manda in madrid

the most epic last night of anyone's study abroad ever

2008-05-26T14:39:00.005+02:00

As Jess, Rachel, and I left 128 Fuencarral to head towards dinner we had no definite plans for what would follow. The rain was bumming us out, I was still not packed, and Jess and I were trying to resolve our very mixed emotions about leaving the next morning. Dinner at Ginger was perfect, good food and good atmosphere. Two hours and two bottles of wine later going home was simply no longer an option. Instead, I spidey-sensed us to a flamenco bar near Plaza Mayor where we obviously sat in the VIP section. We hung around for a bit, sipping on glasses of sangria and watching the male flamenco dancers love their lives, before walking through Plaza Mayor towards Sol. For some reason I decided that we needed to go to Joy so after dropping "Drika's list" and sweet talking the bouncers we were able to skip the line and go in for gratis. The three of us bee-lined straight to the not so crowded dance floor where we took over and soon attracted quite a crowd. After helping a group of guys celebrate a bachelor party we exited and headed towards Madrid's statue of the bear and the tree. With some help from strangers, we were able to get up on the statue and cuddle our osito. Within twenty seconds various groups of people stopped to snap some pictures of us and two randos got up on the statue as well. After posing for a few minutes, some policia pulled up with their sirens on prompting us to jump six feet to the ground, grab our various belongings and scream "RUN!!!!" as if what was happening were the most epic event in history. We caught a cab on Gran Via and piled into it in a fit of giggles. Content with the events of our perfectly Madrileno night, we headed home. The next morning was spent trying to shove my belongings into my suitcases while arguing with Miguel about weight limits. I ended up having to trade Maggie my medium suitcase for her extra large one so that everything could fit. After all the bags were zipped we said some teary goodbyes, Maggie and Miguel helped me into a cab, and I took in some of my last sights of Madrid on my way to the airport. Jess and I went a little crazy with the shopping, determined to spend the last of our euros (and maybe charge some things too...no biggie), and were called for boarding before we knew it. The flight was smooth, Jess ate the majority of both of our meals, while I was all about the "mas pan?" When we touched down in JFK, we did a double high five, followed by a hug, both of which drew some strange looks from our fellow passengers. After customs and baggage we walked through the doors into the arms of our fans (aka parents), parted ways, and now we're home!

Flamenco

queens of the dance floor

i love you Osito!!

not even messing around

goodbye familia :(

Miguel trying to act like he's not crying

omg we're home!!

last weekish in madrid

2008-05-26T14:31:00.002+02:00

Last GNO :(
dinner at Gloria de Montera, drinks at the Terrace bar (but not on the Terrace), and hugs, tears, and goodbyes in front of McDonalds with various homeless men

Jess turns 21!! cuppies galore.

last weekend trip to Mallorca

loving life, obvs

free fifth row tickets to real madrid vs levante
this picture was taken after one of our various goals :)

1-20

2008-05-19T10:56:00.002+02:00

1. my computer's power cord broke which means
2. i don't have a computer and
3. i'm forced to use the ones at my school or maggie's or miguel's and
4. i'm having trouble writing my two papers that are due tomorrow but
5. i changed my flight to the 24th so
6. i'm going home on saturday!! which is good because
7. i now live in the living room of my homestay but at least
8. it has a giant tv in it where
9. i watched Amelie with Maggie and Maria Rosa the other night after
10. jess and i ate gloria the night after
11. we saw Elegy and
12. the man working at the movie theater loves his job just like
13. the two guys i met last night who work for Levante who
14. gave Maggie, Judith and I three free tickets to last night's game against Madrid and
15. we got to sit in the fifth row and
16. there's construction outside that woke me up at 830 am but at least
17. i think i finished draft 1 of my paper and so
18. i guess i'll edit it and made draft 2 now and
19. if i don't have two packages waiting for me at instituto....
20. correos better watch their backs.

the one month countdown has begun

2008-05-04T10:41:00.003+02:00

In 26 days I will be boarding a flight from Madrid to New York. But before I touch down on American soil here's my to-do list:

two final exams
two econ tests
four page paper
fifteen page group paper
group presentation
eight hours with Frida
three Sunday mornings at Rastro
nine yoga classes
at least one final trip to the museum trio
three days in Mallorca
learn how to make Maggie's sauce
Topshop (I still haven't been!)
attempt to waken the Cookie Nuns again
buy pillowcases from NaturHouse for cuddlegan
take some film pictures

And once I do land back in the States here's my immediate to-do list:

cuddle Isabelle, then the dogs, and maybe Lizzie
hide under my down comforter
do lots of laundry so I can use a dryer
Charmanda
plan a sorgz reunion
see my Cheetahs
text Bretty
make my Mom make me dinner (I'm thinking grilled salmon, asparagus, and mashed potatoes...)
go to the grocery store and binge on baby goldfish, REAL diet coke, and non-Spanish almonds
go to Starbucks and reintroduce sugar-free vanilla syrup to my system
manicure and pedicure
speak A LOT of English
see if I remember how to drive
try to contact Stina on a cowboy farm

And, since we're in a listy mood, things I'm excited for this summy:

living with Dana!
getting back into my usual baking habits (aka at least 2 batches of cuppies a week)
adventures with Charlotte and graham cracker crusted cupcakes
finding fabric to make pillowcases for my bed and curtains for Hogan 3C4 :)
pancakes and garage sales with Gram
trips to Target with Robbie
lunching with Jess at Conde Nast and reminiscing about Spain
texting Bretty
cheetahs every day
weekends at Naisy's
trips to the pool with Dad, Carolann, and Scoob
1020
keeping in touch with and seeing my Madrid lovies
Mexico in August and my 21st birthday

And lastly, two orders of business:

I've done it again!

and I bought a flower

That is all!

jump!

2008-04-28T13:04:00.003+02:00

slight excitement on the beach

dad gets some sweet air

yippeee!!

scoob casts a shadow in Plaza Mayor

just me and my siblings...dad needs to work on the timing

lowli

deerdana.com

bffs

Denia, Benidorm, and Guadalest

2008-04-26T17:36:00.006+02:00

After a quick bite to eat, my family piled into our rental car (relatively) early on Saturday morning. Destination: Denia, a small Mediterranean town between Valencia and Alicante on Spain’s eastern coast. Though Robbie and I napped through most of the four hour drive, I did catch some sights of the Spanish countryside while opening my eyes temporarily to adjust my position. We arrived at our hotel around 2pm and promptly headed to the pool after dropping our bags. Although the temperature was a bit lower and the wind a bit stronger than we had hoped for, we were able to relax for a bit and soak up the sun while Robbie ran in circles around the pool which he claimed was “48 meters deep.” After our quick stint at the pool, we decided to explore the town a bit and get some lunch. We ended up eating at a small Italian restaurant by Denia’s port and later browsed the area’s small shops and stands. Dad drove us along the coast and we stopped at a small rocky beach to dip our toes in the Mediterranean and snap some photos of the amazing view. With the beach now on our mind, we drove a bit to a sandy beach where two brave souls were swimming. Robbie and I chose to join them and quickly shed our tshirts and cautiously made our way into the freezing water. After having a mini dance party to keep warm, we both submerged ourselves and promptly made our way to the shore where our assistants, Jim and Carolann, were waiting with towels. On our way back to our hotel, we stopped at the giant Mercadona to pick up some snacks. We spent the evening inside munching on olives and chips while playing Crazy 8’s before happily retiring to our beds after a long day.

Scoob and Dad

hermanito and hermanita in the mar

amazing

BFFs for life, obv

On Sunday morning we headed about an hour south to the town of Benidorm. We checked out a market (where Robbie and I held a monkey named Rufus!) and then walked through the town towards the beach. The weather was once again not so beachy, but Robbie and Dad were content to search for some shells while Carolann and I lay down with hopes to get some sun. With rumbling tummies, we found a spot along the boardwalk where we refueled while our bubbly waitress entertained us with her linguistic skills (Spanish, English, German, Dutch…) After lunch Robbie and I napped on our way back to Denia where we stopped for gelato and a walk along the port before checking out some more of Denia’s beaches where Robbie and I (somewhat unintentionally) went swimming despite our lack of bathing suits. With no internet or television, we once again spent our evening playing cards and snacking.

Robbie and Rufus

Benidorm

Robbie releasing some energy and us swimming

We headed towards Denia’s market first thing on Monday morning where we munched on trail mix and dried apricots while browsing the various stands. With freshly purchased souvenirs in hand, we headed towards the central town where we stopped for a quick lunch. After lunch we decided to head inland to the small town of Guadalest. Though only home to 200 people, Guadelest is Spain’s second most popular tourist attraction (the Prado is number one). We stopped a few times on our twisty drive through the mountains for photo ops and snacking with goodies purchased from a roadside stand. Having finally reached our destination, we parked and began with a tour of an old house and the adjoining castle, from the top of which we took in amazing views of the mountains and countryside. After browsing some shops we headed back through the mountains to Denia where we had dinner and dessert by the port. Despite Dad’s snoring, we all tried to get a good night’s sleep for our drive back to Madrid the next morning.

view from the top of the castle

Guadalest

Robbie and I on top of the world

The Vizzle

2008-04-24T15:54:00.004+02:00

Lizzles Reunited!

I met my Lizzle at the airport on the evening of Tuesday the 15th. After some "Lizzle!!!!"'s and hugs, we dikdiked our way onto the metro and back to my house. We spent five hours (not quite...) peeling, slicing, and sizzling potatoes (during which I spilled burning oil all down my leg) before finally sitting down to feast on our homemade lizzlemade tortilla espanola. Delicious. After dinner we met up with some of my friends at a bar that was basically an American frat house basement that had been magically transported to Spain. We consumed our fair share of sangria, watched a pretty heated beer pong match, got hit on by every single male in the room, and had two roses purchased for us from our new friend Balil Habibi. Good times.

On Wednesday morning I left Lizzle to wander around my neighborhood while I went to my art history class. Thankfully the tiny lid didn't get lost and we successfully met up afterwards, ran to the grocery store and my favorite fruit stand and made our way to Retiro to picnic. We rented a rowboat, had a mini workout rowing ourselves to the middle of the pond (?) where we promptly dropped our oars and let the wind push us around while we feasted on whole wheat baguettes, perfect strawberries, and white wine juice boxes. Once our 45 minutes of boat time ended we exited the park on Paseo del Prado and stopped quickly in the botanical gardens before I dropped Lizzle off at the Reina Sofia and headed to my history class. After class I picked up Lizzle where I had dropped her and did a quick tour through the Thyssen museum before walking up to Plaza de Cibeles and then Sol. Tired from such a long day, we refueled with some coffee at Cafe Comercial (sadly no McDreamy in sight) and returned home for dinner. We met up with Jess at Manuela Cafe where we had glasses of wine and chocolate cake and played a couple rounds of Scattergories (don't worry Sorgz, it was nothing near the intensity of Scattasorgz). Highlights included Lizzle's use of "turd" and Jess's and my twin moment with "Billy Rae Cyrus." The perfect weather had by this point turned to rain so after a couple hours we dikdiked home and went to sleep.

showing off our muscles

the best smelling flowers in the world

I woke up early and left Lizzle to sleep in while I made another trip to the airport to pick up my Dad, Carolann, and Robbie. We all reunited at Cafe Comercial for breakfast (or a calamari sandwich if you're Lizzle) and then headed to Sol, Plaza Mayor, and walked by Palacio Real, where we paused for a few minutes so that the kids could play on the play structure while the adults took a break from walking (hint: there were 3 kids and 2 adults.) With almost perfect timing, we escaped the sudden rain as we ducked into San Gines for churros con chocolate. My family decided to give into their jet lag induced cravings for a nap and headed back to their hotel while Lizzle and I shopped for a bit on Gran Via. Lizzle and I parted ways for dinner (she went with a friend of Jason's and I ate with my familia) but met up later at Tele Pizza where my friends were shadily pregaming. For some reason Cerveceria Seven was closed to we headed down Fuencarral in search of another bar. Lizzle and I bought one euro cans of beer from some random man in the street and we all ended up in a bar near Tribunal. The bar was a bit dead so Lizzle and I walked south to Sol to go to Palacio which was sadly closed. Though the weather was yucky, we persevered and walked to O'Connel's and Dubliners and then to a small Tapas Cafe. After a few more attempts to find a bar we gave up and hailed a taxi home.

Lizzles during breakfast at Cafe Comercial

in Plaza Mayor

On Friday morning we met up with my family to have breakfast at their hotel and then toured Palacio Real. After jumping around the courtyard and walking through the palace we checked out the adjacent church and then headed to the top floor of Corte Ingles for lunch where there was an old man with hair that stuck straight up. It was amazing. We shopped with the fam for a bit and then returned to Manuela Cafe to play Scattergories and share a pitcher of sangria. Robbie came back to my apartment with me and Lizzle where we both tried on his new soccer uniform and watched some youtube vids before meeting up to go to a Moroccan restaurant where we had an amazing feast complete with pita, hummus, falafel, tabbouleh, and couscous. After dinner, we bid goodnight to my family and ventured out. We started at the cave bar, shared a very strong leche de pantera, and then met up with Stephanie and Melissa and went to a bar with very harsh lighting, very cheap drinks, and very crazy Spaniards. Feeling a little sleepy, we cabbed home, stayed up for a bit, before calling it a night.

me with the fam outside of Palacio

JooJooBee: best nickname ever

poopiepants

I had to wake up early on Saturday morning to reunite with my family for our road trip to the beach (!! next blog post !!) which unfortunately meant saying bye to Lizzle. I woke her up to give her a hug goodbye before cabbing it to my family's hotel and Lizzle woke a few hours later to catch her flight back to the Cope. My Lizzle reunion in Madrid was perfect, just like the form of a leaping dikdik midflight.

another new born baby blog

2008-04-15T00:51:00.001+02:00

I have decided to make a new blog for some non-Madrid goodies. Click me!

abril en fotos

2008-04-13T22:59:00.006+02:00

After much traveling, April has been very relaxing thus far. This past week I was able to take solo trips to the trio of museums as well as a trio of exhibitions that I have wanted to check out for a while. Last Friday I started my day at Casa Asia to check out a selection of the Indian photographer Raghu Rai's black and white photos of India (trio represent) then switched gears completely and saw 22 really cuddly dog portraits by Christopher Makos and Paul Solberg before spending some time in the Thyssen. On Tuesday, despite Maya's demands that I take a nap, I braved the rainy weather and went to the Amazones del Arte Nuevo exhibition the explored the role of female artists in the development of modern art; I saw works by Frida Kahlo, Georgie O'Keefe, and, my new personal favorite, Tamara de Lempicka. Wednesday the Prado: first with Jess after class followed by a slightly painful visit with Selma, my art history teacher during which Jess suppressed urges to "punch her in the back of the head." Yesterday I woke early to go to the Reina Sofia and spend some more time in the really great Picasso exhibit as well as in my favorite room (#3).

This weekend was especially nice, highlights include dancing to the Grease soundtrack at Seven, dinner at Isla del Tesoro, and being uber classy at a wine bar last night. This morning I made my third consecutive trip to the Rastro (lucky me!) and added to my collection of Rastro treasures shown below. My Rastro morning was followed by a great nap and a coffee at Cafe Comercial before yoga class this evening where I really enjoyed "sexy time!", "did something beautiful for my body" and "set myself up for a great week" (all quotes from my instructor, who clearly loves his life). Back to class tomorrow, Lizzle comes on Tuesday, and Dad, Carolann, and Robbie on Thursday. We're off to Alicante this weekend, cross your fingers that it's beach weather.

And now, a run-down of my Rastro treasures (and one vintage treasure) followed by some recent photos.

Rastro treasure #1: embroidered shirt

Rastro treasures #2 and #3: two little elephant charms carved out of bone, they're about the size of my fingernail (Nais one of these is for you!)

Rastro treasure #4: gold necklace with pink and green beads

Rastro treasures #5 and #6: two more shirts

Rastro treasure #7: Moroccan leather bag

close up of the bag, look at the hearts!

Vintage treasure #1: little gold handbag which scored me some compliments from an old man at a Mojito bar last Tuesday...probably because it's from his era ;)

remnants of Miguel's 34th birthday

newly planted flowers outside the Prado

pretty painted clothespin taking care of my MJ skirt

find the abuelita!

I was obsessed with this embroidery on a dress at the Rastro this morning...too bad the dress was pretty frump

women getting vicious over shoes!

two adorable old women who are also regulars at Cafe Comercial photographed two weeks ago; they sit on the same side of the table and alternate between gazing out the window, nodding off, and make tiny lid conversation

woman A takes a nap while woman B is in the bathroom photographed today...same outfits!

como se dice CUPCAKES?

2008-04-06T16:32:00.005+02:00

So I did it! I finally faced my fears of cupcake failure (it's the worst.) I wanted to do my favorite chocolate chocolate chip recipe but unfortunately instant chocolate pudding does not exist here. Thanks to extensive googling, I was able to alter the recipe and make some substitutions before proceeding with caution. With no electric mixer in sight, I spent about fifteen minutes mixing the batter with a fork, trying my best to pop the air bubbles and break up the clumps while being ever so cautious not to over-mix...nobody likes tough batter! After more than enough taste tests, I filled up a silicone cupcake cup with batter, took a deep breath, wished the little guy good luck, and popped the tray in the oven (which had been emitting quite a bit of smoke earlier...) The next fifteen minutes were spent altering between pacing and compulsively pressing the oven light button (which results in both a light and a strange buzzing sound) to check on the progress. Things were looking good--Mr. Tester Cupcake was on his way to achieving a near-perfect dome shape. I breathed a sigh of relief as I removed him from the oven, cut him down the middle, and devoured him...you know, just to make sure things were turning out okay. With a smile on my face I popped in the rest of the batches and before long I had twenty newborn cuppies to call my own. After cooling, they were iced with frosting that I had to mix with my hands (very clean hands!) and topped with some classic sprinkles that I found in a cabinet (maybe Spain is good for something...) and now they are all arranged on plates and waiting patiently in the kitchen to be adored and cooed at. SUCCESS.

fresh from the oven, showing off her perfect dome

looks like we've got a run away sprinkle!

naked cupcakes!!
(I had to pop the first batch out so I could reuse the silicone cups)
(also note my attempt at piping without my piping bag and tops)

why hello there, perfection

: )

Flamenco!!

2008-04-02T14:32:00.001+02:00

mom and Dana visit!

2008-04-01T00:32:00.012+02:00

Last week I was lucky enough to have my mommy and Dana visit me! My mom arrived Sunday morning (and I proceeded to abandon her at the airport for an hour...oops!) and Dana came in on Wednesday. I tried my best to show them my favorite parts of Madrid. We visited the museum trio, walked through Retiro park, wandered through all the major Plazas, breakfasted daily at Cafe Comercial, and took some siestas. On Thursday we took a train to Sevilla so I could continue my love-affair with the southern city. We climbed the Giralda, tiptoed through the Cathedral, frolicked in the Alcazar, watched flamenco at La Carboneria, and zig-ziggy-ando-ed our way through the streets, total Ray Green style. Now for the important part: photos. Out of order because I'm too lazy to rearrange.

bebe seahorse at rastro
unfortunately it wasn't big enough for Dana's holey leather pouch...she ended up buying a crystal instead. and i got a Moroccan leather bag for two euro!

sister selfy at La Manuela

on the look out for Maya and her familia in Sevilla
our families got to meet for about ten minutes in Sevilla! a true hermana reunion.

omg Miley! (aka me in the Giralda)

probably one of the best photos of the trip.
also important to note that i literally pushed my mom up half of the ramps

ceramics in Triana
I bought two pretty bowls and a little bunny tile...the bowls fell on my head while I was in my closet and broke. go me!!

Cathedral at night
walking home to our hotel after a night of casting demon spells on grumpy geezers, Flamenco dancing, and a little too much sangria for mom

Calle Dos Hermanas : )

Flamenco at La Carboneria
props to Sam Thompson for recommending this place!

sky shot at Alcazar

self-timed selfy!!

mom contemplates life. dana contemplates mom.

the garden grounds

walking from Sol to the Thyssen

pretty Flamenco dresses

our cake and our trivial pursuit!
mom won...duh.

tres cafes con leche on our first day in Sevilla

feast!!

Paris Part II: We stop messing around. Kind of.

2008-03-22T23:40:00.007+01:00

Day 4: Monday, March 17
After classic X&A raptoring, we dragged ourselves out of bed. We grabbed some pastries on our way to the metro ("Bonjour Madame...") and headed north to the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery. We wandered around the crowded cemetery along with other tourists and saw the graves of Balzac (Nils.), Georges Seurat, Eugene Delacroix, and Jim Morrison, kissed the tombstone of Oscar Wilde, and saw where Max Ernst's ashes are stored. I also found a cemetery kitty and made it love me. Following our creepy crawly morning we headed west toward Place des Voges and stopped to refuel at a nearby cafe. Celi suggested that we take buses around Paris so we bus-hopped our way towards the Arc de Triomphe, stopping to strike some uber-touristy peace sign poses and get rejected by an old man along the way. After nearly getting hit by cars taking pictures in the middle of the street, we took the underground passageway to the Arc where we snapped some photos before returning underground and singing "Total Eclipse of the Heart." We headed down Rue de Victor Hugo in search of a recommended place for pan au chocolate and stopped to browse in some stores along the way. We found the bakery but it was unfortunately closed on Mondays so we settled for a baguette and a bottle of wine (twist off, so we could drink in the street...duh) and headed towards the Eiffel Tower. We turned a corner and there it was! We made our way towards it, stopping to pose for pictures along with the rest of the world and settled in on a bench next to a French gang (Ali G was a member) to drink our bottle and get our carb fix. Having downed the bottle in approximately ten minutes, we took a somewhat tipsy ride on a nearby carousel (and obviously had the time of our lives) before walking under the tower. By this point I was freezing so we jumped on a bus home as the sun set. After our daily trip to Picard we made dinner, planned the next day, and headed to sleep.

the crowded cemetery

kissing Oscar Wilde's grave

Arc de Triomphe

underneath the arc

lovers in Paris!

jump!

slightly crooked

carousel fun

up close and personal

Day 5: Tuesday, March 18
Another early wake up and more crepes for breakfast! We set out for another attempt to go to d'Orsay but were again faced with the mother of all lines so we decided to buy tickets in advance for Wednesday. Feeling slightly defeated, we walked along the Seine towards Notre Dame and stopped along the way for crepes avec oeufs. We checked out the interior of Notre Dame and sat inside for a bit to warm up and take some photos. Being the expert bus-riders that we are, we took a bus to Laduree, an infamous place for macaroons. The place was packed with brunch eaters and macaroon enthusiasts and after much contemplation we left with six macaroons neatly packaged in a pretty purple box. We stopped in a cafe for our routine warm-up drinks where we had some interesting interactions with our server who fell in love with both of us at first sight. Things got a little awkward, especially when he decided to pick up my camera and look through all of my Paris photos with commentary. He told me I should stop kissing porcelain dogs and carousel horses and instead find a boyfriend. After a failed attempt at locating the Longchamp store we bussed home and had a early dinner (Picard of course) and rested briefly before heading up to Montmartre. We finally reached the Sacre Coeur after climbing lots of stairs and took in the amazing view. We went inside the church for a bit and then walked around for a bit and shared a nutella crepe on our way down the hill. After pausing to see the Moulin Rouge we bussed our way home and called our mommys to check in before heading to bed.

Notre Dame and candles

inside

Laduree and steps up to Montmarte

Sacre Coeur

view from the top and twinkle lights

Moulin Rouge

Day 6: Wednesday, March 19
Our earliest wake up yet happened on Wednesday so that we could get in line for the d"Orsay. Smart choice because we were among the first in the museum and were able to navigate our way through it before the huge crowds arrived, although we did have to dodge a group of nauseating Southerners. From the d'Orsay we crossed the Seine and walked through the Jardin de Tuileries where I did a great Bindi Irwin impersonation and then set out in search of some vintage stores that we had researched. We spent the afternoon sifting through vintage clothes, admiring old quilted Chanel bags, and pining for amazing bedazzled sunglasses. We stopped for some coffee and then discovered a little food market where Stina got some raspberries and I opted for cherry tomatoes and figs. We finally located some Longchamp bags in a department store and Stina spent some time cuddling with various bags. We bussed home where we proceeded to binge eat and then pass out for a few hours. We awoke later than expected and rushed to the Centre Pompidou (aka Centre Pompidont) only to find that it was closed. We settled for a night walk around Ile St. Louis before catching the metro home and grabbing some crepes on the street near the apartment. With happy tummies we hit the hay.

inside the d'Orsay

upclose and personal with Monet

little ballerina girl

Jardin

snack time!

Day 7: Thursday, March 20
Having checked most things off of our to-do list, our last full day in Paris was our calmest yet. We slept a bit later than usual and after quick trips to the post office and an internet cafe we returned to Ile St. Louis to explore. We immediately picked up some pastries and soon after had amazing gelato from the very popular Berthillon. We found a chocolate shop/cafe called Le Charlotte with bunny cookies in the window (obviously made for me) and waited around for it to open, eating half a baguette in the mean time. Once the doors opened I was very pleased with my bunny "biscuit" and after a mini photo shoot with the bun we headed west. We witnessed some interesting bus problems and had to get off before we wanted at which point we found ourselves in the middle of some student riot. We sought refuge in a small kitcheny store and a neighboring flower shop with real bunnies in the display window. We walked along the street, stopping to admire some giantchocolatechickens (one word) and split a mini quiche at a cafe. For dessert we picked up some raspberries from a fruit stand and three macaroons from a bakery. We explored Jardin du Luxembourg where we took some amazing self-timed selfies then bussed home for the last time. We picked up three baguettes and two bottles of wine to accompany our dinner and had a relaxing evening in the apartment. We tried to venture out later but were somewhat unsuccessful and instead escaped from the rain in a restaurant where we had hot chocolate and a petit creme at the bar. After squeezing into a photo booth for pictures, we climbed into bed for the last time, content but exhausted after our busy week.

df

love of my life part I

love of my life part II

hella awk self timers

Jardin

Paris Part I: We arrive. We are lazy.

2008-03-21T17:32:00.009+01:00

On Friday I returned to Madrid after a wonderful week in Paris with Christina. It was great to be able to spend a lengthier amount of time in Paris, especially in comparison to the "go-go-go!" theme of most weekend trips out of town. In short, Christina and I did it up like true Parisians: 29 crepes, 14 baguettes, and 13 bottles of wine. (Also 9 macaroons, 7 pan au chocolates, 1 mini quiche, and 25 trips to Picard.) We also did it up like true tourists: Louvre, Seine, Notre Dame, Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, Eiffel Tower, Musee d'Orsay, Montmarte, Sacre Coeur, Moulin Rouge, Centre Pompidou, Ile St. Louis and a fare share of wandering and shopping. Quel suprise. To avoid a mammoth blog post, I'm going to break it up into segments. Enjoy!

* * *

Part I: We arrive. We are lazy.

Day 1: Friday, March 14
I nervously boarded what was soon to become my first time flying completely alone and anxiously waited to see who would be sitting next to me. I was pleasantly surprised when two little boys made their way into seats 9B and 9C. Stephen and Matthieu were 11 and 9 year old brothers, also flying alone for the first time. They spoke French, Spanish, and English and Stephen must have thought I was pretty cool because after the initial "Parlez vous francais?" he did not stop talking to me. The three of us spoke in a strange mixture of Spanish and English about bunnies (obv), tennis pros (they claim they're related to one), and boats. Once the flight landed we exchanged handshakes, they blushed, and I set out on my search for Stina who was patiently waiting for me upon my exit. We exchanged reunion hugs and boarded the RER train towards central Paris. 45 minutes later we were greeted by Celi, Christina's godmother, and were able to rest for a moment in the apartment that would be our new home for the week before rushing to find Lizzle in a restaurant where she was eating lunch with her program. I was reunited with my Lizzle and after smiles and squeezes the three of us set off towards the Louvre where we saw the Mona Lisa and the infamous Gnome with a Snail. Lizzle unfortunately had to get back to her hotel to go back to the Cope so we said a sad goobye and Stina and I returned to the apartment where we had crepes for dinner and proceeded to pass out early.

loving my Stina!

the Louvre

my new bffs: Mona and Gnoma

happy Columbia girls!

Day 2: Saturday, March 15
The morning of our second day was spent sleeping. Stina had the jet lag excuse but I was just being a lazy bum. Celi ventured pretty far north with us to the Vernaison Antique Market. We spent a few hours wandering through the aisles filled with antique velvet couches, racks of vintage dresses, and doll parts. I picked up a navy velvet bow clip that's pretty cute for one euro! Somehow exhausted again, we went home to relax, take a trip to Picard (an all-frozen grocery store that we worship), and make soup and pizza for dinner. A few hours later we met up with Mikey and tagged along to two of his friends' apartments. The second apartment was right on the Seine and had an amazing view of the Louvre. We drank lots of wine, ate our fair share of Pringles and congratulated ourselves on being oh-so-Parisian before spending an hour trying to hail a cab home in the rain (slightly oh-so-American...). We were happy to be out of the cold rain and again slept like babies.

the market and some doll eyes

not sure if there was enough to drink...Stina loving the Prings

being tres chic on the balcony

loving my Tinafish

kissing porcelain dogs probably isn't the best idea...

oh you know, just your standard view

the big fall!

Day 3: Sunday, March 16
Weekends are meant for sleeping in so I have to admit that we slept in yet again. Once we were mobile, following a breakfast of nutella crepes, we started to walk north towards the Musee d'Orsay. We passed lots of flower shops and fragrant bakeries and did not mind the on and off rain drops. The d'Orsay had an enormous line so we abandoned that plan and instead walked along the Seine. We briefly saw Notre Dame before seeking refuge from the cold in a cafe where Stina and I warmed ourselves up with hot chocolate and cafe vainilla (respectively) and soothed our rumbling tummies with a croque madame and a plate of chevre (respectively). Evening had fallen before we knew it and as we hopped on a Metro home we vowed to arise early for the rest of the week. We leafed through Paris guide books and made an extensive to-do list before cooking up some soup, green beans, and carrots and resting up for the busy week ahead of us.

our French breakfast

and my French snack

and! a French dinner!!

amsterDAM

2008-03-10T22:58:00.029+01:00

After four hours of attempted sleep (aka sitting in bed doing crosswords) Maya and I grabbed a taxi at 4:30am on Friday morning (after an interesting interaction with un vecino and our hermano). We picked up Jess and Greta and made our way to Barajas, where Vera was waiting patiently. We sailed through security and found a table near our gate to settle down and wait for our 6:45 flight to Amsterdam. I somehow got through security without my boarding pass and despite some drama with the ticket ladies, they let me on with a new seat assignment: 30F. Last row. Last seat. Following some unnecessary tears I boarded the plane and was happy to find a bunch of empty seats and Jess and I were able to have our usual set up; me in the window, imaginary friend in the middle, and Jess on the aisle. I quickly curled up with my baby down pillow and my "Sleepy Plane" playlist and was able to catch a bit of sleep before we landed.

We had a bit of train confusion but eventually made it to Central Station where we then had a bit of street confusion but eventually made it to Aivengo Youth Hostel where we paid our bill, dropped our bags, and set out in search of a Coffee Shop. For lunch we went to a whole-foods-esque place which really hit the spot and left me full for 24 hours. Not even joking. Jess and I split off from the group for a bit to cuddle, nap, and explore. After lots of wandering around pretty canals lit with twinkle lights and dodging cars, trams, and bikes we grabbed a quick dinner and then headed to bed.

two gruesome twosomes = one awesome foursome!

being so _____
(Dutch, awk, cute...you pick.)

pretty canal at night

and again

Amsterdam Kitty #1 caught yawning and a red light district house
(please excuse the poor photo quality, I know it's not up to my usual standards)

Surprisingly, Maya was the one to drag everyone out of bed at 7:30 on Saturday morning. With droopy eyes and groggy noises Maya, Steffi, Greta, Jess and I got dressed, bundled up, and headed towards the Anne Frank House where we were meeting up with Vera, Jenny, and Sophie. We were first in what was soon to become a fast growing line and were soon out of the cold and touring the house where Anne Frank and her family hid during World War II and where she wrote her diary. The museum was interesting and intense. Afterwards we warmed up with hot chocolate and coffee in the cafe next door before wandering around Noordermarkt where Jess feasted on free samples of cheese and fudge while I sifted through boxes of old postcards at an antique stand. At noon we all headed to one of the best pancake houses in Amsterdam for lunch. Afterwards Jess, Vera, Maya, Steffi and I walked along the Singel Canal towards Amsterdam's floating flower market. We walked along the length of the market, stopping occasionally to take in the smell of fresh flowers and snap some photos. Having lost Maya and Vera in the crowd (recurring theme, especially due to a lack of functioning cell phones), Jess, Steffi and I decided to head back to the hostel for the usual recharge nap. After our Spanish siesta we joined forces with Greta and Isabel to search for a cafe where we could get something small for dinner before reuniting with Maya, Vera, Sophie, and Jenny at Coco's; a bar-slash-club in Rembrandt square. The nine of us took over two couches and a table and made it our home base for the night. Maya chose to spend most of the night dancing and crawling on tables; Jess and I basically split our time between hacering "shady deals", laughing at Maya and the gangly rod-spined robo-waiter, and holding hands; and Vera did a little bit of everything. We had some interesting conversations about White Widows ("I'm not asking you. I'm telling you.") and between nine of us easily devoured Vera's fudge. Jess, Steffi, Greta, and I finally made it back to the hostel where I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.

self explanatory

a women selling tulips who looked like a tulip!

my amazing pancake and a horsie
(please please please click the horse to enlarge and notice that he's sticking his tongue out. Charlotte, for some reason I feel like you'll love this the most.)

birds flying around the canal

bikes everywhere!

amazing flowers at the flower market

little birds and another flower stand

one of my favorites!

apparently at some point this window in our hostel fell down...

Jess and I hacering "shady deals" at Coco's
(we're sneakily eating a Carrot Cake Cliff Bar...)

Sunday morning Jess, Steffi, Greta, and I left the hostel around 10 on a very rainy Sunday morning to meet up with Isabel at a cafe famous for its hot chocolate where I met Amsterdam Kitty #2. The hot chocolate was indeed very good (it was served as hot milk with chocolate chunks in the bottom and you stirred it yourself!), as was the homemade whipped cream that was served on the side and topped with chocolate chips! The rain didn't look like it was going to let up so we canceled our plans to rent bikes and instead walked along the Keizersgracht Canal towards FOAM: Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam. We spent some time looking at the two exhibitions there and took advantage of our time inside to dry and warm up before making our way towards the Van Gogh Museum where we had plans to meet the rest of the girls. We spent a couple hours in the very crowded but very neat museum; I especially liked the collection of his sketches on envelopes and restaurant menus. Jess and I also were such creepers and drank the whole container of milk that was supposed to be for coffee in the cafe (but with the correct amount of confidence, nobody is going to question your beverage choice.) Some of us went to a cafe where they were playing live music to get some lunch before deciding to basically call it a day. I spent the evening in the hostel working on some schoolwork before venturing out with Steffi for some falafel which was amazing. Maybe better than Amir's. Maybe. After one last outing with Jess in our PJ's (literally) to Any Day Coffee Shop, we went to sleep.

Kitty #2 loves hot chocolate

extreme hot chocolate and whipped cream

rainy day

amsterdam sign

tulips in a cafe and tickling with grape vines

This morning we all made it to the airport for our 9:55 flight back to Madrid. Upon landing, we all hurried home to our Senora's to eat a quick lunch before going to class. I was especially nervous because I had to present a powerpoint with five other students in front of one of my classes at Autonoma. Although it was very scary to stand up in front of thirty Spanish speakers I tried my best to not struggle too much with the pronunciation of words such as "antropocentrismo" and "desmoronamiento" and upon finishing my part gave my best I'm-American-so-cut-me-some-slack smile and giggle before breathing a sigh of relief and stepping down from the front of the classroom and letting my Spanish partners take over. They said I did a fine job so there. Now I'm absolutely exhausted but must keep on trekking full speed ahead. After a full recovery from strep throat I'm going back to yoga tomorrow before my Autonoma class, meeting with two professors about tests that I have on Wednesday, and then getting cozy in Cafe Comercial for hours tomorrow night. I wish I could be studying for middies in Reffy with my Naisybear but McDreamy will have to do for now. Very much looking forward to my week in Paris with Stina and hopefully seeing my Lizzle on Friday then Mommy and Dana come so soon. Charmanda Charmanda I love Charlotte Hess. Night night!

cooking with Maria Rosa

2008-03-05T22:39:00.005+01:00

I told Maria Rosa a couple weeks ago that I wanted to learn how to cook my comida Espanola favorita the next time she made it and today was my lucky night! I can't wait to make tortilla espanola for all my besties!!

Tortilla Espanola for 2-3 Personas
Peel and chop 3 potatoes (dos gordas y una pequena, according to the maestra)
Add half of an onion, finely chopped
Sprinkle some sal
Pour some vegetable oil (aceita jirasol?) into a frying pan and let it heat up (~half an inch)
Add the potato/onion/salt mixture to the sarten...con cuidado!
Let it simmer about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
In a separate bowl whisk 4 eggs and a pocito salt
Add the potato mixture to the egg bowl and carefully mix
Add a bit of oil to the frying pan and add the eggy potato mixture
Jiggle the sarten! Poke the tortilla with a fork!
When it seems right (spidey sense it), use a plate to darse la vuelta a la tortilla
Keep poking with a fork!
When it's finished, slide it onto a plate and a comer!

las patatas y el cebollo

el sarten y los huevos

YUMMYKINS

: )

catching up

2008-03-01T13:43:00.006+01:00

I can't believe it's already March. Tomorrow will mark the end of my 8th week in Madrid. Absolutely insane. After my weekend trips to Sevilla and Belgium, staying in Madrid this past weekend was a good choice. I was finally able to catch up on sleep, catch up with friends, and catch up on blogging...

* * *

After a frustrating week at Autonoma trying to get into my econ class (arguing in Spanish, crying in public, etc.), my schedule has been finalized at last. Here's what a standard week looks like:

Monday/Wednesday
9:30-10:30 wakey! (alarms, snoozing, whining, dragging Maya out of bed to walk to Instituto)
10:45-12:00 Arte en Los Museos de Madrid (listening to Selma struggle through lectures, wondering how she manages to wear the same outfit every day, "ehhhhm...")
12:15-3:45 home for lunch (fruit stand boyfriend, cat nap, baguette if we're lucky, p.o.s. if we're not, walk back to Instituto)
[2:15-3:45 Prado visits on some Wednesdays with Selma (listening to Selma trash talk French people and the Syracuse program, smuggling water bottles into the museum)]
4:00-5:15 Historia de Espana (loving Amalia, suppressing my desire to drop kick certain people)
5:30-6:15 commute to Autonoma (sudoku, grazing horses, business men)
6:30-8:30 Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible (Environment and Sustainable development, desperately trying to recognize words coming out of my professor's mouth)
8:45-9:30 commute home from Autonoma (sleepy)

Tuesday/Thursday
11:00-11:30 wakey (alarms, a little less snoozing, breakfast if I have my act together)
11:45-12:30 commute to Autonoma
1:00-2:30 Migraciones y Relaciones Interetnicas (Migration and Interethnic Relations, compulsively eating Werther's to stay awake, daydreaming about lunch)
2:45-3:30 commute home for lunch

Mondays and Wednesdays can be pretty killer...especially if there's a Prado visit, basically nonstop from 9:30 am until 9:30 pm. But, as Mommy says, I can do it! I'm Amanda!!

I also discovered a Bikram yoga center about five minutes from my house and I have become obsessed. Most of the classes are taught in Spanish (pies juntos, respiramos) and there's surprisingly lots of men in the classes. And everybody sweats. A LOT. It's kind of yucky, especially when a 65 year old man decides to put his mat next to mine and then proceeds to DRIP everywhere within the first ten minutes of the ninety minute class. And he breathes very audibly. It's awkward. But I love it. My instructor even praised my form during Dandayamana-Dhanurasana so take that.

* * *

Highlights of the weekend! After yoga on Thursday night a bunch of us went to Cerveceria Seven to celebrate Yosh's birthday and then to Palacio afterwards. A little bit of drama, but lots of fun. Night in a nutshell: Mario, hair gel, lost poems, promoter, painful hiccups, fetal position, Palacio bathroom.

I didn't feel so hot Friday morning so I watched the Almodovar film "Todo Sobre Mi Madre" in bed. WITHOUT subtitles. Go me! I did a TINY bit of shopping Friday afternoon (aka ran to H&M to pick up some 3 euro tank tops for yoga) and Vera found a good sushi restaurant for us to try that night. I finally got my tofu fix and boy was it yummy. After an apathetic attempt to maybe go out, Maya and I ended up coming home and watching "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (aka "Desayuno con Diamantes").

On Saturday morning Jess and I trudged to Museo de America to do an assignment for Amalia. The only things that made the trip worth it was (i) the little llama I found in the gift shop and (ii) the natural grocery store I found on my way home (=more tofu and Bretzels). More yoga on Saturday night then out to dinner in Chueca with Jess and Kristin. Between our bottle of pink wine and the exchange of Columbia gossip we somehow sat at the table until 1am before catching the metro home.

I woke up early on Sunday to check out the rastro a little bit. I found some amazing Ray-Ban aviators but unfortunately the man selling them knew what a treasure they were and was charging 50 euro. boo. I met up with Jess outside the Thyssen Museum where we spent the morning. After lunch with the hermanas we went to the fountain/park nearby to sit outside in the sun and enjoy the amazing weather (blue skies, 70 degrees, slight breeze) and get a drink. Maya and I met up with Vera to walk through a very crowded Retiro park and down to the Prado to see the outdoor Igor Mitora sculpture exhibit. After a strawberry popsicle and iced white tea the three of us came back home to have a hermanas+Vera Amelie party complete with wine, sliced apples, abuelita, and a lack of English subtitles.

Back to class this morning was a bit rough but followed by coffee outside with Maya and a package from Dad, Carolann, and Scoob! Speaking of packages, I got three AMAZING packages last week. First one from Jay with lots of granola bars, Reeses eggs, and some hilarious photoshopped pictures of family members with MK&Ash. Then one from Allison with amazing bunny underwear, a cheetahlicious picture, and stickers. Next came a special delivery from deerdana.com: Gram tshirt, Marc Jacobs tote bag, Hello Kitty stickers, and lots of glitter which then proceeded to get all over my bed and stick to my legs when I sleep. Finally today I got goodies from Orlando from the fam and a tupperware filled with CRACK COOKIES. Be jealous.

Unfortunately, my throat really hurts a lot today and I'm crossing my fingers that it's not strep. Maya is sick too with a chronic cough and we better be cured by Friday because we're going to Amsterdam! A week from Friday I'm meeting Stina in Paris for a week and then Mommy and Dana come to visit!

Vino Rosado y Olivas

every Sunday our street is blocked off and everyone comes out to play

Retiro

giant lips and a little Spaniard

eating my way through belgium

2008-02-23T21:10:00.011+01:00

Belgium: land of waffles, beer, french fries, mussels, chocolate, waffles, beer, and chocolate. In that order. Please and thank you. That's my trip to Belgium in a nutshell but I shall elaborate below.

Jess and I took a cab to the Madrid airport at 5am on Thursday morning. The streets were quiet and my eyes struggled to stay open as images of waffles danced in my head. Though I questioned our 7am flight choice, watching the sunrise from the air made it all worth it (even though I was temporarily blinded.) Upon our landing in Brussels we bid farewell to our Spanish speaking skills and plunged into the trilingual world of French, Dutch, and German. After some public transportation mishaps we ended up taking a bus, train, and metro before arriving at our hostel where we dropped our bags and set out exploring.

sunrise from 30,000 feet

We started out walking south on Rue Royale towards Brussel's main park. Soon into our walk Jess made an exciting discovery and screamed "omigod! it's a CONCHA!!" We took advantage of the photo-op and made Amalia proud. (If you don't know what I'm talking about that's okay. Camino de Santiago anyone?) The park itself was pretty barren compared to our Retiro but it was "so Belgium." with it's woven tree branches, frolicking Belgian children, and statues. We walked through the park and then ran across a pretty busy street (we like the thrill of risking our lives) to look at Palais Royal before letting our stomachs guide us towards the center of town where our first Belgian waffles awaited.

concha excitement

now that's an intimidating lion!

We quickly found a spot to have liege waffles, they're circular and the sugar is baked into the dough rather than sprinkled on top. I opted for a waffle with bananas and Jess chose a waffle with nutella. Good choices on both of our parts. We ate and smiled and "omg"-ed a whole bunch. With happy tummies we check out the impressive Grand Place/Grote Markt, the main square of Brussels. We did a couple 360 degree turns, snapped some photos, and headed towards Manneken Pis.

pre-inhalation of waffles

Grand Place

Manneken Pis is a statue of a little boy peeing that has become a Brussels landmark whose origins are not really known. He's a lot smaller than I expected but managed to attract quite a crowd. After taking some obligatory touristy photos, we went into a bar right across from Menneken Pis that was straight out of Harry Potter (I'm talking 100% The Leaky Cauldron...) where we warmed up by a fireplace and sampled some flavored Belgian beers. My favorite was Kriek, a beer that is fermented with sour cherries!

little Manneken Pis!

Belgian beer by the fire

Next stop: french fries. Though not a huge fan of fries myself, I had a few of Jess's and must admit that they were delicious. After the fries we went to look at the Cathedral and then happened upon what is possible the cutest cafe in all of Belgium for some coffee. The owner is a short French man who loves his bright red sweater and a skinny black and white kitty was curled up on a banquette nearby. When he woke up I let him like some cream from my finger and it made my day; Nais, you would have been proud of my cat wooing skills. Ready for dinner, we found our way to Rue des Bouchers, a crowded street filled with fluorescent lights, tourists, and practically identical restaurants. Men from each restaurant stand outside trying to get people to come inside for dinner and the competition is fierce. Our decision was pretty easy once we were offered free glasses of champagne (which somehow translated to three glasses of champagne and three glasses of white wine each. Free.) and a table by the window. We hardly glanced at the menu and braced ourselves for Brussels' mussels. We learned how to eat with a mussel shell and we filled our tums and returned to our hostel exhausted, content, and giggly from the drinks.

Belgian french fries

bonding with the kitty

mussels in Brussels

We woke early the next morning and walked to the train station where we took an hour long train ride to Bruges, which we found to be overwhelmingly cute and straight out of Hansel and Gretl. We walked through the quiet Beguinage, which is sort of like a monastery, and continued on cobblestone roads towards the main square. Horses clip-clopped beside us as we passed chocolate shop after chocolate shop and crossed over picturesque canals (Bruges is sometimes called the Venice of the north). Michelangelo's "Madonna and Child" sculpture is housed in a church in Bruges so we stopped in quickly for a look at one of just a few of his works that exists outside of Italy. We then picked a tea room in the main square where we ordered waffles and tea, again without glancing at a menu which we regretted after seeing our 30 euro tab. Our server was a quirky French (?) man who claimed to have hung out a bunch with Colin Farrell while he was in Bruges filming his most recent movie. He also said that part of the movie was filmed inside the restaurant so perhaps the 30 euro tab was worth it after all... After our Belgian waffles (shaped like squares, sugar on top!) we walked around for an hour or two and saw the Bell Tower, the church that is home to what is believed to be a few drops of Christ's coagulated blood (...), and lots of lace and chocolate shops. We hopped on a train back to Brussels that afternoon, took catnaps back at the hostel, headed back to the French cafe with the kitty for dinner, then stocked up on some chocolate before calling it a night.

the Beguinage and a canal

the main square

waffles with fruit, ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce
(we don't mess around)

window of a chocolate shop

Again we were up bright and early to catch our flight back to Madrid. Public transportation was again a little tricky but we managed to make it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. After a brief tiff with some airport security women we were soon back on our way home, a little sad to leave behind two cities that we had completely fallen for. But true love lasts forever (or something like that...) so I'm sure we will return some day!

our plane's shadow in a circular rainbow...just a trick of the sunlight or a fairy?!

!

2008-02-21T04:40:00.002+01:00

we interrupt this blog to bring you the following news...

my older sister is cooler than your older sister.

EVIDENCE #1

EVIDENCE #2

booyah grandma!!
(off to Belgium!)

la bella sevilla

2008-02-17T12:16:00.008+01:00

On Friday morning Maya and I groggily dragged ourselves out of bed at 7am to make our way to the Atocha Renfe train station where our program was meeting for our trip to Sevilla. Though I slept the majority of the three hour journey I did catch some sights of the Spanish countryside whizzing by my window when I would open my eyes momentarily to adjust my sleeping posture. We arrived in Sevilla and were greeted by 70 degree weather complete with a shining sun and blue skies. We abandoned our jackets and grabbed our sunnies as all ninety of us made our way towards the hotel. After dropping our bags off we formed a snake-like trail of American tourists as we "zig-zaggy-ando-ed" our way through skinny streets, attempting to balancing ourselves on even skinnier sidewalks. Our directors set us free to wander and grab lunch before meeting up to tour the La Giralda and La Catedral. The cathedral was built on top of a Muslim Mosque from the 12th century and thus retains lots of its Muslim heritage in its layout and architecture. At the time of its completion it was the largest cathedral in the world but has since fallen to third (still impressive!). The exhausting walk to the top of the cathedral's minaret was well worth the resulting views of the city.

La Giralda and the view from its top!
(notice the shadow that it casts on the city)

After the cathedral we made our ways towards the entrance to La Alcazar, the royal palace of Sevilla and one of the best examples of mudejar architecture (the mixing of Muslim and Christian art forms). Walking through the main gates is like entering a completely different world. The gardens surrounding the palace are the most impressive I've seen; they're filled with flowers, orange trees, fountains, and even chirping birds (!). The palace itself is equally as impressive, consisting of a series of courtyards complete with arcos de herradura (the traditional Muslim arches) and countless examples of azulejo (Muslim tiles). After our tour we frolicked around the gardens and almost got lost in the hedge maze, which made Vera very angry.

pretty plant and azulejo

gotta love our azulejo pictures

playing in the hedge maze!!

view from one of the courtyards

the room where the throne used to be

Amalia summons some ducks | I found a bunny!

Tired and cranky from too much walking, Jess and I hunted down some gelato on our way back to the hotel before taking baby re-charge naps. Jess, Maya, Vera, Greta, Steffi, and I went to dinner together and later forced a cab driver to take five of us to Calle Betis where we met up with other people from the program at a few bars. Jess and I retired to our room early and slept like babies. :)

The next morning our group went to Museo de Bellas Artes where we saw lots of works by El Greco and Velazquez. The museum was followed by a walk along the river from Puente de Isabel II to Puente de San Telmo. We were again released by the directors to spend the rest of the day as we pleased. Jess, Maya, Vera, Anoop, and I walked across the bridge to explore Triana. We sat outside right by the water for a drink before wandering through Triana in search of gelato and ceramics. Unfortunately we were unable to find an open ceramics store (siesta time) but we made up for it with amazing gelato. We followed our dessert with a middle eastern lunch by the river where I satisfied my craving for hummus before heading in the general direction of our hotel, stopping to shop on Calle Sierpes. We reunited with our group in the hotel lobby and once again made the trek through the city towards the train station to head home to Madrid. I was once again happy to return home to Maria Rosa but Sevilla left quite an impression on me and I can't wait to return.

a bling bling horsie and a very yellow section of town

the foursome by the river : )

a trip would not be complete without jumping pictures

pretty buildings by the water and an orange tree

I got to talk to Nils and Nais on the phone last night and skype with Bretty which made me miss my cuddly Columbians quite a bit but it was great to hear their voices. After an unsuccessful trip to the Prado (2 hour lines just aren't my thing) it looks like today will be a pretty lazy day other than mine and Jess's outing to a Bikram Yoga center later this evening to try it out. My Monday morning class at Autonoma has also been canceled for tomorrow so I'm happy girl. : )

el dia de san valentin!

2008-02-14T20:35:00.005+01:00

El Dia de San Valentin is nowhere near as huge in Spain as it is in the states but I was not about to let that stop me. My hermanas and I had been working on our hand made Valentines for weeks and baked up a storm the night before: chocolate covered strawberries, shortbread hearts dipped in chocolate, and strawberry jam rings!

the fresas were picked special for us and put into a boquet of strawberries | rolling out the dough (Robbie do you recognize my shirt??)

cookie cutting : )

the valentine we made for our familia and hung on the refrigerator (click to enlarge) | freshly dipped cookies

a valentine's day favorite

Why all the baking? A Valentine's Day party in the park, duh. The weather was gloomy for the first time ever (I so totally jinxed us all in my last post) and February felt like February instead of April but we were all troopers! We packed up our treats, bundled up our bodies, and brought plenty of champagne and blankets (both for warmth) to Retiro Park where we met up with a bunch of girls from our program PLUS Anoop, who was the one lucky guy among plenty of lovely ladies.

goodies! please note the peanutbutterandjellysandwichesintheshapeofhearts

waving around our bottles pre-getting yelled at by guards

very proud of my pb&j skills | lots of love

feeding the ducks the bread scraps apparently made my day...

All in all, a very good Valentine's day. Especially because I received Valentine's Day prezzies from my Gram, Dad, Carolann, and Scooblet earlier this week! I survived my first week at Autonoma but I don't want to dampen Valentine's day with talk of such a dark topic. Off to Sevilla tomorrow for the night! Besos y abrazos!!

mis cosas favoritas

2008-02-10T19:57:00.000+01:00

I have compiled the following list for the following reasons:
(a) a celebration of my first month here (!)
(b) a legitimate excuse for not reading about Felipe II
(c) a distraction from thoughts associated with dropping out of school, dying kittens, and infernos of fire...all of which have resulted from the looming presence of the demon campus.

So let's get to it! My favorite things about Madrid (in no particular order...)

1. Chocolateria San Gines
Jess and I have yet to pay for churros con chocolate at this 100+ year old Chocolateria since befriending one of the servers during our first few days in Madrid (we are now his "invitadas" and yes, we're kind of a big deal). Frequented daily by tourists and geezers and nightly by the post-bar crowd, the place is usually packed.

2. Cafe Commercial
Another veteran Madrid establishment, I went here for the first time last night with Jess (it was the dinner part of our dinner-and-movie date night). Although I feared that my instant obsession may have been largely a result of the McDreamy look-alike server, upon returning this morning (with no McDreamy in sight) I can confirm that the obsession is legitimate. The dark marble tabletops housed old men reading the newspaper to my left, a meeting between intercambios to my right, and a couple sharing a beer and chips in front of me. As I was getting ready to leave two men walked by my table followed by a French bulldog. All three of them seated themselves at a nearby table. No, that wasn't a typo...the bulldog hopped up onto a chair and sat patiently, his droopy eyes conveying his boredom with what has clearly become routine. (Fetch could probably pull this off, but Rufus and Fiona? Never.) I'm hoping that the casual manner with which these three characters seated themselves implies that they are Cafe Commercial regulars and as long as the Charmanda gods are on top of things, I am guaranteeing another run-in.

3. Dogs
Though Mr. French Bulldog is clearly a special Spanish phenomenon, Spanish dogs in general are amazing. While New York is filled with chihuahuas on leashes (whom I love dearly), Spain has one-upped New York twice (two-upped?) when it comes to dogs. Firstly, dogs rarely are leashed--there must be something in the water here that makes dogs super easy to train. And secondly, I have seen a wider variety of dogs roaming the streets here than I would see on Saturdays at Rufus' dog-park...pugs, golden retrievers, greyhounds (wolves), chow chows, and tons of mutts (clearly the best option). Now if only the owners could adopt better clean-up-after-your-dog habits...

dogs playing in the park around the corner | wolf

4. Frutos Secos El Rincon
There are tons of somewhat grimy "Frutos Secos" stores here (stores that sell nuts, dried fruit, gummy candy, and chocolate by weight) but I recently crossed paths with the Queen Bee of the Frutos Secos world. It's bright yellow, spotless, and has just about every type of Fruto Seco imaginable. Today I stocked up on pumpkin seeds, "ositos" (gummy bears!), and "almendras" (almonds. duh.)...but tomorrow I think I'll give into my constant chocolate craving and fill a bag with the chocolate covered raisins I've been eyeing.

punkin seeds!

5. Blue skies!
The Madrid sky is honestly the clearest sky I've ever seen. Other than our first few days here, I hardly ever see any sign of clouds. Seriously...it's almost creepy. Now I've probably already jinxed myself and am going to wake up to a hurricane tomorrow...

seriously? SERIOUSLY?!

6. Viena Capellanes
Though I usually prefer to support small establishments rather than chains, the Viena Capellanes (one of eighteen locations in Madrid) just down the street has some of the most amazing cookies ever. My hermanas and I frequent this place so often that we're probably paying its monthly rent. And, despite its being a chain, the company was founded in 1873 so it's totes legit.

7. Maria Rosa's Tortilla Espanola
My Senora makes the best tortilla espanola (Spanish egg and potato "pie") in all of Spain, hands down. Enough said.

8. Mis hermanas!
Jess and Maya are finally back in 128 Fuencarral and I could not be happier. Las eche de menos este pasado fin de semana!

hermana love : )

Mood was temporarily lifted but Monday is crawling closer. Yuck.

and Autonoma enters the picture...

2008-02-09T18:54:00.000+01:00

Universidad Autonoma de Madrid is about to enter my life and what has seemed like a month of vacationing in Madrid (plus two classes that have yet to require any work outside of the classroom) is about to abruptly come to an end. Sigh.

On Tuesday Gabriel took Jess, Katie, and I to the campus for the first time. Getting to Autonoma requires switching from the metro to a more commuter-rail type of train line. The university claims to be situated in Madrid but I became skeptical as our train chugged its way through farmland and pastures with wandering horses. As we stepped out of the station upon our arrival my heart sunk even further. If there existed an award for ugliest university campus, Autonoma would be the proud recipient. My eyes darted around in a desperate search for any sign of Ionic columns or twinkle lights but there were none to be found, and in came an intense longing for Columbia's campus. In short, Autonoma looks like a poorly constructed public school from 1950. The buildings are dreary gray cubes, the signs do not match, and what perhaps at one point used to be patches of grass have turned to dirt. Painfully unfashionable students smoke in the hallways, the windows have apparently never been touched with windex, and one must constantly go up and down small staircases (initially designed so that students could not make a quick escape from police during the Francoist dictatorship). In order to choose our classes, we had to approach a bulletin board that had lists of available classes. Part of me wanted to find my way to the University President's office so that I could break the news that it is no longer 1920 and enlighten him with talk of the capability to have ::gasp:: online registration. I would elaborate more but I trust that you get the picture, and I wouldn't want you to catch my wave of nausea that has resulted simply from speaking of the demon campus. I start attending my two classes this week and will keep you updated.

Despite Autonoma's existence, my week has been a good one. On Wednesday my art history class had our first trip to the Prado in which we listened to Selma's attempt to "get us acquainted" with the museum. That night I went to the "cave bar" with my hermanas and some other people from my program. The inside looks like the inside of a cave and their signature drink, Panther Milk, includes something milky that flows out of a stalactite on the ceiling. It's yummy, I swear. I walked all over on Thursday and discovered a really neat Moroccan store that smelled like dead goats. Jess and I went to see a new Picasso exhibit at the Reina Sofia on Friday and had our first Europen gelato and afterwards I made heart shaped ginger break cookies despite some baking obstacles (lack of measuring cups, cookie sheets, and a real oven). Today I got out of bed to eat and then promptly found my way under covers again where I watched Grey's Anatomy and skyped with Robbie and Maya. My first completely lazy day in Madrid and I'm okay with it. After an busy night out last night, Jess and I are going to take it easy tonight and do dinner and a movie. Enough mindless rambling, Shamoo needs to be cuddled.

this is the oven i will attempt to bake with...please notice that i made a cookie sheet out of tin foil and pity me | gelato!

hermana love | jess sniffed out some chips hiding in the kitchen of Dubliner's

barcelona!

2008-02-04T00:40:00.000+01:00

A rundown of my weekend in Barcelona:

Wednesday
Jess and I arrived in Barcelona around 11pm after a somewhat turbulent flight. Despite our efforts to travel from the airport to Olivia's using public transportation, we were forced into taking a cab after missing the closing of the metro by about ten minutes. It started to pour and we pulled up to Olivia's Residencia wet, tired, and feeling defeated. Although Olivia had warned us that space was limited and that she did not have much to offer in terms of bedding, the lack of mattress, pillows, and comforters made Jess and I homesick for Madrid. We ended up laying out the clothes that we had packed for the weekend on the floor and sharing one top sheet, very homeless. And cold. And uncomfortable.

Thursday
We woke up Thursday morning and walked down to the beach. There were all these kitties climbing around on the rocks and I got to put my toesies (aka tootsies if you're my mom) in the Mediterranean for the first time. We wandered around Barceloneta (the beach section), ate bananas from a fruit vendor and got cafe con leche before walking north towards the Picasso museum. On our way through "Barri Gotic" we ran into Iglesia de Maria del Mar which was beautiful. The Picasso Museum was amazing, they had a lot of little drawings and paintings that he did when he was really young and also had a special exhibit of all of the works that Picasso himself owned. We kept exploring afterwards and ended up in the courtyard of the "Catedral" where the weekly "Mercat Gotic", the antique market, was taking place. Tired from so much walking, we sat down and read for a bit before making our way back towards Olivia's.

the pretty water | cold toes in the Mediterranean!

inside Maria del Mar | courtyard of the Picasso Museum

dolls and other goodies at Mercat Gotic

beachy colors : )

Friday
We were excited to finally be reunited with Maya, Vera, Anoop, and Sophie. Jess and I dropped our bags in the hostel before meeting up with everyone. We decided to try to see all the major Gaudi things and started off with Casa Batllo, walked up Passeig de Gracia to La Pedrera, made our way across town to La Sagrada Familia (where we took a lift to the top of one of the towers and had to make our way down on a tiny spiral staircase), and then jumped on the metro and made the uphill trek to Park Guell. Drained physically and exhausted visually, we all took siestas back at the hostel. Although we probably should have gone to an authentic Barcelona restaurant, we instead gave into our mutual cravings for sushi and sangria which really hit the spot despite an alarming lack of edamame and spicy tuna rolls. Some of Anoop's friends who are studying in Barcelona took us all to a bar called Pippermint's. Their specialty is giant drinks (2 liter beers with 8 straws shoved in them) but the atmosphere was a bit too fratty for my liking (and the American frat boys that took up most of the place didn't help). After hanging out for a little we took cabs to Club Pacha where we danced until heading back to the hostel around 4:30.

Casa Batllo | La Pedrera

La Sagrada Familia | inside one of the towers (we went to the top!)

one of the facades of La Sagrada Familia | spiral staircase down!
(click to enlarge)

group shot!

entrance to Park Guell

inside the park

Casa Museu-Gaudi (pretty and pink!)

Saturday
We spent the majority of Saturday's daylight hours in bed but it was a much needed and well deserved rest. After lots of whining, yawning, and sloth-like movements Jess, Vera, Maya and I finally made our way to Las Ramblas. We slowly made our way down the activity-filled street (people in costumes, cuddly baby bunnies for only 12 euro, and shops and cafes) before ducking into the colorful Mercat Boqueria where we gawked at the colorful fruit and candy displays, held our breath through the fish section and picked up some amazing coconut-strawberry-kiwi juice. Towards the bottom of Las Ramblas we were transported into a fairy wonderland (a fairy themed cafe but still...) where we warmed up with tea. Energized from our caffeine boost, we climbed all over the lions at the foot of the Columbus statue and walked along the ports towards the Catedral. Sadly, the facade of the Catedral was under serious construction (seems to be a recurring theme in Barcelona) but the inside was still stunning. We grabbed some bocadillos and then had another little siesta session back at the hostel. Afterwards we made our way through the rain (!!) to Chupitos, a bar that has every type of shot imaginable. Jess and I started off with the "boy scout" (they give you a marshmallow that you roast in a fire that is lit on top of the bar before using it to chase the shot), Maya and Vera followed up with the Monica Lewisnky (and lived to tell the tale...), and we continued with a shot topped off with whipped cream and m&ms and another with a lolipop. Very yummy indeed.

tiny little bundles of bunny

inside Mercat Boqueria
fruit, huevos, candy, and flores

Fairy Wonderland | playing on the lions
(i spy a creeper...)

approaching the Catedral from the back | interior of the Catedral

candles inside the Catedral

pre-Boy Scout shot

Sunday
Jess and I woke up around 8 to pack and go to the airport for our flight at noon. The flight was smooth, I read "The Little Prince" for the first time, and we were happy to be back on Madrid soil. Barcelona was fun but Madrid definitely is my new home and I'm happy to be back!

bye bye Barcelona!
(ps i risked my life to take these)

good to be back :)

the weekend in photos

2008-01-28T15:07:00.000+01:00

hookah, a belly dancer, and apple tea with my favorite girls

snuggled up and studying starbucks
(it's too comfortable to pass up!)

tried to order a tall iced coffee and i got an espresso shot with a separate cup of ice.
::sigh::
(at least the cups were the cutest tiniest lids ever)
(and they didn't think my name was Amalia this time...)

my favorite word

Sunday morning at El Rastro
these are my favorite things in the world

antique goodies at El Rastro

cloth lanterns

perfect day

post-game victory feast with my hermanas
(even though we didn't really watch any of them game...)

"You look like a milkmaid."

2008-01-26T01:52:00.002+01:00

First, some photos that don't really require an explanation but I'll give one anyway...

Jess and I having the time of our lives on a merry go round that was turned off...the people who were watching us do this acted like nothing was going on so it was somewhat awkward.

Jess, Jess, Maya, and I had an amazing peanut-butter and jelly snack time extravaganza. (10 slices of bread, 6 p.o.s., half a baby jar of peanut butter, half a jar of strawberry jelly, and four happy tummies!)

When we visited the "mezquita" of Madrid we had to use scarves to cover our hair. I think Jess and I look like Arabian princesses.

I successfully completed my first load of laundry! I hung up all my clothes myself and surprisingly didn't drop anything even though my soaking wet jeans seemed to weigh 20 pounds and I had to reach all the way to the fourth line out to hang them. When I got back from Toledo today (see below) my Senora had folded everything for me, even my underwear into cute little squares! She was a little bit confused about what to do with my mismatched socks (she obviously doesn't realize that white sock with blue whales clearly matches the gray sock with yellow whales...) and my clothes are a bit too crispy for my liking but I suppose that's how we roll in Spain.

* * *

Second! Today we had a group trip to Toledo. The town itself is really pretty and very cute. During the 14th and 15th centuries Arabs, Jews, and Christians all coexisted in Toledo which makes it a pretty unique place. We saw the "Catedral," "la iglesia de Santo Tome," two Synangogues: "El Transito" and "Maria la Blanca" (the latter of which was built by Arabs and later converted into a Christian church). During our free time we wandered the narrow streets, escaped the cold with some warm drinks, and Vera told me that I looked like a milkmaid.

"Vista panoramica de la cuidad" (click it to englarge-it almost looks fake!) and our group in the tiny streets

illegal picture from inside the cathedral and AZULEJO

cuddling in a park after a long day of walking and goodbye to Toledo

* * *

Also, last but not least, I booked Amsterdam with Jess, Maya, and Vera (and others??) for March 7 - 10!

and oh yeah, NILS I MISS YOU SO MUCH.

board games and the royal palace

2008-01-22T15:50:00.000+01:00

First of all, this kitten is adorable. Second of all, we finally figured out how to say "to cuddle" in Spanish. ACURRUCARSE. click here to learn how to conjugate it.

Last night a bunch of us went to this bar/cafe that has basically every board game imaginable (well, minus "Vida" and "Manzanas a Manzanas"...), it was amazing. We played Scrabble (in English and Spanish...and I used a French word), drank sangria (obviously), and ate chocolate cake (obviously).

Notice the LL and RR...and a total lack of Ks...how Spanish is that? We also played a pretty heated game of "Tabu" in Spanish like the true Spaniards that we are.

Today Maya, Vera, Jess, and I ventured out to the Palacio Real. The weather is really beginning to warm up so it was the perfect day to wander around and the interior of the palace is the most insane thing I've ever seen (photos weren't allowed so you'll have to just take my word for it).

in the courtyard and a fountain (notice the little dog!)
(click to make enormous)

view from the palace and part of the building

the main entrance

then we were all so excited we couldn't stop jumping...

After visiting the palace Maya and I went on a hunt for a store we heard of called The American Store. According to their website they sell goldfish but unfortunately the website lies. In an attempt lessen our feelings of disappointment and despair Maya settled for Pizza Combos and I opted for Ritz Bitz. We then proceeded to get extremely lost trying to walk home (my spidey sense failed me.) but finally made it. Unfortunately I'm about to give into one temptation in order to avoid another: going to Starbucks to do some work instead of taking a nap. Oh well, at least I lasted two weeks without my drink!

this post is dedicated to tom stewart

2008-01-21T15:14:00.000+01:00

GAME FACES.

jess, maya, and jess
game face, game face, and...game face?

the bar where we watched

kissy faces for our win!

andddd enough said.

spanish weekend like whoa

2008-01-20T17:59:00.001+01:00

Jess, Maya, Vera, and I made it to the Warhol exhibit at La Casa Encendida on Friday afternoon and saw lots of good stuff...lots of cool collages that he did with photos of Mick Jagger and lots of Warhol in drag:

here we donned our best Warhol faces and took a picture in front of the sign...

After the exhibit Jess and I gave into a craving for churros (quisieramos churros...o no?!) and then I used my spidey sense to guide us home. We ended up at the Chocolateria later that night after tiring ourselves out by dancing at Joy.

After sleeping in on Friday Maya and I ventured out in our neighborhood to pick up some flowers for our Senora who was having a baby surgery on her toes. We both were really wanting some juice so, after wandering the streets for a bit in a desperate search for fresh squeezed orange juice, we convinced ourselves that it would be okay to step into Starbucks. Somewhat surprisingly, the Starbucks across the street actually has exactly what we wanted on their menu: Zumo de Naranja Natural!

(click to englarge, direct your eyes bottom right)

the juice apparently excited me...

Jess, Maya, Jess and I went to this little place around the corner to get some tapas for dinner and they were great. I especially liked the sangria and finished up everyone's glasses as Jess cleaned up everyone's plates...both of which seem to be recurring themes. ("are you going to drink that?" "are you going to eat that?")

On Saturday Maya, Jess, and I checked out the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. We stuck to the second floor and saw lots of surrealist paintings, some cool surrealist photography, and a whole lot of Picasso. And of course a trip to the Reina Sofia would not have been complete without spending some quality time with the ginormous Guernica:

We met up with some other USC girls for dinner late on Saturday night at the metro stop La Latina. The place was great, the sangria was amazing, and the area surrounding it was very popular. We all walked together to the Sol area where Vera stepped in and used her special spidey sense for hookah to guide us to a hookah bar.

Calla Cava Baja, where we ate
and Sangria :)

the hookah bar

some pretty night pictures

After an interesting cab ride with Maya we decided to hit the hay early so we could go to El Rastro this morning. El Rastro was really neat. It's a big open air flea market that happens every Sunday from about 10 until 2. Maya and I arrived shortly after 10 and the streets were already buzzing. We clutched our "bolsas" tightly (pickpocketing is a big thing here!) and made our way through the growing crowds. The stands sell everything: souvenirs, shoes, underwear, playstation games, extension cords, antiques, etc. Maya and I each got Pashminas for just 2 euros. Although it's not really the kind of place I'll want to go every Sunday I definitely will venture back.

the very crowded streets

pashminas!

Earlier this evening at 7 we all went to a bar around the corner to watch the Real Madrid football game (that's soccer for you non-Europeans :P) and it was quite an experience. Although we were somewhat more concerned with trying to pick out the cutest players than paying attention to who was offsides we were all happy with Real Madrid's 2-0 win. Now that we have our team's colors figured out (blue and white...NOT red and yellow) we're totally on our way to become die hard fans. Unfortunately tomorrow it's back to class. I'm really getting used to these 4 day weekends though.

Speaking of 4 day weekends, Jess and I booked our first trip out of town! We'll be in Barcelona from January 30th until February 3rd, which we try to casually drop into every conversation we have with friends ("well we're going to Barcelona so...").

I also think it's important for everyone to know that mis hermanas y yo have developed deathly chocolate cravings after every meal. And after every snack. And in between meals. We're slowly but surely falling in love with the little cafe around the corner and eventually will probably be buying enough cookies to pay their monthly rent. I currently like the "corazones con chocolate."

Things to look forward to this week: a new washer and refrigerator are being delivered tomorrow (!), Jess and I will have some sort of adventure on Tuesday, and our group is taking a day trip to Toledo on Friday. Also someone is finally peacing back to the states...

Miss you Naisycats.

mis clases

2008-01-17T14:14:00.000+01:00

The first week of classes is officially over!

Until my classes at Autonoma start, my schedule looks like this on Mondays and Wednesdays:

10:45-12:05 - Arte en los museos de Madrid (Art in the Museums of Madrid)
12:15-1:35 - Novela espanola contemporanea (The Contemporary Spanish Novel)
*home for lunch*
4:00-5:20 - Historia de la cultura espanola (History of the Spanish Culture)
5:40-7:00 - Traduccion a traves del cine y del teatro (Translation through film and theater)

So although my Mondays and Wednesdays are a bit lengthy, it's nice to have Tuesdays and Thursdays completely free...at least until the Autonoma decides to start ruining my life. The Instituto is about a 20 minute walk from my house so I think I'll return home for lunch most days if I can. For my Art in the Museums of Madrid class we'll be taking a trip to the Prado museum every other week which I'm very excited about.

Some pictures!

pretty building at night

some buildings I walk by on my home from lunch

Parque del Retiro

no explanation needed

Instituto Internacional

missing nais

missing lizzle

Today Jess, Maya, Vera and I are going to check out an exhibit on Andy Warhol that has been up for a while but is ending this weekend. I hope to stock up on postcards today so if you're lucky enough to be receiving one look for it soon!!

helado!

2008-01-16T20:36:00.000+01:00

I just needed to let everyone know that I'm officially obsessed with my Senora. She just scurried to each of our bedrooms, knocked on the door, and handed us a little triangle of chocolate covered vanilla ice cream. I'm still not completely adjusted to the idea of eating dinner at 10pm so having dessert first was perfect. : )

week one

2008-01-16T01:17:00.000+01:00

I can't believe I've already been here for a week! The little guide to studying abroad from Columbia says after our first stage of cultural adjustment, Cultural Euphoria, we will experience Cultural Confrontation during which "confusion sets in and daily tasks are challenging and frustrating." A taste of this confusion has set in and I'm beginning to understand the initial difficulty of completing simple daily tasks.

First we've got the food situation. Being a vegetarian is not too difficult yet but the food that I am offered is a bit different from what I'm used to at home. There's surprisingly a lot of fried foods here...my Senora keeps making me fried zucchini and eggplant slices which are pretty good but heavy. Last night she offered me and my hermanas onion rings, mozarella sticks, and "toritillitas" (basically omlettes), and tonight put out a plate of egg rolls to compliment our potato, peas, beans, and carrot stew-soup-mush (which was actually pretty good.) So, although my palette is somewhat confused at meal times, I find my Senora's mix-and-match style of cooking kind of cute. I'm craving baked tofu from Whole Foods, grilled salmon, steamed broccoli, and my signature Nussbaum bagel but at least I was finally able to find pretzels (the bag actually says Brezel...which is awk). Unfortunately the pretzels aren't Happy Herberts low sodium spelt but they are satisfying nonetheless. Sadly there is no sign of "zanahoritas", or baby carrots, and my Senora doesn't think they exist, although she was quite amused when I told her I used to eat them all the time with my bunny. On the bright side, the clementines are amazing and the coffee that I drink at home and in cafes has been top notch so far.

Then we have the cell phone differences. To start with, my background is no longer a cuddly bunny but rather some strange pattern of neon colored hearts. Phone usage in general is much more expensive here which is a bummer...something like .35 a minute and .35 a text. There is no such thing as free nights and weekends or unlimited texting so phone calls are kept short and sweet and I've taken up nail biting again in an attempt to occupy my fingers during the sudden lack of texting that has taken over my life (speaking of which, I have yet to find a nail salon here...uh oh). When I got off the metro yesterday (on my way to rescue Jess from her demon Senora...which is a completely different story) my phone had turned itself off and was asking me to enter a Pin Number before I could turn it on and use it that I obviously had not thought to memorize. After a sad and unsuccessful attempt to figure out how to use a pay-phone I realized I didn't have any phone numbers on me and had to suck it up, hail a taxi, and return to my home to look up the pin. And thus marks Pissy Moment #1 of my trip.

Now we have the siesta. Spain basically shuts down for three hours every afternoon. Which is great if you can plan to spend the time eating lunch and then resting or napping but not so great if you have plans to be productive during this time. Today Jess and I needed to buy a book for class tomorrow and found that every single "libreria" was closed for siesta time. We must have walked at least a mile trying to find an open one...and then trying to find one that actually had what we needed. My whiney side came out and at one point I'm pretty sure I stated that I hated all of Spain for not having a Barnes and Noble (Spain and I have since made up so don't worry).

Other than a few minor obstacles things are going well. I'm happy to be settled in my new room and my schedule is starting to work itself out. Classes are good so far, I have four on Mondays and Wednesdays until my two classes at the Universidad Autonoma start in February. I really love my Senora, Blackie is indeed very cuddly (and extremely spastic if the doorbell or phone rings), and my hermanas are great. I know I've only been here for a week but I can already sense that it's going to be hard to leave! But I shouldn't waste time thinking about leaving, I've got a trip to Barcelona to plan. : )

homestay sweet homestay

2008-01-12T17:06:00.000+01:00

Today I arrived at my homestay with my new "hermana", Maya. There's also another girl living here from the states, Jessica (another!). My Senora, Maria Rosa, is so sweet and Blackie the dog is great too. "Abuelita" is 94 and can't really hear or speak so I'm not sure if I'll have much interaction with her...awk. The area is really nice, the building is actually right on top of a Zara store so my frequent retail therapy sessions will be easy. There's a Starbucks across the street but today I had a cafe con leche at a smaller Spanish coffee shop (I'm trying to see how long I can survive without my daily grande skim two pump sugar free vanilla latte which just sounds painfully American...I don't even know if it translates.) I walked around for a bit with Maya and Martin, who is a friend of Maria Rosa's son Miguel. It's great to be able to talk to some native Spaniards. Martin speaks English but Maria Rosa says that after today "solo hablamos espanol" so we'll see how that goes! I did have enough skills to tell Blackie to sit ("sientate!") now I just need to figure out how to say "cuddle!" and Blackie and I are obviously going to be best friends. Blogger is being a little pissy about uploading photos but I'll try again later.

my new hermanas

my little room!

best friends for life

the most important objects in my life

my street!

I made it!

2008-01-11T20:29:00.000+01:00

Hello from Madrid!! Things are good, the city is beautiful and the people are great. For the past couple days I've been a hotel with everyone from my program. We've had a couple meetings over at the Instituto Internacional where I'll be taking three of my classes. Today we got our home stay assignments and it looks like mine will be great. It's an older woman and her 32 year old son and they have a dog which is fantastic. I can't wait to cuddle it! Another girl from my program is going to be living with me as well so that will be fun!

waking up on the plane to my first Spanish sunrise

apparently you can't call them Coronas because there's another company named Corona in Spain so the name was changed to Coronita...so cud.

one of the many "Irish Pubs"...I obviously call this one Cannon's.

inside the Instituto Internacional

outside view of the Instituto Internacional

the metro stop for Instituto

pretty : )

our hotel

my first churros con chocolate!

the "Chocolateria" where I went...it's been open since 1894!

more photos later and deets about my new home after I move in tomorrow!!

a newborn baby blog!

2008-01-07T00:18:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow at 9pm I will board a nonstop flight from New York City to Madrid.

I'm all packed, having narrowed down my wardrobe to a "few" "essential" pieces (which translates to about twenty dresses, eleven pairs of shoes, a handful of tshirts, six pairs of the same jeans in different washes, and about half of my underwear collection). I have ziplocks filled with accessories (snack-size for necklaces, sandwich-size for bobby pins and hair ties, and a gallon full of bracelets), and one small box of my most favorite trinkets (baby Nais, answer feather, dikdik, cheetah, and a dream catcher). My carry-on has three plane letters/presents waiting to be opened and a snakiepoos hanging out the side. I finally fixed a hole on one of my sweaters and sewed the strap back onto my weekender. I said goodbye to Cuddles (my giant stuffed dog) and have come to terms with the fact that, despite my wishful thinking, there is no possible way to smuggle a bunny into Spain. Now all that I have left to do is replace a button, decide what to wear on my flight, buy a new digital camera (?!), and I'll be set to go!

If you think I like you enough to send you a postcard email me your address (amanda.veraldi@gmail.com) and if you truly love me you can call or text me to say goodbye and "buena suerte!" (see how good I am at Spanish?!) sometime between now and tomorrow night.

Leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again...for real.