So, about 4 days ago my journey began. I realize I'm a little behind on the blogging updates but it's better late than never!! I left los Estados Unidos on Monday August 27th and arrived in Madrid the following morning. I've never been on a flight for that long and overnight but I can get used to the free food. Every time I woke up someone was handing me free food. I know for a fact that I will not go hungry in España.
I arrived here with my roommate Alexandra Young. We took a taxi together from the airport to our new home. When we arrived, our mom, Carmen, was outside waiting for us. She is so sweet and una cocinera estupenda! We live in an apartment in this nice complex that is only a 15 minute walk from our school. Carmen has a 27 year old son named Carlos and a 29 year old daughter named Elena. They both live here for now but are going to other parts of Europe in a few weeks. Our room set up is pretty sweet, the only downfall is we live pretty far from other Duke in Madrid students. Our walk home at night from bars and discotecas es muy largo. But it shouldn't seem bad once we get used to everything.
Tuesday we mostly spent unpacking and learning our surroundings. Carmen took us for a walk to el Corte Ingles to help us find some little things we needed. She showed us where our school is and other interesting places. Then she bought us ice cream since she is so cool. We usually eat dinner around 9:30 or 10:00 here and so far I'm very impressed with Spanish food. Half the time I don't know what I'm eating, and I'd probably rather not, but I love it.
Wednesday we started orientation and we met everyone in the Duke in Madrid program. We all then spent 3 hours in a no air conditioned classroom trying to understand these professors lecture us in Spanish. Let's just say, I'm not sure how successful they were in sharing the information because, at least for me, I understood every 7th word. No worries, I'm here to improve. Hopefully I didn't miss anything too important. After orientation Alexandra and I went off with our friend Nadia and explored the city a little. We learned how to use the metro and after many hours of wandering around and talking with different people, we finally found cheap cell phones to use for our stay in Madrid. It was certainly an adventure and we stumbled through a lot of cool things in this city. We went through la Puerta del Sol, tried tapas at a cafeteria, wandered into la Plaza Mayor, and were told by some Spaniards at a phone store to find a una tienda chino (a chinese store) where they would ilegally cut a SIM card for an i-phone. It was muy interesante y divertido. Alexandra and I did not arrive home until about 8. Our poor mother was so worried and we felt terrible for not being able to contact her. We learned the hard way that after class they expect you to come home for lunch and eat with them. Oops. She said no dinner for us since we worried her so much. Won't be making that mistake again. That night we went out to try and meet some friends for drinks and ended up missing our metro stop 3 times. We never made it to our friends, unfortunately, but we did learn a lot about the city. Also, Real Madrid beat Barcelona in fútbol and we witnessed the craziness that ensures after a win. There were so many people in the streets running around, waving flags, honking horns, it was awesome. We are determined to go to a game and I've just become a fan of fútbol. Next thing you know, I'll be back in America beating all my Duke friends in FIFA :)
Thursday morning we also had orientation and then we went on a bus ride throughout Madrid. We saw the Royal Palace, the Opera, la Plaza Mayor again, some churches and some other things that I didn't understand what they were talking about in Spanish. Its hard here to learn information because the professors only speak in really fast spanish and my brain is going AHHH. But I've got my Rick Steves book to help explain things. And believe it or not, my mom was right, and all the maps I have have come in handy and I use them all the time. Also on our trip they gave us 5 euros to taste some different tapas. I had a bread with jam and tomoato sauce. It was good but salty, so then I had churros with chocolate yum yum! After our tour we went home for lunch and then went out and met a bunch of people for Sangria. That was so much fun! There was about 15 of us American students who walk into this outdoor bar and take over a giant section where we pushed all these tables together and proceeded to order 8 pitchers of sangria, getting louder and drunker as the night went on. The locals around us probably hated us. Lo siento. We had so much fun though and all really got to bond. Then Alexandra and I went home for dinner where Carmen made pizza and salad. We went out again that night to a bar called El Tigre and met up with about 20 other Duke in Madrid students and helped celebrate Grace Chandler's 21st birthday! Ah I am so excited for mine on October 7th! Es muy pronto. Last night was also an adventure because we left the bar in time to take the metro home before it closed. However, while switching lines down at the metro, the stop we were at shutdown. Go figure. So we are stranding in the middle of Madrid and unsure how to get home. Here is where the maps saved the day. We walked for over an hour until we finally made it home from that stop. I realize we could have gotten a taxi but who wants to spend their euros on a taxi?! Let's adventure instead. And it worked. And we learned a lot about the city and a valuable lesson to leave the bar with enough time to get home. Needless to say, we were exhausted when we got back and we were exhausted this morning when we woke up.
Today is Friday August 31st. We didn't have orientation until 10:30, but it still seemed super early. We learned about Andalucia, which is the trip we are going on next week. I am so excited about it, but again, I have to read all the packets they gave us because I didn't understand much of what they were saying. It still made me super excited though!! After orientation Alexandra and I came home because we needed food and a siesta. Carmen made us a rice dish with a meat thing on the side. We stuffed our faces then went to bed. We slept for 3 hours then I woke up and made this blog! Yay! Now we are going to el Parque del Retiro to run and explore some more. Hasta luego!!!
Our new room!
I love Rick Steve
Roommiesss
A pretty street near la Puerta del Sol
