Lots of fun things...

...and very little time for blog updates (and homework!), but here it goes...

Hi everyone! These past two weeks in Madrid have flown by. I've been going to classes and still get surprised by people who come in 30 minutes late (although I plead guilty to that now) and professors leaving to answer their cell phones. Nonetheless I'm enjoying them a lot. Regional Geography has looked at a lot of cool places and we're heading into the US, Europe, Asia and Africa in the next weeks. My History of Theater class is always really interesting and I went to a play last week! It was "La vida es sueno" (Life is a dream) by the famous play-write Calderon. It was a very cool rendition, lot's of modern dance and music was incorporated, and I understood almost everything so I was pretty proud of that! Another friend of mine is studying in Madrid (at a different school with a different program) and I met up with him to see the play. My History of Latin America prof (for some reason) really likes me to participate and is always calling on me...it's always SUPER nerve-racking to talk in class, especially since there are other international students and I want to impress everyone or at least hold my own, but I'm glad because I'm speaking more than I normally would and it's good practice.

I keep playing volleyball with the girls and boy's school teams and that's been a blast. They all invited me to go to a bar with them last weekend for beers tapas and to watch the "futbol" game. It was the two Madrid teams - Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid, and as 6 of the 7 people at my table were rooting for Real Madrid, I was rooting for Real Madrid. The bar was packed and every goal was a huge uproar, it was pretty fun. I'm loving my Flamenco class...it's lots of footwork and quick expressive movements so I always feel like I'm acting (and tripping over myself) but I'm having a blast. One of the spaniards in the class, Andrea, has a friend who lives on the coast in a city called Alicante, and she invited me to go there with her for a weekend! So I hope it happens because Alicante is supposed to be a beautiful city, famous for it's beaches and paella, and it would be SO COOL to hang out with some nice spanish girls for the weekend.

I'm going to Valencia next week for Las Fallas which is a 4-day festival in which the whole city has mass burnings of wood statues...weird right? It's a really old tradition, and people make all these wood statues and then they burn them for the festival. Should be pretty cool but different.

One of the reasons I'm so busy now-a-days is because on top of my normal school work and activities, I've started an internship! I'm working at a bilingual secondary education school, and I'm helping out teachers of all different subjects and age groups, with a focus on the science classes. I'm having a blast - the staff and teachers at the school are all really nice and thrilled to have "a native speaker" there helping them out, so I get to see what teaching is like and the kids get talks from a native, a win-win situation. I'm giving a lecture on Neo-darwinism on Wednesday, leading a conversation class with kids who aren't in the bilingual program, and interviewing 4 girls who are applying for scholarships to study in the US. Lot's going on! But I'm loving it and the kids are great.

Other than that I've been enjoying friends and the GREAT weather! We had a Russian dinner at my friend Anja's house the other day - SO delicious. I explored my neighborhood a little more and found out the HUGE soccer stadium in Madrid is about a 30 min walk from my house. The great park here (Retiro) has bike and roller blade rentals and some friends and I did that the other weekend, it was a total blast. We took a break by the lake and listened to about 20 guys all playing their bongos...way cool.

Basically I'm having a blast and way too busy and I love love love it. I'll let you know how Valencia is!!
~Alex