Blogs from Madrid, District of Madrid, Spain, Europe - page 104

What a week!!! So many things have happened that instead of feeling like I've just been here for 1.5 weeks it feels more like 3 .... It's been a wild ride but I'm finally at the point where I've reached a very calm content so glad to be here state of mind. I had a very overwhelming first day at Torres Quevedo, the school I will be assisting at for the next 10 months. There are 4 classes I help with, along with Nikki, the other American girl (from San.Fran.Cali) at my school (through Fulbright, different program), but it totals about 80 whining, screaming, squirming, nose-picking 6 to 7 year olds. And it is a completely different atmosphere in each class room. The discipline is completely lacking, minus the Juan!Que haces!?Why are you doing that? which ... read more

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 ... read more

Hei alle sammen! Da er vi nesten ferdig med foerste stopp paa vaar verdenstur, Madrid. Vi har hatt en litt uventet start. For det foerste, da vi skulle sjekke inn bagasjen paa Gardermoen maatte vi staa en hel time i koe og vente. Greit nok. Da vi skulle ut av flyet paa Heathrow for aa skifte fly til Madrid, maatte vi vente i 3 kvarter foer vi fikk komme ut av flyet i det hele tatt. fordi de ikke kunne finne noen trapp som vi kunne gaa ut paa... Ganske utrolig bare det!... Da vi endelig kom oss ut av flyet hadde vi kun 25 minutter til flyet til Madrid skulle dra. Og vi hadde ikke faatt transferbillett med seteplasser eller noen ting. Vi ble busset fra den ene terminalen til den andre, saaakte... Kom endelig ... read more

So I've been to Spain a lot, but I've never seen a bullfight. As a matter of fact, neither have most of my Spanish friends. The majority of young people here don't believe its right. I completely understand why, however, after witnessing it myself, I think the cultural importance of it outweighs the cruelty to the bull. You are free to disagree with me on that one though. A bullfight, or corrida de toros (which more accurately translates into running of the bulls) consists of 6 different individual bullfights. There are 3 matadors (or toreros in Spanish) and each fights 2 bulls, one at a time of course. So its more like you go and watch 6 different bullfights. Each bullfight is broken into thirds. In the first, or the Tercio de Varas, the bull enters ... read more

My ten month adventure is on a roll,a giant, speed gathering roll. I arrived to Madrid Tuesday the 25th to perfect weather and an optimistic outlook. I flew quite lovely on British Airways with my own tv screen & surprisingly good meals. However it was bloody cold leaving the plane in Gatwick. My hostal was perfectly located in the center of downtown, seconds away from 100s of tapas bars and the awaiting sangria ... of which come to think of it I've had none, shame. Saving that for later I suppose. I arrived to an Australian opening the door to the building who somehow automatically knew I spoke English and began conversing w/ me completely throwing me off and not letting me check exactly what floor my hostal was on....Needless to say, many ups & downs ... read more