Exploring Madrid

Hi All,
Sorry it has been so long since I have written anything! My weeks have been busy getting settled in my new apartment and with all my classes. I really like my new apartment. It gives me a lot more freedom than living in my senora's house because I don't have to be home to eat at a certain time and things like that.

Classes are fully underway and they seem like they are going to be pretty difficult but I definitely think I will learn a lot. I have class at 8:30 every morning which is pretty rough but it's o.k. Obviously all my classes are in Spanish and all the reading is in Spanish which is a lot different than I am used to, because usually I only have one class that is in Spanish. So I have had to spend a lot of time reading. I am taking a composition course which is all writing, and our first paper had to be about a special place and I wrote about Kiel! We will see how I did on it!

Over the past weeks I haven't left the city at all. There is so much to see and experience in Madrid. Lately, I have been spending a lot of time laying in the parks soaking up the sun! It has been about 60-70 degrees and sunny which is really nice! I basically skipped winter! In the next couple weeks I plan on traveling to Valencia (for a fire festival) and to Germany to meet up with Rhonda.

Well, I should get back to studying! I promise I will update more regularly now!

Love you all and miss you all!
Laura

Mi Familia Espanola

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Segovia

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Getting Settled

Hola Hola!

My past week was filled with trying to find an apartment in Madrid and the remainder of the orientation intensive course. The good news is that I found a really nice apartment! I am excited to move in. It is in a good neighborhood that a lot of students live in. I will be living with an Italian student and a Spanish teacher. The apartment is small but newly renovated so it will be really nice and it has the internet! I will miss my home stay, but I am excited to be living on my own in Madrid.

Some of my classes start this week. So far I have had one and it doesn't seem too bad but we will see how the other ones go! My classes with the other Spaniards don't start for another week, and I think those classes will be the hardest.

We had a 3-day weekend this past weekend. Some friends and I went to Segovia, about 2 hours to the north of Madrid via train. It is a really beautiful city! The aqueduct is there and there is also a castle with a tower that has about 150 steps. It was quite the trek up the spiral staircase but the view was absolutely amazing! We stayed in a Hostel for the night and went to La Granja, which is a Royal Palace with exquisite gardens. Afterward we returned to Madrid. It was a fun weekend! I can't wait to travel more around Spain and around Europe! There is so much to see, it is amazing!

Con mucho amor (with much love),
Laura

Old Madrid Walking Tour

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Around Madrid

Hi All,

After only one week in Madrid, I feel like I have been here forever.  I am starting to really get comfortable finding my way around the city.  The days seem to last forever here which is good because I can get more done!  I have started a language/culture 2 week intensive course that helps us review Spanish history, culture, and grammar.  It is a nice review but the classes last for approximately 3 hours almost every day so it gets a little boring.  However, I feel it is definitely helping me get used to listening to the Spanish accent which will be very useful when classes start!

I am now searching the city for apartments.  I move out of my home stay in 3 weeks and will be sharing an apartment somewhere.  It has already been a long and semi-stressful process, as I have to make a lot of phone calls and then go and see the apartments.  I am hoping that I find one soon!  I am enjoying my home stay.  I live with 3 other girls who are also studying abroad but in a different program and they go to a different university in Madrid.  It is really nice having them here and I am enjoying getting to know them.  Two of them are fluent in Spanish and are from Chicago, so they are really helping with my Spanish.  The other girl is from Massachusetts and is really nice!  I also live with my Senora's daughter and her two children.  The house is always busy, but it is nice.

This week we went on a walking tour of Old Madrid where we got to see the Royal Palace (El Palacio Real) and other important Spanish buildings.  We also went to the Prado Museum, which houses many paintings of famous artists, such as Goya and Velazquez.  It was really neat to be able to see paintings I have learned about in my Spanish classes in real life.  I hope to return to the museum to see more of the exhibits.

This weekend I hope to continue to explore the city.  I plan on going to El Rastro, which is a flee market on Sunday mornings.  It is one of the highlights of things to do in Madrid, so I am really looking forward to it.  I hope the weather is nice!  So far the weather has been great, although all the Spaniards complain about how cold it is!  I can hardly believe they think it is cold... 40 degrees is nowhere near anything cold!  I feel like it is spring!

With everyday I get more and more comfortable with my surroundings.  Madrid is a really cool city with so much to see.  I am so happy I am here and I can't wait to experience more!

With much love,

Laura

Toledo

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