One month later!

Well, after a month, I think I have finally gotten settled in here in Spain. The past week has been full of me going to classes, the same classes, thankfully, and trying to meet some new people. I finally have a daily routine down. I have class Monday through Thursday until 4, everyday except Wednesday when I have my WashU Culture class that is from 5-7 at night. Basically my days consist of waking up, eating breakfast (I eat a bowl, or three, of Corn Flakes every day), and going to class. Fridays are special because we get to eat lunch on our own, away from school. My friend Patricia and I have been trying out new places. Last week, however, we went to--drum roll please--the Hard Rock Cafe: Madrid.

All I can say is that it was literally one of the best experiences that I have had in Spain. Patricia and I spent an hour getting there (because we took a really convoluted route via Metro), had to wait an hour to be seated, and were then bothered by some creepy European guys at the table next to us, but my burger was...amazing. It tasted just like they do in the States. I wanted to buy a Hard Rock t-shirt to add to my collection, but unfortunately, the prices at the Hard Rock are exactly as they would be in dollars, just with a euro sign in front of them. That means that I would have had to pay 23 euro for a t-shirt-not happening. Still, it was an experience that I won't need a t-shirt to remember.

The cafe was in a really nice area, in one of the more ritzy barrios (neighborhoods) of Madrid, called Salamanca. There is supposedly a Chanel, Tiffany's, etc...in that area. There is also the BEAUTIFUL Biblioteca Nacional (National Library), which I visited for my journalism class to see an exhibit on the most father of Spanish journalism. Funny story--while we were sitting in the Hard Rock Cafe, we noticed that these two guys kept trying to get our attention. Since we were two girls eating alone, we tried not to take the bait, but finally we noticed that one of them had pulled out his camera and was blatantly taking pictures of us. I turned around and thought that they wanted me to take a picture OF them, but no, of course they wanted a picture WITH us. Upon a little more conversation (that we did not want to have), they asked us where we were from. When we said the U.S., one of the guys replied in his broken English, "Ohhhhh, United States...if all the girls there look like you, next time we will have to go THERE on vacation."

Oh, Madrid.

Tomorrow our group is going to the medieval city of Toledo. While I am excited to see another city in Spain, I have a sneaking suspicion that our day will consist of seeing lots of cathedrals and talking about architecture. At this point, when you've seen one, you've seen them all. Oh well. Also, I just booked my flight to Paris for spring break. I am so excited!! So, travels await! As always, more to come!