A lot has happened since I last wrote! My last few days have been filled with tours, orientations, meeting new people, and getting acclimated to Spanish culture. The night of my last entry, I spent some time getting to know my roommates at the hotel (since we got in a night early, we did not room with our live-in roommates). I really enjoyed the girls I was placed with; we got along very well and had a lot to talk about. Since no one else from our program was at the hotel, we decided that the three of us would go out. We went out around 10:30pm (2230h in twenty-four hour time) to a café close by for sangria and tapas (small meals served with wine or other drinks as late night “dinner”). I had my first taste of real Spanish food, Spanish tortilla—although it was not at all what Americans would call a tortilla. It was a dense quiche-like slice made of egg and potato pieces, served cold. I have had it almost everyday since then, and it is one of the more reliable dishes to eat when in doubt.
I will just take this opportunity to talk a little more about the food. Ham. Ham. Ham. Ham. That is all I have to say. Ok not all, but I really am thoroughly sick of “ham”. There are all different kinds of “jamón”, pretty much any and all parts of pigs are served here, and in almost every dish. I have not had any chicken, beef, or seafood since I have been in the country, but I hear that Barcelona is much more diverse and that the seafood and Mediterranean food are excellent. The one thing that I did really enjoy as a meal was croquetas; they are small dumpling looking puffs made of a kind of mashed potatoes and cornmeal (I think), with ham and then a crispy outside. They were very good!
Moving on… After dinner, us three amigas visited various bars taking advantage of the free drinks offered to people walking through the narrow streets as a ploy to get more people into the bar. We met various groups of people and spent a little time getting to know them. We ended up being out until about 4:30am (I am totally not someone to stay out until all hours of the morning, but it is so normal here, and dinner is eaten so late that it does not at all feel like the wee-hours of the morning).
The next morning we met up with the rest of the people from our program; I have enjoyed getting to know girls from all over the country very much! Everyone seems so genuine and smart and interesting, it has been a really great experience so far. We had a short bus tour of Madrid, and then our first ISA meeting, which was uneventful. That night, we decided to have a grand girls night out! Kapital, the biggest nightclub in Madrid was literally less than a two-minute walk from our hotel, which was very convenient. Almost everyone in our program was planning on going, but we got a group of six girls and all went out together. This nightclub is notorious for its seven stories (all of which have their own theme), eccentric performers, and giant dance floor (complete with expensive light equipment, and massive clouds of dry ice that occasionally flood the floor). We had a great time dancing and getting to know each other more, but I was tired from the night before so I went home a little earlier than some of the other people.
Tina, Christina, Me :)
The next day, we had tours of the Prado and Reina Sofia Museums (Mitzi already talked about these so I won’t go into much detail, other than they were interesting, and I really enjoyed seeing Pablo Picasso’s Guernica). That night, most of the group went out on the town again, but I decided to stay in and prepare for the next day and our trip to Toledo. We took three buses to get to Toledo, it was a very short ride. We did a walking tour of some of the historic buildings (there are many, considering Toledo is over 3500 years old), including a monastery, synagogue, and a building housing El Greco’s masterpiece. It was a very hot and tiring tour, so I was very glad to get back to the hotel. I tried to spend some quality time Skyping with Andrew, but the internet was terrible and frustrating, so we ended up talking on the phone a bit (I got my Spanish cell phone on the first day of orientation).
Mackenzie, Me, Tina, Christina, Jill in Toledo
That night (last night) we had another program meeting to discuss housing and academics. Pretty much all the information I had already read, but it was good to hear our official schedules (we meet our homestay families tonight, have a placement test tomorrow, school orientation Thursday, and start our language classes Friday) After the meeting, I went out with a group from my program that I had not previously met because they were not staying out late, which was what I wanted to do. It was nice meeting a whole new group of people and hearing their stories. The hotel was located a little ways from the more urban area of Toledo, so we had to take a taxi to and from dinner, but it was cheap when split between 4 people. After dinner, I repacked and went to bed.
This morning, we loaded our buses for the eight-hour drive to Barcelona. We are about half hour from the University right now; our families will pick us up there. I am nervous to see what the dynamic of the house is and hear about house rules and norms and things like that, but I think everyone is feeling the same way. I am sad to leave this big group of great people, but I know I will make every effort to see them very often. Having such great conversation and people around has been a great distraction from my homesickness, I am so thankful that I enjoy these people and have found a few that I can be mutually supportive and share experiences with.
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