Four finals, two birthdays, and one new stereo later...

So happy to have finally made it through the disaster that was finals. I don't want to talk about them too much because, let's face it, that shit's boring. But I'll give you a quick synopsis of my last two weeks. My first final, Estructura Social de España, turned out to be on a different day than the professor had told us for the entire year. Luckily one of my EAP friends stopped by her office hours a few days before the final to find out it was earlier and in a different classroom. I missed my second final, Historia Contemporánea de las Américas, because Danielle and I heard the teacher say the test was at "dos y media", when all along she had said the test was at "doce y media". Luckily the test was offered again at 7:30pm that night, so we came home napped and studied a little more before taking the final for real. My third final on Cervantes was probably the scariest of them all, because for some reason Erin and I thought our final was on Thursday morning. But when Erin went to a study group Tuesday night she found out the final was actually Wednesday at 8:30 in the morning. Needless to say, I pulled my first all-nighter ever (for school purposes, of course). There was no major disaster with my fourth final on literary myths of Spain. I basically got to write another essay on Don Quijote.

After all the stressing and cramming, I'm so happy to be done with those classes. Those early mornings, the fight to stay awake (as you can observe in my extensive note-taking), and many a "cafe con leche para llevar por favor", has paid off and I probably learned a few things this semester like... the US civil war was fought between the northern whites and the southern slaves (???), Don Quijote is a lunatic who thought a flock of sheep was an army, Spaniards don't really like immigrants (unless their Chinese, since they're hard working), and... yeah I can't think of much else.

In between studying for finals I got to celebrate the birthdays of my two roomies, Danielle and Erin. When the clock ticked midnight on Danielle's birthday we surprised her with handle pulls, loud music, and we even made her do a birthday dance. Later that day we went to a delicious sushi restaurant off of Gran Via called 19 Sushi Bar. I ordered the dragon roll and it was delicious but I'm not so sure it rivals the dragon roll at Kyotos in Santa Barbara. Oh how I miss California food. Anyways, later that night we had a raging botellón (pregame) at our piso and then went out! Here's some fotos (not released on facebook yet by the way!).






Last night we celebrated Erin's birthday by going to La Mordida, a mexican food restaurant in Chueca. Santi and I shared nachos and fajitas de pollo. Q rico los nachos! While they don't even begin to rival Freebird's nachos, they do the job. Mexican food has definitely been one of the things I miss most about home. I'm shocked at how uncommon good Mexican food is here. I understand that Spain and Mexico have completely different cultures and blah blah blah, but c'mon, why does my Spaniard boyfriend not recognize refried beans on our plate of nachos? And why did he confuse the words frijoles and jalapeños once? I'm not surprised because he's spanish and should know, I'm surprised because I think EVERYONE should know the difference between jalapeños and frijoles.

We had a debate the other night when Santi claimed that spanish food had more variety than american food. Not possible. I've lived here for a solid 5 months and I've even grown to appreciate spanish food, but there's no way it has more variety than american food. The main ingredients of spanish food are: jamón, manchego cheese, bread, egg, jamón, olive oil and potatoes. How can spanish food have that much variety when you don't even know what beans are? But Spain, it's not your fault you don't have that much variety in your food, the only real neighboring country that would influence you is France, and we all know Spain and France aren't besties...and it's pretty obvious you haven't taken any pointers from France...since their food seems to be danker.

Now America, although you have high levels of fuel consumption and obesity accompanied by a steady decline in levels of education and literacy, your food es de puta madre. How lucky you are to have such a bountiful selection of native foods from North, South and Central America to choose from. The world can thank the Americas for avocado, chili peppers, tomatoes, vanilla, pineapple, peanut, papaya, corn, and chocolate since all these foods first originated in the Americas.

Anyways, back to Erin's birthday. After dinner we came back to our piso to drink and play with our new stereo! Our old ipod player broke somehow so we decided we needed a new one in time for Erin's birthday party. I didn't realize this, but we live literally one block away from the street in Madrid most popular for having stereo system stores. Although the stereo is really too big for our piso... Danielle and I couldn't resist such a good deal.

Even though I've had finals, I managed to make it to two soccer games in the last few weeks! The first game was Real Madrid vs. idontremember. We ended up arriving really late to the game because someone thought it started like an hour later than it did. Not fun paying 50+ euro to see half a game from the highest possible seats available. The second game was much better! A bunch of people in my program all got together at cien montaditos before the game and then we went to together. It was Spain vs. Colombia and there were a lot of roudy fans on both sides. The stadium was so full of excitement and cheering and weirdly...drum rolls. It felt like I was in a modern day Colosseum. K I can't blog anymore, tengo resaca.

Here's some more random pictures I haven't loaded on facebook for all those who have requested more photos! These are pictures from nights in Madrid and there's also a picture of the salad I like to make.

Día de los Reyes Magos

Every January 6th Spaniards celebrate a holiday dedicated to the Magi, or three kings, that brought presents to the baby Jesus! The parable says that King Herod, a crazy baby killer, asked the three kings to find Jesus and tell him where he was at, so that he too could pay homage to the little one. Luckily the three kings had a dream, realized that Herod just wanted to shank the baby, and decided to ignore King Herod's wishes. Although I'm not sure about the actuality of the three kings, I was more than down to eat "roscon" y and drink chocolate caliente in celebration of this "event". Dia de los Reyes Magos seems to be valued equally if not more than Christmas, here in Spain. I don't mind that. Seems better to focus on three baby-saving kings than on a judgmental, cookie scarfing Santa Claus.

I tried two different types of roscon, one with "nata" (cream) and one without. But of course, being the "gordi" that I am, I liked the Roscon with whipped cream in the middle. Santi, his mom, and I all failed to find the porcelain "sopresa" in our first pieces of Roscon. Although I did find it in my second piece...apparently you don't get any good luck from that. Oh, and can't forget, our roscon was accompanied by thick, rich, and creamy valor chocolate! Hot chocolate in Spain is so different from America's. It incredibly thick and filling... yet whenever I have it, I seem to be the only one who can't finish the whole thing. Spaniards drink it like milk. Such bosses.



After breakfast and a few cat naps, Santi's mom and her friend prepared a feast for lunch! We had chicken adobo, fried rice, langostinos (shrimp), salad, some anchovy fish dish (that I wasn't adventurous enough to try), and my favorite wine in the world, Lambrusco Dell'Emilia Tinto (basically just bubbly red wine < 2e at your mom&pop supermarket in Madrid). I feel so lucky I get to have real homecooked meals at Santi's. I may not miss Spanish food when I come home, but I'll definitely miss Josefa's filipino food!


That night I went to Reina Bruja with the gang (minus my roomies who were still recovering from the night before), and had a really good time. Reina Bruja never fails to have great music and good company. I feel like a regular these days.

Barcelona, Rome and Back

Although I have failed at writing in my blog often, it is only because I am too busy enjoying my life abroad! A few weeks ago I went to Barcelona with a group of people in my program and I had a blast. I saw the beautiful yet unfinished La Sagrada Familia and took an elevator ride up into the towers. The view was amazing...the climb down, not so much. Another highlight of my trip was going to the Market de la Boqueria.



I had a blueberry banana smoothie, MMM! Before heading back Madrid I also bought some brie and bread for the bus ride, so sophisticated.

While in Barcelona, I also got to reconnect with Annie Mickle, eat the BEST MEXICAN FOOD I'VE HAD SINCE HOME (Go to Rosa Negras!), go clubbing on the beach, see the Museo de Picazzo, and experience hostel living for the first time! The name of our hostel was Equity Point Centric. It was pretty clean and we met a lot of cool people in our 12 person room.


The last day in Barcelona my wallet was stolen. Yeah, dude. Two middle aged women stampeded me as I tried to get on the metro. My purse was crossed over my body and zipped in front of me, a suitcase in one hand and a bag of food in the other. Two seconds after making it onto the metro, I look down, my passport is on the floor, my ipod speakers are hanging out of my purse, and my wallet is gone. Those two ladies even had the audacity to STAY on the metro with me! So for the whole metro ride I was screaming at them and they were only responding with "que?" and had smirks on their faces. What the fuck, Barcelona? Luckily I had made copies of all my credit cards and had my parents cancel all my cards within 10 minutes of the attack.

Anyways, later that day I was back in Madrid and wallet-less. Two days later I was in Roma, visiting Whitney! Rome was a blast. We did a Colosseum Pubcrawl...which would've sucked if it wasn't for the insane break dancers at the final club we went to! Felt like I was in Step Up or something, not that I've seen the movie.

I got to eat REAL food, AUTHENTIC gelato, and take lots of pictures! Whitney's friends were really fun and one of them was a total history buff! I got to see all the major sites like Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Forum, Colosseum, Campo, Vatican, and more while also receiving a history lesson!


Now I'm back in Madrid and Courtney is here visiting! I LOVE HAVING HER HERE :) We've gone out every night since she's been here. And now, 4 bottles, 3 discotecas, and 3 nights later, we are TIRED! We managed to make a day trip today to El Escorial. It was only 3.5e to go there via charter bus. We went to the museum at the famous monasterio there and met Jahel and a friend for lunch after! (Jahel is an exchange student my family had when I was 5 years old, now she's a grown woman and she's showing me around her country!)

Monday and Tuesday I have class and then Wednesday Courtney and I are going to Toledo for the day! THEN AMSTERDAM FROM THURSDAY - SUNDAY! Thanks for booking a 5 star hotel for us, Mom & Dad! It's going to be a REAL vacation :) I love my life!

Plans after Amsterdam: Cordoba, Granada, and then Dublin in November!

Inception

If you've seen the recent movie, Inception, and you remember how when the characters did strange things in their dreams their projections would begin to stare at them. Well, that's kinda what it's like here in Madrid. When spaniards hear you talking in english or when you're walking down the street with your girlfriends (and you look nice) some people may begin to stare. And it feels like the staring as a domino effect. Like when one person points in the sky, everyone has to look... well, if one man begins to stare, his entire possy will start to stare. Sometimes the staring is out of curiosity and sometimes the staring only precedes the catcalling.

My friends and I have managed to just make jokes out of those situations so it hasn't become too big of a deal. The cultural differences are really interesting to examine though. Here in the dorms, the spaniards are extremely loud and sometimes even obnoxious. I thought Americans were supposed to be the noisy and annoying ones.

For the most part, however, the spaniards I have come into contact with have been jovial and patient people. I've already gone to look at a few pisos (a piso is a flat) for rent and the landlords were SO nice and spoke slowly so we could understand them. The first piso I looked at was in Palacio (a certain barrio/ neighborhood). It was right smack in the middle of so many pubs, restaurants, etc. but the room I would have had only had a window to the interior of the building and there was no living room. And for some reason, my room wouldn't have gotten internet...strange. BUT AHHH, the second piso I went to look at was BEAUTIFUL. It is located in Sol (pretty much in the center of Spain), right next to the Plaza Mayor and the Ópera metro station on Calle Arenal. GREAT AREA... but Danielle and I would have had to share a room. And for the price we'd be paying, we can probably find a place with our own habitación.

Oh the food here in the dorms is HORRIBLE. They put HAM in EVERYTHING. I can't even pretend to be hungry when I enter the dining hall. Its like my stomach is begging me not to eat.

But the nightlife is AMAZING. On wednesday, Erin (my roomie), Danielle, Scott and Chris went to Joy and Palace (two clubs in Sol). It was funny how on the first night all of us SBers found each other and went out together. I realized that night that I LOVE CLUBS. The girls got in for free everywhere and we all got free sangria at Palace. We danced and drank and had a grand time. I even made friends with some of the people working there :) It was a great way to start off our time here in Spain.

Last night the entire program went to Kapital, a 7 story high nightclub in Madrid. I LOVED THE LATIN FLOOR. The men actually dance here! They were swinging Danielle and I around like we were pro salsa dancers! I didn't even attempt to wear heels either of these nights I went out. My feet hurt enough from all the walking I've been doing during the day. I'm definitely in the market for a pair of grandma shoes (super comfy) that I can pull off as fashionable shoes for all the walking I do when I'm exploring the city.

School starts on Monday and I don't know how I feel about that. While I do want to brush up on my spanish, I also don't want to have class everyday! :( But I just have to remember its only for a month... and then hopefully I'll only have class twice a week :).

Sorry this entry was so random and jumbled. I haven't had time to keep this updated with everything going on... but I'm going to get on top of it! Thanks for reading :)

PS- I bought my first bottle of wine the other day! Probably going to drink it tonight before dinner with some chicas...maybe it will make the food taste better.

DAY ONE

Estoy en Madrid!! I can't believe I'm actually here. The city is unbelievable. This place is a jungle of the ancient mixed with the modern. The architecture is breathtaking. I can't believe I had the option to dine at restaurants that have been serving food for 150+ years. But before I describe the food, I'm going to give you a run-through of my day.



The last three days have really run together in my head. At midnight, 4 hours before I had to leave my house for the airport, I realized that one of my suitcases was of a lot cheaper than I thought. My good old 25'' inch red suitcase that I lugged back and forth from school and home was now ripping at the seams and busting open. So LESSON NUMBER 1: Pack your bags to the maximum capacity at least 24 hours before your time of departure, so you don't end up frantically searching for a suitcase at midnight the night before your flight. (Guess Mom was right about the dangers of waiting until the last minute to finish things). Luckily, Marc Rios (my little brother from another mother) brought a suitcase to my house around 1 am and let me take it to Spain, for possibly the whole year. The only other suitcase that I could have brought didn't have a working handle to roll it... so thanks Marc, you're the best.

Saying bye to my parents was so hard. Many tears were shed as we said our goodbyes and gave hugs. I'm going to miss them more than anything. They better visit me for Christmas!

Anyways, I slept all the way from LAX to Dulles Internatl. Danielle and I got lunch during our layover and got more and more excited for Spain. I think our flight from DC to Madrid was about 7 hours... but I'm not sure because I my concept of time is totally thrown and I slept most of the time. Between naps I watched The Joneses and few episodes of Sex & The City. On my second flight I also met a few other girls in my program. Each of them were traveling by themselves. I don't know how they did it. It would have been hard to do all this without Danielle... it's nice to have a buddy :)

We arrived in Madrid just in time for the sunrise. It was beautiful and surreal. I can't believe this is my home for the next 6 months- year! In the airport it was weird to see this room for smoking... It was right near the luggage belt and close to the exit. But it was filled with people huffing and puffing. The funniest part about it was the room only had 3 walls...so all the smoke was coming into the main area anyways.

Our taxi driver barely fit all of Danielle's and my luggage in the car. I had to sit with my MONSTER of a backpack on my lap. Conversing with the taxi driver actually made Danielle and I feel like our spanish wasn't that bad... until we to El Corte Ingles, a department store, to get cell phones. I don't think we would have been able to get phones without the interpreter on staff. After looking at the different plans, we ended up using Vodaphone. It seems to have the cheapest SMS and calling internationally, but whatever, I just wanted a working phone. All day I kept carrying around my blackberry like a security blanket even though it's really just a paperweight.

Dinner was interesting. We found a place near the Plaza Mayor called Restaurante Europa with lots of outside tables. Most of the chairs at the tables were on the same side, so that everyone could people-watch comfortably. SO COOL. One of the waiters, an older man, was very nice to us. But the other, a guy that actually looked kinda asian, was pretty rude. We ordered the house white wine and figured it would be safe to go with the 1/2 chicken on the menu. The chicken was pretty bland and the fries were mushy. I thought the chicken was going to be yummy because the waiter told me there was salsa on the chicken...? I learned that salsa= just sauce.

Since our internal clocks are off, we ended up eating pretty early...around 6. So we went out for a snack around 11 tonight. I love that it's a tuesday and the streets still have people socializing and cafes and restaurants are busy. I'm going to love my time here :)