Life in Madrid

For the last 2 weeks we have been very lucky to be living in our favorite city in Europe... Madrid! It is nice to unpack our bags and get settled in one place for awhile. We are staying in a dorm on the campus of La Universidad de Complutense Madrid. It is a beautiful area! We each have our own spacious dorm room, complete with a full bathroom and air conditioning. Three meals a day are provided for us and they have been really delicious. (Although what looks like chicken is not always chicken... could be rabbit... could be another rodent... as we learned...) We are so spoiled and feel like we may have forgotten what it´s like to cook and clean and drive for ourselves. We even have a pool in our dorm! Nothing like being in college again... we love it! Everyone has been friendly and welcoming. It has been really fun to meet new friends from all over the world that are also living here taking Spanish classes. Even some fellow Wisconsinites (Sheboygan!) and other Spanish teachers from the US and otherwise like minded people. Last week the Sweedish olympic wrestling team was staying here for a training of some sort. I (SJ) learned my lesson when I jokingly asked the coach if we had what it takes to be on his team. He was a very nice, yet scaringly HUGE, man and seemed to think we could be turned into wrestlers for his team. HA! What insued was the most terrifying 5 minutes of my life as he attempted to show me all the different ways he could snap me in half. Lesson learned. I will never be a wrestler, nor do I want to be! :)

Studious Andy is taking 6 graduate credits towards his Masters in Spanish at La Universidad, which keeps him busy from 9-1 each day. He has challenging classes and people in his class from Italy, Switzerland, Estonia, Korea, France and other countries. I am taking a different kind of class.... Madrid 101. The syllabus is just a little different than Andy´s. From evesdropping on conversations while riding the metro to striking up conversations with Madrileños in our dorm, stores, cafes and on the streets, I am finding there are plenty of oportunities to use/ improve my Spanish while wandering around Madrid... except I don´t have tests or papers! My test is if I can find my way back home for lunch after a morning out and about.

The afternoons involve lunch, siesta, and pool time. It continues to be 90-100 degree highs each day, with perfect sunny cloudless days! We have found going out for tapas with friends or wandering around Puerta del Sol or Plaza Mayor to be some of the most enjoyable ways to spend our evenings, especially when we always seem to wind up at San Gines eating churros y chocolate. This past weekend we spent in Madrid and were able to see another interesting art museum, Reina Sofia. We also rented a row boat in Parque del Retiro again since we enjoyed that so much last time. On Sunday we went to a gigantic flea market called, el rastro. All those years of after Thanksgiving day shopping definitely prepared me well for that! We found some interesting things, but were limited with our purchases due to the question "how would we get that back?!?" It was an experience in itself just to be there. In the evening we went to another bull fight with a group of friends from our dorm. This bull fight was a little different than the one we went to with our Sparta group, as the matadors were having their debut at "Las Ventas" (the bull ring in Madrid). They were so YOUNG! One of the matadors was only 19 years old! This is something you have to look at from a cultural perspective and Andy summed it up well when he said "good, bad, or indifferent - you experienced it!"

We are very comfortable here and have certainly been enjoying our time. So much to experience and great people to spend time our time with!

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