Last week was rough. For starters, I was sick all week. My first few days at my internship made me realize how difficult my potential life path is. I was on constant information overload, and not knowing the right way to consolidate all of it was making me wonder if I'm cut out for this business. Madrid was slightly failing to keep me engaged. I didn't feel very connected to my host family, though they were nothing less than attentive and caring. Twelve hour days had never felt so long. I missed Ecuador more than I had ever before. I felt a little lonely even when I was with friends. I failed to book a single flight for this semester because Ryanair failed me. Spring break was (and still is) looking like a failure. I woke up every morning missing the sun because the way my window is set up/the hour the sun rises in Madrid, it's dark until almost nine in the morning! I was sick and tired of everyone from all over the world telling me how great Spain is and what I should see and how I should see it. Oh, and I'm gaining weight. Fast.
I was at no point regretting being here. I would much rather be abroad than in Boston right now. But, this heaviness set in and brought me down. So, dear reader, that was my first full week in Madrid. You know me, I'm always honest with you, and though I wish I could have written about some wonderful first week...well, it was what it was.
Good news, though. Things started looking up when I went on a day trip to Toledo with the program. Though everyone was tired, there was a happy buzz in the air. Plenty of good conversation throughout the day. Too many (but not enough) delicious coffee and pastries. The city itself was very charming. Just the cathedral of Toledo made my day. When we got back to Madrid, we decided to go to a club and dance till six in the morning. Used to going out dancing every weekend usually for free in dear, sweet Ecuador, and not having gone out dancing once in Madrid before last night, I finally felt at least a bit weight lifted off my shoulders. My body had been angry at me for not moving it for so long. Today, we went to a special exhibit at the Museo Thyseen. The exhibit, "Lagrimas de Eros" followed themes of erotic love and the death instinct from the sixteenth century to present day. Later, I went to see the new Spanish movie "Celda 211"--blew my mind!
I also connected more with my host family, my friends and my sense of direction in regard to what I want from this trip.
I apologize that these last few posts haven't been the amusing anecdotes I'm so used to sharing from my Ecuador days. But, this is what's going on in my life right now. I miss my family in Boston but I don't miss Boston itself. After Toledo, I'm all the more excited to travel around Spain. Maybe, one day, I'll call Madrid as I do Quito another home.
Oh, but I must share this. This makes me so angry, I can barely control myself. Bouncers at bars and clubs at Madrid are just plain old mean. I want to know what self-esteem issues they have that they take so much pleasure from belittling and insulting 20-year-old girls. I hope you don't have trouble sleeping with that dirty conscience of yours, Mr. Madrid security guard. Do you enjoy ruining teenage girls' nights with your snide remarks? Go take a look at yourself in the mirror and rethink your attitude problem. Geez.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Weekend Getaway
After going a whole semester without catching a cold (unheard of), here I am in Madrid "resfriada" my first week. That aside, last night I got back from a truly lovely weekend with my host family in my host mother's hometown, El Espinar. El Espinar is located in the mountains an hour away from the center of Madrid. I also brought along some friends, Elena and Dave...and our family dog, Pongo, of course!
Although we did hike for a few hours the first day, most of the weekend consisted of eating. We must have had what felt like six full meals the first day, and four the second. And the second day we only stayed until the afternoon. Soups, chorizo, chicken, garbanzos, cake, pastries, cheese, wine, more pastries, hot chocolate and churros, PAELLA, coffee, chocolate, pizza, and more!!
Below, are some pictures from our hike!
(That's my host mom and me above, by the way)
Although we did hike for a few hours the first day, most of the weekend consisted of eating. We must have had what felt like six full meals the first day, and four the second. And the second day we only stayed until the afternoon. Soups, chorizo, chicken, garbanzos, cake, pastries, cheese, wine, more pastries, hot chocolate and churros, PAELLA, coffee, chocolate, pizza, and more!!
Below, are some pictures from our hike!
(That's my host mom and me above, by the way)
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Primeros Dias
Where to begin, where to begin...
After a painful red eye across the Atlantic on Wednesday night all 82 (or 83, I forget) of the Madrid study abroad-ers landed at the Barajas Airport. Why was the red eye painful, you may ask. Well, there's a certain beauty to flying internationally, and this beauty comes in the form of leg-room. Yes, leg-room. Yes, fine, I can handle an hour or two on a domestic flight that doesn't give me this luxury. But, not being able to even shift my legs two inches for eight hours left me praising the heavens that there are a lot of stairs to climb (and let me stretch my legs out) at the Barajas Airport.
We spent the first few days in a beautiful hotel in the middle of Madrid orienting ourselves and getting to know each other a bit. There were times, when we'd all be sitting in the dining area speaking English, that I'd forget that we were in Madrid. But, when we went out, it obviously became very clear. I got my new phone, had some tapas and vino, strolled through the front yard of the Palacio Real, and visited the Instituto Internacional in which I'll be taking all my classes.
I roomed with Elena, one of my best friends from BU. However, come Saturday we bid our farewell to Hotel Regina and set off in cabs to our host families. Elena actually lives in a host family fives minutes walking from my house. We both have beautiful dogs-->dog-walking buddies!
I have a lovely spacious room with a great host family in the beautiful neighborhood called Chamberi. Lots of positive adjectives in that sentence. I'm a five minute walk from class and a five minute metro ride from the center of the city. My host mom is just a master cook. Very, very dangerous. And she's offering me unlimited access to the house supply of chocolate. All the more dangerous.
Well, after moving in yesterday, I unpacked and had lunch. Come 10pm it was time for dinner. A few of us from the program met up and walked to one of the main streets. We found a cute place on one of the side streets and ate surrounded by locals. Even Elena didn't understand like half the menu, but no meat was served to our vegetarian friend and everyone looked pretty happy with what they got. After, we went to a cafe around 12:30am for some coffee. Around 1 in the morning we decided to go check out a jazz club in a popular going our area on la Calle Huertas. Bar was packed, but in Madrid there's as much nightlife on the streets as in the bars. We walked for hours with hundreds upon hundreds of other people. At four in the morning the streets were packed.
When we finally decided to call it a night, we took our time figuring out the night owl bus system that runs till sunrise because the metro closes at 1:30 in the morning. I got home safe and sound, but couldn't fall asleep till about 5:30am or so and have to get up at 10am to go for a great historical tour of the famous Retiro park (like Central Park in New York) with the program.
Basically, in these first couple of days there's been a lot of walking and "oo-ing and ahhhh-ing" at the architecture. The metro system does no cease to impress me. And I can't explain how happy I am to be back in a Spanish-speaking country. Although, my host mother says that my Ecuadorian way of speaking Spanish must be "fixed".
Tomorrow, I have my final interview for my internship. I'll tell you how that goes. Wish me luck!
After a painful red eye across the Atlantic on Wednesday night all 82 (or 83, I forget) of the Madrid study abroad-ers landed at the Barajas Airport. Why was the red eye painful, you may ask. Well, there's a certain beauty to flying internationally, and this beauty comes in the form of leg-room. Yes, leg-room. Yes, fine, I can handle an hour or two on a domestic flight that doesn't give me this luxury. But, not being able to even shift my legs two inches for eight hours left me praising the heavens that there are a lot of stairs to climb (and let me stretch my legs out) at the Barajas Airport.
We spent the first few days in a beautiful hotel in the middle of Madrid orienting ourselves and getting to know each other a bit. There were times, when we'd all be sitting in the dining area speaking English, that I'd forget that we were in Madrid. But, when we went out, it obviously became very clear. I got my new phone, had some tapas and vino, strolled through the front yard of the Palacio Real, and visited the Instituto Internacional in which I'll be taking all my classes.
I roomed with Elena, one of my best friends from BU. However, come Saturday we bid our farewell to Hotel Regina and set off in cabs to our host families. Elena actually lives in a host family fives minutes walking from my house. We both have beautiful dogs-->dog-walking buddies!
I have a lovely spacious room with a great host family in the beautiful neighborhood called Chamberi. Lots of positive adjectives in that sentence. I'm a five minute walk from class and a five minute metro ride from the center of the city. My host mom is just a master cook. Very, very dangerous. And she's offering me unlimited access to the house supply of chocolate. All the more dangerous.
Well, after moving in yesterday, I unpacked and had lunch. Come 10pm it was time for dinner. A few of us from the program met up and walked to one of the main streets. We found a cute place on one of the side streets and ate surrounded by locals. Even Elena didn't understand like half the menu, but no meat was served to our vegetarian friend and everyone looked pretty happy with what they got. After, we went to a cafe around 12:30am for some coffee. Around 1 in the morning we decided to go check out a jazz club in a popular going our area on la Calle Huertas. Bar was packed, but in Madrid there's as much nightlife on the streets as in the bars. We walked for hours with hundreds upon hundreds of other people. At four in the morning the streets were packed.
When we finally decided to call it a night, we took our time figuring out the night owl bus system that runs till sunrise because the metro closes at 1:30 in the morning. I got home safe and sound, but couldn't fall asleep till about 5:30am or so and have to get up at 10am to go for a great historical tour of the famous Retiro park (like Central Park in New York) with the program.
Basically, in these first couple of days there's been a lot of walking and "oo-ing and ahhhh-ing" at the architecture. The metro system does no cease to impress me. And I can't explain how happy I am to be back in a Spanish-speaking country. Although, my host mother says that my Ecuadorian way of speaking Spanish must be "fixed".
Tomorrow, I have my final interview for my internship. I'll tell you how that goes. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Bon voyage...to me!
Tomorrow, tomorrow...I'll be off to Madrid tomorrow!
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to part II of my grand junior year study abroad adventure! I hope you're all excited, because I know I am, to see what will inspire my blogging this semester.
Even though I'm (actually, not really) packed and saying my "hasta el verano, chicos!" it still doesn't feel like I'm going to Spain tomorrow! I'm definitely ready (as you remember from my freak out about culture shock) to get outta here, at least for a semester more.
Yesterday, I reunited with a bunch of the Ecuador program kids for lunch at BU. As I was walking away, I turned back and felt my heart drop. Every person on that trip, so different and engaging, contributed to a group dynamic I had never known before. Our energy together is just explosive. That's the only word I can think of. I know I've said this before, but this group was truly a blessing. Anyway, walking away I realized that there were some serious good-byes said, and I realized just how much I was going to miss them.
I'll miss my family very much, too, but Skype is a miracle.
Speaking of family, I'll give you all an introduction of my Madrid host family, though I know nothing more than their names and ages. I will be living with a host mother, a 26-year-old host sister, and 19-year-old twin brothers, and a dog (don't know his/her names yet). I will live a ten minute walk away from the International Institute, where I'll be taking classes. Check out the website: http://www.iie.es/
I'll also be living five minutes away from one of my favorite museums in Madrid, the house of Sorolla, and a ten minute walk away from one of my best friends at BU (she also has a dog). On top of all of that, I'll be living another five minutes away from one of my favorite little squares in Madrid. I'm familiar with this little square because it's located next to the apartment of my friend who spent last year in Madrid.
Going back to some of those goals I made for myself at the beginning of the year, I would like to remind myself to always keep an open mind, know my limits i.e. know when to rest, and not take a single moment for granted! I'm very excited to travel around Spain and get to know the country. I'm reading a book that the resident director recommended, that I would like to recommend to all of you. It's called The New Spaniards, by John Hooper. It's very well-written and fascinating. Check it out!
Well, I guess I'll get back to packing and being angry at Continental for only letting me check one bag free. How in the world am I supposed to pack my whole life into one bag?!
Until we meet again in Madrid, my dear readers!
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to part II of my grand junior year study abroad adventure! I hope you're all excited, because I know I am, to see what will inspire my blogging this semester.
Even though I'm (actually, not really) packed and saying my "hasta el verano, chicos!" it still doesn't feel like I'm going to Spain tomorrow! I'm definitely ready (as you remember from my freak out about culture shock) to get outta here, at least for a semester more.
Yesterday, I reunited with a bunch of the Ecuador program kids for lunch at BU. As I was walking away, I turned back and felt my heart drop. Every person on that trip, so different and engaging, contributed to a group dynamic I had never known before. Our energy together is just explosive. That's the only word I can think of. I know I've said this before, but this group was truly a blessing. Anyway, walking away I realized that there were some serious good-byes said, and I realized just how much I was going to miss them.
I'll miss my family very much, too, but Skype is a miracle.
Speaking of family, I'll give you all an introduction of my Madrid host family, though I know nothing more than their names and ages. I will be living with a host mother, a 26-year-old host sister, and 19-year-old twin brothers, and a dog (don't know his/her names yet). I will live a ten minute walk away from the International Institute, where I'll be taking classes. Check out the website: http://www.iie.es/
I'll also be living five minutes away from one of my favorite museums in Madrid, the house of Sorolla, and a ten minute walk away from one of my best friends at BU (she also has a dog). On top of all of that, I'll be living another five minutes away from one of my favorite little squares in Madrid. I'm familiar with this little square because it's located next to the apartment of my friend who spent last year in Madrid.
Going back to some of those goals I made for myself at the beginning of the year, I would like to remind myself to always keep an open mind, know my limits i.e. know when to rest, and not take a single moment for granted! I'm very excited to travel around Spain and get to know the country. I'm reading a book that the resident director recommended, that I would like to recommend to all of you. It's called The New Spaniards, by John Hooper. It's very well-written and fascinating. Check it out!
Well, I guess I'll get back to packing and being angry at Continental for only letting me check one bag free. How in the world am I supposed to pack my whole life into one bag?!
Until we meet again in Madrid, my dear readers!
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