Monday, Monday...

It was hard to get up this morning! For some reason, I woke up a lot last night. Vivian didn't sleep well either. Maybe there were noises or something outside...it's definitely been getting hotter! We made it to the IES Center nice and early, so we had about 15 minutes to relax before class. My grammar class is not boring, but it's all a review of stuff I've already done, so sometimes it's hard to concentrate, and even harder to stay awake! Art History was a little boring, since we were confined to the classroom today. We will have discussion every Monday because the Prado is closed on Mondays :( But we will have class there tomorrow! I'm really looking forward to it!

After classes, Vivian and I came back to the apartment and relaxed a little and ate La Comida. She still isn't feeling well from not sleeping last night, so she didn't go with me when I went with a group from the program to the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. It's a 20th century-1980s art museum that used to be an 18th century hospital. It was beautiful! It felt amazing to be in the same work as artists such as Dali and Picasso. The most amazing painting was definitely Guernica. It was absolutely stunning, and I can't believe I got to be in the same room with it! It's almost as big as the entire wall, and it had two guards to itself! Very important stuff... I was also glad to see some photography. I know there won't be any at the Prado. I saw an image by Man Ray, who I heard a lot about in the History of Photography class last semester at Trinity. AWESOME!

I bought a poster of Guernica in the Museum gift shop. I'm going to get it framed when I get home!

El Rastro

Today, I went to El Rastro, which is a HUGE fleamarket. El Rastro actually means 'the stain', and it's apparently called that because there used to be a bunch of slaughter houses up on the hill, and blood would run down into the streets. EWW. Good to know. But it was really great! They had a bunch of junky clothes, electronics, and CDs, but they also had a lot of really awesome hand-made stuff. Vivian went off to explore by herself, and I met up with my friend Matt. He bought some gifts for his family, and I bought a crazy necklace and a beach towel for when I got to Portugal next weekend! (o ya, by the way, I'm going to Portugal for the long weekend! WOO!)

El Rastro happens every Sunday, so I'll definitely have to go back to buy presents for family and friends :)

Other than that, today has mostly been pretty relaxing. We were home in time for La Comida, but later for La Cena, Vivian and I went to a place called VIPS, which is like a general store. I got a ham sandwich. I'm pretty sure the most popular food in Spain is ham. There is even a Ham Museum in Sol. I kid you not! School again tomorrow...I have to get up early! Which means now it's bedtime :)

El Parque del Buen Retiro

I slept in today until about 10am, and then messed around on the computer and relaxed while I waited for Vivian to get up. Today was her 20th birthday! Last night, Ana (our Senora) asked me to find out what kind of cake she likes, and when I found out vanilla, Ana said they don't make vanilla cakes! I thought that was odd, because I love vanilla cake haha but Ana got a great traditional Spanish cake, which was delicious! Around 2:30 we all sat down and had La Comida together, and then we surprised Vivian with her cake :) Ana bought her a panuela (a scarf like Flamenco dancers where). It is stunning! I hope I can get one while I'm here.

After La Comida, Ana went to take a siesta, and Vivian and I went to meet our friends Megan and Hayley to walk around El Parque del Buen Retiro. According to my Lonely Planet guide book, El Parque del Buen Retiro is "an oasis of greenery, fresh air and high culture", and I would definitely have to agree! There were vendors everywhere selling sunglasses, toys, food, jewelry, etc., and there was a lake where you could take row boats out! The line was about a mile long, though, so we're going to go back and do that another day during the week while kids are in school. Apparently the park was set up by King Felipe IV for his court, so there are monuments and fountains everywhere, as well as the Palacio de Cristal, which isn't really a palace, but a big building that's mostly windows. I'm not sure what it was used for back in the day, but now it's used for exhibitions and that sort of thing. Very cool! I think my favorite part of the park was the rose garden. It was so beautiful! They had all kinds of roses everywhere, and there were little information signs to tell you about them and where they came from.

After we left the park, the four of us walked over to Sol to try to find some food. I took a picture of the very center of Madrid! All roads lead there! We went in a store called TopShop, which is apparently British. They had a lot of cool stuff, but we were all so hungry that we went to go eat without buying anything. We went to another location of Cafe y Te, which was good, but not as good at the first one I ate at. On the plus side, I got to try Sangria for the first time!! The four of us split it, and when we got to the bottom, we saw the MASSIVE amount of sugar they put in it! haha o well, it was delicious anyway!

Segovia!!!

Segovia was so great today! I took hundreds of pictures, so hopefully I can post them soon!

Ana packed us a little snack for mid morning, which was very nice of her :) Vivian and I finally got the trains right this morning! We got to the center early and had to wait around while it was being cleaned. We left the center around 9:20 and rode the bus for about an hour until we got to Segovia. It was nice to just ride around and look out the window at the countryside. I like being in the city, but it was nice to get out for a while. Almost everyone smokes here, and if you walk past a bar, you might as well be smoking yourself! Since I don't smoke, sometimes it makes me feel a little bit sick, so yesterday was really great :) We got to Segovia around 10:15 and drove around for while before we got off the buses and looked around a little bit. We got off right at the Acueductos de Segovia, which are really amazing! Apparently they are not held together by anything adhesive, like cement, but the granite stones are stacked just so, so that they hold up the aqueducts perfectly! We divided into groups of about 10 to take a walking tour. I'm glad I wore my new walking sandals that my mom bought me! They are not something I would usually wear, but they definitely saved my feet!

First we saw a really big church, which was so pretty! We didn't go in, but we took pictures of the outside. There was a statue out in front of it, so I got some pictures of it too. Next we walked through Segovia, which is a lot smaller than Madrid. There were a lot of tourists in some areas, but I got some really nice photos of some of the streets. Next we went to Alcazar, which was a huge castle! Well, huge in my standards :) I kinda pretended I was at Hogwarts hahaha We went out of the roof and there were some really great views! It was pretty hard to hear our tour guide though, because she was really tiny, and there were other tours around us of guides speaking loudly in English, so it was pretty difficult to hear her speaking Spanish.

Next we walked a little more, and then stopped for about 15 minutes in the Plaza Mayor, which is like the center of the town. I took some photos and bought some postcards for my scrapbook, but some people went and bought food, because by that time it was about 12:30pm (lunchtime!). I managed to hold off on the food. After that we took a Paseo por la Ciudad (a walk through the city), and finally we got to La Iglesia de la Vera Cruz, which I really old Romanesque church. It was really interesting and beautiful, and we could see the castle we had just been to on the horizon. The air was much cleaner out there, except for this man who stepped out of the church for a smoke. And when I say he stepped out, I mean literally! He stayed right at the door, and lit up a cigarette! A church that was built in the 1200s!! Wow!! In the US you would never be allowed to do that...

On the way back to Madrid we stopped at a restaurant called Torrecaballeros for La Comida. IT WAS AMAZING!! Mostly the aperitivos (appetizers). There were so many! There was tortilla de patata (potato tortilla), pimientos rojos asados (roasted red peppers), pan tomaca (which was toast with a sort of tomato paste), and croquestas caseras, which was sort of like mashed potatoes with some sort of cheese in them, rolled into balls and fried. They were my favorite! We had some at La Comida on orientation day, but they were tiny and definitely not as good. The rest of the meal was pretty good too. It was pollo asado (roasted chicken) with ensalada mixta (mixed salad). For desert we had ponche de Segovia, which was a sweet pasty. It was delicious! It kinda tasted like raw dough, but it was still great! When I had ponche in Mexico, it was a drink, so I was really surprised by the pastry. With La Comida we had vino (wine) and agua (water haha), and the afterwards we had coffee. Coffee here is espresso. There is no other way to describe it. When you pour yourself a cup of coffee, you put about 1/3 coffee, and 2/3 milk, no joke! But that was by far the best meal I've had since being here. You can see that La Comida is the biggest meal of the day here. For la cena we just had sandwiches. Definitely different from the US, where breakfast and dinner are a lot bigger than they are here.

I dozed off a little on the bus ride back, but who could blame me after that meal! When we got back to Madrid, Vivian and I took the metro back here, and once again took the wrong exit. Woops! I'm sure we'll get it eventually. We relaxed at the apartment for the rest of the day. I still haven't really experienced the night life yet. I've just been way too tired after the days! Maybe I'll to out tonight. Tomorrow we are going to El Rastro, which is a flee market that they only have on Sundays. That should be really fun!

Getting in the Swing of Things!

Vivian and I took the wrong train this morning! Well, it was the right train, but it went the wrong way! We weren't set too much behind though. We just got off at the first stop and then headed in the right direction. Today we only had grammar classes, so I got done by 11, and of course everyone was hungry again! We went to a bar close by and had some authentic Spanish tapas! I had a Tortilla Espanola. I had no idea tortillas here were nothing like tortillas in Latin America! It was about an inch thick and made of eggs and potatoes! Apparently sometimes they put onions in them, but if there were in this one they must have been really small. Some people had Bocadillos de Chorizo (sausage sandwiches).

Matt and I took the metro back (Vivian had already gone), but before we went to the station, we went to see our friends apartment because he lives on the way. It was very nice! Everything looked like it was from IKEA or something! The elevator was the tiniest one I've ever seen! Fitting 3 people in was a challenge! On our way out, Matt and I literally got stuck in the building! We were pulling and pushing on the door, and it just wouldn't open! We couldn't figure it out, and we were laughing so hard that we couldn't do anything. People were walking by outside and staring at us! It was so hilarious! Finally we called back up to our friend and he told us that all you have to do is push a button and the door unlocks...woops!

We saw some other people we know from the program on the train. I got off at my stop again, and of course I took the wrong exit again! I've really got to stop doing that...I had to ask another person for directions to get back to La Plaza de Olavide, which is where I live. I finally got back and was able to take a nice siesta :) I watched some TV on my computer and relaxed a little. I wasn't hungry for La Comida, so I didn't eat at 3, but that was a mistake! By 9 I was SO HUNGRY!! We all really need to get on the right eating schedule! haha

After I ate, I went and met Matt at the metro station, and we took the train to La Plaza del Sol. We walked around and took some pictures and stopped in some little tourist shops. I'm on the hunt for a really great RealMadrid jersey for my roommate back home :) I bought a few things and I guess we walked around a lot, but it didn't seem like it! It was really fun, and I definitely want to go back soon! There's still a lot I haven't seen! We stayed until about 11:15pm, and then took the metro back. I'm going to take a shower and go to bed, because I have to be at the IES Center at 9am for our day trip to Segovia! I'm going to take my big camera so I can take some really great photos :)

Day 1 of Classes!

Vivian and I took the Metro this morning! It was a pretty exciting adventure! Walking to the center takes about 30 minutes, so we have that option as well, but we're still pretty jet-lagged, so it may take a few days before we're ready to do that...at 9 we all gathered in the lecture hall of the IES Center (which is actually part of a residence hall at the university) and handed over our laptops so they could get set up on the wireless network. That was pretty difficult since mine is new and I'm trying to be really careful with it! Then we went to our Spanish grammar classes. I think mine will be really easy, but a nice review as it's been since 9th grade that I even took a grammar course! My professor is really nice, and we did some getting-to-know-you activities with our classmates.

After our grammar classes, those of us taking Art in the Prado, and people taking the History of Madrid don't have classes until 4 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so we decided to go get some food. It was about noon, which is a strange time for Madrilenos to eat, but for us, it's lunchtime! We found a place called Cafe y Te, and we all ordered burgers!! No joke, on the menu it said Genuine Beef Burguer, spelled just like that! I thought it was pretty funny. It tasted great! After eating we went back to the Center and hung out for a couple hours before we had to go to class. We're all taking it easy, still getting over being so tired!

I'm really excited for my Art in the Prado class! Since I can't take any art classes while I'm here (it has to do with the schooling system), at least I can study some really great art! We meet 3 times a week, and 2 out of those 3 we will actually be meeting at the Prado!! So exciting! AND our midterm assignment is a photography assignment! I can tell I'm really going to enjoy this class :)

I waited around for my friend Matt to get done so we could take the Metro home together. He lives in my barrio, so we basically go the same way, but then I get off one stop before him. When I walked up out of the metro, I had absolutely NO IDEA where I was! There are about 5 exits for my metro stop, and they all come up on different streets! I walked around and tried to figure it out, and finally had to stop someone to ask. It's kinda weird to talk to strangers here because when you walk by someone on the sidewalk, no one makes eye-contact! Living in the south, people always smile or say hi, but it's definitely different here! People do stare on the subway, but not at your face. Mostly at your clothing or shoes. And if they stare at your bags or pockets, you have to be careful, because they might be trying to figure out the best way to pick your pocket!! We've been warned about that a lot. Actually, on my way home today, a lady told me to take my umbrella out of my side pocket of my backpack and put it in my big pocket because some people will take anything! It was nice of her to tell me. I think she could tell Matt and I are American :)

Eventually I found my way home, thank goodness! I will definitely have to try to figure out which exit to use when I get off the metro...I got home and took a little siesta. People think that everyone takes siestas in Spain, but Madrid is such a busy city that you are lucky if you can fit one in!! I talked to my parents on Skype, and then had some dinner (la cena) around 9pm, which is normal time for a light dinner here. I know that some people from the program have been going out at night to bars and clubs, so I might go out tonight if my friend gets back to me, but I am still so tired!

Orientation

Today has literally been one of the longest of my life. Since I didn't sleep on the plane (very much, at least), all I wanted to do yesterday when I got here was take a shower, and then a nap. So I did! Later, around 7pm, which they call afternoon here because the sun doesn't go down until 9:30pm, our Senora, Ana, took me and my roommate Vivian to meet other people who live in our barrio (our neighborhood). Everyone is really nice, and really exhausted. We only have one guy in the group, but he seems to be ok with that haha We walked around for a while, and then found a Starbucks!! I didn't get anything though, because it was all so expensive! It was 5 euros for one coffee, which is about $7! Vivian and I eventually found our way back to the apartment and then spent the rest of the day relaxing and went to bed early. Not that I slept or anything...

When I woke up today, I felt really disoriented. I hadn't been in a deep sleep or anything, so it was pretty easy to get up and get ready. Ana walked us over the the Hotel Princesa, which was where we had our orientation meetings. It was SO BORING and all of us were so tired and thirsty that I doubt we heard much of what they were telling us. They basically talked about what to expect living in homestays, and gave us all these rules we are expected to live by (which Ana told us to ignore because she thinks they're silly haha). They described classes and trips, etc. and then finally we got to have lunch, which they call la Comida. La Comida does not happen until 2:30-3pm!! I have to make it from breakfast until then! That's going to take some getting used to...all of us were starving! The food was ok...my friend Matt, a self-proclaimed non-picky eater, hated all of it. Next we walked over to the IES Center. I can tell that I'm going to be doing a lot of walking while I'm here! After feeding us a bunch and supplying us with wine, they gave us a Spanish placement exam! I was seriously falling asleep trying to take this test.

After the test, I walked to El Corte Ingles with a couple friends. It' basically a massive department store, or a walmart, but better! We bought some Spanish cell phones so that our US bills won't go up as much. They stopped at their apartment, and I somehow made it back to mine by myself. Vivian had decided to go straight home after the test. By then it was evening (or afternoon by Spanish standards) and all we had energy left for was dinner. I'm still settling in some. When I get tired, I get homesick :( but I know I'm going to have a great time! I talked to my family on Skype a little bit, so that was nice :) tomorrow we have to be at the IES center at 9, so I have to go shower and go to bed!!

Let it begin!!

Today I leave for Spain! (tomorrow I'll actually get there...) I didn’t have to wake up early, which was great, but my bed still felt so warm and clean and soft this morning, not to mention the fact that Darla was all cuddled up with me! But I somehow dragged myself out of bed and managed to finish packing and have a cup of coffee before it was time to go! I think that my dogs were deliberately trying to keep me from leaving. Darla’s best move was to stand on me so that I couldn’t move at all, while Harry opted to nap in an upside-down position, perpendicular to the garage door! Some how I managed to get out the door with little to no drama. Dad was great, he stayed and made sure I got my bag checked with no problems. Airports are always so great (sarcasm...) I want to look presentable for my host family, so I put on some jewelry this morning, and since my athletic shoes are my heaviest, I wore them today so that my checked bag wouldn’t be so heavy. And then I had to go through security and take it all off...such an ordeal. Take out your liquids, your lap top, take off your jacket and shoes, make sure nothing is in your pockets, etc. etc. I tried not to get too frustrated because I know airport security is there to protect us, but ugh. Maybe I should have planned that a little better! :)

The flight to Dallas was pretty easy, and there was only a little bit of turbulence. The only bad thing about American Airlines is that as you walk to the back of the plane to your “economically friendly” seat, you get to walk past all the lovely people sitting in the 6-foot-wide luxury seats (slight exaggeration, but you get the picture!). The best is when they smile at you when walk by. I would be happy too, if I was delivered warm mixed nuts and a hot towel!! haha The plane felt like a sauna, so by the time I got to Dallas I felt pretty nasty, but what can you do? I did a little duty free shopping, and then bought some soft socks to wear on the plane, and I visited the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (a favorite among BMR junkies!). I keep having to remind myself that I should wait until I’m on the way home to buy presents for people! Duty free is great! (haha doodee...)

I sat down and had a panini and a lovely cold beer, and before I knew it, it was time to head to my gate. Most people were standing around waiting to board, so I did the same. I mean, I knew that I would be sitting for about a million hours, so I should stand while I had the chance! There was a lady and her son there, and she asked to talk to the captain of the plane because she was nervous about the volcanic ash in the air, but he assured her it would be a problem. So far there is no sign of liquid hot magma, so I think we’re cool! The plane looks just like the one my Mom and I took to Australia. They give you a pillow, blanket and headphones, and your seat is about 1 square foot (just kidding, but it’s small!). I have an aisle seat, which is nice in case I wanna get up and dance around a little. I actually took a trip to the bathroom and danced around a little in there. Definitely don’t want “deep vein thrombosis” or whatever you call it! Now I’m just sitting here next to the guy in the window seat. He’s very nice, and was considerate to warn me that he snores, but I should nudge him if he does haha I don’t think I will...it’s hard enough to sleep on planes without the people next to you bumping you all the time! Anyway, I’ve got noise canceling headphones :)

I’m a little nervous about being tired tomorrow. When I get there it will be 10:30am, which is supposed to be in about 6 hours. In central time, it’s only 9:44pm, so I’m not that tired...I guess I should try though, because it’s hard to speak Spanish when you’re a zombie!!