Final Dinner, Aranjuez and Burros!

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Tonight is Sunday and I'm leaving for Portugal tomorrow on a 9:45 am flight! I can't believe how fast everything has flown.

My last midterm, Spanish History, was last Thursday. Edgar, Hallie and I met in Retiro in the beautiful weather to talk through our notes and outline answers to probably essay prompts. I almost never use study groups but I knew it would be really helpful because not one word of the class lecture, reading materials, or powerpoint slides given to us in the class are in English and so I knew we would all be able to fill each other in on details we may have missed individually. I didn't go to my Intercambio even though it was my last chance but I am facebook friends with the group of Spaniards that I saw a few times there and one guy named Bruno who speaks excellent English is planning to move to Boston by next January, so hopefully I could show him around DC!

Thursday we all just couldn't wait to get the exam over with and felt great at 6 pm after the 2 hour essay exam. Then we all went home to get ready for our final dance which was taking place at 9:30 pm at a private room in a restaurant in the big Atocha metro/renfe station. I was the first student there because usually they tell us to be really prompt for events but everyone came soon after. The room was really classy and everyone look so great-all the guys wore a dress shirt, dress pants, tie and jacket and all the girls were in dresses and heels. Not all of our professors could come but some did and I got to see my art professor Jesus who brought his husband Eduardo (I keep forgetting same sex marriage is legal here) who was really nice, Alenjandra my flamenco teacher, Tomas my business professor, and of course Javier, Maria Angeles, and Carmela. Tina came from the CSDI program that ran some of our trips and orientation but unfortunately Ane who took us on the Old Madrid tour and the Cordoba trip couldn't make it. Mercedes my intensive course language professor and Elena my full time language professor both couldn't make it since they have kids to watch.

First we enjoyed cava (Spain's champagne) and little appetizers walking around and talking to everyone. Then we sat down at our tables and ordered meat or fish. At my table was Alejandra, Ari, Nick, Craig and Tom. Our first plate was some kind of zucchini bread with a cheese sauce and shrimp on top which was pretty good. Then came our main courses. I wasn't too into the meat since there was more fat than I would've liked to cut off but the atmosphere was great and I wasn't paying so it wasn't the worst thing. Dessert was a nice chocolate mousse. We enjoyed some red wine and ever time I turned around the waiters had filled my glass up to where I had started! During dinner Sezen presented Maria Angeles and Carmela with bouquets of flowers from us. Tina gave us all a CD of pictures Ane and she had taken of all our group shots. Maria Angeles also gave us one but my computer said it was blank so I'm going to have them mail me one. After dinner the DJ played our flamenco music and my class got up and danced. Then he switched to Spanish music for everyone to get on the floor and dance to and we all had a blast. They opened up the bar for mixed drinks (everyone wanted to drink up on GW's tab, haha) and we danced until around 2 am.

Some people went home after the party but a bunch of us decided to walk to Kapital which was only a few blocks away since this was the last time our group would be there all together for sure. One guy didn't get let in because he looked too inebriated to the bouncers (it was probably true) and another guy threw up in the club only 10 minutes after we entered and was thrown out (obviously some people took things a little too far). The rest of us had a great time dancing until 4:30ish. We started off with Ashley, Ana, Alex, Andres, Hallie, Diana, Allison, Jarrad, Ari, Craig and Nick. Normally I would've walked to the night bus but I just decided to take a cab with Ana and Ashley.

When I got into my house, I realized that my Spanish cell phone, digital camera, and NJ driver's license were all missing from my purse. I was using a new purse I had just bought with a snap instead of the usual clutch I bring out which has a zipper, and I think when I was up in the lounge area in Kapital I took them out to use them and then set them beside me and either forgot to put them back in or they fell out when I was sitting down. I don't care too much about the Spanish cell since I could only use it for a few more days anyway and my license won't be terribly expensive to replace, but I was really bummed about my camera because I really liked it and it worked perfectly. I also really wish I was able to save my pictures from the nice because I took a lot of cute pictures with friends and my professors with everyone dressed up. Thankfully everything is replaceable though and I made this mistake at the end of the trip and not the beginning or middle. Friday night I went back to Kapital to search in their lost and found room but they told me there was nothing in there (I don't understand this since hundreds of people go to this club every night and I know for a fact I couldn't have been the only person who lost something) but I'm sure someone stole it soon after I left it anyway. I tried calling my phone from Skype on my computer but no one has picked it up. I was able to buy cheap 1 Euro disposable cameras from the supermarket Alcampo in my neighborhood so unfortunately that means I won't be able to post any more photos from here on out. Although I was pretty upset about the camera, the final dinner was definitely my favorite night in Madrid of the whole trip.

Friday I woke up early and went outside to enjoy the weather. I walked around my neighborhood and got on a bus to go to Retiro but my allergies had been really bothering me so I got off early and just walked around. I came back for lunch with Patricia and then met Ashley at the Prado at 6:30 during free hours to "say goodbye" to all of our favorite paintings which was fun. We practically felt like we had a personal relationship with them after spending 2 hours every Wednesday there for 10 weeks! We walked along downtown and then through Retiro. I had dinner with Patricia and then I went to Kapital like I mentioned earlier right when they opened at midnight to look for my stuff but to no avail. Everyone was pretty exhausted from the night before still so I wasn't missing anything because everyone just went to bed early.

Saturday Ashley and I decided to take a day trip to Aranjuez, which is a small town about 50 minutes outside of Madrid where the Spanish kings went to their palace in the spring. My guide book said May and June are the best times to go because all the flowers are in bloom. I convinced Ashley to take the Tren de la Fresa (Strawberry Train) instead of the regular renfe since I had heard a lot about it. Basically it's an old-fashioned train that runs only once up and back from Madrid to Aranjuez on Saturdays in spring and takes you there for 27 Euro and includes strawberries to eat on the train, and entrance to and a guided tour of the royal palace and its museum of the Spanish royal ships. My guide book and the website I found told us to meet in Atocha at 9:30 for the 10:05 train but when we asked at the ticket window we were informed that although we could buy the ticket there, it actually left from the Spanish locomotive museum at another renfe stop. Ashley totally freaked since she wasn't crazy about doing the Strawberry Train to begin with but we decided to try and make it. We quick bought our tickets and a great employee showed us which renfe line to take. The train came in 2 minutes but then we realized we couldn't remember which stop he told us to get off of. We started asking people on the train and a lady who worked across the street from the museum told us to follow her and so we got there just in time!

The train was so cute and it was so fun to ride in. Telemadrid (one of the main TV channels) was doing a story on the train and interviewed the group sitting behind us which was a couple taking the train to get married in Aranjuez and their small wedding party of about 5 people. The bride was wearing a simple white cotton dress with red stitching and had her hair braided with white daises and red carnations. It was so cute! There were also a lot of cute families with little kids on the train and the new reporter interviewed them too. After about an hour we got to the train and since we were in the second group we had to wait for the buses to return to take us to the center of town. We were assigned to go to the boat museum first and then the Palace at 3:45 pm. The museum had some pretty amazing stuff. I can't believe some of these boats could actually float with all of the ornate decorations. One huge boat was designed for the lake in Retiro and Ashley and I could barely imagine it being able to go anywhere in it!

The boat museum was in the main park of Aranjuez and so we walked around taking pictures in the gardens for a few hours. We stopped on a bench to eat the sandwiches our senoras had packed for us around noon. Then we decided to stop for a drink someone more in the center of town. We found an outside restaurant but the menu looked a little pricey. I had mentioned earlier to Ashley that my guide book had only recommended one place to eat in the town called Casa Pablo and a few minutes after we sat down Ashley realized there was a sign pointing its direction right behind me next to the main street. We escaped the expensive place and I had a clara for 1 Euro and her tinto de verano was 1.50 so we were glad we made an excuse to leave. We stood at the bar because we only wanted a drink and there was lots of cool bull fight posters and photographs on the walls, not to mention 2 stuffed bull heads.

After the drink we walked to the outside of the Plaza de Torros and then had about an hour to kill before our palace tour. We walked towards the palace and stopped for a little snack. I had strawberries and whipped cream which was great. Interestingly, the whipped cream in Spain and also Italy isn't really sweet like the kind in America. Then we hung out until the tour and made our way over. The tour guide was so nice and since we were talking to her before the tour started she kept asking us during the tour if we could understand everything she was saying. Haha. Ashley kind of sticks out everywhere we go because of her bright blond hair but the tour guide didn't even know we were there together because she just assumed I was Spanish. I definitely prefer to blend in!

The palace was really impressive and had really ornate ceilings, clocks, furniture, and themed rooms. After the tour we had an hour or so to look through the palace's museum which had some old Spanish uniforms, carriages, and the wedding dresses of the 4 past Spanish queens. Then we walked around outside in the gardens. With about a half hour left we decided to get a snack because we weren't going to have dinner around 9 and so we split a mini pizza from Telepizza, Spain's http://www.travelblog.org/Admin/edit-entry.htmlonly pizza chain store. We caught the bus next to the palace back to the train station at 6 pm and then pulled in to the Delicias renfe station on the old train around 7ish. I got back in time to eat dinner with Patricia.

Saturday night I met up with Andres, Hallie, Ellis, Diana, Ashley, Nick, Tom, Ari, Sezen, Jarrad, Craig and Alex at Milk Bar (real name is Chapendaz but we still call it that because of their house drink that looks like milk and comes from the ceiling). I was a little annoyed we were meeting there because I feel like people always want to go to the same places but at least it was a place everyone knew how to get to. Before the metro closed we took a train more downtown to a shots bar Ashley's friends who studied in Madrid before recommended. It was super hot inside so most of the group just walked right out and we reconveined in another bar on the same street. After everyone had chilled out there and finished their drink we set off walking to find something else and ended up in Chueca. It wasn't really too happening (Javier Alex's home stay brother came with us only to Milk Bar and explained all the Spanish students had midterms in 2 weeks so most college students have started their studying) and so some people headed home. I went into a bar with Craig, Alex, Ashley, Ellis and Andres and we hung out there for a while just talking. We were expecting to have a little more energy for our final night out but everyone was just tired and fine with hanging out. I split a cab home with Ashley since the guys wanted to stay out longer around 3:30 am.

Sunday I woke up at 9:15 am and was disappointed to see rain out of my window because we were supposed to ride donkeys in the campo (fields) outside of Madrid as our final group trip. Thankfully the forecast improved and Carmela called to say the trip was on. Maria Angeles couldn't come and so it was just Carmela with me, Ari, Ashley, Jarrad, Ana, Tom, Ellis, Andres, Edgar, Hallie, Alex and Craig. The rest of the students in the program weren't interested but boy did they miss out! We met at Plaza de Castilla and took our favorite Yolcar bus about an hour outside of the city into the mountains. It was still stormy and the clouds were hanging really low. When we got there the people working at the farm took out all the donkeys from their stables and then we got to choose one. We mounted them and started on the path. A few of the donkeys were a little wild and so the handlers had to hold on to their reigns in front and walk alongside. My donkey was named Cardena and had almost perfect behavior. She really liked to get ahead of the pack and kept trying to pass the other donkeys by walking fast up the sides of the paths and cutting them off. Towards the end of the hour or so we fell to the back of the pack but it was a nice change of scenery. The worker's mangy dog followed us along the path swimming in the puddles and chasing the cows. Alex's donkey named Margarita literally followed mine everywhere right behind it which was hilarious. Andres' donkey Anita got a little wild and at one point tried to make a break for it and so the handler sprinted after it and grabbed its reigns. Andres actually came close to falling off and so the handlers had to get Anita under the control for the rest of the time. Craig was almost always leading the pack because his donkey was young, only about 4 years old and not well-trained so he needed to be lead too. Tom who is over 6 feet tall got the biggest donkey which looked more like a small horse and he kept trying to encourage it to take the lead but it couldn't care less.

After our hour we went inside the farmhouse. I hadn't rained while we were outside but the wind was pretty chilly. The woman at the farm cooked us potatoes, salads, like 5 different kinds of meat and a dessert. I was so stuffed when I left I couldn't even finish all of the dinner Patricia made me at 10 pm. We got back on the bus and got home around 6. After I got home I started to pack and continued until mass at 7:30 at the little Spanish parish a few blocks away. I came home and finished packing and then took my big suitcase to terminal 4 and paid 4 Euros to put it in a locker overnight. Even though I live the closest of anyone to the airport, to call a taxi in advance, drive to the airport and have the driver help me with my bags would've been at least 25 Euros. She called last week and found out the details about the holding service so I just went ahead and did it since I had the time. When I got home we had our "Last Supper" together. Afterwards Patricia went upstairs to get the Brazilian student staying with her aunt who lives on the 4th floor of our building to take a picture together of us together so I can frame it when I get home!

On to Lisbon for a week! I can't believe I'm already leaving Madrid; these past 4 months have flown by. It's been a great experience and I am so fortunate to have met so many nice people and discover such a wonderful culture in Spain. Ashley and I were plotting in Aranjuez how to come back like getting jobs to teach English here before we even left! About half of the students in my program are going directly home and the other half have extended travel plans of varying lengths. I'm really excited to see Portugal because everyone has said only great things about it and I can't wait to meet my Aunt Carmen's family!

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