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