Pictures and People

Yesterday I went Retrio Park and saw the Alfonso the XIII memorial. This is me basking in the Spanish sun and enjoying the fake lake infront of the memorial.


The one to the left is a closer pic of the memorial!! I will look up the story behind it and post it later!

And this (to the left) is the real life bird women of Madrid who sat on this bench and fed the icky birds for over an hour.... it isnt just in the movies!!

Ok well now onto more productive stories of my trip. I have been having a wonderful time here in Spain. Yesterday was my first day of adventures alone around Madrid. I only had class from 4-5 so i spent the rest of the day at Retrio Park (like Central Park) in Madrid. I wandered and watched the bird ladies for a while and then talked to some of my favorites from the states who didnt mind the 6am phone calls! (6 hour time difference, sorry!)

After my nice afternoon picnic in the park i ventured out to wander and learn the city. I walked all the way up Calle Valesquez (the street that my school is on) and ended up doing a little bit of shopping! The good news is that I didnt get lost and someone asked me for directions in Spanish and I was able to not get them lost and they understood my Spanish! Slowly but surely I am learning Spanish!

Spanish class was good and the vino y tapas (wine and appetizers) afterwards with some friends made everything even better! After a quick cenar (dinner) we ended up going out in search of some drinks and a TV with the Real Madrid game on. We found a fun Cuban place and definatley stood out as the loud Americanos. At this point we are used to it though and it didnt phase us. Instead of being like other Spaniards we decided to end the night early at 2am and head back to sus casas (our homes).

I think one of the best things here is the people we are working with. For example, Paco, our art history teacher is the most excited, cute, short Spanish man in the world. He is going to make the class SOOO much fun and time flies when we run through the Prado with him for class. Maricarmen has been doing this for a long time and she is nothing but AMAZING. She is like our mother but also our friend and she is super sweet. Rafa is our travel agent and I am excited to work with him on my travel plans. Overall, everyone is great here!!

Clearly, life here is really good. My homestay is still cook and she cooks very well! I am working on travel plans and will post my extremely cool agenda in the next few days. Hope all is well state side!

Besos!
Heather