Raquel

So I haven't mentioned it here up until now, but one of my roommates, Rachel, (Racquel in español, on the left) has been sick. Last week she suddenly felt really really cold.. and had bad pains in her stomach. She went to the doctor, but couldn't hold any food down and was still in a lot of pain. On Thursday she went to the hospital, and was there for 4 nights. She had to get nutrients and antibiotics through IV's. The directors/teachers from our school have been very supportive- visiting her, and one of them have even spent a night at the hospital with her! I was very impressed by that because I never really expected a professor to do that for a student since the relationship is usually more "formal." It's nice because it's hard enough being sick at home, let alone in a foreign country without your immediate family where they speak a foreign language.
Concha spent 2 nights with her, and the rest of us were able to visit. I only visited once, but was very impressed by Rachel's positive attitude and strength. I know that if I were in her position, I would not be as strong. I hate hospitals, needles, and blood, and it's just scary in general. She was very inspiring and I felt grateful to call her my friend.

So I just wanted to write a little about that and give Racquel a shout-out in my blog because now she is HOME! :) She won't be able to go on the long trip we're taking this week for our travel course, but that will give her more time to recover without worrying about missing more classes. I ask that if you read this you say a little prayer for her.

seizing the day in Madrid

So up until today, my roommates and I hadn't really done much/seen much of Madrid during the daytime. Last weekend, we did a lot of homework 'siesta-ing' during the daytime. But I have decided that this is simply unacceptable. We have to see and do as much as possible while we're here! Especially now since it's still pretty warm outside. Next weekend I will be staying in southern Spain after our school excursion to Andalucia, and the following weekend I am going to England! Needless to say, I wanted to make the most out of this weekend and "seize the day" (and the nights of course).

Today (Saturday), Lexi, Erinn, and I went to the Opera/Sol area and had a fabulous Menu del Día lunch. I think I've written about it, but Menu del Día is an option around lunchtime that Spanish restaurants have. For a set price, you get to choose 2 courses on the select menu, dessert, and you get bread and a drink. We chose a restaurant that only charged 11 Euro (around 15 dollars) and it ended up being fabulous!

The 3 of us shared a bottle of red wine, and chose paella for our first plate. Paella is richly flavored rice with chicken, and sometimes vegetables and seafood. It is one of our favorite dishes at home! For the second plate, Erinn chose chicken (pollo) with french fries (patatas), and Lexi chose meatballs with patatas. I thought that I should be a little more adventurous than chicken this time, so I ordered "tripe" because we saw it under the carne (meat) menu, and I'm a fan of meat. The waiter told me that it was "estómago" (stomach), and I said "ohh no.. pollo." It was funny and I was greatful that the waiter filled me in on what I was ordering. He probably could tell that we were Americans and not accustomed to eating cow stomach. I left him a tip, which I have not done yet here (tipping is pretty rare here because the waiters make enough in their regular wages).

After lunch we did some shopping in Sol. Sol is like the central spot in Madrid where there is lots of shopping, bars, touristy-things, and some clubs. I bought a bag/purse/clutch that is perfect for taking out to a club, a purple dress, and some cheap jewlery to go with it. Overall we had a very nice day. Tomorrow I think we're going to go to Sol with Cris to get some churros con chocolate, and probably walk around Plaza Mayor, Palacio Real, etc.

Between now and then, I will be seizing the night.

empowering

Yesterday when I left Maria's house after giving classes to her children, I 'took it all in' and realized how awesome it is to be able to communicate in another language. I have not mastered Spanish by any means (yet), but I was thinking that I actually am capable of a lot.

I wasn't sure how to get to Maria's house from the Metro station, so I called her and she told me to ask someone how to get to the Centro Commercial (because it's right by her house and I remembered that). I was able to understand her on the phone, and ask a few people if I was heading in the right direction. And I understood them too. So even though I was lost, I was still able to find my way after some communication in Spanish. I worked with Claudia and Fernando, then talked to Maria before I left. We talked about another way I could get to her house by taking the bus, the possibility of the Olympics being in Madrid in 2016, and she told me how there's a free concert on Sunday. It was really cool. I can tell I've already gained a lot more confidence in my Spanish in the 3 1/2 weeks I've been here.

I remember in the first week in Toledo when we were shopping in stores when I was so nervous just to ask 'how much does this cost?' in Spanish. And today we went shopping and I thought about how that has changed.

I was also nervous just to go anywhere by myself, but that has also changed. Certainly, that's not the best idea late at night or in a very strange place, but I've liked the times when I went somewhere by myself, like church or back from Maria's house.

It's very empowering to be independent in a foreign country, speaking/understanding the language, and being confident about it. :) With languages, you can open so many other worlds and possibilities.

enseñando inglés a niños!

Our school here has a really cool program where you can teach local Spanish children English and get paid. I signed up for it and was assigned my family. I e-mailed the mother, Maria, and we were able to work out a day (Tuesdays) for me to go to their house to 'give classes' to her two oldest children. Claudia is 9 and Fernando is 7. I went for the first time yesterday and absolutely loved it! I called Maria on Monday to see if she wanted me to start this week, and we talked about plans over the phone. This was a bit challenging since it was all in Spanish. She said that the office where she works is near my school, so she gave me the address and had me meet her there at 4:45. I would then drive with her to her house, meet the kids, and start teaching them.

I found the building with no problems and met Maria. She was very friendly and wearing a very stylish outfit. She told me that she works for Conde Nost, the publisher of lots of magazines, including Vogue, G.Q., and the New Yorker! I thought it was AWESOME when she told me she worked for them. I think she works in the accounting department. Conde Nost also does travel magazines, and she gave me a Spanish travel magazine of Madrid, which was so sweet! :)

We walked a few blocks to an underground parking lot where her car was, and drove to the house. (I think driving cars in España is really rare, so if you do, it means you have a pretty stable income- if you know what I mean). She showed me where the Metro stop closest to her house is and explained to me how to get to the house from there and how to go home. They live in a very nice area north of where I'm living here. The house/flat is a very nice size and really cute and modern! Claudia has her own room, and Fernando shares a room with his little brother, Javier, who is 5. The kitchen and the living room are pretty big.

When they got home from school, Maria introduced them to me, and they seemed a little nervous. I tried to tell them that I was kind of nervous too because my Spanish is not perfect! Maria left for a meeting, but the nanny/housekeeper was in the house the whole time I was there. She gave me a diet coke and this seemed like a treat because at home we only drink water, and coke is expensive in restaurants.

I had a lot of fun teaching the kids. I had 45 minutes with Claudia and then 45 minutes with Fernando. It's nothing too complicated, since they're so young. They each have little English/Spanish activity books that I worked with them in a little bit. Then I taught them some basic phrases, like how to say "How are you," "I am good," "I like to dance," etc. As time went on, they warmed up to me. I talked to them mostly in Spanish, but Maria wants me to speak mostly English and explain things in Spanish if they don't understand. So next time I will.
I really liked talking to them. I told them that not only will I be helping them with their English, but they will be helping me with my Spanish. It is going to be a very rewarding experience.

La Noche en Blanco!

La Noche en Blanco took place on Saturday night and it was really cool! I did a presentation on it for class, so I have some interesting facts about what it is. La Noche in Blanco means "White Night" and that the city does not sleep. There are over 200 different cultural activities open all night all around the city, and they're all free. Museums are open, there are outdoor concerts, marching bands, movie screenings, dancing, etc. It happens at the end of the summer, and this year it was on September 19, 2009. The tradition of La Noche in Blanco is fairly new in Madrid... this was only its fourth year. The concept originated in Paris in 2002. The goal was for the citizens to embrace contemporary creation and the culture of the city. The objectives are gratitude, vanguard, citizenship, and sustainability. 6 other European cities took up the initiative and the program became "The White Nights of Europe."

My roommates and I left around 10pm. The metro was insanely crowded!! The metro is open until 1:30am every night, but it was open until 3am that night to encourage people to stay out and enjoy the festivities. We went to el Palacio Real because we wanted to do the 'special tour of the royal kichen.' There were so many people out on the streets. It seemed similar to Times Square in New York on New Years' Eve, but not quite as crazy. The line for Palacio Real was very very long. We decided to wait it out though, for the experience. We ended up waiting over an hour and the kitchen wasn't as elaborate as we had hoped it would be. So it wasn't exactly worth it, but we still had fun.

Then I went to another area of Madrid with my friend Britanny called Banco de Espana. We just decided to walk around there and see what was going on. The streets in that area were packed! There was a huge movie screen with little cartoons teaching dance moves! A lot of people were actually following along with the moves and trying to dance.

We ended up watching some of an outdoor concert at Plaza de Bellas Artes, and this was my favorite part of the night. The band was really good! There were male singers and they played the accordian, guitar, bass, and drums. So many people were dancing and enjoying the music. I later found out that the band is called La Troba Kung Fu. They're from Barcelona and their music genre is called Rumba Catalonia. It's very different than the music I've listened to, but I really like it and am now a fan! I have a little video of a performance at the bottom.

We didn't stay out too late because we wanted to catch the Metro, but I kind of wish that I got to see more. There were just sooo many things to choose from! I had a great experience in La Noche en Blanco and am excited to experience more art and culture of Spain while I am here.

hawaii in spain!

Last night we went out with Conchi and Cristina for drinks again!! All of us roommates were finally out together. 3 of Cris' friends also joined us. We went to this really cool Hawaiian bar, called Mauna Loa. They had good tapas/snacks like ham, peanuts, corn nuts, olives, and chocolate. The drinks were in a huge volcano with smoke!

the other side of the language barrier

It rained in Madrid today for the first time since I've been here. It wasn't too bad when Rachel and I were walking home from the metro stop, but there will probably be many more rainy days during this season. I've never really used an umbrella much in my life, so naturally I didn't bring one here...

Tomorrow I only have one more class and then it's the weekend! Although I feel like it's already the weekend since I'm going out tonight.. :) but don't worry, Mom- I did my homework for tomorrow.

Classes are going well, but I already have a lot to do for next week- 3 presentations and a paper. eek! It should be a really fun weekend though. Saturday is "La Noche en Blanco," a night were the city literally does not sleep. The museums are open all night and there are a lot of cultural activities. So I'm planning on doing that and some other tourist-y things this weekend with my roommates/friends.
Today in classes, I realized that some of my teachers also struggle with the language barrier sometimes. I'm not sure how fluent my International Media professor is in English, but today he was asking what the English words are for some words he was saying in Spanish. I never really thought about how it would be on the 'other side...'- being fluent in Spanish and trying to learn English. Sometimes I feel kind of stupid or get frustrated when I don't know how to say something or can't say something fast enough, but learning a second language is challenging for anyone. We just have to keep trying. :)

Segovia and more sangria

Haven't written in a little while, but things have still been going well. Classes may not turn out to be as hard as I was thinking, but I think my travel course will be the most work.

We went on an excursion to Segovia and La Granja on Friday. It was really cool and it seemed like we saw a lot in just one day. Again, the architecture in Spain is just incredible. We got to go into castles that royal monarchs lived in, including the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, where Philip V lived during his retirement.

The Alcazar of Segovia was amazing as well. It was this huge castle with a lot of history inside. My favorite room inside the Alcazar was called La Sala de Los Reyes. There are 3-dimensional pictures/sculptures of the monarchs on the very top of the walls (by the ceiling) that go all around the entire room. They are in the order in which they ruled, starting with Pelayo of Trastamovas, and ending with Juana VII of Austria.
In the castle, there is a keep (central tower) that you can climb up. You have to go up a lot of stairs, and as you get closer to the top, the stairs are spiral and very very narrow. My friend Julia and I went up after most of the students in our program already had made it up there. We were only about half way and I was getting scared and even thought about turning back around to go down! But we kept going and it was such a cool accomplishment that we made it! We took a few group pictures of all the students on our excursion that made it to the top.

pictures from the trip:
http://picasaweb.google.com/NicoleDeFelice.usdtv/SegoviaExcursion?feat=directlink

In Segovia I had my first "Menu del Dia" (menu of the day). This is a popular option in Spanish restaurants for lunch that includes bread, a drink, 2 courses, and a dessert. I got tinto de verano (it's like wine with spritzer), paella (Spanish dish that consits of rice with chicken/seafood and vegetables), pollo carne (grilled chicken on the bone, which also came with french fries), and chocolate ice cream. It was a lot of food for only 11 Euros. Another interesting difference is that tipping is not very common here. At the most, people tip the waiter 10%, but it's not even required. Waiters/waitresses make more in their wages, instead of having their income rely so much on tips like how it is in the States. So waiters are not really about customer service as much.

That night we had paella in the house for dinner! I actually liked Concha's paella better than the paella I had at the restaurant. There was rice, green beans, peas, and boneless chicken in it.

Last night I went out to a club called Joy. I had fun, but I liked the one I went to last weekend-Pacha- a lot better. Joy seemed really crowded. People were constantly walking through the packed people on the dance floor and it was hard to dance. Not to mention the prices of drinks were ridiculous.

Today Rachel, Lexi, and I spent a few hours walking around Retiro Park. It is really cool. It's a HUGE park near the Prado and other museums. There's a lake with boats that you can ride! We're hoping to do that soon.

Tonight all of my roommates and I went out for the first time! We just went to a bar/restaurant near our Metro stop and drank some sangria. We were talking about how it already seems like time has been going by pretty quickly.

On Tuesday it will be 2 weeks since I've been living in Madrid!

tapas y sangria con nuestra Senora!

Today was a long day.
I had my Spanish Conversation class and my travel course that I'm taking for history credit. Conversation seems like it is going to be a good class and I will definitely get a lot out of it. The travel course seems like it's going to be lot more work than I expected. I'm taking the Spanish section and our final work is a 12 page paper (in Spanish!). Dios mio! It seems like with all of my classes combined there will be a lot of papers and projects. I thought this semester was supposed to be pretty easy but I think I'm going to have a lot of work! :/
Oh well I guess I will just have to use my time wisely and not procrastinate as much as I usually do. And as they say, "work hard, play hard." lol

After classes, all the students in the program were led around Old Madrid. This is a big tourist area that includes El Palacio Real, La Plaza Mayor, etc. It was nice, but I think we were all tired after a long day of classes and just kind of wanted to go home. Not to mention the tour group I was in was in Spanish, which sometimes makes it easier to give up on listening to. But I definitely plan on going to that area again; today was just a brief overview about some of the history. It will be great for pictures later.

After this, we took the metro home and left 10 minutes later to go out to a bar with Cristina and Conchi for Spanish tapas and sangria!! Cristina just finished a long, multiple day exam so she wanted to celebrate. Only Lexi, Michelle, and I went though because Erinn and Rachel felt sick. Lexi is also coughing a lot and I actually think my throat is starting to hurt too.. :/
But it was SO FUN! The bar was far away from our house, but was really popular-and as we say in the U.S.- "hoppin." 2 of Cris' friends joined us and we shared about 5 different kinds of tapas and went through like 3 pitchers of sangria. And, when we were about to leave, the bartender gave us all a shot of watermelon-flavored vodka for free. Who else's Senora goes out for drinks with them?!! I feel very lucky. So, even though I still have to do my homework for tomorrow, I would say it is often worth procrastinating, especially in MADRID.
Viva Espana! Viva mi familia en Espana!

el primer dia de las clases

So, even though I seemed pretty confident after our practice run to school yesterday, I still managed to screw it up. I planned to meet Jen, Allie, and AJ, who live with Concha a few blocks away by our Metro station. I actually had a bad dream that they didn't come in time and I had to go by myself the first day, and that dream almost came true. I got there at about 8:45ish (we planned to meet at 8:50). Classes start at 9:30 and it does take a while to get to school from where we live because we have to take line 1 for about five stops before switching onto line 5 and going another two. Then we have a short walk from our stop to school. Anyways, I was hoping to get on the metro at 8:50, but they didn't get to our stop until 9:03ish, which would have been fine if we knew exactly where we were going. We went the right way on the metro and everything, but we walked in the wrong direction on that street that our school is on. A long way down too, before we realized it. And I felt bad because I was kind of leading the pact since I did a practice run yesterday. We turned around and powerwalked it to school. Needless to say, we were late to the first class. By 30 minutes!! eek. We figured that the teachers would understand though, since it is kind of complicated and scary to learn the Madrid Metro system and be on time for the very first day. We walked up to our floor and the program director, Maria, said it was fine. She was like 'tranquilas primera' which means calm down before going into class. We were all flustered, not to mention very sweaty.

My first class was International Media, or "Comunicacion Internacional." Jen and I walked in and the professor (his name is Ignacio Blanco) looked kind of mad, but I think he understood, and I know that some other students were pretty late too. He was calling roll and asked us how many semesters of Spanish we have all taken. The class is in Spanish! I think a lot of people were surprised by this because we didn't have any prior knowledge about this and it's an upper division Communication class. I feel bad for some of the students because some have only had 1 or 2 semesters of Spanish. I can't imagine! I took 4 years of it in high school and 4 semesters (including 2 upper divisions) in college, and I still often feel stupid trying to speak properly here. But I personally don't have a problem that it's in Spanish and I think that it won't be too bad since he has to make sure the less advanced students understand. And I think it will be good for everyone and everyone will improve greatly. The first article that we have to read in our book/reader is in Spanish! But I think most of the book is in English.

Then I had a long break before my next class, so I just hung out around school talking to some other students. I went with a couple friends to eat lunch at a restaurant. It was a very interesting, new experience for me. 3 of us ordered coke, and the other a beer. I learned when the bill came that coke is more expensive than beer at restaurants here! I couldn't get over it. The price of coke (in a kind of small glass bottle) was 3 Euro!! that's $4.50 in American dollars! The food was also a new experience. We got 3 dishes that we shared- Croquetas were potatoes/ham/cheese inside small balls of fried bread. Not sure what the other two were called but one was rice, beans, and ground beef in a shape that looked like sushi, and the other was chorizo (sausage) and french fries. I honestly wasn't too fond of them, but I need to try new things and be open while I'm here, and who knows? maybe over time I will acquire a taste for some of it. But the price.. I paid a total of 10 Euro ($15 in American dollars) for that lunch, which is pretty expensive. And, I enjoy my senora's food a lot more! So I don't plan on eating lunch out like that every day, but maybe once in a while. I asked Concha if I bought some things like peanut butter to make lunches, I could keep some things in the fridge/pantry and she was so nice about it! She understands that it's way cheaper to do that and emphasizes that we need to be comfortable since we'll be here for almost 4 months. My friend Britanny takes a lunch to school every day and saves a LOT of money by doing so. So I hope to make it to a market/shopping center soon to get some food.

My second class of the day was "The Problem of God," or "El Problema de Dios," an upper division religion class that will fill the USD requirement for 1 or the 3 religion classes we have to take that needs to be upper division. The professor, Cathy Bingman, is really cool. She's actually from America and has been living in Spain for about 11 years now. We talked a lot about the cultural differences we have noticed so far with our experiences in Spain. Like how in America, we are more focused on money and often use the phrase 'time is money.' Here in Spain it is much more relaxed and the concept of time is different. College is really cheap so lots of students take their time getting their bachelor's degrees... maybe 5 or 6 years. The cost of houses/apartments/flats are very high but salaries are very low! She was saying how doctors only make like 40,000 Euro after having lots of experience (which is about $60,000 in the states). I realized this yesterday when I was talking to Cristina about pharmacy. At home, pharmacists make about $90,000 a year starting out! My mom has encouraged my brother Jeff to be a pharmacist and even though he's only 15, he is pretty set on it. I feel like a lot of it is because he sees the big salary in the future, not necessarily because he is actually interested in pharmacy/chemistry. I could be wrong, but I brought this up generally in class. Here, the job you take up is usually something you really want to do since salaries are pretty low for everything. I was saying how in the states, I feel like a lot of people don't always do what they really would like to do because it might not pay much. I'm hoping this doesn't happen to me with my future career, but it's what I have been thinking about a lot lately. Anyways, I think that class is going to be good and very interesting.

My third class of the day was Advanced Spanish for Business, or "Espanol de Negocios." There were only about 5 USD students in the class, and the rest SMU students. I think this is going to be my most challenging class, but practical I think. We had to choose a country to do a presentation on, and I chose the Philippines. (Mom, I know you would have liked me to choose Poland :), but a guy that was called before me already chose it). I am somewhat familiar with Filipino culture because I have a lot of Filipino friends from home, and I think it will be cool to learn more about the country.

So in conclusion, I think my classes are going to be good for the most part. Advanced Spanish is kind of intimidating, but will hopefully be useful for me in the future. Since International Media is going to be in Spanish, I realized that 4 out of 5 classes are in Spanish! And I think I will be able to handle them.. (for the most part). This is a big accomplishment for me, because in the second semester of freshman year when I took 4th semester Spanish I was really intimidated. I had a lot of trouble understanding what was being said since the class was all in Spanish. Since then my listening skills have improved dramatically, but I still need a lot of work on my speaking skills. :)

By the way, Concha made one of the best desserts I have ever tasted today! (And I have tasted A LOT of desserts in my day). Rachel and I were so grateful to have some when we got home from school at about 6:45pm. It was like banana bread/coffee cake with chocolate chips in it. Sooooo good. Maybe I can get the recipe from her so I can make it at home...

el Rastro

Today Rachel, Lexi and I went exploring a little. We went to this huge market called el Rastro. There are long streets of vendors selling clothes, shoes, purses, art, etc. It was a lot of fun! I bought a colorful dress. Then we went on the metro to do a practice run to our school and walked around the area a little bit. It made me feel a lot better and now I think I somewhat know my way around. :)

We came back to our area and went with Erinn to "Telepizza," this pizza fast food restaurant. It was pretty good, but not as cheap as fast food in the states. When we got back we were talking about how we didn't feel as good after eating that... compared to the food our family cooks for us. Tonight for dinner we had lentil, rice, chicken with cheese inside of it, salad, and bread. We always have french bread with our meals, and the eating times are very different here. Lunch isn't til around 2 and dinner is around 9pm! So there is more time in between meals and not much snacking. Our meals with our family are always delicious and I'm always in a good mood after dinner. Me gusta mucho nuestra familia y casa!

Tomorrow is our first day of classes! I have one starting at 9:30am, then two more from 4:15- 6pm. All of my roommates don't start until 11:15 tomorow, but I am meeting up with the students that live with Concha (Conchi's mom) only a few blocks down the street.

Me encanta mi vida en Espana!

Just thought I would post something about how I'm currently feeling... which is very happy. :)

I am just loving life right now. I've had so much fun so far and I love our host family. The food is amazing! I also had a great time last night. I went out to my first club in Spain called Pacha. There was a hip hop floor and a huge techno floor with a balcony & go go dancers. On the hip hop floor they played mostly American music! It's crazy to me how everyone knows the pop/hip hop songs that are in English. For example, they played "Calle Ocho (I Know You Want Me)" - Pitbull, "Low"- Flo Rida, and "I Gotta Feeling"- Black Eyed Peas. The only thing I didn't like was it seems like so many people smoke in the club!! They are just lighting up cigarettes as they're dancing! I took a shower today but my hair still smells like smoke! :(
But overall it was a lot of fun and I finally got to experience what people had told me about the nightlife in Madrid.
http://www.pacha-madrid.com/

I'm also very happy because I am very excited for what is to come. We start classes on Monday, so that's exciting, and I am planning on taking trips to some other countries.
In fact, my roommates and I just booked a trip to Portugal for October. We got two nights in Lisbon at a Holiday Inn hotel and transportation for only $95 per person! We are so excited and stoked that we got such a great deal.

Well that about catches up my blog on my adventures so far. More to come soon.

Toledo

Our orientation in Toledo was great. It was a great way to get background on some of the history in Spain and an idea of what our experiences will be like while getting to do tourist-y stuff.
We met the coordinators of our program and attended different sessions/meetings called "A new life in Spanish," "Life in Spain: living in a family," "Toledo and the three Cultures," and "Spain Today."
There are about 80 students from USD and about 20 from SMU (Southern Methodist University) in the program at la Fundacion Jose Ortega y Gasset.

Toledo was a beautiful city. It seemed small because the narrow roads are surrounded by tall buildings. It was really fun just walking around, going in the shops, and taking pictures. On Thursday, we had guided visits to the "Burial of the Count of Orgaz" by El Greco; and the Synagogue of El Transito and the church of San Juan de Los Reyes in the Sefardi Museum. These were also some amazing sights.

Here is the link to my pictures from Toledo: http://picasaweb.google.com/NicoleDeFelice.usdtv/Toledo?feat=directlink

Toledo: Catedral Primada

I'm back from our two nights in the city of Toledo. It was beautiful. I saw some of the most amazing sights I've ever seen, especially the Catedral Primada de Toledo (also known as the Gothic Cathedral in Toledo). It is a huge Catholic cathedral that was built in the 13th century! I am no expert on architecture jargon, but it was probably the most incredible building I have ever been inside. There was so much art in every aspect of the building. Outside it looks like a castle, and the details inside are phenomenal. There are arches, pillars, sculptures within the walls, paintings, stained-glass windows, etc. The Sacristy had an amazing painting by Luca Giordano all along the ceiling. There were displays of historial artifacts, like old priest garments and kings' jewlery. There are even a few gravesites of some cardinals in the floor of the cathedral. My explanation doesn't do it much justice, and I'm running out of ways to describe it and words other than 'amazing,' 'incredible,' 'beautiful,' etc. :)

Photos were not allowed inside, but I took a few from the outside.

I have only been in Europe for a few days, but so far this is what I would say you have to see for yourself if you come to Spain.

el primer dia en Madrid!

It's now about 10pm in Madrid.. only 1pm at home in Las Vegas! This has seemed like such a long day. I didn't get any sleep on the plane flight from here to Philadelphia, but talked a lot to friends that are in the same program. There were a lot of USD students on the flight. Our flight got into Madrid about 45 minutes early because of high tail winds! We walked to the baggage claim area and were pleasantly surprised because using a luggage cart at the Madrid airport is FREE. This made us very happy. So even though most of us had 2 huge suitcases, a carryon and a backpack, it wasn't that hard to transport.

Conchi, our host mom, met us at the airport and we all took a big van to her house. We then met her mom, Concha, who ate breakfast with us. They are both very nice and fun! They have only spoken Spanish with us, and I've actually been surprised with how much I have been able to understand.

The apartment is really cute. I am sharing a bedroom with Lexi, and Erinn and Rachel are sharing another bedroom. There is also another student, Michelle in the other bedroom next to us from Marist College in New York. The 5 of us share a bathroom, but it is a nice size and we all have our individual metal baskets in the shower to keep our stuff in.
Conchi and her sister Cristina share another bedroom and bathroom, and there's also a kitchen and living room.

When we first got to the house, we ate breakfast with Conchi and her mom. We talked a lot and jumped right in to using our Spanish! Then we unpacked a lot... I took a shower and then about a 2 hour nap. Then we got up and Concha cooked us the big meal of the day. She had a little of everything... meat, salad, bread, potatoes, pasta, and dessert. It was good but it was kinda weird eating at that time because at home it would have been the middle of the night. Then it was time for 'siestas' and I took another 2-hour nap. :)

After that we went on a long walk around the city with Conchi's dad, Santiago. We walked probably about 2 hours.. we walked through El Parque Retiro, we passed the Prado, and lots of other beautiful buildings and shops.

When we got back we met Cristina (Cris). She is so sweet! The 5 of us ate dinner with Conchi and Cris. We had pasta, bread, cheese, and sangria. Now we are all just relaxing and at our computers. I still have a little more unpacking to do.. and then have to pack a small bag for our orientation. We leave tomorrow morning for Toledo and will be there for two nights.

I will write more when I come back and hopefully have pictures!

Hasta Luego...