New Years Resolutions...and other end of the year thoughts

So..before I get ready to go on vacation and recieve my family here in Madrid, I thought I should reflect a little bit on the year so far. Overall, its certainly been a great experience (as though of you who have been following my blog can certainly tell), but I still have some resolutions for the coming year...ways to make my experience even more worthwhile. With respect to my job- I think I'm trying really hard and teaching the kids pretty well, but I feel like maybe I could get through to them more, maybe find a way to convince them that they should care more about school.

The thing that I find most frustrating is that so many of the kids are so smart but just don't realize their full potential. Now, I know that this complaint has probably been around ever since teaching started as a profession...and I know that it certainly crosses cultural boundaries. Sooo...given that this is such a widespread problem, I know it's not realistic to think that it's one that I can solve in just a few months. Nevertheless, I've been thinking about this issue a lot lately, and I hope I can find some new, innovative ways to get through to the kids, to get them more excited about learning, during the next semester.

As far as my non-work life, I feel like I've done a good job integrating myself into Spanish culture. While I do hang out with a few American friends pretty often, I also am with Spaniards all the time, and I spend most of my time outside of school speaking Spanish. That being said, I think I want to try to take fuller advantage of all that Madrid has to offer culturally and artistically. In the past few weeks, I've been to an art museum, a poetry reading, and a photography exhibit, reminding me just how much I love art and culture...and how much Madrid has to offer in these arenas. I want to try to go to more events like this next year! I also think this will be easier now that Im really settled into my life and routine here.

And while part of my resolution is to become more connected to Madrid and more involved here and now, I also want to make an effor to be better connected with everyone back home. I have recently spoken with many friends from home, and I realize how happy it makes me to catch up with them, especially after we haven't spoken for a long time. I know its really hard to stay in touch, given the time difference and everyone's busy schedules, but I know I can also make more of an effort.

Anywayy..those are the three things I can think of for now. And as far as the immediate future- I'm really looking forward to seeing my family and having some time off to spend travelling with them. Next time I write, it will probably be 2011! So happy holidays and happy New Year everyone :)

¿Hablas español?

So, I know I just wrote an entry the other day, but I felt compelled to write another one, because I realized that there is one topic that I've been meaning to write about for weeks now. I continue to be amazed at how many people do not believe that I speak Spanish as well as I do...somehow they think that being American and speaking Spanish fluently is incompatible (unless you are Latino of course!) I'm not saying that all Spaniards believe in this stereotype, of course not...but I've gotten it a lot, and its started to make me think.

So- this amazement comes in two forms: there are the people who I meet while I'm out, friends of friends etc...and then there are my students. Every time I meet someone new, he or she is, without exception, impressed with my Spanish. Now...I'm not trying to say this to brag; I mean, of course I'm proud that Spaniards think I speak well, but I also know that after so many years of studying and practice, and for someone who is genuinely interested in the language, I SHOULD speak fluently by now.

But for whatever reason, people don't seem to understand that we have some really great Spanish programs in US high schools and colleges. When I tell people I've only been living here 3.5 months, they all say "but how is it possible that you speak like that after 3.5 months? I simply don't understand this question...my response is always.."of course i've been studying the langauge for years!! Learning a language isn't magic- of course I don't speak this way just by living here for 3.5 months. It took lots of hard work and the desire to learn" In my opinion, that is how you have to learn!

I don't know, maybe a lot of people here are just really unhappy with the way English is taught (I have heard that from a lot of people) and don't believe that you can really learn to speak the language in school (of course, they didn't have the luxury of being in a bilingual program like the one I teach in, with Fulbright teaching assistants!! haha).

Of course, my practical experience living in Spanish-speaking countries has helped me enormously, but still...I would be nowhere near as comfortable with the language without the extensive academic base that I have from hs and college.

And---then there is the topic of my students. This I just find funny...of course, I'm not supposed to be speaking Spanish with my students, because the whole point of my position is to get them to speak in English as much as possible. However, when I first met them, I told them all that I speak Spanish, that I've lived in Spain before, that I love the language, that I studied it in college etc etc.

Well, either none of them were listening, or they have short-term memories, because they always seem to be amazed when they "discover" that I understand and speak Spanish. Of course, this makes even less sense to me because, even though I techincally am not supposed to use any Spanish at school, I end up doing a lot of translating for both the teachers and the kids all the time. And..the kids ask me for translations...and I give them to them...yet they still don't know that I speak Spanish!

I just find this hilarious- I think they have just identified me completely with English, and even if its obvious that I speak Spanish, some of them keep forgetting that. Now, I guess that's not necessarily bad, because of course, I do want them to speak to me in English so that they can improve and become more comfortable with their language skills. And they are SUPPOSED to identify me with English...so, I'm not necessarily complaining, just reflecting I suppose.....

Anyway, I suppose thats enough reflecting for now. Feel free to provide your thoughts :)

December in Madrid

Well..it's certainly that time of year- its a few weeks before winter break and everyone is getting restless and excited for the holiday. Madrid is pretty this time of year, with all the Christmas displays and lights- its certainly quite festive. I certainly prefer the springtime when its warm and sunny, but there's definitely something beautiful about all the festive, winter decorations. Its pretty hard for me to believe that two years ago, when I was studying abroad, I would already be going home by now (actually, it was exactly 2 years ago, on December 13th, that I left Spain and returned to the US- WOW). On the one hand, I feel like I've been here a long time- i feel quite settled into my life here and it more or less feels like home. At the same time though, I can't believe I've already lived here for three and a half months (AND that i still have six more months!)

This whole experience is still a bit unreal- its like having two different lives at the same time. On the one hand, I'm still the same person here that I am back home and of course, I still talk to my family and friends back in the States. At the same time, I feel like the life I have here is so different from my life back home, like this year is just some strange pause from "real" life....it's a strange feeling for sure, one that I'm having trouble expressing (as is probably obvious right about now). Anyway...thats probably enough philosiphizing for now- on to other things...

School has been pretty busy lately. Our Global Classrooms project is taking up a lot of my time, now that we have our topics and countries, we have been working with the students a lot to begin to teach them about the topics. We were given two topics to work with (Children in Armed Conflicts and Trafficking of Wild Animals), so some students will be debating one, and some will be debating the other.

I have also had to do my first round of actual evaluations, which is rather tough! On the one hand, I don't want to be too easy on the kids, because I want to show some of the slackers that they are only going to earn the grades that they deserve. Also, I want to kids to know that I DO in fact have some real authority, because sometimes they tend to forget that! At the same time, I feel bad being really harsh (the Spanish grading system is different than the one in the US; there is much less grade inflation, so really low grades are much more common). Anyway, I'm trying hard to find a good balance, as always...

This past weekend, although I did have a bunch of work to do, I also had a chance to enjoy many of the fun things that Madrid has to offer. I had a REAL Spanish weekend experience, and went out every night! (which takes quite a lot of stamina, when you stay out soooo late, I've come to realize...)

Each night I spent time with a different group of friends, which was really nice (my Fulbright friends, Ruth and my Spanish friends, and some new friends!) The new friends included a girl that Kelly and I met in Sevilla...she lives here in Madrid and invited us out with her and her friends. Even though I already have a nice group of friends here, its always nice to meet new people and find new things to do. I hope we will hang out with them again- they were all really nice. Actually, some of them are poets of sorts and invited Kelly and I to a poetry recitation (I guess like a poetry slam?) that they are participating in tonight. So, we are planning to go; I figured-its something different to try out.

I also finally made it to the Prado Museum this weekend (for the first time!) For those of you who don't know, the Prado is one of the biggest, most famous museums in Madrid, kind of the equivalent of the Louvre in Paris or the Met in NY. I had been meaning to go for weeks now and finally got around to it! It was really fun- saw a lot of the Spanish greats (Velazquez, El Greco, Ribera, Goya etc) and also lots of other 16th-19th century art. There was also a special exhibit on Renoir, who is one of my all-time favorite artists, so I especially enjoyed that. We also had a nice warm spell this weekend, so it was nice to be able to walk outside a little less bundled up than I am used to.

I can't believe i only have two more weeks before winter break (and before my family comes to vist!) I can't wait!! These will be a busy two weeks but after that, two whole weeks of vacation to look forward to!! Wooo :)

La vuelta a Sevilla! (The return to Sevilla)

This past weekend (well, fri-tues am, since we had yet another holiday here in Spain!), my friend Kelly and I went to Sevilla. It was my first time back since I had studied abroad there two years ago, so it was a really special trip for me. We had a wonderful time, really got to enjoy everything great about the city and it made me really happy to be back in what i consider to be a home away from home.

On Friday, we had great sunny weather (much warmer than Madrid) and we spent the day just walking around the city, seeing all the main sites. We were staying in a hostel right by the Cathedral, so we were in a great location. We walked all through the center of the city-by the cathedral, the university, avenida de la Constiutucion, Plaza Nueva, Calle Sierpes etc. We had chocoloate and churros in the morning and a nice menu del dia for lunch. We walked around Plaza de Espana and then walked along the river, taking beautiful pictures of the sunset. We crossed the bridge into Triana and saw all the Christmas lights and then walked back towards the cathedral and found a nice place to get some tapas for dinner. At night, our hostel had arranged a pub crawl and we went to several different bars and a discoteca with a whole bunch of people from our hostel and other nearby hostels. It was really fun to experience the Sevilla nightlife once again, and to meet travellers from all over the world- we talked with other Americans, as well as people from Italy, Spain, Brazil, Scotland, England, Denmark, the Netherlands etc....it was a really great day!!

Saturday we toured the cathedral and climbed the Giralda (the big tower) and got a beautiful view of the city. We had another great Spanish-style lunch and then took a walk down memory lane...the walk from the center of the city to Julia's apartment (Julia was my host mom in Sevilla two years ago)!! It was very nostalgic to repeat that walk that I did every single weekday while i was living in Sevilla..and in the end, I remembered it perfectly! It felt like such a familiar path, even though it had been two years since i had been there! We ended up spending 2.5 hours with Julia- which was great! We talked about basically everything under the sun...caught up on our lives and shared lots of laughs. I also got to see Julia's daughter, son-in-law, sister, and brother-in-law, which was really nice. It was so great to see her again and she was just as sweet as always!!

The great night continued as we went back to the hostel and headed to a flamenco show arranged by the hostel staff. The show was awesome-the dancers and musicians were amazingly talented!!

On Sunday, the weather changed for the worse and it basically rained all day. So, we decided to go to the contemporary art museum in the morning...seemed like a good rainy day activity. We had mixed feelings about the museum-it was full of strange videos (very contemporary), which aren't really my style, but there were also some really cool and interesting pieces. We found another great place to have lunch after the museum, and then just walked around and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. We decided to go out that night with the people from the hostel again, since it was so fun the other night, and since it provided us with a guide to show us the best places to go!! We met lots of interesting people and it was another great night!

Monday was another really fun day...we spent a very typical Spanish afternoon with 2 Sevillanos, which was great. Kelly's aunt used to live in Spain and still has some very close friends here. One of her closest friends is from Sevilla...and so we met up with him and his friend for the afternoon. We went to the Archivo de las Indias and saw a cool exhibit on pirates in Spanish America (back during colonial times) and then proceeded to have a long afternoon full of drinks and food. We first went to a typical outdoor bar, which was full of people chatting and enjoying their day off. Then we went to another place with great tapas...also quite crowded! The afternoon continued as we sipped some cafe in another bar..and then continued even longer as we had some post-coffee drinks (apparently thats very typical!) It was really fun to just have a relaxing afternoon, chatting and enjoying ourselves. That night, we relaxed a bit at the hostel, hanging out with some of our new friends, enjoyed some more great food, and went out for a bit with some of the other hostel guests.

And finally, tues am, we woke up bright and early and caught the train back to Madrid. It was SUCH a great trip; I'm soo glad we decided to go! And who knows..maybe i'll be back again soon..after all, its not too far away!!!

A successful Thanksgiving in Madrid

Last night, I celebrated my second Thanskgiving away from home (the first time was two years ago, when I was studying abroad). It was a very unique and interesting experience, so I wanted to reflect on it now, before I forgot all of the details.

Two years ago, I went to Prague with a Duke program during Thanksgiving, so I had a traditional, sit-down Thanksgiving meal with about 20 other Duke students at a restaurant in Prague. That was certainly an unforgettable experience, but of course, I didn't have to think about cooking or making plans, because the plans were sort of made for me. This time around, things were different; I wanted to be sure to celebrate Thanksgiving, in one way or another, with my "family" here in Spain.

My friend Christina proposed having a Thanksgiving meal at her house and inviting a bunch of our American friends, as well as some other non-American friends, who have never experienced Thanksgiving before. I immediately thought it was a great idea. I had been feeling a bit homesick lately (I think the combination of the time of year and being sick can do that to you!) so it really made me happy to think that I would still be doing something special for Thanksgiving, even if I wasn't going to be at home with my family, like usual.

The plan was to do a sort of potluck- everyone would bring one of their favorite Thanksgiving dishes, given that they could find the ingredients here in Spain (which proved to be more difficult than one might expect!) My roommate Ruth, for whom this was her first ever Thanksgiving meal, was quite nervous about the whole thing. However, I reassured her that this experience was very new for almost all of us too. I know I, at least, have never really cooked a Thanksgiving meal before. Of course, I'm usually in the house when my mom is cooking, and I help out a bit here and there, but I've never been in charge of preparing the meal myself (nor have i ever prepared it with friends). So, basically, although I'm of course much more familiar with the holiday and the typical foods than Ruth, I also didn't really know what to expect.

I told Christina that I would bring a festive salad (complete with spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, raisins, walnuts, garbanzo beans...) because I figured no one else would think to bring that. I also went to Christina's apartment a few hours early to help out with misc cooking tasks. Christina was able to find a turkey at the Corte Ingles (the big department store here)...none of the normal supermarkets carry turkeys! When I arrived at her apartment at 5:15, the raw turkey was still sitting in a bag, and Christina and her roommates were still preparing the stuffing to put inside. So, we were a bit delayed (the goal was to have the turkey in the oven at 4, but since Christina didnt end up getting home from work until 4, that wasn't exactly possible). Anyway, I rushed to help finish up with the stuffing, and in a few minutes, Christina and I were walking across the street with a raw turkey and two tupperwares of stuffing in hand.

Now- you might ask, why were walking across the street with all of this food? Well, Christina doesn't actually have an oven in her apartment. But, her landlord lives just around the corner, and was nice enough to let us use her oven! So, we arrive at the landlord's house, take out the turkey, clean it, and attempt to figure out what to do with the huge bird. I have never cooked a turkey before and Christina is a vegetarian, so it was quite a hilarious situation. But, sure enough, we figured it out, with the help of a recipe and some online videos, and stuffed that bird with our stuffing, and got it into the oven as quick as possible. Then...the mad dash back to Christina's apartment to help her roommates with the rest of the food.

Over the next few hours we (Christina, George (another Fulbright), Christina's roommates and I) were busy at work, chopping and preparing all sorts of vegetables- mushrooms with onions, green beans, mashed sweet potatoes, and squash. The kitchen was quite hectic, to say the least. At the same time, it was really fun to be there with friends, all cooking together and preparing for the rest of the guests. Christina had invited everyone to come at 8 pm, and we knew that the turkey was now not going to be ready until about 10. So...we were a little worried, but decided that most people would arrive late anyway (everyone was doing last minute cooking, plus we are all on Spanish time now!). Anyway, at 7:40, we were just finishing up all of the vegetable dishes, and ran back over to the neighbor's house to check on the bird. As expected, it was still quite raw, so we came back to Christinas place to attempt to tidy up a bit.

Next, another Fulbrighter, Jason, came over, and the two of us prepared some hot wine on the stove. Christina and i had really enjoyed this yummy drink in Budapest and had decided that it would be fun to make for Thanksgiving (its basically red wine, brandy, cinnamon, sugar, oranges, cloves all heated up on the stove). Luckily for us, everyone was late, as we had predicted. At about 8:30, the guests started to arrive. Several other Fulbrighters came, all bearing different Thanksgiving treats (Kelly, Noel, Kara, Cassandra) and Ruth arrived as well, with her first ever corn bread in hand!!! (which turned out great! yayy Ruth!)

I was absolutely amazed at the spread we had. We were unsure whether or not we would have enough food (we were 13 people in total), but it turned out great! By the time everyone got there, our table consisted of the following items: lots of stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, mushrooms and onions, salad, green bean cassarole, corn bread, two different kinds of sweet potatoes, squash, deviled eggs, and three different pies for dessert!) It was about 9 pm, and we knew we still had about an hour to wait for the turkey, so we decided we could all start eating the other foods, while they were warm, and go back for seconds by the time the turkey arrived. So, we all dug in..and the food was all great!! I was so impressed with all of us :) All of the non-Americans (Ruth, Christina's roommates (a British guy, a Belgian girl and a French girl) and another Mexican friend) all really enjoyed the food as well! It was also just really fun to be relaxing and lauging amongst good friends. It felt really good to share such a wonderful holiday with other people who had never experienced it before. I think they all really appreciated what a nice day it is!

At around 10 pm, Jason, Christina, and George went across the street to check on the turkey. After a few minutes, when they hadn't returned yet, we were starting to get a little worried. But sure enough, a few minutes later, they walked through the door, golden turkey in hand, and all hysterically lauging. I really wish I could have seen the scene they described. Picture this- three 22 year olds walking across the street in Madrid at 10 pm, carrying a huge turkey in a pan (or course, there wasn't really any way to cover the turkey). Apparently, EVERYONE in the street was staring at them and pointing, laughing, oohing and aweing. Apparently some people even congratulated them! I'm pretty sure most of them didn't realize the turkey was for Thanksgiving and also probably didn't understand why they were carrying a huge turkey outside, so i can only imagine how funny that must have been!

So, the turkey arrived AND...it turned out great too!! Christina and I were worried that it would be dry, because we werent really sure that we had done enough to season it. But, it was actually really good; everyone really liked it!! We did a really good job with the food- there were some leftovers, but we ate most of it! The hot wine also went over really well :) We all talked about our different Thanksgiving traditions and even spoke about how thankful we were to have the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving in Spain with people we care about :)

A little later..it was time for dessert! I was already completely stuffed..but that is a sign of a good Thanksgiving, right? We told all the non-Americans that if there is one day when you are not allowed to worry about how much you are eating, it's Thanksgiving!! Of course..at home, I would have eaten a lot earlier, and had a few hours to sit on the couch watching football or whatever else! Anyway, we had three different wonderful pies- a pumpkin pie, a pumpkin walnut pie, and a pecan pie. And, someone even brought ice cream! The desserts were all wonderful, just like all the other food!

Around midnight, the celebration began to wind down and people started to head out (some people were even travelling the next morning!) Over all, it was a really wonderful night- the whole experience made me feel really at home, which is hard when you are thousands of miles from home during such a family-orientated holiday like Thanksgiving. While I'm excited to be home again for Thanksgiving next year, I will never forget this very special Thanksgiving that I celebrated here in Madrid.

Ohhh and I almost forgot- we might be having a Thanksgiving 2 soon, because all of my other Spanish friends are anxious to experience the holiday as well (and im sure after Ruth raves about all of the food, they will be even more excited!) Soooo..we'll see what happens! Anywayyy....happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Budapest! (With a short stop in Milan)

This weekend was quite the adventure! My friend (I should say- my VERY adventurous friend) Christina and I went to Budapest. But first...we went to Milan...for a few hours! We started our trip with a shaky start- it wasn't the BEST time for us to be travelling; I was feeling sick and Christina was really busy and stressed w/ grad school apps, but we were both troopers and decided we would go anyway and try our best to enjoy. Anyway, we flew to Milan on Thursday night and didn't leave for Budapest until 7 am. So, we decided we would take advantage and go into Milan for a few hours, instead of just hanging out in the airport. However, by the time we made it to Milan, it was already almost midnight. Anddd...although Christina swore that something would be open (its a city right? like Madrid? of course we will find food at midnight!), it turned out that the city was quite dead.



We did get to see the Duomo (the main cathedral/square in Milan) and a bit of the center of the city, which was pretty cool. However, we couldn't find any open restaurants or bars. So, we decided we would just head back to the bus station and then back to the airport. However, it turned out that we had misread the bus schedule and long story short....the 1:20 am bus that we thought we would take did not exist, and the next bus wasn't until 4:15. So, we had to figure out what to do with ourselves for three hours in a city that was cold, pretty dead, with very little open. Luckily, the bus station was close to a bunch of hotels, and a nice hotel receptionist agreed to let us chill on the couch in the lobby while we waited for our bus. That was quite the relief! So...we spent 2.5 hours in a hotel lobby...I was drifting in and out of sleep while Christina was working on her computer and we were occasionally laughing (in our deliriously tired state) about our crazy, adventerous night.



Anyway, we made it back to the bus and to the airport, and on our way to Budapest. When we first arrived, the weather was pretty crummy (cold and rainy), but we still managed to enjoy our day. We went on a hop-on, hop-off bus, which took us all around the city, to all of the main sites. Budapest is divided into two parts (Buda and Pest, which are divided by the Danube River). The bus tour took us to all the main sites on both sides of the city, and we also went on a boat tour on the Danube. We learned all about the history and culture of Budapest, which was really interesting! The Buda side of the city is the hilly part, which is where the famous Fisherman's Bastion is, and where you can see an amazing panoramic view of the city. On our way up the hill, we also saw the Parliament building, which was an absolutley beautiful building and is one of the largest Parliament buildings in the world.



We also went past several other impressive monuments on both the bus and boat tours, including the famous medicinal baths (Budapest has the largest medicinal bath in Europe). We took a long walk across the famous Chain Bridge (one of the many bridges that divides the two parts of the city), and got some great views of the entire city (although the pictures would have certainly been better if the weather had been sunnier!).



At this point, we were exhausted and hungry...we made our way back to the Pest part of the city, where we found what they call "Fashion Street," which is a very popular pedestrian street with lots of shops and restaurants. We found a nice restaurant, where we had some traditinal Hungarian food (goulash soup, some sort of Chicken/pasta dish, and a Hungarian crepe-like dessert). After lunch, we walked around the area a bit and then came across the annnual Christmas market. We got really lucky- the Christmas market opened the day we arrived- and it was probably one of our favorite parts of the weekend. The market was full of traditional foods and desserts, hot wine (one of our favorite parts of the weekend!), and all sorts of great gifts, artwork etc. We walked around for awhile and snacked a bit before we decided we were so exhausted that we needed to walk back to our hostel. So, we got back early, hit the sack, and called it a night.



The next day- we had much more energy, and certainly made the most of our time. We left the hostel at 9 am and didn't come back again until after 11 pm!! First, we walked down Andrassy ut, which is the main, famous street in Pest. We walked along the street, away from our hostel, towards Hero's Square. Along the way, we saw all sorts of beautiful houses and buildings. Then, we arrived at Heros Square, which is a monument for Hungarian soldiers that have died during the various wars. Also at the same square are two different, beautiful mesuem buildings. And, right behind the square, there was a beautiful old castle and a nice, big park, where we walked around for a bit. After we finished touring that area, we walked toured the Dohany Street Synagogue, which is the largest synagogue in Europe! Since it was Saturday, we were unable to go inside, but just the outside of the building was quite impressive! It was absolutely beautiful!



Next, we went back to the Christmas market to do a little shopping, now that we had a little more energy to think about what we wanted. We both bought some great gifts :) We also ate some traditional Hungarian snacks for lunch- I had a kebab with chicken, onions, and some other substance that we were unable to identify (not sure i want to know?), and we shared this really yummy sweet dough- it was basically dough rolled in cinnamon, sugar, walnuts etc (delicious!)



After the Christmas market, we walked to the Opera building, which is another amazing site in Budapest! We took a tour of the building, which was really great, and learned all about its history (even learned that Franz Liszt was the director there for a few years). Then, we walked back towards the market (Christina still had some gifts to get), and sat for a bit, talking with some other Americans we met there. Then, we walked along the Fashion street again, and found a nice restaurant on a side street, where we had some more great tradtional food. I had pumpkin soup and stuffed cabbage. Christina also had the soup and had a pasta and mushroom dish. After dinner, we walked along the water, but in another part of the city that we hadn't seen before. We wandered around for quite awhile, before heading back towards our hostel.



And, near our hostel, there was this really cool outdoor food and wine market going on. There were all these stands set up where they were selling all different types of wine and also different foods, buffet style. So, we decided to sit and enjoy another cup of that hot wine we enjoyed so much, and take in the ambience. Eventually, after our long and exhausting day, we made it back to the hostel and called it a night.



Sunday morning, we woke up and took a short walk around the area where our hostel was (in another direction, where we hadn't walked before). We found a cafe to have some breakfast, and then we headed to the airport. Our trip back was another adventure. We were flying from Budapest to Munich, and then on to Madrid, but had a very short layover. We knew that even if our first flight was on time, it would be pretty tight. So, our flight did leave on time (more or less), but we still ended up landing about five minutes late. Then, it turned out that we needed to take a bus to the terminal (which adds about five mins) and we needed to wait for everyone to get on the bus (another 2-3 mins), and as you know if you have ever ran through an airport trying to make a connection (or if you have ever missed a flight that way), you know that 7-8 minutes makes a big difference in these situations.



So, by the time we got to the terminal, it was already 2:40 (or maybe later?) and our flight was supposed to leave at 2:50. We dashed across the airport towards our gate, with the hope that we might get lucky. AND, it turned out, that when we arrived, completely out of breath, that the flight hadn't even started boarding yet! (delayed for one reason or another). So, we made it back to Madrid as planned...and although i came back still sick and a bit stressed with a lot of things to do, I realized that I'm really glad I went on this trip (i had considered not going at one point, because i hadn't been feeling well). I thought about it- when again am i going to go to budapest for the weekend? So...this week will be a bit hectic, but its totally worth it for this incredible adventure of a weekend that Christina and I shared :)



Anywayy..i know this is a long entry, but i just had sooo much to say! I hope I didnt forget too much (i'm sure there are plenty of things I left out...Christina can add if she thinks of anything!)

Otra semana interesante

I feel like I never fail to have interesting experiences here in Madrid! Last weekend, the MTV music awards were hosted here in Madrid, so there was a huge pre-awards show concert at the Puerta de Alcala, which is right near Retiro Park. It was insanely crowded with people (I guess people get motivated by free concerts!) and the acts were actually pretty well-known. The performers were three American groups- 30 Seconds to Mars, Katy Perry, and Linkin Park (so a very unique mix). I went with Ruth and Kelly, and we actually ended up watching from Ruth's office, which was RIGHT next to the stage. We had an amazing view, and unlike everyone outside, we could actually move without being pushed by others. Also, one of Ruth's co-workers had prepared a little party for the event, so we had food and drinks too. It was our own little VIP fiesta! hahaha

This week at school was pretty short. We didn't have school on Tuesday because there was yet another holiday here in Madrid. I took advantage of the day off to catch up on sleep and work and to spend some time with friends. School went well this week- had some productive conversation lessons with my English students. Did have on sort of funny moment- I was teaching the first-year kids about vocabulary to use at hotels, and one of the words on their list was "linen." None of them knew that word, so I then asked them if they knew the word "sheet," since sheets are basically linens....Well, turns out that they didn't know this word either, and they proceeded to start giggling and whispering, "mierda," which means "shit" in Spanish. SO, of course, I was embarassed...told them "NOOO...." and wrote SHEET on the board and explained them how to pronounce it and what ie meant." Of course, as 12 and 13 year old kids, they weren't done giggling. They claimed they didn't understand how sheet was pronounced differently than shit, which put me in a sticky situation. I then realized that they all read books that have some bad words in it, so I figured it was ok to clarify this error in pronunciation one time. Of course, after that, it was a bit hard to recover our hotel discussion, but I made it through OK.

Thursday night, my friend Christina and I went to an intercambio (exchange) event at this one bar where they have cultural/linguistic exchange every week. It was fun- we met a lot of interesting, new people. Friday night, Noel and I went to see "Los Miserables," at a theater on Gran Via, Madrid's equivalent of Broadway. We both really loved the show! We were both huge fans of the English version and of the music, and we thought it was really cool to hear all the music in Spanish and see how the translations differend in order to fit with the music. For the most part, the songs had the same meanings, but of course, they couldn't literally translate every word, or else the rhymes and rhythms wouldn't work. It was quite interesting and overall, the singing/acting was quite good!

Yesterday, my friend Grant came to visit from the US. He works for an airline company, so he has travel benefits, where he can decide really last-minute if he wants to travel somewhere, and if there is space, he can go VERY cheaply. SO, since he studied abroad here and since he was aching to come back, he ended up getting away for the weekend. He was only here for a day (everyone who heard that thought he was loco hahah), but it was a fun-filled day.

He got here around 12 pm, and we took a very long walk all around the center of the city. We walked from my place to SOL, to Plaza Mayor, and to Plaza Santa Ana, where we had a nice Spanish lunch. We then went back to my place to recover a little (we were both exhausted!). Then, we went out to a bar in Alonso Martinez with some of my Spanish friends, which was a lot of fun (they are the ones who thought he was CRAZY for coming to Madrid for a day from the US haha). Then, we met up with my friend Christina and went to dinner at a really cool place in Malasana. So, he got to see LOTS of Madrid in a very short time. Hopefully (for his sake), he is currently on a flight home. He wasn't sure if he would get on, because for whatever reasaon, the flights back to the states from Madrid got much more full in the past 24 hours....soo there is a chance he may be back here later. Either way, since I hadn't seen him since graduation in May, it was really nice to catch up :)

Anywayy, assuming Grant doesn't show up at my door again today, I plan on just having a relaxing day...finally got to catch up on my sleep last night, which was great. Now I'll probably just go to the gym, prep some classes for school, and maybe meet a friend for coffee later. Anyway, thats it for now i think..hasta luego :)

Week in review

Soo...had another interesting week here in Madrid. Last weekend was full of Halloween festivities. Saturday night, I went out with Ruth, Carlos, and Lorena (two of Ruth's good friends) to a discoteca. There were a fair amount of people dressed up in costumes, mainly people with blood face paint or strange masks..attempts at "scary" costumes haha. But, anyway, we decided to save our costumes for Sunday. So, we wore normal clothes and basically had a "normal" night out in Madrid.

On Sunday, I had a pretty relaxing day, hung out with a friend for a few hours, and then went to Halloween celebration part 2. We (me, Ruth, Carlos, Aitor (our two neighbors) went to a party at our other friends' apartment. Ruth and I showed up in costume (me in my Hawaiian witch outfit, her as a scary, bloody nurse haha) to find out that "it wasn't a costume party." We were a little embarrassed when we walked into a room of about 10-15 people, all of whom were in normal clothes. However, we decided to embrace our mistake, and convinced everyone else that they were the lame ones for not dressing up. Anyway, it turned out that other people later did show up in costumes, plus some of the people who were originally in normal clothes found "costumes." We eventually left the house party and went out, where we saw lots of strange costumes!! (no other Hawaiian witches though)

Monday was All Saint's Day, so I didn't have school (I know i know, my schedule is too easy). I
slept in, and then went over to Noel's house, where we ate lunch at caught up a bit. We went on a nice long walk afterwards and enjoyed the return of the sunny weather. Eventually, we met up with two other Fulbright girls for a light tapas dinner.

Then, I had my "busy" three day week at school. It was a pretty typical week- had my different conversation classes, helped out with a few lessons in social science classes, had my two private English lessons in the evening etc. On Thursday, to celebrate the end of our "long" week at school, Noel and I got kebabs for lunch (there are a ton of Kebab places in Madrid, for whatever reason, they are really popular here, and I had yet to try one before yesterday!). We sat outside at a park by her house; it was suprisingly warm outside in the afternoon, much much warmer than it is in the morning or at night. Then, I went back to my house and did a little bit of drawing to relax, which was a really nice change of pace. I went to the gym, and then just hung out at my house at night, watching tv with Ruth.

Today, I have to take advantage of my day off and make it to the bank and to the gym. Then, I'm going to my friend Rebecca's house for lunch, so that should be fun. Tonight will probably be another fun night out in Madrid! Anywayyy..thats my week in review. Hasta pronto :)

Otra semana en Madrid

I had a good, productive week in Madrid after coming back from Galicia. It was a great week at school; I feel like I'm finally getting to know some of the students personally, which feels really great. I had some particularly good classes this week- the older students were really talkative during our conversation classes; they got really into the debate, which made me feel very proud and accomplished (we were discussing issues of gender equality/inequality).

Also, as it was the week before Halloween, i did a Halloween class with my younger students, which they really enjoyed. I told them about the origins and history of the Holiday, we talked about the current traditions in the US and here in Spain, and then I read them a scary story, which they really enjoyed. Next, they all worked in pairs to write their own scary stories, and I was really proud with how well some of them turned out. They really enjoyed class that day, and used their imaginations a lot, which made me happy, since it sometimes seems like they don't have enough opportunities to be creative at school.

To celebrate our good week at school (and our new paychecks), Noel, Kelly, and I went to a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant on Thursday night...it was definitely a nice change of pace and a fun girls' night. Friday, my day was both productive and relaxing- I finally got my NIE card (which is the national residency/identification card for foreigners), which I'm excited about. Its just much easier now that I have one, because I can use that as identification and proof that I'm a student, instead of having to get strange looks when I show my drivers' license or passport. I also ran some other errands, which is suprisingly hard to do here in Madrid, given that there is a separate store for every specific type of thing (to buy envelopes, you need to go to a paper store, to buy stamps you need to go to an estanco, to make photocopies, you need to go to a locutorio etc), so I felt accomplished when I got some of that stuff done. At night, I ended up staying in and watching Thelma and Louise with Ruth (which I had actually never seen, so that was fun!). We both wanted to go out, but this weekend the weather is really crummy- its cold and rainy, and once we got comfortable on the couch, we just decided not to move ;) Anyway, it was nice to have a more tranquil night for change, especially since I was really tired and have a bit of a cold. It's still really gross out, but I do want to go out tonight for Halloween, so hopefully it won't rain too much!

This morning I went to a really cool cultural/ art exhibit at theis place called La Caixa Forum, which is basically a cultural center that has art exhibits (for free!). There was this really great photography exhbit by a wonderful photographer named Isabel Munoz. The exhibit, called Infancia, was about children from all over the world, and was organized because of the anniversary of the UN Convention for Children's Rights. The exhibition showed how, despite supposedly having all the same rights, children/adolscents from different regions/countries lead dramatically different lives. For example, there was the Japanese boy who was the best in his class at his elite high school, was a virtuoso violinist, and planned to attend Harvard. Then of course, there were the young African mothers whose babies weighed less than one kilo, or orphans in Central America whose parents were killed by gangs (and many more diverse examples). It was a really moving, impressive exhbit. And...what was really weird and very coincidental, was that the ONE kid from the US (at least the only one I could find), was a young boy, a child of Indian immigrants, who lived in Summit, NJ, which is literally 10 mins from my house!

At the center, there was also a cool exhibit on the Italian film director, Federico Fellini, who is most famous for the film, La Dolce Vita. There was also another interesting exhbit on the personal and intellectual/artistic realtionship between Federico Garcia Lorca and Salvador Dali, which I also enjoyed. I was planning to continue my day of cultural and artistic exploration at the Prado Museum, which is right near the Caixa, but I decided that I was too tired for that, and would have to go another day! (or several days, given how big the Prado is!). So, now I'm just back at my apartment relaxing... Tonight, hopefully I'll do something fun for Halloween with friends...and then I still have two more days of the weekend left (no school on Monday becasue its All Saints Day). And of course, eventually, I'll have to do some work to prepare for classes next week...but that will probably come Sunday and Monday :) Anyway, thats it for now.

Pulpo, almejas, almendras, vino...y una catedral en Santiago!

This past weekend I went to Santiago de Compostela with my friend Noel, and we had a wonderful time! But before I get into that---a short update about what happened since my last post, before I went away for the weekend. The previous weekend, I went to lunch at Sara's house (the girl who lived with my friend Sharon years ago in the US). I got to meet her husband and her adorable little 2-year-old David. Sara's brother and girl friend (who I had already met) were also there. It was a really fun day- a nice change of pace to be in a family environment and just have a nice, long lunch and conversation with friendly people. David was so cute, and had a fun time saying my name repeatedly over and over again (he had no trouble with my name!).

Also last weekend, I went to a party with Ruth, where we both met a lot of new people. One of her friends was having people at his house, but neither of us knew anyone except for him. So, that was also a nice change of pace...just to meet new people and be in a slightly different environement. Last week at school was pretty busy and hectic, and there was a fair amount of confusion about our lessons, becasue some of the teachers were away on a field trip. However, today, we cleared up a lot of the confusion, and I think we will be planning more ahead of time from now on (which makes me very happy and less stressed!). This week, I get to teach the young kids about Halloween, which is a lot of fun. I also found a fun scary story to tell them (which they loved!) and I'm having them write their own scary stories to share with the class, which they also really seem to enjoy.

Anyway..back to Santiago. For those of you who don't speak Spanish, the title of this blog translates to "Octopus, clams, almonds, wine...and a cathedral in Santiago de Compostela." So, as you can probably tell- Santiago is known for two things- food! (especially seafood) and it's religious importance. Santiago is a city in Galicia, in northern Spain, that is the end of a very well-known religious piligrimage called the Camino a Santiago. Every year, millions of people make this pilgrimage, which goes all the way to Rome and through some of France. Of course, Noel and I made a different kind of pilgrimage, a much easier one, on a Ryan Air flight from Madrid! Still, we got to see a lot of the peregrinos (pilgrims) and enjoyed the religious monuments of the city.

So, Thursday night, we flew from Madrid...had a bit of a delay, but otherwise, the trip was pretty smooth. However, once we arrived in Santiago, it was rather difficult to find our hostel. We had forgetten to find a map online, and there were no maps available in the airport. We did know the adresss of our hostel and the relative location, but we had to ask five different people before we actually found it. By the time we got to our hotel, it ws alreayd 11:30 and we still hadn't eaten any dinner. Luckily, we had Noel's favorite Spanish chips (Ruffles Jamon haha) in the airport...that was the only thing keeping us from being absolutley starving. Still, we were quite hungry! Of course, we quickly found out that, despite the late dinner hour in Spain, most bars, while still open, stop serving food around 11 or 11:30. We were starting to think our trip was off to a bad start when we finally found teh perfect place- a bar that was quite crowded, that was still serving food (which looked quite delicious!) We had a great meal- a traditional Spanish empanada, and a tostada con tomate, chorizo, y queso (an open-faced sandwich with tomato, sausage, and melted cheese), and some really great white wine called Albarino. The place itself had a great ambience; visitors wrote notes on the napkins and posted them on the wall, and put coins on the floor and on the walls. It was a great place to start our adventure in Santiago!

On Friday, we had a nice breakfast at our hotel and them walked to the seminary called San Martin Pinario, which was right next to our hotel. We went inside adn saw some beautiful artwork, an elaborate church, some really cool old stamps, and some old chemistry materials. We then walked to the cathedral, which was quite the sight to see- really different than any other cathedral I had ever seen before. It was absolutely beautiful! We even went inside while they were having a mass, which was pretty cool. Next, we had a great menu del dia (a three course meal) at a lovel restaurant. The first course was cazuela de gambas y pulpo (shrimp and octopus in an olive oil sauce), arroz con mariscos (paella more or less), and tarta de santiago (which was a delicious almond cake that a specialty in santiago). I'm still stuffed just thinking about that meal!! It was sooo delicious though! We couldn't stop talking about how good the food was all weekend long..it ws sort of the theme of the trip!

Next, we walked around some more to an old convent and seminary and saw some beautiful views. We walked by a pastry shop where we got free samples of three different types of traditional Galician pastries (yum), and did some window shopping. We were tempted to buy some pastries, but finally resisted. At night, we went back to that same bar from Thursday night, just because we loved it so much. We then ended up at a second bar, where we got a drink and met some natives, who told us where to go out at night in Santiago. We ended up chatting with them for awhile and checking out some of the typical Santiago nightlife (what they called a "paz" which is sort of like a mini discoteca. We had a fun, late night, and eventually made our way back to the hotel.

Saturday, we had a late start to the day, as we had gone to bed pretty late the night before. We had another great meal- cald gallego (a great soup with potatoes and cabbage), and shared what I think was probably the best tortilla de patatas i have ever had (and I've had a lot!). Then, we walked around a bit, through these really cool old gardens, did a bunch of window shopping, and saw the University of Santiago. We also saw a really cool jewelry gallery, with hand-made jewelry by local artisans. We stopped at a cafe for coffee and lunch, and then walked around a bit more. Finally, we had another great meal; this time very traditional Galician seafood. We ate pulpo (octopus), almejas (clams), and pimentos padrones (a special kind of peppers), and another great glass of white wine. All the food was amazing!! Again, we couldn't stop raving about the amazing food. After dinner, we went back to the hostel and called it a night..we were pretty exhausted from the night before!

Sunday, we woke up early, had our last meal in Santiago (just a simple breakfast this time), and headed to the airport. We made our way back to Madrid- first to the airport, then to the metro, then eventually home. We came home and had some work to do for school the next day, but it was certainly worth it to have to work on Sunday, for it was an awesome weekend! And, I even ended up having time to go out with Ruth and some friends at night for dinner in La Latina, the typical Sunday night spot :) What a great end to the weekend!! This week I'm quite busy with work again, but getting there poco a poco...

Anyway, thats it for now!! :)

Becoming a Madrileña

So...for those of you who don't understand the title of this blog, a "madrilena" (for some reason i cant put the tilde in the blog, so I'll have to mispell that from now on), is just someone (female) from Madrid. Of course, I will never officially be a madrilena, but I feel like after living here for 6 weeks now, life has basically become routine. Of course, I'm not calling my life here typical by any means, but Madrid basically feels like home, for now at least. For sure, there are still many parts of the city with which I'm not familiar, and many sites that I have yet to see, but I'm pretty settled into my routine- going to school and teaching, giving English lessons, working at home in my apartment, going to the gym, going grocery shopping, cooking, watching tv with my roommate, taking the metro, meeting up with friends, going out on the weekends...basically all the things we all do wherever we live. And overall, its a nice place to live :)

Of course, there are a few comforts and conveniences of home that I miss from time to time- like being able to find a bank that is open after 2pm or on the weekends (and not having to pay to make a transfer or deposit a check!), or being able to go to a store at 3 pm, going grocery shopping on sunday, or eating lunch at 1 instead of 3:30! And of course...I miss the convenience of talking to people at home, because its hard to find a time that works, given the time difference. I miss talking to my friends, most of all, since they are often working or studying when I have free time (and I'm sleeping when they do have time). But...mostly, I can't really complain.

Of course, this is not to say that I don't appreciate that, while this year is not a vacation, but a year living in Europe...I'm still pretty lucky to be living in Europe for a year. After all, its not every day I can just go visit a huge 16th century palace/monastery for a day, right? And in fact, that is exactly what I did on Friday, when I went to El Escorial with a friend of mine. The public transportation system is really great here- there are a lot of nearby places that you can go, within an hour or two, for very little money, especially if you have the Madrid monthly metro pass (which I do have since I use the metro sooo much). Also, its not every day that your roommate's friend from Bilbao visits and offers you a room in her apartment in Bilbao, whenever you want to come and visit. And indeed...this also happened to me this weekend. Ruth had a friend from Bilbao visiting and the three of us spent most of the day on Saturday together. She was really great and invited me to come stay with her in Bilbao for a weekend! I'm definitely going to take her up on the offer--its always great to have housing in a new city, and to have a host/friend to show you around and give you advice about where to go!!

Also, its pretty typical here to be told, at 4 or 5 am on a friday or saturday night that "its so early...how can you possibly be going home already?" Another group of phrases I hear a lot...."you're American? I never would have guessed...why do you speak Spanish so well? How do you speak Spanish so well? Can you teach me English? I thought you were Italian....and..what did you say your name was? Ivana? Yolanda? Elena? huh?? hahaha." I'm also getting quite familiar with the advances of Spanish men- which has been a bit of a mixed experience, to say the least. But, its all part of the cultural experience I suppose- so just trying to learn as I go and keep an open mind. Anyway, that's my bit of insight for now...more to come!

Life as a teacher

Sooo...quite a bit has happened since I last wrote in the blog, so I think this will be a long post. I'm now finally getting settled in at school and have a set schedule- which makes life much easier. I really enjoy school so far- all the teachers are really great; they all work really hard and are happy to have me there to help. They are friendly and helpful and generally quite welcoming. Most of the kids are great too; they are eager to learn and excited to have me there and help them with their lessons (and especially their English). As is true with any group of tweens/ teenagers, there are a few that are a bit roudy, but overall, they are quite good.

I am teaching/ helping to teach English and Social Science classes for kids who are between 12-16 years old (so the equivalent of 7th-10th grade in the US). I can definitely see a BIG difference between the youngest and the oldest kids- the classes with the first years are completely different than those with the 4th years, but I think they will both have their unique advantages. In social sciences, I have already started to plan/teach my own activities/ lessons on the material, in addition to helping the teachers with language issues and English vocab and grammar. I did a jeopardy activity today with the first year kids, as a way to review the material they had learned in the previous lessons, and it went over really well. The kids had a lot of fun and definitely learned a lot. The teacher also seemed really happy with the idea and how the activity went, so it was my first really rewarding moment as a teacher :)

In the majority of English classes, I'm doing one of two things- conversation lessons or reading lessons. In the conversation classes, I just pick a topic (or use a topic that relates to the teachers lesson), and lead some sort of conversation activity, just to get the kids practicing their conversational English. In the reading sessions (for the younger kids), we read a book out-loud together and discuss vocab that they don't understand. I also ask them comprehension questions to make sure they understand what they are reading. Also, with the third year students, Noel (my colleague) and I are in charge of running the Global Classrooms Program in the English classes (like Model UN). So, we will be doing one GC lessson with the third years each week as well. Eventually, once we get further into the year, we will be pretty busy with the GC, as the kids prepare for the competition.

My schedule is also really nice; while I have to wake up quite early to get to school (school starts at 8:30 and i have a little over a half hour commute), I am done for the day by either 2:15 or 1:25, depending on the day. So, this means that I'm back at my house around 2 or 3 and have time to have lunch, go to the gym, see friends, relax, talk to people back home, plan my lessons, or do whatever else I want to do. Also, I'm only working mon-thurs--so hooray for three day weekends! My schedule will really be great for exploring Madrid and for planning trips. I am only now available to start planning trips--i'm hoping I can get something planned for the weekend after next, because there is a holiday- so I have a long weekend...but it turns out that flights are quite expensive, since i didnt plan too far in advance. Hopefully, I'll at least be able to book something tonight or tomorrow and then in the future, i'll hopefully be able to plan further in advance (now that my friends and I all know our schedules).

I did take a day trip with another Fulbright friend, on Saturday, to Segovia. It was a really great day- we took an AVE (high velocity) train and it only took 30 mins to get there- so it was super easy! Segovia is a beautiful, small city- it has lots of historical, beautiful buildings and its just a great city to walk around in for a day. Saturday was my first day outside of the city since I got here, and while I love Madrid, it was nice to have a break from the hustle and bustle and be in a more tranquil environment. It was also fun to spend the day with my friend Kara and get to know each other better :)

I have also made some new friends in Madrid in the past few days. It turns out that there is a girl from Duke (Katie), who is a year older than me and who is also an auxiliar in the Madrid school system (although not as a fulbright). We didnt' really know each other well before...but we met up and we have a lot in common- so she'll be another great person to know! I also met Sara, a Spanish woman about 10 years older than me who lived with a family friend of mine in the US when she was in high school. She's still very close with my family friend...so she put us in touch- and Sara was really great! We had a lot of fun (had dinner w/ her and a friend) and they were both soo sweet- telling me to ask them if I needed everything. Sara also introduced me to her younger brother- and I met some of his friends as well...so just another way to expand my group here. At the same time, I'm still spending time with Ruth and her group of friends, and seeing other Fulbrighters every so often. So, all in all, I've met a lot of great people here!

Tomorrow, I'm actually going to my first private tutoring lesson; so, we'll see how that goes. The head teacher at my school gave me the name of a young student who wanted private English lessons, so I'm hoping this will be a weekly commitment (and that I will end up doing a few others too). Anyway, I think thats all my updates for now...more to come :)

"First Week of Work"

So, I know everyone is expecting to hear about my busy first week at work, but it turns out, this was only my "first week" (entre comillas, as they say in Spanish). Noel (the other Fulbrighter at my school) and I did go to the school for the first time on Monday. We met with our coordinator, Carmen, and learned a little more about the school and the bilingual program. We also met several of the English teachers. On Wednesday, we went back, but found out that there really wasn't much for us to do. We looked over some of the materials for the Global Classrooms Program (a Model UN Program that we are in charge of) and realized that we have a lot to learn in that arena. I think it will be a very rewarding, but challenging experience.

On Thursday, we went back to school, and found out that our schedules were still not finalized, so we're still not exactly sure what we are doing and when. I do know that I will be helping out in both English and Social Sciences classes (and possibly a music class, which would be great for me!) I met the English and Social Sciences teachers, which was certianly helpful, but I still dont REALLY know where I have to be and when for the next week. So, hopefully after this coming week I"ll actually get a fixed schedule, and things will be a little easier to figure out. Also, my first project for school was to create a presentation about myself to give to the kids, as a way of introducing myself, and getting them to listen and speak in English (hopefully about topics that are interesting to them). I'm planning to talk a little about my hometown, Duke, and especially, Duke Bball (i figured, of all the things i'm interested in, college sports would be the most interesting topic for a group of teenagers!). So, I'm pretty excited for my first REAL week of work; I hope it goes well.

Since I didn't actually have to work that much this week, I've had a lot of time to hang out with some of the other Fulbrighters and explore the city some more. It's been nice to get to know some of them better and I even have one friend who is now living right around the corner from me, which is really convenient! I went to her house for lunch yesterday, which was a lot of fun.

I think it will be nice to have a regular schedule soon and hopefully, I will be able to start planning some trips (I'm hoping to have Friday off, but I still don't know whether that will happen or not). Fingers crossed...anyway, that's it for now....

Exploring Madrid and settling in

The past few days I have had a lot of time to explore the city and do my own thing, as orientation ended on Weds, and school doesn't start until next week. I've been settling in to my apartment life- getting used to the neighborhood, going grocery shopping and cooking, doing laundry, cleaning...all the normal stuff you do when you live in an apartment.

For Rosh Hashanah, I went to services at a local synagogue here in Madrid, which was a nice experience. The people were really welcoming and the services were actually quite familiar. I even got invited to dinner at one of the members' houses next week!

I've also been getting familiar with my neighborhood- I now know where all the different grocery stores, markets, and banks are, and I've been getting used to the class schedule at my gym. Yesterday, I walked towards Plaza de Espana (about 15 mins from where I am) and explored that area of the city a bit. It's nice to realize that I'm actually quite close (within walking distance) of the center of the city.

Last night, I went to a friend's house and then to a discoteca to celebrate his birthday, with all of Ruth's friends from her masters program. It was another typically late night...didn't go to sleep until 7 am!! (I guess that's why the Spaniards created the siesta haha). It was a lot of fun- I'm still amazed by how many people are out at all hours of the night here! Also, last night was La Noche en Blanco, which is a night in Madrid when the major streets are shut off to cars and everyone is just out on the streets...there is music, the museums are open all night etc. We didn't actually partake in those activities that much just because it was so hard to move around; there were so many people. Nonetheless, it was interesting to see all of the commotion.

Today, I met up with one of the other Fulbrighters, Christina, and we took a nice long stroll around the Cautro Caminos area of the city. We walked quite a ways, all the way up to Plaza de Castilla, which is a very modern, cosmopolitan part of the city. On our way back home, we had our first metro mishap here in Madrid. Apparently, on the line that we were on, you need to get off the train at a certain stop and switch trains, or else the train will start going in the opposite direction. Initially, we hadn't seen a sign telling us that, so we were extremely confused when we realized we were going in the wrong direction and that the train on the other side seemed to be going in the same direction. Anyway, eventually, we figured it out, and now we are confident we won't have any more problems!

Tomorrow, Noel (my co-worker at my school) and I are going to our school to get a tour and dicuss our schedule with our coordinator Carmen, who we met during orientation. I'm excited to see the school and start work...I have a good feeling about it! Anyway, more on that soon :)

Paella, Tapas, y amigos nuevos :)

The last few days have been quite eventful! I have settled into my apartment and got to know my neighborhood quite well. My roommate and I have also bonded quite a bit over the past few days. On both Friday and Saturday night, we went out with several of her friends which was really fun, as I already feel like I have a group of Spanish friends to hang out with. On Saturday, we were out until 6 in the morning! (which is very typical here....)

Also, on Saturday afternoon, Ruth made paella for us for lunch, which was absolutely delecious. She said that next time I have to cook something "American" for us...so I´ll have to think about what to choose. I also joined a gym which is right around the corner from my house and I´ve already gone twice since I joined. It´s pretty nice and it has lots of classes (spinning, pilates, step etc), so I´m very happy about that. Also, on friday night I met up with my Spanish professor from Duke who lives in Madrid for a few months out of the year. I met her husband and the three of us went to a tapas bar near where she lives (Goya). It was really fun to see them!

Yesterday, I arrived at the location of our Fulbright orientation and started meeting all the other students. Everyone seems really friendly so far. Last night, a bunch of us went out and met up with some Spaniards (one of the girls had a Spanish friend who had taught at her university, so he brought some of his friends along to meet up with us). We went out to a bar and to get tapas in a neighborhood called La Latina, which is a really fun place to go out. I feel like i have already met so many great people in the past few days alone, so its really exciting! Today and tomorrow I´m staying at a college dorm where we have all of our orientation meetings. So, hopefully I´ll be learning all about my program and all the bureacratic stuff that I need to learn about (opening a bank account, getting my residency card etc etc). I also just got my first check, so i´m pretty excited about that!!!

Anyway, I have to go to my first orientation event now...so more details to come later.

:)

A busy, but productive first few days

Well, it's now my fourth full day in Madrid, and I'm already moved into a new apartment; so I think that's pretty good! It was hectic the first few days, but all in all, it went about as well as I could have hoped. When I first arrived, I was exhausted (hadn't slept for a day and a half) and I didn't have a working phone...so it was a little hard to maneuver. However, I found my way to the place where I was staying and eventually was able to rest up a bit and buy a phone, which certainly made life much easier.

Monday-Weds I stayed with another American girl who is living in Madrid. She was actually in the same Fulbright program last year that I'm in this year, and she's staying for another year to do a Masters program. I actually didn't know her before Monday, but a professor of mine put me in touch with her, because they had met while they were both in Madrid (my Spanish professor lives and researches in Madrid for part of the year, and Mary Kate, the girl I stayed with, was interested in her research). Anyway, Mary Kate was very welcoming and friendly; it was nice to make a new friend right when I got here and have someone who could give me advice on life in Madrid, since I didn't really know anyone else here when arriving.

Starting my first day, I had appointments to visit apartments. I visited one neighborhood that I didn't like, so I decided not to consider that apartment. My next appointment fell through, so I wasn't feeling all that hopeful. However, luckily, the next day I visited two apartments, both of which were pretty good. I decided I liked the second one a lot more, and although it was a little more expensive, I felt that it was worth the extra money. The apartment itself is pretty nice for what I'm paying; the room isn't too small, there is a good amount of closet space, there is wireless internet included, the kitchen is equipped with everything I would need, there is a nice living room and balcony, the bathroom is fine...basically everything I really need. And, its in a really nice neighborhood (called Arguelles). There are lots of supermarkets, bars, restaurants, everything you could want basically, right nearby. It's very close to the center of the city and is on the same metro line as my school, so the commute shouldn't be too bad. Also, while there is a lot going on, its not the absolute center of the city, so its not quite as hectic, loud, or crowded as the very center of the city (Sol/ Plaza de Espana/ Callao area...for those of you who know Madrid).

Also, I really like my roommate, Ruth, and although I've only known her for 2 days so far, I feel like we will live together really well, which is obviously really important. She is originally from Bilbao but has lived in Madrid for a year or so now. She is 24 and recently graduated from college and is working as a headhunter in Madrid. She's really sweet, and she's already introduced me to a few of her friends who live down the street. So, I think it will work out really well and I'm relieved to have settled a bit. There are still some logistics I need to figure out- like how to open a bank account here, how to get my money to the woman who owns the apartment, etc, but hopefully, I'll figure all that out poco a poco (little by little), as you say in Spanish. My next task is to try to find a gym nearby to join...I've heard there are several so hopefully I can find one that I like and is somewhat affordable.

I've also heard from a few of the other Fulbrights who recently arrived in Madrid, so maybe I'll meet up with them at some point soon. Anyway, I think that's all to report for now.

Hasta luego :)

Arrived safely

Hi everyone- this will probably be a pretty quick post, as i´m in an internet cafe and have only 13 minutes left before i´m booted off. Anyway, just wanted to write that i made it here safely (and with all my belongings, which is a big relief). The flights went fine and i had a very friendly cab driver who told me all about the different neighborhoods and major attractions in Madrid, as we were driving away from the airport.

I made it to the girl´s apartment where i will be temporarily staying while i search for my own apartment. I´m exhausted, since i basically didn´t sleep at all last night...but in an effort to stay on a normal schedule, I only took a short nap and then decided to go out and walk around. I walked around the area where this girl lives and it´s very nice--she definitely lives in the center of the city so its pretty crowded and there is a lot going on. I managed to find a place with computers and internet, so i was pretty happy about that. Now i´ll probably just go back to her apartment for a bit, and then later today I have my first two apartment visits, so i´ll get to see other parts of the city and meet some of my potential roommates. So, that should be interesting...anyway, not much else to report for now, especially given how little sleep i´m on, but i´m sure i´ll have much more to say in the next few days.

Elana

It's finally time!

8/25/10

Well, I can hardly believe it, but it's finally time for me to leave the US and begin my European adventures. In just a few days, I will be flying to Madrid and beginning my year abroad on a Fulbright scholarship. I've had a lot of time to plan for and think about my upcoming trip, but now that my flight is just a few days away, the nerves are starting to kick in. I'm incredibly excited, of course, but also anxious, particularly about the first few days. Those of you who have talked to me about my trip recently know that I don't have an apartment yet and will be visiting several when I first arrive. Furthermore, anyone who knows me well also knows that I'm definitely a "planner," so going to a foreign country without a place to live is a little difficult for me.

Neverthless, I've done all the planning I can do given the circumstances- I've researched neighborhoods, reviewed metro maps, emailed with a bunch of girls looking for roommates, and set up several appointments to visit apartments during my first few days. Also, I'm lucky enough to be staying with a friend of a friend when I first arrive, while I search for an apartment, so that should be nice.

If all goes according to plan, I will leave Newark on Sunday night (Aug 29) and arrive in Madrid on Monday morning (Aug 30). I have a week to search for an apartment and get settled before my Fulbright orientation starts on September 5th (hopefully I'll be able to move in before then!) As is the case with any new experience, I expect that I will undoubtedly encounter situations that I did not forsee and could not plan for...so I know I will just have to take one day at a time.

Hopefully, I will have internet access once I arrive and you can contact me via email/gchat/facebook etc. Also, find me on skype- as I'm sure I will be using that a lot to communicate internationally (I believe my user name is just my name). I plan to buy a Spanish phone once I arrive, but I will mainly use that for domestic calls.

Anyway, I think that's it for now, and the next time I post I will be in Madrid! Back to packing/ weighing my luggage and trying to avoid overage fees :)