Reflections

Fast forward a couple weeks and here I am starting to pack everything up to leave in two days :( I can't believe it's really time to go. I've learned so much and have had too many adventures to count over the past five months. And even though I'm so sad to leave, I know I'll be back here. Madrid really does feel like home now. With that, I'm off to enjoy my final 48 hours! Thanks so much to everyone who's been cheering me on throughout this aventura of a semester. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Here are some pics from the fun Madrid things I've been doing the past couple of weeks. See you all on Thursday!

 

Row boating in Retiro

¡Hala Madrid!

Huevos rotos omg

The final discoteca night

Drinks at the Penthouse Bar

Madrid, hasta pronto...

Barcelona and Sevilla

Over the first two weekends in May, I visited Barcelona and Sevilla with friends. In Barcelona, we visited the Sagrada Familia and other Gaudí landmarks, walked through La Boquería market, and spent a day at the beach. I traveled with Sam and Gillian, and we met up with one of Gillian's friends from home there. It was a really fun weekend and such a cool city to walk through!

The crew at Park Guell 

 

View from the top of Park Guell

Beach day!

The next weekend, Sam and I took the high-speed Ave train from Madrid to Sevilla. One of my best Ramah friends, Josh, has been studying in Sevilla all semester so he showed us around and hung out all weekend. So fun to have a weekend reunion with him in Spain! Sevilla is so charming and pretty, and waaay smaller than Madrid. It definitely has a different feel but I liked it a lot. Over the weekend we saw the main landmarks: the Alcázar, which is sort of like a smaller Alhambra, and the Catedral de Sevilla, one of the largest cathedrals in the world. We also walked around Plaza España and by the river. We had a really fun weekend even though it was HOT out - like low 90s every day. Woah. Oh and the last day there we saw a bullfight! It was cool to go and partake in such a Spanishy tradition but the actual bullfight was gross.

With Josh on top of the Torre de Oro

Toro vs. matador

Catching up

Sorry!! I have seriously been slacking on this blog. But I have been very happily busy the past month and a half :) April was filled with school and lots of traveling, including weekends in Amsterdam, Galicia, Bilbao, and San Sebastian. Here are some quick recaps:

Amsterdam was a lot of fun. Highlights included the beautiful canals and biker-friendly streets, the Van Gogh museum and Anne Frank house, legal marijuana, and a free boat ride with a friendly Dutch man and his friends.

With our new Dutch friends on their boat!

The following weekend, my program took an overnight train to Galicia, a region on the northwest coast of Spain. It was great to all be together for a weekend and Galicia is beautiful. We hiked part of the Camino de Santiago, which is a Catholic pilgrimage trail that starts in the south of France and ends in Santiago de Compostela, the city where we stayed in Galicia. We also spent a day in a little fisherman's town on the coast of the Atlantic and had fresh and delicious seafood.

The Atlantic coast of Galicia

Pulpo, anyone?

Playing in the gardens

After Galicia, mom and dad came to visit! We had the best time. We spent 3 days in Madrid, then flew north to visit Bilbao and San Sebastian. They are awesome travel buddies. We loved the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao and had fun going pintxo hopping in San Sebastian for dinner. I'm not sure if I've ever seen my dad happier than when we found a pintxos (similar to tapas) bar in San Sebastian that specialized in anchovies. Here are some pics from our week:

Dinner in Madrid

Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid

Me and a big dog made of grass

So April was a crazy month. The last week in April I had a couple final exams and finished up with classes. Then the first two weekends in May I traveled to Barcelona and Sevilla and will post about those trips soon! Thanks for reading and sorry this is so late!

Last Stop: Vienna!

Friday morning Gillian and I found our way to the Prague train station and hopped on a 4 hour train to Vienna. I loved taking the train between the two cities - in between my shlufs it was so nice to look out the window and see snowy mountains and quaint little European towns. We got to Wien in the afternoon and checked into our hostel, which had a really cool and friendly vibe and was conveniently located right next to the Naschmarkt, Vienna's big outdoor market that seemed to me like a less overwhelming and more food-focused version of the Rastro in Madrid. Once we put our stuff down, we picked up a city map from the front desk and went out to walk around the city center. I could not get over how beautiful the city was! On every street there was another gorgeous building. We walked by the University of Vienna, where my cousin Josh works. I was so bummed that he and Hagit happened to be in Israel for Pesach during my stay in Vienna! It would have been so nice to be with them there. He did send me a lot of great recommendations though which we used throughout our visit. For dinner, we got a recommendation from our hostel for a nearby Italian restaurant. It was a really cute hole in the wall place and me and Gillian shared a romantic candle-lit dinner of yummy wine and pasta. When we asked for the check, our waiter insisted that the three of us first take a shot of grappa together. Didn't have to ask us twice...and it was on the house! Score.

Date night

Important German words

The next day we took the metro to go see the Schonbrunn palace, which was beautiful. As Josh described it, "a mini-Versailles." We spent some time walking around and then came back to walk around and get lunch in the Naschmarkt. Loved walking through it, seeing and tasting everything. After lunch we went to see the Albertina museum. It was an interesting collection with everything from Rubens and Rembrandt to Monet, Chagall, and Picasso. Then we went back to the hostel to rest and change for our night at the Musikverein! Before leaving for spring break, we bought tickets to see the Vienna Symphony perform at this beautiful music hall, and I'm so glad we decided to. We dressed up and walked over and found our seats, which were up behind the orchestra and next to the organ. Not the best view, but we could see most of the orchestra from behind. The hall was so gorgeous and the acoustics were amazing. The program included 3 Verdi overtures, 2 Puccini overtures, William Tell, and a Respighi piece. They sounded incredible and it was such a cool experience. All I could think about was how much I wished Grandma Marilyn could've been sitting there with me. I know she would have whispered a loud "Bravo!" before the applause started and that she could have told me the names of each piece after only a few notes were played. I missed her especially that night and know that she would have been excited to hear about it, and also so proud of Paul for soloing with the HPHS orchestra in Costa Rica that same week!

Musikverein

The next day was Easter Sunday, so not much was open in Vienna. It was also really cold and snowing! So we decided to go to the Jewish museum. It has two buildings, one of which has more of a historical focus and the other one more about modern Jewish life and the Holocaust. It's been really interesting to see these Jewish areas in all three cities I visited this week. For lunch we had Wiener schnitzel! Pretty good, but doesn't come close to my cousin Bela's schnitzel. After lunch we went to see the Freud museum, which is actually a tour of his old apartment. Very cool. The rest of the afternoon we walked around the city but then got too cold and went back to hang out at the hostel. Took it easy that night and went to the airport the next morning to go back to Madrid!

I'd say our Semana Santa travels were extremely successful. I loved all three cities and had such a great time exploring each one. I think I have officially caught the travel bug. Buuut I must say that after 10 days of Eurotripping I was seriously missing Madrid and so excited to come back! Upon my return Ana cooked me a welcome back dinner and I told her everything about my trip. Well, that concludes my spring break recap! Now back to being a Madrileña.

Czeching out Prague

Our travels went smoothly and we arrived Tuesday night to Prague. A little disorienting being in a country where we don't speak a word of the language and are unfamiliar with the currency, but that's all part of the aventura! Our first night we stayed with Gillian's camp friend who's studying there. One thing we noticed right away was the climate change...Prague was freezing and snowy! The next morning we took the metro into Old Town to check into our hostel. This was my first hostel experience so I was a little nervous, but it ended up working out really well. It was located a few minutes walking from the center of old town, and we shared a room with two older girls traveling together (one from Northbrook!) and a boy studying abroad in Rome and traveling by himself. After checking in, we walked to old town square to meet up with my friend Sara who is studying here for the semester. Side note: having friends in so many European countries is the best! She took us to one of her favorite lunch spots, then we went up to the top of the astronomical clock tower in old town square where we got some awesome views of the city. Afterwards, we walked by a "sex machine museum" and thought it would be a good idea to go in. Ummm I'll keep the summary to a minimum cause Papa Bill might be reading this but basically it was terrifying and we all left semi-traumatized. Soo to lift our spirits we walked around the Easter market that was set up in old town square! For our afternoon snack in the market we got trdelniks, a typical Czech pastry. Yum. In the afternoon we went to the Kafka museum, then back to the hostel to rest a little. For dinner we went with some Prague abroad friends to a really good vegetarian restaurant and then out to some bars.

View of the Easter market from the clock tower

The next day, Gillian and I walked to the Charles Bridge and over into New Town. There we went to see the John Lennon wall, which people have created graffiti art on since the 1980s. Then we came back into old town for lunch and went to see the Jewish quarter. We went into a synagogue that was built in the 13th century which was really cool. I don't have so much knowledge about Jewish history in central Europe, but it always amazes me how Jewish life has existed in so many parts of the world. I happened to overlap in Prague that night with one of my closest Ramah friends, Ilana, who's studying abroad in Jerusalem, so I met up with her for dinner which was so much fun.

Music on the Charles Bridge

Making my mark on the Lennon wall!

Despite the cold, Prague was a really cool city to visit. I think my one complaint would be the smoking indoors. I didn't realize how much I appreciated Madrid's ban on indoor smoking until I noticed it in Prague...after every dinner and bar my clothes and hair were soo smoky! Yuck. After dinner with Ilana, Gillian and I came back to the hostel to pack up for our morning train ride to Vienna. Wien here we come!

Paris

We had 10 days off last week for Semana Santa, so I packed my cool traveler's backpack (thanks Debbie!) and set out with my friend Gillian to explore a few new cities. First stop on our Eurotour? Paris! I think it would've been pretty hard to top the few days in Paris I had with my dad last year, but this Paris weekend was also really great. We arrived late Friday night at CDG airport and, after a few not so friendly encounters with French airport employees and a lot of confusion, finally made it via the RER train to our hotel. We only stayed there the first night because the other three we stayed with our WashU friends Jonny and Taylor, who are studying in Paris for the semester. Our first full day was Saturday, and Jonny met us at our hotel to give us our own personal walking tour of the city. First things first though, stopped at a cafe for chocolate croissants and coffee. Even though the coffee in Paris is like 3 drips into a cup made for babies. But the croissant was excellent. Then we took the metro into more of the city center and went to see Notre Dame, and then took a long walk along the Senne toward the Louvre. We got really lucky with the weather while we were in Paris - Saturday was beautiful and surprisingly warm, and it didn't rain once the whole 4 days we were there. For lunch, I met up with Lisa who is also studying abroad here. It was so nice to see her and compare our abroad experiences! After lunch we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day so we bought a bottle of wine and sat in the grass right outside the Eiffel tower. So French! We hung out there for a while then met back up with Jonny and Gillian and the four of us went to dinner. Perfect first day.

Reunited with Lisa! See the Eiffel in the background?

On Sunday Gillian and I woke up early and got on a train to go see Versailles. On our walk there from the train station, we accidentally ran into this huge outdoor market filled with fruit, meats, cheeses, and flowers. It seemed like mostly locals were there, bustling about and grocery shopping and tasting the different offerings. So we walked around there for a while before walking the rest of the way to Versailles. Using our student visas and line-budging savvy (oops) we barely had to wait to get into the palace and got in for free! Inside Versailles, sometimes I felt like I was in Grandma Shirley's house because everything was so fancy and beautiful and also I wasn't allowed to touch anything. That lady had good taste!

For lunch Jonny took us to Marais, the Jewish quarter, for falafel! It was so fun to walk around there and see people and shops getting ready for Pesach. Later in the day Gillian and I went to Sacre Cour, which was so beautiful and had great views overlooking the city. For dinner, we went out with Jonny, Taylor, and some other WashU friends who are in Paris.  On Monday morning, Gillian and I went to the Louvre and l'Orangerie. We saw some great paintings in the Louvre, but I really just found it so crowded and overwhelming and wasn't so upset when we decided to leave. Orangerie, on the other hand, I loved. They had Monet's water lilies on exhibit, and we sat in that room just looking at them for so long. After our museum morning we met up with Taylor and had a delicious afternoon snack at Angelina. Then we walked along Champs Elysees up to the Arc de Triomphe.

Sacre Cour

Me and Gillian outside the Louvre

Monday night was the first night of Pesach, and I was lucky enough to get to go to a seder in Paris! Backstory: Gabby, a girl in Gillian's sorority at WashU who graduated last year lives in Paris with her family, and she invited us over when she heard we'd be in town for Pesach. Also, her mom writes for the New York Times (casual) and wrote this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/20/dining/solving-the-passover-puzzle-in-paris.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0 right before we came! They live in a gorgeous apartment in Montmarte, and the family was so warm and welcoming to me and Gillian even though I had never met Gabby before. Seder guests included: Gabby and her parents, their American cousins, her mom's French research assistant, and Gabby's French boyfriend. Her dad led the seder with a Haggadah written in Hebrew, French, and English. We went around the table taking turns reading from it in three languages which was so cool. Dinner was delicious and overall it was an incredible experience!

The Seder table!

Tuesday came up fast and we packed up our things at Jonny and Taylor's to get ready for our next stop on our trip. We were both sad to leave Paris but had such a wonderful weekend there with great friends. Next stop - Prague!

St. Patrick's Day!

Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to experience the jolly green blur that is St Patrick's Day in Dublin. After traveling to Ireland two years ago with one of my WashU classes and falling in love with the place, people, and culture, I couldn't wait to go back. We arrived in the land of the leprechaun on Friday morning with plenty of time to go out and explore. After checking into our hotel, Adi, Elena, Shelly, and I took the shuttle into the city center and went straight to Trinity college. The campus was just as beautiful as I remember it, with old stone buildings bordering lush grassy areas. We went in to see the Book of Kells, a manuscript containing the four gospels of the New Testament that was created around the year 800. Even though I'd seen and learned about it in my class two years ago, I still couldn't help but marvel at the lavish decoration and intricate calligraphy.

Throughout the weekend, we used our mornings to walk around the city and see the sights, including St. Patrick's Cathedral and Dublin Castle. Later in the afternoons, we'd venture into the lively Temple Bar area to check out the pubs and mingle in the streets. It seriously seemed like everyone and their mother was in Dublin this weekend. I ran into people from so many different parts of my life, it was honestly a little disorienting! A ton of WashU friends were there, either visiting from other study abroad countries or from St. Louis for spring break. I also had several HPHS reunions with random people I haven't seen in years. This made for an extremely touristy nightlife experience (it truly felt at times like there were more Americans in Dublin than Irish people) but it was great to see friends and hear about other abroad experiences.

Beautiful Dublin Castle

So happy to run into Brooke!

Monday was a holiday in Madrid, which meant we were able to stay in Dublin on Sunday which was officially St. Patty's day. Despite the early morning snowstorm (??) people filled the main city streets to watch the parade, which was complete with music, dancers, floats, and crazy green displays. It was so much fun to watch. Afterward, we continued our weekend pattern of wandering in and out of bars, running into friends on the streets, and enjoying the Irish cheer. A highlight of the weekend, though, was in one of the less touristy bars in the Temple Bar area on Saturday afternoon. A group of my friends found our way inside to warm up and refill, and there happened to be a live musician just starting up his set. He was amazing - just a guy and a guitar, but he played for hours and sang the best singalong songs (Country Road, Hey Jude, Wonderwall)...so we stayed through the afternoon singing loudly and dancing along in the crowded but comfortable pub.

Ringing in St Patty's with the locals

So the weekend was a lot of fun, but needless to say I was exhausted and ready to get back to Madrid come Monday morning. Now it's Thursday and I'm leaving tomorrow for my spring break travels! I can't believe it's already Semana Santa...can someone please get the time to slow down? Paris, Prague, Vienna...here I come!

A dinner story

The other night, Ana made fish for dinner. Nothing new, we eat fish pretty often. So why was this fish different from all other fish? Well, when we sat down at the table, Ana proceeded to give Jordana and me very specific instructions regarding how to remove THE ENTIRE SPINE from the fish before eating it. Meat here is rarely deboned before being sold or cooked, but I've never had to take out an entire backbone from my meal before eating it! Jordana and I succeeded in the operation with a lot of help from Ana, and then the spine just chilled there on the other half of my plate while I ate the fish (which was delicious, like everything else she makes). New experiences!

¡Carnaval!

Sorry I haven't updated in so long! I actually had work to do last week...huh? Anyway, what follows is a long overdue recap of my weekend in Cádiz celebrating Carnaval. For two weeks leading up to Lent, Cádiz holds some of the biggest Carnaval festivities in the world, complete with parades, comedic performances, crazy costumes, and botellónes (a cool word to justify the act of drinking in public). Pretty much a Spanish equivalent of Mardi Gras. So, two weekends ago, a bunch of friends and I packed our bags and our tutus and flew to Jeréz, right outside of Cádiz. Side note: first successful plane ride in Europe! Didn't miss my flight! Nice. So we landed at the Jérez airport early Friday morning, breathed in some of that fresh Andaluz air, and found our way to a bus that would take us the half hour journey to Puerto de Santa María. The bus dropped us off and after a brief (long) period of wandering, we found our hotel. The first thing we had to do was buy ferry tickets to Cádiz from Puerto de Santa María, the port of which was conveniently located right next to our hotel. Both Friday and Saturday we took this 25 min ferry ride to and from Cádiz, which was part of the whole Carnaval experience. We really must have looked like a boat full of crazies in our costumes. After purchasing the tickets and getting some lunch, we donned our masks and boas and began the festivities on the rooftop pool of our hotel. The weather was amazing - high 60s and sunny all day, and we were right next to the beach! 

Rooftop ready!

Space friends

After the short ferry ride, we reached land in Cádiz and followed the crowds into the main plaza which was filled with hundreds of people - a mix of tourists and locals, little kids and older peeps - wandering the streets. I met a few mimes, chatted up some adult babies, and made friends with at least 6 different versions of the pope.

Elf friends

Both Friday and Saturday were filled with street-wandering, friend-making, and fun-having by everyone. When it got chilly at night as we started to make our way back to the ferry, we warmed up in the best way we knew how: con un bocadillo caliente y más vino. It really was a great weekend, and though I didn't get the full tourist experience due to the whole Carnaval thing happening, Cádiz seems like a wonderful little city. This trip also got me super excited for the travel plans I have coming up this semester. Next stop...Dublin for St Patrick's day! 

Check out all the gente!

Toledo and Spanish Bathroom Norms

In the middle of my Spanish lengua class today, the profesora stopped class to have a little discussion with us about going to the bathroom. Apparently, getting up during class to go to the bathroom is considered both strange and "maleducado," or ill-mannered, in Spanish culture. This little informative chat took me by surprise because I've never thought twice about doing this at home during a class. This got me thinking about other cultural differences that have stuck out to me since settling into Spain. One of the biggest is taking coffee to go. They don't do that here! Coffee is a social time for sitting, chatting, and sipping. As much as I'd like to get on board with this charming image of a leisurely European breakfast-time, sometimes a girl needs her coffee to get through that hour and a half medieval history class. Not that images of Gothic architecture don't pump my blood with adrenaline, but I gotta say a latte for the walk to class would be nice. Oh well.

Last Friday my program took a day trip to Toledo. We spent the day discussing the city's historical importance, especially during the reign of the Christian kings. We walked through some magnificent cathedrals and two of the remaining Jewish synagogues from those times. Walking around these shuls, walls lined with Hebrew verses and arks still in tact, I felt such an immediate connection to my own heritage and past. It was a really cool feeling to stand in the same place where Jews came to pray so many hundreds of years ago.

Ark in Toledo synagogue

After some more cathedrals and a bakery run for some unreal marzipan, we headed back to Madrid. It was a great day in a truly historic and beautiful place. It's easy to forget how much history there is in this country and how far back it goes, and visiting a city like Toledo was a good reminder.

Overlooking the city!

This weekend, I am traveling with a few friends to the southern city of Cádiz to celebrate Carnaval. From what I've heard Carnaval in Spain is sort of like a combination of American halloween and Mardi Gras...I can work with that. I'll report after the weekend!

Exploring

Every weekend, I try to find a new area of Madrid to walk around in. It seems like there are endless options of places to explore, which is overwhelming and exciting at the same time. Last weekend, I walked around the Chueca area which is sort of like the Boystown of Madrid. It's filled with cool shops and restaurants and a great place to spend an afternoon or go out at night. I also went to el Palacio Real, the official residence of the Spanish royal family (but they don't actually live there; it's more for ceremonial purposes). Built in the 1700s, the palace is huge and the architecture is breathtaking. One thing I love about walking around Madrid is that every street boasts old and beautiful buildings. I guess this is typical of any European city, but this kind of architectural history is not something we have so much in the US and it makes walking around here all the more enchanting! We've also had some really nice and sunny days here recently. One of my favorite places anytime, but especially when it's nice out, is el Parque Retiro. Always a perfect spot for a picnic, a run, or a nice paseo.

Perfect day for Retiro!

On Sunday I finally had my first visit to the Prado and I already can't wait to go back. Highlights included the Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch (I could stare at this for hours), Las Meninas by Velásquez, and so many paintings by Goya. Afterwards, Gillian and I discovered the wonder that is 100 Montaditos. This fast food-esque sandwich shop (a montadito is like a mini-sandwich) offers everything on the menu for 1 euro on Sundays and Wednesdays. Score. We each picked a few sandwiches and pulled off a 3.50 euro lunch tab!

On Friday my program is taking a day trip to Toledo, and next weekend I'm going with some friends to Cádiz to celebrate Carnaval. Very excited about both of these trips - updates to come!

First Day of School!

As you may have inferred from the title, today marked our first day of classes at Carlos III. Woohoo! This past week we had orientation and registration for classes. Other than our required lengua and cultura classes, we got to choose 3 courses from the university. At least one of those 3 had to be a "grado" course, meaning a class we take with Spanish students. I signed up for art history (grado), teatro español, and historia de España. The latter two are taken with other American and international students, but still taught in Spanish.

Today, I had the lengua class and history of Spain. Lengua was sort of boring - filled out a worksheet and gave introductions. Felt a lot like middle school Spanish but hopefully that was just day one. After lunch and a couple hours of break, I came back for history of Spain. It sounds like it's gonna be a pretty straightforward and general history class, which might be boring but it's a subject I feel like I should be familiar with. Also, the professor seems great - friendly, engaging, and told us that he is open to suggestions about the course. My schedule every week is generally pretty good; even though I start at 9 am on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the other days I don't start before 12:30 pm and I don't have class on Fridays. Three day weekends wassup. The commute to Carlos III from my apartment takes about 45 mins. Since I didn't have to leave here until 11:30 this morning, I went for a nice run in Parque Retiro.

Speaking of school, I think this would be an appropriate moment in my blogging timeline to share some things I've learned/observed as I come up on my 3 week mark in Spain.

• Babies and young children here are cuter than in America. No explanation. 
• If you can say the word "vale," you can pretty much get through any conversation with a Spaniard (thanks for the heads up, Deb!)
• If you walk down a street without seeing at least one Museo del Jamón (basically Madrid's ham shrine), you are probably lost. 
• Spaniards dress for the season, not for the weather. Case in point: this past Saturday was perfect out - 60 and sunny all afternoon. However, all the señores y señoras were walking around in their fur coats and winter hats...??
• Bidets.
• When you buy a movie ticket, you get an assigned seat. Also, you can't go into the movie theater until 15 minutes before your movie actually starts. Huh?
• Milk doesn't always have to go in the refrigerator. I still don't get this one.
• Chocolate con churros (see photo below) is the best thing to eat at 5 am when you're still drunk and waiting for the metro to reopen at 6 taking an early morning stroll.

YUM

That's all I have for now...wish me luck on my second day!

A week in Granada

¡Hola! This week we traveled to the south of Spain to spend 10 days in Granada for program orientation and intensive Spanish language classes. Granada is a small and beautiful city with a lot of history and cultural importance, which made it the perfect place to start our Spanish culture class that will continue throughout the semester. Every day we had an excursion in the morning, lunch together at a restaurant in the central plaza, Spanish classes from 3-7 pm (oy), and free time at night. Our morning outings included La Alhambra, a visit to García Lorca's summer home, and olive oil tasting at a 15th century olive oil factory. Walking around La Alhambra was incredible, even though we were all running on 4 hours of sleep from staying out at a discoteca the night before! It's pretty mind-boggling to think about how the fountains, walled structures, and intricate design patterns have stayed strongly in place for so many centuries.

In front of a reflection pool at La Alhambra

How do we look?

In the afternoons, we sat through 4 sometimes painful hours of Spanish class. Even though it felt like a reaalllly long time to concentrate, learning colloquial Spanish has already been extremely helpful. The accent in Andalucía (the southern region of Spain) is distinct from the accent in Madrid. After class, the school we went to (Escuela Don Quixote) held optional classes on the very important topics of Spanish curse words and insults and salsa dancing. Then, most of our nights were free which left us to explore the countless tapas restaurants in Granada (birthplace of the tapa!) and go out together. In most of these places, each drink you order comes with a free plate of food. Love it. On one of my favorite nights in Granada, we went as a group to see a flamenco performance inside of a cave. It was a small and intimate setting, and the show was incredible. Three women danced on stage to the music of a live guitarist and singer. I was totally enraptured by the performance - the music, dancing, and unbelievable rhythmic syncopation held in unison by the five performers was unlike anything else I've ever seen.

La Alhambra lit up at night. The girls and Ramiro!

The stage is set for flamenco!

Another stand-out day was Saturday when we spent the morning touring a 15th century olive oil mill and the afternoon walking through los pueblos blancos. At the olive oil mill, our guide taught us all about the process of turning olives (aceitunas) into olive oil. At the end of the tour, we had a tasting! A word to the wise, extra virgin is the only way to go. Afterward we had lunch as a group and headed to the gorgeous Andalusian hillside towns, los pueblos blancos. Our guide, Juan, moved several years ago with his family from Madrid to one of these small and rustic pueblos. He cited the reason for this significant move as a desire to explore "el mito del sur" - the enchanting myth of the south. Walking through these whitewashed villages against a backdrop of lush hills and orange tree orchards, the allure of the pueblos was easy to understand. He told us about his family's life there and how they adjusted to a rural setting after living in Madrid for many years. To finish our tour, we walked up a steep cobblestoned hill to a breathtaking home overlooking the pueblo. An older couple lives here and rents out rooms to travelers as a sort of bed and breakfast. They welcomed us into their home and offered us tea and cakes, allowing us to walk around and take in the magnificent views. It was amazing!

Pretty rainbow over los pueblos blancos

A hilly walk led us to this beautiful view of La Alhambra and La Sierra Nevada

After a wonderful 10-day excursion to the south, I am ready and excited to be back in Madrid. This week, we start orientation at Universidad Carlos III, sign up for classes, and prepare for school to start next week. More to come soon!

My first days in Madrid

The past three days have been nothing short of a whirlwind, and I am loving every minute. Early Thursday morning, my flight touched down in a very foggy Madrid. After picking up our bags from baggage claim (everyone's arrived!), the four of us who flew in together from Chicago walked out and were greeted by our two program directors here, Ramiro and Belén. They then accompanied us in taxis, two by two, to our new homes. I knew I'd be living with a single woman named Ana and sharing a room with a girl on my program, but other than that I had no idea what to expect. I was the first to be dropped off and stood, bags in hand, anxiously awaiting in the street outside the big green door to Ana's apartment. She soon came down and greeted me so warmly, helping me with my bags and leading me up to her 4th floor apartment. As soon as we walked in, I decided that this is the cutest and most charming apartment of all time. There is a small kitchen, a shared open space of dining room and living area, and Ana's bedroom/office. Against a far wall, there is a narrow wooden staircase that leads up to...our room!! Even though I have to duck most of the time to avoid hitting my head on the super low ceilings, the room has more than enough space for the two of us and feels cozy.

Staircase up to our room

Our room (which Ana refers to as our own "república de independencia"); what you can't see are the two sets of dressers, central closet, and two desks she set up for us

My roommate, Jordana, arrived shortly after I did and we both unpacked excitedly in our new room. Ana then called us down and announced that the three of us were going for a walk. We live in an incredible central location of Madrid - a 5 minute walk from the Antón Martín and Atocha metro stations, and in 10 minutes we can walk to the Spanish botanic gardens, El Parque del Retiro (a huuge and gorgeous park), and 3 of Madrid's most important art museums: the Prado, the Reina Sofía, and the Thyssen. Being able to walk to these iconic sites from home is pretty incredible. When we came home from our walk, Ana prepared our first homemade Spanish lunch: tortilla española! This traditional dish is similar to a potato quiche and is also delicious. After lunch I took my first official siesta. I could get used to this schedule! Later (and I really mean later - Spaniards eat dinner at 10 pm or later), Ana called us down for our first dinner together as a new Spanish familia. We sat around the table, eating and chatting away (all en español) about everything from the best travel sites in Europe to cultural differences between Spain and the US to our families. By the time we got up to clear our plates, Jordana and I were barely still functional from our long days of travel and went right to bed.

The next morning, our only instructions from Ramiro were to meet at la Universidad Complutense, one of Spain's oldest public universities, at 9:30 am for our first orientation as a group. Complutense is about 30 minutes away from Ana's, which means that Jordana and I had to attempt to navigate the metro system. We were a little late and went the wrong direction on one of the metro lines but...we made it! Turns out the metro here is very easy to figure out once you've used it a few times. Once at Complutense, we had a mini-orientation followed by a quick tour of the campus led by Ramiro. Afterward, everyone returned to their homestays for lunch and siesta. In the late afternoon, we met up again as a group at the Plaza de España to walk around the historic area. The streets were crowded and a bit touristy but no less beautiful and interesting to explore. One of my favorite parts of being here so far has been discovering new areas of the city. As much as I roll my eyes when my parents talk about the glory days before technology, I must admit that there is something truly enchanting about walking the streets of a foreign place with nothing in hand but a map (the real paper kind, not the iPhone app). Plus, it makes me feel extra proud of myself when I actually get somewhere on purpose!

Today, we walked around Madrid's central district, very close to where I live. We walked by the 3 museums I mentioned earlier, which I cannot wait to explore more on my own. We also took a long walk (a "paseo") through El Retiro. On this beautiful sunny day, the park was particularly stunning. Soon I hope to come back to El Retiro for a picnic or paddleboating in the river! By the end of our paseo in the park, our legs were tired and our group separated to return home for lunch. Ana cooked us an incredible dish of tuna, cauliflower and broccoli with salad and toasted bread. Yum. After a small rest, I ventured to the metro by myself and took it to a northern area where two of my friends, Adi and Gillian, are living. Their area is far more quiet and residential than our bustling central one, so it was fun to walk around a different type of neighborhood. We took the bus (also a very easy and useful system to navigate) into a nearby district with lots of shops and cafés. Although I'm still getting used to the late dinners, I love having such a long afternoon (between lunch at 2 and coming home to get ready for dinner at 9) to stay out exploring.

Parque del Retiro with Haesun, Adi, and Gillian

Now I am getting ready for bed because early tomorrow morning we leave for a ten-day trip to Granada! While we are there we will begin our clase de cultura, which all 15 of us on my program take together at the university and which Ramiro teaches, and we will also be having intensive Spanish language classes. I'm a little sad to already have to say hasta luego to Madrid, but I can't wait to see Granada and take our first trip together as a group. Sorry for the lengthy post, but these first few days have been so exciting that I want to share everything! I will do my best to keep the updates coming. ¡A Granada!

Leora