VAMOS A ESPANA!
What a whirlwind of the past couple of days it has been. This has really been my first chance to blog since getting to Madrid. On Tuesday, September 3, I headed to O’Hare airport where I met up with all the USAC students studying in Madrid from the Chicagoland area, which consisted of 3 other Loyola students and 2 from University of Iowa. We then took a group flight out of Chicago to Newark, New Jersey, where we had a 3 hour layover and met up with all the other USAC students else going on the group flight to Madrid. After a rough 7.5 hours on the airplane, we all arrived in Madrid at 3am (10am Madrid time) the next morning, where we met up with the rest of the group. I made a couple new friends in the process of traveling, and we explored Madrid and found a really cute and delicious cafe where I had cafe con leche and a vegetable quiche with some hummus in a little cafe down a street in Madrid. The streets aren’t like Chicago’s at all- They are narrow and can only fit one car, in which their cars are typically a bit smaller than American cars. Later we had orientation and then a welcome dinner, and after some of the USAC students and I bonded over a couple pitchers of sangria. I knew going into this trip that sangria is a big deal, but in order to put things a little more into perspective, alcohol is typically cheaper than wine, so people are always drinking here. After being up for 30 hours straight and the sangria making me drowsy, I headed to bed.
Today we took a tour of the famous sites IN Madrid, including all of the famous plazas and the royal palace which was absolutely BEAUTIFUL- I plan on putting some pictures up within the next couple of days! There are well over 2,000 rooms in this palace, but all are currently uninhabited, and the royal family currently lives in a different part of Madrid. I learned that the king and queen are celebrities, but are not very liked due to the monarchy that still reigns. After the tour we broke off into groups for lunch and exploration of the city. The group that I was with split a pizza and some sangria on the plaza- It was the most relaxing and wonderful part of my day. Later in the day we (finally) moved into our apartments/homestays. I am living with two other girls whom I think I will get along with very well, we went to dinner, oriented ourselves around our neighborhood, relaxed, and unpacked. I am glad to finally be in a semi-permanent place of residence. These days are absolutely PACKED with things to do and go by quickly!
Things I have noticed about Madrid:
-Emphasis on the sangria love.
-Most Spaniards can speak basic English.
-Madrid is overwhelming- I cannot wait to slowly explore the city.
-You cannot typically ask for a glass of water at restaurants. You will be charged and given a bottle of water.
-Food/most items are relatively cheap
-There is no Netflix, Hulu, or Pandora here.
-Spaniards do not know what oatmeal is.
-There are Starbucks, KFC, Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds here, except their menus are extremely different.
Hasta Manana! 🙂