So I've been back in Madrid for a while now. Two weeks? Something like that. Everything has been a little crazy. Classes (well, most of them at least) started last week and before that we had orientation. It's strange to feel like a freshman again and have no idea where anything is or how the world works. I like all of my classes so far and none of them seem like they will be unreasonably difficult. We also got to sign up for activities. I decided on a trip to national parks in October and learning how to play tennis! It should be good. I still really want to find the climbers at the school, but it's proving a little difficult to do. This upsets me, but I'll make it happen somehow.
This Saturday we went on an excursion to Toledo, a city about an hour away from Madrid. It was beautiful, especially the gothic cathedral, but feeling sick all day and having to walk around in the heat made it not so much fun. A good start to my birthday. But my day turned around wonderfully when my host family had a large whole-family affair dinner, complete with cake and sparkling cider. Then, the kids from my program took me out for dessert to an adorable restaurant with opera-singing waiters. A great end to a hard day.
Sunday morning I went with another girl to Plaza Mayor, we got a great and cheap breakfast of fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee, and a croissant and sat for a few hours and read and drew. We ended up aimlessly walking around Madrid for awhile after, happening upon the Palacio Real in the process. Then, it rained! Now the weather here is great, today the high was around 60.
Sometimes when I'm walking around the apartment I still can't believe I'm here, living in someone else's house. I am lucky to have ended up with such great people. Today, when I got home from class I ended up playing with Dani, my five year old host brother; I think he finally likes me!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Last day in Granada
(okay so I wrote this on Sunday and put it up a little later, forgive me)
Tomorrow morning we are leaving Granada by train. I've only been here for 10 days, but it seems like forever. I wonder what this means for four months in Madrid. I've gotten to know the city pretty well, though I still technically never know where I am. The great thing about Granada is that you can just set out to find a certain place and eventually, after enough walking, you'll end up there. At least this is how it has worked most of the time.
Today our program director, Ramiro, took us on a tour of olive orchards. The best part of the this was the olive oil tasting, which is apparently an art. We also had a huge three course Spanish lunch. I have been eating so much lately, I think it might kill me. Spaniards love their three course meals, always complete with pan and postre (bread and dessert.) I seriously need to go on a diet when I get back to Madrid. Great food I've eaten in Granada: gazpacho, octopus, calamari, tons of ice cream, ham with melon, churros con chocolate, and lots more. Really, almost everything I've tried here has been very good.
Our last night in Granada we went out to Granada 10, which is an old theater that has been turned into a club. It was pretty awesome inside, but we ended up being basically the only girls there and every song they played was repeated at least twice. I did meet some pretty awesome British dudes, one of whom told me upon leaving that he couldn't believe he had found an American with a sense of humor. I'm practically an ambassador now. It was a pretty good night, save for what has already been mentioned. Ended up staying out until 5am and then I "somehow" managed to stay up until 6. This all made the train ride back to Madrid at 9 in the morning a huge blast, especially when a little girl who literally did not stop talking the whole train ride tried very hard to keep me from sleeping.
So for a quick run down of what we did in Granada (maybe this way I won't forget):
- Arab baths, complete with a 15 minute massage - heavenly
- Visited La Alhambra, an old Arab fortress/castle and walked around old Granada
- Saw the gypsy caves and Sacromonte and watched a Flamenco performance. The singer was maybe 80 years old, and apparently pretty well-known. His singing was still top notch and he danced a bit too. At one point he fell backwards in his chair, got back up, and laughed about it. I only hope I can be as crazy and energetic when I'm his age.
- Visited the house of Federico Garcia Lorca. This wasn't too exciting, though we did see many adorable kittens playing outside.
- We also decided to take a trip to the beach on one of the weekends we had free. We took a bus for about an hour an half to get to Salobrena, a nice beach town on the Mediterranean where we basically slept at the beach all day. It was perfect. A little swimming too.
- We also had four hours of class in Spanish per day during the week. They were somewhat terrible, better not to go into it.
- Walked around A LOT
All in all, a very nice and relaxing 10 days. Time for Madrid!
Tomorrow morning we are leaving Granada by train. I've only been here for 10 days, but it seems like forever. I wonder what this means for four months in Madrid. I've gotten to know the city pretty well, though I still technically never know where I am. The great thing about Granada is that you can just set out to find a certain place and eventually, after enough walking, you'll end up there. At least this is how it has worked most of the time.
Today our program director, Ramiro, took us on a tour of olive orchards. The best part of the this was the olive oil tasting, which is apparently an art. We also had a huge three course Spanish lunch. I have been eating so much lately, I think it might kill me. Spaniards love their three course meals, always complete with pan and postre (bread and dessert.) I seriously need to go on a diet when I get back to Madrid. Great food I've eaten in Granada: gazpacho, octopus, calamari, tons of ice cream, ham with melon, churros con chocolate, and lots more. Really, almost everything I've tried here has been very good.
Our last night in Granada we went out to Granada 10, which is an old theater that has been turned into a club. It was pretty awesome inside, but we ended up being basically the only girls there and every song they played was repeated at least twice. I did meet some pretty awesome British dudes, one of whom told me upon leaving that he couldn't believe he had found an American with a sense of humor. I'm practically an ambassador now. It was a pretty good night, save for what has already been mentioned. Ended up staying out until 5am and then I "somehow" managed to stay up until 6. This all made the train ride back to Madrid at 9 in the morning a huge blast, especially when a little girl who literally did not stop talking the whole train ride tried very hard to keep me from sleeping.
So for a quick run down of what we did in Granada (maybe this way I won't forget):
- Arab baths, complete with a 15 minute massage - heavenly
- Visited La Alhambra, an old Arab fortress/castle and walked around old Granada
- Saw the gypsy caves and Sacromonte and watched a Flamenco performance. The singer was maybe 80 years old, and apparently pretty well-known. His singing was still top notch and he danced a bit too. At one point he fell backwards in his chair, got back up, and laughed about it. I only hope I can be as crazy and energetic when I'm his age.
- Visited the house of Federico Garcia Lorca. This wasn't too exciting, though we did see many adorable kittens playing outside.
- We also decided to take a trip to the beach on one of the weekends we had free. We took a bus for about an hour an half to get to Salobrena, a nice beach town on the Mediterranean where we basically slept at the beach all day. It was perfect. A little swimming too.
- We also had four hours of class in Spanish per day during the week. They were somewhat terrible, better not to go into it.
- Walked around A LOT
All in all, a very nice and relaxing 10 days. Time for Madrid!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Granada
Hello from Spain!
So I got to Madrid two days ago and got to explore and settle in a bit. I've been spending a good amount of time with Almudena, my host mom, because she's on vacation from her job of being a high school music and history teacher. She is really enthusiastic and loves feeding us (I say us because Scott from my program is living with her parents who are out of town and is eating
with us until they return.) I also have yet to meet Dani, the family's five year old son because
he is on vacation as well. My only impression of Alumudena's husband, Juan, so far, is only
that he talks really fast and is difficult to understand.
But back to the vacation thing, Madrid halfway shuts down in August because so many people go on vacation. So many stores are closed until September and supposedly there are a lot less people on the streets than there will be once everyone returns. It will be interesting to see what the city will be like when it is full of people; even now the metro is pretty cramped at times.
Today we left Madrid for Granada, a five hour train ride. It's a nice, much smaller city. Tomorrow we are taking a walking tour and going to the Arab baths, which should be nice. Tonight we ended up walking around the city, trying to find nice bars and clubs. Apparently the bars don't start getting really lively until 1 and the clubs at 3. People here are crazy.
Anyway, that's all I have time for at the moment. There will surely be more to come.
So I got to Madrid two days ago and got to explore and settle in a bit. I've been spending a good amount of time with Almudena, my host mom, because she's on vacation from her job of being a high school music and history teacher. She is really enthusiastic and loves feeding us (I say us because Scott from my program is living with her parents who are out of town and is eating
with us until they return.) I also have yet to meet Dani, the family's five year old son because
he is on vacation as well. My only impression of Alumudena's husband, Juan, so far, is only
that he talks really fast and is difficult to understand.
But back to the vacation thing, Madrid halfway shuts down in August because so many people go on vacation. So many stores are closed until September and supposedly there are a lot less people on the streets than there will be once everyone returns. It will be interesting to see what the city will be like when it is full of people; even now the metro is pretty cramped at times.
Today we left Madrid for Granada, a five hour train ride. It's a nice, much smaller city. Tomorrow we are taking a walking tour and going to the Arab baths, which should be nice. Tonight we ended up walking around the city, trying to find nice bars and clubs. Apparently the bars don't start getting really lively until 1 and the clubs at 3. People here are crazy.
Anyway, that's all I have time for at the moment. There will surely be more to come.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Holy shit, what?
I am leaving for Spain tomorrow... Still doesn't feel real. In 24 hours I will be on the plane, probably next to some smelly talkative person.
Anyway, I just wanted to start as a way to remember all of the crazy things that will inevitably go on in Spain. Hopefully it might be entertaining to a few other people. ENJOY.
Anyway, I just wanted to start as a way to remember all of the crazy things that will inevitably go on in Spain. Hopefully it might be entertaining to a few other people. ENJOY.
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