A Scottish Screamfest

For Semana Santa (15-22 April), I went with my roommate Leigh to visit Scotland. We stayed at her house just outside Glasgow and took a few day trips to other cities and spent some time in the Glasgow center.

While it wasn't like other tips I've taken (backpacking and sight-seeing like crazy), I had a really great time and got to see a lot. In fact, the trip really reminded me of vacations to visit my family in Chicago--we see some things, but we also spend time with friends and family and have nice dinners, see movies, etc. Eating local food is something I enjoy while traveling, but this trip took it to a new level. Leigh's mom made us all kinds of typical Scottish fare, and while we were out I tried haggis and it wasn't bad at all! I just can't think about what was in it.

In Spain, there's a huge rivalry between Madrid and Barcelona. In Scotland, a similar rivalry exists between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Leigh, of course, prefers Glasgow. As a tourist and outsider, I arrived with a clean slate and without any idea of what to expect from either city. So, my verdict: it's difficult to choose. Edinburgh was absolutely beautiful, with all the ancient architecture and the massive castle towering above the rest of the city. Glasgow was more comfortable, like a city you could live in. As a tourist, I preferred Edinburgh... but I wouldn't be upset if I found myself in Glasgow again, meeting friends for drinks or taking a walk down Buchanan street.

While in Scotland, we took a day trip to Loch Lomond where we found ourselves eating in a restaurant called The Kilted Skirlie. I ate steak pie, which is not what it sounds like, but rather some pieces of really delightful beef in a wine sauce with potatoes and veggies to enjoy. After a brief walk around the shores, we had some ice cream and eventually went back to Leigh's.

Our last day trip of the week was out to a town on the shore called Ayr. It was really warm and sunny that day, so we were able to kick off our shoes and take a short walk in the very cold water. While we were there, Leigh and I tried shouting to our friend Julie who was in Ireland at the time, but she said she didn't hear us. What a pity!

In the UK, chippies are a really popular thing. What's a chippy? "Chippy" is short for Chip Shop, or a place that sells fish and chips, among other fried heart attacks delights. Since I don't like fish, Leigh told me the best chippy meal in Scotland is a half pizza supper, or half a basic cheese pizza, fried, and accompanied with chips and an ice-cold Irn-Bru. Irn-Bru is a Scottish soft drink that, to me, tastes like liquid (American) Smarties. I don't like it, but for the sake of experience I had one with my lunch and it all worked out.

The rest of the story is best told in photos... click here to see all my Semana Santa pictures!

PS - The "Screamfest" in the title refers to the Scream movies... we watched all four while we were there. Hah!

Progress

Today, María and I split our class into two groups, boys and girls. I took the group of boys first and read them a story called The Lucky Duck. In this story, a boy has a toy duck that he loves, but loses one day, and many years later his son finds it in the attic at Grandma's house. The group of boys figured out that attic was ático, but when I read the story to the girls, they couldn't figure it out at all! I did my best to give hints. I said things like, it's a place in a house, very high up, above everything, sometimes you keep old things there, etc etc... and I even told them that it was extremely similar in Spanish. One very clever girl said to me (in Spanish), "Shana, we don't know! Just tell us the word!" Another girl then said, "yeah, we all know you speak Spanish!"

In my school, the director and people in the program ask that I speak no Spanish in front of the kids. When I'm in the classroom or anywhere near my students, it is supposed to be an English-only zone. Of course, in the teacher's room during break I speak Spanish with the other teachers, but all the kids are outside playing. I do try very hard to confine my Spanish only to these areas, or at least if they are nearby I have my back to them and speak a bit more quietly, plus the rest of the teachers know the rules, so they generally don't start a conversation with me in front of the kids unless they can understand a response in English.

My response to the second girl was one that I think only works because my students are in the first grade and don't doubt me yet. I said to them, "No, no, I don't speak Spanish. But I understand it very well. For example, I speak English. Do you understand me?" The group nodded in agreement. "Well, you speak Spanish, and I understand you. It's the same!" A few of the girls exchanged confused looks, but eventually one of them said, "...vale." (okay.)

But one girl was not convinced. She looked at me and said, "Sí, pero... you... Spanish... talk... very good."

Incredible!! It was difficult for me to keep my composure at this point, but I assured her that I did not speak Spanish.

I think they're on to me.

Un anuncio!

Nothing new has happened lately, just the usual school routine... but I have added a new page to the blog! Check it out at the top under '101 Cosas' or click here! I am adding photos to the list as they happen or as I find the ones I've already done.... wish me luck on finishing the list!

Let me stand next to your Falla

I recently read a post on one guy's travel blog which brought up the notion of keeping some things to yourself while traveling. At one point in Costa Rica he and his travel crew saw a group of extremely rare birds, a sighting which he kept to himself: "I didn't tweet it, flick it, post it, stumble, or dig." He goes on to explain that he found it exhilarating to be selfish with his time, keeping the moment to himself rather than focusing on capturing the moment to share with others...which leads me to my point. I took quite a few pictures of my trip to Valencia this weekend, but I think more to show that I'd been there than anything else. Some of my favorite moments of the trip were preserved on someone's camera, just not mine. Plus, given the state of my camera, I'm not very encouraged to take pictures anyway.

This weekend I went to Valencia with a group of friends from my school to experience the cultural phenomenon known as Las Fallas. Las Fallas is a festival in which all the different barrios of Valencia (and beyond) spend months out of the year preparing their falla, usually a satire on a certain theme, with characters, animals, you name it, sometimes standing as tall as entire apartment buildings. During the festival, the city comes to life in an extremely boisterous  manner with fireworks exploding every thirty seconds or so, ranging from magnificent displays of color and light to small petardos flying from the hands of small children and, more frequently, old Valencianos. Each afternoon of the festival has a mascletà, in which dozens of fireworks are lit and the Plaza de Ayuntamiento shakes and explodes with celebration; each day ends and the nights begin with a fireworks display over the river, the most impressive of which being on the night of the 18th of March, or La Nit del Foc, which fortunately got to experience--definitely one of the best fireworks shows I've seen. After we fought through the crowds which gathered to watch the display, we spent some time walking around Valencia to see as many of the fallas as we could before calling it a night around 5am. What most surprised me was how we could walk around quite calmly all night with the other thousands of people that had come to town for the weekend and not feel like we were staying out until an absurd hour. Regrettably, on our cab ride back to the hostel, our taxi driver informed us that Friday was the party night because after the fallas burn on the 19th, the festival is over and everybody goes home.

Saturday we all met around noon to have breakfast (I love Spain) and to make our way back into the center to experience the Mascletà. Unfortunately, we didn't plan very well and arrived only with enough time to hear the explosions, but not to feel them. I am pretty bummed that we missed this, as every single person who offered Valencia advice told me that the Mascletà was an obligatory part of Las Fallas que no se puede perder. After the Mascletà madness was over, we continued our walk around town to see many more fallas and have a late lunch. We then began our walk back toward the hostel and came across one of the many parades, this time with fire and people dressed as demons! It was considerably shorter than the other parades, but still very impressive.

Saturday night, however, was the end of the festival, and a big festival can only come to a close with an even bigger ending. Las Fallas always ends with all the fallas being set on fire. Around 10pm, the fallas infantiles are burned and then later, any time from 12-4am, the full-size fallas are set ablaze. We stuck around the second prize winner to watch it burn, and wow was it worth it. This falla was as tall as the apartments that surrounded it, and the flames reached even higher. We didn't stand close for the actual burning, but once it had burnt down until only the interior support beams remained, we advanced to feel the heat and take some pictures. Our night continued to look for some remainder of a fiesta, but as the taxi driver correctly predicted, there really were none. The music in the streets ceased and all that remained were charred bits of falla scattered throughout the botellón-filled streets. We called it a night around 430am and went back to the hostel.

On Sunday, Ángel and I managed to get out of the hostel around noon to spend an hour or so lying on the beach, taking in the warmth and eventually sticking our feet in the chilly Mediterranean. But what followed the beach was incredible...paella valenciana! I will admit, I was a bit apprehensive about eating rabbit at first, but as long as I just didn't think about whether I was eating rabbit or chicken, I didn't mind and actually quite liked it. Our delicious lunch lasted a few hours and we eventually hit the road back to Madrid around 6pm, only hitting traffic just outside Valencia.

One big Spanish tradition down... up next, Semana Santa in Sevilla? San Fermín? La Tomatina? Vamos a ver...

The Ides of March

The Ides of March, or the 15th of March, is the day that Julius Caesar was killed in 44BC, and due to Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, the Ides of March carry a sense of imminent danger and foreboding. However, for me, the Ides of March hold a much more pleasant sentiment-- today marks six months of Spanish living!

Six months ago, I left Raleigh and boarded a plane in DC to come to Madrid. The months have absolutely flown! I have done and seen some amazing things and met a lot of great people, and most importantly, I've learned a lot. I've learned how important it is to be open to anyone or anything in a situation like this--I'm away from home, my family, my friends, my habits, my native language (more or less)...in the past that's been difficult for me, because I've always had the same group of friends for a number of years at a time before having to start from nothing (okay, maybe starting from a few friends). Something I've found to be especially wonderful about Spanish culture is how friendly everyone is. I'm not the only person to notice this, either--search nearly any travel blog for thoughts on Spanish people and most will say the same thing. In my first week of work, another teacher got off the bus at the same stop and noticed me also walking to the school. She asked if I'd arrived on the same bus, if I was going to the school, and since then she's been one of my close friends and now we enjoy a chat on the way to and from school many times each week.

I've also learned the importance of comfort. However, I'm not talking about immediately changing into pajamas after the workday. It's easy to feel disconnected and uncomfortable in a place that is so far from what I'm used to. Now I know exactly how I like to do things and I know my daily routine as if it were a science. I've always been able to recognize when I need to be alone, and though it happens a lot less frequently than it used to, it is still extremely necessary sometimes. My general introvert habits have faded a bit since coming here and I tend to spend more time around lots of people than I used to, but I think it was necessary. While my Spanish has of course improved immensely, I had to overcome the fear of even trying to speak in order to improve. I'm no longer nervous about going shopping or calling my bank, and I have friendly, casual conversations entirely in Spanish every day.

An observation I'm not sure I can make at this point is regarding my old friends. I haven't been the best at staying in touch with everyone, but at the same time I know exactly who I'll email as soon as I book a ticket home and who I'll call as soon as I shake off the jet lag. I miss my friends, and of course I miss my family so much. I actually just got a package today from Uncle Dave and Aunt Michelle (thanks!!) and the package I got for Christmas really made me appreciate my family more than I'd ever imagined. I also don't think I can miss Christmas again. Even though I do a lot of the same things here as I would do at home--sit on the couch, cook delicious food, watch TV--I know it won't ever be quite the same. But even with missing my friends and family, feeling out of place from time to time, and sometimes not even understanding English, I'm happy. The past six months have gone by entirely too quickly and I hate to think that less than four months remain, but words cannot express how grateful I am to be here and to have really been able to settle in and feel like I am part of this magnificent city.

Mallorca, or why the chicken crossed the road

Last month I went on a weekend getaway to the island of Mallorca, the largest of Spain's Islas Baleares. It was such a nice trip! The weather was fantastic, and though it wasn't exactly "beach weather," there were times when I didn't have to wear my coat! I went with my friend Meredith and we spent our time day-tripping to some smaller towns in the northern part of the island and spending our evenings in Palma.

My favorite place in Mallorca was a town called Valldemossa. The views were breathtaking, the architecture was cute and ancient, and the roads were windy and made of cobblestone... but another town we visited, Deià, provided us with the most spectacular experience I've ever had. We saw a chicken cross the road! We were sitting on a stone wall waiting for the bus to take us back to Palma when we saw a small black hen walk up to the road, poke around a bit, and eventually begin the journey to cross the road using the crosswalk!! It turns out there was a small slice of orange on the other side that it went to eat. So now we know!

The weekend was full of walking and taking pictures, and the sights were truly amazing. Check out a few of my favorites below or click here to see the full album.

Mom's visit - Christmas 2010

I know this post is long overdue, so I will try to do a summary. Mom came to visit over Christmas  and we had a great time! Rather than trying to travel and see lots of Spain, we stayed in Madrid, shopping, eating, cooking, and seeing the sights for most of the time she was here. We spent one day in a mountain town nearby called Cercedilla, where everything was closed because apparently small towns don't function in the last week of December, and another day in Torrejón de Ardoz, where I work, to see Parque Europa and spend the day with Inma, one of the English teachers. She showed us around Torrejón all day and took us out for a delicious lunch before we came back to Madrid, exhausted.

For New Year's Eve, we went to Puerta del Sol to take part in one of the New Year's traditions--eating twelve grapes at midnight. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any seedless grapes so I only got through half of them! We were among the huge crowds and later went to a bar nearby for some drinks to ring in the new year.

So, please to enjoy some photos from her visit!

[slideshow]

Carolina, some day I'll come home

Today, I was sitting at home trying to figure out why my computer hates to stay connected to the internet when someone aggressively buzzed our apartment. I answered to find out that it was someone from Correos, coming to deliver some packages for me. Woohoo! I opened them to find the contents of the above photo--tons of great stuff from my family including some scrapbooks, travel items, and a really nice notebook filled with pictures and well-wishes from everyone at home. Needless to say, it was a teary afternoon, but I'm so lucky to have such a great family who constantly reminds me why I love them so much.

Superpuente

Heads-up: This is a near-transcript of the written journal I kept while traveling, edited to avoid becoming a small novel. Saturday, 04 December 2010 I'm writing this en route via the A2 from Düsseldorf to Berlin. So weird! Jennifer and I are having a superpuente in Germany right now. We arrived late Thursday night in Weeze and two of her friends, Mohammed and Edin, picked us up at the airport and drove us into town to our hostel. We met two other Americans at Barajas who were also on our flight, and they ended up catching a ride with us and staying at our hostel as well. Jen's friends took us out for really delicious kebabs and walked around with us the first night.

On Friday, Jennifer and I walked around Düsseldorf a little and had our first glühwein (mulled wine) in one of the many Christmas markets. The wine was good but extremely sweet and strong... I guess that's how the Germans stay warm in the winter! Later that day Mohammed and their other friend Selcuk met us at the train station in Düsseldorf and took us on a quick trip to Cologne, or Köln, which I really liked. The Dom, a large cathedral, was incredible! It was ancient and beautiful and we fortunately got to take a walk through it before passing through a Christmas market (of course) and walking along the Rhine river. We only spent the evening there before heading back to book another night at our hostel and go into the Altstadt, or old town section of Düsseldorf.  This area was so alive!

The rest of town seemed to disappear after sunset, but after walking through a ridiculous shopping district full of designer storefronts, the bars in this area couldn't seem to contain the partygoers. It was also very beautifully lit for Christmas, as seems to be the norm around here. Mohammed insisted that we try the pizza from a place called Lupo in the Altstadt because the Lonely Planet guidebooks say it's the best in town. It was good, but we all split a pizza with grilled tuna on it so of course I couldn't fully enjoy it... blech.  Once through the Altstadt we walked along the river to the big TV tower in the harbor. We went up the very fast elevator to the observation deck--168m high--before having  a seat in the cafe upstairs. I enjoyed a very rich hot chocolate while the four of us sat and talked, admiring the nighttime view of the city. Jennifer's friends were so nice and fun to hang out with, and it really helped that they were from Germany! Mohammed got us set up with a rideshare from Düsseldorf to Berlin (where I am currently writing) so we are currently in the backseat of a car with an adorable Russian couple on their way to visit their daughter in ballet school. Apparently public transport across state lines in Germany is extremely expensive, so the rideshare program here is really effective and ridiculously cheap--we're only paying 30 euros each to take a trip that would have cost about 100 each by train.

Oh yeah, the hostel in Düsseldorf, Backpackers Hostel, was great. Highly recommended for being cheap, clean, and a small breakfast included in the price helps! It was super comfortable, too. The beds were bigger than my bed in my piso and even the common areas felt like a friend's house. The funny thing was that a group of Spanish girls were staying in the room next to us, so when I woke up I could hear Spanish through the walls... very confusing. What's even more confusing at this point is how much German I already know, without knowing I knew it! (uy) Somehow I'm seeing and hearing words around town and I know what they mean... not just the ones that are obviously similar to English. Maybe it's time to learn German! 220km left to Berlin! Apparently the Russian guy is a guitarist and writes for a German guitar magazine. That's cool. He got really excited when I said I knew some guitar. Okay, we've arrived! Berlin is much colder than expected... and I think we were spoiled by the last hostel because this one is not nearly as cozy. After checking in, we made the very cold trek down our street, Schönhauser Allee, to have some lunch (rutabaga & beef soup) and later walk to Alexanderplatz to experience, what else, another Christmas market! We had another glühwein and our first bratwursts of the trip... yum. The main drawback of this part of the trip is that the two metro stops nearest our hostel are currently under construction, so we have to take a very crowded bus from the next nearest metro or walk about 20 minutes in the freezing Berlin air... as I write this, it's -5 C outside. Brrr!!

Monday, 06 December 2010 Yesterday was so busy! We saw pretty much every touristy thing Berlin has to offer: the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Wall, Holocaust Memorial, and more.

On top of that we visited one of the bars that the Lonely Planet called a hangout for "punks, rockers, and other leather-clad folks" and I had a really tasty Czech beer called Staropramer Schwarz. One German guy working near Potsdamer Platz suggested that we check out the Kreuzberg neighborhood, so we went out that way and ate some pizza because we're still on Spanish time and 3pm is not German lunch time. Also, the 4pm sunset is really messing with me. After pizza we decided to stop into a dive to see what kind of beers were on tap, and wow was that an experience. It was the towniest of all townie bars, with the strangest mix of characters I've ever seen. The bartender looked like a 25 year-old Spanish guy, to our right was a old man falling asleep in his beer mug, and to the left was an old man dressed as a woman, but not doing a very good job at it. There was also a drunk woman dancing around the bar who at one point put her arms around me and Jennifer and asked us what our names were (in German) and we gave her Spanish names and spoke Spanish to each other because pretty much everyone in Germany speaks perfect English. When we left, the bartender said "hasta luego."

Now I'm sitting in a small restaurant somewhere near Friedrichstrasse. We just ordered lunch and made a poor mistake of ordering beers because they had red and green attached to their names, but they taste like cherry and apple flavored candies, respectively. Yikes. The couple at the table next to us just asked where we were from because they heard us speaking English and it turns out that they're from New Jersey and have the same travel plan as us so far--started from Düsseldorf, came to Berlin, and next heading to Prague. Funny!

After "lunch" we ran into another Christmas market. Hah. We took some photos and headed back to our hostel to pick up our bags before meeting our ride to Prague... but unfortunately I missed a text from him earlier in the day saying he'd had a car accident and wouldn't be driving to Prague. Ugh! In true Amazing Race style, I got on the computer and saw that there was a train leaving for Prague in about an hour and a half... so we took off for the main train station, bought some sandwiches and got our painful 60 euro train tickets (the ride would have only been 20) to Prague. So now I'm sitting on the train. It's freezing in here!

We'll be getting into Prague in about five hours, just past midnight, to begin our quick stop in the Czech Republic. I've really enjoyed Germany so far. Most of the people have been helpful when we needed it and there is just so much history everywhere that it's hard not to be fascinated. It is a strange feeling to be away from Madrid, even though I've only been gone a few days. I wonder if I'll feel relieved when we get back, like I'm going back home. When I think about it now, it feels like I'm away from home, but when I'm in Madrid I don't feel that way. It's incredible to think about what I'm up to... that Madrid feels like home after not even three months, but I still can't believe I am really living there! What am I doing there? What am I doing, speaking another language fluently enough to make friends and do everyday things... even now, our train sits at a stop in Dresden, Germany... what am I doing in Dresden? How did I end up on a random ten-day vacation in some European country? Sometimes I just can't believe this is where my life has gone, but I am so happy that it did.

Tuesday, 07 December 2010 First impressions of Prague: wow. This place is beautiful! Our hostel here is nice but it seems to have the same effect as the hotel mom and I had in DC... super-modern looking with tons of interesting and unique features, but that's about it. But it was super cheap! This morning Jennifer and I had a small breakfast in a cafe nearby before walking toward the river and seeing the Dancing Building. I am just floored by how ornate everything is here, from the architecture to the stones that make up the sidewalks.

We continued along the river until we reached the Charles Bridge which I guess is only famous because it is pedestrianized and has lots of morbid religious stuff on it. But still we crossed it and took pictures because it was very beautiful and found a small Christmas market (imagine that!) and tried the Czech version of mulled wine... spoiler alert! It tastes the same, just has a cooler name: svařák. We climbed through the Malá Strana neighborhood up to Prague Castle where we enjoyed some really nice views of the city and happened to arrive just in time to see the changing of the guard. It was nothing fancy but still nice to see. We decided not to pay the 350 Czech crowns to get in (about 14,50 euros) and instead walked around the neighborhood and back down the hills to have a tasty Czech lunch of beef goulash and potato dumplings, and the best part... a cold, fresh Pilsner Urquell. Fantastic.

Our after-lunch walk took us to the Old Town square where there was, of course, a Christmas market. Then we walked through an expensive shopping area with stores like Gucci and Hermes before going back to the hostel to warm up. We ended up chatting with one of the people staying in our room and then the three of us went out for a drink nearby. A girl working at the hostel recommended a bar nearby called U Sudu, which my friend Maggie also recommended! It was really cool inside. I think there were a total of three bars within this one, all connected by a network of caves and tunnels. A tiny puppy ran around the room we chose.We left to get something to eat and ended up having bratwurst at a stand near the bar that played hilariously bad American Christmas music. After that I suggested we try this bar that I saw on Three Sheets that just happened to be across the street from our hostel. It was an absinthe bar called Absinthe Time, with a huge menu of just absinthes before getting to the other drinks. We asked the bartender what she suggested and we ordered from her suggestions and had it prepared with fire, which is apparently the Czech way. I have to say, I didn't hate it! The fire melted sugar into the absinthe and made it bearable... in very small sips.

Thursday, 09 Dec 2010 On a train again... this one is super bumpy and old. Our second day in Prague was nice, but I am pretty sure we saw nearly everything there is to see on day one, so day two wasn't very eventful. Another rideshare fell through, ugh! This situation was so strange... the guy asked us to meet at one hotel at 6pm, but on the day of he asked if we wanted to leave earlier in the day. We agreed, having seen pretty much all of Prague twice, only to discover that 15 minutes before the time we were supposed to meet him, he'd emailed me asking to change locations to the other side of town. Of course we were on our way to meet at one place so I couldn't have possibly checked my email... irritating. We ended up going to the train station to find out we'd have to pay another 55 euros for a train ticket that wasn't leaving until the next morning, so we went back to our hostel to book one more night and leave early the next day. Jennifer and I took what remained of our Czech money and went for some beers to ease our irritation. We met some really weird kids in the bar at our hostel, too... one girl claiming to be Russian who grew up in DC but now lives in Prague, some other guy from Brooklyn who allegedly plays poker for a living and just travels around looking for tournaments, and another super weird 17 year-old kid from India who went to American schools... sure. Oh! and this morning our train was delayed 35 minutes and apparently we have to change trains once we arrive in Plzen. Uyyy.

Saturday, 11 Dec 2010 So much has happened! Our train from Prague to Munich was such a mess. We sat on the train with a bunch of other Americans who were super nice and entertaining, so it helped pass the time as our train made multiple stops and kept going backwards and just uuuf. When we finally arrived in Munich I felt so relieved. Czech is just so confusing! Our hostel in Munich was also only about five blocks from the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) so we finally felt like everything was working out again. The hostel was okay... no perks and not very clean, but at least our roommates were nice. After arriving in Munich we walked to the city center and ate a really delicious dinner at the Bayerischer Donisl. It was amazing... Jen had turkey schnitzel and I had pork with potatoes.

After dinner we walked a bit more and eventually found the Hofbrauhaus... or beer mecca! There were loads of tables full of people eating and drinking giant liter mugs of delicious German beer, all with a typical German band playing in the middle of the room. The problem was just how full the place was. We walked through the entire place looking for a spot, preferably not with old people who probably didn't want to talk to us, and we decided (with a bit of uneasiness on my part) to sit at a table with a bunch of younger-looking guys... but one was passed out on the table, hence my discomfort. They, of course, welcomed us to their table. Two were German, both named Martin, one passed out, one Swiss guy, one Maltese guy named Etienne, and one American guy named Chris who lived in Switzerland.  They were nice and everything was fine until Pass Out Martin woke up and started banging his head and fists against the table and glared around the room. Over the course of the evening he slept with his head on the table, lying on the bench, and eventually under the table for a minute. At one point the waiter came by and told him he had to leave, so when he left his friends told him to sleep under the table and later told the waiter that he'd left. Terrible idea. Pass Out Martin was so belligerently drunk that he tried to stand up under the table so of course the waiter noticed that the table was moving and had to bring over the boss and they had a long chat and eventually the two Martins left. So we thought. Somehow they found their way back in without getting caught and sat back down with us, but then they both started falling asleep!  The boss guy told them they had two minutes to leave and somehow they actually left and didn't come back. Who knows what happened to them? Then the Swiss guy left, and it was just me, Jennifer, and Chris and Etienne. We decided we wanted to go for another drink, but maybe not a full liter, so we left and went to a hip-looking bar where Chris bought us all some dunkelweiss beers. Not my favorite, but still nice to try. At one point we got into a conversation with two girls at the table next to us only to discover that one of them was from Madrid! Finally, I got to speak Spanish again! The weirdest part was that the two girls were also staying our hostel... and in our room! Crazy!

Friday morning we went to the concentration camp memorial at Dachau. The exhibit was incredible. There was so much information about all sides of the war, from estimated numbers of those who died in Dachau vs the registered numbers, some old Nazi propaganda, flyers, articles, etc. We walked through barracks and the main hall and kitchen area, in the square where there was a daily roll call, and around the perimeter to the crematoriums. We walked through the "showers" which were of course the gas chambers. It was pretty terrifying to know that I was standing in a room where thousands of people died. We walked through a room that used to house dead bodies before cremation. I passed a wall that was used for shooting lineups.

Most importantly, I did something that so many innocent people never got to do: I walked out of Dachau the same way I came in, through a gate marked "Arbeit Macht Frei," and I did it alive and unscathed, though a bit shaken. Dachau was an incredible, almost surreal experience. What happened during the Holocaust always seemed so far from me, so before my time and my culture and the life that I know, but going there and seeing all of that just made it so much more real and terrifying.

After a few hours in Dachau we went back to Munich and had another delicious German meal at a place called Augustiner. I tried veal meatballs (!) with potatoes and veggies. After another "lunch" we went to the hostel to get our lives together for today and tried to set up a rideshare to Frankfurt. The very very very helpful girl working at the hostel made phone calls for us and found us a ride! We rode the high of that success all the way to the Paulaner Brauhaus where I had probably the freshest beer ever. Delicious.

This morning we didn't have much time before our ride so we had a small breakfast at a nearby bakery and went to meet our ride. They didn't show up right away so of course we panicked a little, but they did eventually get there! So now I'm in the car to Frankfurt. Our drivers this time are two sisters in their mid-twenties who said they used to do the rideshare a lot and they really love the experience. They're really nice. Too bad not all the drivers along the way were like this! We should be arriving in Frankfurt in about an hour and then it's our last night in Germany!

Okay, now I'm in the hostel in Frankfurt. This place is pretty cool, in a really old building on a pedestrian square right across the street from the main train station. The room is nothing spectacular, but of course there are four Spanish people in our room! The hostel bar has a piano in it and someone is playing "Winter Wonderland" right now. We just got back from seeing all of "old" Frankfurt and my favorite Christmas market of the trip! There was a brass band on a rooftop playing Christmas songs... so wonderful. Other than that, Frankfurt is so commercial!

Skyscrapers and financial buildings are everywhere. But, more on the Christmas market: I had schnitzel, finally, and loved it. It was on a bun so I don't think I'll be hungry for days. We also tried Apfelweine, which was good and mostly tasted like green apple cider, but later we had winter-apfel schnapse and it was just spectacular. It was a warm shot of the schnapse and it tasted like hot spiced cider. If only airlines didn't have stupid liquid restrictions, I would have bought a bottle of it. After seeing pretty much everything in Frankfurt, we walked along the river for a little while before coming back to the hostel and being bothered by some weird dude in the bar.

Sunday, 12 December 2010 The weird guy kept bugging us for a while, and after talking with the Spanish folks in our room, the girl said she'd noticed him bothering every girl in the hostel. At one point last night some old guy came in the room claiming I'd stolen his bed, but I explained that there was nothing on or near the bed to indicate that it was taken, and he went on some rant about how people steal things if you leave them, blah blah blah, he went and complained and they just gave him another room. Hah.  I didn't sleep well because people kept going in and out of the room all night and I had to get up early, which is always how it goes. The best part about our hostel, however, was that it was right next to the train station where we needed to catch a bus to the airport this morning. Fortune smiled upon us again as Jennifer and I managed to buy the last two tickets on this bus for the jump seats right up front. We got to the airport with enough time for check-in and breakfast and no problems getting on with our backpacks.

Traveling was fun but I'm very glad to be going back to my slow-paced, relaxing life in Spain.

Click here to see more pictures from this trip!

Feliz Año!

I haven't forgotten about you, dear blog-readers. Since Thanksgiving, I've been around Germany and Prague and back, finished out two more weeks of school which ended with a fantastic Christmas lunch and party, Mom came to visit and we saw Madrid at Christmastime, celebrated the New Year in the center of Madrid, and last night I watched La Cabalgata de Los Reyes, or the Three Kings parade. So please brace yourselves for the massive update that is to follow...

Thanksgiving in Madrid

Dearest family and friends, I cooked a turkey. No, I can't believe it either!

Thanksgiving in Spain was hilarious and incredible. A group of the teachers at my school agreed to do Thanksgiving at María's house to experience some American culture. Jen and I did our best to advise them on the traditions and typical foods at Thanksgiving, so on Wednesday a few of the teachers went to buy some ingredients including a seven kg (about 16 pounds) turkey! We weren't sure if it would even fit in the oven (see above) but eventually it did. It cooked for a few hours and I patiently basted and re-basted it throughout the process.

Angel hilariously made four little flags, two Spanish and two American, and stuck them in the turkey once it was finished. Overall there were seven Spaniards and two Americans--Jen being the other one--and we made a turkey, stuffing, corn, green beans, peas, and mashed potatoes. Angel even made an apple pie for dessert that was really spectacular. Overall it was a lot of fun, even though after eight hours of speaking only Spanish I was completely exhausted! Everyone said they had a really great time and that they enjoyed celebrating my very American holiday... some even said they can't wait for next year :) As for now, I'll let the pictures do the talking:

[slideshow]

Hala Madrid!

It's a dreary, rainy Sunday in Madrid, after a chilly, mostly uneventful weekend, but quite a busy week! The above photo (click to enlarge) is from Wednesday night's Real Madrid v Real Murcia game. Madrid won, 5-1, but it was far from a dull blow-out game. Madrid scored within the first five minutes and the ref ended up throwing out Madrid coach José Mourinho and giving out eight yellow cards, one of which turned into a red card for Madrid defender Álvaro Arbeloa. It was really interesting to see the highlights after the game, since Bernabeu lacks a replay screen (perhaps an American indulgence but I still really wish there had been one). Mourinho was thrown out of the game--and suspended for the next two games--for badmouthing the ref and stepping outside the coach's area. The entire stadium went wild and started shouting at the referee, who is also notorious for making calls just like this one. Mourinho said in a post-game interview that this ref averages about six yellow cards per match, and considering the first card he gave out in this game was after only about ten minutes of play, many more cards were bound to follow.

Wednesday's game was part of the Copa del Rey, and since Real Murcia is in a lower-ranked division than Madrid, the tickets were absurdly cheap, only ten euros for seats on top! We'd originally planned on spending more for the "good" seats in the lower sections, since they only would have cost us about 20-30 euros each, but we bought our tickets too late and the upper levels were the only seats left. There isn't a bad seat in the house, really... the rows are pretty stacked and each row had a crossbar in front of the seats because they just know we're all going to be jumping out of our chairs every few minutes! The best part was that the upper levels have heaters on the ceilings, so even though it was freezing that night, we were nice and toasty. Overall I had a really great time and I can't wait to go to another game!

The next day at school, we had an excursion to the Parque Europa, a big green space in Torrejón with loads of European monuments in a miniature form. It does seem a bit cheesy, but I think the kids had a lot of fun. I was, however, exhausted after this trip. My normal day at school consists of talking to the kids or telling them to be quiet, but never actually trying to corral them into the room. This was not the case on Thursday. We had to shout so loudly just to get their attention and tell them what monument we were looking at. The first half of the trip I was with Inma, the English teacher, but halfway through I had to switch to be with Inés so that each group would have one teacher speaking English and one speaking Spanish. It's really incredible how easily the kids stop what they are doing to listen to someone speaking Spanish, but I understand that it's so much easier for them to tune out a different language... I was a student in language classes once!

As I mentioned in my last post, I am completely obsessed with the Spanish dish, pimientos de Padrón. Well, at the supermarket on Friday afternoon I saw a packet of these little green peppers that caught my eye, especially the part on the label that said the variety was "PADRON." Naturally, I bought a pack, brought them home, and attempted to make my new favorite dish. Success! They were delicious and just how I'd hoped they would taste. If you can get your hands on these peppers, all you have to do is wash & dry them, fry them in olive oil for a few minutes until they start to blister and shrivel a bit, and then sprinkle them with salt. Pick them up by the stems, take a bite, and hope that they don't pica!

I changed the memory card in my camera this weekend and discovered a long-lost gem--a picture of my first attempt at making a tortilla! After I returned from Spain last summer I was completely enamored with this dish (and still am) so I had some friends from my study abroad group over to my apartment for dinner and tried to have a nice tapas night. I saw this photo and thought, hmm, that looks a lot like the plates from my apartment, but I haven't made a successful tortilla in a long time... so I checked the info on the photo and it was dated 10-10-2009! Incredible! I certainly have something to live up to this time around. And if you're interested in sampling some of my favorite Spanish flavors, my friend Meredith wrote a nice blog post with a recipe for this dish in particular. My advice: don't be timid with the olive oil. You'll need it!!

I think I'm getting the Black Lung, Pop

No, I haven't started smoking or become a coal miner. But it's possible that everyone else in this city has. Smoking, that is. Not coal mining, as far as I know. It's impossible to go almost anywhere in this city without smelling like an ashtray. I had to find a new place to hang my towel because it was hanging next to my scarves, which of course smell like smoke. Yuck. The sad inevitable day finally came: the end of my first month of teaching. And the end of the month means time to switch schedules with the other assistant, Jen. Now I'm working with Inma and first-grade groups A & B. They are fine, but I miss my other classes! The worst/best part about the switch is that my old students always give me hugs and shout my name every time they see me outside or in the hallways. It really makes my day when they start the sports-style cheer: Shaaa-na! Shaaa-na! Shaaa-na!

So, what have I been up to lately? I've started going to a conversation hour type of thing in which we all speak thirty minutes or so in Spanish before switching to English for thirty minutes, and back and forth for about two hours. After last week's session, a group of us went to the Feria de la Cerveza that was held inside the Plaza de Toros. They tried to set it up like Oktoberfest, with long rows of tables and giant beer mugs that hold a full liter!There was also a variety of different types of sausage for sale, but to me they just tasted like hot dogs and breakfast sausage.

I guess that's how it goes when you're trying to eat German food in Spain. Speaking of which, Jen and I are going to Germany in December! We have a long weekend, or puente, at the beginning of the month so we spent an evening looking at cheap flights all around Europe and found some cheap ones to and from Düsseldorf and Frankfurt, but our itinerary between the two stops is currently undetermined, so please send suggestions! We are hoping to see Berlin, Dresden, and Munich, but I am still very open to suggestions. Also, Mom booked her flight to Madrid for Christmas, so we will probably travel for a few days before or after New Year's Eve, which I have decided we must spend here to be a part of the NYE tradition in Puerta del Sol, where the madrileños eat twelve grapes at midnight--one for each chime of the clock.

Yesterday I had my first session teaching the teachers at my school! As part of my program, the school can choose to have the English assistants help with teaching English to the other teachers. On Wednesdays, they meet with an actual English teacher, but on Monday afternoons they meet with Jen and me and we split into two groups for an hour of conversation. Jen has had some experience teaching before and, well, she tends to talk a bit faster than I do, so she has a group of six teachers who already know a bit of English. I have a group of fourteen (!!!) teachers who know less English, but their levels range from a few who really don't know any English to a few who will probably move up to the second class once they feel more comfortable speaking English. One of the teachers in my class, María (not to be confused with the first-grade English teacher María), lives near me and we've gotten the chance to talk on the bus to and from school nearly every day, so it's nice to have a friend in my group to help me relax! The teachers have all told me that they're very nervous and embarrassed to speak English, but yesterday I was extremely nervous to teach them! The class went well and was mostly me getting to know them and answering their questions more than I was asking them questions. Jen and I will be meeting with the Wednesday afternoon English teacher sometime this week to discuss her lesson plans so we can sort of echo what she teaches and reinforce the ideas in practice. Listen to me, all teachery.

This weekend was known as "MTV Week" because the European Music Awards (EMAs) were held in Madrid this year. What does this mean? Parties, concerts, and more parties going on all week, all sponsored by MTV and all free! Well, sort of. A big stage was set up in the city center at Puerta de Alcalá where a bunch of Spanish artists played a show on Saturday, and on Sunday, during the actual EMAs, Katy Perry, Linkin Park, and 30 Seconds to Mars performed. Of course, Kanye West had to show up and do a song in the middle of one of the performances, and Jackass came out and crowdsurfed. My roommate managed to see Snooki and Pauly D from Jersey Shore at a hotel downtown, while I was out and about all weekend and managed to not see anyone. Such is my life. My friend Josh and I tried to go to the EMA afterparty that was held in Parque Retiro, but much to our dismay the doorman told us it was invitation-only, and since it was late on a Sunday night we couldn't stick around to see the celebs arriving.

Aside from celebrity-stalking, I spent most of my weekend with some people from the conversation hour, going out to lunch, visiting the Sunday morning market aka El Rastro, tapas-crawling on Cava Baja and around La Latina, and generally wandering around the city and speaking lots of Spanish. It's just so incredible how much better my Spanish has gotten, not that it was bad before, but I'm not nearly as afraid to use it as I used to be. At times I really miss my family, my friends, and my old routine... I am especially missing Raleigh's fantastic breweries. I haven't found anything to compare to Sweet Josie Brown, and the recent return of Aces & Ates has me feeling extremely nostalgic for tasty beers. But I guess that's why I'm going to Germany!

To be fair, what Spain lacks in amazing wintry brews, it certainly makes up for in fantastic food. I've recently become obsessed with Pimientos de Padrón, a dish of fried peppers from Galicia in the Northwest of Spain. There is a saying about the dish in the local language, Galego: Os pementos de Padrón, uns pican e outros non, which means: Padrón peppers, some are spicy and some are not. Padrón is a town in the community of Galicia where the dish originated. Usually, it tastes like sweet fried peppers, but sometimes you'll get a spicy one. I had some at a small bar near the Plaza Mayor a few weeks ago and have been crazy about them ever since. If you have the means, I highly suggest picking one up.

I have added lots more pictures to my albums online. Click here to see them, and until next time, un beso!

My new home

Just kidding. But really, this house is for sale in La Moraleja, Madrid, and it could be yours for only 15 million euros! Idealista.com just published a list of the 88 most expensive houses they are currently advertising. Check it out! The most expensive house is in the Balearic Islands for 18 million euros. Joder.

This has been a really nice, tiring week. On Tuesday, my friend Jessie and I went to see Future Islands at a club in North-Central Madrid. I just saw them in Raleigh during Hopscotch in September, and that club was completely packed--apparently it was one-in, one-out by the time they started playing. Not surprisingly, the show was set to begin at 9pm but got pushed to 1030pm because Real Madrid was playing in town (across the street, no less) against AC Milan (final score, 2-0 Madrid) so Jessie and I went to a bar around the corner called Klippers for a drink before the show. Moby Dick, where they played, wasn't packed, but it was certainly full. There didn't seem to be too many people there who knew the band, but I wasn't the only one singing along!

The kids at school are really starting to respond and I can tell that a few of them are actually understanding the words that I teach them. I'd hoped to avoid having "favorites" but there are definitely a few kids that I enjoy working with more than others. I also get along very well with my teacher, María. At first I was a little nervous to work with her because she seemed very serious, but in the past few weeks we've worked out a good system and we are able to laugh with each other when we have a little downtime. I am also getting along well with the other assistant, Jennifer. We get to chat during recreo and on the bus to/from Madrid/Torrejón and discuss how things are going in our classes, since we never actually work together except for special events.

On Wednesday, all of the first and second-grade classes took a field trip to see La Flauta Mágica at a nearby theater. Jennifer and I got to go watch the play with them, which was of course entirely in Spanish, but very easy to follow and of course none of the words were too complicated. I hadn't even thought about that because I am so accustomed to only speaking English with my classes, so it seemed very strange to go do something with them in Spanish. The play was weird, but it was a semi-opera, so all of the characters sang at one point or another. The kids went crazy there, shouting at the stage constantly... I just sat with the other teachers and enjoyed a few hours of sitting in a comfy chair while the kids were entertained. We got back to the school right at recreo so all of the teachers retreated to the lounge for break time, and I inadvertently ate empanadillas with tuna in them. Boke. But fortunately today there was a tray of different types of ham (very important in Spain, as my friend Meredith eloquently writes in her blog) and cheese to be put on baguette slices. Also in school today the students made pumpkins using orange paint to decorate the classroom for Halloween and somehow I ended up with orange hands and spots  on my clothes, despite never painting anything!

Hmm, what else? During my session with the 4/5 year-old class this week, a teacher came into our classroom asking if my teacher, Sara, would help her look for a missing boy from the 3/4 year-old class! She agreed and asked if I'd go watch the 3/4 year-old class, but they haven't learned any English yet, so I finally had a chance to speak a bit of Spanish with some incredibly cute little ones. And the missing boy? It turns out he followed the wrong class inside after recreo and was enjoying a second music class that day.

Mom is hoping to buy her ticket out here for Christmas soon! I am so excited! It is going to be cold at Christmastime, so we might take a trip elsewhere for a few days... the only problem is that we want to go to even colder places like Germany and Austria to enjoy good beer (almost non-existent in this country) and reenact The Sound of Music. Heh. I don't have any big plans for the weekend except for maybe visiting the railway museum and making a few stops on the free coffee day in honor of Fair Trade month. Un beso a todos!

Books!

After being a really lazy reader, I've finally finished Colum McCann's Let The Great World Spin. I really enjoyed it, so it totally validates all the long hours I spent gazing longingly at it from across the counter at Black Bear. But now that I am finally in a routine of reading, I still have quite a stack of books to get through as I move into the world of libraries and Spanish literature. Audience participation time! [polldaddy poll=3958718]

On Learning English

That's right--I'm learning English. "But Shana, you already speak English! And you are in Spain," you might say. However, because my roommates are from England and Scotland, I have been learning all kinds of fun new English words and phrases and realizing that even though the three of us speak the same language, we really don't speak the same English at all. Here are a few words I've picked up from them so far:

• bolt - Scottish; get out of here, go away, etc.
• busker - English; street musician. Verb: to busk.
• boke/boak* - Scottish; to vomit, or to feel sick. "Total boakfest" or "That gives me the boke."
• knackered - English; tired, exhausted.
• steaming - Scottish; drunk.
• skip - Scottish; dumpster.
• Hank Marvin - Scottish; hungry, or if you're really hungry, you're "Hank Marvin and all his pals."
• fit - English; extremely attractive (person).

*this is my favorite one so far.

There are more obvious ones of course, like lift, flat, dodgy, bin, rubbish, etc, but I don't think those need much explanation. I've also taught them a few that they particularly enjoyed, like "blowing up" in reference to an especially active cell phone, and "book it" for doing something really quickly--we were walking down Gran Vía and when a man ran past us I said, "wow he's really booking it," to much comedic effect.

More to come!

School is in session

I know, I know. It's been a while. I hadn't been updating because there was nothing going on, but now it seems like so much has happened since I last posted! Where to begin?? I had orientation about two weeks ago. It was useless at times and really helpful at others. However, the important stuff, like things regarding health insurance, national ID cards, etc, were all told to us in Spanish, while the less-important things, like ideas for teaching English, were told to us in our native tongue. Funny. I made a few friends, though I've only seen two of them regularly since then. One of them, Jessie, asked if I've heard of Broken Social Scene. Instant friend.

Last Tuesday, I went to visit my school so I'd know where I was going, how to get there, etc. before my first day. It was sort of overwhelming--hopping on a bus to a random suburb 22km (metric!) outside Madrid and having no idea where I was going or who I'd meet--but a nice lady from Torrejón sat with me and helped me get off at the right stop and pointed me in the right direction of the school. After a bit of trouble with the entrance (you have to use a buzzer to get in and out of the three choices on the buzzer I managed to choose the correct one last), I was met in the lobby by the director and the head of studies, who took me to meet the two English teachers in first grade, Inma and María. I'll be working exclusively with María this month, until I switch horarios with the other assistant and work only with Inma. The way our schedules work is that we switch each month to spend that time with one teacher and two of the four first grade classes. Right now I'm working with groups C and D.

Anyway, I digress. I went to visit the school, met the teachers, saw the kids, and then after school let out, Inma took me around the entire building (which is enormous) and introduced me to every teacher who was still around after the kids went home.

The next day was the 29th of September, or 29-S, the day of the Huelga General, or general strike. The recent economic crisis caused many of Spain's civil service workers to take a 5% pay cut, and it left a lot of people who lost their jobs without the typical severance package, about a month of pay minimum. The metro system was (allegedly) running 50% of its normal services during rush hours, and 20% for the rest of the day. I didn't notice a lot of strike-related changes in town other than some roads being shut down because of a bunch of protesters gathering in some plazas and roundabouts, but I also spent most of the day lying around in the park with my friends, eating bread and cheese and getting some sun.

My first real day at school was Friday, and I mostly observed but I did get two gifts already--a boy and a girl both said the pictures they'd drawn were for me, but unfortunately I couldn't accept them because they were in their student workbooks and part of the day's assignment. Hopefully they'll make some more for me!

Friday, I went out with my roommates to a pub quiz at an English bookstore in the Malasaña neighborhood. Photo of me, the roomies, and our friend Rachel (blonde) crammed into our tiny old-school elevator on the way to the pub quiz. We did pretty terrible. Considering the questions were done by an English guy and a lot of them were fairly UK-centric and we had a team of 3 Brits and an American, I would have expected to do a little better (especially considering my history with trivia nights!) but I guess not coming in last is good enough for our first try. We are probably going back this Friday, and the store has an intercambio night twice a week, and we have also been considering finding one to attend regularly so we can meet some more people and hopefully find someone to help us with our Spanish, since we really aren't supposed to speak it at school. I wouldn't mind meeting someone from Brazil, though, since I think it will be pretty easy to find Spanish speakers here (imagine that) but I'd really like to keep up with Portuguese in some way. If not, I'll just start skyping my old professor and classmates all the time. Hah. Speaking of skype, I have it! Add me by my email address if you have it, too!

I woke up Sunday with a sore throat and it has since progressed into cough and congestion. So, the bad news is that I've got my first cold in Madrid, but the good news is that I'm not necessarily allergic to Spain! Hooray!

This week, I've just been waking up at 7 (yuck) to catch the metro at 8 to the suburban bus at 820 to start school at 9 every day. I am in class from 9-2, and usually get home around 3 or 4, depending on which bus I manage to catch back to Madrid. A typical day has three sessions split between two classes, a 30-minute break, and then two more sessions with either one or both of the morning classes. During the 30-minute break, the kids go outside for recreo and the teachers hang out in the teacher's lounge which always has a delicious spread of coffee, juices, fruit, and a special tapa. Usually they are really good--today's was a slice of baguette with a red pepper/chorizo/cheese bruschetta-type mixture, but yesterday there was a plate of fried calamari rings, yuck! On Monday we had toasts with tomato, manchego, and the part that ruined it, tuna on top. I managed to find one that the chefs missed that only had tomato and cheese on it. Yum!

In general, I am really enjoying my "job" in the school (so far). It is obvious which kids are picking up on English quicker than others, and which of them are still afraid to try to use English with a scary native speaker. This is my school's first year doing the bilingual program, and when they start the program, they start from the bottom and work up. My first-graders are the only kids in the school taking English, and almost none of them have had much if any contact with English before now, so it is going to be an interesting year. I really hope I can make some progress with them, even if it is only that they know what "I'm fine, thank you" means rather than just knowing it is the acceptable response in the English classroom to the question, "How are you?"

fotográfica rápida

I don't have much to update on right now, as nothing's really happened for the past few days! However, I'll be taking a few quick pictures as I walk around town, so if you'd like to view what I've done so far, click on the Photos link or on the picture below:

Puerta de Toledo

Getting set up

We have internet! Woooooooo! The entire process was pretty painless, aside from a 20-minute wait at Telefónica yesterday and our technician having the thickest Madrileño accent ever--very difficult to understand on the phone.  Speaking of which, I have a cell phone now... not that it is very useful to those of you reading from the States, but if you happen to be a Madrileño (honorary or otherwise) let me know and we can get in touch! So, here I am, day 4 in Madrid. So far I've gotten some things set up, all that's left is to set up my bank account and get started on my National ID/residence card etc etc. We are supposed to hear a bit about that at orientation this week, but Erica, the girl who lived in this piso last year and helped me get set up here has been telling me a lot of useful information to keep in mind.

I've mostly been showing Tasha around Madrid since she's never been here before, and it's strange to think that I actually know this city better than someone after spending only a month here a year ago. We've been to the "must-sees" of Madrid already--Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, shops on Gran Vía, etc--but we haven't yet hit Retiro or anything North of Sol, really. She said she's been giving an entire day for every task that she'd normally take an hour to do in England, and that isn't such a bad idea.

Last night, we watched the movie (500) Days of Summer to swoon over Joseph Gordon-Levitt rather than fight the throngs of people in Sol that we saw there all day yesterday. Near the end of the movie, around midnight, fireworks started going off very nearby. It sounded like they were going off inside our apartment and the ashes were falling on the roof! We couldn't figure out why fireworks would be going off aside from maybe the end of the Real Madrid game, but their stadium (Santiago Bernabéu) is nowhere close to where we live! Very strange.

This morning we woke up early and got out to the Rastro to see what goodies were being offered. Nothing special for me, unfortunately, but Tasha bought a few Spanish books to get back in practice. After that, a quick snack at 100 Montaditos before coming back here to deal with the internet (an obvious success) and watch Fear Factor in Spanish. Very strange.

Finally, Sonal has asked me to continue the Tour de Sangria, and so here are my first contributions!

Sangria 1: from La Soberbia, near Tio Pepe in Sol This sangria was absolutely perfect!

Sangria 2: from Cañas y Tapas near Sol This was on-demand sangria--wine, lemon Kas, and a few pieces of fruit.

de Madrid al cielo

I´m here!! We don´t have internet in our piso yet, so I am writing this from a locutorio around the block. The apartment is great--very well-connected via metro to the rest of the city, fully-furnished, and the "random" roommate is really nice and we seem to have a lot in common so far. I don´t have a lot to add right now as all I´ve done today is sleep and unpack, but here is a picture of the first bottle of wine purchased at my local mercado: