Hoy, hoy, hoy...
Was busy. I got to
campus early again, despite leaving the apartment later. I'm ok with getting
there early though, I'm used to it. I sat and read my book for my culture class
on one of the benches outside. My first class was decent, I got all of the worksheet
right from yesterday except one question, which, of course he called on me for.
But oh well, I'll forget about it soon enough. We also got into groups to talk
about our first impressions of Madrid, what we were expecting, what was
similar/different from back home. I was able to speak fluently (though probably
not 100% grammatically correct) about that topic, so I think I'm
getting better. Or more confident, either way, it's better. I tried eating the
bread from yesterday but it was hard as a rock! I guess that plan isn't going
to work so well...
My second class went
well, we looked at a map of Spain and she talked about the climates and a bit
of history of each region. We got maps with all the important areas to memorize
for our exam too, so I'm gonna get on that. I already know most of them,
because the cities and oceans (and Mediterranean Sea) are pretty well known.
It's really interesting to hear her talk about the history. There is one girl
in the class who annoys me to no end. Of course, there's always that one
person. She has a really drawn out voice and she keeps trying to teach the
professor things, like why the US is starting to be called the "mixed
salad" instead of a "melting pot", and the history of one of the
town in Spain, and the influence of religion. She frustrates me so much that I
can't stand hearing her talk. But all the other girls in my class are fine
(there are no guys in it).
After classes a big
group of us met up to go and buy tickets for a bull fight. I don't think it's
something that I really want to see, but I want to go to be able to say I’ve
been to one. Plus it’s a huge symbol of Spain in general, so I feel like I
should go. Anyway, we took the metro to the arena (which is huge and gorgeous)
to buy them, but it turns out they can only be bought 5 days in advance, and we
want to go on the 17th. So we’ll have to go back to get them. We
ended up going to a restaurant for tapas (like appetizers) and sangria. It was
a blast. We didn’t know what most of the menu was, so we ordered random things
and tried them all. I don’t even know what I had, there was so much! There was
a random biker standing nearby that bought us a plate of calamari, it was
delicious. We also took a picture at the end, after we paid. Jullian (one of
our friends) was given a mateador hat and a bull cape, and we all stood around
him haha. Then we all headed home.
There were three of us
that were on the same line, and Brendan and I got off at the same stop, so we
stood in the metro and talked for a while. (He had to get on another train to
get home, and I was at my stop). He laughed at how I don’t notice people staring
at me. That’s another thing about people here in Madrid; they stare. In the US,
it’s considered rude, but here it’s part of the culture. Like usual, I’m oblivious.
But I don’t really care either, if they wanna stare, let them.
Now I’m just waiting for
dinner, and then I’m going to head back out with the same group from lunch
tonight. We don’t know what we’re going to do yet, either bar/tapa hop or just
walk around the streets. Either way, I think I’m going to bring my camera to
get night shots of the city… hopefully they’ll turn out. I don’t mind carrying
my camera around here, because I always have at least one hand on it, so I’m
not too worried about anyone stealing it. Also, it’s obvious that I am a tourist,
so I’ve given up trying not to look like one. This way I get to have
photographs to accompany my memories. Tomorrow is going to be a normal day;
hopefully I’ll speak more Spanish. I’ll have to wait and see.
No comments:
Post a Comment