So much has happened in the last week! I don't even know where to start! Well I do, in chronological order of course!
Well, most eventful was finishing IES officially (although I am still in Madrid since I have to take my University final and turn in some homework for that. I am so glad I get to stay longer! I cannot even imagine leaving Madrid to soon, I'm just not quite ready yet! However with this new warm weather and summer feeling, its going to be a struggle to bucks down and study, at least I have some trips coming up so I can study en route! Finals ended last Thursday, and to celebrate we had a Comida de Despedida with all the staff, professors, and students in a really fancy hotel.
Before the comida, I went to the orthodontist to pick up my retainer which had to get fixed (thanks stan...) and then David and I went to Plaza de España to enjoy some wine and candy before the comida. Then we trekked over to the ME hotel in Plaza Santa Ana for some delicious food and goodbyes.
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| Yoga instructor (never actually learned her name...) |
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| Menu for lunch (pinky out!) |
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| fried chicken balls in cream of asparagus |
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| pork with mashed potatoes and peppers |
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| pistachio ice cream with cherry sauce and chocolate |
Lunch was delicious (see above photos). I was sitting with most of my favorite people in the program and we were having a great time, waiting for someone to make some announcement or say something. But no one did! So David prepared some quick notes and gave a toast!
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| David delivering his brindis |
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| Grammar class with Maria |
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| Yolanda, the nicest IES staffer |
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| History of Madrid with Juana |
That night we had a little party at my friend Kelsea's apartment to celebrate most people's last night.
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| Me, Julie, and Kate celebrating with blue tongues! |
Another exciting event was moving to a new apartment! No, Pilar did not kick me out, but I decided to move to one of the IES student apartments for a change of pace/experience. I was sad to leave the neighborhood and Pilar and Sergey, but moving to the student apartment will allow me a little more independence, I'll be able to have my own schedule, etc... I don't regret living in the home stay at all, and I am really glad I did it because it gave me experiences and opportunities I wouldn't have had otherwise! But being on my own in Spain is pretty darn cool...
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| Room, all clean and empty. I even stripped the bed like mom taught me! |
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| My embarrassingly large amount of STUFF. 1 giant suitcase, 1 small suitcase, 1 backpacking backpack, 1 school backpack, 1 tote bag, and 1 shopping bag. |
Due to the above picture, David came in the morning to help me move ALL of my stuff, and then I was dropped off at my new residence: 5 Fernando 'El Católico' way across town!
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| My new room. |
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| The light fixture in my room! So cool! |
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| spacious living room |
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| dining room and balcony |
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| kitchen view #1 |
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| kitchen view #2 |
I immediately took advantage of the new luxuries...taking a long warm shower and walking around in my towel!! Right now in the apartment its just me, Maia (another IES friend who just moved in too) and Leticia, the Spanish compañera (she's a student) who is paid to live here and kind of monitor the Americans and help if we need anything.
That night, I went to the Matadero. Its a really cool space currently used for artistic shows and classes, but used to be a slaughterhouse. I went with David and his two spanish friends. They are all pretty artsy, the Spaniards are studying architecture and take theater classes. Probably the reason we ended up seeing the most hipster show I have ever seen... First we were all just standing in the patio with our cervezas, waiting for the show to happen. All of a sudden, people from the crowd went to the center and cleared a space and we all circled around. They then started groaning and moaning and sinking to their knees. Then they all laid on the ground and did a combination of twisting, jerking, spazzing, rolling, and sliding on the ground until they were all connected. This was the theme...something about connections or something like that. Then they did some weird 'dance' (if you could call it that) moves in pairs. And then they all stood up again by climbing up each other and pulling on each other. It was cool since they were all moving around on the ground, the made cool scratchy noises against the pavement, but it looked like it must have hurt. Then it was over. Oh, and as all this was happening, there was some very beautiful live cello music being played.
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| The Matadero |
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| beginning of the show (i.e. slow rising and moaning) |
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| weird partner moves |
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| weirder partner moves... |
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| even weirder partner moves |
After the show, we went to a really cool bar for some tapas and drinks, and then I went home for the next big surprise! See next blog post...
P.S. I forgot to mention the change in weather. IT IS HOT. And it feels like I am in a whole new game here now that the weather is over 80 (usually more) every day! Its great...the Mediterranean weather everyone assumes when they think of Spain anyway! It reminds me of Sacramento too, a nice, dry heat, and it cools off at night, but is still warm enough to enjoy outside without a sweater!
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