El fin de semana (1) 

5/19/17 – 5/21/17

Friday was a fun day. I woke up and had breakfast with Halle and our host mom Cristina. For breakfast so far we have been having toast and a piece of fruit (We are going to ask our mom if we can go to the store later). We went to class and more groups presented, and then we had a brief lesson into our other class that we will be taking in addition to economics. It was hard to tell what it was going to be about specifically because we only went over all the areas of Spain.  Then we had a lunch break before I was going to present. Lunch was crazy because a girl carelessly left her bag just sitting beside her and it was STOLEN. She had her phone and her wallet and passport somewhere else, but her laptop was in her bag and it was stolen. I feel bad for her, but they warned us about petty crimes and she was just too careless, unfortunately. After lunch I presented my presentation and it went well (I hope). Then we ended class early and some of us went and got tapas, but I didn’t eat anything because I was waiting for dinner. After dinner, which was spaghetti and yogurt (curious), our host mom went to hang out with her friends, and we did the same. We went to a discoteca and had a lot of fun, relaxing after the first week.

Saturday we woke up fairly early for a weekend and went on a tour of Madrid. It was not what I expected, which was to go to specific buildings and landmarks. Instead we walked to all the locations: Important areas that represented the old wall that used to go around Madrid and important neighborhoods/districts/streets. Here are some photos I took that I liked from the tour.

Huerta de Madrid (Madrid is just starting to bring back little farmers market type things):

Palacio Real de Madrid:

                 

Origen de las Carreteras Radiales (The Origin of the Radial Roads is the center of Madrid, where all the measurements of the town began):

El Oso y El Madrono (The symbol of madrid is “The Bear and The Strawberry Tree”, and it is a bad picture because they were setting up for some sort of music event): 

Plaza Mayor:

     

Mercado De San Miguel (the small white weird looking things are mock baby eels. The reason they are not real is because at this time, 2 lbs of them costs over 600 euros):  

Otros (the drink pictured is my new favorite, it’s just a hair past tasting like water but it has great electrolytes):

After the tour, we went back to our house and took a siesta. Then we went to a rooftop party that one of the IES interns told us about and it was not our scene because we didn’t have a table, aka a way to sit down. We left there and then went back to the Gran Via area of Madrid and walked around to find dinner. We found a burger place (haha cultured), but it was actually really good. From there we walked SO MANY MILES because we couldn’t decide what to do for the night. In the end we walked to a street that is (hardly) comparable to 6th Street in Austin, but some people may. Then we decided just to head back to our apartments before the metro stopped running (it stops from 1:30-6 am). By the end of the night Halle told me her phone said we had walked 10 miles that day.

Sunday (today) we slept in a little, and then went for a run to the Parque del Buen Retiro. It is a beautiful and large park in Madrid. They seemed to be setting up for some kind festival or event with booths, but I’m not sure and need to look into it. We walked around the park and saw the Palacio de Cristal. It looks like a giant bird cage, and there are bird chirps playing when you walk inside. We also saw a small museum in the park and decided to drop in. The exhibit was quite interesting. Giant pieces of cloth in different shapes, and one even had live people. Then we left the park, and stumbled upon a cafe for lunch. Now we are back in the apartment and are going to ask our host mom if she wants to go watch the Real Madrid and FC Barcelona game tonight!

Sunday night was EXCITING! Real Madrid won their league (33rd time) and they had a huge celebration/fiesta/”concert”, and we stayed out until 3 am waiting for the players to return to Madrid and come see us! I heard so many new Spanish songs I want to learn 🙂 It was interesting that the team didn’t have a private plane and had to stop at two different airports, which is why it took so long. It was such a great way to experience the true culture of Madrid. They say Real Madrid is the team for the wealthier people in Madrid, other people in Spain, and the world, while Atletico is for the poorer fans in Madrid. Seems like an interesting idea to explore. The social classes within the city.

Here is a video that one of the girls on the trip made of the first week.