Montana Country Girl Meets Spanish City Girl

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So the best place to begin is at the beginning I suppose so let me start by thanking you for your time in reading my blog about my adventures abroad. My time already spent in Madrid, Spain has been interesting to say the least. Just to give you a little background I am from little old Bozeman, Montana and let me clarify before we begin that we actually do have cars and yes there is a possibilty of more cows than people in the state. I attend Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA but I decided to take my adventures abroad with Saint Louis Univeristy in Saint Louis, Missouri. I am currently studing in the university in Madrid which has about 600 students ranging from American students to European students to permanent students that come from both locations. It is a nice school and I can't complain about taking 12 credits, being pass/fail, and having school only four days a week. I am studying communications and Spanish while also teaching ESL classes twice a week. But let me take you away from the mundane little details about me and let's talk about Spain. Now I can't help but profess my love of Spain but this love affair did not start off so well. The first two weeks I was in Spain I ran into some trouble. My study abroad was supposed to begin with a nice five day vacation in La Manga soaking up sun, being fed in a hostel, making new friends. We did end of soaking ourselves in the turrents of rain that passed while we were there, and we were fed some yummy breaded sardines, and I did make some friends as we sat in our depression over the lack of things to do. Just to be fair I do have to say that the last two days we were there I actually did get to windsurf, waterski, and kayaak as promised and we did find a little Egyptian pub that helped us pass the time. As well I still pass my time with some people I met from that trip and I can look back and laugh now at our misery. From there I returned to my apartment in Madrid where I live with a wonderful family and two amazing roommates. Altogether there are seven of us that occupy a decent sized apartment with a terrace that is located within walking distance of el palacio real, el sol, la plaza mayor, and principe pio which are all prime locations in Madrid to perfect one's social life. The family I live with consists a wonderful Spanish couple and their two girls. Our dinners together are always filled with laughter, smiles, and cultural interaction. Spanish is the common denominator and already having been here for a little over a month my Spanish has improved immensely. But once again as I said this is me writing after a little of hardtimes I encountered. After my hurricane-weather filled weekend in La Manga, I also had a an encounter in an elevator one night. My roommates and I were returning from a night out on the town at about 5 am (which is completely normal in Spain) when we entered our elevator and found ourselves cornered by a thief with a knife and were forced to give up every thing we held in our hands. These items included about 90 euros in total, a couple credit cards, 3 cell phones, a pair of our keys, and some cards that serve absolutely no purpose for a competent thief (such as that card for a free pair of jeans at the buckle) let me emphasize my still-present bitterness towards the situation. We all came out fine, however,and I guess for that we can praise. God.....Then from there I dealt with a horrendous cold and now find myself with a knee in horrible condition. This all happened in about two weeks while I was also trying to accostum myself to a foreign country. But that is in the past and now I find myself in that love affair I mentioned above with the country of Spain. I have had the opportunity to see Salamanca and Barcelona and soon my travels really begin. I will travel to Italy, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland in the semester that I am abroad as well as some little Spain trips. I find myself with many places to go with not enough time or money but hopefully I will get to see enough to really feel like a world traveler. As for Salamance it was a quaint little city with a really cool hookah bar and one amazing cathedral and time spent with my friend Joe from home and Janet from school. Barcelona on the other hand had a lot more tourist attractions, nightlife, and a really cool hostel. We had the opportunity to meet some European students and throw ourselves into some real multiculturalism. The whole trip was exciting but although I loved the architecture and sites we saw there I was happy to return to Madrid. There's just something about the city that makes me feel at home there. It could by the beautiful palace I see every morning, the sound of Spanish ringing in my ear, the nights spent dancing, or the wonderful people I have met. Or maybe it's wonderful Spansh friends I've met or the sobremesas after dinner where we will talk with our family that places Spain in such a special place in my heart. I can't put my finger on the reason. The city has been one of many firsts: my first time living in a city, my first time dancing in a seven floor club, in a salsa club and a Eurpean club in general, my first time depending on public transportation, and my first time going to a school where the person next to you might speak French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Arabic, as well as English. So that is just a little insight on my adventures as well that I know will just continue from here. I hope this love affair continues and that Spain really becomes a part of me. After all some days I wake up in the morning and simply stop, take in a deep breath, and remind myself that I am standing in Spain.

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