SPAIN

Hola!
It's been almost two years since I've posted, but given that I have once more packed up my things to roam around foreign countries, I figured this is a good time to write about my travels. I arrived in Madrid for my study abroad experience on Thursday the 7th, after 12 long hours of traveling. So far, the last few days have been a total whir of food, walking, and Spanish, and I love it! I begin classes with other AU students from my program on the 13th, so the last couple days have consisted of a blend of orientation activities (learning about our classes and homestays, getting our metro passes and phone SIM cards, etc.), and independent wandering.

I met my host family and moved in on the 8th, making this my third night here, and they are absolutely lovely. I live in on the 6th floor of an apartment (a piso), with an older couple (in their mid 60s I'm guessing), and their adorable terrier Tim, who has the most endearing underbite I've ever seen. Their 24 year old son also lives here, but I've only seen him once, and they tell me that due to work, he's rarely around. I've also met their daughter, who's in her early 30s, and seems very friendly! The apartment is about 20 minutes door to door from the center where I'll be taking classes, and it's quite spacious. My host parents Dolores and Luis are on the quiet side, but very, very friendly. I say they're on the quiet side because it seems like most of the host families here are constantly talking their students' ears off, however the two of them are both quite chatty, just not as much as the others it seems! The weirdest conversation we've had so far: My host mom telling me about how 20 years ago they had a cat that accidentally died after it hid in the washing machine which was then turned on...a "clean death" my host dad added with a smile, for which my host mom admonished him for, and then assured me that they were really very traumatized at the time.

Since I got my metro pass yesterday morning, which was part of the orientation with the group (and only cost 20 euros for the entire month!), I've been exploring the city at every chance I get. Thanks to a friend's fitbit, I realized that I've walked 20 miles in the last two days, but know I've only seen a tiny portion of the city (though a whole lot of beautiful architecture)! One of my favorite things I've done so far was gone to El Retiro, which is a large and lovely park. My friend Carson and I both had packed lunches (mine was a sandwich with french bread and chorizo), and after wandering through the park for a while, we sat by a central lake, and ate while watching couples and families paddle through the water on paddleboats and listening to a trumpet player perform. Carson and I have promised to speak almost exclusively Spanish to each other, and so far we are doing a good job! Living with a family reminds me of how (though very functional), my Spanish it not at the level that I want it to be at, so hopefully by constantly listening/speaking to friends, my family, and professors, my Spanish will vastly improve by the end of my time here. Another fun experience was going to El Corte Ingles, which is a popular store seen all over Madrid. We thought that it would be fun to go in and explore one, which we had heard were like giant department stores. That was an understatement. El Corte Ingles is 10 floors of Target, Ikea, Best Buy, Whole Foods, CVS, Barnes and Noble, an upscale restaurant, and your local doctor's office. That doesn't even encompass it all, but there's no other way to describe the enormity. What really surprised me was how commonplace it was- there must be at least 15 in the city! After surveying each and every floor, we found that the top floor led to a spectacular viewpoint- definitely worth it!

Also, the food. I'm not sure where to begin with the food, except to say that I love it. The first night the entire group was treated to an 8 course meal with traditional tapas, leading to a main course with a giant steak, accompanied by endless bottles of red wine. That was nice, to say the least. I've never been partial to ham at home in the States, but oh boy, Madrid is obsessed with jamón and I think I becoming obsessed as well. There are countless jamonerías, my favorite one being called Museo del Jamón (Ham Museum), with a close runner up being Paraíso de Jamón (Ham Paradise). The only thing that has to take getting used to is breakfast. We were told that breakfast is usually small, which doesn't bother me as I don't usually eat it, however I wasn't prepared for how sweet breakfast is. The first morning my host mom fed me a tin of chocolate cookies for breakfast, and the second morning I got two slices of pound cake. Between the meat, the cheese, and the cake, it's a good thing I'm walking 10 miles a day!

Some other notable first impressions:

1. I love how I don't automatically stand out. Yes, Madrileños are typically dark haired with medium skin tone, but I've seen plenty of blondes, as well as racial minorities. It's been a while since I traveled to a place where I wasn't ogled at or had my hair stroked, so it's nice not constantly feel self-aware of how much I stick out. 
2. The Madrid metro system. Oh my goodness, it's intense. The entire system covers an enormous portion of the city (and beyond), and the metro stations are sometimes three, four, even FIVE, stories! Despite it's size (there are 13 main lines, and countless other diversions) and apparent intricacy, it's incredibly efficient and extremely easy to learn. It's also very clean. I always had the idea that public transportation could either be clean with relatively low ridership (like Washington D.C.), or grimy with high ridership (like New York), but never both. Madrid has very clearly proved this wrong! One Despite all of these surprises, there's one cardinal rule that the Madrid metro shares with the D.C. metro (and I'm sure others as well), which is to always stand on the right, walk on the left. 
3. How old everything is. This isn't a surprise at all, but it's hard not to notice. In the States, architecture considered to be old is usually a couple of centuries old. In Madrid (which I'm told hasn't even preserved much of it's ancient architecture), this number is closer to five centuries. Everything is stunning, and walking through cobblestone streets does give everything a very romantic and dreamy feel. 

Tomorrow I have some more orientation activities (the details of which are very foggy), and then I'm going to El Museo del Prado with a group of other students, and on Tuesday we're all going to Toledo, which is just an hour south of Madrid. Pictures to come soon, but for now- hasta luego!