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Published: March 19th 2006
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Madrid
Puerta del Sol-one of the main areas of Madrid (great shopping area!) **I've added in new pics of my trip to Madrid!**
http://community.webshots.com/slideshow?ID=548706455&key=DXmFlW (Copy and paste web address!)
Hey yall. I hope everyone had a great weekend! I can't tell you how excited I am that everyone at IU is back/coming back from spring break today. I'm looking forward to getting to talk and email with yall soon to hear about how yall are doing!
I was in Madrid this weekend for a little over a day. We left Avila early Saturday morning and took the train (about a 1.5 hour train ride) to Madrid. Get ready to be impressed-I packed everything that I needed for the weekend in a small purse. That's all-nada mas. I was very proud of myself because I am not someone who can pack lightly! Madrid is the first big European city I've been to. I really enjoyed it...there was TONS of great, cheap shopping there that I took advantage of! For any of those who have been shopping with me, you know I'm not the most fun person to go shopping with...I'm picky and particular about what I want and I like to take my time. Fortunately for me, Emily and Rachel didn't really
Madrid
Rachel and me at a little cafe in Madrid for lunch! care what we did. They were fine going into a store with me and just sitting because their feet were killing them (mine were too). Jaclyn, I walked 9.0 miles yesterday-24,500 steps! You've got me addicted to this pedometer. Madrid is a pretty big city with lots of things to do. We decided to go to the Prado (one of the world's most famous art museums) yesterday. If you really take your time to go through it, its not something you can do in a day. It was pretty interesting to see famous paintings by painters that I have studied all throughout high school and college in my Spanish classes. I think that my favorite thing to see at the Prado was "Las Meninas" by Velazquez. This is one of the paintings I remember the most information about from my previous classes.
We met up for tapas and drinks with Rhiannan last night. She student taught in Avila last semester and loved it so much that she moved to Madrid and isn't planning on returning home anytime soon! She showed us around some and introduced us to some good tapas and drinks! A lot of the food here consists
Madrid
the painting Las Meninas by Velazquez at the Prado! of jamon (ham), which I'm not the biggest fan of, but I'm sucking it up and trying new things. Speaking of trying new things, the dessert at the residencia the other night was (buffalo cheese) and some kind of orange/strawberry jam/spam looking thing. Sounds appetizing, doesn't it? Well, since I'm trying everything here, I tried this...and started to gag...and it took everything I had to swallow it. Pretty gross. This one Spanish guy sitting across from me was collecting the uneaten desserts from other seats and I'm pretty sure he was eyeballing mine. Sick! Anyways, Rhiannan showed us around Madrid's night life some. People in Spain have a different night life schedule than in the US. They sleep all afternoon/evening and then go out from 11:30-7 am or so. At about 1:30 am last night, there were a ton of people in the streets just starting their nights! Crazy!
We met up with Ryann at the airport today and headed back to Avila. The weekend flew by. I'll be visiting Madrid a few more times I'm sure since I only got to see a small portion of the city. I'm not ready to head back to school tomorrow! I'm teaching 2 lessons tomorrow and I am VERY nervous...please say a little prayer for me if yall think about it!
To say the least, my experience over the past week has been very interesting and challenging. I love it all, and I don't think I've laughed as hard as I have while being here in a while! You can't help but laugh when you have a 20 minute long conversation trying to explain to someone at a barthat plays heavy metal Spanish music that I am joking about everyone needing nametags so that we could remember each other's names...but since I didn't know how to say nametag in Spanish, he was lost, and wrote his name down on a piece of paper for me and passed it around the table for everyone to write their name...For those of yall in the states-be nice to foreigners. They aren't stupid, although they may sound and look like it, but they just aren't used to America's customs and possibly even the language. Think about me being in Spain! Everyone has been amazing here-so understanding and kind and patient(minus a few, but you just forget about those!) I am very glad that I am in Avila because I am forced to speak Spanish. I spoke so much English this weekend in Madrid because most everyone there knows English or is a tourist from an English speaking country. The moment I say a word in Spanish, they know I am an American and speak English to me. I would not make the progress in my Spanish like I am if I lived in Madrid!
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Katie Bryan
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AMY!! I miss you so much already! I am all caught up on your entries and can't wait to hear what comes next for you! Miss you and love you!!