Moving in/first week in the apartment

So my first week in Madrid was awesome. Our apartment is beautiful, as Kaylen said before, 8 bedrooms, and 4 bathrooms, so we each have our own room. There are 6 girls and 2 guys in our apt, 6 from our program API, and two others who are grad students and got placed in here as well. One of them is from the Canary islands and speaks only spanish. Its fun to talk to her, even though her accent is completely different than theirs are here in Madrid. All 8 of us have been getting along really well, we spend a lot of time in the living room just hanging out and talking and whatever. And we've even made a couple "family dinners." The guys even cooked for us one night!! Who would have thought. Here's a picture of the 6 of us from API at some outdoor festival last Thursday. From left to right, Sam, Ryan, Ana, Me, Kaylen, and Katie. And we're all from NY/Boston.


First days of classes were fine, shouldn't be too crazy of a semester, which is good. Because needless to say, homework is the last thing I want to be doing while I am in this beautiful city with so much to do. I have to take the metro to class, which was interesting at first since I have only been on the NYC subway once or twice in my whole life, but now I have completely adjusted and am confident in taking it by myself, and it is so much more convenient than walking or talking taxis everywhere.

The groceries available seem so cheep, but I think it is just because we can only buy whatever we can carry back to the apartment 3 blocks away. I guess it's an efficient way to make sure I am only buying what I need! One big thing I found weird about over here is that they don't really sell disinfectant products. In America you can find anything from disinfectant wipes, to air sprays, to hand gel, but here, nada. Living with 8 people, I really miss that disinfectant stuff. Lots of germs going around!

People here never sleep. Literally. Dinner time is around 10 or 11 here, 7 days a week. If you go to a restaurant as late as 8:30, there still is NO one there. And when you do go out to eat, they serve these things called tapas, similar to or'dourves (sp) with every beer or drink you order. Sort of like a complimentary appetizer. It is really cool, because you don't know what kind you will get! Some times you get a piece of Italian bread with pork and a sauce, or other times you get olives and a kabob. It is a good way to force myself to try new foods.

The clothing style is also very different here, you never see people wearing sweat pants, or ugg's, and north faces. They dress very trendy, and well, but do not flash name brands as much as in the US. Although, I do feel like the majority of people own a burberry scarf... Night life is great here, its a great way to get out and meet the locals. Everyone is much more friendly than I thought, but you do run into the occasional Spainard who gets annoyed with our lack of Spanish. But that is to be expected. I feel generally save here, especially in my neighborhood, and where my school is. We really lucked out with our apartment and its location.

Miss you all back home very much!

Besos de Madrid,

Liz