September 4, Madrid Orientation

So I left the house an hour before classes started and got there right as they were starting. I've figured out the metro, I just have to hope the trains get there when I need them to!

Today was the first day of actual classes and we had three different ones, each an hour long. The first two for my group were language classes followed by a civilization class. In the first two we are reviewing for the placement exam on Monday and went over introductions, ser vs estar and direct and indirect object pronouns. In the civilization class we talked more about Spain and I really liked the teacher and found it very interesting.

The big even today was our first lunch together as a program. All of the students traveled together on the metro to the very large football stadium that Real Madrid plays in. (It is the most visited museum in all of Madrid) We had a bunch of different tables in their fancy restaurant overlooking the field with an excellent view. There were about 9 people or so per table and that was a really good size for getting to know each other better. The food was also really good and they served us 10 different dishes/courses. A red pepper dish, gazpacho, croquettes, fried potato columns with a tomato sauce on top, sushi, giant hamburgers, "my first cake", tiny brownie cake bites, and three tiny pieces of fruit on a skewer at the end. The hamburgers were huge but thankfully the rest of the courses were just tiny samplings.

After that we had the afternoon free and I wanted to do the recommended bus tour with some other people, but everyone else in the group went to corte ingles a giant store that is a cross between, nordstroms, sears, an electronics store, and a supermarket/drug store to buy shampoo and other things they needed. I thought people would go around and explore the city after but they didn't- they just all went home. I headed back on the metro and train with Yinan to show her how to use the train because she lives very close to me and bought a cheap purse large enough for my notebooks so I don't have to walk around with a backpack not being able to see if someone is getting in my stuff.

The rest of the night I hung out around the house and in my room trying to figure out Madrid a little bit better from maps, the internet and other handouts I had received at one point or another.