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!!
Friday, November 26, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
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!)
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!)
Sunday, November 14, 2010
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 :)
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 :)
Friday, November 5, 2010
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 :)
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 :)
Saturday, October 30, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, October 25, 2010
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!! :)
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!! :)
Monday, October 11, 2010
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!
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!
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