This is NOT Real Life

So obviously I’m not updating this nearly as much as I should be, but I was gone for the weekend without internet, so I get a freebie there, right?

Barcelona was INSANE. As my roomie Kate’s brother puts it: “Barcelona is like Disneyland. You definitely want to visit, and you have a crazy time, but you would never want to live there.” Probably mostly because you’d spend all your money (or get robbed) in only a few days. Expensive as it was, that city is out.of.control. And the Mediterranean! Don’t even get me started….the topless women tanning (don’t worry mom–I stayed covered up!) and salt coating on your skin don’t even matter when you realize how fantastic the water and the beach feel. I won’t even begin to mention the night life. There are no words to describe the mish-mash of cultures, people, activities, and ages.

Unfortunately, we didn’t make it out to see any of the Gaudi architecture, which was my main objective with this trip. We set out to find the church that has been under construction for 125 years, but got lost  sidetracked, but still ended up seeing some pretty cool stuff: An annual street festival, a riot at City Hall, and a Catalonia-wide event for promoting Catalan independence.

After recovering from the night bus, and 5 people squeezed into 2 twin beds for 2 nights in a row, I’ve settled back in Madrid. Yesterday, some girls from the program and I celebrated our first “Tuesday in Retiro”–a new tradition we’ve started with the intention of girl-talk and 75cent wine once a week. After our picnic and chats, we headed out into paddleboats:

 SO in love with Madrid! Couldn’t have made a better choice–I cannot believe this is REAL LIFE.

I just finished writing my Autobiography in Spanish for class tomorrow, and I’m off to watch  the Real Madrid game at a bar with my brother and his friends!

Only one week!?

This past week has been ABSURD since we’ve been here, and I’m loving every second of it. Between kicking off the school year a month earlier than everyone back slome at Cal Poly and trying to learn enough Spanish to understand the game shows that we’re always watching on TV, this past week has been the time of my life. Already, this amazing experience is going by WAY too quickly!

Last night, Kate and I went with Alex and his our (new, Spanish!) friends to “Vogue Fashion Night Out” where we were VIP’s with gold-card access to the tent in the center of Madrid’s version of 5th Avenue in NYC, where we mingled with celebrities, were treated to champagne and free cocktails with rose petals floating inside. A picture says a thousand words, and this is the epitome of the most pretentious night of my life:

Of course, not all of Madrid (or this trip) has been so peachy and pretentious…the unemployment rate in Madrid is skyrocketing to it’s highest in history (25% overall and 40% for ages 25-40), and the homeless and sick swarm the metro begging and crying for extra cash. It’s definitely big city life over here, but every experience is putting more of my own life into perspective. It’s been  incredible how NICE the Spanish people are to foreigners us–everyone (for the most part) realllllly appreciates any effort to speak their language and learn their customs and seem to always be there to help, not criticize like us Americans are all-too-familiar with.

This trip has also begun to give meaning to “Live in the moment” and such over-used phrases as “Carpe Diem.” Cliche as it is, the realization that for every place I visit, this might be the last time I come to this place in my LIFE, has really made me (and other USACers) realize that now is the time to have no regrets, immerse ourselves in the culture, and really get to know and love Madrid and the country of Spain.

After that heartwarming preach-sesh, I’m off to pack–I’m leaving on the night bus at 1am for Barcelona for the 3-day weekend with all my favorites ❤

Los Primeros Días

Disclaimer: This might turn into “Adios America” instead of BRB…

I LOVE MADRID!

At the request of one of my besties back Slome, Gina, I am updated my blog for the first time from Madrid!

So here I am during nap siesta time on my fourth day in Madrid. These last few days have been insanely busy and hardly any sleep. Finally I’m caught up on sleep and no longer jet-lagged (after a 10 hour flight to London–sitting next to Kate and Dan-from-London, 2 hour layover, 2 hour flight to Madrid), I finally have a few moments to connect with the rest of the world, sitting at my desk in our AMAZING apartment:

Spanish sunrise from my bedroom window (yes, the pool is ours)

We’ve gone through city, school, and walking orientations with our program, made tons of friends from around America (and Korea), gone to the “Cat’s Hostel” for sangria, watched the VMA’s with Spanish voice-overs with our family, and eaten lots of ham and cheese! We took a placement exam for classes yesterday, so I know now that I’ll have NO FRIDAY CLASS, and I will be taking Spanish Composition 1 & 2, Advanced Spanish, and Drawing Madrid. So stoked.

Last night, Kate and I went with our brother, Alex (he’s half-American, so I’m dropping calling him Alejandro) to MTV’s Madrid Beach party (which was actually on a man-made river) and it was awesome getting to know him and his friends quite a bit better.

Looking forward to our first Saturday night, and our first morning of not having to wake up early!

¡Adios!

Today is finally the day!! I’m spending the morning doing last minute things with my parents (and cats!) and meeting Kate at the airport this afternoon (after checking in together/moving around our seat assignments). I finished packing late last night:

 

My bag that I’ll be checking weighs 52 46 49.5 pounds after much manipulation, .so hopefully the airline scales are the same as mine.

I’ve got my money converters, Madrid travel books, and a TON of new apps on my itouch (including “TextNow” which provides a new phone number that texts over WiFi–so I’ll be connected to America, whenever I’m in range!).

All that’s left is to say a final “Hasta Luego” to my famliy, friends, cats, and country! See you all in December

Mi Familia

Yesterday, I FINALLY received my housing assignment for Madrid. I’ll be living with Paloma, her son Alejandro Alexander, and their small dog in a Northeastern neighborhood of Madrid. Since our little freak-out last week, my bestie Kate and I requested to live together. Luckily we asked just in time and will both be living with the same family, a pool, tennis court, and our own bedrooms!

We’ll be living off the northern part of the #4 Metro line. Unfortunately, our other friends are really spread out (off the southern part of #5  and another near downtown), but at this point I really have no room for complaints.

FOUR DAYS!!

Dos Semanas Más

Two weeks from today, I’ll be at orientation and doing a walking tour of Madrid! Which means I’ll also have survived about 15 hours of travel sleep time. Better get packing….

America can wait

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America can wait, I’m hanging out con los Madrileños for a bit!