August 28 - Day 2 of Orientation

"You can have a Coke!!" - for Betsy :)

In the morning, after breakfast, Lesley met Katy and I at our hotel to tour around the city again. The main goal of the day was to figure out the metro system and how we were going to get to school from our houses. First we walked to Katy's house. On the way I saw a sign for Burger King which reminded me of Betsy and how she likes to quote the Bon Qui Qui video from Mad TV (youtube it if you've never seen it -- HILARIOUS! :-D)

Me in front of my apartment building

After we found Katy's house, we took the metro to my house. The metro is so much cleaner and nicer than I expected. There are really good signs everywhere that make it so easy to know where you're going!! :) 

After finding our houses we ate lunch at this weird little cafe.. The food was alright, but my chicken was super dry. Definitely the worst food I've had so far in Spain, so we will not be going back there! :)

Shopping in my new favorite store!

By this point Katy and I had a pretty good feel for the city and Lesley dropped us off at our hotel so we could rest for a bit and explore the city on our own. 

When we finally got done being lazy, Katy and I walked around towards Puerta del Sol. On our way we found this adorable shop that was very similar to Forever 21. I can tell my bank account is going to suffer on this trip because since then, I've seen at least 4 more of the same stores directly in my route to school, and several other stores that are also similar to Forever!! Anyways, after we both blew a load of cash, we went to Corte Inglés to buy shampoo, conditioner, and other things that we needed. 

dinner with Katy

Corte Inglés is this MASSIVE store. Picture Super Walmart, Macys, a grocery store, Best Buy, Staples, and Borders all wrapped into one! It's literally multiple buildings, each 7 ish stories tall!! Craziness is what I call it!! It's nearly impossible to find anything in the stores and I'm still having difficulty talking to locals. It's one thing to talk to people that know you're learning Spanish and slow down for you, but most people talk so fast that it's hard to catch their response and make sense of it. I'm learning though! :)

After our shopping trip, Katy and I decided to try this delicious Italian restaurant close to her house. I had fabulous lasagna and of course some wonderful sangria!!  

After dinner Katy and I got some gelato from a shop on the way home. I tried chocolate and coffee. Seriously the best decision I made all day! So so so SO good!! :)