Madrid Life!

I'm in Madrid! I've actually been here almost two weeks! It's been so busy here and I have barely had time to breathe but it is all exciting stuff happening. My first week here was orientation where we learned about the cultural differences in Spain and also necessary things like, how to find an apartment and how to extend our VISA. There are about 50 people in our 4 week immersion group with two more groups coming later! I was super nervous for orientation and meeting all new people but it was, of course, fine. We got to see so much of the city in the first week, including going on a walking tour IN SPANISH. Oy my Spanish is rusty!

 We walked to the Plaza Mayor, which I went to in 8th grade with Mr Cepeda's class! It was cool to come back and remember some things.

 The Almudena Cathedral at sunset!

They also took us to a flamenco dance! It was so beautiful and crazy! They have some strong legs!

 Our last night of orientation they took us to this beautiful restaurant on a roof! It was pretty hot and cloudy and so it started to lightning and thunder all around us. I got a little nervous for rain but it did make for some dramatic looking pics!

 Clubbing is such a huge part of the Spanish culture. They come home after work, have a little snack around 5, have dinner around 9, take a little nap and then go out to the clubs around 1 or 2 until around 6?!? So crazy. This is the exact opposite of how I live so I'm not sure how much of this part of their culture I am going to adopt....I do like the afternoon siesta however! (between 2-5pm)

 The second week we moved into our host family's house! There are six of us girls living with a husband and wife, and we have the most of any house in our program. It has been super fun though! Maria Jose is our host mom and her husband is Vicente. She makes us breakfast and dinner and does our laundry for us, I'm not sure I'll ever leave actually...My host "sisters" are Cleo from New York, Erin from New Jersey, Danielle from Ohio, Hillary from Michigan, and Crystal from Alabama. A wide range again! I am sharing the room in the above pic with Crystal. 

 this is the view from our window! Real life???

 Our host family!

 Our first night together we went to a famous Chocolateria, San Gines. Dang was it good! We basically drank the chocolate at the end.

 An awesome pano of the Almudena Church and the Royal Palace!

 Artsy fartsy pic of the Royal Palace!

 Roomies in front of the Royal Palace!

 Cleo, Hillary, Me, Crystal and Danielle ready for dancing lessons! We went to a club and took salsa and Pachada lessons one night! It was super fun but hard! Lots of steps and very sensual...

 One day after class the school I went to, oh yeah I am taking Spanish class for the next 4 weeks! Three weeks to go...I am in the second level out of three so at least I'm not too awful. Anywho, they had a scavenger hunt through Retiro Park, this huge park next to our school. We had to follow all these directions to different locations in the park and then ask Spaniards questions. 

 My team won, of course! #1!!

 Roomies out for Cleo's 22nd birthday!

 We went to this super fun bar called Ojala that had sand on the bottom floor! It was very random but awesome.

 The palace/church from a nearby park where we live. 

 This park is down the street from our homestay and is really nice. It has an Egyptian temple, Temple Debod, from 2,200 years ago that was gifted to Spain in 1968 for helping to save the temples of Abu Simbel in the 70's. It was literally dismantled in Egypt and rebuilt in Madrid. So cool!

We also went on an excursion to the Prado Museum! They got us in for free then gave us an hour tour on the most well known Velazquez and Goya paintings in the museum. It was in SPANISH too! It's crazy how much I am able to understand already. Afterwards we were able to stay if we wanted and explore wherever we wanted. I stayed for 2 more hours and still didn't see everything. There were paintings by Rembrandt, Bosch, Ruben, Raphael and a special exhibit by Picasso, which was amazing to see. They are on special loan from a museum in Bern, Switzerland. There are a couple more modern art museums in the city and it makes me excited to go see those!

"The day we stop exploring is the day we commit ourselves to live in a stagnant world, devoid of curiosity, empty of dreams." - Neil Degrasse Tyson

Finland: The Land of Wiener Dogs and Albino Cashiers

Before heading to Spain, I stopped over in Helsinki, Finland to see Mel! I haven't seen her in two years, so crazy. When we saw each other at the airport we couldn't stop hugging and making sure this was real life. Finally back together! It had been way too long. I stayed with Mel and her boyfriend Antti in their cute apartment in the Kallio area of Helsinki. It's very hipster/trendy and has lots going on. I was interested to learn about the history of Finland because I honestly didn't do much research before visiting. They have been in the middle of Russia and Sweden for ever and have many influences from both sides. For instance, all of the signs are in Finnish and Swedish. Another crazy thing was that Helsinki only has about 2 million people in the whole city, the biggest in Finland, and Finland has around 6 million total! Not many Finnish roaming around. But it wasn't very crowded and I thought everyone was very friendly and welcoming, it was really nice.  It was also very exciting to be there because almost everyone was blonde! Such a difference from the last couple of years. A couple of people even asked me for directions! One thing I noticed and pointed out to Mel and Antti was that there are a ton of wiener dogs in Helsinki. Above the average amount, it was very peculiar! There were also two albino cashiers in one day, hence the blog title...

This is the amazing welcome banner and photo collage Mel set up for my arrival!! 

 

Helsinki Cathedral

 I had to try the specialty, Reindeer! It honestly just tasted like beef. They put a yummy lingonberry jam on it too, delish.

It is really popular to take a Baltic Cruise and hit all the Nordic countries at once so there were many cruise ships and tourists around by the pier and docks.

 Apparently Finnish people drink the most coffee in the WORLD, so I needed to try as much as possible as well, to fit in.

 Finland is surrounded by the Gulf of Finland, the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia so there are lots of ships and fish goin around!

 One day we took a ferry to a nearby island named Suomenlinna, just the ride over is super beautiful! It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is an inhabited sea fortress built on six different islands. It was originally built in 1748 as protection against Russians expansionism. Now it is a place for Finns and tourists to go to see the ruins and picnic on the rocks. We sat on some rocks and watched the cruise ships and sailboats cruising by. It was so pretty and relaxing. 

 MelSea, so happy to be reunited!

 Finland's Olympic Stadium! Finland hosted the Olympics in the summer of 1952. It was originally built to host the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were moved from Tokyo to Helsinki, but were eventually cancelled because of World War 2. It's now used to host sports event and concerts.

 Had to try the salmon soup, of course!

 This statue is for the most famous Finn, Jean Sibelius. He was a violinist and composer and was widely recognized as the country's national composer. He was even on their money until they adopted the Euro! Pretty cray.

 More food! I had to try some more coffee, a traditional cinnamon roll and a Karelian pie! So yummy! The Karelian pie is made from a rye crust with a potato filling, and traditionally they put egg butter on it. They are super yummy!

I was so glad I got to stop over and see Mel and Antti for a quick visit! They were great hosts and it was like Mel and I hadn't missed a day, which was amazing.  I can't wait to come back and see the Northern Lapland soon! :-) 

After leaving Helsinki, I had a 10 hour layover in Dusseldorf, where I slept for maybe 3 or 4 hours while clutching my luggage. It wasn't the best night....then flew to Madrid!

"A place that you need to come back to before you even left, is a good place."

-Ben Brown