Sunday August 22 and Monday August 23
Hello Friends!
Things have been getting gradually better around here, except for the food, of course. J I met up with Joey, a friend from high school, who was fortunate enough to be allowed to stay in our colegio. He had to pay about 27 euros a night, but that includes food too! What a deal, plus he’s just across the hall from me! So nice that he doesn’t have to treck around town looking for a place to stay again.
The kids in the program are SO much fun. We’ve been having a great time getting to know each other. It’s nice to be with so many people who are going through the exact same thing.
On Saturday, poor Joey arrived and had to wait all day for me to come home. Originally we had planned that he would arrive in the morning, but I checked downstairs every 30 minutes and didn’t see him all day. At about 3:00 I figured that he had decided to come another day so I went out shopping. When I came home some friends told me that some poor guy had been sitting outside all day. I felt terrible! But it all worked out because he was able to find a hotel and then when he met up with me on Sunday the colegio gave him a room.
Also on Saturday all of us kids in the dorm decided to go out to “El Capitol,” a dance club. It doesn’t open until 2:00 am (that means it’s a really cool place here). We took the metro there and stayed until the metro reopened (at 6 am) to save money. The metro is closed every night from 2am to 6am, but it’s much cheaper than taking a taxi. The club was SO much fun. It’s supposedly a super touristy place to go, which was fun for us to do just once! It has 7 different stories, each with a different type of music. We all had a great time. It’s definitely best to be in a big group of friends when going out. I’m learning to avoid all eye contact, because apparently just making eye contact can be considered an invitation for conversation by Spaniards.
Sunday morning Joey and I went out for some sight-seeing. We first went to El Rastro, one of the biggest flea markets in the world! For as far as the eye could see were streets filled with thousands of people, it was incredible. I found a big Spanish flag to hang on my wall, I’m so excited! We had traditional bocadillos in a little cafeteria. From there we walked to the Plaza Mayor and then the Puerta del Sol. At the Puerta del Sol we went through the little side streets and found some great authentic restaurants and lots of hostel. We then took the metro to the Paseo del Prado and walked down to the Museo del Prado. The Museum is pretty overwhelming - there are SO many paintings, there’s just not enough time. We walked around for a bit and saw some by Velazquez, de Goya, El Greco, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Raphael and SO many others, just incredible. By that time we were exhausted and decided to take a siesta!
After the siesta we went out in search of the traditional tapas bars. We went to Tio Pepes, one famous for their wine, located on the Gran Via (the Spanish equivalent of Times Square). We had a tapa and a drink, Fanta Naranja, of course, and then continued on to the next bar. We went to a little hole-in-the-wall extremely traditional bar and ordered anchovies on bread and smoked salmon on bread- they were great. The tapas bars have lists of all the tapas they serve and they usually have a deal where you can buy a tapa and a drink for a decent price, usually about 3 euros. We walked around the Gran Via a bit more and then headed home for the night.
The bus right back to the colegio was interesting. As soon as we got on, the bus driver slammed on the brakes, apparently a car had cut him off. Joey and I flew forward, I have bruises on my wrists and knees from slamming into the seat in front of us. The bus then pulled forward next to the car, opened the door and then began to shout obscenities at the car. The car driver made several rude gestures and the bus driver began another round of shouting. Ahhh… the big city….
This morning my roomie and I woke up super early to get ready for our first day at the university. We all rode the bus to campus together where we took a placement exam. The first part was a written exam and then we listened to a traditional lecture in Spanish and had to take notes. The last part was an oral conversation with a professor. I thought it all went pretty well, although the written exam was slightly difficult. Tomorrow morning they are going to post the list of which level (1 to 5) we are placed in.
We have just come back and eaten lunch in the cafeteria. It was Joey’s first meal here and he knows that I was definitely not joking about the food here. For example, lunch consisted of deep-fried cauliflower and tuna lasagna. Mmmm. J
Hopefully I will be able to post a little more often than this! Thanks to everyone for sending e-mail and I’m sorry I’ve been so slow to respond!!
Love to all!!
Lydia
Things have been getting gradually better around here, except for the food, of course. J I met up with Joey, a friend from high school, who was fortunate enough to be allowed to stay in our colegio. He had to pay about 27 euros a night, but that includes food too! What a deal, plus he’s just across the hall from me! So nice that he doesn’t have to treck around town looking for a place to stay again.
The kids in the program are SO much fun. We’ve been having a great time getting to know each other. It’s nice to be with so many people who are going through the exact same thing.
On Saturday, poor Joey arrived and had to wait all day for me to come home. Originally we had planned that he would arrive in the morning, but I checked downstairs every 30 minutes and didn’t see him all day. At about 3:00 I figured that he had decided to come another day so I went out shopping. When I came home some friends told me that some poor guy had been sitting outside all day. I felt terrible! But it all worked out because he was able to find a hotel and then when he met up with me on Sunday the colegio gave him a room.
Also on Saturday all of us kids in the dorm decided to go out to “El Capitol,” a dance club. It doesn’t open until 2:00 am (that means it’s a really cool place here). We took the metro there and stayed until the metro reopened (at 6 am) to save money. The metro is closed every night from 2am to 6am, but it’s much cheaper than taking a taxi. The club was SO much fun. It’s supposedly a super touristy place to go, which was fun for us to do just once! It has 7 different stories, each with a different type of music. We all had a great time. It’s definitely best to be in a big group of friends when going out. I’m learning to avoid all eye contact, because apparently just making eye contact can be considered an invitation for conversation by Spaniards.
Sunday morning Joey and I went out for some sight-seeing. We first went to El Rastro, one of the biggest flea markets in the world! For as far as the eye could see were streets filled with thousands of people, it was incredible. I found a big Spanish flag to hang on my wall, I’m so excited! We had traditional bocadillos in a little cafeteria. From there we walked to the Plaza Mayor and then the Puerta del Sol. At the Puerta del Sol we went through the little side streets and found some great authentic restaurants and lots of hostel. We then took the metro to the Paseo del Prado and walked down to the Museo del Prado. The Museum is pretty overwhelming - there are SO many paintings, there’s just not enough time. We walked around for a bit and saw some by Velazquez, de Goya, El Greco, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Raphael and SO many others, just incredible. By that time we were exhausted and decided to take a siesta!
After the siesta we went out in search of the traditional tapas bars. We went to Tio Pepes, one famous for their wine, located on the Gran Via (the Spanish equivalent of Times Square). We had a tapa and a drink, Fanta Naranja, of course, and then continued on to the next bar. We went to a little hole-in-the-wall extremely traditional bar and ordered anchovies on bread and smoked salmon on bread- they were great. The tapas bars have lists of all the tapas they serve and they usually have a deal where you can buy a tapa and a drink for a decent price, usually about 3 euros. We walked around the Gran Via a bit more and then headed home for the night.
The bus right back to the colegio was interesting. As soon as we got on, the bus driver slammed on the brakes, apparently a car had cut him off. Joey and I flew forward, I have bruises on my wrists and knees from slamming into the seat in front of us. The bus then pulled forward next to the car, opened the door and then began to shout obscenities at the car. The car driver made several rude gestures and the bus driver began another round of shouting. Ahhh… the big city….
This morning my roomie and I woke up super early to get ready for our first day at the university. We all rode the bus to campus together where we took a placement exam. The first part was a written exam and then we listened to a traditional lecture in Spanish and had to take notes. The last part was an oral conversation with a professor. I thought it all went pretty well, although the written exam was slightly difficult. Tomorrow morning they are going to post the list of which level (1 to 5) we are placed in.
We have just come back and eaten lunch in the cafeteria. It was Joey’s first meal here and he knows that I was definitely not joking about the food here. For example, lunch consisted of deep-fried cauliflower and tuna lasagna. Mmmm. J
Hopefully I will be able to post a little more often than this! Thanks to everyone for sending e-mail and I’m sorry I’ve been so slow to respond!!
Love to all!!
Lydia