¡Viva Madrid!

The past few nights I've been taking it easy in attempts to adjust to all the changes my body and mind have gone through the past week (sounds like I'm going through puberty). Every morning Kayla and I have tried to wake up earlier and earlier as to not miss the bus that seems to be leaving the second we leave the building every morning. Yesterday we missed it by one millisecond and tried to run after it; we failed miserably. Then when we got home our señor told us he saw us running and laughed... Anyway, we've been trying out new restaurants and types of food and I have found my favorite dish: croquetas! They are (what I think) cheese, bits of ham, and other ingredients I can't determine rolled up and deep fried. MUY SABROSO. However, since we have made our spring break plans, I've decided to cut down on the croquetas. Semana Santa (spring break): Naples-->Rome-->Greece!!! Not sure what Greek Island yet since the ferry schedules aren't made this far in advance. I am EXTREMELY excited. Next weekend we are going to Lisbon, Portugal, which will be my first time in Portugal. From what I've heard from previous study abroaders, it is one of the best places to go. 
Tonight we had a chance to watch a flamenco show at El Teatro Muñoz Seca. It was actually ballet flamenco, in a theater, rather than in a bar/restaurant like the show I saw four years ago here in Madrid. It was very exciting and absolutely amazing - how they snap those castanets so quickly is beyond my comprehension. Unfortunately there were no pictures allowed and I was not close enough to sneak a good one without flash. Afterward, we ventured out to grab dinner at Cien Bocadillos (1€ mini sandwiches), but it was too crowded for our group of 8 so we ended up going to a deserted Pizzasana ("healthy pizza"). They had a ton of combinations of toppings to choose from (most involving jamón, of course) and I ended up sharing a personal pie of tomates, queso, y jamón with Sara. The crust was very thin and the slices were small - it was delicious! We all ended the night with classes of wine and returned home to get some rest before El Kapital tomorrow (Madrids largest discoteca). 
Tomorrow there's no class, but Kayla and I have oral exams at 10:30 - these are to help place us into the appropriate grammar courses. Afterward we plan on going to El Parque Retiro to stroll around and maybe take a row boat onto the lake :) Adorable? 
Time to write some postcards to my favorite people! Hasta mañana! - Rebecita

Joy and Segovia!

Before going to Club Joy we stopped at a tapas place so we wouldn't be complete light weights. We ordered croquetas which were sooo good and 4 glasses of wine for 5 euro! Muy barato! We then went to the club and got to cut the entire line thanks to our new club promoter friend, Sam. We drank mojitos and were invited to the VIP section for champagne! We even danced in a huge bird cage which was in the middle of the dance floor. At 4 we caught a taxi back home and went to sleep with our feet completely mauled. 

 After 3 hours of sleep we woke up to go to Segovia with the IES group. Apparently it only took 45 minutes to get there but I wouldn't know because I was asleep the whole time. However, once we got there I awoke to one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The city is most famous for the enormous Roman aqueduct built in the 2nd century. We separated into groups for tours of the city and saw the Segovia Cathedral, Alcazár, and La Iglesia de Vera Cruz. Every building in the city is beautiful, with  intricate details in the architecture and cobblestone streets. It is also home to the most amazing building I think I have ever seen in my life, the Gothic style Cathedral of Segovia (built in the 16th century). The Alcazár, a palace built in the 12th century, was beautiful as well and we were able to tour around the inside of it. We saw the dining room for the royal family, an original bed, and other various rooms all with ceilings painted in gold. Situated around the rooms were actual suits of armor the knights wore. They were SO small, they looked like they would be worn by a child. Around the castle is a moat which made me feel sick to my stomach it was so deep. 
After the tour, we walked down the side of the cliff on a two foot wide path (literally). We all almost fell to our deaths domino style. We walked to la Iglesia de Vera 
Cruz, looked around, and then got back onto the busses 
to go to the restaurant where we would be having lunch.
Lunch was brought out in courses, red peppers (SO GOOD), croquetas, salad, pan de tomate, tortilla, salad con atún (tuna),  rotisserie chicken, and some sort of cake. On the bus ride home there was not one person awake. Kayla and I thought we might die if we had to walk home but luckily a bus came right as we arrived back at the station. After a LONG siesta, we woke up and got ready to go out to Joy again. We had plans to go to a shot bar with some people but, of course, did not make it in time. Because dinner is at such an awkward time and we slept through it, we stopped at McDonalds to grab something small on our way to the club. I got a small cheeseburger and Kayla got a "chicken move-it" which ended up being a single chicken finger. The McDonalds was extremely nice and also sold cerveza! When we got to the club we were again admitted in front of the line and got special wrist bands allowing us to sit in the VIP section (Kayla, Kaitlin, An, Tess, Carly, Nayha, and I). The club was completely different than it was the night before. Instead of having an elevated stage for people to dance on and a cage in the middle of the floor there was a 
VIP section where the stage was with all white couches and a huge martini class containing a dancer with only pasties and a thong ha! We danced up there for a while and then went to the second floor to hang out with the other IES people. We got home around 5 and passed out, loving the fact that we were able to sleep in for the first time since being here! We slept in until 1:30 and then went down to the pharmacy right beneath our building because Kayla has a cold (can't handle the new lifestyle..jk). Carmen made us noodle soup and some dish that I can't remember the name. It was basically garbanzo beans with a bunch of different meats and veggies. Now we're about to go to El Corte Ingles, the big shopping center, to get a curling iron and some Toms. Then we're walking downtown to the cathedral to look around with Sara and Liz. 
I'm finding that I am beginning to have trouble forming sentences in English after putting so much time and energy into forming them in Spanish! ehhhhhh. Necesito practicar mi Ingles un poco también! 
Hasta luego!

. 

Early Days and Late nights

Wednesday was our first day at the university where we divided into groups of 15 for our intensive culture courses which we will have Monday-Thursday for the first two weeks. The school is two bus stops away from our apartment, which is lucky because most people have to take at least one metro train to get there, which takes much longer. Kayla and I have been taking the bus to class in the morning and walking home in the afternoon.
The first afternoon in our homestay, Carmen made us chicken with mashed potatoes and bread. Yesterday we had penne with meat sauce and tortillas, and today we had some type of meat balls with rice and salad. Everything has been verrryyyy delicious, but yesterday Kayla and I told her we were "extremely hungry" and she gave us a mountain of food which we had to gorge ourselves with (it is rude to leave any food on your plate). We won't be telling her that again. 
My sleeping schedule is completely messed up; I have been sleeping about 4 hours in the afternoon and 5 at night. I don't know how to do it any other way considering we stay out so late and then have class at 9 am (...why?!). Kayla and I have bunk beds and I have the top bunk which is good except for the fact that I almost fell to my death last night trying to ascend the latter after a couple drinks.
Last night we went to Cafe Orange with all the other study abroad students. We forget to eat dinner so on our way we stopped at a cafe and got croissants (which we thought were plain) to go. They ended up having ham and cheese on the inside with a sweet croissant and it was probably the best thing I've tasted since being here. When we got into the club we checked our coats and got a cup (11:30-12:30 was an open bar). They ended up only having beer, sangria, and moto (?) which is a mixture of wine and coke. After some pushing and shoving and screaming in Spanish we were able to get some drinks and meet some of the other people we hadn't met yet. Some of our guy friends bought rounds of shots and thats when the night really started. Since I suddenly cannot drink vodka anymore (?!) without getting deathly ill, I was taking GREAT tequila shots while everyone else suffered through their vodka. Our friend An met the club promoter and he bought us all rounds of shots and glasses of champagne. We danced for the rest of the night (having to fend of some creepers), then took a taxi back to our apartment. We took off our shoes and crept into the house as to not wake our family because our senora doesn't want us coming home "borrachadas". 
Waking up is ridiculously hard considering its still dark until about 8:30. Today we had to be at class at 9:30, so naturally we didn't wake up until about 8:45. After class Kayla and I came home, at lunch, and took a nap with the aid of our black metal shade (almost like a garage door) that closes over our bedroom window making it completely oscurro. When we woke up we walked down to the mall which is right up the street to look for Toms to wear tomorrow on our trip to Segovia since we will be doing a lot of walking. Of course, we didn't find them but ended up buying a few items in H&M (whoops) and a soy chai latte at Starbucks :). Now we are getting ready to go out for tapas with the girls and then to Club Joy        where we'll be on the VIP list since An has been texting the club promoter (taking one for team). Esta noche va a ser muy divertido!
Hasta mañana  

Deferencias entre Espana y los Estados Unidos...

1. The food comes in much smaller portions
2. The elevators are MINIATURE (mucho claustrophobia) 
3. The beer is better
4. You can only take one shower a day
5. Lunch is the big meal, dinner is not a big deal, and breakfast is only coffee and either a muffin or toast
6. The McDonalds/ Burger Kings are very nice with marble walls and columns outside the door
7. The Metro is extremely nice, with televisions, vending machines and it is very clean (the best in the world*)
8. Dinner isn't until 11 and no one goes out until 1 or 2 am. The bars and clubs stay open until the next morning.

First Days!

       After a surprisingly painless plane ride (thanks to an entire bag of combos and The Social Network) I arrived in Madrid Barajas Airport with no problems at all! I was shoved into a cab with a guy named Eric and before we knew it we were scammed by the first Spaniard we ever spoke to. Who knew you had to pay 5 euro for having a backpack (..wait you don't). We finally arrived at El Hotel Huesa Princesa where I met up with Kayla and had a HUGE lunch of chorizo, vegetales y bistec. I then went to purchase a cell phone which ended up being 19 euro and the size of a bottle of nail polish. After some info sessions and scoping out of my fellow students I took a 3 hour nap to relieve some jetlag. For dinner I went with Kayla and my new friends (An, Sara, Liz, Melissa, Caitlin, Will, Thomas) to El Restaurante Parque and ate tortilla con choriza which was AMAZING. Also, we split some manchego cheese and a bottle of wine (all coming to around 11 euro!). Then a little tipsy, we all made our way to Chapandas, a bar made to look like you're getting drunk in a cave...stalactites and all! We had some drinks and then stumbled back to our hotel for a good nights rest.

        It was more like a not-so-good nights rest, being as we were all hung over and had to rush through breakfast which most of us ended up losing anyways (whoops). We then sat through some painful talks about classes before meeting our señoras. Ours is named Carmen and she is muy buena! She has a husband, Miguel, and a daughter, Celia. They are all very nice and have a gorgeous apartment on the west side of Madrid. Kayla and I have bunk beds and amazingly fit all of our clothes in the closet (Carmen was not readily convinced that we would). After unpacking we went to the IES Abroad center for a comprehension test to determine which level of grammar courses we would be placed in. It was surprisingly easy (hopefully all the classes will be this easy - doubt it). Kayla and I then made our 15 minute walk back to the apartment, met with Carmen, and got the metro to the center of Madrid where we met with some more people to walk around the city a bit. We found an amazing cafe, Cerveceria Montaditos, which had a billion tiny french bread sandwiches to choose from. We ordered some of jamon, chicken, chorizo, and (drum roll...) the BEST hot dog I have ever had in my entire life. We would've enjoyed the 1 euro beers if our stomachs weren't still in recovery mode from the previous night. We also saw a bunch of prostitutes...? Anyway, we then got the bus back to our apartment and are about to pass out for a MUCH needed sleep.

Hasta Luego!