Berlineinenstrasserplatz

Yes, German is a strange language..but gotta admit that no, that title isn't fo real. For the record, my favorite German word is "flughafen" (airport).

Amy and I flew from Paris to Berlin, to meet up with several friends from our program and start the next phase of our Spring Break! We met an airport employee on the bus from the airport who later told me about the stigma that still exists between East (less desirable) and West Berlin, even though they have been one in the same for 20 years. We got in at night, and the first thing we did the next morning was head to a free tour of the city we had heard about from several people, who said it was amazing and one of their favorite parts of the trip to Berlin. It was a 3-hour walking tour and our small group was led by Summer, a girl from California with an extremely deep voice and off-beat sense of humor, who told us she majored in art history, is a classically trained opera singer, moved to Berlin the day after she graduated college and has been there for years.

We saw so much in those few short hours: the Brandenburg gate, the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby from the balcony (oy), Holocaust memorial, Hitler's bunker (an unmarked spot for fear of it becoming a pilgrimage site for Neo-Nazis), the Berlin Wall, the burned books memorial, and more. We learned an incredible amount of history about this city that has completely changed and re-identified itself over these past 20 years. Walking through former East and West Berlin, we heard an insane amount of information about past and present, the Berlin under communism and the Berlin that existed on the other side of the wall. Summer was on point and knows so much about the city, so when she told us she was leading the alternative tour through squats and about street art the next day, we decided to do it.

Brandenburg gate, former gate to the city.

The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe done by Peter Eisenman in 2005, a series of rectangular blocks of different levels throughout and designed to be interpreted by the viewer.

Berlin Cathedral on "Museum island"

A stretch of the Berlin Wall, blocked by barbed wire because of people trying to take pieces from it. People sell 'pieces of the wall' but more 'pieces' have been sold than the length of the entire wall..ha

After our tour, we went to the Pergamon museum with parts of ancient ruins, and then to the Jewish museum, where we stayed several hours. It is big and detailed, and is divided into a few exhibits, with the basement dedicated to the Holocaust. That floor itself is divided into several "axes" (Axis of the Holocaust, of Exile, and of Continuity), containing many people's personal histories, letters and belongings, as well as what happened and where people were dispersed. The upstairs floor gave an entire overview of Judaism in Germany throughout history (a much bigger exhibit than we realized going in), where we hung wishes on a 'tree' for peace. 

View from the glass dome on top of the Reichstag, which we waited for over an hour to enter but is free and open to the public. You can look down and see into the Congress' chambers. It is designed with the idea that in a democracy, 'the people' are on top.

Berlin is FILLED with street art

At the East Side Gallery, the longest remaining stretch of the Wall which has been turned into an amazing series of murals done by various artists bringing their message of why freedom matters to Berlin, from across the world. 

That last night a few of us decided to head out into the famous Berlin house/techno/madness scene, so I braved it for about an hour and went from a techno-music-blasting, 12th floor office-building/club to the hostel to take a shower, grab my stuff and head to the airport for our 7 am flight to Frankfurt.

Our final stop on the trip was Frankfurt, Germany. Let me explain what brought me there. Last summer in Santiago, my friend Allison and I decided we should do something 'touristy' that you do when you're in Santiago--an afternoon taking these cable cars up to the top of a mountain to see a giant statue of the virgen Mary. On the way up, we met a German family, and one of them, at the end of the conversation, gave us his 'card'. His name was Marius, and we laughed at the randomness of being handed this card which read "One good turn deserves another". Anyway, turned out he and a friend were on a 10-month world trip, and we ended up keeping in touch with him, since he was spending a while in Santiago like we were. We only overlapped for a few more days, and meeting up didn't work out, but he told us if we were ever going to be in Germany to just let him know and we'd have a place to stay. Of course at the time, I laughed when he said that, not knowing where life would take me less than 10 months later.

I contacted Marius and he told me I was more than welcome to come. Allison ended up only being in Frankfurt to change planes, but Amy and I spent a night there. (Also, since Frankfurt has a major international airport, it's actually cheaper to fly to Frankfurt first and then to Madrid..worked out very nicely!!) He and his brother run this huge gym that his father started, so we met up with him there and headed out for a delicious German meal, then went to one of his friend's birthday party where we met a bunch of his friends who were cool and around our age. He was so hospitable and we had a great day.

Walking along the Mein river. Frankfurt is unlike most European cities with its modern skyscrapers (it is a big financial hub)

At a local restaurant Wagner's. Marius, some vegetarian schnitzel (woohoo) and some of the German specialty Apfelwein (apple wine) that he introduced us to

Part of downtown Frankfurt that looks like Disneyworld

At his friend's birthday party, with the birthday girl's dad who weirdly looks like (a German version of) Mick Jagger, hehe

Marius showed us some amazing pictures from his 10 months of travels. I was so impressed by the hospitality he adopted so well, which he told me he firmly believes in after having encountered so many wonderful and helpful people along his travels (hence the 'one good turn deserves another' from his card..coming true). He's a great example of how travelling, especially like we do with limited resources but still a great amount of freedom, can really help you grow and reach out to people like they've done to you.  It was a great Spring Break, and Amy and I returned to Madrid tired and happy. 

Semana Santa Part I, aka family European takeover :)

 (you can see more pictures here: photo album)

So, world, it actually happened...after months of planning and deciding, my parents got passports for the first time since their honeymoon, they decided to let Adam and Adina in on the fun and everyone hopped on the plane to Europe! I went to pick them up from the airport on that Friday afternoon, when Spring Break had started, gave them a quick Spain lesson (some history, the fact that people do not say any form of excuse me and will just stand there in front of you looking ridiculous, other useful tidbits) while we were on the metro to the Atocha area where my parents and Adam were staying in this second-floor cute little guesthouse I found randomly (Adina stayed with me since Eliana had already left for Spring Break on Thursday), had them put their stuff down and we went out on the town. (I do not believe in jet-lag! hehe just gotta keep going until it's nighttime in your new place..) I took them to Museo de Jamon for some wine, we went to the huge indoor market called Mercado San Miguel for some tapas, had churros con chocolate, and walked around Sol and Plaza Mayor. That was night 1!

By the time my family arrived my friends had all left for their Spring Break trips, so even though they didn't get to meet everyone (except Amy who travelled with us to France) they did meet my host mom and saw our apartment and a lot of Madrid! We spent Saturday walking around the city, and it was fun taking them to all my favorite places. We went to the Prado, the park, met up with a daughter of my mom's coworker who is also studying in Madrid, and lots more. The city has started to feel smaller and smaller to me (it actually is kind of small), and the nice thing about that is being able to see a LOT in a relatively short amount of time. On Sunday they came over to meet Gloria, and I translated between them for a bit before we headed to catch a bus to Ávila, a small town in the Segovia province about an hour outside the city. I love how the landscape changes within minutes of being on the bus, and the countryside is so beautiful in every direction you can leave the city.

On that bus ride I met Sofia, a woman who immigrated to Ávila from Romania, as there is now a high population of Romanian immigrants in Spain since they recently joined the European Union, making movement between countries relatively easy and more like state-to-state travel. I don't get passport stamps when going from between countries here, because we have a Spanish visa. She told me about her family, how she thinks Madrid is too big and noisy, and about moving to Spain and learning Spanish. She also told me that while her husband and son live in Spain with her now, one of her sons still lives in Romania, as well as most of her family. She chose to live in Ávila because it is calmer than Madrid, and more like her hometown. We spent that afternoon walking around the town, which is very small, climbing the cool thousand-year-old Roman wall, and then headed back to Madrid that night.

Reunited and strollin' down Atocha.

 

Goofin' on the Roman wall in Ávila.

On Monday, we explored a bit more and then met up with Amy in the afternoon to head to the airport! We got to Paris and met up with Colleen, my friend from Wash U who is studying in Paris, then went to an Italian restaurant where I met a waiter who forgot my food, then gave me this to make up for it (you have to click cause it's not letting me put pictures at the moment, who knows why!):

my french boo 

While I was the translator in Spain, I immediately lost all of those abilities and transferred them to my mom/Adam upon arrival in France. After dinner Colleen took Amy and I to the Eiffel Tower, where we saw the last glittery light-up session of the evening at midnight, which was oh-so sparkly and exciting!! Some French man roller-bladed into Amy and then told her she "wasn't very clever" for standing ON the sidewalk (really he was just mad at himself because he didn't maneuver his 'blades' in time..people can be so ridic), but we just laughed it off and kept enjoying. We spent the night at Colleen's host family's and in the morning Amy and I walked along the Champs-Elysees to meet up with my family, then spent the day walking a ton around the Seine, to Notre Dame, down a street called St. Michel, and all around Montmartre, a cool neighborhood and old artist community and the basilica Sacre Couer at the top of the neighborhood where people come to rub St. Peter's foot. We survived the downpours with Colleen as our tour guide, even having some hilarious times at our pitstop in a Montmartre laundromat for sanctuary.

At night, all of us and Amy (who is now totally part of the fam) went to a Passover seder at my mom's friends, the Benhamous. She met Laurance when they were my age, when my mom was spending the year in Caen. We saw her husband and four children, and went to their Sephardic, orthodox, French seder at their house and were amazed at how different things can be within the same holiday/religion--it was Amy's first seder and I was at times as unfamiliar with it as her--yet there's still always familiar words and tunes. I hadn't seen Laurance and her husband since my Bat Mitzvah, and one of their sons has visited our house in Chicago, and it was cool to have both of our entire families together for the first time. Amy and I spent the night there, and on Wednesday we went to the Musee L'orangerie which had amazing Monet waterlilies pieces done for the space, and then the Louvre, where we met up with Michael Chen (who is studying in Oxford but was on a 6-week break between terms/backpack time through Europe). The Louvre was immense and overwhelming; we didn't stay tooo long but still got a good feel.

We headed to the train station for our next stop, Caen, which is in Normandy. We arrived at the house of my mom's friends/surrogate parents from her time in Caen, Claude and Michele Bazin, with its beautiful viney walls, fireplace, pictures of their four children and many grandchildren, and two of the nicest, smartest, most family-oriented people who live inside it. Their house felt magical, as we sat and talked, looked at their pictures, listened to the fire, and ate delicious food. It was interesting how in France the salad comes after a main course, and then before dessert, there was cheese. One of my favorite moments of the whole trip was when Claude told us (translated from French) "A meal without cheese is like a kiss without a moustache". Although Michele now has Parkinsons, she was still able to communicate slowly and show us many pictures from their many trips, their children's weddings, etc. She told us how they met as young doctors working at a hospital in Paris and got married the next year, even humming a song that has lyrics about knowing love when they found it..so precious. They took us to the American soldiers' landing beaches from WWII, which they say they like showing to their visitors, and the American cemetery and memorial. Because Michele no longer drives, my dad drove a stick shift for the first time in 25+ years, which was very entertaining.

I couldn't believe my mom was my exact age when she would go over to their house for dinner, play piano with their musical children and walk around with Michele when she put the kids to bed. It was hard to watch them standing on the platform as we pulled away, but it is wonderful that we all got to go and see them. We took the train back into Paris, and parted ways as Amy and I headed to the airport for our next stop: Germany.

Marzo en Madrid

The week or two before Spring Break were really fun. I spent nearly the whole month of March in Madrid, going to school, going to teach the girls English, etc. The last 2 weekends I got to tour-guide my new city, first during Darcy's visit, and then my family's! It was fun taking them to the park, Plaza Mayor, Sol, museums (when Darcy was here we saw a Miquel Barceló exhibit at the Caixa Forum that was really good), a club, my favorite jazz bar, and more.

During these few weeks, Eliana and I realized that our host mom is pretty outrageous. There were a few incidents that just really disillusioned us, and while we know she is smart and cares about us--and we're still very respectful toward her--we also know to take what she says with a grain of salt. She loves to analyze, give opinions and say anything she thinks, many times without thinking how they might be received. Daniella is precious and smart as ever, and she definitely keeps her mama in check, haha. The tooth-mouse came for her again, and brought her a book and some euros. He even responded to her note in tiny handwriting (mice can only hold a pen so big!) and told her about his baby mice!

I talked to my host sister from last summer in Chile, who has been doing some relief work since the earthquake at the end of February. I also talked to the girl from Wash U who is currently staying with the fam, so she told me stories and asked me some more questions, and it made me miss them so much! I always felt like such a part of the family there, whether from taking turns doing the dishes, learning guitar from Juan Pablo, or going to visit my host mom Angélica's mom and making sopaipillas. I think once I had a host family experience like that one, it is hard to live up to it :) However, I am grateful to have both of the experiences, and know that I am learning a lot from both.

Outside the Palacio de Crystal in Parque Retiro

There is a corner of Plaza Mayor (the main plaza in Madrid) that is home to the man commonly and  fondly known as "Fat Spiderman". He is there at all hours of the day, in the same exact ripped up costume, ready and excited to be in pictures. The best part is that he leads you through a little photo shoot, saying "Fly with me now! Fly!" or "Sexy now", in English with a heavy Spanish accent. Clearly I had to introduce Darcy to this phenomenon.

Darcy got to meet the girls I teach! They're precious/hilarious. Victoria (on the left) is 8, and Jimena just turned 7. Working with their notebooks where we draw pictures, write vocab words, etc. 

The Carlos III campus. There is such a different attitude toward college, and really very little on-campus social life. People come to class and then go back into Madrid! Also, most people still live at home, so it's understandable.

Our fave sandwich place near campus. It is the most insanely decorated place I have every seen, and all those signs are personalized sandwiches their customers have made. It is owned by two sisters, who are some of the nicest and happiest people ever. Each sandwich takes so long to make because they make sure they get it just right while saying "si, cariño?" (basically "sweetie") a million times. 

Also, one night, Eliana, Ben and I saw a hilarious play called "Sexos". We had been seeing it advertised around the city, and when we were walking around El Rastro, the huge street market that goes up every Sunday, we passed by the theater where it was playing and decided to get student tickets for that week. It has 5 actors in the whole show (one of the women is in a comedy show that Bobby watches at his host fam's, who is great). It was about two dysfunctional couples, and a crazy woman who at different points during the show ends up with both of the men in the relationships. It was loud and outrageous and hilarious, and funny hearing our newly-acquired slang (both appropriate and not) used a million times throughout the show. I love seeing theater in a new place, sitting and laughing with people who have lived here all their lives.

Such a funny show. 

I recently found out that I will for sure be going back to St. Louis in June for the summer, working with recently arrived refugees at and internship with the International Institute. I'll be working in Child Services, pairing children with compatible schools and daycares, accompanying the families to the registration and other events, and registering families with young children for a government-subsidized nutrition program. I'm very excited and definitely looking forward to it!

Where's the bus?..adventures in Andalucía

A few weekends ago, Eliana, Bobby, Stef and I made our return to southern Spain when went on the Erasmus trip to Córdoba y Sevilla. Erasmus is the European Union's study abroad network, making it easy and accessible for university students in the European Union to spend a semester or a year at another European school. However, they open up their activities and trips to any student at our school (Carlos III) so we signed up to go. It definitely turned out to be more of an adventure than we had bargained for! 

It all started when we got to the bus at 7:30 am Friday morning, just like the one short email we received about the trip the day before we left told us to do. We waited outside of Atocha (the main train station, near where I live) for the bus that would take us on the 6-hour drive south to Córdoba. After waiting about 45 minutes, a guy finally announced himself as the leader, explaining that we had about 20 minutes until the bus left in case we wanted to go get coffee, or do whatever we needed to do. My friends and I, as well as a girl from one of my classes who had come on her own and actually said she needed someone to hang out with until she 'made friends' (thanks! remember this comment later), put our backpacks under the bus, then went into the cafe directly behind where we were standing, to get out of the cold for a few minutes. When we peered out the window about 7 minutes later, our traveller's nightmare began..the bus was very much not there. Gone.

The ridiculousness began here. The five of us went outside, looked all up and down the street, and realized the bus really had left us. We also realized that a) our stuff was under the bus, b) because the information they sent about the trip was so informal, we had absolutely no way to contact the trip leader (a student at Carlos III) nor anyone on the bus. The ONLY thing we knew was that our group was taking a tour of the mosque at 2:30 p.m. We had one of those moments where we all just looked around at each other in disbelief for a few seconds before realizing we needed to act. Luckily, we were right across the street from Madrid's huge main train station, so we ran inside, dashing from room to room for the right counter, and found an Ave (high-speed) train that was leaving for Córdoba at 9 am. It was 8:54. 

We quickly bought the tickets, ran down the escalators, through the fake jungle in the middle of the train station (ok, so we didn't run through it, but I just wanted to note that there IS a fake jungle in there. porque? no tengo idea.), to the platform and onto the train. We acknowledged that there was nothing we could do about the situation until we got there, so we found some seats, settled in to watch "He's Just Not That Into You" in español, and began to have the moment where you realize the situation is funny. Really funny. Also, they aren't kidding about high-speed trains. We were in Córdoba one hour, 45 minutes later--aka before the end of the movie where guy that works at the bar admits that he IS into her, and they are happy. The five of us got off the train, headed to the old city, and did some great walking and exploring. Saw the old Jewish quarter, the Roman bridge, and more. 

Around 2, we headed inside the walls of the mosque to make sure we could be there when the group arrived, and I realized that at the sign that said "Groups" they would probably have a contact number from our group. Our 5th lost-group-member spent most of the time talking about what she would do if her bag was gone forever. After a morning of unsuccessfully calling anyone at the school that we could to try and get a number of someone who was on that bus, or knew someone who knew someone who was on that bus, we finally got a number.  At this point, however, it was futile, and we soon saw our "leader" with an intense unibrow appear with the group. When we approached him and explained la situación, the verrrryy first thing he said was, "Why didn't you call someone?" We finally found out his name (Pierro) and that he was Colombian, and apparently the bus had had to pull away early because a cop told it to. Not that they had made sure everyone was there, checked any list, etc. The second thing he told us was that he had seen the random (our) bags under the bus when they arrived, taken them out, and left them in the street (!) The third thing he told us was that they had checked into the hostel, and after 'recalculating' on the bus, there wasn't room at the same one. I think you can imagine the looks on our faces at that moment.

Apparently, and luckily for us, there were some diplomats visiting Córdoba that day. Because of that, there were lots of police officers controlling cars on the tiny streets. I guess they saw our bags when Pierro took them out, and told him they would take them to their office. Yes, there is only one local police office in Córdoba. We took our tour of the mosque, and afterward headed to the policia de Córdoba..but the journey did not end there. We were asking cops in the street, who were controlling the streets for the diplomat, to call and make sure it was at their station, to which the dispatcher said they weren't. We headed over there anyway, and at first, they told us our bags were in their lost and found, and the man who runs the lost and found--and therefore was in possession of the ONE (yes really, the only) key that exists for said lost and found--had left to go home since it was Friday afternoon..and would not be returning until Monday morning. I was perplexed. What if lost-and-found man gets sick? Wants to take a nice family vacay? Guess he can't, since he possesses the key. The nice, bored policemen at the station helped us out, and called their one desk they have in the national police's office next to the mosque. He told us we were in luck, our bags were sitting next to that one desk. We trekked back to where we came from, chatted with the policeman for a few minutes about how he found our bags in the street, and how Córdoba is competing to become the "capital Europea de la culura" (capital of European culture) for 2016, then got our backpacks, which were just chilling on the floor. 

Once this was all worked out, everything was groovy. We found the hostel affiliated with the one everyone else was staying, where they had found us rooms. It turned out to be a really cool place, and we put down our stuff, went out for some delicious tapas (my favorite was goat cheese and honey) and wine, and left in the morning for Sevilla, which is such a romantic, beautiful city.

Córdoba: mezcla de las tres grandes culturas

The Roman bridge in Córdoba, from the 1st century BC.

The mezquita (mosque) in Córdoba (aka Candyland?).

Jammin' in the tiny streets of Cordoba.

Kids on a field trip to the mezquita.

In one of the many patios.

Patio at our hostel.

Outside walls of the mezquita

Sevilla!

Patio de los Naranjos at the Catedral en Sevilla.

A little boy wanted to join in this street performer's fun. So adorable. Note the little ponytails in the boy's hair.

Men practicing and weight training prepare for the parade with a giant statute of the Virigin Mary during Holy Week.

Plaza de España

Dusk in Sevilla was my favorite...I think it's made for this time of day!

Midsummer Night's Dream?

Eliana and I had our very first gofre con helado yum yum

That night in Sevilla we met up with Ali from our program, and Cristina who is studying abroad in Paris, and we all went to a Flamenco bar. 

Sunday morning, before heading back to Madrid we went to the Alcazar: palace and beautiful gardens from the Arab rulers of the 700s-1200s

Stef, me, Bobby, Eli

Spinning, lalala

After the madness, it really did turn out to be a great weekend. I am so happy I got to see these two cities, and it was fun to talk to and people-watch on our trip of kids from all over Europe and South America. Sevilla especially has such an amazing feeling, and I would love to go back someday!

Una semana super madrileña

This was a great week, largely because I saw several new things in Madrid that I had been wanting to see, got to go back to some of my favorite places, and spent time with some fab people. Here are some photos!

 The cathedral outside of the Palacio Real (Royal palace). On Wednesday, instead of our usual 2-hour class with our director Ramiro, we toured the Palacio Real, which is beautiful! While the current King doesn't actually live there, they do still hold affairs of state in the palace. It was also nice to have a change of pace--that 5-7 pm class off-campus, coming after a dayfull of classes at Carlos III can definitely drag on. However, before class, we usually go to 100 Monteditos, a Spanish chain that has bocadillos (small sandwiches) and drinks, all at 1 euro each on Wednesdays, which is fun.

La Coquette, a tiny jazz/blues bar in Sol that I randomly found when looking for live music online. It ended up being awesome, we definitely want to go back!

On Friday, we had a paseo with our Wash U class. In the morning, we walked around the Atocha area and talked about the Madrid de los Borbones--gardens, etc that were built by the Borbons. We had a break in between that and another visit to the Prado, where we saw more Goya work from that time period, as well as some other pieces. During our break...

First we went and had coffee at the cafe in Circulo de Bellas Artes (from the 19th century), which is very elegant and has an especially gorgeous ceiling. Picasso used to hang out and take classes there back in the day. Classy.

 

Eliana, Ben, and Judy on the stairs in the actual Circulo de Bellas Artes, a building with art exhibits, film series, theater, etc. We climbed all the way to the top floor, but the rooftop which apparently has a beautiful view, was closed.

An piece from an exhibition in Bellas Artes, which was art inspired by pieces of literature.

Then, we got some lunch at a small place with food from the region of Galicia. My friends got some octopus and other seafood, that they said was delicious. Bobby contemplating the adorable menu.

Shared desserts at Maceira: some chocolate-covered cookies with coconut, crepe-like things filled with Nata (cream), and flan. yumyum.

Judy at what we think could be the world's shortest ATM. In the moment it was exremely amusing, and we had fun trying to guess why it is so impractical/booty-drop friendly.

This week was also Wash U's spring break, so there were so many people from our school here in Madrid. It was funny to be out at clubs on Thursday/Friday nights and see dance floors packed with Wash U. It was really nice to see my friend Emily here in Madrid, as the last time I saw her we were overlapping for a few weeks in Chile: I was finishing my summer program, and she was beginning her Fall semester abroad.

My first mini-course, on the History of Terrorism, finished this past week. I turned in a 14 page paper on Al- Qaeda and took the 8 essay question final exam (thank goodness I just need to pass).  While I was now supposed to be starting my language class, the scheduling got messed up and turns out I won't be taking any language class after all. Instead, I am going to take another mini-course called "Europa y Estados Unidos Entre Dos Guerras", which will hopefully be an interesting history class about the time period between World Wars I and II.

Amy's birthday dinner on Friday night. After, we went to Kapital, a ridiculous but fun 7-story club.

 

Sunday morning, we ran into these musicians when went to El Rastro, a weekly giant street market. 

A cable car that runs over the Parque del Oeste, that we rode on Sunday afternoon.

View from the way up. There was a great view of the mountains and so much greenery, right on the west side of the city.

Bobby and me at the top of the Teleférico. 

It was so lovely out on Sunday afternoon. At the top with Caitlin and Alex.

There are some trails at the top, and Alex and I have already talked about going back to hike around.

Sun setting on our way down.

The pond in parque Retiro at night. Sunday evening, after the Teleferico, Eliana and I got off the metro on the other side of the park from our apartment and walked home. It was such a fresh, crisp night and there were lots of people out. We saw a fire juggler (he was bad at it, but also adorable so it's all good), people of all ages running/walking/practicing roller blading tricks (it's kind of a big deal here..haha). We passed a cafeteria full of older people right near our apartment and once again, noticed the old tradition of gathering in a local, neighborhood cafeteria alive and well in Madrid--as well as the abundancy of older people constantly out and about on the train, on the streets, and in restaurants/cafes, etc.

Last night, I met up again with Ana, a girl I met through a program with the university called Intercambios. I was paired up with a Spanish girl from my school, and the point is to speak in both English and Spanish (so we both get to practice), as well as to meet someone new, of course. I have now met up with her 3 times, and we get along really well. She is 24, and is doing a 1-year masters program at my school in Human Rights. The first time I met her I went to her apartment, where her and her roommate were interviewing for a new roommate. In just an hour or so, I was there for about 5 of the prospective new roomies, so they told me I could get a 'vote' in who they should choose. My favorite was a long-haired, gay Argentinian pilates instructor with a nose ring who talked a million miles a minute and was so excited when I knew what "palta" (the Chilean/Argentinian word for avocado) was ("Miravos! Como sabes esta palabra?"..while I'm thinking, how did you start talking about avocados? and can I take your pilates class..fo free?), but while entertaining, he might have been a bit overwhelming as a roommate. I also met a Polish couple and two Italian girls, and they ended up going with one of the Italians.

Last night we went for a drink and Ana told me how she recently spent 2 full years living and working in a village called Bangassou in the Central African Republic, and she has fascinating stories from her time there, such as how there was one road (unpaved) from Bangassou to the capital, Bangui, and even though it was about 500 km away, it would take a few days to get there. She learned how to speak Sangho, the local language besides French, and while she is not religious, worked through a Jesuit program because they are the only ones doing work there. She told me that it because there were very limited ways to contact people from home, it was definitely hard at times, but she is very happy she did it. Last night we spent some time talking about her experiences there, and communal sentiment about politics in our countries, and even about the attack on a Madrid cercanias (the commuter rail that I take to schoole every day) by Al-Qaeda in 2004 (luckily I knew all about that in some detail from the paper I wrote a few days ago).

I am definitely looking forward to the next couple of weeks. My good friend from home, Darcy, who is studying abroad in Barcelona, is coming to visit me in Madrid this weekend! Then, the weekend after that is the beginning of Spring Break, and my family will be here in Madrid eeeee! This will be my first big trip with my family in a long time, and I know it will be fabulous. I will go with the whole fam and a friend of mine, Amy, to Paris to explore and see my mom's friends from when she studied abroad in Caen, and then Amy and I will meet up with a bunch of friends in Berlin for the last couple days of break.

*Also--last weekend I went to Córdoba and Sevilla, two beautiful cities in southern spain (in the region Andalucía, like Granada). I will definitely write about that trip soon!