Part of the Escorial palace with the hills in the background
My first paella!
The funky/awesome cathedral in Madrid
Hello everyone!
Well it's been a solid few weeks of school, homework and hanging out with friends - new and old - on the weekends. This week is our last official week of classes, then we have 2 weeks off, and finals end June 5th - AHHHH!!! I can't believe it's almost over, I get really sad thinking about leaving because I love Madrid and my life here so much, but I'm also really excited to embark on a new adventure in Sweden and eventually see my doggy and then friends at Whitman!
My parents come to visit this Saturday - we'll be checking out Madrid for the first few days, then heading up to La Rioja (the famous wine region) to check out wineries and the scenic north, then we'll go over to Barcelona for 2 days before we come back to Madrid so they can go back home. I'm really excited to see them, show them "my town" and explore new areas of Spain - I love every place I've visited here and just can't wait to see more! I'm planning one more trip to Alicante (southeast coast) with a girlfriend from my Flamenco class for the weekend after finals, and then it's London and Sweden!
This weekend I went on a very last-minute camping trip with a girlfriend of mine. We picked El Escorial because it's a beautiful area that's close to Madrid! A 40 minute bus ride and 10 minute walk and we were there! I've found that spaniards generally have this idea of camping that involves bungalows, RVs and pools or the beach...it was so hard to find like, you know, a fairly secluded camp ground, in the mountains, with maybe a lake and some hiking trails...nope, that's not how they do it here. Vanessa asked the woman at reception if there were places to hike...she replied "of course, you can walk everywhere"...maybe the concept of hiking doesn't exist here? But anyway, we had a great time! So fun to catch up with her - we staked out an area near the back fence (which had cows on the other side) and chowed down on my homemade zucchini and banana bread and her home made lentils. We spent WAY too long laying in the sun by the pool (I look like a maraschino cherry) and then 2 of our friends called and came! By the time they arrived it was raining and dark, we had 2 sleeping bags and a tent for 2, we had no flashlights, and were getting wet. Haha pretty much a total disaster, but it ended up being a blast. We had time in the morning to see more of the city and famous palace in Escorial - the gardens and views were beautiful! It's amazing that such natural beauty is so close to the big booming city of Madrid, how fun!
So now I'm exhausted and working on some final papers...I had the "homework" for my History of Theater class to go to two shows and do write-ups on them. I just recently went to a contemporary dance performance for the second show and it was AMAZING! I loved the choreography and the way they used lights etc, very cool. I am also prepping a "jeopardy review" for one of my classes at my internship. I've been teaching them the evolution unit for the last 2 months and it's test time! I really love working there - I have a great class of women (my age and older) who are getting vocational degrees to be secretaries. None of them speak a lot of English, but enough, and we just do conversation classes and it's so fun because we're all on the same level of humor etc and it ends up being a blast. I've compared recipes with the woman (Pilar) who works in the cafe and made friends with another intern (fullbright scholar) who always gets coffee with me. Everyone who works at this school is so amazing, every professor is nice and funny and helpful and it's just a great environment to be in. I've worked closely with the science teacher and love her to death - she's spanish but grew up in a british education school in spain and speaks PERFECT british english, it's so cute. I've helped her out with labs (mixtures, heat/metals) and a big botany field trip we took the other week. I've found that every lecture I give gets to be easier and more fun, and I feel like each time I explain myself better as well. I get a thrill off of explaining a concept and seeing their little 13 year old faces light up in understanding, it's great. So maybe I should be a teacher?...I don't know, but it's in the realm of possibilities. What I do know is I love working in an environment like that, and I hope that in my life I do something where I get to practice my spanish every day!
The flamenco show my class will put on is in two weeks, and I'll be in Barcelona with my parents! So that's a bit of a bummer, it would have been fun...but I'm still practicing with the class and hope to take lessons when I get back to the US.
Alright, well just wanted to give a little update! Things have been great here, lots of weekend celebrations with friends - people leaving, 21st birthdays, dinner parties (I learned paella from my host mom and made it for everyone last weekend!) and I keep playing beach volleyball with the guys and it's great!
Hope all is well,
Alej
