Una Toalla, Por Favor

(Railings at La Plaza de España in Sevilla, Spain)

Today was a much better day than yesterday. I first went to Historia del Presente, where I answered a question correctly (in Spanish and everything) and then, during my 3.5 hour break in between classes, I went with Lizzie to the bank and to the supermarket - she is still replacing things from her lost backpack. We stayed close to Carlos III, but it was good to see more of Getafe, the town in which the school is located. We also spoke in Spanish the whole time, so we were rather productive.

After lunch, I headed up to the computer lab to study some Spanish, and it just so happened that Guilermo was sitting at the computer next to me. We chatted for a bit, and he said we should meet up for an Intercambio sometime (language practice sessions between American and Spanish students). I agreed, so I'll keep you updated. I was pretty pleased with myself.

Then I went to Spanish class and found out how to order food in restaurants, bars, by myself, with other people, for other people, in formal situations, and informal situations, among other things. Personally, I think they've over-complicated the process a bit.

On my way back to Julia's, I renewed my metro card for October and finally bought toilet paper (I was pretty excited). Since the Morocco Exchange organization told us to bring our own toilet paper for the weekend and I wasn't about to attempt that conversation with Julia, I bought my own and hid it in my closet so that she doesn't find it, (hopefully). She came in a few minutes later (I tried not to look like I was hiding something) to tell me that it is my Saint's Day today (9/29). Today is Angel's Day, and I'm named after the archangel Gabriel, therefore, in Spain, today is kind-of like a birthday for me (although there is no cake involved - which, in my opinion, would make Saints' Days much more exciting). In the past, Spaniards celebrated their Saint's Day instead of their birthday, but in modern times, birthdays (and cake) have taken precedence.

Then during dinner I used the other half of what I learned in Spanish today (asking for objects and favors), to ask Julia if I could take a towel and sheet with me to Morocco (also on Morocco Exchange's packing list). Although she said no to the sheet ("it will be too heavy" was the excuse), she surprisingly said yes to the towel. I thought the idea of her linens being transported to Morocco would push her over the edge, but she agreed, (as long as I took only white ones, so that they can be bleached when I come back).

We also had pasta for dinner, (well I had pasta, she had liquified vegetables) which was a nice surprise, and ever since, I've been studying my Spanish. The Spanish words are currently fighting each other in my brain.

Más fotografías!

I've uploaded more pictures! There are some in the new "Gigi in Madrid" album and all the photos from my trip in the "Gigi in Sevilla" album.

Here's the link: http://gigiinmadrid.shutterfly.com

Enjoy!

Muchas Lágrimas

(El Rastro in Madrid, Spain)

Yesterday, my alarm went off 7 am and I couldn't think of why on earth I had set it so early. Then I remembered that Lizzie and I had decided to go to El Rastro (Madrid's weekly outdoor street market) with two of the girls from her residencia. Again, for those of you who know Morning-Gigi, you can imagine I was regretting this decision. I rolled over and turned on my computer, dimming the screen to the lowest level, and signed into my skype account (after several attempts at just guessing where the keys where). I asked Lizzie if she was still going, and she (after rolling herself out of bed) said yes, seeing as she needed to replace the lost contents of her stolen bag.

So after I shook myself of sleep, Lizzie and I headed to El Rastro. The other girls were hung-over and ended up not coming, despite it being their plan originally. But Lizzie and I had a good time. There were a ton of vendors and the market was huge. Jewlery, shoes, cloths, art, electronics, bags, and most everything you could think of was out for sale, and we just wandered from stand to stand (with about a thousand other people) looking at everything. I bought Hayley some souvenirs, and myself some t-shirts for Morocco and a jacket.

I got back to Julia's in time for lunch, and then studied for my Spanish test, wrote those extensive blog entries, and started sorting through my pictures. My friend, Scott, called and told me about BC's win over Wake Forest, so that was good to hear, and also mentioned that he rented a 31-foot RV to go to the BC vs. Notre Dame game in October. I can only imagine the stories I'll hear about that trip. . .

Today was intense. It started off quite nicely when I checked my e-mails and found out that my Spanish class had been cancelled and that I didn't need to be to the campus until 6. So I hunkered down and studied for my Spanish test (a thrilling substitution, I know).

The new maid, Baquita, started today and I like her a lot. She's easier to talk to than Julia and seems much more contemporary. She has nearly the opposite political views of Julia, (I don't know how she got through the interview) and I'm excited to have a potential ally in the house. We were chatting while she made the bed today (I get in trouble when I do it myself) and she put the sheets in a different order than usual. I didn't think anything of it, but when Julia came in later, she did not approve at all of the situation, and was rather upset about the incorrectly made bed.

And it gets better. Julia had some errands to run and told me to eat lunch whenever I got hungry, (this was also because my class was cancelled this morning, and Baquita was only making lunch for one person. I was just going to have the leftovers I had packed to take with me to school). So I studied until about 2:30 and then headed to the kitchen to get lunch, but all the doors were closed, and I didn't know if I should just barge in. So I went back to my room, and waited until Baquita opened the doors at about 3. I went in and was warming up my lunch in the microwave when Julia walked in. As soon as she saw me, she demanded why I hadn't eaten already. I told her I had been studying and she seemed to be very upset, (I think because now we were going to have to eat at the same table when we weren't eating the same food). I told her I could just eat in my room, but that's also not allowed, so I went to sit don at the table and then she got upset because I was using the wrong sized dish and the wrong fork. She kept saying how important organization is and how I should have eaten earlier (so much for eating whenever I got hungry). Then she started speaking really fast, and I started catching less and less of what she was saying, so then she started to get upset about my Spanish. She told me I should stop talking to Lizzie and speak only to my Spanish friends (of which I have none). She said Superior-Gabrielle was practically fluent after a month in Spain and that I must not be trying hard enough.

This is when I started to cry. Yes, right there at the dining room table while clutching my incorrect fork. Then she asked me why I was crying, and I said it was because I was frustrated, and she asked me if I wanted chocolate. I said no and apologized, asking if I could go to my room for a second. She said no, we were eating lunch. Then Baquita came in and tried to comfort me and Julia looked very confused by the situation (I hope Baquita is still here tomorrow). I excused myself after lunch was finished and went to the bathroom to wipe my tears with what little toilet paper I had left.

Then Julia's niece, Alexandra, (who appeared out of nowhere) started knocking on the bathroom door, so I came out and she tried to comfort me, as well. I told her it wasn't a big problem and that I was just having a moment of weakness, and she was very nice about, while Julia was shouting from the kitchen,"What's the matter with her?" Then I asked Alexandra why she was here, and she started tearing up as well. She wouldn't tell Julia what the matter was, so Julia left to go to the pharmacy and told me to go talk to Alexandra. I did, and we chatted for a while (she has it pretty rough right now - her dad has cancer, she can't find work, and she's having boy troubles). The boy troubles were the primary problem at the moment, and after discussing the situation, I told her that I thought she should call him, so she did, and afterwards said everything was better. Then Julia came back and asked where Alexandra was. I said she was in my room, (another thing about which Julia disapproved) but that she was doing better. At this point I needed to leave for class, and both Alexandra and I had finally stopped crying. When I came back for dinner, Julia and I were both in better moods, and my plate and fork were already set out for me.

I bet Baquita's wondering what she got herself into.

Día Dos en Sevilla

(La Plaza de España from Los Jardines de Maria Luisa in Sevilla)

My alarm went off at 6 am, so not only were Lizzie and I the last girls in the hostel to go to bed, but we were also the first ones up. I slept in the top bunk, and for those of you that know Morning-Gigi, you know this was a bad situation. I couldn't really figure out how to get out of the bed, which was really squeaky, so I was making a lot of noise in my attempts. I ended up basically jumping off of the bed with my eyes closed and then remembering that my legs don't work so well in the morning. I chilled on the floor for a second before crawling to the bathroom.

While Lizzie was getting ready, I went upstairs to explore the hostel's lounge. It had a computer and a kitchen, but I greatly appreciated the couches, where I curled up for another 20 minutes of sleep. When Lizzie came up, I crawled out the window because I wanted to see the rooftop patio and couldn't figure out how to open the door. Overall, a really nice hostel for cheap.

It was still dark, but we decided to walk to La Plaza de España along El Paseo de Cristóbal Colon which follows El Río Guadalquivir. Lizzie's foot was still bothering her, but she was a trooper and insisted we keep going. There was a lot of construction along the way, but we passed some interesting buildings and El Torre de Oro (an old fortress tower). We also passed El Casino de la Exposición Teatro, where the streets were completely covered with garbage. You could still hear the music from inside and the street vendors were closing up the stands when we passed at about 8 in the morning. We stopped at a cafe near La Avenida de Isabel La Católica, where I ordered another chocolate croissant (I really like those) and Lizzie got another bocadillo con jamon y queso. Afterwards, we walked to La Plaza de España, which is this huge building that was built for the the Exposición Iberoamericana which Sevilla hosted in 1929. It was overcast and the lighting was good for pictures, so we took a lot. After our photo shoots we walked past the street vendors who were setting up in La Plaza. We both bought some pretty Spanish fans as souvenirs and then walked a little through El Parque de Maria Luisa.

I wanted to take a tour of El Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija, which was back near El Barrio Centro, so headed back in that direction. We walked past La Universidad de Sevilla, which is in an old tobacco factory near La Plaza de España and then ended up taking the train back to La Plaza Nueva by way of La Avenida de la Constitución. We found the Condesa's palace, but it was closed (so family - that's what we're doing when we go to Sevilla). We stopped for lunch at Pan & Co., which is a chain fast-food Spanish restaurant we've been to before. They serve bocadillos and baguettes and we've been pleased both times we went there, (this time we both got kebab baguettes).

I've found that the food in Spain is different, for lack of a better word. They don't eat what we call meals - they eat appetizers (or tapas) pretty much exclusively. If you order fish, you will get a piece of fish with nothing else and if you order a tortilla, that's all you'll get. There are Spanish foods that I really like - paella and tortilla being two of them, but I've found that there isn't as much variety on a Spanish menu as there is that in the US. There's no pasta, few vegetables, and a lot of sandwiches. You don't get plates full of food and fruit is considered dessert. Lizzie also pointed out that Spanish food has less spiciness than American food. The Spaniards I know have long meal times, but eat the food very quickly and then just chat and drink for the rest of the time. Interesting differences, I think, but now, back to the story. . .

We then crossed the street to La Campana, a dessert shop. They had whole candied fruits, but I ordered a slice of postre de queso (a cheesecake with blueberries on top). The cheesecake was lighter than in the US and the dessert was very good. We then walked across the street to this cookie store. The tins were very pretty, but they were gouging people on cookie prices, so I bought an empty tin as a souvenir.

We then wandered in and out of clothing stores in the area and after sitting in a park for a while, we eventually headed back towards the bus station. We stopped to look in La Plaza de Armas, which is an old train station that was converted into a shopping mall, and then we walked next door to the bus station and got front row seats for the bus ride back to Madrid.

I tried to study for my Spanish test, but then fell asleep until my notes fell out of my hand and all over the aisle. After picking those up, I gave up on studying and slept for a while, fastening my seatbelt because the seats we were in were really high up and I was nervous about falling into the aisle myself. The bus stopped in Cordoba for a rest stop and a driver change, but the rest of the way home, I studied and chatted with Lizzie. The bus driver was very flirtatious and I would call him a creeper, although Lizzie says he was just friendly. But he did mention that my Spanish was very good, so brownie points for him.

We got back to Madrid at about 8:30, and decided to go to Fres Co. for dinner, (which is near the Alonso Martínez metro stop), which is one of the only buffet restaurants in Madrid. The food was pretty good - and they had pizza, so we were really happy (note to self - try onions, corn, zucchini, and cheese on pizza when you get home). But then when we went to leave, Lizzie's backpack was gone. Apparently, while we were eating, the guy at the next table over had stolen it. It had been by her chair, and she was upset because she sensed the guy was weird, but didn't think to move her bag. But luckily, most of her valuables were in her purse - all she had in her backpack was cloths, toiletries, our souvenir fans from Sevilla, and her glasses. It will be a pain to replace all of that and it's scary that he managed to grab that without either of us noticing.

So we headed back to the metro, guarding our purses with our lives. I unpacked once I got back to Julia's and started the process of uploading the 235 pictures I took in 2 days. It was a really good trip and Sevilla was really nice, and now I have three days to do all my homework before I leave for Morocco. Who does homework anyway?

Día Uno en Sevilla

(A statue in front of La Plaza de Toros in Sevilla, Spain)

I'm back from Sevilla and am about to fill you in on every minute detail of my trip! Just kidding - I'll try to keep it at least somewhat condensed, but we all know how I enjoy rambling. . .

Lizzie and I headed to the bus station and went to the Daibus counter to buy tickets for our trip to Morocco next week. After successfully carrying out that conversation in Spanish, we had some time to kill, so we explored the bus station a bit and then just sat and talked. Lizzie mentioned the fact that her mother is a distant descendent of Korean royalty, and is by lineage, a Princess. I thought this was pretty exciting, and if I meet no other royalty on this trip, Lizzie totally counts.

The bus ride was 6 hours long, and I slept for most of it. I was relieved I was able to sleep, because we got to Sevilla at about 6:30 am and started the day right away. While we were waiting for it to get light out, we grabbed food from the vending machine (I had mini chocolate croissants) which constitutes breakfast #1 (yes, more are coming). We then bought maps and walked towards our hostel to drop off our stuff. On the way, we saw a cafe that looked really good, and since we figured we were going to need more sustenance for the day, we stopped for breakfast #2. I ordered a sugar-coated croissant from the case, but Lizzie was more adventurous and ordered something (which neither of us understood) from the menu. It turned out to be little pieces of fried toast, which was delivered with a packet of sugar. Interesting concept, but rather greasy. After we paid, we found the hostel, but were told that we couldn't check in until 11:30 (it was now 8). This threw a wrench into our plans, as by 11:30, we were planning on being on the other side of Sevilla. So we needed a planning session - and we stopped at a cafe near the hostel to change out of our traveling cloths and eat breakfast #3 (by this point, we were eating just because of our lack of plans). Lizzie got a bocadillo con jamon y queso and I got toast with marmalade. We whipped out our maps and figured we could tour La Plaza de Toros before going back to the hostel, and after dropping off our stuff, head to the main square in Sevilla.

So we bought tickets for the tour of La Plaza de Toros, and after going through some gift shops, returned for our scheduled time. The tour was pretty interesting (especially because my Countess had been here) and we saw the bullring, chapel, stables, and attached museum. There was a section in the museum devoted to Juan Belmonte, the matador who was also mentioned by my Countess, so I took plenty of pictures there.

Afterwards, we headed back to Olé Backpacker (our 9-euro-a-night hostel), checked in, and dropped off our backpacks. We walked through La Plaza Nueva and by City Hall, and then along Avenida de Constitución. We checked out some info on a walking tour, but then figured we could do that ourselves for free, so we stopped for ice cream, (because three breakfasts just do not fill you up) and got in line for La Catedral de Sevilla (La Catedral de Santa María de la Sede). It is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and the third-largest church in the world, and it was pretty amazing. The altar was gigantic and so was the organ, and every surface was carved or sculpted. We climbed up the tower of Giralda (the cathedral used to be a mosque, and this is one of the remaining elements) and after 34 floors, we reached the top and had some pretty fantastic views of the city. This is also where all the bells for the cathedral are kept and one rang while we were up there, so that was cool, too.

After La Catedral, we walked across the plaza to El Alcázar, an old palace in Sevilla. Many of the buildings in Sevilla were strongly influenced by Moorish culture, and the palace is one of the best remaining examples of mudéjar architecture. We wandered around the palace, but the really nifty part was the gardens, which went on forever and were gorgeous (complete with fountains, flowers, statues, and peacocks).

Then we walked to El Barrio de Santa Cruz for lunch and sat down at a restaurant. The place seemed really nice and both the rooms and food were presented really nicely. Too bad the chef didn't know how to cook, or doesn't believe in spices, or something. Lizzie got a traditional Spanish tortilla, which was really dry, and I got Huevos Flamenco, which was ham and vegetables covered in raw egg. I wouldn't recommend it. The food was pretty bad, and apparently in Sevilla, if you eat the bread they put on your table, they will charge you for it. Tricky.

After lunch, we walked to El Barrio Central, where there is a lot of shopping. The walk was really interesting, because of all the narrow, winding roads. But I have to give credit to Lizzie for the map-reading. Whenever I was in charge of the map, we had to stop at every curve in the road to see if we were going in the right direction. Usually we weren't. We also passed some roman columns on the way, which were just tucked into someone's backyard. In El Centro, Lizzie bought new shoes, seeing as she was practically limping with the ones she had on.

We then headed back towards El Barrio de Santa Cruz, where a guide book had said there were good flamenco shows for free. We ate dinner at a tapas bar (croquettes de queso, chicken curry, and chicken and couscous) and then went to investigate the flamenco bar. Although the doors opened at 8 pm, the first show wasn't until 11, so again we had time to kill. We tried to get back to the main street, but every time you turn a corner in Sevilla, the street you think will be there isn't, and by the time you turn round, that street is gone, too. It was very picturesque and deserted, and seemed almost like an empty movie set. We made it back to the main street, Santa Maria la Blanca, and went in and out of some gift shops. We then walked through the Jardines de Murillo and back to Santa Maria la Blanca, where we stopped for ice cream and chatted.

At about 10, we walked back to the flamenco bar to get good seats and talked until the show started. The place was pretty busy and there were three performers - a guitarist, a singer, and a dancer. They were very good and had attitude, too! The singer kept shush-ing all the rowdy audience members. The show was an hour long and very fun to watch. But distracting from the performance was this couple sitting right next to the stage. The man was much older than the girl and the PDA that was going on was way past acceptable. The first thing Lizzie and I said after the show was done was, "Did you see that couple?!" But the flamenco was very good, and I was glad we went.

I walked and Lizzie limped back to the hostel and found our room (an 8-person female dorm). The bathroom, although small, was very clean and we could rent towels from the front desk for a euro. I thought at one point I had locked myself into the hallway, because I locked the door behind me (as it had been locked before) but then my key wouldn't open it again. I took the elevator down to the front desk, and told the security guard about it, but he seemed unconcerned, so I just passed out in bed hoping that no one else was going to need to use that door.

Un Viaje a Sevilla

(A fountain in El Parque de Retiro)

My only class today was Spanish at 2:30, but I woke up early and did most of my homework for the weekend. And I'm glad I did, seeing as I'm leaving for Sevilla in a few hours!

Lizzie and I are taking the night bus tonight, and will get to Sevilla early tomorrow morning. We are staying in a hostel tomorrow night and will come back late on Saturday. We don't really have a plan as of yet (or even a map for that matter), but we have a tourbook and directions for a walking guide of the city. I'm really excited, but I need to go pick out my attire, as it is going to be hot and we will be walking a lot.

I won't have internet access while we're there and won't be able to update you for a few days, but I'm sure I will have some really long blog entries when I come back as compensation. Hasta luego!

El Tupperware ha Desaparecido!

(A sculpture by Juan García Ripollés in El Parque de Retiro)

Today, my Cultura y Civilización class started - at 8:30 am. Now this may not seem early to many of you, but remember that in Spain, days are generally 3 to 4 hours later. So when you look at it that way, this class essentially started at 5 in the morning. I had to get up without sunlight - and that's a struggle for me with or without the time difference. Ugh. But the class will be interesting. We take a lot of culture trips around Madrid and Spain, and actually have very little classroom time - yay! Also this morning, a representative from the Morocco Exchange organization came to talk about the trip. Sounds like it will be quite the weekend. He mentioned Hammam Public Baths - where you get "exfoliated" by some Moroccan women while wearing a bathing suit and sitting in a big bathtub. "It's an adventure," he encouragingly added.

Today in Economics, we had a debate about an article by Bjorn Lomborg - who essentially argues that deforestation is an exaggerated issue and that the real problem is the poverty level in developing nations. I had to defend him, and did a darn good job. I had quotes and everything. I really love debating and get to talk in my lawyer-voice, so I had a good time. I then rode home on the train with Sebastian, one of the guys in my class. He's pretty lovely and is from Sweden, so that's nifty. I hope I didn't intimidate him with my lawyer-voice. . .

Julia's maid is having foot surgery next week, and won't be returning to work. I asked Julia how long she's known BC (that's how her name sounds - I have no idea how it's spelled), and she said 7 years! And although another woman come for an interview today, Julia didn't like her one bit. According to Julia, "she did everything all wrong," and we spent a good fifteen minutes looking for a tupperware container that the interviewee did not put away in the right place. I don't think Julia will be asking her back anytime soon.

The lightbulbs of the chandelier in my room have slowly been going out - I'm down to three out of the original six. So today, I told Julia about this seemingly simple situation. I had expected her to point me in the direction of the extra lightbulbs or tell me it would be fixed tomorrow when BC will be here, but instead she told me to just use my lamps instead. I wouldn't mind using these lamps, but the problem is this: the decoration in my room is 70's metallic-chic and the lamp-shades are made of aluminum (or some sort of metal-type substance - I wouldn't consider myself an expert in identifying lampshade materials). As you may know, light does not shine through metal and I find these lamps to be really quite pointless. So now in addition to toilet paper, I need to conserve the use of my chandelier, because once the other lightbulbs go out, I will be sitting in the dark next to my impractical lamps.

Un Tarde en el Parque

(El Parque del Retiro in Madrid, Spain)

Today, on the way to El Parque de Retiro, Lizzie and I ran into our advisor, Ana, on the metro. We chatted for a bit, and Ana said my Spanish was improving, so I was pleased. I asked her how her son's first few weeks of school had been (he's just started kindergarten) and Ana said that he has cried every morning for two weeks and is under the impression that he can declare a weekend whenever he sees fit. Ah, the good ol' days. . .

Lizzie and I spent the afternoon walking around the park, taking pictures, eating popsicles, and practicing our Spanish. We always have really good conversations, (usually after we switch back to English - the Spanish conversations are rather succinct) and it was good to be outside on such a lovely day. One thing I noticed while we were at the park was the surprising number of stray cats that hang out there. During the three hours Lizzie and I were at the park, we probably saw 40 cats! I asked Lizzie why she thought there were so many kittens, and she said that they all looked full-grown to her. But they looked so much smaller than my cats back home. . .

I got back to Julia's just in time for dinner and found out that she is on a liquids-only diet for the next three weeks. Luckily, I am not forced to partake in this nonsense, and she gave me a piece of fish that was the size of my head. Also, to be sociable, I asked her to go to a movie with me sometime. She agreed, but insisted that we go to a movie with subtitles, for my own sake.

Then to avoid doing homework, I went through all of Katie's pictures. That girl's got talent! My favorite was in the 365 Day Self-Portrait collection - the one where she is standing in front of the wall of paints and only certain colors pop out of the B&W background. I was mighty impressed - most of my pictures aren't even straight!

Escuela

(The Spanish Flag at El Alcázar in Segovia, Spain)

Today I had only Spanish and Economics. My Spanish class moves very quickly, and up to now it hasn't been a problem as I've studied the material in prior classes. But today we started moving into some new topics, and unfortunately, I'm going to have to start spending more quality time with my grammar book. I find it is very difficult to understand Spanish grammar points when they are taught in Spanish (which I don't understand in the first place - you see the dilemma). Luckily, Lilia and I meet up after class and do the homework. She explains the lessons to me in English (they make so much more sense that way!) and I provide her the use of my dictionary and the pleasantries of my company.

Every Monday in Economics, we have a quiz on the readings we were assigned for the weekend. As today was our first quiz and I always get nervous about such things, I spent quite a bit of time studying the reading (upwards of four hours). Turns out, I studied the wrong thing, and I realized this when I looked at the first question on the quiz. What had happened was that we were told to pick up a packet in the library which had all the readings for the next three weeks. I assumed that the first reading would be for the first week, but they don't seem to follow that same logic in Spain. Turns out, the first reading was for the third week, the second reading was for the first week, and the third reading was for the second week. Many of the other kids made the same mistake, but I was peeved, seeing as I spent so much time studying. Luckily, my over-achieving mannerisms saved me a bit, as to get ahead, I had read the second article, as well (but all the same, I would have preferred a quiz on the first article - thank you very much).

After our quiz, the professor made the announcement that he couldn't figure out how to get his powerpoint to work and that because of the technical difficulties, class would have to be rescheduled. So far, this class has been pretty scattered, but I think it will start to shape up soon. . .

I do like the students in Economics, though. I sit next to a girl from Germany (who sounds Australian because studied abroad for a year in Australia), and I took the train back to Madrid with three other girls from the class, two from Great Britain and one from Sweden. Interesting tidbit: when speaking English, most Europeans have British accents, because they learn British-English, not American-English. This makes it all the more difficult for me to resist the urge to imitate them (I actually slipped up today and said "hello" with a British accent, but I don't think anyone noticed. . .)

Instead of taking the metro home from Nuevos Ministerios, I walked to get some exercise. It took me much longer than expected, but I didn't mind, seeing as the weather was nice and I had on my spiffy new shoes. Julia and I had a dinner of calamari and artichokes (not as bad as it sounds) and I have been reading Economics articles ever since. Hopefully the right ones.

La Noche Blanca

(La Gran Vía during La Noche Blanca in Madrid, Spain)

Yesterday was a wonderful day full of sleep! After waking up at 11 am and doing some reading for Economics, I watched TV in my room, which turned into me sleeping in my chair, and then crawling back into my bed for a proper nap.

Julia woke me up to go to church at 7. The church is very popular and has a mass almost every hour, but when we arrived there was a wedding limo parked out front. Although it was fairly apparent that there was a wedding running late inside, Julia walked right in and sat down in her usual pew. I followed, somewhat meekly, and sat down next to a woman in a full-out ballgown. We watched the end of the wedding, which was complete with a flamenco band that followed the couple around, and when the couple was half-way down the aisle, the priest started the next mass. Catholicism is very efficient in Spain.

We came back to Julia's after a 25 minute mass for a dinner about which I was a tad nervous. The woman that cooks and cleans for Julia cooks all the food for the weekends on Fridays. The problem: refrigerating food doesn't seem to be as big a concern for Spaniards as it is for Americans, and our dinner, salmon fillets and potatoes, had been sitting on the counter since Friday afternoon. It was now Sunday night. The potatoes tasted a little off, but the salmon tasted like salmon, and I'm still alive, so I guess everything was all right. . .

Our dinner conversation focused on Superior Gabrielle, as I have taken to calling her. Superior Gabrielle was an exchange student Julia hosted a few years back, who among other things, "had many interests, spoke fluent Spanish, and learned French while she was here." Julia mentions Superior Gabrielle's accomplishments quite a bit.

Then I had to prepare for the night's festivities. Last night was La Noche Blanca in Madrid, a festival where there are about a hundred free performances, tours, art displays, and activities put on throughout the city all night. Lizzie and I met up outside the Santiago Bernabeu fútbol stadium to see a Cirque du Soleil show, "The Dark Side of the Earth." There was plenty of symbolism hidden in that half-an-hour, but even during the parts that were way over my head, it was fun to watch how flexible and coordinated those people are.

We were on the metro headed to La Plaza de España when we ran into two BC students, Julia and Don. They were headed for El Museo de America for a techno show, so we followed them through some creepy park (with not near enough street-lamps) to the museum only to find out that the show was full. So the four of us headed back to La Gran Vía, where a lot of the night's activities were. The line to get into the kitchens of El Palacio Real were ridiculously long, so while Julia and Don were going to try and find another performance, Lizzie and I decided to stay and enjoy Gran Vía.

We wandered through the streets and happened upon a jazz concert being given in a park. We plunked ourselves down and listened to the music while talking and people-watching. When that concert was over, we wandered some more until we found a Tupperware Orchestra, where about 50 audience members were picked and told to play a specific note at a specific time. Music and/or disaster ensued, depending on how you look at it, but it was fun to watch. We then wandered some more (passing these two gentlemen peeing on a dumpster) and found ourselves back at Sol. We stopped for ice cream at a restaurant on one of the main streets and then headed home at about 3 am. On the metro was a friendly and very plastered girl who was trying to convince us that we were in Tokyo. She then proceeded to sit down in the middle of the packed subway car and shout questions at us. But she was very well-meaning and told me to hold on to my purse as there were lots of pickpockets around. I told her to do the same.

An update on the toilet paper situation: there is none and has been none for two days now. Luckily, my mother always instructed me in the art of carrying too many tissues with me, so that has been coming in handy. This is really quite an important problem in my life right now, so I thought you should all be informed.

Today I've been trying to get ahead on my homework, seeing as Lizzie and I will be in Sevilla all next weekend and I will probably not be doing homework during that time. Today we booked our hostel and on Tuesday we are going to make ourselves some kind of itinerary. Lizzie and I, a lack of Spanish skills, and a weekend in Sevilla: what could go wrong?

Mucho dinero!

(Chocolate in Limón y Menta in Segovia, Spain)

Lizzie and I (Amanda had to go to get her crashed computer fixed) were shopping all day today at La Vaguada, a mall near our end of town. There were a lot of stores and it was an interesting look into the Spanish style. We stopped for lunch at a sandwich shop in the mall and had these fantastic baguette sandwiches with chicken, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, and some sort of mayo dressing. I understood all of the questions the waitress asked us and I was very proud of myself.

I also found shoes! I had been getting nervous, as I hadn't seen anything I really liked in the mall, and this little store near the metro stop was my last shot. It was a sneaker store, mostly with shoes for running purposes, but I had my eye on some Pumas. I asked the man if they had a size 41 (size 9.5 here in the US - bigfoot, I know - and I rounded down) and he gave me a look. He said they only carried that size in a couple of styles, so while I tried on one pair he actually ran to another store to grab a different style in my size. I ended up getting a pair of Nike Airs for 75 euros (mucho dinero in US dollars) and when I was checking out, the saleslady asked me where I like to run. I said, "Oh, I don't run," and she gave me a look, too. But again, I was very proud of myself for having had all these shoe conversations in Spanish.

When we arrived at our respective homes, Lizzie and I decided that we should book all of our traveling tickets sooner rather than later. So I have now officially booked a roundtrip flight to Rome in December, and a roundtrip bus ticket to Seville for next weekend. So to summarize - I spent a lot of money today. But at least my computer was working okay - Lizzie was first on a fraudulent site trying to buy tickets to Rome, then ended up having to pay 20 euros more for her ticket, because the price changed mid-purchase.

Then tonight, a bunch of us met up at Sol to go out for tapas and churros. If they had just been drinking, I wouldn't have braved the cold - but they got me with the promise of food. We wandered through La Plaza Mayor and went to this little tapas bar called Cerveceria Montaditos. I got a Chocolate Blanco, Chocolate con Leche, y Almendras sandwich, which was quite delectable. We then went back to La Chocolateria for chocolate con churros, so I was quite pleased with the way the night turned out. We even managed to leave in time to take the metro home, and I was back to Julia's by 2:15 am.

Hace frío!

(The view from El Torre del Alcázar in Segovia, Spain)

Well, it is ridiculously cold here.  I walked outside this morning and it could have been snowing.  So while I came to Spain to get away from the cold weather, it seems to have followed me. Blurgh!  

Yesterday, I tried to wear a pair of shoes that weren't my flip-flops; I deeply regretted this decision.  And because of the various battle-wounds my feet sustained after yesterday's valiant attempt, during today's freezing weather, I could only wear my flip-flops.  At least they were waterproof and resisted all the rain I walked through. . .

So for tomorrow, the plan is to find and buy shoes.  This is more difficult than you would think, as the stores in Madrid are very boutique-y and expensive and one of my fears in life is pushy sales-people, especially pushy sales-people speaking only Spanish.  But Amanda, Lizzie, and I have officially scheduled a day of shopping tomorrow at a mall near here, so hopefully somewhere in its 300 stores, I will find a decent pair of shoes.

I had a fantastic lunch today - pasta salad with shrimp, cheese, and some sort of Spanish vegetable that I have yet to identify.  My friends usually only get a ham and cheese sandwich, and my friend, Lindsay's, host-mother packs her cookies pasted together with butter.  We've been trying to figure out this strange combination, and Lindsay thinks it's part of her host-family's strategy to "fatten her up like a Christmas ham."

The door at Barclay's beat me up today.  I went to exchange some US money for euros at their branch near Julia's apartment.  I walked in, apparently after hours, and the only guy in the place told me I'd have to come back tomorrow.  I turned and was simply trying to leave with my dignity, but I managed to embarrass myself in the entry-hall between their two sets of double doors, as well.  I now know that you have to let the first door close before the second door will open, but I was unaware of this useful tidbit this afternoon, so I was pushing and pulling on the second door to no avail.  Then Mr. Come-Back-Tomorrow said to wait for the first door to close, and when it did, the second door popped open and scraped my thumb.  Then I had to walk in the cold, with beaten-up feet and an injured finger, back to Julia's.  I think I will go to a different bank tomorrow.

But on the plus side, I have already finished all my homework for the weekend and only have a few pages of an Economics article left.  In my opinion, the Carlos III idea of homework is really much better than that of BC and I hope this general mentality of not-wasting-your-free-time-with-work continues.

Mejor Español!

(A house near El Palacio de La Granja in San Ildefonso, Spain)

Sorry I didn't post yesterday.  I took a Benadryl and then pretty much passed out. . .

Yesterday I felt really good about my Spanish as several people told me I'm improving.  That's a relief - it's about time.  I also got back from classes early so I decided to go on a walk around Julia's neighborhood.  I walked down a street called Paseo de Habana, and then was slightly lost, but found Paseo de Castellana pretty easily, which is the main street in Madrid, so that took care of that.  I wandered past the soccer stadium at Santiago Bernabeu, mostly waiting to see if any lovely soccer players were wandering about, but I didn't see any likely candidates.  I wandered a little further towards central Madrid, but then had to turn around and come back for dinner.  Julia and I chatted for probably an hour and a half, so that was nice.  I found out she does a lot of knitting and cross-stitching, so I tried to bring up the subject of quilting.  But horror upon horror - there is no word for quilting in Spanish!!  I looked in my dictionary and online - I even showed her some pictures of mom's quilts from the website - nada!  Quite appalling!!

I was very proud of myself today because I helped a person with directions in Spanish.  As some of you may know, I am often lost.  But apparently, I look as though I know where I'm going, because I get asked for directions a lot, (people just don't understand the danger this might cause - I once sent some kids looking for "the Garden" to Boston Commons - whoops).  But today I was in the metro station and some fellow babbled at me in Spanish, but I caught enough words to know that he wanted to go to Sol.  I actually responded (in Spanish) with correct directions and he seemed to understand me.  Hence my being very proud of myself.

Also, my economics class was really interesting today.  The professor put five words up on the board (wind, cannons, property rights, climate, and diseases) and we had to figure out, in groups, why each of these words contributed to Europe's economic growth.  Now they weren't as simple as you would think, and it turned into quite the puzzle.  For example, the answer to the second riddle wasn't that Europe had good cannons and won wars.  It was that Europe knew that you needed a perfectly-sized cannon-ball for the cannon to work (too big, it explodes, too small, it just drops).  This technology led to the development of steam engine pistons (the pistons need to be the exact right size in order to work), and it was Europe's steam engines that fueled the Industrial Revolution.  Fascinating.  There was extra credit for the group that figured out the most, and my group tied with Germans.  Pretty darn good, I'd say.

And while "Beedle el Bardo," is slow going, I think it will help a lot with improving my Spanish.  For each story, I have to look up every other word the first time through, but the second time through is a lot easier.  Plus, by the end, I'll have quite a bit of magic vocabulary up my sleeve, so I'll be able to whip that out whenever needed. . .

Perdido en Las Pyrenees

(Tiles in Segovia, Spain)

More classes today!  I had Spanish, which was good.  We learned about tatuajes y piercings (tattoos and piercings), so I guess if I need to strike up a conversation with Julia about either of those topics, I will be covered. . .  

Then I wandered on over to the bookstore with a girl from my Spanish class to get the book we need for the class (the only book I need to buy this semester - a nice change from the $700 I spend on books at BC each semester).  I also bought these nifty plastic envelope things that people use here instead of binders (I really do love school supplies). 

My other purchase was "Los Cuentos de Beedle el Bardo" by J.K. Rowling.  Now I know this may normally be below my reading level, but seeing as it is in Spanish, it is really quite advanced.  Here's my strategy: first, finish reading "The Spy Went Dancing" in english.  Second, read "Los Cuentos de Beedle el Bardo" in spanish.  Third, read a more difficult book in spanish that I have already read in english (I'm thinking "Angels and Demons").  Fourth, well, I guess I should wait and see if I get past Beedle el Bardo. . . But I think it will be more productive for me to try and read in spanish than just watch TV in spanish, because I will remember the words better if I see them.  So that's the plan.

My second and last class of the day was Economics - I sat next to a girl named Lily from Singapore.  The actual professor was back today, and looks younger than I do, but he seems really nice.  Interesting story: he apologized for his appearance (shorts and a T-shirt) and said that he needed to feel comfortable in his clothes today because yesterday he was lost in the Pyrenees mountains and was ultimately rescued by a helicopter.  I'm not even making this up to make my life sound more interesting.  We were told he was at a economics conference, so I'm not sure how he managed to get lost in the Pyrenees, but he seemed pretty frazzled by the whole experience.

After class, the BC kids stayed to ask him if we could take the final early, as the test is scheduled for January 14th.  We were all pretty nervous about it, because other kids have been getting turned down left and right, (which means they will have to drive to BC on their test date, take the test under the administration of BC staff, and fax the test back to Spain.  Not only is this really inconvenient, but I know I would forget everything about a class I haven't taken for a month!) Luckily, he said we could take the final early, which is a huge relief.  He also said we could hand in our final papers early, as well, or take the extra time if we need it.  Yay for economics!

I have officially bought a roundtrip plane ticket to Lisbon, Portugal for the third weekend in October.  The ticket was only 47 euros and people seem to love Lisbon, so I jumped at the chance.  I e-mailed the info to a couple of friends, and I've started to hear back from them already, so it's shaping up to be a pretty good trip.

I have already finished my homework - 200 words about what we do if we were invisible for a day (mine involved reading the secret archives in D.C. and then sitting on the stage for a broadway performance of Wicked in NYC), so now I think I will attempt to read a page of "Beedle el Bardo."  I'll report back.

Más fotografías!

I have also added more pictures to the Shutterfly site.  There are a few more at the end of the first album, and I've added a new album for the pictures of Segovia.

Here's the link: http://gigiinmadrid.shutterfly.com

Enjoy!

Un día aburrida

(Madrileños enjoying their city)

Because of my cold, I haven't moved from my room all day, so I've been watching TV in Spanish, trying to improve my language comprehension.  The hardest part for me about Spanish is understanding when other people speak, so I figure keeping the TV on might help after a while.  A lot of the TV shows here are American, with Spanish dubbed over, and I watched Switch with the voices not following the mouths.  There is also a commercial for El Corte Ingles that has Habanera as background music (my senior year NYSSMA vocal solo). Each time it plays I'm tempted to whip out my opera, but I think that might alarm Julia a bit.  I've watched the news, the sports channel, Fama (a dance competition), and am currently on the Spanish Amazing Race.  It's been a pretty productive day.

Besides TV, I've read more of my book and an article for my Economics class about the rise and fall of the economic giants: the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and US.  Not too bad, actually.

Because of the lack of tissues in Julia's house, I've been using toilet paper for my runny nose.  I've gone through about three rolls, and have had to go riffling through closets for more.  I have had to start preserving as I think we are nearly out.

I showed all my Shutterfly pictures to Julia today, and we chatted for a while about them.  She was alarmed when she saw the picture of my keys, because now she thinks someone is going to break into the house, but I'm pretty sure she was only joking.  Here's a situation when that language comprehension is important. . .

Segovia

(The Catedral de Segovia in Segovia, Spain)

Today I went to Segovia.  On purpose, too.

I got a call from Lizzie last night that a bunch of people were meeting up to go out, but that they were also going to meet at the bus station by 9:45 am this morning for a day-trip to Segovia.  I figured that since I needed to be beautiful for all the pictures taken in Segovia, I had better sleep rather than go out dancing, (not really, I was exhausted and too lazy to get dressed and make the hour trip to Sol).  So I told Lizzie I wasn't going and crawled into bed.

Considering it usually takes me about an hour to get anywhere, I left Julia's at about 8:45 am, (leaving her a note that I was off to Segovia for the day).  Of course, this time, the trip only took about half an hour, but as trained by my mother, I had my book with me, so this wasn't a problem.  I met up with the group (there were about 20 of us BC students) and we got our 13 euro bus tickets to Segovia.  I sat with Elise on the bus ride there (about an hour).

Thankfully, one guy, Pat, decided to take the lead and had pretty much planned out our whole day.  We were quite the tourists, all 20 of us walking around, and Pat shouting out history facts about buildings while we snapped pictures.  The first thing we saw were the aqueducts, for which Segovia is famous.  I've always been amazed by such things, so that was really cool, and I took about 30 pictures there alone (I'll narrow it down for your viewing ease).  Next we wandered through the town (really historic with classic architecture) and a church, and to the main plaza, when many of us decided we needed to eat.  After sitting down at a pretty fancy restaurant, we left after one look at the prices on the menu, and some of us ended up at sit-down sandwich shop.  I ordered a baguette (a sandwich on a baguette, aptly named) with omelet con jamon, queso, y pimientos (eggs, ham, cheese, and peppers).  Yes, that's right.  It was an omelet on a baguette. It was really good and I was quite satisfied with my choice.

All of us then strolled on over to the Catedral de Segovia, this huge romantic-style cathedral.  Only Lizzie, Christine, Don, and I paid to go in, but it was worth it.  The place was huge and I always like to take a gander at the organs in big churches like that.  They also had some huge books of Gregorian chants on display, so I illegally took some pictures of those.

Next we went to El Alcázar, a castle, turned prison, turned museum.  The rooms were gorgeous and most of us paid extra to climb up el torre, or the tower.  There were 152 steps to the top, but these weren't your ordinary steps.  They were a good double or triple the height of normal stairs, and of course, it was a spiral staircase.  Therefore, when we were climbing and there were other people going down the stairs, we got pushed to the narrow part of the stair, and it is no easy feat to climb gigantic stairs when you have hardly anything to hold onto (and when you're really dizzy).  We were all nearly passed out by the time we reached the top.  The views of the city were amazing, though, and you could see the Spanish landscape for miles.  Segovia's altitude is pretty high up, so it was cooler than in Madrid, but also very dry.  The landscape was almost completely golden and desert-like.

We slumped back down the stairs (which going down seemed much more slippery than when going up. . .) and headed back to the bus station to get a quick ride over to La Granja, (or the gardens) to see a fountain show.  There is this huge palace (which we think was modeled after Versailles by a french fry who missed France). Unfortunately, we only had about 45 minutes there and the fountains had no water in them (or so I hear, I didn't even get to the fountains - I spent the whole time in the gardens).  We ran back to the bus past all these schmancied-up people (it seems there was some big event happening at La Granja) and headed back to Segovia.

Some people wanted to leave early (those who stayed out the night before and were running on only 2 hours of sleep) so they took an early bus back to Madrid, while the rest of us headed to the third-best bakery in Spain (makes you want to know where number two and one are, huh?  No fears, I'm on it. . .).  The pasteleria is called Limón y Menta, and I got a cream-filled, rolled-dough, almond-encrusted thing and a cinnamon and sugar marzipan-covered delectibility.  The second is one of Segovia's specialties and I tasted pumpkin in it, but everyone just gave me weird looks, so maybe my cold is throwing off my taste buds.  We ate in the gazebo of la Plaza Mayor de Segovia, which turned out really well, as this weekend was apparently military-band weekend.  Lots of European bands and gun-twirlers (I'm sure they have a more specific name) were performing all day, so that was nifty to see.  We went off souvenir shopping, and when we came back, there was a wedding letting out, and a traditional dance performance was given for the newlyweds.  I think there were more tourists watching than people in the wedding party.

We wandered to the bus station a back way, looking at some of the neighborhoods and sights of Segovia and taking still more pictures.  While many parts of Segovia are very touristy, most of it has retained its historical merit and Segovia is a real Spanish city.  I'm also really glad that there are planners in our group who will put together trips like this.  Vacationing is a lot easier when someone has a plan.

We nabbed seats on the 9 pm bus back to Madrid, and although some of them are going out tonight, your's truly is going to pass out from exhaustion.  Good night, all.

Un día real

(Me in front of El Palacio Real in Madrid, Spain)

Lizzie and I decided to go to El Palacio Real today, so we met up and got there at about 3:30.  We signed up for a tour, (which was tricky, the ticket man really only spoke Spanish, but we succeeded) but had an hour to kill before our group started.  There is this huge gated area in front of El Palacio, so we wandered around there, being tourists and taking our pictures in front of everything.  Plus, both Lizzie and I are very picky about how we look in pictures, so we usually end up with 4 or 5 each of the same shot.  Lizzie's phone rang in the middle of one of our photo shoots, and she started to talking to someone on the phone.  I was thinking how jealous I was of her that she spoke such good Spanish, but then I realized that she was speaking to her mother in Korean.  Hmm. . .

Our tour started and in an hour we went through only this tiny section of the palace.  The place is huge!  Our tourguide was a little lackluster - he spoke so quietly we couldn't hear him without his microphone and he spoke mostly about all the things that came from France.  He had a French accent, so maybe that had something to do with it.  But the rooms were really elaborate with fancy frescos, portraits by Goya, silver-embroidered wallpaper, and lots of plaster work.  One of the coolest things was this table that looked as though it had a really intricate painted design.  But it was actually a mosaic, with really tiny pieces.  We also saw 5 Stradivarius instruments - 2 violins, 2 cellos, and 1 viola, so that was nifty.  Our tour guide said one of the cellos is among the best instruments in the world.  Unfortunately, El Palacio Real does not allow photography, so you'll have to look up pictures yourself.

Afterwards, Lizzie and I went and toured through the gardens in the back of El Palacio, which was really nice and then we went to Vips, a popular Spanish restaurant.  We both got ice cream and I also ordered the "juice of the season."  The waiter came with our order, and my "juice of the season" was two oranges on a plate.  I waited for him to bring out a juicer or something, but he never did, so I just ate the oranges (which taste kind of funky with a brownie sundae).  I'm not sure exactly what happened -  apparently, I can't even read the English menu. . .

We then went back to the park next to La Plaza de España (the one with a statue of Don Quixote and Sancho, if you are familiar) because I needed a picture to send to the editor of globalpost.com.  I had Lizzie stand next to random groups of madrileños so I could pretend I was taking her picture when I was really being quite the stalker and accumulating a collection of madrileño pictures.  I'm sure that's how they do it at National Geographic, too.

So those cookies, Marbú Doradas, are my new animal crackers.  They are wonderful little things, and I've already plowed through the first box, (I stopped to get more on my way back to Julia's).  The best part (or worst part, depends on your angle) is that I have no idea how to read the nutrition facts in Spanish, so I have no idea how big a serving size is.  I should probably assume it's not half the box, but who am I to judge?

Julia and I had shrimp and green bean paella for dinner tonight.  It was my first paella, and I really liked it!  Even the shrimp!  It was one of my favorite dinners in Madrid so far, so that was exciting.  During dinner, I mentioned wanting to interview Aline, Countess of the Romanones, for a future globalpost.com article and I think Julia said that one of her sisters is friends with the Contessa.  I said, for heaven's sake, why haven't you mentioned this before?!  So who knows, maybe I will be meeting some royalty.  

Then Julia and I watched the news.  Well, she watched the news, I looked at the pictures.  From what I could gather, the Spanish princesses Sofia and Leonor had their first day of school today.  Also, Barcelona is protesting something and burning flags and what-not, so maybe that's not the best place to vacation anytime soon.  Got to get to Sol now,  my friends insist on being social. . .

Estoy perdida!

(Chocolate con Churros at La Chocolateria in Madrid, Spain)

I almost went to Toledo this morning.  On accident, of course.

I take the C-4 Parla train to get to Carlos III.  The C-4 leaves from platform 8 at the Nuevos Ministerios train station.  I have done this several times in the past and have never have had a problem.  So today I was sitting on the train and realized that it was taking much longer than usual.  I looked up from my Spanish notes, (yes, I study on the train) and didn't recognize any of the scenery.  Of course, all the screens that show where the train is going were shut-off, so I figured I was probably just being paranoid, and waited to see something I remembered from my past trips.  After a few minutes, I still recognized nothing, and when we pulled into a station with a name I'd never heard before, I decided I better get off.  I scurried myself on over to a map (considering my class was starting in about 30 minutes) and tried to figure out where I was.  Well on my way to Toledo, I discovered.  Apparently, C-3 Toledo trains leave from platform 8, as well.  Good to know.  So I was going to have to backtrack about 3 stops, find the C-4 line, and catch a train to Carlos III.  I was pretty proud of myself for getting to class only 15 minutes late, but I don't think the Professora was impressed.  Does that count as exploring?

But don't fear - I impressed my Spanish teacher with my intelligence and humor, (after I arrived from my near vacation).  As soon as I sat down, she asked me to read this paragraph on the handout we had.  Everyone else had been stumbling through their readings, so of course, I read to impress, and impress I did!  Then we all had to write horoscopes for each other and then read our favorites aloud to the class.  Mine were read the most, and were pretty witty, I might add. 

I had thought my conversation with Julia about bringing my lunches to school had finally been understood, but apparently not.  I told her that I would take my lunch to school with me today, (or so I thought) but when I went to grab it from the kitchen, the table was all set for me to eat.  I figured I could eat faster than try to explain that I needed to pack my lunch, so I gulped my food down and ran out the door.  This tardy start did not help my lengthy train trip.

I've already finished most of my homework for the weekend, so Lizzie and I wanted to go to a flamenco restaurant tonight.  I spent about an hour and a half trying to find one cheap enough for us to afford, and when I did (at about 9:30 pm), I made reservations for the 10:30 pm show.  Although we thought this would be enough time to get there, we were wrong, and we didn't get off the metro until after 10:30 pm.  We also couldn't find La Plaza de España, but that's because we had kind of given up by that point (or at least that's what I'm going to tell you - I won't admit to being lost twice in one day. . .)

We ended up walking along La Gran Villa, a major street in the theatre district of Madrid.  There seemed to be a few premieres happening, and lots of fans were taking pictures of Spanish celebrities that Lizzie and I didn't recognize.  We then walked back towards La Plaza del Sol, in search of a chocolateria Ana had told me about.  We found it, (after asking for directions twice - both times in Spanish, though, so we were proud of ourselves) and got Madrid's famous chocolate con churros.  Very good, but different than I expected.  Not as sweet as one would think - evidence of why all these Spaniards are so skinny!

The editor of globalpost.com sent me an e-mail saying she really liked my article, and she wants a picture to go with it.  She suggested a picture of some madrileños eyeing Americans in a café.  That seems awfully specific, but if it involves me sitting at a café all tomorrow, I guess I'll manage.

Fotografías

Hey everyone,  

Here's a link to my pictures online: http://gigiinmadrid.shutterfly.com

Enjoy!

Estudios Internacionales

(El Palacio de Comunicaciones in Madrid, Spain)

Today I had three classes: Present History for two hours, Spanish for an hour and a half, and Economic History for an hour and a half.  Unfortunately these classes are spread out over a 10 hour period, so I will be spending a lot of time at Carlos III on Wednesdays.  These days will get even longer when my fourth class starts later this month - also on Wednesday morning.  But the bright side is that I have time to do all my homework in between classes.  The even brighter side is that I still don't seem to have any homework! (I better keep my fingers crossed. . .)

My Spanish class went really well today because everything we talked about I have actually learned before!  I felt pretty intelligent, not going to lie.  My Economic History class was interesting, too.  It is a class on international students taught in English.  Today the professor split us into groups, gave us an article to read, and told us to answer all the questions at the end.  In my group, Laurie, a girl from Great Britain, and I finished the article pretty quickly, but the two boys, one from Spain and the other from the Philippines, were less fluent and took longer.  I was impressed they got through the article at all - I was nearly asleep by the end.  Answering the questions consisted of Laurie sounding really brilliant because she said everything in a British accent, and me writing answers with really big vocabulary, (I've found that this is the best way to make one's self sound smart).  I had to make a conscious effort to stick to my American accent, because I have a bad habit of imitating British people and it's led to some awkward situations in the past. . .

Today, I also got my last class to count for my International Business minor.  I was talking to a BC student who had gotten it approved for the International Studies minor, which is essentially the same thing, so I asked him to send me the e-mail from the BC professor.  Now here's how this works.  My problem has been that I have been sending my professors the class syllabi.  This student, a much more creative thinker than I, paraphrases the classes in his own words.  Turns out this is a much easier way to get a class approved.  Yay!

Oh - interesting cultural tidbit.  The other day when I was talking with Ana, she said that she thinks madrileños are very outgoing and open because Madrid is more culturally homogenous than other countries such as America.  She said that madrileños don't have to worry as much about insulting other races or religions, because there really aren't any.  There's fewer social constraints in Madrid.  Thought you might want to add that to the trivial knowledge banks.

I came home exhausted and don't think I said a single grammatically-correct sentence to Julia, but I managed to keep my head off the table through dinner (fish and salad).

I sent in my globalpost.com article today: The Madrileño Secret.  If they put it on the website, I'll give you the link, and if they don't, I will complain about how they do not recognize my genius.  Either way, you get to hear more of my ramblings.  Lucky you!

El primer día de escuela

(A view of Universidad Carlos III in Getafe, Spain)

Yesterday was the first day of school.  I went to class, and got there on time and everything, (even after being slowed down by a half-hour conversation with Julia about whether I was bringing my lunch or not. . .)  The first class was Spanish - it was pretty easy, and I think it is the right level for me, so I'm happy to be back learning grammar and vocabulary and whatnot.  I even know some people in my class, so I'm glad I will not be forced to talk to strangers (just kidding).

Then I went to lunch with Lillia and Nick, who are both in my Spanish class, and we went to the library and did our homework together (this blog is starting to get pretty exciting now, huh?)  

I had Historic Economics afterwards, which is where my problems started.  I got this class approved by my BC advisor with the syllabus that had been listed online.  Turns out, the syllabus listed online was for a class that doesn't exist anymore.  So I e-mailed the professor (we had a sub, the real professor is at a conference), but still haven't heard anything back.  The reason this is a problem is that now I need to find a new class that will be approved by BC and will fit into my schedule - keep in mind that these classes have already started and learning is happening without me!

Anyway, I took the train home with Nick, James, Matt, and Jeff (I seem to be the only girl that likes Economics) and they're all really nice.  They've been having trouble getting classes approved, too, so we complained all the way home.  Good times.

I got back home and spent three hours trying to find a new class, to no avail (hence my lack of blogging) so I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about that.

Then to top everything off: last night I was attacked by a cucaracha (for you french fries out there, that's a cockroach).  I was parched and innocently on my way to the kitchen to fetch myself some water.  I only turned on half the lights, and saw a black spot on the floor that I thought was a pattern in the tile.  I stepped over it and the bugger literally chased me across the kitchen.  Then we assumed an I-won't-smush-you-if-you-don't-smush-me stance and after that was settled, I ran away real fast (of course, leaving my waterbottle in my wake).

Today I had to get to get to class by 10 for Present History.  Seems like a pretty interesting class, so that's good.  Also, there's a final paper instead of an exam, yay!  Then I had a meeting with Ana to interview her for my article and go over these class issues I've been having.  She kept letting the other students go ahead of me so that we would have time for the interview, but we ended up only having about 20 minutes, because I had to leave to go to my second class.  The interview was fine, but none of my class problems were solved.

I officially signed up for a 4-day trip to Morocco today from October 1-4th!  The program is with other BC kids and through an organization called Morocco Exchange.  We pay 150 euros, which isn't bad, considering the trip was originally 350 euros, and BC pays the rest.  We will travel to a bunch of cities and stay with Moroccan families.  There will also be discussions on culture and Islam with students from Morocco.  It sounds like an awesome trip and the pictures on moroccoexchange.com are really spiffy.

I also told Julia about the cockroach today.  She got all excited and started spraying cockroach repellent all over the floors.  Honestly, next time I will probably still run.

Un domingo en España

(Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid, Spain)

Last night, a bunch of BC kids (and I) went to a party at a Spaniard's house right off the Puerta del Sol.  It was a really nice apartment and it was filled with lovely Spanish boys.  But of course, as per usual in Madrid, they were drinking.  Sidenote: since being in Madrid, I've been trying to widen my horizons by taking a sip of the drinks people give me (that's an awkward sentence - I don't mean just anybody, only trustworthy non-drunk people.  Also, this adds up to about two sips a night).  But they were all drinking this nasty stuff - I don't even know what it was.  They opened the bottle and that stuff smelled awful!  So I gave my drink to the guy next to me, who was really pleased with the situation.  I've only tried one drink I've liked - some cherry something with vodka, but after one sip, I gave that one away as a matter of principle.  Now that you've heard that saga. . .

The plan had been to go to the discotheque, El Capital, but we had a ticket to get into Joy for free, so we ended up going there again.  Half the group left after a while to go to El Capital, but you had to pay to get in there, and I figured that since I am a poor college student, that was unnecessary.  So Lizzie, Elisha, Kevin, and I stayed at Joy.  Pretty much the same as last night, except that they had two flamenco shows during the night, which were pretty nifty.  Also, it was much more crowded this time around and there were a lot more creepers.  But seeing as we don't know how to use the night-buses, we stayed until 6 am so that we could take the metro.  It takes a while for me to get home, so I probably didn't fall asleep until about 7:30 am.

Today I woke up at 2 pm, in time for lunch, and afterwards, Lizzie and I decided to go out exploring.  We went to El Prado, because it's free on Sundays, and walked around El Paseo del Prado, a main street in Madrid.  El Prado was really fantastic - the place is huge and there is a lot of famous artists featured there (you probably knew that already).  We only stayed for a little while, because we had errands to run and needed to be back to our homes for dinner, but even what we saw in such a short amount of time was impressive.  We then went to El Corte Ingles to buy school supplies and snacks.  I bought some delectable tea cookies called Marbú Dorada and chocolate candies called Maltesers.  But what's really exciting (well, to a nerd like me) is that notebooks are different here!  The standard paper they use in Europe is a different size than in the US, so the notebooks are a different size, too.  Also, the paper is what we know as graph paper and they don't use just regular old lined paper.  Needless to say I'm pretty excited to start taking some notes!

I headed back to Julia's for dinner at about 9 pm and her English-speaking niece, Alexandra, joined us for dinner (croquettes and salad).  Julia kept telling Alexandra to speak to me in only Spanish, so what I did catch was that tomorrow, she's going to start looking for a job (the unemployment rate in Spain is about 18% right now).  Alexandra also said that she plays the piano, which is cool, and she said that we can go to some concerts together.

So that ended my whirlwind of a weekend!  Today was the last day of summer vacation, because classes start tomorrow.  And while I'm not excited about the homework that will be forced upon me, I'm glad I will be taking Spanish again, because that will help me improve.  Plus, there's been talk of Spaniards at this school, so that puts a pleasant haze on things. . .

Fiesta

(Modern meets traditional in Madrid, Spain)

I am exhausted. Last night was craziness. 

First, transportation.  I left my room at about one (after being very indecisive about getting dressed) and hurried to the Cuzco metro stop, which is the closest stop to Julia's apartment.  I ended up having to wait almost 20 minutes for a train, so I was already going to be late to meeting Lizzie and Elisha at the Nuevos Ministerios metro stop.  By the time I got to the stop, the trains had stopped running and my friends weren't there.  A security guard told me something in Spanish, which from his tone I took to mean, "You should leave now," so I did and tried to call Lizzie.  Of course, there wasn't any reception in the metro station, so that plan flopped.  I was nervous because I was halfway between Julia's apartment and where I was trying to go, it was 1:20, and the metros stop running at 1:30.  So I booked it on over to the metro line I needed to get downtown and was relieved to find that I could still make it.  I got to the Sol metro stop, (downtown Madrid) at about 2 and again tried to call Lizzie.  Now she had no service, and neither did Elisha, (but I did not know this at the time, because the pre-recorded "no-service" message is in Spanish), so I called Amanda and asked her to call either of my friends and tell them I was waiting under the main clock in the square.  I didn't hear anything back for about half an hour.  In the meantime, I am standing under the clock, in the cold, by myself.  I don't recommend standing there for very long, because people start to talk to you and take your picture (yeah - it was sketchy).  Finally I see Lizzie and Elisha, who didn't realize they had had no service in the bar that they were in, and we head off, me, relieved to finally put an end to my 2.5 hour trip.

So then, Lizze, Elisha, and I are wandering around the Sol area.  In Madrid, girls get a free drink for going into a club (also sketchy) so a lot of people just go bar-hopping, getting drinks for free.  I am annoyed that their Spanish is better than mine, even after they've been drinking (it's so not fair. . .) but after hanging out a couple mediocre clubs, we hear word that the discotheque Joy is really good - and it is.  There is a huge dance floor and private boxes and it's pretty classy.  They played American music and it was packed.  We danced for a long time - we only stopped once to get our free drinks - I ordered a Sprite and the bartender gave me a look that I did not appreciate.  The Spanish boys were awfully friendly, but most could be dismissed without problems.  Only one of the boys that tried to dance with me was guapo and we danced for a while.  But he started getting awfully friendly and needed to be dismissed, too.  The only problem with this club was that people danced with their drinks in hand and all the bottles ended up on the floor.  Most of them broke from being stepped on, so the floor was covered in broken glass (that's a recipe for disaster, isn't it?).  I had so much glass stuck in the bottoms of my shoes that those things could have been used as weapons!  Luckily (or somewhat unluckily, I guess) I only cut my foot once, right towards the end of the night.  We ended up leaving Joy at 6 am - when the metros started up again.  I've been told that this is the general night schedule in Madrid - get to where you're going by 1:30 when the metros stop and leave at 6 when they start up again.  Ah, Madrid.

So after this night of fiesta-ing, I slept until 2 pm, waking up just in time for lunch.  I didn't do much else all day because I'm still trying to write my globalpost.com article.  Also, it is really hot, and I've practically melted into my bed.  But Julia took me to mass today - the church is in the park right next to the apartment building.  The mass was only 20 minutes, and after church, Julia showed me where the pharmacy, the bank, and the grocery-type store were.  We came back in time for dinner, and I've just received news that my friends are going out again tonight!  This time, to some Spanish student's house party and then to El Capital - a seven-story discotheque downtown.  I've not yet decided whether I am going to go do this or sleep, but more later!

Una noche en Madrid

(Chueca, a barrio in Madrid, Spain)

This morning I had a meeting with Ana, my advisor at Carlos III.  I thought the meeting was for 1:20, but I had forgotten that it had been pushed back, so I arrived an hour early.  But everything worked out nicely, because I happened to meet my friend Lizzie in the train station and we ended up spending the day together.  

We toured around Carlos III, taking pictures, exploring, and speaking in Spanish.  That's right - folks, at least an hour's worth on conversation from your's truly!  I headed off to my meeting and Lizzie headed off the the computer lab to work on her classes.  Unfortunately, when I got to Ana's office, I saw two other students in line ahead of me, (apparently meetings run on Spanish time, too) but this also ended up working out, because I made a couple of new friends.  One of the girls, Callan, has already spent over 1,000 euros - her computer, glasses, and Ipod all broke within the few days we've been here.  But my sympathy wore off a tad when I found out that she and the other girl, Theresa, are spending the weekend on the Southern coast of Spain with the Prince of Sweden.  I'm not even joking.  I told Lizzie that we're not trying hard enough to meet royalty, but don't worry, I'm on it.

My rest of my meeting was less exciting, as no titled millionaires were in attendance, but I did successfully fix my cell-phone (which involved having a conversation on the phone in Spanish) and pick most of my classes.  I will be taking Economia Historica de España (in English), Cultura y Civilización en España (in Spanish), Historia del Presente (in Spanish) or Sociología de Género de España (both are taught in Spanish), and two Spanish grammar classes.  I will take the class taught in English with Spanish students, and the classes taught in Spanish with American students.  And if you counted, yes - that's four out of five classes in Spanish.  Adiós, GPA!

After my meeting, I went to lunch with the other student who had been in my meeting, Kevin.  He arrived late because he was an orientation leader at BC and has already been robbed.  While he was on the metro, someone stole his wallet from an inside pocket of his backpack (I was amazed).  They took all his credit cards, money, and driver's license.  His first phone call back to the US was to tell his dad they needed to cancel all his credit cards.  I decided I would be the worst thief ever and also decided never to use my backpack in Madrid.

I met up with Lizzie again and we took the train back to Madrid, where we decided to stop at El Cortes Ingles, the biggest department store in Madrid.  It was rather expensive for my taste, but they did have a supermarket, about which I was really excited.  I was debating whether I should buy a bag of apples or a bag of spanish candy for my room - I'll let you guess how that played out (Hint: there are about twenty candy wrappers sitting on my bed right now. . .)

Afterwards, Lizzie and I stopped to get ice cream near the metro stop, as it was still a few hours until dinner. It's funny how quickly you adjust to the schedule here.  Dinner is usually at around 9 pm, so 6:30 is still legitimately snack time.  

I headed back home for dinner: sardines and noodle salad.  Julia was eating her sardines, bones and all, so I followed suit.  They weren't bad, but then after I finished she showed me how to take the bones out.  This is not a conversation I ever practiced in Spanish class, so I was rather confused and hope sardine bones aren't poisonous or something.  But besides this bump in the road, our conversation was pretty decent.  She told me that my Spanish has improved and also told me I have pretty hair - brownie points for Julia!  Then I successfully asked about laundry (done every Monday) and finding the news in Spanish (my TV now works).  Speaking Spanish really gets you places in this city.

Seeing as it is Friday night in a city that never sleeps, my friends and I decided that we needed to go out and experience Madrid's nightlife.  (We went out a couple nights ago to Chueca, a barrio much like NYC's Village, but our lack of Spanish ended us up in a lesbian dance club.  We ended up leaving to go to a mexican restaurant, but that night had petered out a bit. . .) I, a dancing fool, suggested that we go to a dance club (or discotheque, en español).  People thought I was brilliant (and who was I to argue?) so they all called their sources and found a club downtown that we are going to go to.  Want to know the best part?  The clubs don't really get going until 2:30 am, so I'm going to be leaving my room at about 1 am.  I'm pretty darn excited, but I'm currently having issues with my bag (I'm sure you're dying to know the details, so I will elaborate).  First, to get into Julia's apartment, I need to use four keys.  Now, these aren't your run-of-the-mill normal US keys, these are honkingly-enormous keys that look they could get you into the Pentagon.  These keys do not fit into my wristlet bag (my standard night bag) and when we went to Chueca, I literally had to bring my entire purse, just for these keys.  I most certainly do not approve of this situation and must now leave you so that I may channel all my creativity into producing a solution.