Last week. Location: Madrid.

Things have been pretty busy over the past week between trying to figure out my schedule and orientation and having a nasty cold. I still don't really know my class schedule which is stressful and I'm pretty frustrated with the bureaucracy I have to deal with as a foreign student. This past week one set of the UAM classes started so I just had psychopathology. So far the class seems interesting and I already made a couple Spanish friends. The problem is that the class is 7 hours a week (including 2 days starting at 9 AM at UAM which is an hour away from me...) and I'll only be getting credit from Tufts for a lower level elective class of 3 hours. So I have to decide if it's worth it to me/see if I can get into any other classes still. This week my program classes start and then next week my sociology class starts at UAM. I'm also waiting to start dance as soon as I feel better... I guess it's good that I'm getting eased into it all but at the same time, it's hard not having a routine yet. My life here still feels very much in the beginning stages because of it.

The element of consistency that I am really happy with still, though, is my host family. After just a week I feel totally at home here with them and they treat me like a real part of their family. Today, for example, my host grandmother noticed that I had a hole in my jeans when she was washing them and insisted she mend it for me. I think she is going back to her house outside Madrid sometime this week. She's super sweet and also kind of hilarious (a moment that comes to mind is Rebeca trying to teach her to say "MacDonald's" for like 10 minutes. "Mal-donad? Mathhh-donald?" love the Spanish lisp...). The only issue with having her around is that, as a true Spanish lady, she likes to have the TV on every second that she is awake. So there's always some stupid reality TV show blaring in the background, which is something that I am not at all used to or fond of. The girls moved back in today and I spent the day hanging out with them and Eva's friends from work. It'll be great to have them in the house again for this month, but after this week, I'm not at all worried about being in the house with Eva alone. She's great too and easy to talk to.

Carlota's profile picture on Facebook of the two of us 

I'm excited right now too about having Spanish friends. It was really easy to meet some of the girls in my psychopathology class because they are all so helpful while I'm attempting to navigate the unfamiliar Spanish education system. In addition, my host cousin actually called the other night to see if I could go out with her and her friends. I guess she got so excited about having me around that she was even telling Eva that she wants her family to have an American student too. Unfortunately I had plans with the program when she was hoping to bring me out with her, but I'm looking forward to spending time with her too. Then Friday night, we had a "fiesta de intercambios" with the program, where we were able to meet a bunch of Spanish students from UAM. Carmen, my pen pal was there... She's very nice but I ended up finding other students that I connected with more. Hopefully we'll all keep in touch.

 My friend Arielle with our intercambios!

My pen-pal Carmen, me and Lucas

In my free time, when I'm not with my host family, I've been trying to do some cultural activities and explore various neighborhoods. I went to the Palacio Real the other day with some friends which was cool and quite a throw-back since I was there 4 years ago with my high school program and then-boyfriend...

The Palacio Real

 

View from one of the palace's loopholes

 Veronica, me and Olivia getting tapas in La Latina

Yesterday the program took us all to El Escorial to see the monastery there, which was created by King Felipe II in the 16th century. The monument includes a beautiful cathedral, an incredible library, the tombs of the kings of Spain and a huuuuuge monastery. It was an interesting visit and nice to see something outside of the city. Unfortunately I couldn't get a lot of pictures inside, but here's one of the outside.  

El monasterio

With Olivia and Arielle at El Escorial

Okay headed to bed now quite early in an attempt to get myself better... first day of grammar class tomorrow! I know I'm the nerdiest, but I'm sooo excited to review my Spanish grammar. The last time I studied grammar was Sophomore year of high school and I could totally use a refresher on subjunctive.

Un beso,
Anjuli