Finalmente en Madrid

After 27 days, I've finally arrived in Madrid. Only two days later, and I am already so excited for the next three months of our lives. My flight took off from Rome yesterday, however I was fortunate enough to have another student in our program on the same flight. He was also backpacking (except for six weeks!) and it made me feel much more comfortable about transitioning from one experience to the next. We arrived at Madrid Barajas and met with our program coordinator. Ten minutes in the country, and I quickly realized I am going to be speaking Spanish for three months. This, of course was the point of studying here, but after visiting countries where they spoke German, Hungarian, and Croatian, it was very interesting speaking with locals in their language.

After leaving the airport, I was the first to be dropped off at my host family. I was nervous. As we slowly walked towards the apartment, I forced my self to clear to my mind and anticipate an great experience no matter what. Within the first few minutes of meeting my Senora, I knew I was going to be happy here. She is so friendly and so kind, and she speaks Spanish possibly faster than most people I have ever heard- this I am going to need to get used to.

I spent the afternoon moving in to our room, eating lunch (our senora is a fantastic cook and she eats healthy!), and getting adjusted after being overwhelmed. We live on the tenth floor of a high rise. The apartment has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. Our senora lives alone, however her son and daughter (and her family and children) are also in Madrid. Jess and I share our bedroom and have our own bathroom. The apartment is clean and spacious, very close to the Metro and nearby markets. There are also four other students from our program in the same building, and I can't wait to get to know them. It's only been two days and I am very happy with our home.

After getting settled, Jessica Goldband, my roommate and close friend arrived. We were very happy to see each other, and are already having a blast exploring the city and becoming acquainted with our new surroundings. Our first Madrid experience including navigating the metro for our first ISA meeting. As part of ISA's Fall 1 Program at Antonio de Nebrija University, there are thirty students (although ten of us are from DU!!) and we are all just beginning to get to know each other. Antonio de Nebrija, our university, is a school of Spanish studies designed for students from outside of Spain. I am very excited to see where the other students in our classes will be from, and get to know other parts of Europe and the world even more, while learning about Madrid. More on school later this week though...

After our meeting, ISA gave us a brief tour of the city in which we saw El Plaza Mayor, el Palacio Real, El Plaza de la Villa, and other popular sites near Sol, the main city center. After exploring, our Saturday night continued with hanging out and getting to know one another in the city before returning home for an amazing night of sleep.

Today is Sunday in Madrid, and Jess and I quickly learned NOTHING is open on Sundays... welcome to the Spanish lifestyle. We went to Plaza de la Castilla this afternoon, however, and checked out the street markets, purchasing a few things we'll need over the upcoming months. Our senora told us that Sunday is a big days for markets such as these, including a bigger one in Sol, and I am excited to get to see them all. The remainder of our day consisted of getting adjusted and preparing for a big week. Classes start on Tuesday!! It's very weird realizing that I am going to school again... although probably a good thing. Tomorrow morning we meet early to take our placement tests, and from there the adventure officially begins...

Off to bed for an early morning, but you should all know I finally tried the Spanish Tortilla, and it was amazing! Thanks for all the food tips from everyone! :o) Much more to come soon!