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