Sunday

Today, I feel like I have an emotional hangover. My head hurts, and my eyes are swollen from being so upset last night. I was going to go to El Rastro (the outdoor flea market) again, because this is my last Sunday here, but honestly I was afraid to carry my purse around so many people now that I know what it feels like to have something stolen. My senora convinced me that I shouldn't let this ruin my time here in Spain, and that I should go while I have the chance. She is so nice. I am so lucky that I got to live with her and her daughter while being here.

I went to El Rastro for about an hour. I bought some of the poofy pants that they wear here. They look like Aladdin pants!! I got a black, cotton pair, and they are really comfortable. :)

When I got home, my senora and I left again to go to the police department so that I could sign the report I filed last night for my wallet. Apparently a lot of the time, people will just take your money out and throw your wallet in a mailbox, and sometimes it gets returned to you. I really hope that happens to me!

I mostly relaxed around the house for the rest of the day. I went out and got myself some ice cream around 5pm, but mostly I've stayed here. I'm still pretty down. I could really use some support :(

UGH!!!!

Today was my worst day so far in Madrid. This has been the only day when I've outright said "I want to go home".

It all started out fine. I met up with a friend and we rode the double-decker buses around Madrid. First we rode the historical route. We started out between the Prado and the Ritz hotel, and then drove by a lot of historical locations in the city. There was an audio guide, which was pretty nice (when it was working!). At the end of the route we went to the Barrio de las Letras for la comida. This Barrio is called such because it was the popular hangout for famous writers in the 16th century. There are famous quotes written on the sidewalks in gold. I saw one from Don Juan, which I read in Spanish Literature this past semester!! :)

Next we rode the Modern Madrid route, which showed a lot of popular streets, like Gran Via, and talked about popular neighborhoods, and buildings that have been converted into modern companies.

After we got off the bus, we decided to go over to the Prado to see the temporary Turner exhibit. Unfortunately, you had to pay to get in, and my friend wasn't interested in paying, so I said I'd come back another day. We went to the gift shop again instead, and I bought a present for my sister. Next, we decided to walk over to the Metro stop so we could head over to Sol for dinner. We were going to get back on the historical bus after dinner so we could see all the buildings lit up at night. We were walking down el Paseo del Prado (one of the main streets) and there was some sort of parade going on. There were trucks with huge speakers playing really loud music, and there were people dancing and drinking in the streets. I thought it might have been a gay pride parade or something, but it was more like hippies dressed up in crazy outfits. I'm still not sure what it was, but I took my camera out to take some photos. When we got to the metro station, I reached into my bag to get out my transportation pass. That's when I realized my wallet was gone. It was the worst feeling ever. I was shaking and scared. I'd had credit cards, IDs, money, all the important stuff in there! They warn us about all the pick-pockets and gypsies, but honestly you never really think that it will happen to you. We had made copies of everything before I left, so my parents were able to call and cancel my credit cards. Luckily I had my debit card, some travelers checks, and my passport back at the apartment in case of an emergency. I'm so glad I had only been carrying a copy of my passport, and not the real one. I feel so violated...I thought that I was being so careful, keeping my arms over my bag as much as I could. It's the kind of bag that goes over your shoulder!! It's not so much the things that can be replaced that upset me, but things like my transportation pass, tickets to museums, my wallet itself, things that are special to me that I wanted to keep. It's just a really awful feeling. My friend and I went to Sol and had dinner at our favorite tapas place, but mostly I just wanted to go home. I felt unsafe and somehow naked without any money or ID. My friend paid for me to eat, and bought be a metro ticket. On the way home I had to stop and call my parents again. I just felt so alone, I called them and had a breakdown. I've been so homesick lately since I've been sick, and now this has happened, and I honestly feel a little bit scared. When I got home, my senora could tell I'd been upset, so I told her and her daughter about it, and they helped me find someone to talk to in English so I could file a police report. I had no idea how to explain in Spanish, in detail, everything that had happened, especially since I was already so upset. Knowing that the police knew about it definitely made me feel better, but all I wanted to do was go home.

All in all, not the best day :(

Historical Madrid!!

Today was so much fun!! I slept in this morning, and then got up and went over to the Palacio Real. Apparently now it's only used for occasional royal ceremonies, and the royal family moved into a more modest palace (isn't that an oxymoron? lol) The Main Stairway is really beautiful, and the steps are so smooth that they make you feel like you are gliding upstairs!! I may have pretended I was a Spanish princess...just a little bit ;) The tour of the Salones (rooms) was really beautiful. A lot of them have frescos on the ceiling painted by famous artists. Next I visited the Farmacia Real, which was the royal pharmacy!! It smelled really weird, and there were all kinds of plants and extracts in jars. Next was the Armeria Real (the royal armory), where they had all kinds of suits of armor, guns, swords, etc. It was all very interesting. I think I will move in soon!! haha

After coming home for la comida, I went over to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, where I didn't get to go yesterday. It was really amazing! I saw paintings by amazing painters like Rembrandt, Goya, Monet, Manet, Georgia O-Keefe, and more! I was in heaven :)

Later I met up with a friend at Sol for some Churros y chocolate! They are basically like long, fried donuts, and are a lot different from the ones in Mexico (which are covered in sugar)! The chocolate is thick, like pudding, and not very sweet. SO GOOD!!

Tomorrow, we're going to ride the double-decker buses around Madrid. So excited!! :)

Human Again!!

I'm definitely starting to feel better!! Today I got to get back to doing touristy things!! After grammar class today, my friend and I went to El Museo de las Americas, which is centered around Spanish colonization. It was really interesting to see things from the Spanish perspective, which was mostly scientific and anthropological (they didn't say much about violence against the natives). I bought a cook book that has 100 recipes for tapas in the gift shop!!

We went home for la comida and a little siesta, and then met up again around 5:45. He wanted to go the Prado, which is free from 6-8pm, and I wanted to visit the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, which is a art museum I haven't been to yet. Unfortunately, but the time I got to the museum it was about 6:20, and I realized it closed at 7 instead of 8 like the Prado. It was worth paying to get in, so I walked around a little bit and finally went over to the Prado. I love the gift shop over there, so I bought a couple of things, including this really great book about the museum!! I sat on the lawn of the museum and waited for my friend to be finished. It was really lovely there in the shade reading about art :)

When my friend and I met up again, we decided to go over to Sol and did some shopping at the tourist shops, and then finally found a little tapas place, where we had dinner.

Tomorrow I'm planning on doing some site-seeing by myself :) I think it will be nice to have some alone time, and see some of the historical sites at my own pace!

Finally getting back to normal...

I'm feeling better today, but my stomach is still really sensitive. I've had almost no appetite, and when I do get hungry, I almost wanna stay that way because I'd rather be hungry than feel sick! After my class at the Prado, I did go to McDonalds for a McFlurry...being sick has made me want comfort food, and the closest I can get is American fast food! But I'm glad to finally be feeling better. My head doesn't hurt quite as badly, and my sinuses are clearing up. This is a good sign!!

Tuesday

I'm even sicker today that I was yesterday. I woke up feeling awful, with a terrible taste in my mouth and a really bad stomach ache. Somehow I made it to school on the metro, but I had to leave in the middle of grammar class because I felt so bad. I think the antibiotics are making me sick. I'm shaking and I feel really sick. One of the IES people made me another emergency appointment with the doctor, and he even went with me (which was a little awkward lol). I told him I had to go to the bathroom when we got there, and then the doctor found me just as I was coming out, so when I went back to the waiting room, the IES guy was freaking out because he thought I'd been in the bathroom the whole time. The doctor gave me some anti-nausea medicine and told me that I would probably get used to the antibiotic, but gave me a prescription for another one in case I didn't. He also told me that he know how alone I felt being in a foreign country without any family and being sick...which I hadn't thought about until he said that! Ugh...but being sick really does make you more homesick. I just want to be at home in my bed with my Mom and Dad taking care of me and my dogs cuddling with me!

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Back to school..

So today I finally asked the IES people to make me a doctors appointment. I've been sick for almost a week, so I decided it was about time!! I was done with both my classes by 1:30, so afterwards I went home for la comida. My appointment was at 4:30, so I had a little time to relax. It is miserable going on the metro when you have a sinus infection. Everyone glares at you for coughing and sniffling, but hey, there's not much I could have done!

Finding the doctor's office was a bit of an adventure! It didn't occur to me at first that it wouldn't be in it's own building on the street! The street itself was really fancy and full of designer stores, but also under a lot of construction. Finally, I found the building where the doctor was, and managed to buzz my way in. I actually saw the doctor in his office! Not an examining room! I sat at his desk at first and answered some questions, and then he had me sit on the examining table, which was right there in his office! He basically told me what I already knew (that I have a sinus infection), and gave me some prescriptions for antibiotics, something fizzy you put in water and drink, nose spray, and ibuprofen (prescription strength!). Thank goodness there is a pharmacy right by my apartment!! It was really easy to get the prescriptions, and also pretty inexpensive. Now, I'm going to rest. Hopefully I'll be a lot better by tomorrow!! :)

VALENCIA!!! Day 3

Today is our last day in Valencia!! The breakfast staff was pretty rude to us again today... I just really miss waiters from the US. I mean, you don't have to tip here, so maybe that's why their attitudes are so different, but who knows...

Anyway, I'm still not feeling great, but I was really excited to go to the beach today!! We checked out of the hotel around 10:30, and then went straight to the beach. One of my friends and I rented a couple of lounge chairs and an umbrella on the beach so that we wouldn't have to lie in the sand. We swam in the ocean some, and relaxed in the shade some, and then around 12:40 we went over to the showers and rinsed off. We did a sort of crazy clothes changes act with people holding up towels and stuff, but finally we were all changed and ready for lunch. We ate at a sub restaurant, which was pretty good. I had a ham and brie sub, but it wasn't as good as the one I had in Porto.

We got back to the bus area around 1:45 only to find out that our bus had gotten stuck in a sandy parking lot!! He had to wait another hour and a half because it was a Sunday, and they had to find a tow truck!! We spent the time walking around the shops at the edge of the beach, and then got some ice cream at a stand. We finally got to get on the bus around 3:30. The bus ride back was pretty uneventful...I wasn't feeling great so I mostly just listened to music and looked out the window. We stopped at a gas station, and I got a coke for my headache, but then I spilled it all over me in the bus. Awesome. When we got back I had to take the metro all the way back home, carrying all my luggage.

Basically, I got home exhausted and covered with salt, sand, and coke. Now, I'm going to shower, because I have never wanted a shower so bad!!

VALENCIA!!! Day 2

I feel like crap today!! Ugh I'll probably have to go to the doctor when I get back to Madrid. But I refuse to let this ruin my good time in Valencia!!

This morning we had breakfast at the hotel, which was pretty tasty. Unfortunately the waitstaff hated us. Apparently some people put food in their bags, so they got really mad. It seemed to me like they were really surprised at how much Americans eat for breakfast too, because in Spain, breakfast is tiny!

At 10:15, the group met up and got on the buses to go to la Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias, which is essentially the part of the city that focuses on art and science. We went to the Hemisferico first, which was this huge IMAX theater that was the whole ceiling of a domed building. We watched a movie about mummies with these weird headband things that provided sound in different languages. It was kind hard to get it to work, but eventually I got mine going. It was really nice to lie there in the air-conditioning.

Next we went to the Oceanografico, which was a lot like an aquarium, plus penguins and ducks and stuff. Basically all water animals.

Next, the loaded us all back into the buses and took us to a restaurant that was right in the middle of a mall. Lunch was good!! We had two salad-like dishes, one with smoked salmon over lettuce, and the other with tomato, cheese, and anchovy. The main course was paella!! I'm not gonna lie, I was really disappointed that she didn't get seafood paella, but one of the waiters brought a little plate of it for use to try. I could have kissed him! The seafood paella was so much better than the chicken!! For desert we had some sort of flan, but we were all so full that we could barely eat it!!

We had free time for the rest of the day, so a couple friends and I went and took the double-decker tour bus around the city. It was so nice just to ride around and see everything. We got off at one stop and went to Corte Ingles because I realized I forgot my swimsuit, and then had to wait about 1/2 an hour for the bus to finally come back! It was way late!! We didn't end up having time to go to the beach that day. For dinner we went back over by the Miguelete Cathedral and found a really good tapas place!!

I really hope I feel better tomorrow...we'll be going to the beach though, so that will be fun, no matter what!!

VALENCIA!!! Day 1

I had to get up SO early this morning!! I had my mom call me at like 5:15am here (10:15pm at home) just to make sure that I'd actually get up! haha good thing I packed last night!

I got to the IES center at around 7, which was good because we had to leave at 7:15. The bus ride took FOREVER!! Probably about 6 hours total! Apparently some of the highways were closed, so we had to take back roads in an abandoned town, so all the roads were marked wrong!! We almost drove into a river, no joke. We stopped at this castle place to have a late breakfast. It was a big breakfast, which is really weird for the Spanish! It was so nice though, because they just kept bringing out these big bottles of cold water, and fresh OJ! We also had coffee, churros, toast and pastries of all kinds, and they kept bringing out different foods! I think they were trying to give us a breakfast that would be similar to one in the US. They brought out Spanish Tortillas (basically a potato omelet), chorizo (sausage), and this stuff called migas, which is like fried bread with meat in it, I think. I guess that was their version of a waffle haha

Then we got on the bus again for another couple hours before we finally got to Valencia. We checked into the hotel (Hotel Dimar) at about 2pm, and then had some free time before we had to go on our Paseo Historico (historical walk lol). Some friends and I went outside to a fountain and ate our packed lunches.

One the historical tour of the city, we saw the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (like the city center), the Plaza de Reina, Miguelete, which was this HUGH tower that we had to climb (I thought I might die, because I've been sick and my lungs are not functioning properly lol They call the bell Miguel or Miguelete. I'm not sure why, but I think it's really funny!!), a Cathedral, and Lonja (which apparently means "slice" in Spanish, but it just looked like a church to me hahaha). We saw a lot of orange trees outside one of the churches! Valencian oranges!

After the historical tour, some friends and I decided to relax for a little bit before going to a sushi restaurant near the hotel. Food was a little overpriced, but the restaurant was adorable! It was all white, silver and pink, and they little screen where you could watch them making the sushi! We got our food to go and then took the bus to the beach. I was so excited to be there!! We walked around in the water a little bit. It was my first time ever in the Mediterranean :)

The sushi was delicious!! And this lady who was walking on the beach with her little boy said "aproveche!!" which basically means, "enjoy your food!" I thought it was so nice, because people in Madrid really don't talk to people they don't know. It's been really weird for me, because in the Southwest, people are usually really friendly!!

After a while it started to rain, so we decided we'd better go back to the hotel. On the way back we got some really tasty ice cream :)

Hopefully tomorrow will be just as fun!!

Time to be a Tourist!!

After classes today, some friends and I decided that we should be really touristy! We went over to the bullfighting stadium first. Some people have already gone to see a bull fight, but I honestly don't think I could handle it. Instead, we went to the museum today. They had a lot of bull's heads up on the walls, and statues and paintings of bull fighters. Plus some of the swords they use to kill the bulls, and some of the sparkly outfits the bull fighters where. My favorite part was when we were leaving and passed by the stables! I got to peak in at all the horses!! :) I miss Jesse so much! Hopefully when I get home I'll be able to go out and ride him a lot before school starts.

We spent a lot of time taking pictures with all the statues they have outside the museum. We posed like the bull fighters!! haha it was really fun

After I went home for la Comida, I went and met up with the same group of friends, and we over to see the Basilica de San Fransisco El Grande, which is a baroque basilica that is rumored to be on the same site where Saint Francis of Assisi built a chapel is 1217! Crazy! It was so beautiful! The frescos on the ceiling were amazing! A lot of them were done by Francisco Bayeu, and Goya's The Prediction of San Bernardino of Siena for the King of Aragon is there too. I'm so glad that I got to see it while I was here :)

Next we headed over to La Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Almudena. It was really interesting, because the decorations and everything were a lot more modern than what you would find at cathedrals in other major European cities. Apparently this is because Carlos I proposed to build the cathedral in 1518, but it wasn't even started until the 1880s, and it wasn't finished until 1992!!

We also saw the Muralla Arabe, which is over by the cathedral apse. Madrid used to have a big wall surrounding it built by the medieval Islamic rulers. Apparently some what's left of the wall (the Muralla) dates back to the 9th century! Talk about old! Other parts date back to the 12th and 13th century when Madrid was ruled by Christians.

The Palacio Real is over there too, but my friends had already seen it, and didn't want to pay to go back, so I'll have to come another time. We did see the Campo del Moro and Jardines de Sabatini, which are the huge gardens behind the castle. Very pretty! Spanish Kings really know how to garden! haha

By this time we were getting pretty hungry, so we met up with another friend, and then walked around for a long time trying to find a reasonably priced restaurant. My friend's Senora told her about this place called El Jardin Secreto, which was all thought was going to be a real garden, but it was really just an overpriced restaurant!! Food here is so much more expensive in the states. Even McDonalds and Starbucks are overpriced!

Anyway, eventually we went over to Sol and found this AMAZING tapas place called Malaespina. Me and my friend Ryan ordered croquetas de jamon (ham croquettes), chorizo con pan caliente (sausage on toasted bread), and patatas bravas (like homefries with spicy tomato sauce). It was so good, and only about 11 euros each! YUM!! The only downside was the waitress. I miss waiters in the US! Here, they hate it when you order tap water, and sometimes even refuse to bring it! And some places won't even bring you a jug of water, only glasses, so you keep having to order them, and the wait staff gets annoyed that they have to come back so many times. It's really different here because you pretty much just order your food, and if you want anything after that, including the bill, you have to get the waiter's attention and ask them to come over. I miss going to Chili's and having an endless supply of water! As most of my friends know, I drink an insane amount of water!! haha

But all in all, today was really fun, and really busy. I'd better go to bed, because tomorrow I have to get up at 5 so I can be at school on time to leave for Valencia!!

Carmen

I'm feeling pretty much the same today, but I went to classes anyway because I didn't want to miss any more. I'm a little behind in homework because we watched a movie in grammar class on both Monday and Tuesday, so I missed the second half and couldn't do the writing assignment. It shouldn't be too hard to catch up though.

I got my midterm back today and got a B+. I'm totally fine with that, because this is a summer class, and I want to have fun, not study! hahaha

Tonight was really fun, because a bunch of people got together and went to a a Flamenco Ballet of Carmen! It wasn't the opera, but it was the same story acted out as a Flamenco dance. Very cool! Now I really want to see the opera! The basic idea I got was that the Carmen fell in love with about 3 guys (because she was a major flirt), and then one of them killed her at the end. What a bummer! haha

After the show, I hung around outside talking with some friends, and the actors started to come out! It wasn't like in the US where they come out in makeup and sign autographs. They just got on their vespas and went home! haha I want a vespa so bad! But I think people in the US would just think I was a major nerd :)

Now, time for bed. Hopefully I start feeling better soon, because tomorrow I'm supposed to be touristy, and then we're going to Valencia this weekend! :)

SICK!

As predicted, I am sick today :( I didn't go to classes at all (I only missed two), but I'm honestly kinda bummed because I missed a day at the Prado. Also, I felt like I was in the way because Tuesday is the day that Ana cleans our rooms and washes our clothes. I feel like such a bum! Mostly I've just watched movies on my computer all day...hopefully tomorrow I'll be all better and won't have to go to the doctor!

Another Monday!

UGH! Monday's are the worst, no matter what country you're in! I spent yesterday recuperating from a crazy day in Toledo, but it was still really hard to get out of bed this morning. I think it's because I have 2 classes in a row on Mondays, so I at school until 1:30. After classes I came home and had La Comida and took a little siesta :)

I spent some time hanging around the house a little bit, and then my friend Selina and I decided we would go see a movie. The problem was that we wanted to see Sex and the City 2, in English with Spanish subtitles...apparently that's easier said than done!! We walked around town for about half an hour checking at several movie theaters before we thankfully ran into someone else from the program, who was able to tell us where a good theater was. We bought this tickets, which were about 5 euros (pretty much the same as they would be in the US), and then we went to McDonalds!! haha I got another one of the FIFA glasses! YAY! Only 4 more colors to go :)

The movie was pretty good! I liked the first one better, but it was really nice to do something so normal as going to the movies, which is something I do a lot with friends from back home. Unfortunately, I think I'm getting sick...I can feel my throat starting to hurt. Hopefully I won't have to go to the doctor!!

The Rain in Spain stays Mainly in...Toledo!!

So today some friends and I went on an adventure to Toledo! When I got up this morning, I considered taking my umbrella, but then decided that I didn't want to carry it around (bad choice!). I met up with a couple of people at the metro station, and we headed over to the train station. I was SO excited to get on the train because I felt like I was getting on the Hogwarts Express! haha unfortunately I had to ride backwards, but it was ok. I loved just riding and looking out the window. I actually wished the ride had been longer! It was only 30 minutes. When we got there, it was raining. And I mean RAINING! I definitely regretted not having the umbrella! After we left the train station we had to wait for the train for about 20 minutes, standing in the rain. I wrapped my scarf around my head, and that was the best I could do! Getting on the bus was crazy! There were so many people trying to cram on there, and people in the back wouldn't move to make space. My friend from New York was yelling at people to move! haha luckily we managed to get everyone from our group on the same bus, which took us to the city center. I have never been on a more crowded bus! When we got to the city center, one of my friends really wanted to go to McDonald's, so that's where we went for lunch! They're giving out free FIFA souvenir glasses for every meal that you order off the McMenu!! They have 6 colors, and I want them ALL! Today I got blue, so I'll have to work on getting the other 5!

After lunch we found a gift shop that sold ponchos for 2 euros. It seemed like enough for a while, but there were these huge tarps over the streets, and every now and then they would spill massive amounts of water onto people in the street! We stopped again and bought umbrellas. I now have 2, but it was worth it. My new one is pink and says Madrid all over it :)

Our first tourist stop was La Catedral de Toledo. It was stunning! There was a wedding party leaving as we went in :) the best part was definitely the oculus (the big hole in the ceiling). When the sunlight shines through it, it literally looks like heaven! The frescos painted around it are amazing. Because of the rain, there wasn't really any sunlight, but they had alternative light sources that lit it up pretty well. There was also a lot of El Greco artwork, which is really cool.

After the Catedral, we wanted to go Alcazar, which is the castle. We spent a lot of time looking at maps that were dripping wet before we finally found it and realized it was closed. Bummer! But we saw it from the outside, so that was pretty cool.

Next we went to the Iglesia de Santo Tome, where El Greco was a member of the congregation. He was also buried there when he died! I actually stood in front of El Greco's grave. The fresco above it represented a scene from when he was being placed in his tomb. It was very interesting!

Next we stopped at the courtyard of a museum to take some pictures. We didn't go in, but the view was beautiful! Next we went to La Sinagoga de Santa Maria la Blanca, then passed by the Monasterio de San Juan de Los Reyes. We ended by snapping some really great photos at the Puente de San Martin (a bridge). Me and a couple friends hiked down this little path that took us down closer to the river and got some really great pics! We took the bus back to the center of the town. Me and a friend went to one of the terrazzas (an outdoor restaurant/bar) and had some pizza. One of the things Toledo is most known for is Marzipan (here they call it Mazapanes)! So obviously we had to go into one of the little shops where they make it fresh :) I bought 2 boxes. One for me, and one to send home! Hopefully I can make it last, because it is AMAZING! By then it had pretty much stopped raining, so that was nice. We took the bus back to the train station, and boarded the train to head back to Madrid. When I got home, all I wanted to do was shower and go to bed! I was so exhausted...and my feet felt like they each weighed 20 pounds because my athletic shoes were sopping wet!

And now, it is bed time! Tomorrow I'm going to stay here and study for my mid-term, which is on Monday. Boo! I'll be glad when summer classes are over! But today was really fun :) I'm so glad we went!

Rascafria!

So because the uncharacteristically rainy/cool whether we've been having in Spain, the itinerary for our day trip changed today. We were going to walk around the countryside a little, and visit these natural pools that were formed by the Lozoya River, but now it's too cold to swim :( bummer! But it was still a really fun trip!

We left the IES Center at about 9:30am and rode the bus for about an hour to get to Rascafria. I love riding the bus because I get to look out the window at the countryside :) I like being in Madrid, but sometimes the city life, with all the people and smoke, really gets to me, so it's nice to be in a more rural area. At around 11am, we got to the Monasterio de el Paular. It's about 2km outside Rascafria, and it's one of the most historically important Monasteries in the Madrid community. They started building it in 1390, and then continued working on it for several centuries. Apparently part of it has now been made into a hotel. At one point I think it was partly destroyed, and a lot of the art disappeared, but then in 1954 Benedictine Monks came and restored it. It's really beautiful! A lot of it is made of wood, even though it looks like marble and metal. Very impressive! The guy that was giving us the tour was really funny (unintentionally). He kept having Matt turn the lights on and off because he was tall, and then he made him walk up these stairs to sit in this little balcony where one monk used to sit and read to the other monks while they ate. It was hilarious! I took a picture :) he also kept getting when people used their camera flashes and saying "sin flash!", which mean "without flash" in Spanish. He also said "ON FLASH!!", which I'm pretty sure was his attempt at saying "NO FLASH!", but he just sounded like a German or something. It was priceless!

Next, since there were no bathrooms at the Monastery other than those that the monks used, we made a pit stop for about 20 minutes. Naturally, almost all the girls had to use the bathroom, so the line was really long! Luckily I was third in line. My friend Brook and I decided that since we had used the bathroom in a bar, we had to buy something, so we got ice cream bars. They were called something like "Choko Klack". It was like a chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream bar with a chocolate bar in the middle. I loved it! And they only cost 1 euro! Totally worth it!

Next we went to Pueblo called Buitrago del Lozoya, which is another small town in el Valle del Lozoya. Apparently the people who live there are a mix of Arabic, Christian, and Jewish. We took a tour of the small town and saw El Castillo de los Mendoza (a castle), la iglesia (a church), and El Puente Viejo (a really old bridge). There was also an old bull-fighting arena, and I could tell that it was definitely Muslim architecture (thanks to Art History I at Trinity!). There was a Picasso Museum too, but it was closed for siesta by the time we got done with the tour. We ate lunch on the old bridge, which was really nice. It didn't really rain much, but it was cloudy and cool. Honestly, I was glad it wasn't hot! We had some free time before we had to meet up at the buses, so me and some of my friends sat in a Plaza and sang Disney songs! haha a guy walked by and clapped for us and told us in broken English that his name was Jose. We made a new friend! haha

On the bus ride back we played "I'm going on a picnic", which I'm actually really good at! lol

I came back to the apartment and had a nice long talk with Ana, and rested a little while before going out to la cena with some friends. We found a Mexican food restaurant! Now, going to school in San Antonio, I've got some pretty high standards for Mexican food. The guacamole at this place was great, and so was the rest of the food, but it really wasn't Mexican haha.

Now I'm back at the apartment and EXHAUSTED! Tomorrow I'm going to Toledo with some friends, so I'm gonna get some rest!

Midterms already?

I had a grammar midterm this morning! Honestly, it really wasn't too bad. I studied for a couple hours last night, but the grammar is really just a review for me. Hopefully my test grade reflects that! haha Afterwards I came back to the apartment and took a lovely siesta for a couple of hours.

When I woke up, I sat down to eat la comida, and then decided that I would go out walk around town. I'm actually very proud of myself, because I found El Corte Ingles all by myself. A lot of people describe El Corte Ingles as the Spanish walmart or target, but it is so much more! It's like a giant department store that has everything! They have designer make-up, like Dior, Lancome, etc., and then they have a book department that's a lot like borders, an electronics department...pretty much everything you would want. Ever. I went to the electronics department (the store is so big that the electronics section is across the street) to buy myself a new memory card for my little Sony Cypershot. I brought both of my digital cameras. My little one is nice to have around for casual shots, and then I like to take my big one with me when I go to tourist sites. Sadly I haven't been able to upload any photos from the small one because the card isn't compatible with my computer. I'll have to go back to Corte Ingles for an adapter. Anyway, I was really proud of myself, because I asked the people to unlock the cabinet and get the one I wanted, and then pay for it all by myself. Yay for my Spanish skills! But then when I went to the clothing department to look around, the lady tried to ring me up when all I wanted to do was try stuff on haha oops...something got lost in translation there, so that deflated my confidence a little bit.

But next I went to the baby department to see about buying something for my friend who is expecting. I had a whole conversation with the sales lady about how I wanted something for a baby that I didn't know the sex of yet, and I wanted something that said something in Spanish. They didn't have anything, but she told me my Spanish was really good! Yay! I felt much better :)

I also went to the grocery department (yes, there is one of those too!) and bought everything I need to make hot dogs! haha I love hot dogs! And eventually I think I'll make Ana mac and cheese, because I make some awesome mac and cheese! When I was in line paying, I told the girl that I needed bags for my groceries, and she gave me a weird look and sort of shoved them towards me. I was confused, because at the other grocery store that I've been to, you have to buy the bags! I guess at this one you don't haha she probably thought I was crazy!

But anyway, it was definitely an adventure today!! :)

After that, I pretty much just came back to the apartment and relaxed a little. Tomorrow we are going on a day trip to a town outside Madrid called Rascafrias!

Rainy days

It was still raining when I got up with morning, so it was really hard to get out of my warm, comfy bed!! I woke up about 10 minutes late anyway. It was actually a little bit chilly today, so I had to wear a jacket to classes this morning. After grammar, I talked to some people about going to see Carmen next week. It won't be the opera, but it will be a flamenco show. I'm really looking forward to seeing real flamenco dancing while I'm here in Spain!!

Next I headed back to the apartment for a siesta before Art History. I woke up a little disoriented after my nap though, because it's still pretty dark outside because of the rain, and I thought it was the early morning! But I got up and changed clothes and got ready to go to class. Ana made tuna cannelloni for La Comida today, which is what I usually get at Piatti in San Antonio!! :) it was pretty tasty!! The tuna was from a can, but hopefully when my mom and I go to Barcelona after the program we'll be able to eat a lot of really fresh seafood. Honestly, I haven't had much since being in Spain.

I was just a couple minutes late for Art History, and everybody was waiting inside because of the rain. I couldn't tell if my professor was telling me I shouldn't be late just because of the weather, or if he was saying that the weather was very different today than yesterday. He talks very quietly, and the word for weather and time is the same in Spanish!! (tiempo). I think he was just making a comment about the weather, because he seems pretty nice. We talked more about Velazquez today. I hope we look at some of the same pieces in my next Art History class so that I can show off my previous knowledge! :)

Now I'm back at the apartment. It's still raining, and is supposed to all week. I wonder if they will cancel our day trip to Rascafrias on Friday. We are supposed to walk about in the country and then go swimming in these pools that are formed naturally by the river, but if it's raining that might not be as much fun...I guess we'll find out soon!

Tonight I'm going to stay in and study for my midterm tomorrow. I'll be finished by 11:00, so that will be nice! I'm not very worried about it. It's pretty much all a review anyway. Maybe I'll spend the rest of the day tomorrow doing something fun! :)

Hay una huelga!!

Today started out pretty normally. I went to grammar class this morning (boring!) and then headed back to the metro go back to my apartment. My friend Selina and I went to a bakery in the metro station. They had so much stuff! I got a really tasty sort of pretzel-wrapped hot dog, and then a piece of cake for later after dinner :)

When I got back to the apartment, I took a siesta for about an hour and half, and then got up to eat La Comida before I had to go to the Prado for my Art History class. We had Tortillas Espanolas, which honestly are a lot like cheese omelets, with french fries on the side. My senora laughed at me because I like ketchup on my eggs. She says that here, ketchup is mostly a kids food. To some extent it's like that in the US, but I mean I was eating two things that I like ketchup on!! haha whatever, I just really like ketchup :)

When I went to class, we weren't sure whether or not we would be able to get into the Museum because there is a big strike (huelga means strike in Spanish) going on today. Apparently a lot of people who work for the state are having major salary cuts, so a lot of people are taking the day off to protest. I saw a bunch of people headed toward Sol to protest when I was on my way back to the metro station after class (we ended up being able to get in). The only thing that I saw that was a little scary is they increased security in the metro just in case people got a little out of hand and excited on the way to protest. Mostly I wasn't effected at all, so if you hear about it on the news, DON'T WORRY!! haha I'm just fine :)

Art History is still interesting. We just finished talking about Titian, and lately we've been covering Velazquez. I love being able to actually see the paintings!! It's so much better than seeing the image on a powerpoint! We have sub this week. I guess I like him ok, but I don't like the way he corrects our Spanish. Instead of just correcting us, he says stuff like "we don't say that in Spanish!!" and makes us feel a little stupid...but I like what he has to say about the art. Sometimes with our other professor, I have things that I really want to say, but he talks so much that I don't really get a chance. I guess I'm just used to a lot more discussion. It's hard enough to interpret art in English, let alone Spanish! But I definitely think I'm getting a lot out of the class.

Just as I was getting back to the apartment, it started to rain. This is really the first time it's rained since I've been in Europe. It sprinkled a little bit when we went to Segovia, but now it's really windy. When I got back, Ana was struggling to bring in all the laundry and make sure the Chinchillas were covered up on the balcony. I love that she has pets!!

After I changed into some comfy clothes, I did my homework, and even studied a little for my grammar midterm on Thursday! I got to skype with my mom for a pretty good amount of time, which was nice! I've realized that the internet reception is better when I go out into the common area. In my room, the calls keep getting dropped.

The temperature has dropped about 10 degrees with the rain, which will be nice at night. I've been pretty hot because I'm used to sleeping with air conditioning, so I'm looking forward to a cooler night :)

Back to life in Madrid!

It was pretty hard to get up this morning after such a busy weekend and only 5 hours of sleep last night, but somehow I managed! (quite grumpily...) Vivian was in a hurry to get to school because the had a quiz today. I'm sick of classes already haha I would rather just be a tourist! But I need the credit, and going to the museum so often for free is definitely a perk. Grammar was pretty normal. I hadn't had a chance to do the homework for today because our flight was so late last night, but luckily we didn't go over it in class, so I have another day to work on it. I've also got a composition due this week, and our midterm is Thursday. Midterms already! Wow, this trip has been so busy!! I can't believe it's almost half-over.

After grammar I went to Art History. Mondays are a bummer, because the museum is closed, so we have to have a lecture in the class room. We have sub this week because our usual professor is out of town. I almost fell asleep! Not because he was especially boring, but because I could really use a siesta today.

After classes I met up with Vivian and we took the metro back to the apartment. I checked email and facebook until La Comida was ready. It was pretty tasty! Ana makes a sort of cold egg salad with tomatoes and peas. I really like it! I want to put in on a sandwich, but I guess that's pretty American of me hahaha We also had Ana's variation of Shepherds pie. I had some in Australia last summer, but Ana's was really good too!

I was really looking forward to taking a long nap after La Comida, but I realized I had a flamenco lesson that I had signed up for at 4 today, so there wasn't time to sleep! Major bummer! But I figured, hey, I don't want to miss out on the opportunity! So I dragged myself back off my bed and out of the apartment. I bumped into someone else from the program who was looking for the same building as me, so we found it pretty easily together. I had been a little concerned about getting lost.

Flamenco is really interesting! It was at a restaurant, and I was glad it wasn't a dance studio with mirrors, because I don't think it would have been as fun if I had been watching myself! haha We learned a few steps, how to move our arms and hands, and how to stomp! My favorite part was learning how to use the castanuelas. I have always wondered how it's done, and now I know! I might buy myself some at one of the tourist shops in Sol :) They are pretty cool, and I want to show all my friends my mad skills when I get back!!

After Flamenco, the group went to go get some helado (ice cream). I had a flavor called Freddo Freddo. It looked like chocolate chip, but tasted a little different. I've been trying to order new flavors instead of the same thing I would order in the US, so it was a new experience!! When we walked away to head toward the metro station, I realized that I had left my Spanish phone sitting on the bench where we all ate our ice cream! After all the trouble I had gone through to put money on it! I was sure, after all the warnings we got about pickpockets, that it would have been stolen, but it was still right there!! I'm a very lucky girl!!

After that I didn't know how to get to the metro station, but it was so nice out today that I just walked around in that general direction and eventually found it. It was nice to walk around by myself a little.

Tonight I'm keeping it pretty low key. I'm still tired from this weekend, and I have my midterm Thursday, and another day trip on Friday. We are going to a place outside Madrid called Rascafría. We'll be visiting a monastery, and then some natural pools in the Lozoya River! Awesome :)

Sunday: Last Day in Oporto

We tried not to sleep in too late today because we wanted to go to the beach again before we left, but it was pretty hard not to after staying out so late last night!! Hayley and I made it down to breakfast before it closed, and I think Megan was able to grab something too. We went upstairs to change into our beach stuff and pack up our clothes. We had to vacate the beds by 12, but they let us keep our bags in a storage closet for the day while we went to the beach. They are so great! We caught the bus again. I've actually really enjoyed the bus rides here, aside from the fact that we've almost been in a couple accidents. We ride for about 20-30 minutes before we get to the beach (for about $2), and it's just nice to look out the window at the city.

The beach was, if possible, even windier today that it was on Friday. We tried to shelter ourselves by lying next to a really big rock, but we still got covered with sand, which was a bummer because we weren't able to shower until getting back to Spain.

We got pretty hungry, so for lunch we headed over to the same restaurant where we ate on Friday. We all ordered hot dogs because one of they guys last night had ordered one, and it was apparently amazing, so we were all craving one! When they brought them to us, it was essentially the same thing as the burger, minus the meatloaf patty and fried egg. No bun. Weird. But it was pretty good!

Hayley really wanted to surf while we were here, and I did too (as long as I could take a lesson), but it didn't end up working out. We couldn't find a school with lessons at the right time, and they wouldn't just rent us equipment. O well...maybe another time. We got some tasty gelado (i.e. soft-serve ice cream). We all got chocolate/banana swirl, and it was delicious :)

Then we hopped the bus and headed back to the hostel to change clothes and grab our bags before heading to the airport. We were pretty lucky, because as soon as we stepped out of the hostel and looked around for a cab, one pulled up out of nowhere! Just like magic! haha but he drove like a loon and we all held on for dear life. Our flight was at 8pm, so we got there around 6 only to find that we were delayed until 9 :( We got all checked in and through security, sat for a minute, and then went to get some dinner. I had pasta for the first time in about a week and a half! (hey, that's a lot for me...) I also accidentally bought a cheese sandwich that I had been looking at and set on my tray. Woops! It was tasty though. We all bought candy bars from the machine near our flight gate. I got a Mars Bar because I wanted to eat European things while I had the chance! It was good! Our flight ended up being pretty delayed...almost 2 hours! Hayley and Megan were seated together, but I got my own row. By the time we got back to Madrid, it was 12am! Megan and Hayley took the metro back to their apartment, but I felt uncomfortable walking from my metro stop to my apartment alone, so I took a cab. The cab driver didn't know where the Plaza where I live is, and had to look it up on his GPS. I wish he hadn't been driving when he did it!! ugh but finally I made it back here and showered. It's about 2am and I have class tomorrow, so GOODNIGHT, WORLD!!

Saturday: Day 3 in Oporto

Today we slept in again...too late for breakfast! We got up and got dressed to go to the beach, but when we went outside, it was pretty chilly. Megan went to the pharmacy because she got sand in her eye and it was really irritated, so Hayley and I went to grab some breakfast. We ordered ham and cheese omelets, and they came with rice and french fries! I've never had rice for breakfast! We also had bread, which is included with every meal, and coffee. The coffee in Portugal is just as strong as it is in Spain, but it doesn't come with milk unless you ask for it! It's like drinking espresso with sugar in it! Wowzers...

Since it was pretty chilly and cloudy, and Megan's eye was really bothering her, we decided to go back to the hostel and change out of our beach clothes. We realized that there was another woman who will be staying in our room now. We were a little disappointed about that, because the past couple nights we've been lucky enough to be alone in the room, but hey, it's a hostel, and we paid for beds in the room for 6. We spent the afternoon shopping around the streets of Porto. Megan and Hayley liked the clothing stores, but I was more interested in the artisan stands they had in the streets. I bought this really great little leather purse studded with coins from countries all around the world. I love it! I also got a leather bracelet that says 'Emilia'. That's the translation of Emily in Spanish, and apparently Portuguese as well!! I really love hand-crafted things :)

Megan and Hayley wanted to go back down by the river, but I wanted to go back by some of the stands we had walked past. Also, my stomach was bothering me a little...I think it was the the Francesinha from the night before haha. I stopped in a baby store too, just so that I could look at some Portuguese baby clothes for my best friend Kimmie, who is expecting!! But we don't know whether it's a boy or girl yet, so I didn't buy anything.

I headed back to the hostel alone. Sometimes it's nice to walk around by myself and just think. It's very peaceful, and I don't get a lot of alone time anyway here, ordinarily. When I got back to the hostel I checked my email and facebook. I've been communicating with my Mom about what we're going to do when she comes to visit after the program is over :) I went upstairs and got in my bed. I tried to take a nap, but mostly I just lay there. It was a nice rest anyway though. I got up after about an hour because someone came in the door, and I realized it was not Megan and Hayley, but one of the hostel guys showing an very attractive male twenty-something his bed in the room. That was my cue to get up and wash the mascara off my face...

Megan and Hayley came back around 7, and we sat around talking until 8. The hostel was serving and authentic Portuguese dinner for only 5 euros, which is a pretty good deal for all you can eat! The food was delicious! It was a lot like red beans and rice. I think there were several kinds of pork in the beans, like chorizo and ham. I also paid another euro for a glass of red wine, which was really tasty (and they refilled for me for free!). We met our new roommate. His name is Ezra, and he is traveling around writing a food blog because he wants to open a restaurant with his brother back home (Seattle). He seems pretty nice.

After dinner, we went inside for a little bit because it's been getting pretty chilly at night. We planned on hot, beachy weather, so we didn't bring any warm clothes! Around 11pm, one of the guys from the hostel walked a group of us over to an annual festival that they were having. It's basically like a 40-hour-straight art exhibition/outdoor concert, with alcohol and food vendors. I would have liked to see more of the art (what we saw was based on a really interesting concept about the temporality of shadows), but most of the group wanted to go outside to the concert. We stayed out there and just hung out until about 3am. We met some pretty interesting people: a girl from Melbourne, Australia, a guy from Argentina, but living in London, a guy from Connecticut, but living in London, and Ezra was there too. It was a pretty fun night, but we didn't get back until almost 4am, which is a lot later than I am used to staying up!!

Friday: MORE OPORTO!!

Today we slept in until around 10:30, and then headed down to breakfast. I really like breakfast in this part of the world, because I've never been a huge breakfast eater. Some of the other students complain about not being fed enough, but I've never been hungry in the mornings, so I'm pretty content with my cup off coffee and bread with butter :) Plus, almost all the bread here is freshly baked and DELICIOUS! After eating, we all got ready to head over to the beach! We stopped by a drugstore to buy some sunscreen (I definitely DON'T want to get burned), and then hopped the bus like the guy from the hostel told us too. I felt very independent! Luckily, the one of the guys from the hostel (they are all so great!) gave us a list of Portuguese phrases, so I was able to say 'muito obrigado!' (thank you very much) to the bus driver when I paid for my ticket! :) We rode the bus for about 20 minutes, and then got off once we saw the beach. It was very windy! You can tell you the locals are on the beach because they all bring these barriers that stop the wind from blowing sand on you while you lay out. We just got covered with sand. O well! The water was freezing, but I played around in it a little bit. Mostly we just relaxed on the beach all day. We bumped into some other people from our program who are spending the weekend here too. They are staying at another hostel. We got pretty hungry, so we went over to a little restaurant on the beach and ordered burgers. We all tried the 'tango', which is beer (here, the local beer is Super Bock) with currant in it. It was very interesting, and bright pink! haha when the burgers came, we realized that a burger here is a meat patty, which was seasoned more like meatloaf, with lettuce, tomato, and a fried egg on top. Almost everything here comes with a fried egg on top!! No joke! It also came with a rolled up piece of ham (also included in almost every meal), and a rolled up piece of cheese. No bun, at all. Very interesting!!

We left the beach in the late afternoon to go back to the hostel and shower. On the bus trip back to the hostel, we were almost in a serious accident! It was very scary! A car pulled out right in front of the bus, so the driver had to slam on the breaks. Luckily we were all sitting down, but there were a lot of people standing, and one teenage kid was flung from the back of the bus and hit the windshield! Then the bus driver got up and they started yelling at each other in Portuguese about who's fault it was (I can only assume), and then he checked to see if everyone was ok. No one was seriously hurt, but a lot of people had been banged around pretty hard! Honestly, at first I thought we'd really been in an accident because of the noise the bus made! WOW! What an adventure...

We finally made it back to the hostel alive. Luckily you can rent towels here for a euro, because the beach towels we brought are covered in sand! Showering felt so great! There was sand EVERYWHERE!

After a thorough de-sanding, we went down to a cocktail hour that the hostel was hosting. We tried this really yummy Brazilian drink call Caipirinha, which is basically sugar, lime, and some Brazilian alcohol. It was very good, but very strong! You'd definitely have to be careful with that stuff! At this point we were hungry again, so we decided to walk around and find somewhere to eat. We went to a restaurant where no one spoke any English, but I'd seen a picture in my guide book about a popular dish here called Francesinha, so we pointed at the menu and ordered 3! Apparently it translates to 'little french girl'. Who knew. It literally had at least 5 kinds of meat on it. Probably 3 of them were variations of pork, but there was also some sort of steak, and maybe roast beef or pastrami...very different. It was covered with melted cheese, and then smothered in a sort of corn-starchy tomato sauce. It was certainly an experience. It's supposed to come surrounded by french fries (batatas fritas!), but somehow we managed to order it without. I think it would have been better with them, because it was pretty strongly flavored by itself!

After leaving the restaurant, we had a sweet tooth, so we went to a little sweet shop and had some delicious crepes! Then we sort of wandered around a little bit. We saw some live music outside a restaurant, and this father and daughter started doing the salsa. It was pretty cool! We followed the crowd to a street where there were a lot of people our age just sort of hanging out. We bumped into these guys we'd seen earlier at the hostel. Their names are Christian and Alessandro, and they are from Italy! They seem pretty nice. We got some drinks from the window of a bar. Basically, everyone just stands in the street and orders drinks that way. In the US it would be illegal to drink the street like that! Very different. After a while, the Italians wanted to go for a walk with us, but I said no sir to that! I'm not gonna go off with some guys were barely know, no matter how nice they seem! We told them we were tired and walked back to the hostel. The sun really takes it out of you, and it's about 1:30am, so we're tired!! Maybe tomorrow we'll stay out later.

Thursday: OPORTO!!

I had to get up incredibly early today. UGH. Vivian had to get up early too, because she was meeting up with a friend to take the bus to Granada, so we were grumbling around the house this morning around 5. Thankfully I packed most of my stuff last night so that all I had to do was wash up and throw on some clothes. I tried to pack light, but my senora says that you can't have ANY liquids on planes here, and that they might take away medications, so I checked a bag. We flew Iberia, and it was free to check one bag anyway, so no problemo! We walked around the airport a lot because we couldn't find our gate. Finally we asked someone and found it. It's a little confusing here because the gates are lettered and numbered...ours was something like K92. We had to take a bus to get to the plane, which wasn't very full at all. Hayley and I sat together, and Megan had a row all to herself. We were all so tired that we spent the whole 1 hour flight dozing off. When we got off the plane, it was foggy and chilly!! That was the exact opposite of what the weather was supposed to be. We had planned to hang out at the beach all weekend! BOO!! We picked up my bag and then grabbed a cab, and then realized a seriously problem. WE SPOKE ABSOLUTELY NO PORTUGUESE!! Not a word. Not even hello, yes or no. We had to point at the address of our hostel so that our cab driver would know where to take us, and even then we probably wouldn't have found it if I didn't see the sign! It makes me really appreciate the fact that my friend Sarah went to study abroad in Denmark. YOU GO! Because being in a country where you can't communicate at all is crazy difficult! Luckily, as we went farther into town, the weather cleared up to perfection! It was breezy and sunny :) wonderful!

After a little trouble figuring out how to open the hostel door (the guy had to come let us in), we checked in. This place was amazing! It has only been open 3 weeks, and is newly renovated. Everything is so clean and modern! I love it here :) I like my apartment in Madrid too, but this will be a wonderful vacation. We are in the room with 6 beds, but so far it is only the 3 of us. After we ate some breakfast (which they provide every morning!) and checking our email (they have free WIFI and 2 computers) we took a LONG nap. And by long I mean like 5 hours. Actually, I only slept for about 3, but Megan and Hayley were out all night last night, so they were pretty tired! I read some, which was really nice. Our room is all white, very bright, and very clean. The windows were open when we came in. This is like another world! I almost feel like I'm in Greece (based on what I've seen on TV).

After our 'nap', we decided to go get some food. We walked around a little bit, and then went into a little sandwich shop that looked quite a bit like a Subway- except I had a prosciutto and brie sandwich on freshly baked bread! Come on subway...man up. You've got some stiff European competition! It was delicious. I had a coke too. I've actually been drinking a lot more coke than usual over here because it's so easy to order. Coka-cola is pretty universal!

We spent the rest of the day walking to all these historical buildings that one of the guys at the hostel pointed out to us on the map. There are a lot of churches here, and they all have beautifully tiled fronts. We actually saw a religious procession going from one church to another. It was very interesting. (The reason I don't have classes on Thursday is because of a holiday in Spain, so I'm thinking maybe it's the same here?)

We went down by the river and went on a boat ride, which was really cold due to all the wind on the coast. For dinner we had pizza haha and a bottle of sparkling white wine. It was pretty good! We bought some eclairs too, because they looked so yummy!

After that, we pretty much headed back to the hostel. We were tired from all the walking, and still pretty messed up on our sleep schedule! Tomorrow we'll go to the beach!

The end of a short week

Today was Wednesday, and honestly, not a lot happened. I went to class this morning and then came back to the apartment for a lovely siesta before La Comida. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays I have to take my siesta before La Comida because I have to go the Prado Museum at 4 for my Art History class. Vivian came with me to the museum today because she signed up to take a tour with the IES people that met at the same time as my class started. Class was really interesting again. I do get a little frustrated sometimes, because I feel like I have a lot that I want to say, but it is difficult for me to articulate it in Spanish. It's like I try to say something, and he says, "ya, sorta, but this..." and what he ends up saying is what I meant all along. OR he just talks to much that I can get a word in at all hahaha I guess I'll just have to start asserting myself a little more! After class, I went and met up with Vivian and another friend at the museum cafe for a pineapple juice (which is really popular here!). I left after about 20 minutes because I had to run by the apartment to grab all the stuff that came with my Spanish cell phone. I decided to suck it up and go by the actual Vodafone store. My senora went with me, which I thought was very nice :) and we found out that for some reason (I think because I bought the phone at CorteIngles, which is like Spanish target), I have to go into the store to put more money on it. I can't use the internet or call. BUMMER! Hopefully I put enough on to last me a little while.

Tomorrow I have to get up at the crack of DAWN! Actually before dawn...to make my flight to Porto, Portugal! (That's Oporto en Espanol ;)). I still have to pack because Ana, her daughter (little Ana), Vivian and I went and had a drink at the bar where Ana's friend works. I didn't even realize that it was 10pm when we left because the sun doesn't go down here until 9:30!! Anyway, I've got things to do! I'll post about Portugal when I get back :)

Hasta luego!

First Day at the Prado

Vivian and I are getting into a nice routine. Every school day, we get up and leave the apartments by 8:30 to take the train. We are having to leave a little earlier than we used to because one of our train lines is under construction, so we have to take 3 separate trains to get to school. I got an Abono Transporte, which is like an ID card so that I can get an unlimited monthly Metro Pass. I feel like an official Madrilena now! My first class felt a little bit short because there was some sort of accident on the highway, and my professor was late, so for the first 20 minutes we just sat there talking. Vivian had to go talk to her professor for her independent study, so I took the train back to the apartment myself. When I got here, Ana had cleaned my room and changed my bedding, and was doing my laundry! She is so nice :) I have heard some horror stories from some of my classmates about not being able to go into the rest of the house, and being really limited on their shower time and electricity, but Ana is very relaxed and makes us feel like home. She is also trying to help me add more money to my Spanish cell-phone. I registered it, and it came with 12 euros on it already, but now I'm out and it won't let me add more money. BOO! I decided to go try and put more money on it at the ATM (you can do that here!), but it didn't work there either! I think tomorrow I'll have to go to the Vodafone store and see what they can do for me. Otherwise I'll have to get a new phone! UGH

I also went to the Chino (that's what they call dollar stores here), and got myself a few school supplies. As far as I can tell, they don't make many notebooks with lined paper here, but they use graph paper instead! I bought some plain white paper to take notes on. All the paper here is a little longer and skinnier than paper in the US. I thought that was interesting. I also got a little fan to put next to my bed for nighttime and when I'm hanging out in my room. Ana said I am welcome to use it. I am going to give it to her when I leave because I won't have room for it in my bag, and I won't be able to plug it in at home without a converter.

After La Comida, which was ribs (not as good as my Mom's :)), I went to class at the Prado! I'm glad I stopped for a coke on the way...I didn't get a siesta today! haha Class went really well! We spent two hours there, and only looked at about 5 paintings. I'm anxious to prove myself to my professor. I want him to know I have art knowledge! Hahaha It was also wonderful to see the art for real. I mean, I've taken Art History several times, but it really is different seeing the art in reality. I am excited to go home and tell my professors that I've actually SEEN what we are talking about in class!

Class was great, but it was really hard on my feet and my back. I'm glad I wore good shoes, because it would have been much worse if I hadn't! I know the other girls were complaining too.

I have now mastered leaving through the correct exit at my metro stop. GO ME! After I got out, I decided to go to the store and get everything I need for turkey sandwiches so that I can make them for La Cena. Ana is only responsible for breakfast and either La Comida or La Cena, so I have to provide myself with the other. This way I won't starve, and I don't have to go out every night for food!

I'm going to try to go to bed a little earlier tonight. I will have class at the Prado again tomorrow, and I'll have to go to the Vodafone store to get my phone fixed, go buy some sunscreen and aloe, and then pack for Portugal! I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun! :)