¡Saludos de Madrid!

Well, I have been in Madrid for just over 2 days, and so far it has been challenging, exciting, frustrating, and basically the longest couple days of my life. It´s amazing how many little things you take for granted that are different. Like for example the doorknobs turn the other way. And I couldn´t figure out how to turn on the lights in my hotel because apparently you have to put your keycard in a little box inside the door first-did anyone else know that?

The first couple days have been focused on finding an apartment. I visited a couple and decided on one with another American girl from my program living there. There are also a 31 year old German guy and a 23 year old Belgian girl living there that I didn´t get to meet. I am definitely really leery about this situation. But it was the best of the options I was given. It is funny because they keep saying that this apartment is so expensive. It costs 550€ a month, and I think it is really funny that that is less than we pay for our dorm rooms at Rochester.

I went to the Universidad Nebrija today to take a placement exam and register for classes. I decided to take a class about modern Spanish culture, and one on common grammatical mistakes. I have class from 10-1 on Mon and Wed, so now if I can work it out so that I only work on Tue, Thur then I will have long weekends to travel!

The craziest thing was that the woman at the school who was helping me register asked where I am from. I told her Los Estados Unidos and she asked what state, so I told her Michigan. Then she asked what city and I told her that she would not have heard of it. But she said to tell her the name. So I told her Holland, and she was like `oh I know Holland, my husband went to Hope College.´How crazy is that! I guess it really is a small world. Especially since I was sitting in the middle of Madrid tonight in a Turkish restaurant and that song "I´m a bitch I´m a lover" came on the radio. I thought was very strange.

Also, I would like to say that my efforts at looking Spanish have clearly been successful since 5- count them 5 - people have come up to me on the street and asked me questions. Too bad I didnt know any of the answers, except the time. I think the trick is to buy some sweet European shoes, wear black or neutrals, dress up, and have dark hair. So basically I blend in, until I open my mouth.

The plan for tomorrow is to take a bus tour of the city, paid for by the program. And maybe walk around and try to explore a little without getting too lost.

¡Adios!

The final countdown, nah nah nah naaah

I have 37 hours left in the U.S.

A slight setback

As some of you may know, today is the day I was supposed to leave for Spain. However since I have mono I won't be leaving until next Sunday. So that means that I will probably be sitting at home bored for another week. So feel free to call or IM and entertain me! If you would like you can even sign up for Skype at www.skype.com and then help me get that whole deal figured out before I leave. My skypename is hcgeswein.