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Published: January 19th 2009
Hello everyone! I have finally arrived at my home stay and am able to tell you all about what I've done so far. Unfortunately, my home stay does not have internet access and so I've been trying to log on to nearby unsecured wireless networks and haven't had much luck. I apologize that this first post is so incredibly long. I want to record everything I can remember as a record of my trip so feel free to skim.
I left for Spain las Thursday afternoon after spending my 21st with my best friends from GW in DC. It was great to everyone again before I left! On Thursday I woke up to renew my drivers license and then finished packing. My dad and I stopped in Philly first to exchange some currency to use in the beginning. Luckily, I managed to avoid all of the awful fees for international ATM withdrawals and debit card purchases by once again becoming the proud owner of a Commerce/TD Bank checking account! Yay! After exchanging the money, we made it to JFK airport in good time because it was in the afternoon. We arrived around 2 pm, checked my bags at Aer Lingus, ate lunch, and then I went to the terminal and waited two hours or so to board. My mom and grandmom called to say goodbye before I left and my dad gave me my final pack of America Tident gum. When I got on the plane, I was in the last row. After a few minutes, an attractive Irish flight attendant asked me if I'd like to move because I wouldn't be able to sleep with all of the noise created my the flight attendants and their carts. He asked me, "Are four seats enough for you?" and moved me to an entirely empty section of four seats in the middle of the plane! I managed to sleep a little laying across them (everyone around me was jealous) and I managed to make it through without feeling too sick (I know my friend Andy was praying for me after my little motion sickness incident after exiting the Philly airport this summer).
I was most worried about making my connection because if I arrived in Madrid after noon I would miss the chartered bus and have to find my own way home. My flight was from JFK to Dublin and then I had about an hour and 20 minutes to catch another plane to Madrid with Aer Lingus. The Dublin airport was small and I had to go through security again even though I had just gotten off the plane. A security man also asked me to give him my umbrella for inspection which I still can't figure out why. Anyway, because we took a longer route to avoid turbulence I was still in security when my plane was finished boarding. Luckily, I hustled to the terminal and they were holding the plane for me and another girl. An Aer Lingus employee walked us outside and up a flight of stairs to the plane.
My plane to Madrid arrived on time around 10 am. One of the ladies from CSDI (an education program which is in charge of our intensive language and culture course during the first month) named Tina was holding a GW sign and brought me over to meet another GW student, Edgar from Atlanta, who had already arrived. I was able to speak English with them because Tina grew up in the US and moved to Spain after falling in love with it while studying abroad. She has since married a Spaniard and is raising two girls. Many other students had their flights delayed and so we waited in the airport for a while until finally we collected mostly everyone and drove in the chartered bus to the Hotel Convencion on O'Donnell St. (I thought this was was Spanish?).
When we got to the hotel we all were very hungry and tired. Tina had given us a little snack pack with fruit and candy but a lot of us hadn't eaten much in hours. We were assigned roommates and given a schedule for the first few days of orientation. We all took siestas until 5 pm when we met in the lobby to go to dinner together. On the way we were shown directions to CSDI's office after walking through a huge park in Madrid (Parque Retiro) which is 3 miles total in its perimeter. We continued to walk around and met the other CSDI coordinator, Amelia, and the director of the GW Madrid program, Carmela. We had reservations at a tapas restaurant around 8ish and got a chance to know each other. In my program there about the same number of boys and girls and everyone is a junior. I haven't gotten to know everyone completely after a few days but my fellow students are Jordan (my roommate in the hotel), Ari from Turkey/the US, Sezen from Turkey/ Texas (she and Ari have been dating for two years), Jarred (he is close to being fluent after spending two semesters in Latin America, Ashley from Tampa, Alex, Craig from North Jersey (a Yankees fan...ew!), Tom from North Jersey, Ellis, Marion from Texas, Hallie from San Fran, Marcus, Ana (she is living here in Madrid with her grandmother and is almost fluent), Diana, and Edgar.
We ate Spanish tortilla (which is like an omlette but with potato), pieces of bread with different toppings (some had red peppers filled with shrimp, some had eels, some had cheese), little fried fish that you pop in your mouth (I only tried one of those- not my thing!), cheese and crackers, and salad. Afterwards we we wandered around the streets near our hotel and found one of the Corte Inglés, which is basically the Spainish version of Walmart. It is totally huge and they are all over the city. They have clothes and food and some stores specialize in things like cell phones, electronics, travel, etc. After dinner most of us hung out in one of the hotel rooms before we went to bed.
The next day, Saturday, we had to meet at the CSDI headquarters at 10:30 am for our orientation. First most of us met for the hotel breakfast around 9:30 am. There were lots of meats (one looked like uncooked bacon?), fruit, scrambled eggs, pastries, and some cereals. At orientation, Tina, Amelia, and Carmela went over Spanish customs. For example, we learned that Spaniards all cut their food with the knife in the right hand and the fork in their left holding in downwards and cutting one piece at a time and lifting it straight to their mouths (unlike most Americans who cut their food and then switch the fork to their right hand). Also, instead of putting the hand not in use on their lap like most Americans are taught is polite, Spaniards always keep both hands above the table. It's probably a good thing because it will help me slow down and enjoy my meal more! Carmela's rule of thumb is that anything which soils your fingers requires utensils. Even pizza requires them! Carmela also taught us how to peel fruit with utensils which is then cut up. I plan to eat all of my apples and bananas in a back alley to avoid all this hassle.
Another interesting thing is that the Spaniards are very conscious of their energy usage. Because electricity is expensive and Spain frequently experiences droughts, we are never supposed to turn on lights unless it is necessary and our showers must be shorter than at home. Rosemary would fit in well here.
We also learned how to greet our home stay señoras (most of the home stays are older, single or widowed women) by kissing them on either cheek (no handshakes!). Then we got some materials about our first three weeks during which we will be taking an intensive Spanish language and culture course. Tina gave us maps of the metro and the renfe (train). Around noon we were off on our own for lunch. I went to a small place with Ashley, Jordan, Craig, Hallie, Andrés, Jarred and Ana. Jarred and Ana tried their best to translate the lunch menu and Jordan (a vegetarian) had to change her order for the poor waiter three times because everything she ordered turned out to be some kind of meat. For lunch it is customary to serve two small dishes and so I had a pasta and a pork dish. Carmela explained that pork is a large part of a Spanish diet because during the Inquisition people ate pork to prove they had no Jewish or Arab blood. At the end of the lunch we sort of over-tipped because we were all so accustomed to leaving around 20% but in Spain you usually only tip around 5% if at all. One funny thing was that we discovered some words in Latin American Spanish do not have the same meaning as "Spain Spanish". Jarred thought he ordered ketchup with his hamburger but it turned out to be marinara sauce.
After lunch many of us walked around the area and bought our cell phones. At the orientation a lady from a pay-as-you-go cell phone company gave us a presentation but a few of us wanted to shop around. A group of us who didn't buy phones from her went to the Vonafone store and found a cheaper option with their pre-paid phones. I knew not to expect that everyone would know English but I thought most people would. I was wrong- almost all of the people I have met at stores speak only Spanish and maybe a few words in English. Thanks to the translating efforts of Ana and Jarred and the patience of the very nice Vonafone man we were all able to get our cell phones (movils).
Many people went back to the hotel to nap again and then I went to the concierge to find a Catholic church for Sunday mass. He gave me directions for one only 4 blocks away. I followed my map and passed it at first because it was a very nondescript, brown building. I noticed they had mass on Saturdays at 5, 6, 7, and 8 pm and so I turned around, changed, and went to the 7 pm mass. The church was small and sloped downwards like an outdoor amphitheater. Unfortunately there were no signing or missiles (I had hoped to see what kind of songs they used and at least follow along in the missile for better comprehension). The church was almost all comprised of people over 40. I began to notice that most of the older women in Spain wear brown fur coats, which I think is kind of funny. Also, at communion instead of filing down in an orderly line to received the Eucharist, people just all went down at the same time which was odd and confusing. It was hard to understand the readings and the homily and of course the only response I could manage was "Amen" and so I'm going to try and read the readings before mass and start trying to memorize the Creed and Our Father in Spanish so I can participate more.
Afterwards I joined everyone at the hotel's lobby to walk to a formal dinner at a restaurant in the center of the city. We got to the correct metro stop (Goya) but then couldn't remember the directions and so we had to call Carmela. The place was a little restaurant completely surrounded by glass and mirrors in between two main avenues of the city. We had sangria, bread (pan), salad with a ginger dressing and tuna fish on top, fish or steak (I had the steak and it was very good but much more undercooked then I'm used to), and a flaky dessert with apple filling. I sat next to one of our Spanish culture professions who is married to a Portuguese man and taught for a while in Argentina. At dinner we met two girls who had started the program already for a semester named Allison and Suzanne.
After dinner around 11 pm we walked through the center of the city and past a lot of famous museums and government buildings. All over the city are these cows (vacas) painted differently. They're literally everywhere and are really cool. I will try to put up some pictures.
Then Suzanne took us to Sol (a part of the city with a lot of bars and from what I've read is the first place tourists go, haha). Our large group ended up splitting up into different bars because many were too small to fit all of us. Spaniards smoke so much in restaurants and bars! So far that is definitely the one thing I would change. The drinks were more expensive than we thought they would be and so we walked around and tried to find discotheques without a cover charge. However, like Carmela warned us, bouncers look only at your shoes and guys with tennis shoes/sneakers are refused entrance. We experienced this firsthand because a few of the guys had wore sneakers to dinner because we thought we might go back to the hotel first. I took a cab home around 3:30 am with Hallie and Diana. Interestingly, the metro closes at 1:30 am and reopens at 6 am. Madrid is famous for its nightlife and people often take the "owl bus" home late at night or just go home at 6 am!
On Sunday morning we all had to be in the hotel lobby with all of our things at noon. Jordan and I slept in and then we all met our Señoras. Mine is names Patricia and is the same height as me! She drove me to her apartment which is in the neighborhood (barrio) of Hispanoamerica, where all of the street names are Latin American countries (mine is Guatemala). Patricia speaks fluent English (which she did for the first day in order to explain everything clearly to me). She lived in Connecticut for a year and also in London. She is single, 45, is a practing Catholic, and has 8 siblings. One aunt lives on the fourth floor of our apartment building and aother, Maria Cristina, lives a short drive away and is housing Sezen. Patricia has a college degree and works for an insurance company in HR- a job she doesn't particularly like. She told me she was considering a career change to becoming a teacher but with the current economic crisis she has decided to put it off until much later because she is happy she has a well-paying job when many do not.
Patricia's apartment is very small. It has one long room that serves as the den and also has a table for eating meals. There is a separate small kitchen, a room for her, a room for me, and a bathroom. After I unpacked we put my suitcase in a little room (kind of like the hobbit hole!) which was on top of the apartment building's roof (everyone who has an apartment has a key their own little mini storage room there). It didn't take me long to unpack my things. The apartment is very tidy and frilly. I have a small desk, a little chair, shelves, a bed, a night stand, and a closet. Everything is very nice and the mattress is brand new and very comfortable.
After I unpacked she showed me how to lock and unlock her apartment door and the door to our building. Then she showed me the surrounding stores and the metro and bus stops, which are both only two blocks away. For school, I need to take our metro (Columbia) one stop and then I need to get on the train for a few stops to the university (about three stops). The trip takes about 35 minutes total. She also showed me a public pool only a few blocks away because I said I liked to swim where I can get a 10 visit pass. She also said there was a park nearby where I can run. There is a Dunkin' Donuts and a Haagan-Daz right next to my metro which is funny.
Patricia and I went over possible lunches. She said I would try everything she made and then we could figure out a few things I liked (I was sorry but I had to veto the tuna and egg salad options). Because she works, I will always bring a bagged lunch with me because she won't be home to cook it. She said I will always have a sandwich or two with a few pieces of fruit. She also said for breakfast people just have tea or coffee and some toast or cookies. What kind of country is this without eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, sausage, French toast, pancakes....? As my friends and family members know, I am not one to pass up a big breakfast.
For lunch on Sunday Patricia invite her aunt Maria Cristina and Sezen so Patricia could make sure her aunt knew what to make Sezen for meals since she is Muslim (she does not eat pork). In Spain, people eat lunch around 2 or 3 pm and then dinner around 8 or 9 pm. We had salad, a puree of squash and peppers with bread, and candy like fudge for dessert. As the previous GW student of Patricia's said, she is a very good cook. Afterwards, Maria Cristina drove Sezen and I around the city in her car and pointed out all of the landmarks and where Sezen would take the renfe to school. We got our train tickets (normally for each month we will buy tickets for unlimited rides on the metro, train, and bus but since it is too late in the month we are buying 10 time passes for each as we need them). Then Maria Cristina dropped me off and I continued to get settled and read. For dinner we had bread, a soup with spinach, garbanzos, and beef, and for dessert she gave me a little candy that Spaniards eat at Christmastime. Patricia explained that Spanaids eat very helthy with their Mediterranean diet and students she's had through the years have never gained weight. One girl from Stetson U even lost a significant amount!
I went straight to bed at 10 pm after dinner. Today, Monday, I woke up at 8 am to get to school by 10 am. Although Patricia and I share a bathroom, it doesn't seem like it because she is gone for work very early. As with everyone else in the program, I have complete independence. She does my laundry once a week and is required to give me three meals a day. My only duties are to tell her if I'm going to miss a meal, come home late, remember to always lock the door, keep my room clean, and turn off the lights. The metro was very easy to use and although the train system was pretty confusing, a very nice man pointed me in the right direction on my map.
I met Tina and the group at the train station for our university with Ari and Jarred who came on the train a stop after mine. She walked us to the right building, which kind of looked like a high school. People were smoking inside there in the hallways, too! We all took a language placement exam which had a multiple choice, essay, and oral component. Then we hung out at the cafeteria and I got a little sandwich with baguette bread and bacon (more like ham) and cheese which was very good. We returned to the classroom at noon and got more instructions about the intensive course, which is a few hours Monday through Friday starting tomorrow until the beginning of February. Out of three levels, I was placed in the intermediate class with 5 others which I think is a mistake because although I can read and write all right I have trouble understanding the speed of Spanish and speaking. We got our student IDs which we can use for discounts around the city and we also got our wifi and computer log-in user names and passwords.
After that I went with Tom and Ashley to the library to check our e-mail because unlike other students we do not have internet in our houses. Some people said they were going to buy unlimited internet from the phone store but I think I'm going to stick to stealing wireless from around me when possible because it is about 40 Euros a month. Then Ashley and I took the train to her stop (she lives near Sezen) and we walked up and down the streets in search of a cafe with wifi. Spaniards pronounce it "wee-fee" which is hilarious. Unfortunately a lot of places were closed because it was 2 pm and time for everyone's siesta. I had read that many businesses were shifting to a more American 9-5 business day time but I didn't see any evidence of that! We finally found a McDonald's hoping that it would have wifi but unfortunately you have to buy a pre-paid prescription. Then Ashley and I succumbed to French fries (seriously, I did not mean to fulfill the American sterotype in the first few days of being there but it just happened! Also, there are no condiments out for your use and I got one packet of ketchup with my fries. Ashley said when she ate somewhere else they made you pay for it. Again, what kind of country is this?!
When Ashley went back to her house for lunch I tried to find my way back home on foot. I ended up going in the wrong direction and took the metro home after wandering around for too long, but it was interesting. I ate my lunch along the way which was two sandwiches: one with wheat bread and peanut butter (she said she was making me a pbj but I later learned she couldn't open the jelly jar) and one with wheat bread and what I thought was butter but apparently was some kind of cream cheese-looking cheese. Ew. The second one went right in the trash can and I tried to eat most of the peanut butter one. I can't deny that I am a picky eater. Luckily I also had two clementines and two apples to hold me over.
At 5 pm I met Ashley at her metro stop and we went downtown to meet Jordan. We found our first Starbucks, which incidentally is even more expensive here. Ashley went to use the bathroom and found out she could only get in by punching in the code found on her receipt- a clever way to only let customers use it. Then we walked around randomly and checked out some clothing boutiques. I ate dinner tonight with Patricia at 8:30 pm. She made a lightly-breaded white fish, red peppers, the same squash and green pepper soup, bread, and yogurt. The fish was delicious!
Tomorrow I have my intensive course at 8:30 am- ahhh! We were supposed to have a group tour of the campus but it was canceled so we could watch Obama's swearing-in at 4 pm (GW students live for this!) and so we are still looking for a place to watch it.
As I said before, my wireless is random but I can check my e-mail at school in the afternoon (very early in the morning for everyone on the East Coast). I have Skype and now can use gmail's video chat function since I bought a webcam and my lovely former roommate Rosemary is lending me her external speakers. Please let me know how everything is going back in the US and enjoy the Inauguration!
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Sarah
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WOO-HOO!!!
i totally forgot to tell you about the fruit - my house father tried to teach me how to peel an apple with a knife but i never got the hang of it, lol. I AM SO JEALOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if i can get cheap plane tickets....i will come visit you.