august 28: madrid

After a long 11 hour flight, myself and my three roommates arrived in Madrid where the local time was 3 pm and we were all stuck on California time, nine hours earlier. Our host moms, who are actually sisters (ages 24 and 26) rented a van and picked us, and our ridiculous amounts of luggage, at the airport. We arrived at their apartment and quickly unpacked and fell asleep. I'll post pictures of the apartment later but it's very new, small, and cute. The next day we had a long orientation about basic rules with the host families and the university, and then we had our first class of the travel seminar. 

The travel seminar is a 9 day tour around the most prominent cities in spain, with class sessions throughout, and then a few more classes after returning to Madrid. My class was a business class (negocios en espana) and so far we haven't learned much... But I still have five more class sessions and three papers to write. What I've taken away from the class so far, is that Spain is much less motivated by  money than the United States. For example, everywhere closes down from 2 pm - 5 pm so they can take long lunches and naps before returning to work until 8 pm. Also, unemployment overall in spain is 22% and for ages 18-35, it is 40%. That was shocking news to me, that a country can still function at such a high level of unemployment.

The next day in Madrid, we had a short walking tour of the city where we briefly saw El Palacio Real (the royal palace) that had a total of 3,400 rooms. The king doesn't even live there anymore because it is too big and confusing. We also learned some of the neighborhoods of the city a little better and saw the cathedral from the outside. I'll post pictures of that later also once I have gotten to go inside. 

The next day we left for a day trip to a city an hour south of Madrid: Toledo.

Near our apartment in Madrid

The paella our host family made us! 

They provide us with breakfast and dinner. Breakfast in Spain is very small, usually just toast and fruit, which is difficult for me because then lunch isn't until two or three and dinner isn't until at least nine. I'm trying to adjust to this schedule but I'm doing a lot of snacking in between. They make really delicious Spanish food and are really good about cooking for a vegetarian. So far we've had a lot of vegetables, paella, some pasta, empanadas, and fish. It's all really good, but we're already researching where we can get some good Thai food or sushi to mix up our new mediterranean diet. 

In front of the fountain in the center of the city, Sol.

My roommates Tallia, Jenna, and Kaity in my room.

I know all three of them from USD and we're in the same sorority. I lived with Kaity this year and will be living with her again when we're back in San Diego. This picture was taken our first night in Madrid!