The River Thames & the Rain in Spain (part 2)

Now for the completion of the mini London trip. Friday night it was rough to sleep. My bed was creaky so I felt guilty moving any because i might bother someone else and the lights were on til past midnight. Thankfully I had brought my eye-mask that Delta had given me in first class on the trip over to Madrid. So I put in on and did my best to sleep. I woke up promptly to my alarm. I don't know if Iphones can even have their alarms go off in just vibrate but if they do I'd like to find out how. It didn't seem to make a difference though. Everyone still seemed pretty asleep. I tried to dress and get my things ready as quickly and quietly as possible and find my way downstairs to breakfast. The tour bus would pick me up at 7:55 at the Paddington Hilton, my goal was to be there at 7:45am. Main problem: breakfast didn't start being served til 7:30am. I was there early and as soon as I was able to I got a bowl of coco-krispies and some apple juice. Figured out the toaster thing but a little late and did not know where the butter was so that was not the best moment. Did get some little cheeses, a couple of which I tucked away in my purse for the journey. By 7:40am I was on my way to pick up. Turned out really easy and got on the bus with no problems. The bus then dropped everyone off at Victoria Station to find their gates for respective tours. Got to my gate and felt a bit lonely. But no fear. Two girls from Boston noticed my ticket was the same as theirs and we started chatting. The three of us would become tour buddies. Sadly though since I was the only person on the tour who was traveling by them self my seat was chosen for me. :/ Right across from a couple with a two year old. Oh goody. The bright side was that I was just two rows in front of my new Boston friends.

Before we could get off the bus at Windsor Castle we were lectured on how much time we had and that we needed to buy lunch there and that it should be a cold lunch and blah blah blah. I immediately grouped up with Holly and Jay and we set out. We took pictures of everything. We tried to go to Queen Mary's doll house but the line was a little long and when the tour guide saw us in line for it he told us we should forget it. Sad day. At least we did get a picture with one of the guards.

Poor guards. To stand there all day in the sun perfectly still in those uniforms while thousands of tourists stand beside them and take pictures. Sounds miserable. When our time was nearly up we had top scramble to figure out the way back to the bus and make our food stop. The line was already getting big when we got in line. At least the prices were pretty good. I would have loved to have one of the meat pies and mashed potatoes but I figured I should obey and only get cold food. And back on the bus for another couple of hours with the two year old whining/laughing/screaming and his parents changing his diapers in the bus while the tour guide rambled on and on and on and on. I really have no idea how the man was able to talk so much. But he was. It did not help that I was getting cranky from lack of sleep. I tried to content myself with taking pictures outside the window which was quite picturesque. We were on our way to Bath, home of Jane Austen. That would have been amazing to go to the Jane Austen museum! But we barely had much time to get through the roman baths. We got 1 hour. And tour guide did kind of threaten to leave us in Bath if we were late. Even told us the price of a bus ticket back to London. My trio was not going to be late. Consequently we rushed through the baths snapping pictures left and right and trying to listen to some of the commentary. It was a bit of a whirlwind that ended with us having 5 minutes to buy things at the gift shop. What caught my eye and emptied my wallet? A glass bottle of "genuine" Bath Waters. Yes. I paid 4.30£ for this water which is not drinkable but can supposedly be rubbed into the skin for its "healing" affects. What I did not focus on until after was that it has over 100mL in it. I don't have checked baggage. It was me and my backpack and I had to make it through security with this souvenir. Crap. I could only say a prayer

that I wouldn't be stopped and have my pricey water taken from me. Of course, the more pressing matter after I realized this was to get myself to that bus on time. And success. Granted the bus was a few minutes late due to there not really being any parking. So much for being on time. It was about 4 at this point and there was only one stop left: Stonehenge. I'd always heard about it and was pretty excited to see it. After all, I chose the Stonehenge tour over the central London tour just to see this much talked about ruin. The bus ride went somewhat smoothly. Got there and were told we got a whole 45 minutes. This turned out to be more than enough since you cannot even touch the rocks. Nope my friends it is roped off so that for detail you have to use camera zoom. I contented myself with taking a picture from every possible angle until my camera died. Then off to the gift shop to get a couple small, non-liquid trinkets. At this point I was also pretty hungry so when I saw a food stand I went for it. I also got hot food, namely a beef pastry which was quite delicious! It would be all I had for dinner so I am glad that I got it over ice cream. The 2 hour drive home was accented by the tour guide helping each person figure out where they needed to get off whether at Victoria Station or one of the 3 other drop off points. Yes, hotel pick-up does not mean hotel drop-off as well. Dang. Thankfully Holly and Jay's hotel was close-ish to mine and we got off in the rain together and wandered back asking for directions every so often. When we parted ways I was on my own to figure out the last 10 minutes. It turned out not to be too bad, just a couple wrong turns. And I managed to get into a souvenir shop to buy some gifts for people back home. And of course because I really wanted to test security I bought one of my grandmother's a fridge magnet that was also a half snow globe. Special. For myself a Paddington bear not that I've ever read the books but I came to the conclusion that I had stayed in Paddington so I needed a corresponding trinket. New goal: read one of the books. He is a cute little thing that now sits on my desk next to my "Bath Waters."

So yes, made it back to the hostal. Paid for a towel so I could shower and paid 3£ for internet connection. After taking a shower I tried to get my things as organized as possible for the next day so that I would not be too loud in the morning. Then it was off to texting my mom through whatsapp, playing words with friends and checking facebook. Found out that the padres are getting a new dog. Mom sent me a pic of the little setter cutie who reminds me of Bandit. I christened him Charlie and everyone approved. In ten months I will meet him - by then I should be ready for a new dog :) I feel like I need a pet fish or something here. I digress. Chatted until I went to sleep and then was woken up by people coming back at 3am. 3am!!!! So chatted a little more with mom and back to sleep.

I've been working on this off and on all day and part of yesterday.....I'll finish this later but will put at least this much up.

The River Thames & the Rain in Spain (Part 1)

It has definitely been a while since I have been on here. Probably should have worked on this sometime on Sunday or yesterday but since I didn't I guess better late than never. I'll back up all the way til last Thursday. After writing frantically I lugged my suitcases most of the way down the hall and tried to get the door open, which didn't work too well. Thankfully one of the hostal employees helped me get my stuff out the door and downstairs. And there was my taxi guy all ready to go. We had a bit of fun trying to get my stuff in the back of the taxi but eventually it worked. I was so thankful for his help that I didn't bother to complain about being overcharged. You see he had put the starter fare as the fare for going to/from the airport and not just in city. Makes a difference of 3 euros. I'm just considering it a tip for getting me to my host mother's and then getting my suitcases to the door of the building. I rang the buzzer for her apartment and said a simple "Soy Kathryn" and the door downstairs was unlocked. Three elderly people who also live in the building saw me struggling with all my things and the man proceeded to help me get my stuff over the ramp and towards the elevator. One of the women with him shook her head and laughed saying that he is ever the gentleman but getting too old for such things. Somehow got all my stuff into the elevator which is pretty tiny and got to the 3rd floor. By the time I got the door open there was host mommy marveling out how I managed so much stuff. She is a very nice 80 year old woman. She showed me my room and gave me a mini tour of the apartment and even said I could start living here that very day. I thanked her but declined since I still had my backpack at the hostal and had paid for Thursday already. Nonetheless she let me unpack all of my things in my new room and showed me the router (yes wifi!!!!!) that she really doesn't know how to use. I got the code written down and hopped online after turning the router on. I will say that there is no ac. But it does not matter because I have a great window right by my bed that I leave open at all times and a nice breeze comes in. There is a fan for me to use when I want it but I haven't needed it with my window. I'm sleeping quite well now. :)

Friday I woke up kind of nervous. I knew how to use the metro but I had never taken it to/from the airport before. My flight was not until 3pm and check out was at 12pm. It wasn't too easy to kill time without my laptop, so when my phone was fully charged I grabbed my backpack and purse and went to grab a tortilla espanola next door. I'd been eating them for the last couple of days and they are good and pretty cheap at this place. It did dishearten me a bit when I found a hair in this piece. Yuck! I picked around it but had definitely lost my appetite. I would have just stopped eating it completely but I knew dinner was a long way away and that my flight was not going to be giving any on flight snacks unless one paid dearly for them.

Not even a measly cup of water. Turns out it is not too hard to get to the airport. I had to changed over a couple lines which can be like going through a maze in the big metro stations but it worked out. When I got to the airport I had to pay the supplemental airport metro fee of three euros before I could enter the airport. At this point all I knew was the terminal and the letter section of the airport I was going towards. No gate number. I also chose to do the online boarding pass on my phone because I didn't have an easily accessible printer to print out my boarding pass. It was cool to scan the image on my phone and go through security like that but at the same time a bit of a pain to continually reload it and not know how much data I might be using. So I just wandered around the somewhat confusing airport until I found H. And then as I was walking around in there wandering which gate was mine even though I still had like 2 hours I found an Iberia board that showed flights and their gates. Yes! To get to my gate I had to go through a tiny passport control. The man looked at me like I was crazy for wanting to go to my gate so early. He even told me that there was only one bathroom and coffee shop in my gate area and that once I entered I could not leave. Only one coffee shop? The horror! Good thing I don't drink coffee. And I figured if I was stuck with nothing else to do I might actually complete some more summer reading. Indeed I did. Filled up my water bottle in the bathroom. Got a lollipop for the cool machine and spent the time until boarding (and til other people from my flight entered the area) reading #3 of 4 chapters I need to have done by Friday.

Landed in Heathrow airport without any trouble and started the next adventure: finding my way onto the Heathrow express to Paddington station. In order to do this i had to make it through customs, find an atm to get some pounds and then purchase a ticket. I scrambled to get the info card filled out before I got to the desk. I failed. But the woman was nice and helped me finish it when I showed her all of my printed papers my mom had put in a nice little envelope marked "London" before I ever even left for Madrid. She might have thought me dumb because she had to repeat some questions a couple of times for me to understand. It was tiredness and the accent that kept me from comprehending but I wasn't going to tell her that. When she gave me my stamp and let me through I tried to follow people and signs to find what I needed. It ended up being me asking 3 different people for help. When I got to the atm it was right across from a Krispy Kreme which filled my heart with joy!

I didn't get a doughnut but figured on my way back to Madrid maybe. After the atm it was not too bad finding the ticket counter I needed and then the train. Though being so nervous when I got on it I did ask a girl near me if I was indeed on the Heathrow towards Paddington. She affirmed it and I relaxed a bit. Pretty short ride and then I made it to Paddington. As I left the station it was drizzling and this seemed very appropriate to me like the London in my imagination goes hand in hand with drizzle. I attempted to follow my printed out directions to the hostel. And though streets are better marked in London than in Madrid I struggled. By the grace of God I found Westbourne Terrace and consequently Equity Point hostel. Check it went pretty smoothly though he was a bit annoyed that I gave him 40£ to pay my balance of 30.60£. I said sorry but the atm does not give smaller bills than that. I think I might have actually had some pound coins from buying my train ticket but really did not want to dig through my tiny overstuffed purse to locate them and decipher which coin was worth what amount. Found the room and then spent five minutes figuring out which bed was mine - turns out it was the first top bunk I saw upon entering. There were lockers for each person which I had known about but it had never dawned on me that they wouldn't provide me with a lock for it. So back downstairs to inquire about a lock. There went 3£. I consoled myself with the rip off because I knew that now I wouldn't have to carry around my backpack when I met up with Tom. Put my things away and rearranged my purse and counted down the minutes til I would see my friend. What a wonderful site to walk outside the hostel and look to my left and see Tom walking towards me :) Great reunion! He does not know Paddington very well so we tried our hand at the "tube." First hurdle was getting a ticket.

It was 4.30£ for a one trip ticket or 7£ for a day pass. All fine and good except the machine only took a credit card. I had not brought mine with me because I figured if anything happened to me and my purse got stolen or something then I wanted my card in my locker at the hostel to be able to get more money or whatever. I'd even placed one of the tiny keys for my new lock on my locket chain as a precaution. So I just gave Tom the 7£ and he was nice enough to use his card. We went all over the most touristy part of London near Big Ben and the River Thames. He kept apologizing for not really knowing this area that well but it did not matter to me. Sp I told him that I would incorrectly pronounce River Thames every time he apologized needlessly. And I did. After a while he stopped and all was well. We ventured more on the tube to an area to find something to eat. It was already about 8pmish and we were both hungry. And lost. After walking around for a good 30 minutes we finally found a decent place. called Pizza Express. Apparently they are all over England. Decent prices too. I had canollini (sp?) while he had pizza. We also had an appetizer of dough balls which were wonderful. They came with this very garlicy butter sauce that was divine. Though we were pretty full by the end we still went for dessert. It was called Chocolate Glory and it was glorious. We were still raving about it by the time we got back on the tube towards Paddington to drop me off. It was also at this point that I realize why my left foot was hurting so much. I had worn a pair of my new shoes to London. They had been fine walking in the day before so I figured why not wear them to London? They are cute. Bad idea. It not only gave me a blister but tore it open. Good times. Looked terrible though after I got a bandaid at the hostel and washed it with some water from the sink it was not bad at all. I still like the drama of the one pic though. So being a tad morbid I am putting it on here. Lesson learned: new shoes are not good for traveling and walking around in all over a strange city before being properly broken in.

This concludes part 1 of the London adventure. A full day of touring and getting back to Madrid in part two. I've already been at this like an hour so I need a break. It is my birthday after all so I don't want to spent it sitting in my room all day writing. I'll finish up the chronicles later today or tomorrow :) Thanks for reading!

London Bound

At this point I have thirty minutes before I say adios to my laptop for 3 days. This is going to be difficult. I have gotten way too used to being able to while away the hours watching shows online and now that is just not going to happen for a while...or maybe ever again if host mother does not have wifi. I'll find that out soon I suppose. More importantly I have 30 minutes to chronicle the past couple days before I forget what happened during them. Two days ago I got to spend time with Mardee from my program again which was great. We were planning on going back to Parque del retiro which we did but we also had someone else with us. It is getting really exciting to have people showing up from the program like every day now. So I met with Niki and Mardee and they decided it was time for me to ride the metro. It wasn't bad. The DC metro is a whole lot worse and more expensive. So we got to the park and had a good time. Bought some nice and gawdy fans to keep us cooler and spent a lovely afternoon people watching. They also picked a great lace to eat dinner so I was quite the happy camper. After that got to see Niki's apartment which is quite nice - really hoping my room is as good as hers :) . At that point it was getting later and Mardee helped me metro back to the hostal. I'm excited that Niki is going to live fairly close to me.

Yesterday was not too bad either. Went to class and had a great time as usual though I was a bit tired. Afterwards I looked a little nuts when I went into a bank and asked them to exchange 300 euros that I had gotten from the atm into smaller bills. It had given me all 50's and those are not conducive to getting around easily. The guy was great and just did it. Yay! By the time I got back towards my hostal I was hungry and stopped into a little restaurant. The prices are a little cheaper if one eats at the bar instead of a table so I sat at the bar and ordered a tortilla espanola which was quite delicious -and it even came with a piece of bread. I was feeling cheap and didn't order anything to drink since I could go to my hostal and get water from my room. It ended up costing only 2 euros which is cheaper than the 3 euros it was supposed to cost in the menu. I questioned the price and he repeated 2 so I decided to be happy about it being less. Got a quick skype session in with Jeffery and thought I'd take a siesta when I got a text to meet up with Mardee. Of course I said yes! We started out going to a clothing store for her to see if she could find a skirt. I found two pairs of shoes that were on sale 2 for 10 euros. Score!!! When she went to try on a cute onesie we had found all went downhill. A cockroach was on it!! So nasty. To help with her traumatic experience I walked us to Corte Ingles and we found her peanut butter. Glad to know I never have to be without the stuff. Then on to the metro which was basically attached to the supermercado underground. So strange to me. Once we got to the Marriot she is staying at we were both hungry. There was a nice little place next door to her that we went to. They even have Greek food. I wanted one thing on the menu but since we were trying to eat dinner at the oh so early hour of 6pm we could only order "tapas." So I got a burger and fries and we split some hummus with the most delicious homemade bread straight out of the oven. It was lovely to hang out in the hotel for a while after that. Very nice. Her bathroom is bigger than my room in the hostal. No lie. By 9pm it was hard to leave that haven of ac and happiness but I knew it might take me a while to get back on the metro since it would be the first time I ever rode it all by myself. Thankfully Mardee has taught me well enough that I mde it back even switching lines without much trouble at all. This bodes well for me taking the metro to the airport tomorrow.

Ok it's 3:30 - taxi is supposed to be here by 3:45. Dang. That does not leave much time to finish this up and haul all my stuff downstairs including the flowers I bought my host mother as a gift. Quick recap of today. Tried to get money out of an atm this morning didn't work. Tried another worked less well. Made it to school and checked my bank account and discovered atm 1 charged me the money but never gave me the money. Crap! Ran to class and was about in tears but didn't want to miss anything. By 11:30when I got my break I felt a little better because I'd been able to text with my mom who lucky for me and not so good for her had not been bale to sleep and was therefore awake at 3am to be talking to me. Got to the bank during the 30 minute break and in my Spanish that still needs some improvement explained my issue. Well, they gave me all the info they could and even gave me a print out of the botched transaction so I could call my bank in the US. So my bank now knows what is going on but I stil need to take money out of an atm to make rent and i can't just get the money out of another atm because I have a $500 daily withdraw limit and the bank thinks I've already taken out $315. Eep. At least when the bank opened in the US I was able to call and talk to a person who is working on all of it. Hoping that it will all get taken care of soon. On a brighter note I went back to my tortilla espanola place and got two of them as take-out. Had one for lunch and will get to have the other for dinner. Yay! Wish I could keep rambling but taxi SHOULD be here in 10 minutes and me trying to lug 150 pounds of luggage is not only a comical site but quite a process for me. So farewell for a couple of days. I'm sure I will have plenty to say about meeting my host mother and my trip to London when I get back to my computer and (please please please, Lord!) wifi.

Monday Blues

Yesterday I got a tad lazy and didn't write. It was a good day though. Got to meet another classmate and go to the Rastro market. I'd read in multiple different places that it was a must-do thing as long as one is wary of possible pick pockets. Amazingly even with making a couple wrong turns my post it notes directions and slightly improving directional skill got us to the market. Most of it is like a huge flea market with clothes and souvenir stuff. I personally really want a pair of these pants that so many people are wearing that are kind of baggy and remind me of Jasmine's from Aladdin. It's a need that must be fulfilled in the upcoming weeks. The other two found things that they liked or wanted pretty early on but it wasn't until we came to a side street where it started looking more like yard sale that I found something for myself. In a box of books I found a few children's books from a series called "Las tres mellizas" (the three triplets). They are slightly juvenile but what makes them great is that each book covers a different historical legend or book like Don Quixote or the knights of the round table. The first half of the book is an adventure with the triplets and those literary characters while the second half has all kinds of facts and research about he authors and the history surrounding each work. Really neat and I figured great for my future students. So I bought the 4 that they had for 2 euros a piece which was not bad considering I can't find them on ebay - only dvd's for like $10 or so. Maybe I will get lucky and find more from the series at a good deal.

We had lunch at this place that looked promising but the service was horrible. I'm not sure whether service in a country that doesn't do tips is just naturally bad or if being American pin points me for extra awful service. It took ages to get the food and it wasn't even that fantastic. The best part of it was not only the leaving but that they had a bathroom (albeit nasty) that I was able to use. Sheesh! What's the point of eating out if the overall experience is going to be so bad? I'll stick to my Jif peanut butter. By 3pm we were back near my street and we decided to call it a day. I was ready for a splendid nap. It was a true long siesta for me. Then I filled the rest of my day between skyping and watching some "Hot in Cleveland." Yes, I am getting a splendid cultural experience here.

Class today almost made me want to be back with angry waitress from yesterday. They switched our teacher and put us with another one and three new students. Ugh I was miserable for the entire time. The woman is smart and nice but just paled in comparison to Paco our beloved profesor. Ok. So I didn't actually think she was that nice and I left class with questions that I now must rely on google to answer. Not amused. Grammar worksheets? Really? Add to that not having enough copies for everyone and you have a recipe for boredom. I don't like to write on my handouts in general because i always look at it as materials for my own classroom but on top of that when I do not even have my own copy of course I'm not writing on it. Teacher was not amused. Kept telling me and my classmate from last week that we needed to write it down so she could see we were getting it. Please. Imperfect subjunctive in condicional phrases? Boring. Not exactly something that's hard to grasp. Especially after drilling it. I require more real world context and conversation practice at this point in my Spanish career. Another fun fact about class? She wrote down everything we said and then had the class correct every single one of our errors. Tell me how this is conducive to getting students motivated to talk? I didn't feel comfortable asking questions. She loved the three Italian students even though she continually had to chide them to speak in Spanish and not Italian. She actually told me and my classmate that those three should catch on to the new form easily because of their linguistic background but that she would have to see me and Katrina write it down so she could make sure we could produce the form. Katrina did the exact same worksheet two weeks ago with Paco.

Oy! Needless to say we were less than impressed and want Paco back. We relayed this to the director of educational blah blah at the school. Paco saw us and smiled. I think he loves the idea of our devotion to him and his teaching style. But honestly we are paying good money to take these classes we ought to be with someone who we get a lot out of. I learned one thing today. 1! Not even something that helps me all that much either. Katrina, Tomo and I did our best to plead our case. For some reason they elected me the spokesperson for our cause. Still don't know why. The director listened to us and seemed quite displeased with our dissatisfaction because this woman is such a great teacher. Sure. She's smart but we don't click. She tried to tell us that we couldn't possibly know after one day. Yeah right. I knew after 30 minutes with Paco that I was going to be happy. I said it too. Then she tried to turn it into a life lesson about how you go out into the streets and there are the different people and blah blah blah. That's all fine and good and it is important to know that in life you must learn to deal with different people. At this point I might have gotten tastefully sassy and stated that yes that is so but that I am not paying anyone in the streets for an education. That woman probably doesn't think too highly of me at this point though my classmates seem to adore me more for it. So more blah blah blah she will see what can be done but no promises. This probably means we are stuck with Monica and not only this but that Monica is going to find out about our mini mutiny and class could be worse tomorrow. I think if it is I might just ask for a refund of my money for the rest of my unused classes. I'll use the money to buy a grammar book and study it in Parque del Retiro because grammar lessons are all I'll get with the new teacher anyways. Rawr it just upsets me. I now feel even more convicted about how I need to be for my future Spanish students.

Ok. That felt good to rant and get it all out. I'm just stressed and wanting to learn as much as possible before my grad classes start. On the bright side I will be hanging out with the new female classmate here in Madrid tomorrow. Today got a little out of whack so it didn't happen but I look forward to going out and about some tomorrow. And you know what I just need to pray and trust God that He will take care of this school situation. It's all a learning experience. So as I continue to adjust I will keep writing and keeping loved ones and readers alike informed of my triumphs and misadventures while here in the toasty city of Madrid.

Lazy Day

So today I am having one of those days where I really do not feel like doing anything. Almost didn't feel like bothering with a shower even but somehow it feels nicer to chill in my room all clean so I went for it anyways. I'm constantly being told that I only have a limited time in Madrid and I need to be getting out there and doing stuff everyday. Well, I understand the argument but at the same time I think it is about time I take a mental health day. Feeling drained from one hurdle after another and I'm tired. Another super hot day outside (not that I've walked out in it) and I just do not feel up to it. I'm pretty content to just stay in my room. Relax. Rejuvenate. De-stress. Yup, I only have like 10 more months here. But that does not mean that I need to completely drain myself both physically and emotionally. I would be inside probably if I were back in the states. Just not willing to feel guilty about having a whole day of just gathering my thoughts and trying to feel better (forgot to mention that I've been feeling sick the past couple of days). So here is to relaxing and knowing that tomorrow I will get back out there and walk around, sweat and explore. This isn't isolation it's introspection :)
But for something slightly more entertaining than my self affirmation of why I am not leaving my room today I did go out a bit last night. Mateo and I met up to do a tour about Madrid and Flamenco. We were the only two people in our group. At least it wasn't just me and a tour guide. We met up early so that we would be sure to get tickets - not that it ended up mattering. So we decided to search around a bit and buy some water before the tour started since the weekend heat was already kicking in and we knew we would be walking around quite a bit. Ended up having to pay 2.50 for cold water. Yikes! Can you say rip-off?! I dealt with it because I was thirsty, I don't get cold water at my hostal because of the no fridge thing, and I had gotten my under 25 discount again for the tour with a savings of .72. This would have been even better if we had not found a "Museo del Jamon" that was selling the same 1.5L bottles of cold water for 1 euro five minutes later. Oh well. At least we each got a little sandwich for a euro each which is a great price. Come to think of it I never finished mine - wonder if it is still any good? Then off to our tour. It was nice because since we were such tiny group we could ask any questions that came to us whether they dealt with flamenco or not. Found out all about the Christmas market that will start up in December and some other end of year traditions that I will most certainly want to take part in. Most of the establishments we stopped at even let us peep in and see the architecture since there were only three of us. Outside of the most popular one we even saw the dancers taking a quick smoke break before their show started. I definitely want to see one of the flamenco shows at some point. The best one will cost 45 euros (eek) but this does include a meal. Undecided as to whether I want to pay less and see another flamenco show or spend the extra amount and see what is considered the best.
Once the tour ended Mateo and I found and opened ice cream place and fulfilled our need for ice cream. I got mine in a cute little plastic bowl since they don't have cake cones and that is the only kind of cone I eat. I still have the bowl. Sure I looked special carrying it back to my hostal last night, but I wanted to keep it. My flavor was banana split and it actually did tasted like bananas covered in chocolate. My only complaint is that the one scoop was not nearly big enough :) . Also read an email while sitting and eating the ice cream in la plaza mayor from one of the other students in my program who is now here. So hopefully the two of us will be meeting up this weekend. That would make tomorrow quite nice. Granted, I could always get a message from her today to go out and I probably would still say yes. That is all I can think of that is worth noting. The rest of this day is going to be spent napping, reading, catching up on shows and being thankful that I have time to just sit and collect myself.

1 Week Anniversary

It occurred to me while I was in class this morning that I have been in Madrid for a week now. Kind of crazy to think about seeing as it seems like so much longer. It's felt more like a month to be honest yet August is still only half way over. I suppose though one grad classes start things will start flying by - I hope so at least. Well, maybe I just want time to not feel unnecessarily slowed down or sped up. No idea what I am trying to articulate at this point so I am just going to give up on this idea completely now. Today was pretty boring. Got up a little late. Didn't close my water bottle all the way before putting it in my backpack so it spilled everywhere and my hostal sheets are now stained pink from the water getting in the highlighter I had in my back pack (and I am kind of embarrassed about asking for new sheets now :/ ). Finally made it out the door to class having only eaten a kiwi, one that as delicious as it was did not satisfy my hunger. Went to class and dreamed of food while enjoying a movie and discussion. And might I say that it seriously irks me that wikipedia does not have a plot summary of "El Metodo?" I want to know now how the movie ends instead of having to wait for the movie completion tomorrow. I have an idea of how it might end but it's a trick plot so there is no telling. After class decided I wanted one of the welcome folders they give to students and that I had somehow been deprived of. It actually does have some info like the wifi password in it but I also just wanted the pretty folder since I rationalize I did pay for it. Then walked around and found a place to eat at with my classmate Michele. Oh the glory of cooked food! I tried paella for the first time and enjoyed it though I had to pick out all the seafood. And by the time I was done with the second course of over oily chicken I was pretty full but still accepted dessert since I had to ay for it anyways as part of the menu del dia. I got ice cream. It was quite nice since I've been wanting ice cream for a while now. Granted I don't really want the wrapped up cone kind I want the scooped out gellato (?) but hey it was still cold and yummy. Stopped back by my favorite chinese store and got some nail polish remover since my re-departure manicure has definitely cracked away and also got a couple other things including a spoon to make kiwi eating an easier and less sticky experience. More liters of water though this time .24€ which was even better than last time. But it was not until returning to the hostal that my day reached it's climax. For at this time as I say my good afternoon to the receptionist she informed me that my package had arrived. Hello peanut butter and kix cereal!!!! BEST early birthday present ever. I'm very content with my peanut butter and thankful to be able to make a more normal sandwich than the nutella ones I've been eating. Chocolatey sandwiches for a meal are just a bit too out there for me. And there you basically have my day.

I suppose I should add a brief commentary about last night. I did in fact meet up with Mateo. We wandered a little bit aimlessly in northern Madrid until deciding to head towards the Real Madrid soccer stadium and consequently see the building where NYU in Madrid is and we will be having orientation/classes within a couple weeks. It definitely made it more real to see the building. Of course by the time I walked back to my hostal it was like 11:30pm and my legs were killing me from walking for a total of maybe 5 hours yesterday give or take (probably only give). Can't reasonably walk there from host mother's but I'll survive :)Pics of the plaques outside the building below. Much love to those in the land of ac and peanut butter, and anyone not in the United States who reads this blog <3

You know you're not from a historic city when...

Madrid just amazes me. I love just walking around and gawking at the buildings because so many of them are old and have such gorgeous ornate architecture. It's like walking into the past but one that is loud and noisy and obnoxious because of cell phones and traffic jams. It's a holiday today so I decide to explore after sufficiently sleeping in because of no class. Not that I did anything much to be tired about yesterday (good reason why I did not post yesterday) but because I am still struggling with sleeping and it just felt good. Reason enough. Today's agenda: the famous Parque del Retiro and stalking my future home with my host mother. Not creepy at all. Ok, maybe but so less creepy and more informative than goggle earthing it. You can't tell me that you wouldn't be even a tinge curious about where you are about to live for the next 10ish months of your life, could you? If you can then wow. I am not so brave/lacking of curiosity as you are.
Anyways, made it to the Parque del Retiro without using my phone - yay. It took quite a bit of believing in myself more than I really do when it comes to directions but after a little bit, ok 30 minutes, I made it there. And it was so worth it! I didn't even enter from the main entrance which would have amazed me even more than this one entrance did. It is an enormous park with greenery everywhere; this added to historical statues and random gardens and pathways. I have to wonder if they do weddings. It's THAT beautiful. I would totally get married there in a heartbeat, you know if it was legal to do so, not overly expensive and I had a guy to marry at the moment. Ja. Thankfully everyone seemed to be taking pictures so I felt free to do so as well. I should start carrying around my actual camera but instead have just been using my phone for everything. Maybe I will try to work on that some. At any rate, the pictures I took on my journey are now on facebook for my fb friend's viewing pleasure. But I will put some of my favorite sights on here. I probably could have gotten a map to help me get around the expansive park but chose to wander. I'd brought my backpack with me so that I could have snacks and water and do some summer reading. The weather was perfect for it too - completely overcast and cloudy with a splendid breeze. Felt amazing! It was great just walking and taking in some of the sights, watching families walk around together, or in the case of one couple rollerblading while pushing their stroller (yes, I took a pic of that!). In one part there is like a lake in front of this pristine statue column/wall/monument thing and people are rowing around in little blue boats there. I am determined to find someone to go in one of those boats with me. No idea how much it costs but I must. The picture I took of it does not do the site justice at all.

I hope this doesn't turn out lie the boats at Pullen Park in Raleigh that I never got to go on for one reason or another and I lived there for 4.5 years. I only have a year to achieve this goal. I can hear my one friends saying her catchphrase "live your dreams" right now. Continuing on I found a nice bench to sit on and do some summer reading. It seemed easier to get another chapter read in a nice park than trying to do it and stay awake in my bed. Victory. Only the last two chapters left to go -half way there. Once I finished that chapter I had to see more of the park. It was most shocking to me when a woman with her three children stopped me and asked me where something was. In retrospect I think she was asking about peacocks but I had no clue. Yes, someone actually asked me for a form of directions in Madrid. I've decided that this can be attributed to one of three things: 1.) I'm getting tanner and thus starting to look more native to the parts (ja) 2.) I look more confident in myself as I wander around the city 3.) The woman was desperate. I really want to believe 1 or 2 but I cannot rule at the "slim" possibility of 3. At this point besides laughing at my ludicrous options you might be thinking why did she say peacocks? That my friend would be because in one particular area that I wandered into there are PEACOCKS! Mommy and daddy and baby peacocks. This has been sufficiently documented in my phone with an absurd amount of candid pictures of the feathered beasts. It was too much for me. I found it hard to control my glee. I don't think I have ever sen a baby peacock before. Kind of looks like a baby duck or a gosling. Wonder when they start getting their fanning tails? This seems like a question for google. Now I came to the conclusion that the woman might have been asking me about peacocks because as i was walking around the garden like place with the peacocks I saw her and her children enter. And she could have been asking about something else completely. The world may never know...or care.

One of the best parts about the park was trying to find my way out of it. This took some careful maneuvering especially since I was trying to exit from the opposite side from the one that I entered so I could find my host mother's apartment. It probably took me about 10minutes to find a way out. and from there 15 minutes, with some phone aid, to find Calle Alcalde Sainz de Baranda. And then about three minutes to figure out I was walking the wrong way on the street... The point is that I did eventually make it and the area is quite nice with an Ahorra Mas supermercado nearby which bodes well for my finances. I snapped a pic of the apartment building and can only guess from which window I will one day be looking out of onto the very place I was standing today. It's going to be great! And better still I actually did find my way without an help back to the Parque del Retiro and from there back to the hostal. And all I needed to get back to the hostal was a couple quick looks at the post it note I has written my directions to the parque down on. Now I've been back for about an hour. Got to skype with Jeffery, be told by the reception lady that my peanut butter has not yet arrived and make tentative plans to hang out with Mateo this evening. Go me! Now if I would stop pretending to be iron chef and trying nutella on everything from a tortilla this morning to dipping potato chips in it while writing my stomach would probably love me more. Alas, my strange diet is what it is. Just wait til I have my kitchen access and can make rice and potatoes every single day. :) My poor mother is probably reading this today (her birthday no less!!) and shaking her head wondering where she went wrong with my eating habits. You did your best, mom. It isn't your fault I'm picky.

Have a fantastic rest of the day, peeps!

Showing my American Colors

Contrary to how my day started off this has been the most fantastic day ever (or at least since I have been in Madrid)! Got like no sleep last night which was terribly frustrating and makes me want to just scream. So of course when it was time to shower and get read for class I was exhausted and still am. But the promise of class was before me. I got myself as together as I could in my haze of grogginess and set off. Found it no problem - hooray. The "profesora" who was to administer the entrance test was running behind which made me nervous. Ad to this that once she got there she had a 1 minute convo with each of the three of us new students who were there and then circled only a section of the entrance test for us to complete based on our conversations. I think I missed four questions but since I do not have a copy of the test there is no way of knowing what I missed. Bummer. Now where will I be? The woman writes down my level (what is B2? Basic 2? If so that stinks) and sends me to the reception desks to find out my classroom. This woman says 16 but in Spanish and I just look at her confused. She repeats it and then i try to explain to her that I understand the number but have no idea where that room is. Oh. She then points me up some stairs. Ok this seems disorganized and a possible waste of almost $500. Way for me to not trust in God ever when it counts. But just as the real guy was proved wrong so was my doubting Thomas attitude. I find the classroom and see two girls in there. Then comes the profesor who introduces himself and is like oooooooh a new face! He is a tad flamboyant. And by a tad I mean quite a bit. To get to know each other he introduces a game. Sweet I actually know this game. Two truths and a lie. He goes first. It is great because if someone doesn't understand something he happily explains it away until everyone is good to go. And then walks in another girl Michelle. Unlike the others who are from Russia and I think London or Germany, Michelle is from L.A. and just as unsure of her Spanish skills as I am. Can you say insta-friends? The game just going through us five people in the room lasts two hours. It flew by! And it was great because of all the conversational practice! Each time someone went up he would help then write it on the board and fix any errors with wording/grammar/vocab and explain any questions. Then it was time to interrogate the person to try and deduce which was the lie. If you are the current person you have to try to defend convincingly all three of your "facts." Mine were I have a twin sister, I've flown a plane and I've been a Spanish/Science/Art teacher. I think only one person if any actually guessed correctly that Lesley is not my twin sister just my older sister.
By 11:35am it was time for a break. Michelle and I went off in search of a starbucks for her since she has only been here two days and jet lag is still hitting her strong. She taught me about asking for the 45 minute wifi code when you place an order and was sweet as can be and bought me a hot chocolate even though I insisted that it was totally unnecessary. It was a nice chat session as we returned to the class building for the last hour. We cracked up a lot during that last hour, mainly about how most of our high school Spanish teachers failed in preparing us for this experience in Madrid. By the end of class I felt more confident, though still not uber confident, and felt invigorated by the experience. Not only had I gotten to be in an air conditioned room for almost three hours that gave me my first goose bumps since landing in Madrid but I now have a new person to hang out with. God is really looking out for me today. And the joy does not stop there. Nope. It was time to head back to my hostal and buy more water. I tried the bathroom water. It was cold but does not taste as good. Not willing to be that frugal. Instead I decided that refrigerated or not I was going to find a fantastic deal on water. First stop the grocery store that I bought groceries at the first time in Madrid. No go. They only had the lemony water from yesterday and it was 1.34€. No way. So I awkwardly left the store without buying anything. I knew there was another store on my street that actually had a selection of water because I had gone there and bought apples the same day I bought my other groceries. It was a little bit of a hike up the road but within 5-10 minutes I re-found the store. Fun times. I couldn't get through the automatic entrance arm thing. Then an old man waved his hand in front of the sensor and it opened. He just laughed about it and I said thank you. Found what I was looking for immediately: 1.5L bottles of water on sale for .33€ a piece. Grabbed 3 and paid in exact change. I was pretty pumped that I have 4 .01€ coins to meet the .99€ charge exactly. Carrying the water back wasn't too bad since I had my back pack from class.
As if this was not enough bliss for one day, I got to solve tow more issues once I returned to the hostal. The usual reception girl was not at the desk but rather a Spanish speaking only employ was in the hall and asked what I needed. So I explained to him using a wee bit of broken Spanish but overall coherent speech that my room is small and I have a lot of stuff. What this means for my stay at the hostal is that there is no room to move around in the room for someone to come in and ever clean. Not a big deal except I would like clean towels every so often especially when I got one filthy from wiping down my feet one day after so much walking - that was gross. And no I did not give him all the details about why I wanted clean towels. I just figured I'd share that tmi with you. You're welcome :) . Additionally I wanted to empty my trashcan because my room is smelling a wee bit musty or something funky and I attribute that to starting to spoil lunch meat in my trashcan. The man was more than helpful and told me I could exchange my towels every single day if I so desire to do so and that he would take care of my trashcan right then. Oh yes! So I now have a set of clean towels and an empty trashcan. Probably will try try to rearrange my things so I can utilize and maximize my limited space but my basic needs are met.
And now for the crowning moment of my day. Yes, it keeps getting better. If my day was an ice cream sundae this last event would be the proverbial cherry on top. This is because I am getting....PEANUT BUTTER! You see dear friends, although Europeans do not eat the stuff and prefer their nutella, they do know that Americans are willing to pay for their creature comforts. Thus my mother discovered when she also was unable to sleep last night :( . I now have an account on yummyplant.com/es . What this means is that for 14.80€ including shipping and handling and taxes I will soon have a 510g jar of crunchy and another 510g jar of creamy Jif pb delivered to my hostal in the next 48 hours. God can truly do all things! This is my early birthday present from my parents. So awesome!I can't wait to come in after class in a couple of days and be told by reception that I have a package and then open that package and make myself the best pb sammy of my life!
Wait. Hold on a second. How did I forget the other perfect part of my day?! That's right, I'm overly fascinated with peanut butter of all things this past week. I am going to be able to take all my peanut butter and suitcases to my HOST MOTHER's house next week. Yup, finally got in touch with her by calling her today. She is going to let me bring my stuff over next Thursday before my mini trip to London and then move in when I get back from London. This is another answer to prayer that this is taken care of after so much needless worry on my part. Eeeep! If I wasn't so exhausted from not sleeping these past couple of days I would be literally bouncing all over but instead I will limit it to tons of !'s after what seems like every sentence I have written today. Maybe if I get a sudden burst of energy between now and when I try to go to sleep tonight I'll break out in "I've got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart...." and terrify the other guests here since I opened my "hall window" for better ventilation. We shall see how my fantastic day affects my behavior as the day wears on and (hopefully) come to an end in the next 4 hours. Well, that is truly all for now. I am going to return to fantasizing irrationally over peanut butter and moving while drinking my .33€ water.

May God bless your day as much as He has blessed mine!! <3

Super Tourist

Today was the first time I really got to be a tourist through and through and I took full advantage of it. Took pictures of everything in sight on my tour today, especially since that was all my phone seemed capable of this morning. Argh technology! Woke up a little later than I was supposed to for leaving to get to Plaza mayor for my tour. Not because I was sleeping so beautifully that it was hard to get up but because i had slept so terribly last night that I was finally getting a little rest when the alarm went off the first time. Whatever. I will conquer and prevail over this time difference! Anyways...lost my train of thought for a minute thinking about how nice it would be to sleep. I'd love to be sleeping right now at the tail end of siesta but nope I am trying once again to make it without sleeping the whole day until 10pm. And now that my phone is working properly again I can play words with friends until I pass out. The phone. The tour. Ok so quickly choked down a couple handfuls of corn flakes and got dressed to make it to the tour on time. So not enough food and I ran out of water. Also remember that I had never successfully made it to the Plaza Mayor on my own. I started playing the don't use your phone game to get there and was then like whatever I have a time limit today. Try to get the map to load on my phone and nope. Not happening. No internet. Crap. So I try to follow the directions for a bit and then I just straight up am not sure where I am going. Time to use my (at least in my mind) limited Spanish proficiency for help. Ask an old man where the street I am looking for is. No clue. He in turn asks a young guy walking up the street if he knows. Nope. Then I say, in Spanish, that what I am really after is finding Plaza Mayor if they could direct me there. Bingo! What Madrileno does not know where the main plaza is? Answer - probably none. So young guy is heading to metro sol where I have been before and says he can get me pointed in the right direction. Yayayayay! We small talk a bit. He hates the heat and is on vacation until classes start where he is studying journalism. I am fine with the heat though I still don't understand people wearing jeans in it and am just trying to orient myself with the area before my classes start. He is nice enough once getting to metro sol to take me a wee bit farther and point me down the right road. We say adios and I say tons of thank you's and set off solo praying I make it in time for my tour. Victory! Plaza Mayor in sight. Now where is this tourist office? Look look look - it's there! Now which line? Stand stand, get asked by one lady what I need, no go to that lady, another lady calls me to her nope go to my coworker, what do you need?, in English?, yes please, you a student or under 25?, oh yes!, can I see id?, here you go! & ticket and DISCOUNT! My age has saved me .78€! Hope you followed that alright cause it was so spiffy.
Now the tour. It was good and since we had to wear stickers and ear pieces anyways for the tour I decided this gave me all the excuse I could ever want for taking pictures like a bona fide tourist. And I did. We walked and walked and I listened mostly and snapped pics on my phone that was still refusing internet. Worst part about that was I was supposed to meet my friends for the tour. No 3G = no whatsapp messaging with him = I have no idea where he is. Darn. The tour was very informative and the guy encouraged us all the go out partying tonight in some festival that starts tonight and lasts for a few days. I liked the decorations being put up. It would be nice to see the festivities but I would have to have someone go with me. So probably not going out tonight. Worst part of the tour was being thirsty and at the end being left in a random plaza and not knowing how to get back to Plaza Mayor. I asked someone in the group who had a map out if she knew. She semi pointed me in the right direction and voila back at the plaza near the mercada de san miguel that we passed by and talked about on the tour. I look in the market because I realy want something to drink. Too much raw fish and overpriced water. Not happening. I leave and decide that I am just going to call Matthew. Maybe my hone will at least be nice enough to do that for me. It is. Within 6 minutes we have plans to meet up in an hour and I find out that he had tried to let me know that he was sorry and had overslept through whatsapp. I got those messages upon returning to my hostal and connecting to wifi. A little late. But at least Matthew tells me he can probably help me with my no 3G issue. I have hope and after stopping in a store near my hostal have a 1.5L drink. I say drink because I apparently did not buy water. Well it was but wasn't. "Aromatic" water. AKA water that has had some citrus juices squeezed in it. So it tastes like limonade and because of this I decide I will not be bothered by having had to pay 1.90€ when I CAN get water for less than 1€. I think I chugged 2/3 of it in under 30 minutes from being so thirsty. Probably not healthy but it was fabulous. Main problem with it is that all that liquid filled me up and I did not really eat any lunch before Matthew was ready to leave. :/ We know what this means - overpriced lunch coming my way. Nooooooooo.
Within ten minutes of walking together we have fixed my phone. This required turning it off and turning it back on and entering the yoigo pin number which thankfully I remembered. That was way too easy. Over the next hour I played tour guide and made it through almost the entire route that the tour guide earlier had taken me on and basically non stop tried to regurgitate what the tour guide had told my group. I did pretty well. When I could find my way no more it was all good because we were not too far from the Plaza Mayor and Matthew was wanting to eat. We were going to eat at Museo del Jamon which looked a tad pricier for it's menu del dia than I wanted to spend (12.50€). I was good with it only because I was thirsty and the tables were under umbrelals with misters. As we went to find a table the people right next to Museo del Jamon grabbed us up and since menu del dia was 10€ I was happy. Ordering went fairly smoothly with me getting the arroz cubano as my appetizer and the carne con patatas (steak with potatoes) as my entree. Drinks were not so easy. All I really like is water but in the menu del dia I am paying for a drink so why not get a drink too? I don't do alcohol so snagria was also out of the question. Waiter man refused to serve us orange juice because it wasn't very fresh (meh I appreciate his concern). We got our water quickly enough but mine was gone in less than 30 seconds from my thirst. When he came back after a few minutes with the appetizers I asked for more water and Matthew wanted his sangria. He took our glasses and apologized for forgetting us. We didn't see him for 15 minutes. He even brought out the main dishes and no new drinks. I was miserable. You can't eat with a dry mouth so I had to call over one of his coworkers for help who then called him over. Finally more water! Knowing that this was probably my last chance I said I'd like a sprite as my drink. That only took 5 minutes to get. I'm not much of a soda drinker but I went for it. By the end of the meal I was still a bit peeved with the service but paid my 10€ and decided to be thankful.
And we started walking again. Kept going for a while until I had no idea where we were and then we decided we should figure it out. I was a 30ish minute walk from my hostal. Matthew an hour walk though he was going to metro back. So we went together for a little ways and then parted. I was happy to have use of my phone again and it helped me get to Gran Via at which point I pretty much knew where I was. But it was a long walk. And after drinking so much my bladder was no longer happy with me. I don't even think there are public restrooms in Spain and I feel silly asking anyone. Maybe I will google it instead. Then only google will know of my foolishness. So I plodded on and on towards the hostal and eventually made it back. Have now almost finished my lemony water from earlier and am going to try filling up my empty bottles from the sink at the hostal. It's just as cold as what I buy at the store yet it won't cost me - I think this could be a stroke of brilliance, but we shall soon see. At this point I am feeling pretty tired and want to sleep but it is too early to do so :( . I need to be able to fall asleep for the whole night at around 10pm. 3.5 more hours to go. I did at least get a quick shower in to scrub m nasty feet from all that walking. Of course, the power cut off before I was done so I was in the dark for a couple minutes with the water pouring over me. Then back it came just when I had turned the water off and figured I'd be able to feel around for my towel and clothes just fine. Glad it wasn't necessary. Feeling clean though I still need to wash my hair before class (!!!! :) !!!!) tomorrow. I could be a little excited about it. Such is my Sunday. Think I'll probably try to read a little more of summer reading, listen to a sermon podcast and make myself a sandwich before (hopefully) falling asleep at 10pm. Time to see.
Chau chau for now!

Forgot to mention that I added some pictures to the other posts. And all touristy pictures from today are already posted to facebook.

Nighttime Musings

I would have to say that after this morning's initial roughness this day has turned out victorious. Why use such a strong word? Oh because so many things have gone so right. Once I finally got myself out the door, which did take a bit (because I wanted my hair to be dry before I left and I do not own a hair dryer and figure it might not be as acceptable to walk around in the streets with wet hair as it is in the US) the adventure began. Before leaving I had written myself out the google maps directions of how to get from the hostal to the place where I will be taking my Spanish refresher course. Anyone who knows me realizes that if I can conceivably walk to a place then I will most stubbornly and determinedly do so to avoid driving or spending money of other forms of transportation in this case metro. Nothing against the metro really I just have no figured it out yet and do not feel like doing so when I don't have to and can save the euro to spend on something else. With my post it note directions in hand I lectured myself that I had to get all the way there without using my phone. No gps. I could do it and would do it no matter how long it might take or how lost I may get. Relying on technology so much is no bueno. Plus I have a limited data plan through Yoigo and no idea how to check my balance at this time. Thus, the walking began. And the squeaking. My teva's are squeaky for some reason which is terribly obnoxious especially when it is not raining. My squeaking announces me from a block away - "Hey look at me the probably lost American!" I do not need any attention brought to myself and fully intend to stay safe and unnoticed for the next year. Nonetheless squeaking and all and some confusion since my directions used meters instead of miles I made it! Success! Euphoria! Directionally domination! Ok that's a bit extreme but I'm sure those were my exact feelings upon seeing the International house building. Looked at my phone for the time and noted that it only took 20 minutes. Completely doable on a regular (well two weeks) basis. Then the next challenge presented itself: getting back. I had not written down reverse directions. So I just had to steel myself and know that my mother did teach me this skill at some point in my life (thanks, mom!). walk, squeak, walk, squeak, and a strange look from an old man outside a cathedral for my squeaking, walk walk stop. You see I'd passed by many interesting looking shops on my way there but had not stopped at any because I was determined to time myself accurately for how long it took me to reach my destination. But the way back was fair game. So I walked by the Chinese store that seemed reminiscent of a dollar general and then walked back and into the door. And praise the Lord!
To my utter delight yes they did have what I have been desiring since I went to the grocery store. No, not peanut butter. A knife!!!!! There were plenty of them to choose from but I settled on one after a couple minutes for 1€. And it didn't stop there. No, sir! I kept looking around and picked up two more items: a water bottle for 3.90€ and a little 3 grams thing of super glue that the one woman told me was going to cost me .75€. When I brought my purchases up though I was charged 1€. Should I have quibbled? Yes. Did I? Nope because I was too happy over the knife to be concerned about my approximately $.30 rip off even if I could have bought the 10 gram bottle for 1.20€. Why do I need that much super glue anyways? I only broke one thing on the plane. They did have two different fans for sale as well but I abstained for a couple of reasons. 1.) 30€ could buy me a decent amount of food. 2.) I did not actually want to carry it all the rest of the way back to my room. 3.) I only have two outlets in my room, one that always has the current fan plugged into it and running and the second that I use to charge my laptop and phone. But I at least know that should my host mother's house not have ac I CAN buy myself a fan. So I took my three things back joyously to the hostal. I needed to drink my lukewarm water and switch out shoes. Plus side - I found a .01€ coin on the stairs walking to my hostal. Score!
Got to chat with my Jeffery online and show off my new knife. I even tried the nutella I had bought and was wowed by how yummy it tastes. It's like eating a melted ferrero rocher which is one of my favorite chocolates ever. Divine. Said chau to Jeffery and set off again. This time was almost more epic. Why? *Drum roll* I had no directions with me. I had decided to see if I could get back to the Sol metro station and the big plaza from the night before without any directional aid beyond what my brain could remember. And you know what? It kind of worked. I made it to the Sol metro no problems. Even stopped in a couple souvenir shops on my way to see what I will most likely be buying my dear friends and family in the coming months. Passed by Ben & Jerry's and Haagen Daas (no idea how you spell it since I have never had it). Got all the way to this chocolateria cafeteria until I started taking roads unknown that I thought I might know. I didn't. So I just kept walking straight and then took a left turn, still no pretty plaza but kept going. Eventually took another left and another and before too long found my way back to the Sol metro. At this point I was thirsty and from and the heat and walking my hands had swollen. I do not remember a time that they have done that. It was surprising to me and my ring was never coming off again as far as I could tell. I walked into Corte Ingles which is a huge retailer like a department store that is the size of a mall that is all over the place for some ac which felt amazing to see if that would insta-shrink my fingers back. It did not work a miracle and I did not feel like doing any serious shopping even though it seems like ever single store is having a summer sale through next week for some reason. I could rack up some shirts for 3.95€ with all the rabajas of 50% and more being advertized. But I am abstaining from any clothing purchases at least until I am situated in my more permanent residence. By the time I got back on Gran Via which is a major street that connects to Calle San Bernardo I was truly wanting some cold water and not the lukewarm stuff back at the hostal in my room. I knew I could get some cold water in a small shop for cheap like 1.5 liters for less than 1€ but I could not make it. Well, I could have but I am glad I didn't. Walked into a shop that sold some souvenirs but was tiny and mainly sold cold drinks. I spotted a 1.5L bottle of water for 2€ (yikes!). But then as the lady in front of me picked one up and put one back I realized that that rejected bottle was the bottle of my current dreams. Yes, my dear friends that bottle unlike any of the others happened to be frozen solid. I grabbed that bottle and paid as quickly as possible and tried to contain my excitement. Each time it me;ted a little and i was able to take a drink of ice cold water I was filled with pure joy and thanksgiving. It seems silly but once you have done without true cold water you learn to appreciate its ability to refresh. So happy. Only now at around 9pm has the bottle fully melted and started to take on the temperature of my room. But for those few hours that it was still melting I enjoyed one sip after another of icy water joy. This is evidenced by the fact that the bottle is almost empty. I will have to get more water tomorrow. I could go out tonight because stores seem to be opened pretty late but also there is a 24hour store on my street which is incredible. It doesn't even shut down during siesta when it is near impossible to find a place open to eat or look around. I'm thrilled by the existence of this around the clock shop even if they turn out to over charge for water. Alas, I do not feel like venturing out at 10pm though sunset only occurred 45 minutes ago and it is not dark yet.
Ok I got a wee bit off topic. Since returning I have used my knife to make a banana and nutell sandwich for dinner, have gotten my ring off (and after a while of thankfulness of being able to take it off got it back on), read 12 pages of my summer reading and made plans with Matthew to go on a mini Madrid tour tomorrow morning at 10am. I also spilled super glue all over my left foot and hands. No worries I did not stick to anything or myself and it is starting to wear off on my skin now. I just didn't think about the glue getting melted and a bit more liquidy in the heat of my room before I opened it up and started pouring it on the hard plastic straw I broke on the plane. The straw is more or less fixed and I have dreams that in the next 24 hours the glue on my person will wear completely away. If not oh well. To end off I am including a picture of my lovely acquisition that I am so proud of and praying that in a little bit I will find sleep at a decent hour.

A midday Ranting

It might very well be time that I started getting used to the time difference. I do not think I will let myself have a nap today *gasp* and push myself to try and be tire within the next 10 hours. Yeah, I might have slept in today until almost 12 because I didn't fall asleep until 4am. More on that to come. How shall I exhaust myself that much in so little time? I am going to go walking in the glorious infernal heat of Madrid. Ok. It is not THAT bad. It's a dry heat here so very little humidity. Not like back in North Carolina where you walk outside some summer days and are instantly drenched and start instantly praying for rain or a return to ac. Nope. There are not even mosquitoes here. Best thing ever. I'm used to walking outside and getting like 5 bites right off the bat. So it is nice to not have to worry about blood loss when walking outside. Plenty of people here even wear jeans on a regular basis. No idea how they are able to do that. It IS too hot for that. temperatures are supposed to continue being horrendously hot through Monday. I know this not because I looked at the weather forecast yet, but because when I was practically begging the girl at reception to let me change rooms so that I could have ac and my own bathroom she told me that these temps would only last a couple more days. That is my consolation prize for not getting to switch rooms. Well, she did say that I could but I would be switching to a new single room like every day because no one else in their right mind is chilling in a hostal for this long without having really known what they were getting into in the first place. My answer? Go back to my room and bawl my eyes out in frustration. Childish? Probably. I mean how much of the world is living in squalor and has never even had ac let alone indoor plumbing no matter where in a building it may be? Like 90% if not more. No worries I am slowly pulling myself together - I can't have puffy miserable looking eyes when I walk back to the bathroom for my shower lol. My new philosophy that I am trying to adapt is sweat outside not inside. I might as well be exploring outside a bit and just coming back for food rather than moping in my room. Seriously. God has given me a fabulous opportunity and I am whining about inconveniences. I'm sure that other people would not be acting this way and would instead be jumping up and down thankful for the chance to travel and study and all this. They'd probably be doing that bouncing around outside in the city they are living in for a year instead of being inside. So I should do that too. Suck it up. One day my host mother will get back in touch with me and say I can move in. One day I will have use of a fridge and a stove and get to make myself rice every single day and have cold cold water to drink. And who knows I might not even have ac there. Also a good chance that I may not have wifi there (I might be crying again when that happens). Mini rant done. No more pity party.
Yesterday. I was a sorry bum. Beyond my grocery shopping and disbelief that Europeans do not eat peanut butter and therefore do not sell it in their stores I "chilled" in my room for pretty much the whole day until 930pm. I played words with friends. Went on facebook more than a middleschooler and for a second worked on my summer reading. I napped. I snacked. I sweated (can't resist putting that in). But at 9:30 I left. Apparently another person from my program has been here for 3 weeks now. 3! He has family in Madrid and has been with them so the three of us here decided to get together. He picked probably the busiest place in all of Madrid. He even admitted the folly of it. Me in my genius left with like 10 minutes to spare so that I wouldnt not be late and would have plenty of time to walk there - did not want to figure out the metro system yet. Jajaja. Be early. I got to stand around being paranoid and awkward for a good 30 minutes after arriving at 9:42pm. Google lied. It did not take me 15 minutes to walk there. Almost. And the guys were not early. And then there is not one entrance to that metro we were supposed to meet outside of. There were 4. Yes, 4 entrances to one metro - apparently a new modern one and 3 older ones. What?! So I used whatsapp and furiously messaged with my darling friend Yum. At 10:11 I got a text from the guy I had not ever met before and we started the search to find each other. "I'm wearing and orange shirt." "I'm wearing a blue shirt." "I'm by the modern entrance." "I have no idea what you are talking about but I'm near the horse statue and the roller blading street performers." It was lovely. After a few minutes of searching we found one another. Add a few more minutes and using whatsapp (I could be a sales rep for the app at this point I talk about it so much) we found our third. Then we got miserable lost even using an iphone gps trying to find the one guy's friends. Good walk though. And the old buildings in Madrid are just gorgeous! We actually passed right by the place at one point. Thankfully one of the friends found us and brought us the the place. By this point almost 11pm and the place was empty. I was confused. But we met his friends that he had studied with in Africa. Or maybe it was India? I was obviously in a surreal state just trying to take it all in and try to keep up with all the talking. Tried some new things. Ox pate (how you spell it?) is not going to be on my plate by choice again any time soon. The cheeses were lovely though. I guess they kept ordering appetizers. I tried to be adventurous and try things but I did not even bother with the fig marmalade. I KNOW I do not like figs or marmalade so I was not even going there. Turns out it was one of the friend's birthdays (it started at 12am) and more people came with a brownie from Burger King with 20ish lit candles stuck in it. Quite a fun sight. By 1ish they were ready to move on to a new place. We paid the bill. Me and Matthew were ready to go home. He was tired. I just did not want to tempt fate and be walking back by myself an later than I needed to do so. And I really have to get my sleep patterns adjusted. But yay God! Two of the guys had cars which they usually do not use because when all of Madrid is not vacationing to get away from the heat parking is a nightmare. When they are away people who otherwise would use alternative modes of transportation drive their cars and offer to take people home very very nicely. I know what you might be thinking. You rode home with a complete stranger?! No. Sorta. Not really? Ok so I never was fully sure of his name but he was very nice and a close friend of my soon to be classmate. I had faith. And the faith paid off. No more walking for me. I was dropped off at my hostal at like 1:30.
Sleep however did not happen. I started texting (through whatsapp :)) with my mother and laying more words with friends. I had gotten an email from school health center earlier that had been frustrating and mom was there to save the day. We got on skype at 2am and discussed it and she solved the issue. Also told me that it would not hurt to ask if I could change rooms even if it would cost more. It did not hurt. At least I know I tried. And I honestly think that I am the only one using that stupid bathroom besides the staff. So as long as i get to use it whenever I want to then it just is not the end of the world. No one has ever been there when I wanted to use it or knocked on the door asking me to hurry it up when I have been in there. Ok. That is basically a more detailed description of my current life than anyone but probably my immediate family ever cares to know or probably ever read, but I honestly cannot worry about that right now. What I will concern myself with is that it is now 1pm. This means that I need to eat something, shower, get dressed and get out into the city a little. My plan? To walk to where I will be taking my refresher classes for the next two weeks. Then I know where it is for Monday morning. I have achieved leaving the hostal. And when I come back I can work on my summer reading. Other plans. Don't actually have any. Was invited to go to the party for the birthday guy from last night. Don't know if I will go. Not because I do not need the social interaction and Spanish practice right now but because if I do that then I am just encouraging my body to never get used to the time difference. What shall I do? No idea. Chau for now!

One of the roller blading plaza performers that I watched while waiting for my group.

Day Uno/Dos

I have officially been in Madrid for 24 hours! It still feels very surreal. Even though it has been near impossible to get in touch with her (well I havent actually tried the phone yet) I am looking forward to moving in with my host mother. My teeny room in the hostal I am staying at has no ac. But on the plus side I do have a fan. Swear it's hotter in the room than outside. The walls are pretty thin so I hear everything. My favorite part thought is that I have a shared bathroom. What this means is that in order to use that toilet/shower I have to walk to basically the reception desk and then right next to the staff kitchen (no shared kitchen for guests - might should have paid attention to that one before booking) and there is the bathroom. I went back onto the website and it is a tad misleading in this respect. Though some reviews were raving and they liked their ac and private bathrooms so I dont know what I needed to have done for that, maybe pay more/share a room idk. Oh well it is not a permanent thing. And I do have a tv in my room not that I have used it except to turn it off when it randomly came on this morning. Maybe soon I will tackle the tv but I have not been quite bored enough for that yet. Getting here was not so bad. Left for JFK from Greensboro on time and that was good, but when we landed (early 6:10pm) we did not get to out gate for another 30 minutes. At this point I really had to pee and was starting to worry over my connecting flight which although did not leave until like 7:40/7:55 started boarding at 6:40. So we had to leave the plane by stairs and it was not the right terminal. Had to hang out nervously until they shuttled us Madrid bound people to the right terminal to find our gate. Finally get there and I still really really have to use the restroom and hang the lady my boarding pass. Scans it and it reads already boarded. I nearly lost it. I almost started crying right then and there. I've been a bit emotional lately.... But God came through. Yes, they had indeed given my seat away. But they bumped me up to first class to make up for it. SWEET! Got offered orange juice or champagne the minute i sat in my new super nice seat. And then I proceeded to press all the chair buttons as I sipped on my juice and read through the dinner menu. Pretty spiffy. I kept my little bag of goodies which turned out good since I needed the eye mask last night to block out the light streaming in from the hall. Flight was good and I racked up a good 3 hours of sleep. After landing passport controls went through easy peesy and quite quickly. There were free luggage carts everywhere which was lovely. So in no time at all I had my bags and was off to find my airport shuttle thing. I was early so I had to wait like 20 minutes. We had the wrong address for the hostal which irked the driver when we realized it but then found it. There was not a sign outside which spooked me and he just dropped me and my luggage right there. At least there was a mini elevator that barely fit me and my stuff to get one up to floor 1 (apparently i started on floor 0) and to my hostal. Fun story. I never realized I put the wrong dates on my hostal. I had booked it for August 8-24. My plane didn't arrive until the morning of the 9th and I knew that. I got charged for the 8th :/and they thought I was a no show. On the plus side since the room was still saved for me I got to go right to it instead of waiting for regular check in as I originally was going to have to do. Put that fan right by my bed and went to sleep for 3.5 hours. When I woke up I started fb messaging the guy from my program who I knew was already here. He walked to my hostal and we spent a few hours walking around, getting my cell phone taken care of, eating a little bit. So thankful for his help! By 8pm Madrid time I was back at my hostal and getting sleepy but not tired enough to sleep the whole night since my body was still thinking it was 2pm. Got to skype with Jeffery which was very nice. Then watched a movie on my laptop and was able to skype with mom around 11pm. I still wasnt sleepy enough after that so I took a chance on the shower. Kind of awkward but I think there must not be many people needing the shared bathroom or I am just using it at obscure times because so far whenever I have wanted to use it no one else has been in it. Finally by 12am I decided I had to go to sleep.

pic of my "ac unit"

Cute ham and cheese sandwich that looked like a lollipop from dinner with Matthew. (That little circle cost 4.50€!)
So today has been another adventure. I slept in as late as possible which was right around 830 because of noise in the hall. Killed some time looking up places nearby using Yelp app and then went though my travel guide books which are pretty spiffy. By 10 I needed food so I used my one breakfast voucher that the hostal had given me and found "Bar Express" after asking the front desk for where a nearby grocer was. Breakfast? I got a croissant and a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice. Not bad but not really filling either. Went up the street a little ways and found the grocer they were talking about. Went in the wrong entrance and never got a cart or basket because of it. Walked around like a confused pup for a while. Interesting fact: no peanut butter or cutlery. So even though I got some off brand nutela (I hope I like this stuff)I do not actually have anything to spread it with onto my bread. Im going to be getting creative. Box of Spanish corn flakes (dont really like corn flakes but it was the best price at 500 grams for 1.55E so I will learn to like them). Then a bag of mixed greens and a 178mL bottle of what I think is some kind of yogurt drink that was not in the refrigerated section so I figured it would work well in my sauna room at the hostal. Spent 6.89E. Walked across the street to the fruteria and got three bananas, 3 peaches and 3 clementines for 4.10E which was probably a rip off but too late now. I really wanted kiwis but figured that was a bad idea not having a knife or spoon. True a drug store on my way back to the hostal for cutlery of any kind but no luck. They had sandwich baggies and napkins and even some garnier fructis (my favorite!) shampoo but no cutlery. So now in my room and debating which of my meager food supplies will make up my lunch. Hopefully soon will be exploring a bit more with Mateo after lunch. Dont know when yet but I know it is better to get out and do stuff for even a couple hours than just stay completely hoarded up in the hostal. And I need to find a knife and some dang peanut butter before my mini refresher course starts next Monday or I am going to be a mighty hungry person or end up spending too much eating out - tiny sandwiches costing at minimum 2.50E but usually closer to 5E. It is not bad but if I get in the habit of eating out so much I will inevitable run out of money fairly quickly which is not good since I am here for a while. I think groceries will be an easier thing to deal with as soon as I move in with my host mom since i will have access to all of her kitchen supplies including a fridge. Well thats all for now. Time to eat something.