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.
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.
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!
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