La primera semana

It's been a long time since I've updated and my mom's been asking me to post again so here it goes. I've been in Spain for a week and a half now and living with my host parents in Madrid for exactly a week. I say host parents because it's just the two of them and me - they have a daughter but she lives in "el pueblo" (Socuellamos) outside of Madrid with her husband of a year. Actually now there are more people in the apartment - two girls from Russia got here last night and are staying here for four weeks while they take Spanish classes. I thought they would be fluent or something but it turns out they speak less Spanish than I do (they've only been studying the language for 4 months!). They actually speak more English so when they're trying to say something in Spanish to my host mom they turn to me and say it in English so I can tell them how to say it in Spanish. It's really funny. Anyway next to them I feel like a native speaker (almost, haha).

View from Circulo de Bellas Artes

Madrid is a huge city and so far I've explored very little of it. I've seen the barrios of Chueca, Malasana, and Sol (right in the center), among others, and I live between the barrios of Lavapies and Atocha, but other than that I've yet to venture to much of the city. Part of the reason is that this past week was crazy busy with all kinds of orientation activities. We've had conversation classes; meetings about Autonoma classes, program classes, extracurriculars, reimbursement, adjusting to life abroad; a tour of Autonoma (long name is Universidad Autonoma de Madrid); tours through the city; tours through specific barrios; a visit to Circulo de Bellas Artes which is a huge arts complex with the greatest view of Madrid from the roof; "conferencias" with professors from Autonoma to give us a preview of their classes; a fiesta with our "intercambios" or Spanish pen pals... And amid all that trying to forge new friendships, eating out, discovering Madrileno nightlife, getting phones, getting lost, navigating the autobus and the metro. It's been exhausting. But this week the load lightens considerably and for the first time we actually have free time. It's kind of scary. I liked the over-scheduling last week to the extent that it didn't give me a chance really to think. I didn't have time to miss home. I didn't have to figure out what to do when I had nothing to do (because there was always something on the schedule). But starting soon we'll pretty much have classes and that'll be it - lots of free time to fill. It'll be nice to have time to do what I want but it's also a little scary.

Me on the roof of Circulo de Bellas Artes

Let's see, what else... My host parents are super sweet. Manuela, my host mom, is a really good cook and makes delicious dinners (la cena) every night. She's very talkative which is awesome because sometimes I'm really quiet (especially in Spanish) so she doesn't mind filling the silence. Plus she speaks slowly and enunciates clearly so I can usually understand most of what she is saying. She doesn't speak any English so I can never use English as a crutch to explain what I'm trying to say. Antonio, my host dad, speaks (in Spanish) a little faster and a little more gruffly, so sometimes I pretend to understand what he's saying and just nod and smile, but lately I've been picking up a little more, which is nice. Their apartment is really nice and spacious and located super close to el centro, just one metro stop away from Sol which is like the center of everything (literally "kilometro cero" for Madrid: km 0, the point from which all distances in Madrid are measured).

The weather here (I know, how boring, the weather) has been pretty cold which I think is standard for this time of year and definitely not worse than in Boston, but it's still probably another reason I haven't done too much exploring. I think we were spoiled by mild temperatures at the beginning of the week because it feels like it's gotten colder since we've been here, and I almost always need guantes (gloves) and a bufanda (scarf). I hate the cold so I'm hoping that global warming pulls through and there are a few mild days headed our way (that sounds very weatherman-ish...).

Some interesting costumbres españolas (Spanish customs): You never walk around barefoot (or with just socks) in your house, you always wear shoes or slippers. They're super crazy about saving energy and water (they're in a drought) so you always turn off lights when you leave a room and take quick showers. And recycle everything you can. You greet new people with a kiss on each cheek (their right cheek first, which is confusing because it's the opposite of both France and Italy where you kiss their left cheek first), unless you and the other person are both male and then a handshake suffices. You NEVER do both a handshake and the two kisses, which I made the mistake of doing and was informed quite clearly that that is not the custom. Spanish students aren't expected to tip waiters at restaurants (hooray!).

At Javier Bardem's family's bar! in Sol

This weekend I went to the famous Museo del Prado for the first time. Actually I went twice because a friend didn't go with us the first time and there was a Peter Paul Rubens exhibit ending today that she wanted to see. I didn't know much about Rubens but after seeing the exhibit twice I feel a lot more up to speed on all things Rubens, which will hopefully one day come in handy on Jeopardy. We also looked at the work of Diego Velázquez and El Greco, among others. The museum is huge so it will require many return visits. The Prado is like a ten-minute walk from my house. And the Reina Sofia, the huge modern art museum, is like next door to me - I am incredibly lucky!

Mi amigo Chris y yo en frente del Mercado de San Miguel (Sol)

Hmm what else... Currently I am extremely excited because Laura (una de mis mejores amigas) is coming on Tuesday!! for 5 whole days. She's studying abroad this semester in India but her program starts in February so she's spending a few days with me before heading over there. It's going to be awesome. :)