Me gusta mucho el sol.... (roughly: I really like the sun)

And there's plenty of it. It's been in the 60's everyday and sunny. It's so nice to go and sit in the sun before and between my classes, especially since our house is FREEZING. The house is made for summer living and therefore is completely in the shade. They are putting in a heater but like always in Spain (whose motto is manana, manana, manana [tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow]) it is taking forever and will not be done before I leave. However, it proves a plus that we have people working on our house. Twice when I have come back from class for lunch one of my housemates, Ana, was sitting outside talking to one of the workers. He is very nice and doesn't mind me struggling through my Spanish in order for us to communicate. It helps hearing Spanish everywhere...although sometimes I struggle to get back into English when I am typing and things. Also when I speak English here it is usually with someone from outside Britain or the US, so many of the foreign habits have crept into my English.
Anyway, Malaga has started to win me over. I really enjoy school, although much of it is just a refresher from Spanish all those years ago and I am remembering quickly. In class we speak only Spanish and in the house I try to speak Spanish when I can, but any conversation more complicated than "how are you" or "I'm tired" is usually spoken in English. Most of my house mates are from Switzerland or Sweden. In my class all teh girls are Swedish and I felt like it was hard to fit in with them, although it was fine because the girls in my house were so nice. But one of the girls in the class, Sanna, is very nice and she invited me to go to a movie with her and some of the other people in our class.
There are seven people in my class, 2 boys and 5 girls. The boys are from, well I think the Netherlands but the teacher always says the country in Spanish and I can't figure it out, and the girls are all from Sweden. We have two teachers, Isa and Ramon. They are both very nice as I said in my last post. I am in school 3 hours a day, from 12-3, and then there is culture class, which is from 4-5. I really like the culture class. This week it has been about different places in Spain and the famous places to visit. We learn about the history of Spain as well as the geography and other things. Today we learned about the surrealist art movement. It was cool to learn about it from a teacher from a different culture.
Yesterday was my first trip past the school and the supermarket. Ana invited me to go to the park that is in Malaga to watch the sunset. The park was very nice, although it was up this huge huge mountain. She asked me if I walk fast and I said yes, but I didn't know we would be climbing 50 stairs and a mountain. The girl who is in my class and my house, Magdalena, came with us too. We hiked up up up and finally got to a little park in the woods. We walked down a little trail and stopped to wait for the sun to set and took some pictures. We met two guys who asked if we wanted our picture taken together. We talked with them for a while in Spanish and English. Ana is very good at Spanish and Magdalena is about my level, where we understand it well but have trouble expressing ourselves.
The guys left and we looked around a little and then decided to head back to our house. We got to the entrance of the park and the gate was locked. We stood for a second to take a picture and to assess the situation. We figured we'd have to climb over the gate and luckily there was a wall that went halfway up the gate. We were able to slip through two broken bars (it looks like people have been locked in or out before), put our foot on the bar across the gate and safely jump to the ground. We looked at the sign and realized the park closed at 7:00 and it was 7:15. But everything worked out.
I have not yet been to the ocean. Hopefully I will go tomorrow. We don't have culture class tomorrow and Melanie was talking about going to get coffee at one of the shops near the ocean. Tonight will be my first time to the city center. We are going to a movie at the University in the area. Because of Carnaval they are showing free movies every night about psychology. It is an American film, but we are not sure if the film is dubbed or in English with subtitles. I'll let you know when I update.

Hasta luego,
Jenn

La primera dia de escuela

Today was the first day of classes. I woke up at 8:00 to get to classes at 8:30. At least they were just down the street. I met a few of the people in my house, but we did not have a lot of time in the morning. I went to the school and took a test for classes. The test was pretty hard because I couldn't remember how to conjugate any of the verbs except present tense. I did the best I could and handed it in to the girl at the desk.
After the teacher graded the tests, the secretary gave us a tour of the school and gave us our books and our schedule. I had class today at 2:45, so I decided to go back to the house and sleep a little bit since I did not get much sleep in Madrid. I took a good 2 hours nap and then got up for school.
The class was good. It was three hours long with a break in between. I did not go to the culture class today, however I think I will try it tomorrow because it will be an extra hour of hearing Spanish.
The whole class is taught in Spanish. It is nice because it really makes you hear everything and makes you feel ridiculous not trying to answer back in spanish. I did the best I could. I was able to get my point across. What was nice was that we weren't required to speak or anything. In the first class we went around and did and exercise that they had had for homework over the weekend. I was able to keep up with the class and felt they placed me in the right place since I can understand what they are teaching but have trouble making sentences.
The second class was vocabulary. We learned food and drinks, very important for shopping and eating in restaurants. We got into groups and made posters and then learned other words the teacher thought we should know.
I really liked the teachers. It was different from Spanish in the states because they are animated and when they describe things they often use very exaggerated body language to get the point across but it helps you put and action with the word. The first lady, Isa, was very funny. I enjoyed listening to her. Our second teacher whose name I can not remember, but I think it's Rodrigo, was also funny as well. He had a great way of explaining things.
It was difficult to concentrate for 3 hours on a language that requires me to watch and listen very intently. I felt very tired by the end of it.
After class I came back and was able to have some time to be on the internet. I finally got a hold of mom, which I was waiting for. I also went to the market to get some food. It was hard in the market, I think the worst I've felt yet, because if I wanted something I didn't know how to ask for it. Wait, I went ot teh market before class, because then I learned all those words. Oh, well. I will know them for next time.
I had homework and was going to work on it tonight but I ended up hanging out with one of the girls, Melanie, from the apartment for a while. She is from Holland and lives in Belgium. We talked for a while (in English - although we watched Spanish tv and she helped me with words I didn't know). She's been here for three months and will be leaving the same time I leave to go to Sevilla. She is leaving for Australia. We had fun watching tv and then I was going to show her on a map where New Jersey was and we found a quiz and took the states quiz. Then we decided to find one for Europe. I realized I didn't even know half the names of the countires in Europe. How sad. So now it is a goal to learn the European countries!
Well I'm going to go to bed. I have a busy day of homework and the like tomorrow.

Jenn

More adventures ahead....

I will write about my first day later tonight, but I just wanted to let everyone know I talked to Nadine on Skype today and was able to get the au pair job with her family in Mexico. She was very sweet. She wanted to know that I would be attentive and happy with family life, and as I am not a huge partier or anything it should work out. She seems happy to help me with learning Spanish or French while I'm there and would like me to help her children continue to learn English. It sounds nice and she sounds like she is concerned with getting to know the au pair and letting them really be part of the family. She sounded concerned with how old I was since her other au pairs were much younger. She asked me to explain why I was putting off the real world (she used professional career), but again, what is the real world....

Hasta luego, mis amigos

Goodbye Madrid....

5:00
My bus ride is almost over, I just saw a sign saying it's 93 miles to Malaga. So before I finish yesterday I should fill in the last hours of Friday into Saturday morning.
After I finished blogging Bill invited me to come sit with him and a bunch of US girls in town for the weekend from their school in Barcelona. We all sat together and drank our large sangrias and chatted. They all left at one point to go to a tapas bar and I was joined by some Brazilian girls. Then Bill introduced me to some other people he had met at another table. The band that night was very good, a raggaeton band singing in Spanglish. It was fun to get to meet all the people at the hostel because it had gotten more crowded for the weekend. We were going to go to a club after, but the place was 30 euros. I was tired, as were some others, so we headed back.
I woke up at 9 on Saturday. I was tired, but the night before the front desk had asked that I change rooms for my last night and i had to have my stuff ready by 11. I also had to meet Valerie at 11:30 at the Puerta del Sol, so I went and ate my breakfast. After my cafe con leche and croissant (original right?) I headed upstairs to move my things. I'd like to thank the front desk for only making me lug my heavy bag next door. It was also helpful to have all my things packed a day early as I did not have very much time yesterday at the hostel.
I headed to the Puerta del Sol early. I thought I could sit and read my book, but there were no seats. And man what a difference a weekend makes in, especially in the off season. I had been to Sol on Wednesday and it was empty and a nice place to walk around. Yesterday it was a mass of people trying to fight against each other to reach the statues or the many side streets that come off the plaza area. The transformation was amazing. At least on Saturday I did not stick out when I pulled out my camera to take pictures of random things as I did all the other days.
Valerie came at 11:30 as planned. We caught up as we walked towards La Plaza Mayor. The plaza was cool (definitely more impressive than what I thought it was my first day there), but there wasn't much to see. We walked off down one of the streets leading out of the plaza. We stopped to have some food and a coffee (I had fresh squeezed orange juice).
Neither of us really had a plan of what we wanted to do. I wanted to see the Palacio Real (The Royal Palace) and the Reina Sofia was free that night, so I was hoping to get there anytime after 2:30. After our little mid-morning snack we wandered off in search of adventure. We ended up in Plaza de Toledo and saw a band playing outside a mall. Then we meandered down toward a cathedral we saw. There was no way to get inside, and what looked like a pretty garden turned out to be a work in progress. We walked around the back of the church to try and find another way in, but found ourselves in a sad little dried up park with grafitti littering the walls that enclosed it. There were a few people who appeared to be living in a little treed in area and some kids on a playground. We made our way out of the ghetto and walked back up to the main street.
Before I finish our day I would like to take a moment to share some of the observations I made about Madrid. As a city it is very old and beautiful, however graffiti is everywhere and people drop cigarette butts and dogs poop all over the sidewalks. The city hires street sweepers to help control this problem, but in the less touristic areas the sidewalks are littered with trash. I commend New York on the job they have done keeping graffiti out, since it really does ruin the beauty of the city. Also, the Spanish don't eat vegetables...or drink water. Ok, I'm sure some do, but I haven't seen many.
Back to the story. After the disappointing Cathedral, there was another even more beautiful church which was open to the public. At about this time my camera battery died and I was glad that Valerie was there so there was someone to document the rest of the day. (And for you mom, we took some pictures of one another and both of us together so you will get to see my smiling face.) We looked at teh cathedral, which was huge and quite pretty and then moved on to El Palacio Real which was next door. It was 8 euro to get in, and not worth it for that price. I forgot to have my student card with me because it would have been 3. The palace was nice, but it wasn't anything too special. I did enjoy the Pharmacy with old bottles that were labeled for different medicines, many of them still containing their namesake.
Now, at this time we were starving. It was about 2 or 3 in the afternoon and we decided to try and find food. We walked through La Plaza Espana and looked at cafeterias in the area. They were all pretty expensive, so we decided to walk back toward my hostel. Here's where we get lost. I can't even remember where we got to, but it was not where we wanted to be. We tried to find our way on a map and both agreed on a direction to walk. It was the wrong one, so finally we hopped on the metro and rode back up to sol to see if the vegetarian place (Valerie is a vegetarian) was open. No luck. I thought I knew how to get back to my hostel from there, but I was completely turned around and we ended up back very far away. Finally we found a place to eat. We sat downstairs to avoid as much smoke as possible and ate a sicilian veggie pizza. YUM!
After luch we were recharged. We tried again to get to the hostel, but ended up getting more lost. We did end up near La Sofie Reina so we decided to go in. We looked at the paintings, which were a lot cooler than El Prado. The museum holds many Dali and Picasso paintings, including The Guernica. It was huge, and I could have stared at it for hours trying to decide what went on in Picasso's mind. It was coold because they also had a series of photographs documenting the progression of the painting. It was like playing "What's different in the pictures" with a real work of art.
We left the museum soon after viewing The Guenica. We were both tired and needed to sit for a while. We went back to the hostel and I charged up my computer for the bus trip today. We shared a large sangria and got recommendations for tapas places from Renee, the woman who took me to the Flamenco show. We went to a place called La Lacon, which provided free tapas with every drink. We each had one drink and an order of mussels with a pico de gallo type topping. Valerie ordered a tortilla (something like a quishe made of potato and cheese) and we shared that. After we wandered around a little looking for another place, but none of them were as good a deal as La Lacon. I had to go to the bathrrom and we saw a hotel a little up the street so we walked toward it. On the way there was a casino so I decided to see if they had a bathroom. The bathroom had a key and the man said that I would have to wait for it. I decided to put a nickel in the slot machine so I didn't just look like a bum off the street. I didn't win anything, but I did get the bathroom key and that was a good enough prize. After the bathroom we got lost again and decided to look for dessert. We found a chocolateria and each got an order of churros con chocolate. Churros are tasty fried sticks of dough (which are baked in a large spiral and cute up into long sticks. The chocolate was so rich. We thought it would be something like hot chocolate, but it was more like a melted candy bar. You dip the churro in the chocolate and it has a heavenly taste. When the table next to us got up to leave we stole their left over sticks because we both had chocolate left in our bowls. YUM!
After churros we walked back to the Sol metro station and parted ways. I went back to the hostel and went downstairs to use the computer to double check bus schedules and see who was around. It was very crowded and I didn't recognize anyone so I left. The vibe of the whoe hostel was very different last night. Less like a community and more like a club as people were leaving or went out, and outside patrons visited the bar.
I was sad to leave this morning, but it is a beautiful day and a nice bus ride through the country. The mountains are a little scary when the bus takes the turns ,but they make for a beautiful skyline and the quaint little houses and the large spread of trees and farms is beautiful. We stopped about an hour ago to get food and go to the bathroom and soon my ride will be over and it is on to the next adventure, finding my way from the station to the apartment.

6:30
So I'm in Malaga. This city is absolutely ugly. I thought it would only be in the more commercial area near the bus, but it seems to be just as ugly here. However, maybe I will find it charming in the end. The girl in my room, who's name escapes me now, has managed to last one and a half months here. She is from Japan and speaks very good Spanish. It is good because then I will be forced to stop speaking in English. It worries me that she has other friends here and I don't know if we will be able to become friends, but I will not let that deter me from trying.
There are very many beautiful buildings around here for such an ugly town. When I got in I tried to figure out the bus to my part of town, but it was too confusing and I gave in to a taxi. The taxi driver took a minute to find the right number, but the people there knew what I wanted so I didn't have to struggle through words I didn't know in Spanish. A man helped me with directions and they were very good so I was able to find the place no problem, however it took forever to get in. Finally, my roomate helped me out. She just went out with a friend, but I'm glad that I get a little time to myself. I thought I would have a lot in Madrid and I had barely any. Anyway I severely need a shower.

an exhausted Jenn

PS thanks for all the comments guys. And thanks for reading. Love you all.

Leaving

Headed to Malaga on a bus. Hopefully I make the 10:30. I'll write to you from the other end.

Clouds

Today I woke up around 9 again and ate my cafe con leche and croissant. I had plans to go to the park this morning and read. I just started Into the Wild and am really into it, so I wanted to find sometime to read. However, it was cloudy and kind of cold this morning, so I scrapped the park and just went to El Prado, the art museum, first (hoping that the sun might come out later).
El Prado was nice. I spent a long time there because there were so many rooms, but I found it a little repetitive. Many of the paintings were religious and every woman's face looked the same. I swear that a man form the 1500's to the 1800's did not look a woman in the face. One person painted one one time and it was copied for all eternity since.
I really enjoyed de Goya though. His paintings had expression, passion. It was different than the rest. The faces and the dark images. It wasn't conventionally beautiful, but it was powerful. They also had a special presentation of the butterfly bull or something of that sort. It was a series of de Goya's sketches with a flying and bull theme. The sketches were so cool. you could see the strokes of the pen/pencil.
I can see why people like to see art. It is nice and it is staggering to try and image painting them. I would realy like to know the amount of paint that goes into each. It is nice to be able to say I saw it, but it will not be my favorite memory of Madrid.
I did enjoy watching a man who was recreating one of the pieces. There are a lot of artists there with paint and canvas working on copies of paintings. IT was relazing to just sit and watch as the canvas transformed.
After the museum I was hungry so I started to walk back home to find lunch. I found a organic/vegetarian place and was in need of a vegetable very badly. They don't eat them here. So I piled the take out container with all this stuff, half of which I don't know what it was. I walked back to the hostel and sat in the patio. It was amazingly good! When I finished I read some of my book, then went upstairs to read in bed, but there was someone taking a nap so I went back to the patio. I met a guy (he's married, so we don't have to go through the "was he cute?") there who was from Chicago. We talked for a while. He is going to Egypt to learn Arabic for five months. I was going to take him to the place I went the other night for paella, however we got very lost. We walked past a place advertising paella for 6 euros so we went inside. It was a pleasant dinner and good paella.
Now I'm back in our hostel bar. There will be a band starting soon and I have a large glass of sangria so it should be a good night.
Tomorrow I meet up with Valerie from the plane. It should be a nice day.

Jenn

Photos

Some photos so far:

http://jmu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2167463&l=2d5f4&id=7804820

El Escorial

Hola!
Today I woke up a little later, about 9:00. I went downstairs and had the same breakfast as yesterday. I met a man from Georgia who had just found a job in Madrid teaching English. We talked for a while. He had lived in Mexico for four years and said that Cuernavaca is as beautiful as I've been told. Today I heard from Nadine (the Mexican family) who would like to speak to me on the phone and then will finalize the arrangement.
After breakfast I went to my room to get ready. I decided to head to El Escorial, a monastery which houses the Basilica. It is an hour train ride from Atocha Renfre. I found the train with no problem although I had a lot of trouble buying a ticket. The machines did not take my credit cards and I did not have small bills so I had to stand in line and missed the train that was at the station then. The next one came in about 20 or 30 minutes and it was really a blessing I missed the first one because two guys from my hostel ended up in the same car as me. After some awkward looks, like "are you really the person from the hostel?" we started to talk. They are from Belgium and traveling for a few days vacation. I ended up spending the whole day with them and it was great because the town was a little hard to navigate and I would not have had as good a time by myself.
When we got off the train we were a bit confused but we finally figured out we had to take a bus up to the monastery. When we got off the bus we didn't know where to go as the signs were not very clear. We found a nice plaza and sat outside and enjoyed two cups of cafe con leche! Yum....I don't even know how Americans stomach our watered down version of coffee. It was a beautiful day outside and we sat and shared stories about our countries and such. It was very relaxing and also interesting to talk to someone from a place I know nothing about.
After coffee we tried to find a place ot buy food but we unable as everything closes at odd times in Spain. (I'm about to butcher spelling but his name was prounounced Yan) Jan had some cheese so we ate that and headed into the monastery.
El Escorial is very large. It houses many paintings from the kings' collections. Many of them are very beautiful but all are religious and without Johannes explaining about the painters and such I would not have enjoyed them as much. It was nice to be able to share it with someone. We weren't sure if we would be able to go to the Basilica because there was a part that was blocked off to us since we hadn't bought the guided tour. However, we got there and it was beautiful. The ceilings are painted and there are paintings everywhere. I couldn't imagine attending church there.
The tour took a couple hours and by then we were starving so we headed to a cervezaria I had a Manchego cheese sandwich. It is the cheese I liked from my professors house. It was three euros for a half sandwich filled with yummy cheese. We shared a bottle of red wine which was also very good. At ten something we headed back to the bus that took us back to the train station. The next train was not coming for another our (the last train). We probably should have planned the return ahead of time but it's ok (which I learned today came from war when they had 0 kills). We went to the bar right outside the station and had some beer. It was good, though I don't know what it was. They gave us free fried anchovies and little empanadas with some sort of tomatoe-y fish sauce maybe. They were both very good.
We got back around 11:30 and I took a shower and came downstairs to charge up my computer and write this. So that was my day.

Jenn

P.S. I tried to upload a video but it did not work. I will do something about it soon.

Downtown Madrid and More....

I slept ok last night, waking up off and one. But I finally got out of bed at eight o'clock. I didn't have much to do since I didn't have anything with me but the deoderant I bought. I finally "met" the people in my room, a woman and a man travelling together from either France or Canada as they greated me with Bonjour. However, we did not say much more than that. I headed downstairs for my complimentary breakfast, a choice between hot chocolate, coffee, or milk; donut, croissant or cornflakes; and 1 glass of orange juice. I had coffee and a croissant and of course my OJ. I went back upstairs and gathered my things for another day out on the town.
I decided to do a walk through downtown Madrid with a detour to El Parque de Buen Retiro. I started out on Atocha and walked to La Plaza del Sol. It was cool, lots of buildings and a cool wall separating the sidewalk from the street.
I turned up Calle de Alcala and walked all the way to El Banque de Espana. Here I gawked at the Metropolis and the other architecture you just would not find anywhere at home. I continued down Alcala to El Parque de Buen Retiro. I am so glad I decided to visit so early in my trip as I am dying to return. It is incredibly beautiful. It think part of it is the way the light its everything. The sun here is so bright and always shining. I was there early (maybe around 9AM) so all the joggers were out for their morning runs, as nothing here seems to get going until 10 o'clock or so. I saw the biggest duck I've every seen. I'm not sure it wasn't goose, but it's neck seemed too tiny. There were a lot of cats, too. At one point a whole gang of them were convened under tree. It looked like an interesting meeting, but I didn't speak the language.
I headed back out La Puerta de Indepencia, the same one I entered. Outside the gate there is an imposing three arched stone structure just standing, kind of in the middle of nowhere. I headed toward La Gran Via, but got a little lost on the way. It was find because I got to see a lot of little streets. I saw FNAC (the big electronics store, sort of like Sam Goody or Virgin). The Schwepps and Rolex buildings were pretty cool; a large logo over and old Baroque facade.
Eventually I found La Gran Via. I walked on and off it taking side streets along the way. It was close to noon and I was pretty hungry. I looked at a few places but I couldn't really figure anything out, so I got a little discouraged (something for me to conquer another day). I looked up what time El Museo de America was open until, and decided since I had a few hours I would check it out.
I boarded the metro at Callao and took it to the end of the line (Moncloa). After exiting the metro station I got a little lost and consulted almost every bus map on about five different streets. Finally I found signs pointing to the museum. I'm glad I didn't turn back to the metro because it was one of the most interesting museums I've seen. They had artifacts from all over the Americas, however the emphasis was predominantly on South American and Mexican cultures, areas of Spanish occupation. A lot of the artifacts were things I had never seen before. One that particularly struck me was the knot language. Dr. Paugh had spoke of it in her lectures on language in different cultures. I cannot remember which area it was in, but they recorded communications with a series of knots on different colored strings. They also had some very old books, one by Voltaire which were impressive and even the museum itself was very modern. When I entered the museum there was a really cool pottery exhibit displaying Mexican pottery that mimicked Chinese porcelain and Also some more modern pottery, one by Frida Kahlo.
After the museum I wanted to return to the park to read for a while, but I also wanted to see if my luggage had arrived yet. The smell emanating from my body convinced me and I made my way back on the metro to the hostel. My luggage was there!!!! I have never been so happy to change my clothes in my life, or take a shower. I didn't even care that the shower didn't stay on, the push button lasted less time than the one for the sink. Now I know why hippies don't shave.
I spent about 2 hours at the hostel chilling and putting pictures on my computer. The phone place was open at five so I decided to head down there and see about getting a card for my phone. I bought the card and returned to the hostel to figure it out. However, the effort was futile. The card did not work. But while I was trying to use it I hung out in the patio and some guy asked if I was British. I felt like I fit in!
After returning to the phone stand, I brought my computer down to the patio of the hostel.
A woman sat next to me with her Lonely Planet book and we started up a conversation. She was from Philly and had taken two weeks off of her job to come to Spain. At around eight I joined her and two other girls for dinner. We went right down the street to a great paella place. It's a completely graceless food to eat, but amazingly good....rice and random things thrown in. What could be better?
After we headed to Cadamomo to see some Flamenco. Her book said it was a good authentic place to see Flamenco, where people yelled "Ole!" and the dancing was beautiful. The book didn't lie. It was fantastic. My battery is extremely low, but I will update more about the Flamenco tomorrow and add a video or too so you can join in the experience too!!!

Buenas noches,
Jenn

The Rest of the Day....

So the first flight was good. I watched Across the Universe, ate chicken and rice, and fell asleep to the closing credits. Then the second round of entertainment came on and woke me up, so I turned on Ratatoulle and fell back to sleep. The girl next to me on the plane, Valerie, was going to Madrid as well, so we stuck together through the transfer. It was nice to have someone to talk to, to keep me up and make me feel less nervous about the trip.
The transfer was easy, at least I thought. The woman at the desk who issued my boarding pass asked for my baggage ticket, but I couldn't find it in my bag so she let me go and said to show it to the people at the gate, however they did not ask and I forgot. When I did remember I checked my whole bag and could not find it. It must have slipped out on the first flight when I took my computer out of my bag. I should have explained this to the people, but hind sight is always 20/20.
The second flight was smooth. The plane was a lot smaller and far less modern than many planes I've been on. There were no tvs, but that was good because I was able to fall asleep without distraction. I met up with Valerie after the flight and we went to baggage claim. Bags circled round and round and more and more people were picking them up and moving to the exit. I was still left standing there (though Valerie was very sweet and waited with me as long as she could). Finally after they had cleared all the bags away and there were only confused and upset people left standing at the carousel I headed to the Iberia counter to see what was up.
The woman at the counter couldn't be nicer. I explained to her that I had lost my baggage claim ticket and she looked me up in the computer. Good news, she found my luggage; bad news, it is in London. However, I took this as a blessing in disguise. It was definitely easier getting to the hostel without luggage and my luggage will be delivered directly to the hostel, hopefully by tomorrow.
After the luggage fiasco was settled I exited baggage claim and went to an ATM to get some Euros. That done I went to a small cafe for a little food. I got a yogurt (which tasted almost like sour cream...YUM! and no that's not sarcastic) and an apple. Then I set out to figure out the metro.
The elevator from the airport to the metro station was super cool, I can't really describe it you'll just have to take my word for it. It took me a little while to figure out how to buy a metro ticket, but finally I got one. It's just a little strip of pick paper and it's worth ten rides. The metro was nice an clean, especially the airport one, which looked the newest. The stations were very bright colors, which made the underground seem less dismal. I found my transfers just fine and got to the station I needed to, but after exiting I really had no clue where to go. so I just started walking and not too many minutes later I found my hostel. The guy checked me in and I was given a room (it has six beds, however I have not seen anyone else in this room). The key is super tricky and twice I've had to ask someone to help me get my door open, but everyone is gracious and helped me with no problem. I also couldn't find the bathroom for a long time, but that's solved now too.
After putting my stuff away in my locker I set out to do something with my day since I was super tired and did not want to fall into a bad sleep pattern. I walked out of the hostel and onto the main street near it, Calle de Atocha. It's a large street with lots of little stores that remind me of New York downtown area (like near Houston) but with more traffic. I set out to find the Parque de Retiro, however I eventually relized I was walking the wrong direction. I saw some large building ahead and decided not to turn back, but to explore the way I was already walking. There were lots of little plazas and streets, some of which I walked down. I stopped at another ATM since I had not taken out much and felt I might need more money down the road.
I think I saw Plaza de Mayor, but if I did it wasn't very impressive (update as of 1.23 It WAS NOT Plaza Mayor). There were some beautiful buildings and statues I saw, but I guess I expected more out of something named Mayor(major). Anyway, I eventually got to the end of Atocha, which ends near the art museums, El Prado and Sofia Reina. I walked in a large square and noticed a sign for the Museo Nacional de Antropologia. I decided it might be worth a look, and at 2,20 Euros it provided a good place to start my tourist exploration. The museum was laid out to describe the early cultures of Asia, Africa and America. There was a special display of things from the Phillipines. All of the artifacts were nice, some were even exciting, however the museum lacked depth. It was more like an introductory anthropology text book than anything; describing the economy, adornment and beliefs. The best room was the smallest room full of what would be considered a "cabinet of curiosities."
After the museum I walked back up Atocha to look for pajamas to wear tonight. I walked for a good hour and a half, two hours maybe, and found nothing. I was nervous to go to far out of the way, so I decided I will just have to be sleeping in my clothes tonight...good things I brought extra socks and underwear.
The city is becoming very lively at night. It was not at all scary on Atocha in the dark, however I can see why I might avoid some side streets. Right now I just want to go to bed but I know I should wait a little longer.

Good night,
Jenn

Newark to London

Hey all:
I'm writing a little piece on the plane (which I of course did not upload until later). I was nervous on the ride here. We were running late because I didn't think to print my ticket off until 10 minutes before we had to leave. Mom and I had to stop at Drug Fair to pick up a prescription mom had left at the counter earlier in the day, making us even later. Finally, we arrived at Newark and had to face the blistering cold weather in order to get to the terminal. By some dumb luck, we ended up parking right in from of the British Airways Terminal and were able to check in quickly and get all our questions answered.
Then, Mom and I had dinner together at Chili's because I could not enter the gate yet. I had a huge ceasar salad and a never ending Presidente Margarita. It was yummy, and I'm still feeling the effects of it at this moment. After dinner Mom accompanied me to security where I bravely walked through the "Ticketed Passengers Only" ropes and headed off on my own. Everyone was pleasant and made me feel a little less apprehensive. So I would just like to thank British Airways for their great staff!!
I tried to call the credit card companies while I was waiting, but at 8:20ish I was surprised to hear last call for GATE 67. I decided it would be a good time to board, as I did not want to be stuck in Newark.
I am now sitting in 32H, watching Across the Universe. It's about 9:42 and we've been in the air a little less than an hour. The girl next to me, or rather in the window seat is my age and embarking on a journey to Spain to work for her aunt's non-profit company. It is nice having someone to talk to and makes me feel a little bit better about travelling alone.
Meals are about to come out. The food smells good, though I have no clue what it is. The drink cart came down the aisle. They offered free wine, so of course I took them up on it. My seat partner and I realized we were the only ones who received 2 bottles. I guess we'll have to take it for what it is!
Anyway, I'd like to watch my movie and make room for my food....I will write more in a bit.

Jenn

And the packing begins

That's right, it's 6:45 the night before I leave and I said begins. I have a list in my head, now I just have to get the clothes out and fold them into their rightful places. I hate packing, which is probably why I spent the majority of the day cleaning out my itunes music and not cleaning my floor.
Anyway, this was just one more way to procrastinate. I'll check in tomorrow before I leave.



8:10: The weather report for the week in Madrid looks good. Weather.com is reporting mid-50s to 60 degrees and sunny everyday. Malaga looks even better and Sevilla still better than that. I'm hoping by the time I move on to Salamanca the weather there begins to warm up a bit, as that is the coldest area I will be visiting. Barcelona in March should be beautiful as well. YAY!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Today was my last day of work. It was sad to leave Hannah and Rachel, but I took their address and email and am excited to send them postcards and letters. I will miss hanging out with them.
I have been busy getting excited for my trip. I bought a book on Madrid (Top 10 Madrid by Christopher and Melanie Rice, DK Publishing) that was very helpful for picking out things to do in the limited time I am in the city. I also purchased Frommer's book Barcelona day by day, which I have given a quick look at but plan on using while in Spain to plan the last leg of my trip. I went crazy on my shopping spree and bought a carry-on that will carry my computer, a new book and all the toiletry items I will need for 2 months.
I have not begun packing yet. I have laundry at all the places I am going, so over packing shouldn't be too much of an issue. However, I still have to get everything out of the closet and in the bag. First, I need to get the things off my floor that don't belong there. Anyway, I will pull it together.
I have been nervous about this trip. At times going it alone seems like a terrible idea and I feel I'll be perpetually lonely. I am not incredibly scared of crime or violence, as this is a problem in the US as much as it might be there and there is no use getting myself worked up if I have prepared myself properly. I am more scared of getting bored of being alone. I love to be alone, it gives you freedom and flexibility you do not have when traveling with others. This is the plus side. The negative is I am not particularly good at meeting people. In the back of my mind I know this has been one of my motivations for this trip. I want to be better at being alone in a crowd. After reading some things on solo travel I have realized that it may be harder than having a built in companion, but it's not impossible to meet people. I guess I've come to think of it like going to camp...no one knows each other but everyone automatically likes you because they are as alone as you. I'm glad I will be in school for most of it.

With my fears aired, I leave you with this quote that Jessie sent me in a card she sent:
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in you sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
---Mark Twain

Jenn

P.S. I have officially been offered an au pair position in Cuernavaca, Mexico from March to August. However, I am still waiting for the mother to call me. I will keep you updated.

10 Days Til Liftoff

Can you believe it? 10 Days! To me it's still some far off dream, but everything is set.
I just returned from a nice 3 day getaway to Atlantic City for a friend's birthday (I only lost $40 to a Blackjack table) to realize that I am leaving in 10 days. I have booked my hostel in Madrid for five nights, although I still have no clue what I will be doing in the city for the time I am there. I have barely cracked open the guidebook I bought because of all the frustration and confusion over the trip.
There was a bit of a concern over booking the language class as Christmas and the week following was very busy and I did not go to book the class until January 8th and realized they specify you must pay three weeks in advance. However, I applied and emailed them, and with some help from Mom checking emails while I was gone we were able to book the class and pay for it. Soon I will be receiving the addresses of where I am staying, I can't wait.

My itinerary for the trip is as follows:
21 January: Fly out of Newark International
22 January: Arrive in Madrid after a short stopover in London
22-27 January: Madrid
27 January: Travel to Malaga, a city on the southern coast, to begin classes
27 January- 9 February: Malaga
10- 23 February: Sevilla
24 February- 8 March: Salamanca
9 March- 21 March: Barcelona
22 March: Fly out of Madrid back to home

I have not heard from the woman in Mexico in a few days, so I am still not sure whether I will be their au pair. I am looking forward to my trip and to whatever comes after.

Good night,
Jenn

Plans are always changing...at least for me

So I know I haven't written because of the holidays, and I have updated most of the people I have seen, but since I will not be au pairing in Spain I have come up with a new plan.
As of now I will be spending 8 1/2 weeks in Spain. I land on the 21st of January and will stay in Madrid until Saturday when I will travel to Malaga for my first 2 weeks of classes. I am taking an Intensive Spanish Course run by Enforex. This school allows you to pay for as many weeks as you want while also allowing you to move around Spain to anywhere they hold classes. I intend on spending two weeks each in Malaga, Sevilla, Salamanca and Barcelona. After these eight weeks I was intending on travelling throughout Europe, however this is the most recent change to my plans.
I had applied for a job au pairing in Mexico after I got the news about Spain. over the holidays I received an email from the family saying that they are interested. So now I will most likely return from Spain on the 22nd of March and then a week later travel to Cuernavaca, Mexico. The family there speaks Spanish and French (another language I wished to learn in orer to be available to more AIDs afflicted countries, mainly Haiti). They have two children 2 and 5 that both attend school so my duties would be similar to how they were for Spain. I am still in correspondence with the family, so nothing is truly set in stone for this part of my journey. However, it sounds promising and much less complicated than au pairing in Spain as I receive a six month travel visa as soon as I go to Mexico.

I will be sure to write more soon,
Jenn