life in madriddd!

So, I’ve been slacking / procrastinating in regards to this whole blog thing… probably because I’ve been completely stressed trying to pick classes that I don’t even understand. However, it is getting a lot better. I have picked 4 classes; lingüística, cultura y civilización de España, teatro de España y psicología social. Necesito un clase más! I was considering taking a class about the treatment and evaluation of addictions but the teacher never shows up… so it’s most likely either la historia de logopedia o comunicación cara a cara. Last week was full of stress and relaxing… stress from classes and relaxing from my amazing trip to Italy. Tuesday and Wednesday pretty much consisted of going to classes, sitting in Ana’s office at Complutense, a mini-breakdown or two, sleeping and eating!!! Thursday, I ate ice cream with Mat and John before they went to the archaeological museum for class (which I still need to do), and then I went to class. Thursday night, Alison, Dorianne and I went to a party with Alvaro and Beto, two of the guys that studied at BC last year. It was awesome to see them! The night was full of drinking and dancing, and then coming home and talking to Jess online, until about 5:00am my time… good thing I had class at 10am on Friday. Jess, being the amazing friend that she is, agreed to call me and make sure I was out of bed in time for class. She even made me get out of bed, go to the bathroom and flush the toilet so that she knew I was actually out of bed and was not going to fall back asleep. Thanks Jess!!

I only have one class on Fridays, which is good, but it is at 10am, which kind of sucks. However, I managed to make my way to class after only about 3 hours of sleep, and even found the energy to e-mail my professors and advisors back in Boston to see if certain classes will count for certain credits. After a productive morning, I came home, ate some lunch, and relaxed since I didn’t sleep much the night before. I read a little, watched some Simpsons and probably slept on the couch. WHAT DID I DO IN THE AFTERNOON?? Friday night, John, Mat and I had a little botellon in the street porque nuestra parque estaba cubierto L. Then we tried to meet up with others in la Plaza de España but the Metro took to long to get us there, so… we ended up meeting everyone in Sol and going to our typical fall-back club, Dreams. After Dreams, we helped take care of a sick classmate, ate some pizza, and walked over to the Irish pub where many of our friends were watching the Red Sox game. However, it was closed when we arrived so we walked back to Sol; however, on our way, Mat got attacked by some cross-dressing prostitutes. That was a sight to see. We met up with Victor and Dori and the five of us decided to begin our journey home, which normally consists of a long walk until we find a cab because we are dysfunctional and don’t know which night bus to take. Eventually, en la Puerta de Alcala, encontramos un taxi que tomó cinco personas! YAY! Hablé en el teléfono con un amigo de los EEUU cuando regresé a mi casa y después, dormí. En domingo, me levanté a las 12, comí, y Mateo y yo decidimos ir un lugar nuevo. Sin embargo, este lugar era un Starbucks a la parada Bilbao. Allí, nosotros hablamos, leímos y bebimos café. John nos reunió y después, fuimos a un restaurante de comida rápida porque los chicos querían comer “fried chicken”. Volví a mi casa, comí la cena y Mateo, Alison y yo nos reunimos con Jimmy y un amigo de North Carolina, cuyo tío vive en un apartamento muy grande en Madrid, muy cerca de la plaza de España. I did not really feel well, so I decided to take the Metro home with Alison and Mat, and then went to bed.

Satuday morning, I woke up, went to church with Alison and then went to an internet café to book my bus tickets to Barcelona for this weekend!! Afterwards, I ate lunch and then met up with John and Dori to go to the zoo. However, they do not get food at their residencia on Sundays, so I went with them to get some lunch. Afterwards, Mat and Alison met up with us and we went to the zoo. However, it was almost 5pm when we got there, the zoo closed at 7:30pm, and it costs 16 euros to enter. We quickly changed our decision, even though I really wanted to see the panda! We walked through a park, took a ride on an air gondola (teleferico?), and saw beautiful views of Madrid. Then, we took the Metro home and went to our favorite ice cream shop!

Monday was classes again, still visiting and trying to pick the ones that I want. However, it was ironic because for dinner, I had a side of mashed potatoes and earlier in the day, I was talking to my friend online about mashed potatoes! Yeah, I know, not that crazy, but there was nothing too spectacular about Monday. Monday night, my parents called while I was watching a movie with my senora and then I fell asleep at about 10:45-11:00 pm. It was great! Today (Tuesday), I do not have class until 6pm (still visiting classes), but before that, I am going to the Archaeological Museum with Mat because I have a paper due tomorrow about it! Good thing my class ends at 9pm and it takes about 40 minutes to an hour to get home! Oh well… Wednesday will probably be hell because I have a full day of classes, going from campus to campus, and then I get to teach English to 2 little girls!! Yay! But then one more day of class (Thursday) and off to Barcelona Thursday night because Friday es una fiesta!!!

italia - roma y florencia!

Overall, Monday was a very chill day. Spent the morning drinking coffee and picking classes that I’m interested in taking with my advisor who is absolutely amazing. Afterwards, Mat, John and I went out for some tapas before we came home for lunch. I took advantage of the Spanish siesta and then went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant that some other BC students had found earlier. The food was great – it was nice to have a different type of food.

Tuesday was an even bigger lazy day. Woke up, ate breakfast, looked at my classes a little, watched the Simpsons in my pajamas, ate some lunch, and then just hung out. I packed for Italy!!!, ate some dinner and then slept until 3 am when my alarm went off to catch the cab!!!

Wednesday morning was painful – a 3:30 am cab ride to Barajas, the airport in Madrid so that we could be at the airport in time to catch our 5:55 am flight. Good thing we got there before there were even people at the check in desk. When we were standing at the check in desks, Mat and I got our passports ready… Alison realized that she left hers at her house. So, as Alison was taking a cab, again, to and from her house, Mat and I sat in the airport stuffing our faces with all of the food that our senoras gave us; sandwiches, platanos y chocolate! Alison made it back in time, we caught our flight, and caught a cab from the airport in Rome to the girl’s apartment. The cab driver was pretty much out of his mind! (the girls = Laura and Casey – two of Mat’s friends from BC that study at John Cabot in Rome) After Casey and Laura woke up, we went out to lunch at this cute little restaurant near their school. I had amazing Margaherita (spelling?) pizza. After lunch, we walked over to the Pantheon. It was nothing like I had imagined it to be. Placed in the middle of the city of Rome is this gorgeous building filled with beautiful art and history. It fit right in with the city. The Pantheon was followed by amazing espresso and possibly the best gelato in Rome… I had chocolate, coffee, and crème. On our walk, we also passed the park that holds the stairs where Julius Caesar was shot. Casey had class so we stopped by John Cabot and then went home with Laura and took a nap… or Alison took a nap and Mat and Laura had their own little photo shoot. Dinner was remarkable as well – Alison had chicken parm, Mat had some sort of meat creation that he didn’t know he ordered and I had gnocchi. After a long talk at dinner, we went to an open bar.

Thursday morning consisted of a lot of sleep… Once we woke up, Mat, Alison and I embarked on a journey with a map in hand; first to find food, then to find the Coloseum. Once again, good pizza and Al ordered pasta. After lunch, we walked past the Roman forum to the Coloseum, which was relatively smaller than we thought it would be but nonetheless, breathtaking. I am still in shock that these ancient Romans were able to move heavy boulders without the machinery that we use today. (yes, I know… cheesy) It started to mist a little but the weather stayed nice. However, when we started walking through the Roman Forum, the clouds came and Mat said “It looks like it’s about to pour”. Long behold, no more than 5 seconds later, it is pouring! We walked through the rain to a coffee shop, warmed up a little and then walked back to the girl’s apartment. That night, the girls cooked us an amazing dinner… pesto and mozzarella on cristinis, pasta with tomato sauce and salad with breaded eggplant. It may have been our best meal in Rome.

Friday morning we woke up early (around 5:45am) to go to Vatican City and see the Sistine Chapel before the line got too long. Laura and Casey were going to come with us but their hot water wasn’t working and they had to wait for the maintenance man to come. So, Mat, Alison and I once again wandered around the streets of Rome to Vatican City. We stopped for some cappuccino along the way and then went to St. Peter’s Basilica. I was absolutely amazed when I walked into that building. Everything about it is gorgeous. Michelangelo’s Pieta, all of the sculptures, the artwork, the mosaics on the floor, the altars, priests blessing the hosts in different languages on different altars… the whole experience was surreal. It was very weird to be standing in the country that has the final say in all of the teachings our school believes in. At about 8:15 – 8:30am, we started to wait in line for the Sistine Chapel. It rained about every 5 minutes and the line moved, maybe, 5 inches in about 2 hours. We started to doubt if the wait was even worth it. Then, at around 10am, the line started moving a lot faster – the Vatican Museum had opened! (we thought that it opened a lot earlier… hint the waking up early) However, it was worth standing in line, not moving for 2 hours, because the line was sooo long – street, after street, after street! The artwork was beautiful in the Vatican Museum but the Sistine Chapel is more than amazing. I stood there in awe. On our way home, we stopped for lunch for some more pizza!, and at an amazing chocolate store – I got chocolate with a coffee flavored center. The three of us went back to the girls place, napped, and then the five of us went out for dinner one last time. I had a panini that was very, very good. Diner was followed by a night trip to the Trevi Fountain – very romantic spot. We threw three coins over our left shoulders – 1, we will return to Rome, 2, we will fall in love in Rome, 3, we will fall in love with a Roman in Rome… we’ll see how that goes. After sitting by the fountain, we got more gelato and sat out in a little square where we made friends with these two Irish men who are supposedly tour guides for the Vatican.

Saturday morning was coffee and a train ride to Firenze (Florence). Our hostel was about 10 minutes walking from the train station and it turned out to actually be very nice. We ate lunch at a cute, little restaurant near our hostel – Alison ate pizza, I had a very good pasta with a spicy tomato sauce, garlic and olive oil, and Mat had spinach and cheese ravioli with a meat sauce. After lunch, we walked to the Duomo, where we made it just in time to be the last group to walk up the 462 steps to the top. The walk was painful, but the view from the top was one I have never seen before. You could see all of Florence – the buildings, the plazas, the mountains in the distance. Definitely worth the 6 euros and the long walk. Afterwards, we walked around Florence, towards the Ponte Vecchio, sat on the bridge for a while, and walked back to get ready for dinner. Before dinner, we had our own little rendition of a botellon, except that it was in our hostel room and not in park. Dinner was delicious – more pizza… After dinner, we went out to a club and danced all night – Alison ended up dancing with an ex-bishop.

Sunday morning, Alison and I woke up and tried to go to MUSEUM NAME HERE but the line was over 2 hours long. After that disappointment, the three of us went to the Museum de’ll Academia to see Michelangelo’s David – very, very impressive. The details were remarkable. Despues, we went to lunch, where we made friends with 2 couples from Canada who ordered 2 of the largest beers we had even seen in a restaurant – they were drinking away the anger caused by a stolen wallet! We ordered brushetta, pizza with sausage, and 2 different types of gnocchi, four cheese and pesto. After lunch, we ate some gelato (possibly the best chocolate gelato I had in Italy – I had chocolate and banana), we walked to the Cathedral de Santa Croce, had some espresso and walked to the flea market they were having. After shopping for hours, Alison and I went to mass at the Duomo – it was in Italian but it was still amazing. Our course, as usual, dinner followed and we ate the best meal of Florence. Matt and I started off with spaghetti with pesto sauce, followed by sides of asparagus with lemon and olive oil and tomatoes with oil and vinegar. Alison finally ordered the Florentine steak, something she had wanted for every meal in Florence. Dessert was just as impressive – a chocolate tart, cheesecake with a citrus sauce, and a lemon tart with strawberry sauce. Back to the hostel and bed…

Monday morning, we checked out of the hostel at around 5:15am so that we would be able to catch the 5:30am train to Pisa, allowing us to see the leaning tower before we had to catch our plane. Well, we made our train, but we also happened to receive the wrong arrival time in Pisa, fall asleep, and miss our stop. When we woke up, we were about an hour outside of Pisa, in a little town whose name we don’t really remember. The next train to Pisa was not for another hour and a half, which would stop in Pisa at the same time as our supposed departure. The lady at the café next door said that a cab to Pisa would be three or four hundred euro – luckily, we found a taxi driver that spoke English and he only charged us 180 euro to get back to Pisa. It was still a lot of money but it would be cheaper than trying to buy new plane tickets home! We arrived in Pisa with time to spare, made it back to Madrid, and here I am, exhausted and ready to start classes tomorrow at UCM – University of Madrid, Complutense.

Italy was absolutely amazing – now its back to reality…

2 weeks in...

Friday consisted of studying, eating, and trying to get Blanca (my Señora’s granddaughter) to take my language exam for me. She laughed – pretty much meaning hell no, I just got home from school so I’m going to go play with my friends. The test wasn’t took bad – at least I didn’t think it was – and since we got out early, a few of us went over to Chueca, a part of Madrid, for some tapas at El Tigre. El Tigre is an amazing place – 2 cañas of beer and a pretty large plate of tapas for only 3 euro. (and my brother called!!!) After El Tigre, Mat, John and I went over to Al Campo and we found PEANUT BUTTER!!!! So, after Mat ate some McDonald’s, the three of us made some classic PB & J’s… it was amazing! After Al Campo, we went home, ate, and got ready for the night. The five of us started the night in true style – a trip to the park – and then met up in Sol with some of the others, which consisted of having a few beers in Burger King. Yes, you can buy beer at Burger King. Afterwards, we went to Dreams, danced, and afterwards ate some pizza in the street… followed by churros!!! There were about 10 of us with some serious munchies… we did some number.

Saturday was flat out overwhelming. I woke up around 1pm in anticipation for the guests that we were having over for lunch. Con una pequeña resaca, I entered an intense situation that I was in no state to handle – Angelines and 8 other members of her family all speaking Spanish at a pace I could not even begin to comprehend. When they realized they were speaking so fast, they would slow down for me to understand but it would just happen again. With all this going on, I was a little discouraged and overwhelmed. After they all left, Mat, John and I went to the Retiro to relax since it was a beautiful day. Then as usual, dinner with my Señora and going out. However, last night was Madrid: la noche en blano, where there was art in the street, museums were open until about 3am and people were just out partying all night. Some people went out clubbing, but Alison and I met up with 3 other people from BC and we walked all around Madrid. It was really nice to see Madrid in a different light.

Sunday morning, I woke up real early and confused my Señora… I don’t think she’s even seen me up before 9:30am, especially on a weekend. I went to mass and then took a walking tour of Madrid with Ana, our BC advisor. We walked through the Retiro, where there was a concert y un pájaro hizo caca en mi brazo, por la Puerta de Alcala, la plaza de Cibeles y el Paseo de Prado. Después, volví a mi casa, comí con mi señora y a las 5:50pm, después de una conversación con mis padres, fui a los toros con los otros estudiantes de BC. I only stayed for 3 bulls because I could not handle much more. A few other people left so a bunch of us went out for tapas… I waited for my señora’s amazing cooking!!!

2 weeks in… I’m pretty settled but that will change once classes start. Tomorrow, I pick classes that seem interesting and then next week, I go and “try them out”. But….. ITALY on WEDNESDAY!!! I can’t wait!!

Monday morning, Alison and I went to Al Campo, un tienda muy cerca de la casa de Jessica! It is pretty much the Spanish equivalent of Wal-Mart or Target. Anything you want, you could buy at Al Campo… including vodka and absinth. Lunch with Angelines y su nietos and language classes. However, 5 friends and I participated in our first botellon. It brought back memories from high school… try to figure it out.

Tuesday was Sam’s 21^st birthday so we tried to make her feel as at home as possible. We went to the open bar at Casa de la Cerveza and had the bartenders play “Happy Birthday” at 12am. As always, it was a good time. The people that already started their University classes we there too so it was nice to see everyone.

Waking up Wednesday morning made me remember why I didn’t want to go out at first on Tuesday night. Meeting Mat at the Metro stop, who was probably still drunk, headaches, and everyone just feeling like crap. However, I took the advice of my Señora – take advantage of the fact that you don’t have class yet! 9:30am alarm, hot, crowded Metro ride with Mat, and tour of UCM – University of Complutense, Madrid. The school is huge with about 110,000 students and its beauty is nowhere near even comparable to BC – Ana and Pilar warned us that UCM is a very ugly school. After the tour, a bunch of us went out to lunch and then hung out in the Retiro before language classes. After language classes was the greatest thing ever – every day we pass by this amazing ice cream place but we never go in. Today, we did and the ice cream was absolutely amazing!!!! I kind of want some more now… I wasn’t planning on going out… I was talking to my Señora about school, life, other things but then I was “convinced” to go out to dinner for Sam’s birthday (don’t worry – we’re not going out afterwards.) So I told my Señora I was going out but I’d be home early… let’s just say that she laughed at me and told me that I’d be home late and that as long as I had 8 hours to recuperate, then I’d be fine. Sooo… we went to a cute little Mexican restaurant for dinner… and of course, we went out afterwards to Chesterfields – a club that reminds me of Jess!!!

Thursday morning I woke up at 12, showered and had some lunch. I told my Señora that she was right… I went out early and I came home late. Once again, she laughed and said that as long as I had a good time then there was nothing wrong with it. Then I went to class early to use the internet and catch up on some e-mails. Class was pretty boring, as usual, but it ends tomorrow. Walked home as usual, ate some dinner, and studied for my exam tomorrow! Now, I’m watching a movie with my Señora.

I finally figured out how to post pictures on my blog – some are of Madrid and others are of Salamanca! I miss you all a lot and I wish that I had internet all the time to keep in touch more!

Besos y abrazos!

There’s nothing like having the final category of Final Jeopardy being “sexo” – me encanta Madrid! Hahaha

Thursday night was a lot of fun – partying at an open bar with all the other international students at Sampere and with the teachers. Best part was that we didn’t even have to pay to get in… now we know where all our money is going to pay for these classes! And the weekly Monday night drinks after class. After the open bar, a bunch of us went out in la puerta del Sol.

Friday morning I woke up just in time for lunch with Angelines, Miky and her two kids. I had an amazing lunch – I don’t really know what it was but it was sort of like lasagna, but one had spinach and the other had meat. Nonetheless, it was reallllly good. Then we had cake for Iñaki’s 15^th birthday (el nieto de Angelines). Class was boring, as usual, and the hangovers that both the teachers and the students had were not helping. After class, the Moroccan exchange man came and tried to sell us all a trip to Morocco. On the way home, we stopped at a little café, had some tapas and some drinks and then stayed in the rest of the night porque tuve que levantarme a las 7:45 en la manana para el viaje a Salamanca.

Saturday consisted of waking up way too early, sleeping for 2 hours on the bus to Salamanca, and then spending the day in Salamanca, which has the oldest university in Spain. The buildings are gorgeous – we saw the university, ate lunch in la Plaza Mayor, and walked through a market. After lunch, we saw la catedral viejo y la catedral nueva. Both were very impressive. When the outside of the new cathedral was restrored, the workers carved an astronaut, an ice cream cone and a shrimp. I’m trying to figure out how to put pictures up on the blog so that you can see Salamanca. We’ll see. Saturday night, we went out, got a little lost on the way to meeting everyone, but after drinking a little in Chueca, we ended up in Sol. We tried to stay out for churros at 6 in the morning, but we ended up walking home because we couldn’t find a cab. The 24 hour deli-type store we found made up for the lack of churros. Bed at 6:30am…

When I woke up at 1:30pm, I decided that I should probably get up because Miky, the kids, and her husband were coming over for lunch at 2:30pm. When they offered me a beer at lunch, I declined which was received with… “ooooo Resaca!!!! Jajaja” After some lunch, we watched some soft of car race, talked about the Madrid basketball game, and I started watching a movie with Angelines. I didn’t know it was possible, but I think there are more commercials on TV in Madrid than there are in the states. When I lost interest in the movie, I called my friend John and we went to the Retiro and read since it was a nice afternoon. I came home, ate some dinner, and fell asleep on the couch when Angelines was at her daughter’s house watching the basketball game.

My first trip is planned!!!! On September 26, Mat, Alison and I are flying to Rome, staying with some of Mat’s friends, then going to Florence, and ending up in Pisa on the last day for our flight home (October 1) ! I am so excited!! Next week, we pick our classes and then classes start on October 2. I’m excited to get into a schedule but I am still nervous for classes.

And, not having internet todo el tiempo is really, really weird…

almost a week in...

My past few days in Madrid have been amazing – but they have definitely been filled with their ups and downs. Me encanta mi señora, se llama Angelines! ( I love my homestay – her name is Angelines.) She is a cute elderly woman who loves to cook, laughs at me when I try to wash my own dishes, and the other day when I half – ass made my bed, she finished making it. She has a very large apartment, where I have my own room and practically my own bathroom. I live right off an amazing street to shop on, which may become a problem. J Angelines is an amazing cook – pollo, tortilla patatas, sopa, (chicken, potato tortillas, soup) and she always tells me that I don’t eat enough. Ella siempre dice “Tu comes pequeno” y “Puedes comer toda la comida que tu quieres!” (She always say “You eat so little” and “you can eat all the food that you want”.) Today I learned that she is an amazing artist and almost all the pictures on her walls are her own work. She is definitely better than Miro, who has an exhibit en el mueso de Reina Sofia (where we went today with class). We watch movies together, game shows and telenovelas.

Classes haven’t really started – I just have to go to language classes at Sampere but they do not start until 3:30 pm. When we got to Sampere on Monday, we took a placement test, and then started with our culture classes. After class, all of the international students at Sampere went to the bar down the street and had some drinks. Every night, my senora asks me if I’m going out and once when I said I think so but I’m not sure, she sort of laughed and said that I better take advantage of it before I have to start waking up early. I leave relatively close to my friends Alison and Mat, and 2 other kids that we’re friends with which is really good when we go out or when we walk to class. On Monday night, I thought it would be nice if I asked my señora if I had to be home by a certain time. She pretty much laughed in my face, asked me if I had the key, and then told me that I could come home whenever I wanted as long as I have the key. Monday night, we went to the Puerta del Sol, went to a club and then made some new friends en la fuente – literally. We saw some people jumping in the fountain – some girls from Argentina and some guys from Italy. After the adventure in the fountain, the five of us stayed and talked with the Italian guys.

Tuesday was my first up and down day – I slept late, had an amazing lunch with my senora y su nieta, watched “The Simpsons” en español, and had a nice walk to class. Class was okay – grammar was boring but culture was a little more interesting. After those classes, all of the students attending my university stayed for a meeting with Ana, our advisor, and she spoke about classes. That was when my little downfall started. When I got home, I ate dinner with my señora, she gave me a vocab lession in the kitchen of all the food words I did not know, and she showed me pictures of her family. A bunch of students from BC decided to go to la casa de cerveza donde podíamos beber todas las bebidas que queríamos y solamente necesitaba pagar 12 euro. The deal ended at 1:30am but it was still a good time. However, when getting ready to go out, I blew a fuse in the apartment and I think I broke my hair straightener and one of my converters, adding to my breakdown. However, the night made up for the break down though – it was nice to just go out with everyone.

Today I took a nice walk down my street and to Ross’ office so that I could pick up Jess’ cell phone charger. Afterward, the class went on a tour of el museo de Reina Sofia where we saw works from Dali, Miro and Picasso. I learned a lot about the artists and it was actually not a painful trip to a museum. When we were in the museum, Mat said that he saw our Italian friends from the other night. Later on, when Alison and I were walking from the bathroom, we saw them too and we all went and got lunch before our language classes. After class, a bunch of us walked back together and then Alison, Mat and 2 of our other friends stopped for a drink and some tapas before returning home. It was nice to just relax. I came home, ate dinner and read in the living room with my senora. When I finished my book, leí un periodico espanol, se llama Hola! I didn’t understand everything that I was reading but I understood more than I thought I would. I just need to work on my speaking.

I miss my baseball and my football but Madrid is great – I don’t really want classes to start!! haha

mis primeros dias en madrid!

i´m here!!
it´s so weird! haha but i´m having a great time. my flight was delayed a little at JFk but overall the flight wasnt bad at all.
Saturday - we took a walking tour of old Madrid which ill put pictures up of when i get the chance. the city is beautiful - more beautiful than i can rememeber. i took a lot of pictures, no surprise there and i even remembered a lot of the places thanks to my amazing tour guide jess last summer! saturday night we all went out to a traditional paella dinner and it was once again, amazing.
Sunday - sunday was more of an orientation day and we just walked around during our free time, tired and possibly a little hungover.... alison mat and i went out for some tapas for lunch while the others decided that they wanted to go to burger king.... yeahhhh

today we take our spanish placement exam for our intensive spainsh class that starts tomorrow!!! but until then, im going to walk around a little and then eat lunch with my amazing senora! she is tooo cute!

miss you all but having a great time!