On Friday night my housemate and I went out with Zara and her friends Irene, Pepa, and Patricia for tapas and sangria at the cutest little restaurant. I was a little unsure of what the girls were ordering but as the waitress brought out each of our several tapas dishes to share I was very pleasantly surprised. I was also surprised to find that most of the dishes came on top of french fries. We had fried eggs, cheese, and ham over french fries, sausages over french fries with 3 dipping sauces, a spicy tomato sauce over french fries, and then croquetas, and little ham sandwiches. It was all excellent and so was my first experience with true Spanish sangria! We had so much fun just sitting and chatting.

After dinner we went to a bar called Cats. I loved the atmosphere here. It was like a big warehouse with a stage. There was live music and the woman was singing Aretha Franklin's "Respect" when we walked in. She sang several more American songs which was really fun. Pepa asked me what my favorite Spanish music was so far. I gave her the name of a singer I know but who I actually couldn't say I'd recognize on the radio. She laughed and said, "Patt don't lie, we all know American music is the best music." I'd have to agree. 

                                       

The girls found out that their guy friends planned on going to another bar close by called Ricordo's. So we walked over there to join them. I was surprised to see that the bar was packed with older people, (some older than you Mom and Dad) most of whom stayed as late as we did! It really goes to show you that staying out late and dancing is such a part of the culture here. I also found out that it is absolutely not ok to stand still when you are out dancing with Spaniards. Whenever I wasn't dancing, someone would ask me, "Are you ok? Are you sick?" So, I danced for hours. Thankfully most of the music the DJ played was American! I found a dancing partner in Zara's friend Patricia. She was dancing the salsa and I was shagging, but it worked. 

On Saturday morning I met Kensey, another girl from Wofford, in between our apartments and we took the metro to Gran Via to meet Leah for lunch. We went to Plaza Mayor and found a cute little cafe there where we could sit outside and people watch. It was such a beautiful day and so sunny we were all able to eat in short sleeves while at home in Charlotte it was snowing! We never wanted to get up from this lunch, we were so content taking in the beautiful weather, live music, and people. Eventually the sun went behind a building though and we got cold and decided to walk around for awhile. We popped in and out of shops and went to El Corte Ingles (Spain's department store) so that Leah and Kensey could buy school supplies. Real classes start tomorrow. I'm a little nervous but excited to finally have a routine! 

Well I'm sorry to rub it in Molls and Mimi but I eat so well here in my lovely little homestay. Yesterday for lunch Cristina made cream of spinach, chicken, potatoes, and baked apples that actually had little cinnamon sticks in the bowl. This morning Cristina went to the country to ride her horse and brought back freshly baked bread and brie. Along with that we had cream of vegetable soup and tortellini. Again, sorry Molls and Mimi. 

Yesterday Jessica and I went to Parque del Buen Retiro. It was so beautiful!! I can't to go there in the afternoons when it warms up here. It is huge and a great place for people watching. There are lots of different paths and gardens to explore. On one path we went down we found a man who had set up a music stand and was playing his violin. After we left the park and did a little window shopping we were treated to more music in our metro car. Some guys had set up a little band at the end of the car and were playing African drums and chanting and clapping. It really spiced up an otherwise boring metro ride. 

Last night a bunch of IES people met up at Plaza del Sol to go to a bar together, La Joyeria. For an hour and a half, for 5 euro, they offered an open bar. We wondered how they could ever survive doing that, but we soon found out it was because they were serving the worst beer I've ever had. Sure made Bud Light at the Row seem fancy. After La Joyeria, we grabbed the last metro for the night and made our way to Kapital. Kapital is one of the most famous clubs in Spain and has seven floors, each with a different theme. Molly, you would've loved the Mojito floor! The club was very overwhelming though and we lost a lot of the people we had come with. 

Tonight I'm going out with Zara again and hopefully this time we'll actually go inside the disco! Wish me luck keeping up with the Spaniards!

The other night before I went to bed I checked weather.com to see what the weather would be like for my walk to school in the morning. It was calling for snow, so when I woke up yesterday morning I opened my window to check. Sure enough, my little terrace was covered in a (thin!) sheet of snow. Poor Cristina wasn't too happy about the weather as she had just planted some flowers a few days before.

Last night I went to see Nine with Zara and two of her friends, Raquel and Esther. I have such a good time hanging out with them! The way they get along reminds me so much of my friends. Since half of the movie was in English due to the songs, and because the girls sneaked in Dorito's and Cheeto's, I felt right at home.

Today I had a delicious lunch with Cristina. She made zucchini and green beans in some sort of cheesy tomato sauce, with potatoes, croquetas, and chocolate mousse for dessert. I think I really lucked out with her as I'm hearing from lots of people at school that their senoras aren't too talented in the kitchen. One girl told me she had cut up hot dogs with rice the other day for dinner. Yikes.

First Weekend in Madrid

On Friday our entire IES group went to Segovia for the day. Segovia is a small town an hour outside of Madrid, famous for it's Roman aqueduct and castle that Walt Disney modeled his logo after. We got into groups of 12 with a tour guide and walked around taking in the beautiful sights. I was a little spoiled though as I had been to Segovia in high school during the summer when the town is at its prettiest.

After walking around for the day, we loaded back onto the buses and went about 20 minutes up the road to a very nice restaurant, El Rancho. IES provided us with a wonderful meal with multiple courses. I had bread, red peppers in olive oil, croquetas (my favorite!), tortilla espanola (potato pancake), salad, chicken, and a Segovian pastry for dessert. Before the trip we were given the chance to sign up for either chicken or pork. Luckily I had chosen the chicken because the people who picked pork had hooves on their plates. I can hardly handle a spot of fat on my meat let alone a hoof!

Saturday was the day I had been waiting for as I was finally reuniting with my "Spanish girls", Zara and Elena. Zara came to my apartment at 6:30 and called my cell phone to tell me to come outside. I was so nervous! We hadn't seen each other in 4 years. I went downstairs and we saw each other through the glass front doors of my lobby and we ran to each other and hugged for what felt like ten minutes. All we could do was laugh. I think our bellboy was confused. We then took the metro to Gran Via to go shopping. We went to Zara but due to it being a Saturday night and the sale season, it was too crowded to enjoy. We ended up going to a cafe, sitting outside, ordering 60 cent beers, catching up, and laughing for an hour before we left to go meet Elena for dinner at VIPS. Dinner was so much fun and the time flew by. Before we knew it it was 11 o'clock.

Unfortunately, Elena has exams the entire month of February and couldn't go out with us because she had to return to studying. However, Zara and I went directly across the street from the restaurant to her friend Esther's apartment to hang out and "pregame" with a few of their friends before going to the discoteca. The three of us had so much fun getting ready together and chatting. I was surprised to find out from Esther that they don't like Penelope Cruz. A lot of people here think she is a sell-out because she only does important interviews, etc. in the States. Oh well, I still love her. Esther and Zara also got out Esther's laptop and went on youtube to play what seemed like all the American songs they could think of to impress me with their knowledge. Well, I can play that game too. I started dropping all the names of athletes, singers, and TV shows that I had studied in my Spanish class last semester.

 A little bit later into the night, some of Zara's guy friends came over too. These guys were a lot fun, but Graham certainly has nothing to worry about as they couldn't have been farther from my type (as I'm sure you've seen from my facebook album!) The time fly by while we were having so much fun and before I knew it it was 3 am and we had still not gone out yet. Around 3:30 we got cabs to the discoteca only to discover that there was a 14 euro cover to get in and we were exhausted and had only planned on staying for an hour or so. So, Zara and I just ended up getting a cab back to her house. It was so strange to be back in her apartment again after living there for 2 weeks in high school. It felt exactly the same.

While we were getting ready for bed (around 4:45) Zara mentioned something about going to church in the morning. This was quite the surprise to me.
"We're going to church in a few hours?"
"Yes of course, it's Sunday Patt."
So in a few hours we were woken up by Zara's mom to go to church. Needless to say, we were exhausted. After church we went out to lunch with her family to a very nice restaurant inside of a hotel next to the American Embassy. I had a great lunch - swordfish!

It was so great seeing Zara and Elena again. It was like no time had gone by and we picked up right where we left off. I told Zara that when she left the States that I had no idea when I'd ever see her again. She said, "Really? I knew I'd see you again, I was planning to invite you to the day of my wedding!"

Today I had my orientation class from 9-1 and then came home to have lunch with Cristina. After a lazy afternoon, Jessica and I went to the Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art. It was fun to see a lot of the paintings that we had studied in my Spanish class last semester, especially Picasso's Guernica. Unfortunately I was not allowed to take a picture of that one, but I got a picture of the sign to prove that I'd seen such an important painting.

January 21, 2010

Last night my roommate and I braved the metro for the first time and discovered that our metro stop is a direct line to Puerta del Sol and Gran Via, two very busy and exciting parts in the center of Madrid. We walked around for a couple of hours and it was so beautiful! It was so alive and busy. We sat and watched a live Mariachi band for a little bit and window shopped. I got a few pieces of home too as we walked by a cowboy boot store and in the metro on the way home we were entertained by a woman dressed as Michael Jackson (white face paint and all) dancing to "Bad." Graham would've loved it.

Today I had my orientation class from 9-1 and received a crash course in slang, soccer, and my teacher's (Enrique) favorite places to go in Madrid. Attention Sarah Kana: We talked about hair color today in class and Enrique used me as his blonde example.

After school Cristina made us a very good lunch which consisted of avocado (!), pasta with meat sauce, bread, and a typical Spanish dessert: baked apples with brown sugar.

Tomorrow morning we are all going on a field trip to Segovia for the day. I went there in high school and it was beautiful so I'm looking forward to that!

First Few Days in Madrid...

Hi! I'm sorry to just now be getting around to this but I've been so tired! I got to Madrid on Monday morning and went straight to a hotel from the airport where everyone in our program was staying for the night. Leah and I got to room together at the hotel which was a relief! We had a big lunch with everyone in our program, followed by a safety meeting. We then had an hour and a half to rest before an optional walk around the neighborhood at 5:30. However, Leah and I slept right through it and kept on sleeping until 8:30. When we woke up we were still so tired that we did not have an appetite for dinner and ended up spending our dinner money on an hour of internet in our room.

On Tuesday morning we had to get up for a group breakfast at 8. As we ate our breakfast we noticed that it was still pitch dark outside and soon found out that it doesn't get light in Madrid until a little bit before 9 am. After breakfast we had a long orientation meeting and then packed up our things and went to wait in a room for our host moms to pick us up. My roommate Jessica and I found each other and anxiously awaited our host mom. We felt like we were getting picked for sports teams. We were so nervous and it seemed like everyone was getting picked up by their senoras except for us! Finally, Cristina, our senora, arrived and she was so cute. I knew we were meant to be as she was dressed head to toe in taupe. Cristina's apartment is nice and  spacious. Jessica and I each have our own rooms, and Cristina's dog, Greta, goes back and forth to cuddle. She is precious!

We had a great lunch with Cristina and her daughter, Maria. Jessica and I then made our way to the IES center for the first time for more orientation meetings. We take about a 15 minute bus ride and then we have a  15 minute walk through a beautiful park to get to school. It will be so nice in the spring!

Jessica and I walked around our neighborhood together last night and grabbed some dinner at a questionable sandwich shop which I'm not too sure I'll return to. Our neighborhood is really cute and there seems to be a lot of restaurants and stores around us.

Today we had our first  "language and culture class". We will have this class for another week and a half as part of orientation. My professor was hilarious so 3 hours of orientation ended up flying by! Jessica and I then came home to have lunch with Cristina and now I'm off with Cristina to finally buy a cell phone.

This weekend I get to see Zara and Elena and I'm so excited! We're going to go to "Zara with Zara" as Elena put it and then have dinner and go to a disco. I can't believe I get to see them again after all this time!