Corte Inglés is that I feel like it tries to be too many things.

Anyway, the store is supposed to have anything your little heart desires. Well in my opinion, the stupid store has both everything and nothing at the same time. I can find pretty much anything that I don't need and nothing that I do need. And the stuff that I can find is in the most random places. And everything is super overpriced. I don't know why I even go there, but today I did. I needed a new mesh laundry hamper thing and some tights for this party I'm going to on Friday night. First I decided to look for the laundry hamper. I figured it would be in the pet store part (by the hangers--see this post for that story) and I was kind of right. I wandered around for a while and finally asked somebody where I could find something to put my dirty clothes in (I didn't know the Spanish word for hamper at the time). Well the worker guy showed me this 20 euro hamper thing and after I scrunched up my face at the price (I was looking for like those mesh pop up laundry hampers that you can by at Target for like five dollars) he poked around some more before finally saying he didn't have anything else and scampering off. I gave up that search and decided to look for the tights.

I found those without any problem. However, I picked up this decent looking pair and they were 21 euro. My question is, who would pay 20-some euros for tights that will probably end up getting snagged on something the second time you wear them? Not this girl (the fact that I'm a klutz means I would probably snag them the first time I wore them). Then I wandered around some more and they just had so many to choose from that it was overwhelming. The problem with all of the options was that, aside from those 20-some euro tights, most did not have a price on them. Finally I just picked up an inexpensive looking pair and checked out (and was relieved to find out that they were, indeed, fairly inexpensive).

So yes, these experiences have not been terribly traumatic in and of themselves (well the experience in the Corte Inglés coupled with my post office experience was a bit traumatic), but each time I go to that store I just get more and more annoyed with it. And no, the Corte Inglés is not some metaphor for Spanish culture in general or anything like that (because I do really love Spain and Madrid and everything). It's just a store that really annoys me and makes me really miss Target. Seriously, I'd give just about anything to have Target only two blocks away.

Oh and just to let you know, tonight I walked around the neighborhood with these two girls who just moved in and I pointed out the "chino"* located around the corner. We went inside to look around and I found a mesh hamper in there almost right away for only four euros.

*(It's kind of hard to explain what a chino is without sounding a little bit politically incorrect or something, but in most neighborhoods there are these super cheap stores with the most random assortment of stuff in them that are generally owned by Chinese people. The Spanish word for Chinese is Chino, thus the Spaniards refer to these stores as chinos.)

Zaragoza

(At the Palacio de la Aljafería--l to r: Sonya, Kate, Rachel, me, Christina)

So I had a fantastic weekend in Zaragoza, which is northeast of Madrid. Zaragoza is the capital of the autonomía (kind of like a state/province) of Aragón and it's located on the Río Ebro. It took us about four hours by bus to get there. I have to say, I was really impressed with the bus service we took. The bus was fairly comfortable. We watched a James Bond movie on the way to Zaragoza and on the way there and back we stopped halfway through for a 20 minute break to eat, go to the bathroom, etc (and there was a bathroom on the bus too!). Best of all the ticket was only 26 euros round trip and we were able to buy the ticket the day of the trip (and we also kept our departure date open so we were free to come back when we wanted). We just went to the bus station and bought it--it's so simple! I have travelled by Greyhound in the U.S. and I just have to say that my experience with this bus company, ALSA, was 100x better.

Then we got to Zaragoza and after a city bus ride that took us in the wrong direction and a little bit of a walk in the right direction we found our hostel. It was the only actual hostel in Zaragosa and it was really nice. There were five of us and we were in an eight person room, but we had it all to ourselves the first night and only one roommate the second night. Actually we had only planned on staying one night, but liked it so much and it was so cheap that we decided to stay for a second night. After getting settled we ate and wandered around a bit. We found the river (it wasn't hard to find because it was only about half a block away) and the beautiful basilica there. The basilica was immense and I liked it because Goya had painted some of the vaulted ceilings. There was a mass going on while we were there and it was interesting to watch. But over all the architecture and decorum of the church was just amazing. Then we walked around a lot more and went to the grocery store because the hostel had a kitchen and settled in for the night. We were all really tired, so it was nice to go to bed early.

The next day it rained and that put a damper on our plans to bike around the city. We went to this cafe for a late breakfast, but spent two hours there and ended up ordering lunch as well. I had the best hamburger of my life there. It was just the hamburger--no bun or anything like that--served with a fried egg. It was just so good...I'm totally craving it now. Then we walked around the city and found the Palacio de la Aljafería which was built in the 11th century. We also saw the Plaza de Toros. After our siesta we walked around the city and night and Zaragoza is a city that was made to be lit up. There are floodlights everywhere. The basilica and river were just so amazing all lit up at night. We were so glad it had stopped raining, so that we could enjoy the time out.

By Sunday morning though, I was ready to go back to Madrid. Zaragoza was a really nice small-ish city, but I just feel more at home in Madrid now. I know that it may not sound like we did anything super exciting while we were in Zaragoza, but I think what made the trip so much fun was that the five of us really got to know each other. I mean, I've only known Sonya, Kate and Rachel for two weeks (and met Christina the morning of the trip!) but all of us just get along so well that I'm pretty sure we're going to stay friends even after this semester ends. Also this trip showed me how easy and relatively inexpensive it can be to travel. Now I just want to stop going to school and wander around Spain for the rest of the semester!

So here are the photos from my journey. I'm sorry but I didn't have a guide book for this trip, so my captions aren't super informative. Anyway, click on any/all of these links to see Zaragoza:
The Road to Zaragoza
Around Zaragoza: Day 1
Around Zaragoza: Days 2 and 3
Zaragoza at Night
Zaragoza Graffiti/Wall Art

Back in Madrid

Hi everyone,

We decided to stay in Zaragoza an extra day, so I just got back about an hour ago. I still have homework to do, so I will write all about it and post photos tomorrow.

My traumatic experience with the postal service.

Actually The Postal Service is one of my favorite bands and I had a great time singing along to "Such Great Heights" with a bunch of friends this weekend. That is not the postal service that I am talking about in this post (and I'm sure most of you probably didn't think it was--I just wanted to give props to great music).

No, this week I was traumatized with my dealings with the Correos, Spain's postal service. It all started out with me having to send my camera back to the U.S. so it can get fixed. I decided to look into doing this on Monday and I thought I'd just go to the Correos office on my street. Well for some reason that office is not open to the public. It's only a sorting center or something like that. Because I was already on that end of the street I decided to go to the Corte Inglés to find some packing materials, but after walking around for 15 or so minutes with a packing tape dispenser in my hands, but no actual packing tape, I finally asked where it was and was told that they do not carry packing tape (they just carry dispensers--dumb. I really have a love/hate relationship with Corte Inglés that I will have to post about some time). That night I got home and put my postal code in the finder on the Correos website and it told me the next closest office and I decided to go there after school on Tuesday.

On Tuesday I studied my metro map carefully and took it to where I needed to go to find the Correos ofice. I walked up and down the street and rechecked the address. Apparently there is no office at that location anymore or something. Foiled again.

So today I decided that I knew there was a Correos office in the Corte Inglés near Puerta del Sol. I went there after school and had to go down into the basement and then walk through this creepy parking garage just to find the office. I had read on the Correos website that I could buy a box there to ship my camera, so I waited in line and then asked the man (in Spanish) if they sold shipping boxes. He told me that yes, they do sell boxes there, but they didn't have any today. Oh. Okay. I wandered around that Corte Inglés for a little while trying to come up with innovative packing materials, and could not find anything that would work. Then I decided to go to the ISA office nearby because I figured the directors might have an idea where I could find a box. David was the only one there and told me the post office in Corte Inglés. Ha.

After that I decided to do what I should have just done all along--go to the Palacio de Comunicaciones. Really, that sounds a lot more special than it actually is. It's a beautiful building on the outside, but just a huge post office on the inside. (I think I have a picture of the building in one of my previous Facebook albums--I just didn't know what it was called at the time.) I went inside, stood around, and finally figured out that you had to take a number even though there were like 10+ stations open and only five customers there. I had to pick what kind of number I wanted to take and I picked the one that said I needed to buy something because I needed to buy a box. Well, I chose correctly and when I got up there the guy asked me what I wanted and I said in Spanish "I need a box big enough to send my camera to the United States." Well, he got pissy when he heard that and left me for a minute and came back with this really nice woman who got me my box, but told me that they did not accept credit cards. I only had 20 euros on me and had to spend 3 to buy the box (and I had figured it would probably cost around 25 to send the package), so I decided to just get the box and come back later with more cash. Like I said, the woman was very nice, so she weighed my package before I left and told me it would only cost 4,80 to send. I couldn't believe it would be so cheap, but was happy that I could just stay there and mail it. Unfortunately I had to take another number to get in "send" line (because I had been in the "buy" line). I got up there and handed the guy all of my information and he weighed my package and told me it would cost 18 euros to send. Oh. Apparently the nice worker had put in the wrong postal code. I was a euro short, so I took the box and walked outside. However, I scrounged around in my pocket and found two more euros in change, so I went back in, took another number, waited around, got up there, waited while the worker guy flirted with a worker girl and finally sent the box. I was so relieved just to be done with that experience. Although now we have to wait and see if the box actually gets to Wisconsin.

Of course when I got to the metro, I found that with all my digging in my pockets for various things at the post office I had lost my metro pass that still had 7 trips left on it. It's a good thing I found that last euro in my pocket because it bought me my trip home.

So the moral of this story is that you should just go to the big post office to begin with. And don't trust the Correos website for anything. I really love Spain, but sometimes I just feel that people aren't really on top of things and they kind of like to give you the run-around.

P.S. Just to let you all know I don't have classes on Thursdays ever and there's some holiday on Friday so I have an extra long weekend. My friends and I are going to Zaragoza on Friday, so I probably won't update this again until Sunday.

El Escorial and Valle de los Caídos

Good news! I was looking through my messenger bag and found my old camera in it. It doesn't take nearly as nice of pictures of my new camera, but at least I have something. I really don't even remember packing it, but I did. I also packed the cord; who knew I'd be so prepared?

Yesterday ISA took us on an excursion to El Escorial and Valle de los Caídos. It took a little less than an hour by bus to get there. El Escorial was built by Felipe II as a monestary/place of residence/college in the 1500s. The library inside was beautiful. Also quite stunning, but creepy as well, was the royal pantheon. Underneath the basilica almost all of the kings and queens since Carlos V (Felipe II's father) are laid to rest and we got to see the mausoleum. The creepiest thing our guide showed us were, a few steps above the pantheon, the doors to the "rotting rooms." Bodies of deceased monarchs are kept in these rooms for around 40 years to fully decompose before finally being laid to rest in the pantheon. Our guide told us that there were three bodies in the rotting rooms right now. Overall I liked El Escorial. It's very strange for a royal residence because Felipe II was really religious and wanted the focus to be on God (and he was a Hapsburg from Germany/Austria), so the architectural style is considered "unadorned." Yet the whole building is very impressive. I also liked the little town surrounding El Escorial. It was just so quaint and really quite beautiful with the mountains in the background.

After eating lunch we hopped back on the bus and went to the Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen). Here there is a giagantic cross that can be seen for miles and a basilica that was carved into the surrounding rock. The basilica and cross were built by prisoners of war after the Spanish Civil War. Franco claimed that he wanted it built to memorialize those who had died in the war, but my personal opinion is that he just wanted an imposing place to be buried as his tombstone is located right by the high altar in the basilica. It was a very strange place and I felt a lot of conflicting emotions while I was there. The scenery all around is absolutely stunning and the architecture is roughly, strangely beautiful as well. However, it is also very haunting and chilling due to the idea that it was constructed by/for a dictator.

Overall, as much as I love the city, it was nice to get away for a day and see some of the beautiful landscapes that surround Madrid. Here are the pictures from the day: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124964&l=59b1d&id=71208608

Too fast.

Wow. This week has just flown by. I can't believe it's already Thursday night. It was really nice not having school today, but because of that it is really hard for me to be motivated to go to school tomorrow. Oh well, at least I don't have to go until noon.

And in other news I just turned on my camera to find that the screen is completely messed up/broken. So I'm kind of freaking out right now.

Well, I was going to write about my fun night out last night, but I'll just gloss over it because I am really frustrated right now. Sonya, Julie, Rachel (my new friend who is just such a fun person to be around), Rachel's friend Kate, and I went to this place where everything (food and drinks) is a euro on Wednesday nights. We had a really good time.

Also, today I finally went to the Prado. Las Meninas (the painting at the top of this post) was just stunning to actually see in person. It's so huge and it just has a vacuum-like power that completely draws the viewer in to explore all of its depth and details. I saw so many other paintings that I had been really excited to see as well and really became a huge fan of Goya. His work was amazing. I'll probably go back again because there was just too much to see in a too short amount of time.

Now I'm going to try to see what I can do about my camera. Ugh. Of course this had to happen...

P.S. I'm going to El Escorial on Saturday, so my next post my not be until Sunday. I hope to have some pictures for you somehow.

School

Hi all,

Well, I started school yesterday. I know, I don't sound very excited about it, but that's just because yesterday was strange. We were supposed to have an orientation yesterday and then start classes today. Then we got to school and they told us that we would be starting classes on Monday. Oh. So yes, I had to sit through all four of my classes yesterday even though I was totally unprepared and technically not registered for any of them.

Everything actually turned out all right. I met a lot of new people yesterday and found a few that I think I'm going to get along with very well. I have all four of my classes on Monday (from 10-2), three on Tuesday and Wednesday (from 10-1), NONE on Thursday, and one on Friday (12-2). It's a rather bizarre schedule seeing as how I have my language class for an hour on Monday and then two hours on Friday, but things in Spain are just kind of like that--just a bit different. I really like my literature and art history professors. At first I thought my history professor might be a bit boring, but he is really passionate about history, so I'm warming up to him. I have to make up my mind yet about my language professor. All of the girls love him, but I just don't know...it's probably not so much him, but just that I'm the least confident about that class.

University classes in Spain are very different than what I'm used to in the U.S. Pretty much almost all of my grades are determined by one final exam (like about 95% of the grade is the final, maybe 5% is attendance) except in my language class where we have a midterm and a final. My classes are almost 100% lecture as well. There's very little student participation. For me that's a bit difficult as 1) I usually have an opinion (especially about literature) and I want to voice it and 2) it's really easy for me to let my mind start wandering and then get off track...and it's just so hard to get back on track in a foreign language. I thought it would be difficult having all my classes in Spanish in a row, but it's actually a bit easier. That's because the longer I sit there listening, the more the language embeds itself in my head.

It was my birthday yesterday. I had an ISA meeting at night and the ISA directors made me a card. After that Julie, Sonya and I went out for dessert and found this cute little plaza with a statue of Federico Garcia Lorca (one of my favorite Spanish poets/playwrights) in it. The picture accompanying this post is one of Julie (right) and Sonya (left) with Lorca.

Weekend!

Hi everyone,

I can't believe it's Sunday night already and I have to go to school tomorrow. Yes, that's my birthday present--school orientation.

I did have a very good weekend. Saturday I wandered around like usual. Then at night I met the rest of the people in my Winter 4 program and it turns out there are only two more! Julie and Sonya both go to Ohio State but didn't know each other before the program and they're really nice. So far we the three of us get along pretty well. And I'm guessing that I'll probably meet even more people from other study abroad programs tomorrow at the school orientation. Anyway, after the little introductory meeting we went on a tour of the area of Madrid near the Puerta del Sol, but we couldn't actually go through Sol because there was a huge demonstration about the Gaza conflict. Madrid is absolutely stunning at night though.

Today I went to the Parque del Retiro and it was beautiful. Even though it was cloudy there were a lot of people there. Yet in spite of all the people, it was just a calm and relaxing place. I think that I'm going to go back there many, many more times. However, I did have one very weird experience. I had to use the restroom and it was underground. This was strange but not a big deal. Then I walked in and just saw some toilet paper hanging there in the entry-way, but I figured it was just for drying your hands or something so I blew past it. I got in the stall and looked (I always look before doing anything else!)...and there was no toilet paper. So I went out to the entry-way to get some and realized there was a guy in a glass booth that was guarding the toilet paper. So yeah, I don't know if they have a problem with toilet paper theft or toilet paper abuse, but apparently someone gets paid to make sure you don't take too much toilet paper. It was pretty much the weirdest bathroom experience I think I've ever had.

Then I was wandering around the park some more and thinking about going to the Prado (finally!) when Julie and Sonya called. I met up with them instead, so we wandered around Sol until my feet felt like they were going to fall off.

Oh! I should probably explain the picture that goes with this post. Well, remember how Oshkosh had the lions around the city? Well just overnight Madrid got cows. They are everywhere!

Here are the pictures from this weekend: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124264&l=b2ab0&id=71208608

School and Real Madrid

Hi everyone,

Today was a good day. The sky was blue again and the temperatures hovered around 40. (Sorry to all of you in Wisconsin with temperatures that are like -40.)

In the morning I decided to take the bus to school to see how long it would take. Once I got to campus I just walked around for a while. Even though the buildings aren't the prettiest ones I've ever seen in my life (they aren't the ugliest either), I really liked the atmosphere on campus. Because I was off of the busy streets, everything seemed to be a bit more relaxed and I just felt really comfortable there. I think it's probably because school is familiar thing for me and I pretty much know what to expect with it (even if it will be a little different than what I've done before). One thing I especially liked about campus, other than the view of the mountains, was all of the graffiti. I think it's funny that the UWO administration freaks out about sidewalk chalk; they would have a fit if they saw all the graffiti here. The graffiti is so political in nature...and I guess I just have a different view of it since I read Julio Cortázar's short story "Graffiti."

I had planned on going to two museums after going to campus, but it was just such a nice day out that I didn't want to be stuck indoors. Instead I took the metro down to a part of town I hadn't been before. It was a more commercial area than the other parts of the city that I've seen.

After wandering for a while, I finally stumbled on what I was really looking for--El Estadio Santiago Bernabéu: Home of the Real Madrid fútbol team. Quick side note: I had never really followed soccer until last year and the reason I became so interested in Spanish soccer was because I did this project on the social and political history of Soccer in Spain for my Spanish Civilization class. Anyway, I decided I should take the tour because I wasn't going to the museums and it was a great decision. That stadium just had so much energy. This Italian guy became my tour buddy and we had a blast. A lot of people will probably hate me for saying this, but this stadium was 100x more interesting than Lambeau.

After that I took the metro home and was starving because it was after 4 and I hadn't eaten since 10, so I did something I'm a bit ashamed of--I ate at McDonalds. But I only did it because it was practically right outside of the metro station! It's good to know though that half-way across the world french fries and McNuggets taste the same.

Here are my pictures from today: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124089&l=cf13b&id=71208608

Oh! And I'm very excited for tomorrow because I get to meet the rest of the kids from my program. Hooray!

¡Mis maletas están aquí! (Finalmente)

Hi everyone,

Sorry to disappoint you but I kind of took the day off today. I slept in, went to El Corte Inglés to buy hangers (which took about an hour because I could not find them and rode the escalator up and down 50 billion times...they ended up being like right next to the pet supplies), and then waited for the call that my luggage had arrived. It finally came. Seriously, it was one of the happiest moments of my life. I went over to the ISA office to go pick it up and ended up taking my first ride in a taxi (I wasn't about to haul my huge suitcases on the metro). The driver was really nice and we had a good conversation. Then I unpacked, which took about as long as it took me to pack and ended up falling asleep for a while. Then I decided I was too lazy to go anywhere and read instead. It was actually a really nice, quiet day. But I have a busy-ish day planned for tomorrow to make up for being lazy today.

Based on my conversation with the taxi driver today and the conversations I've been having with the ISA directors I've come to the conclusion that my Spanish is a lot better when I stop thinking about it. When I start to think too hard I begin constructing these elaborate sentences in my head that are hard enough to spit out in English. While sometimes I feel like I'm talking like a child, I've started to become satisfied with simple, effective sentences to get my ideas across when I'm speaking in Spanish. That's not to say that I'm not going to challenge myself to speak better, but I'm starting to realize that speaking Spanish here isn't about being perfect, but instead it's about being understood. And when I let go and just focus on being understood, the grammatical elements seem to just fall into place (and even if they don't, it's not the end of the world).

On a completely different note, does anyone have any cheap, easy meal ideas? After this weekend I'm going to need to go grocery shopping again.

Exhausted...

Hi everyone,

Today I discovered the maps in my guidebook are not to scale and because of that I did a lot of walking--all around what the book calls Bourbon Madrid and then back to the Puerta del Sol (just to see if I could make it there on foot). So here's the link to all of today's pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123913&l=d3ac5&id=71208608

Enjoy!

More wandering...

Last night I decided that I was going to find the Templo de Debod today and I did! It's an Egyptian temple from 200 B.C. that was given to Spain and it was tiny but also very interesting. In the process of finding it I stumbled across the Plaza de España and a statue of Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz. I think that Sor Juana is one of my favorite women from history and if you've never heard of her you should google her and read some of her poetry.

After finding the temple I took a long walk back to Calle Mayor and Puerta del Sol because I needed to buy a few more clothing items because my luggage is still missing. It started to snow a little bit more (it had been snowing on and off all morning) and I thought it was so funny because everyone around me started walking under umbrellas. That's just not something you see everyday in Wisconsin. However, I stopped laughing once it warmed up a bit and started to rain. Then I just went home to eat lunch. I decided because I love bocadillos so much I should just make them at home myself. I bought bread, chorizo and Manchego cheese and my little sandwiches were amazing.

Later, the two other ISA students in this residencia asked me if I wanted to go see a movie with them and I did. We had quite the adventure looking for the theater we were supposed to go to, but it was well worth it because the theater had the coolest display of old movie projectors. Some of them looked like pieces of art.

Here's the link for more of today's pictures (I didn't post many because the weather was so unpleasant): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123801&l=982a7&id=71208608

A quick side note: I came to Madrid a week before my program actually started which is why I have all of this time to explore things. I will be starting school next week.

Gallivanting around Old Madrid

Today was a beautiful day. Blue skies and in the 40's and I am exhausted. I left my residencia at 9:45 to go to the ISA office and didn't get back until 5:30. I took the metro to the ISA office and didn't have any problems at all. It's really quite easy to figure out as long as you know where you want to go and you make sure the train you're about to get on is traveling in the direction you want to go (I almost got on the train going in the opposite direction but caught my mistake in time). The ISA people are really nice and are working hard to get my luggage back for me--yeah, it's still not here yet. After visiting the office, I bought a few things to wear, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money on clothes because I have so many that I packed. The shopping near the Puerta del Sol is pretty fabulous though and right now it is especially great because of the "rebajas," which are huge sales going on through January. It was so crowded in every store I went in and clothes were strewn about everywhere. Oh! before I went shopping I stopped in this little cafe-type-place to get chocolate con churros. Well, they didn't have the churros and I was disappointed, so I had some other sort of breakfast pastry instead and the chocolate. It was really good, but the hot chocolate was so thick. It kept me full for hours.

After shopping a bit I decided to wander up the Calle Mayor. I re-visited the Plaza Mayor (which was really empty today compared to yesterday--you can see my video of it below) and then I walked and walked until I stumbled upon the Palacio Real, which was immense. I didn't tour it though because the admission was 10 euros, but if I wait until I get my student i.d. next week it will only be 3.50 euro. Then I wandered through the Plaza del Oriente and back down the Calle Mayor. I went to a really huge music/movies/video games store and had lunch at a place called Rodillas. I got a bocadillo (sandwich) and diet coke for 5.55 euro. The bocadillo was really filling and it was called bacon with cheese, but the bacon was more like a cross between ham and canadian bacon and it had this really good spread on it. I was really excited because as I was walking home today I found a Rodillas near my residencia.

Speaking of walking home, I managed not to get lost all day until walking from the metro station to my residencia. I went up one street too far after leaving the metro station (and it never crossed with the street that I live on) and was so confused for about 15 mintues until I finally stepped into a pharmacy to consult a map.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow yet. I had planned on going to the Prado and Reina Sofia art museums, but the ISA directors told me to "be patient" and wait until next week after I get my student ID card so I can get a discount on admission. They suggested that I go to the Templo de Debod or the Parque del Retirio (as one ISA guy said, the park is "muy muy gratis").

Check out all of the pictures I took today by visiting this link (even if you don't have Facebook you should be able to see the pictures if I set up everything correctly--if the link doesn't work let me know). And because I'm an English major I feel the need to say that all of the information in the captions is from my guide book, my friend, or ISA information...and maybe Wikipedia hahaha:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123658&l=32e96&id=71208608

Pictures of my room

As you all can probably tell I have a very small room, but it is really comfortable and it just kind of feels like it was meant for me. I have a really nice view of the street, so this morning I just sat and people watched. I discovered a lot of people own big dogs (even though they live in these relatively tiny apartments).

I still have not gotten my luggage and I need to go to a meeting tomorrow with the study abroad company, so I bought some laundry detergent and did my laundry in the sink tonight. So yes, I went to the grocery store and bought my first groceries today--apples, granola bars, Golden Grahams (yes they have them in Spain), Coca-Cola Light, orange juice, almonds, some microwavable meals (with beans and chorizo so they're different than what we have in the US) and laundry detergent. All of the stuff cost me 20 euros (to get a feel for how much stuff is in Madrid). I kinda freaked out while I was checking out because I do not know what coins are what and I really didn't even know if I was handing the cashier the right ones or not.

Also today a friend and I went around Madrid and I figured out how to get downtown (to the Puerta del Sol y la Plaza Mayor and the ISA office) and I also figured out how to get to school on the bus and the metro. I'm going back downtown tomorrow, so I'll put up some pictures then. We were kind of in a hurry today, so I didn't want to stop and take pictures of everything. But I just have to say that I live in a beautiful city and today was a great day.

Finally!

Hi all,

I finally made it to Madrid. I was stuck at Heathrow for seven hours more than I was supposed to be and arrived in Spain 11 hours later than I had planned, but I made it (and I made three new friends in the process). However, my bags did not make it. Apparently they never even left Chicago. So yeah, that's a bit of a problem. Luckily I have shopping plans tomorrow.

My residencia (where I'm living) is absolutely fantastic. The lady who owns it is an absolute sweetheart. I have my own room. It's tiny but nice and has a balcony overlooking the street. My neighborhood seems pretty nice too. Even though it was past 9:00 when I got settled in, a friend and I went out for dinner and we ate some tapas-type-things--a tortilla española (I think--it was a combination of eggs and potatoes) and some croquetas (which were fried deliciousness). Both were yummy.

I will post pictures of things tomorrow. I'm just too tired tonight.

Delayed...

So yesterday my direct flight to Madrid from Chicago was cancelled. Luckily (?) they put me on a flight to London and then on to Madrid. So now I am in London! However, I am stuck here. Boo. All of the flights to and from Madrid are delayed because the airport shut down yesterday due to snow. (If those people lived in Wisconsin they would have a major melt down seeing all the snow we've gotten.) So yeah, at least I'm across the Atlantic now and I'm just chilling out at Heathrow until I know what's going on.

I did have a nice flight to London. I sat next to this guy named Joe who was really funny and took a lot of xanax. He helped me navigate this airport until we had to part ways.

This morning as we were landing we were flying directly into the sunrise and it was pretty beautiful.

I'm leaving tomorrow!

Hi everyone,
Weather permitting I fly out tomorrow afternoon. It's an eight hour flight and then there's a seven hour time difference between here and Madrid so I arrive at about 8 a.m. Pretty much I plan on knocking myself out with Tylenol P.M. on the plane because I want to be able to stay up for the rest of the day when I get there.
Right now I'm writing this post as a distraction from packing. It's rough trying to fit five months of your life into two bags that have to weigh less than 50 pounds. All I know is that there is one thing in the above photo that will definitely not being coming with me!