Thursday, November 11th

Thursday I accidently overslept my alarm because the volume was down super low. The night before I had started to make a hot chocolate when I came in from the game, but had forgotten the cup of milk in the microwave, so when my senora was making her breakfast in the morning, she assumed I was up because there was another cup of milk in the microwave. After not hearing me for a while, she knocked on my door. The problem was this was at 8:50 and my class starts at 9:00 and is at least a 15 minute metro ride – if I’m lucky. Needless to say I did not make it to my first grammar class.

I got up anyways and utilized my time by writing an essay for my literature class. I’m really trying to use my time wisely and get my work done when I can. I’m cutting back on Facebook and clearly slacking on my blog (sincere apologies). The problem is that my main goal for coming to Spain is to learn Spanish. Obviously I need to pass my classes and I’d love to get an A+, but I’m trying to work in my Type A+ personality. I’m trying to work on reminding myself that there are more important things in life than straights As and perfecting my homework. Because of this new life perspective, I find it super hard to pass up opportunities to hang out with my friends and spend time with my family. It’s especially hard when Teresa invites me to hang out with her and her friends. Not only would I much rather spend time with them, but I feel like I learn a lot more Spanish talking with friends than reading out of a book or writing a research paper. So that’s where I am right now, trying to balance my goals for Spain with still pulling off a decent grade and receiving my credits. It’s also hard because I am in class literally 27 hours a week. On top of that, I have to make up 30 hours outside of class because IC wants me to take 45 hours of each elective instead of the 30 Tandem offers. The other girls from the states are only taking 21/24 hours and neither have to do the 30 extra hours, so it’s a pain when I see them able to relax and have more fun and I’m pulling all nighters (not literally, but sleep is lacking). Anyways, I’m done ranting and complaining, but that’s where I am right now.

So Thursday night I went on my regular language date with my uncle. We did our normal walk around the block and ended up drinking cokes at VIPS like always. As always I learned a lot and had a blast. He’s so gracious and really eager to learn and to help me learn Spanish. Such a sweet guy.

Wednesday, November 10th

at my first futbol game

Today I went to my first futbol (soccer) game!! Katy and I were planning on going to 100 Mondatitos, our favorite restaurant in Madrid with the best tinto de verano and 1 euro sandwiches on Wednesdays, so we went around the school asking if the rest of our classmates wanted to go with.

Elke, one of the German girls, told us that she’d like to another night, but she had tickets to the Atletico Madrid versus Las Palmas futbol game. Moreover, she had two extra tickets for the game if we wanted to go with her! Of course we said yes!!

me, Elke, Marie, and Katy
cheering on Atletico Madrid

I had class until 6 pm so I had to rush home, eat super quick, shower, and bundle up for the game. It started at 9 so we met at the closest metro station at 8 pm to beat the crowd. Another girl from our class, Marie, came with too!

The game was so much fun, but super different from sports games in the US. First of all, there was a projector screen, but it was way smaller than the standard sports stadium in the states. They also didn’t show any video of the game nor did the announce anything other than when players subbed. This made it a little difficult to follow because none of us are experts in soccer so when different penalties would be called we wouldn’t understand what happened. I also wanted to see instant replays of goals and such, but they don’t show that either.

The biggest difference though was the fan conduct. Just like in the US the players hollered and cursed at the players, what was odd to me though was how they continued to scream when someone got hurt. The people around us would be yelling profanities at the players while the paramedics were on the field. In the states everyone is completely silent until the player walks off the field, in which case the entire stadium, no matter what team you’re affiliated with, stands up and claps. When Katy and I explained this to Marie and Elke, they were shocked. Marie was like, “but it’s part of the game.” I guess it’s just a cultural difference, but it bothered me. They were even hooting and hollering when this guy was gushing blood from his face. I mean I could see it from our “sky scraper seats”!

with our mixed beers :)

Overall the experience was a blast. It was also fun to enjoy a game and drink a beer at the same time, something that I obviously haven’t been able to do in the states! I’d really like to go to another futbol game sometime soon! J

Tuesday, November 9th

Siguenza cathedral

Tuesday was a holiday at school. While I’m not exactly sure why we had the day off, I do know that the holiday was just for Madrid capital and not anywhere else in Spain. Maybe it was a Saint’s day or something?

Anyways, since the whole family had the day off of school/work, we went to their summer house in Sigüenza, about an hour and a half drive from Madrid. I absolutely fell in love with the city. It reminded me a lot of Chautauqua, the way they described all the fiestas and all the close family relations.

Anyways, we went to the cathedral and a castle! They were both so beautiful. The cathedral was under construction so that was kind of a bummer, but it was still really pretty. I think I shall get married there! J

The castle was really sweet too! It’s been reformed into a hotel now. The courtyard is open to the general public, so we walked around there for a while. There was a well that kind of freaked me out; it reminded me of The Ring… YIKES! After taking pictures by the scary well, Teresa and I snuck upstairs even though it’s only supposed to be for guests. It was totally gorgeous! Maybe I’ll spend my honeymoon there.. J

Plaza Mayor

They also showed me their apartment in Sigüenza. Luckily Teresa’s room has bunk beds as well as a day bed for when I move in this summer. ;) They’re house was adorable. I really liked all the decorations. It’s bigger than our place in Madrid.

For lunch we ate at this tapas bar downtown. It was delicious!!

 

THE RING!!

On the ride to and from Sigüenza Teresa offered to look over a paper for me. Little did she know what she was getting herself into… She ended up reading 3 papers of mine out loud to Conchita so they could correct all of my mistakes! J They both kept complimenting my writing style and word choice. It made me feel really good that they thought my papers were pretty good! J

On the way home my senora asked if we minded stopping by the zanatorium on the way home. Trying to be flexible I said sure!! I had brought a plethora of homework with me so she told me I could just sit in the lobby and work on that.

our boyfriend

You may be wondering what exactly a zanatorium is.. well I was wondering the same thing. All I knew was that it was kind of on the way home and my senora was tickled silly that we were willing to accompany her.

It wasn’t until we were walking down the hallway, past lots of sad looking people dressed in black that I put two and two together. My senora had mentioned to me early in the day that her co-worker’s mom had passed away that morning… We were at the Madrid Morgue. Needless to say, I did NOT go in the room, but rather waited in the hallway and worked on some grammar homework.  All in all, it wasn’t a big deal, I just was a little shocked to be at the morgue! Oh the adventures I’m having! J

Sunday, November 7th

<3 her!!

:)

 On Sunday, my sister, mom and I went to IKEA because Conchita needed to buy some furniture for an apartment they rent! We brought one of the little boys in that lives in our apartment building with us and picked up Teresa’s friend, Monica, on the way. We had the most fun EVER!

flag :)

While shopping may sound like a simple, rather boring task, we jazzed it up by having tickle fights and sword fights with wrapping paper wands. Naturally I had to take a picture by the Christmas decorations because Christmas decorations mean I’m coming home soon (which is SUPER sad!! L)

Normal :)

death..

Christmas decorations

For lunch we ate in the IKEA food court. Following the typical Spanish tradition, I couldn’t move after finishing. I seriously thought I was just going to nap right there at the table!! It was so much food! Delicious too! J

Teresa and I fighting tehehe

After finishing at IKEA we dropped Monica back off at her house and then Conchita dropped Teresa and I off in the Puerta del Alcala for the MTV EMA awards concert. It was so awesome! We watched Katy Perry perform outdoors in the plaza. It was crazy! I’d never been to an outdoor concert before so I was super excited to be there!

Monica, Teresa, y yo

The highlight of the concert was the group of Chinese teens next to us. There was a boy who was dancing to all of the songs, especially Teenage Dream. HILARIOUS! Of course I had to take a video of it, which was fine and funny at all, until another guy from their group caught me! WHOOPS! Regardless, it made for a fabulous inside joke for us! I keep teasing Teresa about how the Chinese boy is her boyfriend!

family <3

After we got back from the concert I had to catch up on homework. I had a fabulous weekend, but didn’t do enough of my work. Needless to say it was a SUPER late night Sunday, but 110% worth it!! J

me and my sista

MTV concert!!

At the concert

Saturday, November 6th

family

Saturday we had lunch at my Spanish aunt and uncle’s house. I love how much my Spanish family makes me feel like I’m one of them. J My aunt is just as good of a cook as my aunt; lunch was DELICIOUS!

Ana, me and Teresa at the
Chinese Ret

After lunch Abu wanted to see the Grandma on the other side of the family who is in a nursing home nearby so the cousins all went to see their other Grandma. This left Teresa, me, and JuanJo (my uncle/language exchange buddy). We started watching some sports channel, but ended up walking around the block and going to get cokes at VIPS. (I’m seriously keeping that restaurant in business J haha)

me and my sista

So this is where things got awkward. To keep the story semi-short, my sister wants to learn insults, so I was teaching her some English insults. One thing led to another and she asked me what “horny” means. While I didn’t mind explaining the word to her (we’ve been through worse), when my uncle wanted to know what we were talking about, I kind of lost it. After his persistent insisting, I taught him the word. I’m not sure I explained it very well though because shortly later he said “I think my son is horny for you.” Yikes!!!!

our special buddy

After Abu and Conchita were done visiting the other Grandma, we headed back to the house. I was planning on spending the night in doing homework, but Teresa invited me to hang out with me and her friends. Clearly friends were the better option for me. Besides we were speaking in Spanish the whole time so I was learning lots! ;)

We went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant that was delicious. Teresa and I split some rice 4 delight dish (that had like 7 ingredients??) and a platter of grilled lemon chicken. I had a blast hanging out with all of them.. until the convinced me to eat a lemon, with the peal. Pedro did it first, and then Ana, so I just assumed it was normal. Teresa took a video of it. I look like a fool. Haha!

 

dancing in Monica's car

After dinner we drove around Madrid for a bit singing and dancing out the windows. SO MUCH FUN! I love my Spanish sister so much! <3

Friday, November 5th

Jack with his
 birthday surprise

TGIF!!! :) Today was one of our classmates birthdays, so a few of us chipped in and bought sweets from a local bakery. They were a major hit and Jack LOVED them! :) I can't imagine being away from all of my family and close friends for my birthday. That would be so sad!

We had our second pronunciation class today as well. Let's just say it didn't go as well as the first. I have some serious issues rolling my "R"s and I looked like an idiot the whole class. It was just frustrating not being able to do it!

After classes, I went home, took a nap, and got a little bit of homework started -- don't worry, not tooo much, I do know it's Friday! I also talked to my dad on Skype and got ready to meet up with some classmates.

Sabine, Katy, and I after our
tapas date :)

Around 8:30 we met in the Plaza de Santa Ana to have a drink and chat. We talked only in Spanish, which was difficult, but a lot of fun. After we finished our glasses, we went to another local tapas bar for dinner. The tapas were excellent! They were all on little slices of bread and were super yummy! There was a bar and you just walked up with your plate and picked out what variety you wanted! At the end they counted your toothpicks and charged you accordingly. I really liked the place and would love to go back sometime!

Katy, Sebastian, and I getting ready
to go out after tapas

After dinner, Sabine went home because she leaves in the morning, but Sebastian asked if he could come out with Katy and I. We were planning on going to Joy, a club close to her house, but when we got there the guy with the guest list was nowhere to be found. We waited around for about 15 minutes, but we didn't want to pay to get in, so we ended up leaving. We were going to go to another club, but we were all sleepy, and it was after midnight and Katy had to go to Barcelona at 7:30 am.

When I got back to my house I sat around and watched some tv with my mom and sister. We all fell asleep in the living room until about 3 am. It was so funny. Gosh I love my family here! :)

Thursday, November 4th

out to lunch

The stress thickens. 

Today we had an extra class of pronunciation added. At first I thought this was totally stupid, but I didn't realize how cruddy I am at speaking in Spanish. We were talking with pens in our mouths and trying all sorts of other tricks to speak more correctly.

girls from school

Between our classes we decided that a simple bag lunch would not do. I'l already ate some of my sardines sandwich (LOVE THEM!), but I really wanted a juicy, real cheeseburger. So we went to VIPS to relax between our classes and eat a real american-ish meal! It was just what I needed! :)

Highlight of the day: my art professor telling me that going to karaoke with her and the class was much more important than finishing the paper I had due for her! So I decided to go to karaoke! :) 

singing Poker Face :)

Katy and I sang Summer Nights from Greece - I was the man which was not a good life choice. I sounded like a totally goof, but it was a lot of fun! :) We also all sang "Genio Atrapado" (Genie in a Bottle - Christina Agulera) in Spanish as well as Besos by El Canto de Loco. In English we also sang Poker Face - Lady Gaga. It was all in all a really fun night, and a much needed break from the stress of classes! 

Dancing to Bad Romance :)

I'm going to work on managing my time betters so that I can do fun things like karaoke because I'm realizing how important it is to have destressing activities as well! :)