I've been in Madrid for fifteen days, but I've only had three days of classes. That's frightening. What have I been doing with my life, you ask? Well, a lot of night roaming, and a lot of sleeping. Probably more of the latter. Although I don't have class Mondays and Wednesdays, I tend to meet up at the school with friends to grab lunch and do homework. It almost makes me feel like I should just take classes on those days anyway. But eventually I'll probably start traveling through the weekend into Monday so it will come in handy I presume. I'm starting to get a feel for the work load now. For every Art History class, I'll generally need to read a very wordy article and write a 2-page summary. So far, our mechanics of solids professor has been giving us 1 problem per night. And our Dynamics professor gave us a very lengthy, 18-problem assignment, with over a week to work on it. The assignment is really challenging though. We spent all day Wednesday and today working on it, and we're only halfway done. I haven't gotten any homework in Astronomy yet, and I don't think he ever assigns any work. Sweeeeet! And VaST is usually just reading a chapter or so, and then taking notes on the reading. It's a fairly manageable course load.
Now, for the exciting part of my life in Spain. Usually we only go out on nights that we don't need to wake up early the next morning, i.e. Tuesday night, Thursday night, and sometimes Sunday night. It's hard to coordinate though, because normal people have classes Mondays and Wednesdays. Tuesday night we explored Asuman's side of town. We went to a place called Penelope's. Then, on Thursday, we were supposed to go to this place called Joy, which is apparenty THE place to go, especially on Thursday nights. I got myself and my friends onto an entry list. But then I forgot my ID, so all my friends got in without me :( Instead, Sam F-K and I went to another nearby bar for the night. It was a sad, sad night.
We had two day trips this weekend: Escorial/Valle De Los Caídos, and Salamanca. They were both very beautiful places. I have to say, though, all these places are starting to look sort of the same, as gorgeous and as historical as they are. I wish we could have spaced them out over the span of the semester. I have pictures from these trips as well, and you can check them out on my facebook.
Last night, well... last night was interesting. There's a karaoke bar near a few of my friends that they've been wanting to go to. We looked into going last night, but it was closed. So we tried finding other karaoke bars on google, and found one called "Karaoke Hana Bana." We all met up, spent about 30 minutes trying to find the place, and then once we found the address, we found what appeared to be an apartment entrance. It was just a hallway. No signs, or anything. We were a little skeeved out so we went to a Tapas bar for a while and then tried coming back around midnight. Then all of the sudden, the place TRANSFORMED into a karaoke bar. They put up a huge sign and put out glowing palm trees and disco lights. We were very confused. So we walked inside. It was NOT what we were expecting. It was a tiny place, and there was no karaoke going on at all. In fact, it was a gay bar. There was a drag queen. And some of us were hit on. We later found out that we were on the outskirts of the gayest part of Madrid. We did not stay very long, needless to say. But it was an experience. And that's what I'm here for, after all.
Future Updates:
So tomorrow, my first and last classes are cancelled, meaning I get an extra-short day! Yay :) I love sleeping in. Maybe tomorrow night we'll go to the REAL karaoke bar. Also, I'm going with seven other friends to Granada for the weekend! I cannot wait to explore! Anna is visiting friends in London in February, and I'm trying to go with Asuman. While there, I'm also planning on meeting up with my friend, from home, Karin. That would be great, especially since I haven't seen her in forever! I'm not sure exactly what my other travel plans are, but Aaron wants to go to Hungary and Romania in March. Anna and Donovan are going to the Canary Islands in March with their class, and a bunch of us are trying to go as well, but my family will be visiting then. Maybe they'll come to the Canary Islands with me? :) We have our Lafayette trip to Toulouse in early March, and then Morocco from the end of March into April. March will definitely be a busy month for me.
I think it makes more sense for me to update on a weekly basis, because there's really nothing interesting to talk about until the weekend has already passed. So I might reserve my Monday nights for updates like this one.. as long as I'm not swamped with homework!
Here's to week number three!
Monday, January 25
Sunday, January 17
One Week??
It has been one hell of a week. I feel like I've already been here for months. I know I haven't updated in a while, but I've been unbelievably busy! I don't even know where to start. Maybe it would be better for me to just give an overview this time, unlike my last post which was frighteningly detailed. I can barely even recall what I've done everyday, but I'll try.
Monday Night: As I said in my last post, we were supposed to meet up with friends at Principe Pio at 10:00. Anna and I showed up a little late at around 10:30 and they were gone, and since we didn't have phones yet, we couldn't call. We figured they left without us, so Anna and I explored Principe Pio and Sol on our own for the night. We then found out that our friends didn't even show up until midnight. Fail.
Tuesday: Orientation day two. We took a bus tour of Madrid and saw some pretty cool things. I posted some photos of the tour on my facebook in the "Madrid: Parte Uno" album if you'd like to take a look. After that I finally bought a phone, and I believe we then wandered around the city and went into "Corte Ingles," a ginormous department store. I think it was 7 stories tall with a supermarket on the bottom floor, and another building across the street. That night I think we went to Sol again (that seems to be the place to go at night), and that's about it for Tuesday.
Wednesday: Nada. Technically it was the first day of classes, but since I have off Wednesdays, Anna and I met up with Donovan, Jeff (Donovan's roommate), and Aaron for lunch. We went to Plaza Mayor and found this place called "Museo de Jamon" (museum of ham) that was quite delish. We explored the area, as we usually do when Jeff is around. That's all I remember from Wednesday!
Thursday: First day of classes!! It was a long day but a pretty good one. First we had VaST in the morning. It should be a very interesting course, although we have to write a twelve page paper, meh. I haven't written a paper since freshman year. Then I went to a little café with a few friends and got some breakfast. Oh yeah, and we bought school supplies, yay. Then Dynamics... Asuman says the teacher looks like a vampire, which he kinda does, but a cute, nice, young happy Spanish vampire. Anna and I got lunch in the school cafeteria which wasn't terrible, but I'll probably go out to eat for lunch more often. Next I had Astronomy, with like, 5 other students. I liked the small class size though, and the professor was really nice too. I think I'm really going to enjoy that class. Then I had Art History, which was also enjoyable. It's not gonna be my easiest class but it should definitely be an experience. Last was Mechanics of Solids. The teacher was a little weird and not exactly fun, but whatever. I left my phone at school and Anna and I had to turn around on the metro when I realized. That was a pain in the butt. That night we went to Sol... again. It was a looooong night but I had a lot of fun! Thursdays seem to be the night to go out around here. We topped off our night with the famous "churros & hot chocolate" dish. The hot chocolate is pretty much just pure melted chocolate. Anna and I didn't want to try and navigate the bus system... so we waited for the metro to open again at 6 am. I went to bed at 7 am. Good thing I had nothing to do the next day.
Friday: Nada again! Since we didn't have class, everybody came over to our side of town for a change. We got lunch at a place down the street from our apartment. The spaghetti bolognese was SO good. Mmmmmm. Then we explored. Ordered some wine, but I didnt get to drink it because I had to meet my group for Tapas! (Professor Ferri is treating us to 100 Euros worth of tapas throughout the semester, and we go in groups of 8 at a time). This was an awesome experience. We ate at one place, then ventured through the city, and ate at another place. Then we somehow winded up in Sol (I go there WAY too often) and we called it a night. But then Asuman, Kevin, Tom and I decided to get churros & hot chocolate, in the same place that I went less than 24 hours ago. We ended up sitting and chatting for a pretty long time, and we deemed the experience worthy enough to create a nickname for the 4 of us, haha.
Saturday: Segovia! What an amazing place! I posted an album of Segovia photos on my facebook, and I recommend you check them out. We got to go inside a castle, where we saw a bunch of knight armor and pretty paintings, and pretty ceilings, hehe. I really enjoyed this trip.
Sunday: Toledo! I thought I would never see anything as beautiful as Segovia, but Toledo proved me wrong. I think the cathedral may have been one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life. I couldn't take photos once I was inside, but I'll remember what I saw forever. Every inch of space was an artistic masterpiece. There were so many things to look at, and not nearly enough time to do so. I know very little about catholicism, but I was enthralled nevertheless. I posted a ton of photos from this trip on facebook. Go look at them!
I've been getting more adjusted to this home too. My Señora really likes to give Anna and I our personal space. We never eat with them, and we never really spend any time with them whatsoever. The house is always pitch black except for the rooms being occupied, so it's a challenge getting from room to room! The food is amazing, but very very filling. I feel like we have a feast every night. This morning there were a bunch of tiny little ants crawling on my shower mat and I didn't know what to do. I just kind of stepped around it and hoped that the maid will take care of it... ahh :( I hate bugs.
I know this was a long post again, but I hadn't updated in a while. I hope it's not too much of a hassle to read. I miss you all back in America!
<3 Hallie
Monday Night: As I said in my last post, we were supposed to meet up with friends at Principe Pio at 10:00. Anna and I showed up a little late at around 10:30 and they were gone, and since we didn't have phones yet, we couldn't call. We figured they left without us, so Anna and I explored Principe Pio and Sol on our own for the night. We then found out that our friends didn't even show up until midnight. Fail.
Tuesday: Orientation day two. We took a bus tour of Madrid and saw some pretty cool things. I posted some photos of the tour on my facebook in the "Madrid: Parte Uno" album if you'd like to take a look. After that I finally bought a phone, and I believe we then wandered around the city and went into "Corte Ingles," a ginormous department store. I think it was 7 stories tall with a supermarket on the bottom floor, and another building across the street. That night I think we went to Sol again (that seems to be the place to go at night), and that's about it for Tuesday.
Wednesday: Nada. Technically it was the first day of classes, but since I have off Wednesdays, Anna and I met up with Donovan, Jeff (Donovan's roommate), and Aaron for lunch. We went to Plaza Mayor and found this place called "Museo de Jamon" (museum of ham) that was quite delish. We explored the area, as we usually do when Jeff is around. That's all I remember from Wednesday!
Thursday: First day of classes!! It was a long day but a pretty good one. First we had VaST in the morning. It should be a very interesting course, although we have to write a twelve page paper, meh. I haven't written a paper since freshman year. Then I went to a little café with a few friends and got some breakfast. Oh yeah, and we bought school supplies, yay. Then Dynamics... Asuman says the teacher looks like a vampire, which he kinda does, but a cute, nice, young happy Spanish vampire. Anna and I got lunch in the school cafeteria which wasn't terrible, but I'll probably go out to eat for lunch more often. Next I had Astronomy, with like, 5 other students. I liked the small class size though, and the professor was really nice too. I think I'm really going to enjoy that class. Then I had Art History, which was also enjoyable. It's not gonna be my easiest class but it should definitely be an experience. Last was Mechanics of Solids. The teacher was a little weird and not exactly fun, but whatever. I left my phone at school and Anna and I had to turn around on the metro when I realized. That was a pain in the butt. That night we went to Sol... again. It was a looooong night but I had a lot of fun! Thursdays seem to be the night to go out around here. We topped off our night with the famous "churros & hot chocolate" dish. The hot chocolate is pretty much just pure melted chocolate. Anna and I didn't want to try and navigate the bus system... so we waited for the metro to open again at 6 am. I went to bed at 7 am. Good thing I had nothing to do the next day.
Friday: Nada again! Since we didn't have class, everybody came over to our side of town for a change. We got lunch at a place down the street from our apartment. The spaghetti bolognese was SO good. Mmmmmm. Then we explored. Ordered some wine, but I didnt get to drink it because I had to meet my group for Tapas! (Professor Ferri is treating us to 100 Euros worth of tapas throughout the semester, and we go in groups of 8 at a time). This was an awesome experience. We ate at one place, then ventured through the city, and ate at another place. Then we somehow winded up in Sol (I go there WAY too often) and we called it a night. But then Asuman, Kevin, Tom and I decided to get churros & hot chocolate, in the same place that I went less than 24 hours ago. We ended up sitting and chatting for a pretty long time, and we deemed the experience worthy enough to create a nickname for the 4 of us, haha.
Saturday: Segovia! What an amazing place! I posted an album of Segovia photos on my facebook, and I recommend you check them out. We got to go inside a castle, where we saw a bunch of knight armor and pretty paintings, and pretty ceilings, hehe. I really enjoyed this trip.
Sunday: Toledo! I thought I would never see anything as beautiful as Segovia, but Toledo proved me wrong. I think the cathedral may have been one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life. I couldn't take photos once I was inside, but I'll remember what I saw forever. Every inch of space was an artistic masterpiece. There were so many things to look at, and not nearly enough time to do so. I know very little about catholicism, but I was enthralled nevertheless. I posted a ton of photos from this trip on facebook. Go look at them!
I've been getting more adjusted to this home too. My Señora really likes to give Anna and I our personal space. We never eat with them, and we never really spend any time with them whatsoever. The house is always pitch black except for the rooms being occupied, so it's a challenge getting from room to room! The food is amazing, but very very filling. I feel like we have a feast every night. This morning there were a bunch of tiny little ants crawling on my shower mat and I didn't know what to do. I just kind of stepped around it and hoped that the maid will take care of it... ahh :( I hate bugs.
I know this was a long post again, but I hadn't updated in a while. I hope it's not too much of a hassle to read. I miss you all back in America!
<3 Hallie
Monday, January 11
Bienvenidos a Madrid!
Finally, the anticipation is over. But I'm still feeling a bit hectic. My plane took off at about 9:00 Saturday night, where I was lucky enough to sit between two fellow Lafayette students, Peter and Juan. The flight was fine, and actually "flew" by pretty fast. Ha. Anyway, I arrived at Barajas Airport yesterday morning and I instantly knew Spain kicks America's butt. Everything is just so much cooler here. I was afraid I'd have trouble getting around with all my luggage (one giant suitcase, one medium suitcase, and then a small suitcase carry-on and a messenger bag) but it wasn't bad. They had wheely carts so I made it out to the taxi pretty easily. It took the taxi driver and a SLU representative about 5 minutes just to fit all the luggage into the trunk.
Then Anna and I were off to our new home!! To get into the apartment for the first time we had to get buzzed in by the host family, which was actually pretty nerve racking. We crammed ourselves and our pounds of luggage into a narrow little elevator, and up we went! Maria Rosa greeted us at the elevator door as we made fools of our clumsy selves with our oversized luggage. She let us pick which room we wanted, so Anna took the more centrally located one, and I have the room in the back. We each have our own bathroom which is really nice.
Next came the horror story... We couldn't connect to the internet. It was a shameful moment in my life. I had to withstand being out of contact with anyone for practically 48 hours. For me, that's a pretty big deal. I just kept thinking about my poor mother worried sick about me.
Then came the next terror. The plug for my laptop has 3 prongs but the 3-prong adapter we bought wasn't fitting the plug right, so I wasn't even able to use my computer. Then I found out my converter is no good, and I can't use it for my straightener, so I've been borrowing Anna's converter. I'm not really sure where I'll be able to purchase one around here but I'll figure it out sooner or later.
So after taking a 5 hour nap yesterday from about 1 to 6, I took my first Spanish shower. First of all, the shower heads don't attach to the wall, so rinsing off was quite a feat... and second of all, it's nearly impossible to set it at the right temperature. I was switching between boiling hot and freezing cold but I finally toyed around enough to make it manageable. So yeah, that experience was interesting to say the least.
Then Anna and I enjoyed ourselves to a little dinner, with just the two of us. Maria Rosa served us spaghetti with a salad and bread, and a little chocolately dessert. It was muy delicioso!! Speaking of Spanish... I suck. I definitely came here over-confident with my Spanish-speaking skills. Anna pretty much does ALL the talking. I know how to say most things... I just can't bring myself to spit the words out. It takes a lot of thinking, and I tend to be a very slow thinker, as most of you who know me can attest to. Also it's been a while since I've used any Spanish, so I've forgotten many of the things I used to know. I'm slowly getting the hang of it though.
After dinner, Anna and I went on a little "adventure" and explored our surroundings. We walked up and down our street to get an idea of where we were living. Theres a bunch of stores and stuff but nothing too interesting. We went into a little bar/cafe place because it said "free internet access" on the door. We couldn't get it to connect so instead we just ordered wine. Our first drink. :) It's so awkward trying to communicate with people though... the waitress kept giving us weird looks and being awfully rude to us. We hung out for a while and then headed back to the apartment and talked for the rest of the night.
Then this morning we headed off to orientation!! We successfully navigated the metro system! Although it was a bit of a challenge to figure out how to get to the station. The metro signs are really clear though, and it was not hard to navigate at all. We did have to switch lines to get there however. I would say it takes about 30 minutes for us to get from the apartment to the school.
Orientation wasn't all that interesting. We got into our groups, heard some people talk, rotated around to different rooms to hear other people talk, and that's about it. They gave us a little tour of the neighboring area so I guess I'll have some places to go in between classes. It's fun being in the city. I could definitely get used to this.
Then we were supposed to go buy our cellphones... but apparently we need our passports to do this. Thanks for telling me this, SLU. Oh well, I'll just get it tomorrow. At least we got our internet working today, so I can talk to the rest of the world. Speaking of the computer, I also was able to shove my laptop plug into the adapter, it just took a good push. So now it's charging!! I'll probably go buy my cellphone either tomorrow at orientation, or possibly later tonight in the city. Also tonight Anna and I are supposed to go meet up with some Lafayette friends and explore the ciudad! I'll report back in my next post about it.
It's so weird being the foreigner who everybody else stares at. I can sympathize for all the foreigners in America now who mutter out a few words like "yes" and "ok" every few minutes... because thats pretty much all I say to anyone here. And barely anyone here speaks English. Coming to orientation today was such a sigh of relief because I could finally be with other Engish-speaking people! Any time Anna and I look at a map I feel like I'm the perfect culprit for a pick-pocketer. And that's the last thing I need right now.
I hate being foreign. I better start picking up some Spanish, quick.
Then Anna and I were off to our new home!! To get into the apartment for the first time we had to get buzzed in by the host family, which was actually pretty nerve racking. We crammed ourselves and our pounds of luggage into a narrow little elevator, and up we went! Maria Rosa greeted us at the elevator door as we made fools of our clumsy selves with our oversized luggage. She let us pick which room we wanted, so Anna took the more centrally located one, and I have the room in the back. We each have our own bathroom which is really nice.
Next came the horror story... We couldn't connect to the internet. It was a shameful moment in my life. I had to withstand being out of contact with anyone for practically 48 hours. For me, that's a pretty big deal. I just kept thinking about my poor mother worried sick about me.
Then came the next terror. The plug for my laptop has 3 prongs but the 3-prong adapter we bought wasn't fitting the plug right, so I wasn't even able to use my computer. Then I found out my converter is no good, and I can't use it for my straightener, so I've been borrowing Anna's converter. I'm not really sure where I'll be able to purchase one around here but I'll figure it out sooner or later.
So after taking a 5 hour nap yesterday from about 1 to 6, I took my first Spanish shower. First of all, the shower heads don't attach to the wall, so rinsing off was quite a feat... and second of all, it's nearly impossible to set it at the right temperature. I was switching between boiling hot and freezing cold but I finally toyed around enough to make it manageable. So yeah, that experience was interesting to say the least.
Then Anna and I enjoyed ourselves to a little dinner, with just the two of us. Maria Rosa served us spaghetti with a salad and bread, and a little chocolately dessert. It was muy delicioso!! Speaking of Spanish... I suck. I definitely came here over-confident with my Spanish-speaking skills. Anna pretty much does ALL the talking. I know how to say most things... I just can't bring myself to spit the words out. It takes a lot of thinking, and I tend to be a very slow thinker, as most of you who know me can attest to. Also it's been a while since I've used any Spanish, so I've forgotten many of the things I used to know. I'm slowly getting the hang of it though.
After dinner, Anna and I went on a little "adventure" and explored our surroundings. We walked up and down our street to get an idea of where we were living. Theres a bunch of stores and stuff but nothing too interesting. We went into a little bar/cafe place because it said "free internet access" on the door. We couldn't get it to connect so instead we just ordered wine. Our first drink. :) It's so awkward trying to communicate with people though... the waitress kept giving us weird looks and being awfully rude to us. We hung out for a while and then headed back to the apartment and talked for the rest of the night.
Then this morning we headed off to orientation!! We successfully navigated the metro system! Although it was a bit of a challenge to figure out how to get to the station. The metro signs are really clear though, and it was not hard to navigate at all. We did have to switch lines to get there however. I would say it takes about 30 minutes for us to get from the apartment to the school.
Orientation wasn't all that interesting. We got into our groups, heard some people talk, rotated around to different rooms to hear other people talk, and that's about it. They gave us a little tour of the neighboring area so I guess I'll have some places to go in between classes. It's fun being in the city. I could definitely get used to this.
Then we were supposed to go buy our cellphones... but apparently we need our passports to do this. Thanks for telling me this, SLU. Oh well, I'll just get it tomorrow. At least we got our internet working today, so I can talk to the rest of the world. Speaking of the computer, I also was able to shove my laptop plug into the adapter, it just took a good push. So now it's charging!! I'll probably go buy my cellphone either tomorrow at orientation, or possibly later tonight in the city. Also tonight Anna and I are supposed to go meet up with some Lafayette friends and explore the ciudad! I'll report back in my next post about it.
It's so weird being the foreigner who everybody else stares at. I can sympathize for all the foreigners in America now who mutter out a few words like "yes" and "ok" every few minutes... because thats pretty much all I say to anyone here. And barely anyone here speaks English. Coming to orientation today was such a sigh of relief because I could finally be with other Engish-speaking people! Any time Anna and I look at a map I feel like I'm the perfect culprit for a pick-pocketer. And that's the last thing I need right now.
I hate being foreign. I better start picking up some Spanish, quick.
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