I'm really stinky at blogging and am aware how much I have to catch up on. Some of the older stuff is not necessarily in exact order but you'll get the picture. It might be a long night for me....
On Friday (Aug 27) was me and Katie's first real day of orientation. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then left to venture around the city with Lesley at 11 am. First Lesley had us walk to school so we could see where it is (even though I already knew). Then we essentially walked all over the center of Madrid. Lesley showed Katie el Corte Ingles, the Puerta del Sol, la Plaza Mayor etc. We also took 2 bus tours of Madrid. One of the historic section of Madrid (aka the downtown part where I'm living) and the other of the more modern part of Madrid (where Katie is living). The tours were a nice way to see all of Madrid without having to walk everywhere (especially since it was almost 100° out). The busses allow you to get on and off as you please so we did the majority of the historic ride, then got off and bought our transport passes for the month (they're expensive, but they allow you to talk the metro and the bus as many times as you like within the month (the cost is covered in our tuition!)). We ate lunch at a chain restaurant called VIPS. It's kind of like the Spanish version of the 99. The food is really good though. I had an awesome sandwich with veggies, chicken, feta, etc. The second bus tour of Madrid was HOT. It was an older bus and the seats were burning. Plus the bus driver decided it was a good idea to drive at 10 mph the whole time so it took forever. It was nice to see a different part of Madrid, but I wish it could've gone a little bit faster. Katie and I decided we could manage to get dinner on our own so we let Lesley go home and rest. After we napped a bit at the hotel we went out to La Grotta (the restaurant that I went to with my family the first and 2nd to last days in Madrid). We split 6 little tapas. I of course liked all of them, Katie, not so much. Then we walked around the plaza Santa Ana and got harrassed by all the people trying to get us to eat at their restaurant or go to their club (free sangria, and cerveca for you ladies... um, no thanks). We went to a little corner grocery store and each bought a bottle of wine.... cheap wine. When we got back to the hotel however, we realized we didn't have a corkscrew so we didn't end up drinking any of our wine that night.
On Saturday the 28th Lesley taught us all about transportation in Madrid. First we walked to school. Then Lesley made me lead the way as we walked from school to my house. From there we took the metro for the
first time and Lesley explained everything about how it works.
They've been doing tons of improvements to the metro lines recently so many of the trains and stations are new and clean. The metro here is easier to take than the T in Boston or the subway in NYC. Everything is very clearly marked. We were a bit worried at first because the red line (the one we'd take to get to school) was closed for construction and we weren't entirely sure when it was going to reopen. But when we arrived at the metro station near Katie's house, we heard over the intercom that it was going to re-open on Monday, just in time for school! We walked around Katie's neighborhood a bit (there's a movie theater close to her house, and a movie we want to see so that's on the list of things to do....!) We then took the metro back towards school by a different route (an alternative for Katie if the red line didn't re-open on Monday for some reason). We ended up eating lunch at this self service cafeteria type place. The food wasn't very good, but you win some you loose some. After that, Lesley showed us the bus system (which, to be honest, I still don't entirely understand). We rode the bus back towards our hotel. Katie and I took a nice siesta after our long day of Madrid transportation lessons. After our nap we headed out, intending to go straight to el Corte Ingles to buy shampoo, conditioner, etc. But along the way we ended up stopping at a few stores to shop a little bit. I ended up buying a really cute skirt and a nice shirt to go with it (I'm going to have to watch my bank account a little more closely here...) Finally we made it to el Corte. It took a few minutes to find the things we needed but eventually we got them. We ended up going out to dinner at the Italian restaurant near my house. Katie was very happy with the food. When we got back to the hotel we opened out wine (we borrowed a corkscrew from the front desk) and repacked our things to move in with our host families on Sunday!
Sunday was the day we moved in with our host families. My host mother, my señora, is names Loli Martin. She 's maybe 5 ft. tall, with blonde hair and brown eyes. Her husband, Jacinto, introduced himself to me as "Loli's husband." He's about my height. I live right next to the opera house, and a stones throw away from the Royal Palace. My location is just perfect. My room is a lot bigger than I expected it to be, with numerous dressers, a full size bed, a desk, and a balcony! I can see the opera house from my balcony. There is a large portrait of Jesus above my bed (at least I'm being watched over), and silk sheets on my bed, sooo comfy! Her house is old, but beautiful. Her bedroom is off the foyer area at the very end of the house. My room is the first door on the left as you walk down the long hallway. It's also right across from the bathroom. Next to my room is the room she watches TV in. Then a half bath across from that. There's an additional bedroom and a formal dining room down the end of the hall, as well as the kitchen where we eat our meals. I was very nervous to meet her and to live with a different family, but now I love it. Loli and her husband are hilarious together (they remind me of Nana and Pa :] ). At first I had a hard time understanding her because her accent is different. She's from the southern part of Spain, and the accent I finally had gotten used to is from Madrid. So far I've done a lot of nodding, smiling, and saying sí, but every day my Spanish is improving and we're able to converse more and more. But on the first day I unpacked my things (finally!) and she made lunch. Her food has been fantastic, and she ALWAYS has salad (Mom is very happy about that). I've eaten everything she's given me so far, but she told me if I don't like something or if I'm full, I don't have to eat it, she won't be insulted. I took a nap after our lunch and then decided to walk around the neighborhood while her friend visited. I spent about 3 hours just walking around, enjoying the scenery. We eat dinner fairly early for Spaniards (around 830 ish), but it fits in very well with my schedule. Living with Loli and Jacinto has been great so far and I'm excited to get to know them more and communicate better with them.
