Madrid!

To pick from where I left off, Jenessa and I went off through Alcalá to get passport-type pictures for our student ID cards and some ice cream...and got super lost. Luckily, we had a map and allll the time in the world to explore. It was a fun day!!! We made friends with the lady selling ice cream. Hopefully she's there a lot! Also we did some shopping just around the neighborhood, and the first full song we heard in the store: Just Dance, Lady Gaga. Subsequent songs proved to be various remixes thereof.

By the way...

Dear Nestle,

I love you, but why are you SO MUCH BETTER at being awesome in not America?

Thanks,

Kelly

Seriously. Their ice cream is phenomenal. I had the Praliné....yummmmy. Jenessa's eating a double chocolate Magnum...qué rico! Now to today's post...

Just as a head’s up, it is probable that this will be a long post…I’m not connected to the internet but I am plugged into the wall (until I find a chufe near the computer, those things are mutually exclusive). With a connection to power and a lack of schedule today, I’m free to write as much as I want. So buckle up:)

De verdad, I don’t even know where to begin. I feel like I’ve been here a month and it’s only been three days! Empiezo con Madrid.

Saturday was literally the BEST way I could ever IMAGINE to turn 21! We spent the day in Madrid:) We were all together through the morning to learn how to use the Metro and familiarize ourselves with landmarks and things we should see, and we all got gelato. Amamaaaazing gelato. Seriously. From Italy. Not in Italy, but wayyyy closer than I’ve ever been while eating gelato:) Madrid is SUCH a beautiful city. Beautiful! Beeeaaautiful and alive and full of energy and history. It was Labor Day yesterday so there were dance troops from various regions around Spain performing en la Plaza Mayor.

Regional pride is huuuge here in Spain. For lunch, a lot of us went back to our homes in Alcalá. The train ride is less than 30 minutes and we have an unlimited travel pass in and around Alcalá and Madrid, and we really love our families here, so we didn’t mind going home. For lunch…I honestly can’t remember what we had. But it was delicious! And Pepita made a cake!!! Bizcocho con chocolate. Aaaabsolutely delicious. Pepita took Jenessa and left the kitchen for about 2 minutes. I asked Miguel if he knew what was going on and he kept saying “No sé, no sé, I don’t know” but I knew he knew:) They came back into the kitchen singing Happy Birthday in English! Pepita was saying “happy baby” en vez de “happy birthday” and it was sooooo cute. It’s amazing how difficult it is to pronounce some English words, I always took it for granted. Upon returning to Madrid, we did some touristy shopping and mostly followed the path we had taken earlier that day. Oh, side note: pollen in Madrid=JUST as annoying as American pollen.

We took the bus for the first time this morning. The streets here are TINY and narrow and crooked…these busses are huge. Super huge. And there ain’t nothin’ that scares them. They come sooooo close to other cars, people…also, there is a tonnn of double parking here. And cool tiny hatchbacks everywhere. Basically, it’s amazing.

Cultural Observation: This is one I keep forgetting to include. Our host parents talked about la Guerra Civil, the Spanish Civil War, during dinner the very first night we were here. I knew the war was still …uhm… important? Relevant? De verdad, no puedo pensar en ingles. Quiero escribir en español, sería mejor, pero necesito escribir en inglés. Forgive my rant about not being able to think (or type) in English. That’s not to say my Spanish is getting any better, but my English is definitely slipping. I knew the war still had a presence here in Spain, but the fact that it came up in casual conversation with strangers was very telling I think. As much as I love Spain, everything I know about la Guerra civil I learned from watching Pan’s Labyrinth or study Guernica, Picasso’s masterpiece (which incidentally is in la Reina Sofia-one of many museums I can’t wait to go to!!!!) Also, Sandra Bullock is not as funny when dubbed, oddly enough. And Alejandro Sanz is touring again!

Church today was an amazing experience! For all but maybe 20 minutes of the three hours, I knew what was going on. Es un milagro!

Language skills: It’s getting so much easier to understand, but speaking is still difficult. I focus so much on what is being said to me that I don’t have time to think of what to say in response, let alone how to say that in Spanish. So I mostly listen. When my dad was a kid, he didn’t talk til he was like three or something but then it came out in full sentences (according to my mom=]). I think that’s what will happen with me. I hope so, anyway:)

New foods: Tortilla espinaca! My dad would love this, it’s literally a big ol’ spinach pancake. We ate it with breaded ham and the usual salad. The usual aMAzing salad. Everything we’ve eaten is amaing. Today for lunch I’m pretty sure Jenessa and I each ate half a chicken. With rice. And fruit.

I’m sure there’s so much more…but I think I’m done for now:) Hasta luego!