If you arrive in Madrid, get off the Metro, and walk towards my house, this is what you'll see. (This is what I see on my walk home from school).

The apartment complex I live in. The center of Madrid is directly to the north of me. You can usually see some buildings from the center if you look in that direction. It takes about 30 minutes on the bus or train to get there.






My room. Small, but comfortable.
The window opens up to the center of the apartment complex. It reminds me of an Alfred Hitchkock movie I saw last year. I can't remember the name of it.

Bed and armoir










In Segovia. The big picture above is from here as well.










Brittany and me in front of the Roman aqueduct in Segovia. It's huge!

Catching up

Hi everybody.

Here's a little summary of what I've been up to since I've been here. (I realize I need to get this blog current!)

Week 1 (August 31st - Sept. 6th): Orientation with our Stetson/Marist College group

• Met the 7 girls and 1 guy from Marist, walked around the city, learned how to use the Metro and buses, went with our Resident Director to the Prado Museum, Retiro Park, and El Rastro (a popular street market that is held each week). Explored Madrid a little bit and took a tour of the University we're studying at here, Universidad Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M). Saw a movie in Spanish; could follow the plot but couldn't understand a lot of the words.
• On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, two of the language professors from the University gave us a "Spanish Crash Course" - teaching us a little about culture, grammar, and practical vocabulary and giving us a chance to get to know them. One of them is my language teacher now.

Week 2:

• Orientation week at UC3M - We all took placement tests to determine what level language class we should be in and what group (A or B) we should be in for our other classes. For example, I am in a language class with about 15 other people who are at about the same Spanish level as me. I am in literature and history with people whose Spanish is either the same, a little lower, or a little higher than mine. And I am in Cine (film) and Environment and Society with people of all different language levels.
• On Friday, Katie, 3 other girls from Marist, and I went to Toledo for the day. We packed our lunches, got on a bus, and got there in about an hour. The city is small, up on a hill, and has narrow streets. It is marked with remnants from various cultures and times - churches, temples, and a mosque; centuries-old architecture, and paintings by El Greco (who lived in Toledo).

Week 3:

• Classes began at school
• I am taking Spanish literature of the 20th century, History of the Present, Language, Spanish Film, and Environment and Society. I've been learning a lot about Spain (and about the subjects themselves) and the classes are definitely complementing each other.
• On Friday or Saturday, about 12 of us went to Segovia for the day.

Week 4:

• 2nd week of classes
• Orientation week with a group that gives students studying abroad a chance to teach English while they're here. I went for two days and decided that the program was not for me. :0)
• On Saturday and Sunday, our whole group went with our Resident Director to Salamanca.
• We took the train since Salamanca is farther away and got to travel through some mountains and open country. (A welcome sight when you are used to living with open space around you and you have been in a city for a while). We stayed in Salamanca for the weekend.

I have to go soon, so why don't I finish up for now with some pictures from Madrid and our second day trip to Segovia.

Happy Birthday Katie!

H·A·P·P·Y B·I·R·T·H·D·A·Y to you! Here´s a blog, in your honor...

Well, about three months ago I got here. Oh, I mean three weeks ago. Pheww... I was gonna say, being here three months and not writing a thing! I feel a little better now that I remember it´s only been three weeks.

First some basic info:

• The time difference between Madrid and EST (Florida, NY, etc.) is 6 hours. (Madrid is 6 hours ahead of Florida).
• I have a Skype account, but don´t have internet access at the house where I´m living, so that makes using Skype at hours that are convenient for most everyone in the US difficult.
• The apostrophe´s in this blog look different because keyboards in Spain have different spots for symbols and additional letters. Check out these: ñ ¿ Ç ª. Where our apostrophes are, this little guy ( ´) is located and apostrophes ( ' ) are next to the number zero.
• Pretty much every electronic device I brought with me has broken or not been working in the 3 weeks I´ve been here (laptop, camera, cell phone). This is my excuse for not posting pictures yet and this being my first blog.
• My cell phone was replaced so easily, the camera is working now, and my laptop is close to working. When I tried to plug it in to a new adapter last night there were chispas (sparks), so I'm trying to make sure the adapter I got is the right kind.

Now, onto more interesting things. The lady I am living with is named Carmina and she is in her 60s. She is kind, loves to talk, and loves animals (she and another neighbor take care of some nearby stray kittens). A while ago she retired from being a modista (dressmaker) for a designer who was quite popular in Spain.

I have to switch over to a different computer. Hopefully I'll be back soon.

Remember me?

Yippee! I reset my password and am back in business! There's only one problem - I don't really too much to say about Spain... I guess because I'm not there.

I've been spending the summer in Atlanta with my older sister and her familia. So for now, let's pretend this blog is called Sally's adventures in Atlanta.

To my two committed blog readers (you know who you are), I dedicate this update to you. Enjoy! :0)

Hola

Next semester I am planning on studying abroad in Madrid. I'm pretty excited. I know two other girls who are going; it will be nice to start off knowing a couple people.

My Spanish has improved over the last two semesters of classes, but I'm sure it is going to take a while for my brain to start really functioning in Spanish mode. We'll see how that goes...

We are supposed to arrive in Spain on August 31st, get moved in, and get ready for classes to start. Before classes begin, we will take a Spanish language placement test, sit in on mini-classes to help us decide which ones we want to take, and go on a trip with our group (five of us from Stetson and ?? from another school) and our Resident Director. (The trip might be to Seville, Granada, Barcelona, or somewhere else nearby). I think classes actually begin somewhere between September 10th and 15th.

I hope everyone is doing well and that we'll be able to keep in touch easily. I'm not sure how widespread internet access is going to be (especially at the home I'm staying at), but I plan to update this blog regularly. (Thank you Katie for helping me set it up!)