la tienda verde

euros on my desk. d5000


Europe is expensive, guys. The metro is killing my budget, and the abono monthly unlimited pass won't come for another 2 weeks. And that's 30 euro per month. It's still too cold to walk.
Food is getting up there too. I never get up in time to have a proper breakfast at mi senora's (thanks alot Spanish clubs) so by the time my Spanish class is over, I'm starving. The cafeteria is fine, but a little pricey for a sandwich. But there's one saving grace:

La Tienda Verde.

I really should get a picture of it. Next week, check back and one will be up.

Even those with the most elementary of Spanish knows what it translates to - The Green Store. It's a small shop a stone throw from campus. And SUPER CHEAP. You can get a bocadillo for a euro. Yes, a whole like 8 inch sandwich for 1 €. That's what most stores sell their bread for. And at like 2 p.m. EVERYONE in Spain is walking around with a loaf of bread. I'll do a blog on bread later. But anyway, La Tienda Verde is awesome. Their Fanta is pretty cheap too.

The ladies there are so nice also. Go in with your terrible American Spanish and they will welcome you right in. They'll recharge your cell phone. They're right on the way back from dance class so my tango partner and I always stop by and get something. I think I got a bag of chips for 40 cents. Que porpresa!

noches tardes en madrid

when you're studying abroad in madrid, you have three ways to get home after a late night:

walk - we did this last saturday because it was just a night out at some bar by school. my apartamento is in the northwest universidad area of madrid. it only took us 20 minutes or so, but if you want to go to the main clubbing area, sol, this is not an option.

bus - this was two nights ago. the main bus station, chamartin, is where all the night buses meet up. it's about 7 streets away from sol and thankfully we got to it right before our bus left. the n21. buses only come every 40 minutes at night, so be prepared to wait a ton.

finally metro - last night. el metro stops running at 1:30, so your only other option is to stay out until it starts up again at 6. this is kind of surprising that it stops because the spanish go out so late anyway. I mean last night we caught the last train, 1:30, just to go out to this super huge/expensive 7 floor club called kapital (I'll have to write about that when I bring my camera sometime). so we rode it out there until 6:30 and caught the train to get back at 7. it was just throbs of hungover or still drunk people on the subway at that time on a sunday. also, the cafeterias outside kapital in the morning were jam packed. a good business venture: late night fast food in madrid. there's literally none of that.

the worst part about doing the 6 a.m. metro is sneaking back into your homestay. awkward. especially with that dog. at least our senora wasn't up yet. sometimes it's just better to crash at a friend's with their own apartment and walk in at a decent hour.

escuela internacional

el teatro haagen daas (hahaha) y el cine ideal. en el centro de madrid.


Today I realized how different my study abroad school is.

My archaeology and dance teachers are Spanish. My Spanish teacher is Colombian. My photography teacher is Brazilian. My art history teacher is Mexican. My media teacher is Bostonian and my piano teacher is Italian.

but really the question is: why am I taking 18 credits? haha.

tres noches

so the past three nights in Madrid have been half my favorite/and least favorite in Spain. another rundown.

Thursday: usually I've just been hanging out with my roommate and his friends and ending up in less than fun situations. like Wednesday it was just them trying to hook up with Spanish girls at Orange. but Thursday I went out with these two decent kids, Susan and Zach, to try to go to this huge discotheque called Joy. so we meet up at Cuartos Caminos and take the metro to Sol. it's supposedly International Student Night, so we'd get in for free. we get there at 11 and the place looks pretty empty. there's no line so we go up to the bouncer to get in but he asks for 15 euros. we try to explain, but there's that language barrier again.

so we end up going to Dubliners, the designated home bar of SLU. some Irish bar nearby in Sol. it's okay, but it's packed with SLU kids and not exactly the most Madrid has to offer.

so we leave there and try Joy again. apparently we were supposed to show our student IDs. but two problems: the line is HUGE and Susan didn't bring her ID. (which is cutely obvlivious.) anyway we stand in line for like 40 minutes and only move up a couple spots. Zach gets through and I do too, but Susan obviously didn't. so we end up leaving.

then as we're defeated and about to go home, some promoter (a nice one, not like those other ones that make you feel like a nerd for not going to their club) gave us some cards and led us to this smaller dance club. and offered us 3 free cocktails. we were pretty nice to him (something that wouldn't happen with my others) and he gave us a VIP pass for some other time? anyway the club had all these fancy lights and really good dance music. we spent a couple hours there just dancing, the three of us and some Italian people, and this Spanish couple who were really good, and more. it was fantastic.

after freeing our friend from some Italian creeper, we walked around a bit and ran into some SLU people. Zach's friends, and this kid I know from Creighton - Will. we just walked around, enjoying the scenery and stuff. the metros close at 1:30 so we were definitely going to take a taxi home. but instead we found the bus station. but our bus just left. so we end up splitting a taxi. 15 euros. 5 each. not bad. really good night.


Friday: tapas night. a bajillion of SLU students (okay maybe 80) descend on Echagaray to sample appetizers and whatnot. as you can imagine, the places filled up quickly with that many people. so my friend Elizabeth and I go to this restaurante something El Secreto and ask for a table for two. the host led us down these stone stairs to a winding hall ending up as a wine cellar with a couple tables. it definitely was un secreto. I've never been in something like that in my life. the prices were a bit expensive, 2 tapas with a bottle of wine for 20 euros. but the experience was great. we had some queso viejo (old cheese?) and pan y un pasel con salmon. Liz doesn't like fish so I ended up eating that.



then after the bottle of wine, which was a lot stronger than we predicted, we walked around and her roommate calls. there's this huge disqotheque in the south of town we should go to. okay. let's go. 5o minutes later we're there, waiting for her roommate. 40 minutes later we're at the door of the place. 1 minute later I'm not let in? it was either because I was a guy, or because I was wearing a hoodie, or sneakers? I don't know. but that blew. but I did catch the last train home.

last night: TERRIBLE. I shouldn't go into detail about this one. but I went out with my roommate and his friends. it involved bottles in the park, sketchy romanian guys coming up and standing way too close for comfort, almost getting into fights in a prospective deal de drogas, a not so fun club, walking for miles, cerveza street dealers, a closed mcdonalds, and of course guys unsucessfully trying to get laid. they seem to turn Europe, this classy, elegant place, into your typical frat mediocrity. not too fun.


but tonight I'm going to the Prado with Z&S and we Friday booked flights y hostals to Portugal in two weeks. exciting huh?

las clases

my school street. avenida del valle.


d5000

wow I haven't been updating at all, have I? when I get back to my room, I'm usually just so exhausted that I want to pass out.

but classes started Wednesday. let's go through a rundown, shall we?

Spanish 205 (Speaking in Spanish) - I thought this was going to be horrible after the first day. we went through the syllabus and every word spoken in that class was in Spanish. I didn't understand some of the sheet and that's what worried me. one kid stood up and told the teacher in English that this was too hard for him and left. another one told me he wouldn't be back the next day. but thankfully I stuck it out because Thursday was much clearer. these are everyday at 11, but it's a class I need and the profesora es muy simpatica.

Ancient Civilizations of the Mediterranean - this one should be interesting. la profesora is a little strict and the class is pretty small, but the subject matter is completely new to me, so I'm fascinated. it's basically readings and lectures. AND a group trip to MEDIRA, this ancient city/archaelogical site in Spain. which costs way too much. but when am I ever going to go there again in my life? never. so that's my rationing.

Digital Imaging and Photo Manipulation - it's a photography class. should be like Fr. Doll's, but more artsy. our teacher is really laid back, not your typical prof. and she shoots for magazines like Spanish Esquire, Vogue....and some Brazillian stuff. she's funny too. class should be fun.

Realism and Impressionism, ART 455? - I'm not sure if I should stick with this one. the professor was talking about how if you wanted a general art history course, you should take a survey. this one is just focused on the time period. and I've never taken art history before. but I'm not going to get this back at Creighton so I'll stick with it for a while.

Global Media - our professor is a loud man from Boston who talks a billion words per minute. it's at the end of the day (5:30 - 6) so hopefully I don't get tired.

Latin Rhythms and Dance - by far my most favorite class. we walk a 5 blocks down to the Islas Filipinas metro stop to a dance studio. it's 40 American students trying to shake their hips without moving their heels and trying the positions and everything. super fun.


well those are my classes. and I signed up for a piano lesson which I hope transfers. 18 credits in all!? and no classes on fridays. why would I do that? I don't know exactly. but all I have to do is get Cs for the credit to transfer because study abroad credit doesn't affect GPA. thank you Creighton.

fly like paper

before classes started, last night I was bored and decided to make a video of all the clips at the aeropuerto y avion.

took me a couple hours. watch it. in HD.

el orientacion

one of the pictures I took on my lost walk.

d5000


I should really write more, because so much is happening, but I always get busy with something. Yesterday (Monday, LUNES) was our orientation. we were divided into groups by our last name. when we introduced ourselves, I was surprised how many schools were represented. I thought it was just going to be SLU kids. the people seem to be pretty nice. made some new friends. oh and some Creighton guy found me and my CU sweatshirt and said hi.

the campus is one metro stop away. una parrada. but the here's the thing that messed me up: our host families were supposed to show us the neighborhood, but since it snowed Sunday, we couldn't. then Santi's novia dropped us off in her coche, and we only drove by the metro station. then when the orientation was over, I could get to our stop on the metro, but after that I was completely lost. I wandered around northern Madrid for a good TRES HORAS, trying to find Avenida de Federico Rubio y Gali 86. I walked around a park. I walked over a bridge. I walked past obscene Spanish graffiti. I walked past a police station. twice. I found the end of the Avenida, which was the wrong side. I took out my Nikon to take pictures of the Spanish signs. I traced back the road only to find that the edificios jumped from 94 a 74. WTF. I ended up asking this old couple if they knew where edificio 86 was. they argued for a bit, but then the guy pointed me in the right direction. I left the metro at seis. I walked into my apartment at 8:45. my legs still hurt. was terIble y mal.

today was part two. a big gathering and the bus tour of Madrid. the auditorium session was pretty useless; people kept asking about stuff we went over yesterday. and it was rainy, so that did no good for the tour really. the bus was fogged up, we couldn't see the other side because we were on the blocked first floor. and the headphones played classical music that made you want to dormir. after that they dropped us off at el NORTE train station and left us. 4 of us just decided to go back a nuestros apartmentos y hemos tomado unas siestas.

el metro NORTE
d5000

so I'm here

I've been trying to figure out Spanish this whole day. well since my day started on a plane over the Atlantic and I was doing some last minute listening to Spanish on my iPod.

I hesitated after arriving at Barrajas. Walked around the airport a little, exchanged some Euros, but finally summoned up courage to hail a taxi to take me to the address.

The family is really nice. It's me, senor Gilbert, senora Gabi, their son Santi, their daughter Alejandra, and their niece....what's her name. Oh and the other student, from St. Joeseph's, Petrum. All in this quaint 5 bedroom apartment in North Madrid.

They're super nice. Senor Gilbert goes out of his way to speak slowly and in simple terms so we can understand. He keeps offering me fruit. O fruitas. Senora Gabi is very kind and nurturing.

My room is pretty cool. I'll post a picture later. The ceiling is lined with flags from different countries. I learned one of them Chile's, because Gabi is from there. I thought it was the Texas flag at first.

It's snowing. Es nevando en Madrid. Senor Gilbert says he's not accustomed to it. Es raro. But it kind of makes me feel like I'm home.

EDIT:


d5000

freaking out

I just realized, I don't know Spanish yet! what the hell am I going to do? these aren't helping. (I should probably open them more often...)

oh and my brother got me adapters/converters! how nice.

d5000