El Estadio de Real Madrid, Nuestra Primera Visitante y Comida con la familia de Cristina

After a long week fighting a cold and some strep (all better now!), I was excited for the weekend! Despite the rain, un grupo grande de los estudiantes de IES went on a tour of the Real Madrid Stadium on Saturday morning. We were able to see all sorts of neat things, from trophies and jerseys to the luxurious team bench! We even got to walk on the sidelines of the field which was really neat, una oportunidad unica. The stadium was gigantic - I had no idea before I got there but after walking through it, todos de mis amigos and I realized that we have got to go to a game VERY soon!

Becca and I

10 points for whoever knows who this jersey belongs to...

Just your typical soccer bench...

After el paseo, I went to meet Will and Ellis, nuestra primera visitante, at Cien Montaditos for lunch! We had a great time catching up at lunch and got to continue our fun at dinner - guess where?! - Lateral, of course! and then at Chapandaz, the cave bar. It was so fun to have a Wofford friend visit and no espero for more to come!

And of course Peds and pals came!

After sleeping in and knocking out some tarea Sunday morning, Cristina's family came over for comida! Cristina has a hijo, Pablo, and a hija, Maria. Maria has stayed with us before when Cristina went to her campo to ride her horse, but it was our first time meeting Pablo and his family! He and his esposa are both writers for El Pais, a very famous Spanish newspaper. They also brought their two hijas preciosas - Celia, who is 4, and Emma, their 6 month old baby. Celia, like any four year old, was wide open and immeadiately gave me a big abrazo y un beso on the cheek before taking me to my room to color with her and talk about her favorite Disney princesas(Celia's is Jasmine, but she also really likes Rapunzel). Emma was adorable too and very well behaved - she didn't cry once! After coloring we had a delicious lunch that consisted of some type of fish soup (that was interesante...) and arroz espanol con carne y verduras! The arroz espanol was one of my favorite meals we've had by far. It was also so nice to be around little kids - I really do miss babysitting and all the alta calidad Disney shows!

Off to finish some reading for mi asignatura de literatura and head to bed - I've got to rest up before heading to Barcelona to visit Charlotte this fin de la semana!

Bilbao, San Sebastian y San Valentin

One of my favorite quotes that I learned from some very smart ladies is "to enjoy the wrong turns." Well, that's how we started our trip to Bilbao with IES! After sleeping through our alarms and missing el autobus de IES to Bilbao, Lizzy, Will, Thomas, David, and I, along with a few other students from our program, hopped on a bus to Bilbao to meet the group for a weekend adventure. While it did cost us a few euros rather than a free ride, we had a great time! We got to see lots of the Spanish countryside and even watched a few peliculas americanas along the way! Five short hours later, we pulled up in a taxi to our hotel where our group was just checking in. After meeting up with Margaret and Sari, mis companeros for the weekend, and getting settled into our room, all 100+ estudiantes gathered for a paseo del Bilbao. We were so lucky because we had tiempo incredible! It was 60 degrees and sunny, the perfect weather for a tour of the city. It didn't hurt that our hotel's vecino was the Guggenheim either..

The Guggenheim

The Guggenheim

Alex, Kaitlin, Marge, Becca, Sari, & I with El Perrito in front of the Guggenheim



After walking around a beautiful city for a few hours, we all headed back to the hotel to get ready for the night. It was Kaitlin's twenty first birthday so she, Margaret, Aindrea, and I went to this delicious restaurante italiano for dinner and to celebrate! We had a wonderful evening with delicious food and great company - Padres, be proud! We actually discussed la situacion en Egipto and la economia! We finished our night off at a local club with about half of the IES students, excited for San Sebastian the next day!

Saturday morning, we grabbed a quick bite to eat in the hotel and then hopped on the bus to head to San Sebastian for the day. Although the rain and cold wasn't ideal for our viaje, we were still able to see how breath-takingly beautiful San Sebastian is! We spent the day with tour guides exploring the city and finishing our visit with a typical Euskera comida (Euskera is the name for Pais Vasco, the autonomous community that is home to Bilbao and San Sebastian).

I should also mention that every year there is a muy famosa festival del cine in San Sebastian! If you google it, you can see pictures of Julia Roberts on this very beach accepting an award for Eat, Pray, Love!

http://www.sansebastianfestival.com/index2.html

Marge & I in San Sebastian!

After a rainy day in San Sebastian, we headed back to Bilbao for a low key evening before heading out early Sunday morning for Madrid!

La Dia de San Valentin

So Monday, as you all know, was Valentine's Day or as it's called in Spain, la dia de San Valentin! We decided that it's not quite as big of a deal here but there were still plenty of tarjetas, flores y chocolates being sold! Lizzy and I did find our own Spanish valentine, however. His name is David and he is siete anos and absolutely precious. He lives in our building and his father, Gregorio - possibly the nicest person we've met so far - is the doorman. David likes to hang out with his padre and takes English classes at his school! We try and teach him palabras nuevas de Ingles everyday, but he is still learning greetings and temas for small talk. We were able to ask him to be our Valentine, though we're not sure he really understood!

Paris, Super Bowl y Otras Cosas

Lizzy and I woke up early Friday morning to eat breakfast and then jump on the metro to head to el aeropuerto and go to Paris! We took Ryanair and it was an easy flight but they have a very strange habit of playing a bugle when you land. And after la cancion, everyone CLAPS because we made it! I was dying laughing but then wondering at the same time why we needed celebrar a successful landing. After getting lost for a little bit in between the cab and our hotel, Lizzy and I finally found Elizabeth, Claire, Charlotte, Meredith, and Amy on the street! I was so happy I screamed and abandoned my bag

for hugs from some of mis amigas mejores.

After getting settled into our rooms, the eight of us (the Nantes' girls' friend Emma joined us for the weekend!) headed out to find un restaurante for dinner. After deciding to split up, Charlotte, Claire, Elizabeth, Emma, and I found a great little Italian restaurant where we enjoyed pizza and pasta! (I know we should have been going for the French food, but we couldn't resist!) After a delicious dinner, we wandered around trying to find a bar. We ended up at a random pub where we ended up laughing the night away and making some new friends! We first met Miki and Ed, a British couple celebrating Miki’s cumpleanos by spending the fin de semana in Paris. They were absolutely hilarious, telling us stories and giving us nicknames that had us crying we were laughing so hard. (Lo siento, but some of them aren’t blog appropriate).

Our new Scottish bagpipe friends - they were in town for the rugby tournament!

Ed & Miki

We all woke up bright and early on Saturday morning so we’d have time to take in los sitios! Since we all had different places we wanted to see, we split up and Elizabeth, Claire, Charlotte, and I headed out to start our day touring the city! Suerte for us, Elizabeth could read the metro map and planned out how to hit all the high spots – Notre Dame, Arc de Triumphe, and La Tour Eiffel! Here are pictures from our incredible day!

After exploring the city, we stopped for a much needed snack at Le Bosquet and of course HAD to have some “frite,” aka French fries or patatas fritas en Espanol and a glass of wine. Our group met the rest of the girls back at the hotel and then headed to one of the coolest dinners I’ve ever had at Le Refuge des Fondues that Alex Conner recommended. It is a hole-in-the-wall fondue restaurant where you climb over the table to get to the other side and then are just served food until your food! It is also famous for serving wine from una botella de bebe – definitely something we weren’t used to! After two hours of delicious food and great company, we knew exactly where we needed to go – the sparkling Eiffel Tower! Being the delinquents us Wofford girls are, we decided to sit on the fenced off grass and talk in front of the tower for horas and just enjoy being together. Needless to say, it is a night we will NEVER forget!  

(The picture program for my blog is messing up but here are some!)

Just making sure his Eiffel Tower is the same as the real one...

Champs de Elysee

Sacre Coeur

La Tour Eiffel from the top of the Arc de Triumphe

Notre Dame

Botellas de bebe de vino!

Las chicas at the fondue restaurant!

(Elizabeth, Claire, Lizzy, Meredith, Emma/ Amy, Charlotte)

After a tearful goodbye on Sunday, we all went our separate ways. Lizzy and I made it back to Madrid just in time to unpack, eat, and then head out to watch the super bowl at a bar called Public House that had the game! It was definitely una experienca differente from watching it at home but it was a fun way to get a little taste of home in Spain!

  

When our second week of classes started on Monday, we realized we’d already been here un mes! It’s amazing how quickly el tiempo is passing, especially since we are all starting to fall in love with Madrid! Rather than boring yall with stories from class, here are some random things I’ve forgotten to include so far!

Restaurants: Cristina makes us breakfast and dinner every day so we are responsible for lunch. Two of my FAVORITE lunch places so far are Top Ten and Cien Montaditos. Top Ten is right by our house and has a great lunch menu that includes a sandwich, bebida, and even chips and guac for only five euros! It reminds me of a little Panera with more of a coffee house atmosphere.

Cien Montaditos is a famous chain in Spain that is very addicting because there are over 100 (cien) tipos de montaditos (little sandwiches) that are only a euro or two each! (Except on Wednesdays when toda comida is one euro!)

Gimnasio: Lizzy and I decided to try out our first Spanish workout class – la clase de abdominals and it was great! The instructor is very entertaining and a bit like a boot camp instructor but it’s impossible not to laugh when he is teasing you in Spanish and dancing salsa while we do crunches.

Viajes: I feel so lucky to be able to travel so often here – it is the chance of a lifetime! Here are a couple of trips I’m taking in the next few weeks:

            - Bilbao with IES this weekend!

            - Barcelona to visit Charlotte and McCauley the last weekend of Febrero!

            - Ibiza – the Cancun of Spain (it’ll be interesting) the last weekend in April!



El Rastro, Clases y Nuevos Amigos

Needless to say, I am VERY far behind on my blog but with classes starting last week and then an incredible weekend in Paris, I just keep running out of time! But here it is, over a week's worth...

Domingo ~ Sunday morning I woke up early to meet Tess at el Rastro, a neat outdoor market that is only open on Sundays from 8 until 2 or 3. There are at least fifty tents selling everything from ropa (clothes) y joyas (jewelry) to art and local food! As I was walking to the metro, I ran into Catherine, a girl in our program, and she decided to tag along. We didn't get to el Rastro until around 1:30 but it was just enough time to take in the sites and look like total tourists clinging to our bags to ward off pickpockets. After exploring for a while, we wound up in La Puerta de Toledo for lunch where Tess and I split a bocadillo del manchego, the best cheese in Spain, and then we all enjoyed a fresh postre for dessert! Being the bit of the nerd I am, I decided to call it an early night so I'd be ready for mi primer dia de clase. Having survived a week of classes, I can honestly say that I'm enjoying them! (With the exception of my Spanish Women's History class, but that's just because it is a little on the boring side.) Hate to break it to everyone back at Wofford, but we only have classes Lunes through Jueves, something we all agree is amazing! As for mis horarios..
- Lunes: Hispanic & Latin American Women Writers' literature, Spanish Grammar (todos estudiantes have to take this), & the History of Spanish Painting. My grammar teacher, Sonia, is extremely nice and has promised to be our "temporary madres" while we are in Spain, saying she'll even fuss at us when we forget to wear a scarf! She also is filling us in on random facts about Madrid and Espana. For example, pepper spray is illegal here so some people carry around hairspray for proteccion -- I'm not sure it has quite the same effect but it's better than nothing!
- Martes: Spanish Grammar & History of Spanish Women
- Miercoles: The nice thing about Wednesdays is that they're different from my regular schedule because while I have mi asignatura de literatura and grammar class in the morning, I also have a Contemporary Spanish Film class and then head to different museums for my art class! This week we were at the Prado looking at works by Greco. Es fantastico to be able to see the works we're learning about in person and with our teacher as our personal tour guide! Unfortunately the Prado doesn't allow you to take pictures, but google La Trinidad de Greco if you want an example!
- Jueves: Thursdays are the same as Tuesday but it also means the weekend has begun!

Before I tell yall about my amazing weekend in Paris, I have to include some other highlights from last week! Tuesday night, Cristina invited some of her amigos over to have cena with us. I don't remember the woman's name because she came late and said her name VERY fast, but the star of dinner was definitely our new friend Ynigo. Ynigo is quite the character! He is an older man from Bilbao (where we are headed this weekend with IES) but has been living in Madrid for the past 15 years. What makes him unique, however, is that he owns castillas (castles) and vineyards! He brought some of his vino over for dinner and was full of stories about sus adventuras in Russia, China, and in America. He speaks fluent english but spoke in Spanish for the mayoria of the time so that we could improve our espanol. It was quite a night! We ended our week in Paris with another dinner at Lateral, which has become my favorite lugar de tapas by far. Any and all visitors will be forced to eat there!

The delicious postre Tess and I shared!

Tess & I

Where algunos y todos visitantes will be eating!

Wofford does Madrid! (Will, Lizzy, An, Thomas)

Pictures and stories from Paris to come soon - time for mi tarea!