"Mi" Casa

As promised, here is my post with pictures of my room and the apartment. I still have not gotten the Internet situation sorted out, which means that I can only get on when the stars align around the seventh planet, Jupiter is in orbit, and Cupid feels like letting me. I need to talk to the family about it and try to fix it. Unfortunately, I think it is going to cost me a chunk of change to buy either another router or a wireless extender, but at this point, I don't think I will ever really be able to talk to anyone from home with the horrible connection in my room, and hoping and praying that the family leaves so that I can use the living room is getting old. I made a mistake and called my Mom at five in the morning (when the family was gone), thinking that it was seven, and could not call back later. That's a bit frustrating, but I am trucking along.

Yesterday I went to see my first movie on the big screen that was entirely in Spanish. It was an Argentinian movie called "El secreto de los ojos," and it was about a man who spent thirty years trying to solve a murder/rape and catch the person who did it, only to find out that the woman's husband caught him years before and kept him locked up in solitary confinement for the past 25 years, bringing him meals but never speaking to him. It is actually about a lot of other things too, love, passion, etc...but that is the general synopsis. It was really good. I probably only understood 75% of it, I'm not going to lie, but I got the gist. The movie going experience was very interesting. It's funny because although EVERYTHING else in Europe costs way more than it does in the U.S., I got a box of popcorn and a drink for about the same price as I would at home. I don't think that Spaniards eat as much during their movies, because my crunching seemed very loud at times. Also, Spanish movies don't have previews, which means that when I walked in at 7:05, I missed the apparently very graphic rape scene. Oh well! I guess some things work out for the best after all! This experience has shown me that I will never go to see a Spanish comedy, though, because there were at least 10 jokes throughout the movie, and I got not one. The rest of the audience would laugh, my friends and I would look around, then we would chuckle a good 20 seconds after everyone else, not knowing what had just happened. Oh the American life in a foreign country.

Okay here are the pictures:

My room. I wanted to put my arms out to show that if my wingspan were about a foot and a half more, I could touch both walls with my hands. The room seemed SO tiny when I first walked in, but honestly it is not that bad now.

The kitchen. I don't really venture in here, but I throw stuff away in the trashcan, and I go to the cabinet to get my daily helping of corn flakes in the morning. The little machine that is on the stove that looks kind of like a giant crock pot is amazing! My host mom cooks almost everything we eat in there, from french fries, to soup, to chicken!

The bathroom. There is a larger bathroom where the shower is located, but this is the half bath that I have to myself.

Notice the little pink handle...that's how you flush the toilet. It's very old school. I still haven't really figured out how long I need to pull it in order to flush it right. The other bathroom has what most European toilets do, a silver button at the top that you press.

Walking out of my room to the living room. The kitchen is the door to the right, and you can't see it, but the bathroom is the door to the left.

The front foyer leading to the living room.

Living room (the only place where the Internet really works)

I will say that today was a great day because I walked into the living room for lunch and what did I see, gravy and rice! I wanted to cry I was so happy. It tasted just like I remembered. I spend most of my time just trying to fill up since meals seem so spread apart so that I do not get hungry. I had forgotten what really, really good food tasted like. Made my day.

I am off to meet the lady whose little girls I will (hopefully) be tutoring in English, then try to take a siesta before dinner.

First Full Week in Madrid

Well, I am officially done with orientation at my adopted college, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Carlos III, in case you didn't know, was apparently the most important king of Spain. I have no idea what he did, (I will have to take a Spanish history class for that), but I know that there is a huge statue of him in the Plaza del Sol, one of the main parts of the city. He looks a little like John Adams to me.

Back to the point. Orientation consisted of hearing a million speeches about the different classes that we can take, and taking placement tests to see which language class we should be a part of. I had my oral test today, which always freaks me out because I hate actually speaking in Spanish. It went surprisingly well, though. I find out where I placed tomorrow and then I can make my schedule. We have a choice between taking CEH classes, which are Spanish classes for Americans (or I guess any foreigners), or taking Grado classes with the actual Spanish students. I want to take more Grado classes, but the CEH classes are really interesting, and the Grado classes are hard to schedule. I think that I am going to take one Sociology of Spain class with the Spaniards, and the rest CEH. We also have a culture class that is just our program where we take trips, go to museums, etc. Supposedly the workload isn't that bad for any of it, though, which makes me very happy after last semester.

Today I made a huge accomplishment: I got to school all by myself. I think that this is the first place that I have gone alone. The walk to the train station is pretty short (and it saves me 2 euros that I would have to pay for a ride back and forth on the metro). Then I took the 20 minute train ride all the way to Getafe, the little town where my school is, and didn't even get lost! I may be a city girl after all!

Things are starting to feel more normal since we have been getting up and going to school every day. I'm enjoying that. Hopefully I will get to start tutoring soon, also.

Next on my list: find somewhere to get my hair done. That will indeed be an interesting task.

Here are some pictures of the university:




A picture of what you see when you walk out of the cafeteria. This is kind of like the quad.


Another view of some buildings on campus.

It is all very modern, more so than I expected. None of the old world charm of WashU, though.

Tomorrow we are going to try to find a movie theater that plays American movies with Spanish subtitles, go see a película in the afternoon. Pictures of the apartment and my room to come!

Hello, Spain. Nice to Meet You

Wow. The last two weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. I started out in Madrid, but my luggage was lost. Problem number one. I spent my whole first day sitting dumbly in my room with nothing to do and no one to do it with. Good thing I brought Twilight because if I hadn't, I don't know what I would have done all day. I got about two hours of sleep on the plane ride over since I sat next to this man who put his arms way too close to my seat for me to get comfortable. I had to wait until he was up buying duty free items until I could go to the bathroom, a good FOUR hours into the plane ride.

The luggage situation was a fiasco that I would rather not revisit. It ended up with me wearing the same clothes for longer than I would like to admit, borrowing clothes from other girls on the program, and finally getting my baggage in Granada. Needless to say, I wrote the airline a very nasty message.

I spent my time in Granada taking a language intensive class and learning all about the south of Spain, Andalucía. It was really interesting to me because the whole train ride there I felt like I was in a Hemingway novel, living this crazy life in Spain.

My favorite Spanish poet, Federico García Lorca, was from Andalucía, which only made things better for me. Basically the highlight of my life? Getting to go inside his family's summer home. Geek out moment./div>

I will be honest with you, I wasn't sure how I liked Spain for quite awhile. The food is different, the people are different, everything is completely foreign to me. The first day I was here I wanted to go home so badly that I honestly didn't think I would be able to make it through the whole week. But in Granada, one of my last days there, I realized just how beautiful Spain was. I was on a bus, just on my way to an excursion, and I saw the most beautiful mountains and valleys that I have ever seen in my life. I guess we Southern, below sea level girls, are amazed by moutains. Anyway, I encountered a Spain that seemed so rich and so alive. Having coffee over this view was the best experience that I have had in a very long time.

So I'm giving Spain a chance. I am putting my all into seeing what it has to offer. This will be a tough five months, I'm sure, but I'm actually really excited.

More to come!