hola Madrid! i like you a lot

After a week in smaller, historical Granada, coming back to begin our long-term stay in Madrid was like a breath of fresh air. It's vibrant and exciting and overwhelming. We spent this past week beginning to orient ourselves in the city, taking the Metro and walking around. I think the best way to get to know a place is definitely on foot. We've seen some really cool areas in just one week by just choosing a metro stop in a certain area, walking in a certain way, getting a little lost, then finding our way back to something we recognize (or even another Metro stop, they're such good reference points).

Last week we had orientation at the university for a few days. In terms of classes, we are required to take one off-campus Spanish culture class with our program director Ramiro, who works through Wash U, and then we choose four more on-campus classes. The remaining four still all in Spanish but are divided in between Cursos de Estudios Hispanicos--a branch at the university with a set of classes specifically for us foreign kids--and the regular mainstream classes. Seems easy enough, but turns out the mainstream classes are divided as well. There's some short 2-month intensive classes, an old curriculum called Lisenciatura that is being phased out for a new Grados curriculum (the new European Union system for universities), and other confusing things. Finding times that all coordinate or classes that are appropriate has actually been weirdly frustrating. This week we can go to classes that interest us, and we don't have to decide for sure until the weekend, which is nice. As of right now, I'm registered for a Politics and Society class, New Social Problems 4 (from the Licensiatura classes), and a Spanish short story class. We are also required to take a language course through the foreign kids department, but I am getting the opportunity to take a class on Techniques of Oral and Written Expression in the regular Grados classes..eek scary but hopefully useful.  I am also talking to Ramiro about volunteering somewhere, which I want to get started with. Anyway, we'll see what happens with all of that. While I know and always believe school is important, I'm also definitely a believer that you can learn just as much outside of school as in..especially in a situation like this!!

I was really looking forward to living with a host family again, after my wonderful family last summer in Santiago, and I can tell this will be a distinct yet great situation too. After just a few days I'm quickly becoming used to and looking forward to dinner every night with Gloria, Daniela, and Eliana--our chance to talk about the day, which usually means Daniela telling as many stories and jokes (great because many of them are puns so I learn new words/phrases) as possible before Gloria tells her the girls need to talk too. A few times now Eliana and I have sat at the table for a long time after dinner, talking to Gloria about life, Spain, her heartbreaks, making the choice to adopt and become a mother...everything. She's had several students over the past couple years but this is her first time having two at once, and she said she's rarely had conversations like this with them in the past. Gloria is a psychologist and a theater teacher..she's smart and hip yet definitely wise. I'm really happy to be in her home, I have a lot to learn from her and Daniela.

Here's a few areas in my new city that I've explored with friends the past week:

Chueca--very hip and trendy gay neighborhood, with lots of stores and swanky-dressed people. lots of incredible architecture too.

Ha look at the Starbucks that got in this picture...let's just say the Starbucks at which I was employed in Chicago's main gay neighborhood did not look nearly as..swankified. Love how Starbucks designs change to 'fit' into the neighborhood, very smart of them but is also funny.

Yummm the sign commands to "eat a lot of fruit" which is fine by me... I love me some fruit (and lovely places like this that sell it)

I was intrigued by the fact that a map could have a sexual orientation (ya learn somethin new every day), so I went in and asked for one. Turns out it's a list of good gay locations in the neighborhood and city.

Tribunal apparently has good taste for hot dogs..haven't eaten one in about 8 years, but they're good from what I remember (Chi town what uppp)

Plaza de España--very bustling and has a nice plaza/park. We went to see a movie in this neighborhood over the weekend. It was an Argentinean movie called "El Secreto de sus Ojos", about a man investigating a murder case he has had open for 25 years, told in combination of flashback and present day. It is super passionate and really well-done, I'd recommend it for sure.

Eliana and I went for a walk through Parque del Retiro, a huge and gooorgeous park that we can get to a block from our apartment. We walked across it to the Salamanca neighborhood, and came across some beautiful churches.

Group of guys playing outside the Metro station in Sol, a central shopping area that has a lot of good bars and clubs, too.

While this says it's a Ham Museum (and believe me, if there were to be a ham museum anywhere, it would be in this country), it's luckily just a restaurant on a huge street called Gran Vía.

Eliana and me out this weekend..not the best picture but I don't have many of us and I want you to see who she is!

We had a fun first weekend here, and the nightlife is cray crayyy! Since dinner is so late (usually around 10 but our family eats on the earlier side, around 9) people don't even think about leaving home until at least 12 or 1, at which point it's time to hit the streets, and drink in them. Even though it's winter, people "botellon" (drink in public with a group of friends) before going out to a bar or a discotech. Think I really started joining Madridleño (I just learned how to do the symbol over the n, isn't that cute? probably would have helped me in all these years of writing Spanish essays...sigh) life when I learned to stay out until 6 am so you don't have to take a cab, as that's when the Metro reopens. The funny thing about being out at 6ish at a Chocolateria after a night out is that you'd expect it to be mostly people around my age, but we literally saw people of all ages, including a 75+ year old couple canoodling at 5 in the morning there. Adorable and so funny..but hey way to live it up!

So that's that, and I have so much more to see! The weather has been cold, but not Chicago cold, which makes for good walking-around weather...and the sun was out today, which made me smile! Looking forward to actually knowing my class schedule, talking more to Ramiro about finding a place to volunteer, and getting to see more of the city. Thanks for reading through this..tryin to get a little of everything in there! besos