Skip to main content

Primeros dias en España

*I am going to write in Spanish first and then translate to English, so I can see if my language skills increase AT ALL over the semester.*

Después de llegando en Madrid, fui con el resto del groupo a un hótel, que se llama Hotel Regina. Es circa de la plaza del Sol. Tuvimos un reunión sobre los móviles al hótel poco después de llegaron allí, pero tuve tiempo para ducharme. Era sucia después de sido en un avión o aeropuerto todo al día. Luego tenía tiempo libre y podía descansar. Era una siesta muy agredable y refrescante.

No hicimos mucho más eso día. Solo tenía cenar, y muchas personas fueron fuera, pero yo dormía más.

El próximo día, tenímos reuniones dónde nos dicieron sobre clases y quedando en las casas. Hay mucho información, entonces te ahorro los detalles.

Luego unas amigas nuevas y yo fuimos para cenar. Buscamos para un restarante que sirva sushi, pero no podemos descubrirlo. En vez, fuimos a un restarante de tapas. Tuve un plato de espárrago y fois. También sangria, claro.

Era el cumpleaños de un chico, Alex. Todos se encuentraron a las once y media para ir a un "cave bar." Dos estudiantes que estaban aquí el semestre pasado nos conduían. ¡Esa bar era llena! y más de 20 personas no ayudaba. Me fui al hotel temprano, circa de 2:30.




Inglés:

After arriving in Madrid, I went with the rest of the group to our hotel: Hotel Regina. It is near the Plaza del Sol, so there was a lot of stuff to see and do. We had about half an hour of free time before having a meeting about cell phones and then eating lunch, so I took a quick and much needed shower. After lunch, we had plenty of free time, and I took a delighful and refreshing nap.

We didn't do much else that day, just had dinner at around 8. A bunch of people in our group went out that night, but I was still exhausted, way too tired to try to conform to Spanish going-out customs, so I went back to bed.

The next day I had meetings all day about classes, internships and the homestays. There was a ton of information and I'll spare you the details.

I went out to eat later with a few of my new friends somewhere around Plaza del Sol. We were looking for a sushi place, but couldn't find it, so we had tapas instead. I got a plate with asparagus and fois gras on bread. It was goooood.

Since it was a boy's, Alex's, birthday, everyone agreed to meet in the hotel lobby at 11:30 to go to some "cave bar." I don't know who heard about it, but two girls who had been here last semester led the way. Even though midnight is still considered a little bit early to be out in Spain, the place was packed. And the 20-something people in our group probably didn't help. I went home relatively early - about 2:30.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Voyage Day 1–Aug 29, 2008

We have officially started our voyage today. I stood in line to board the ship in the sweltering sun for around 45 minutes, finally getting on the boat that will be my home for the next three months at 11:30 am (eastern time). They took my passport and vaccination records, handed me an insurance card, ID card and sent me off to my room. My roommate was already in our cozy cabin, 4157. Her name is Kellie, and she is a senior in some school in New Hampshire, though she is from New Jersey like everyone else on the east coast. She commenced unpacking while I waited for my own luggage to be delivered. It's so weird to compare the amount of stuff I seem to need up in Boston to what I brought on this trip. I needed to pack appropriate clothing for 11 different countries, oh and the ocean. But I was limited to two bags of up to 70 lbs (mine were under 50lbs) plus one carry-on. While I was packing, it felt as if I would never have enough stuff. As soon as I checked my bags at the airpo

Arrive in Salvador, Brazil

Day 10 Here's the low-down on what I've done so far today in Salvador. We were awakened by chaos in the passport department; they couldn't decide how the process was going to go. First it was by sea, then randomly by name, then they went ahead and had the de-briefing meeting, then the process went back to by sea with random face-to-face stamping. I could have slept in for longer. We finally disembarked after ten am and walked to the elevator that takes you to the upper city. The street we walked along to get to the elevator smelled like urine. Horses kept clomping by, I assume as a part of the Independence Day parade. They were setting up a marketplace in a plaza at the base of the elevator, which we perused, but didn't buy anything in. There was another plaza at the top of the elevator with spectacular views of the bay. People everywhere were were trying to sell us shell necklaces, straw hats and other things. There were street bands playing drums and different in

Lat: 12° 32.6N Long: 58° 0.75W

Day 4 at sea This whole journal-keeping thing is hard. When do people find the time to do this stuff? I feel as though I'll be constantly busy this entire semester. No time to relax on the beach or deck by the pool. We had our first classes yesterday–an A day. I had International Investments at 800 then Communication Across Race and Culture at 1425. It didn't take long for me to decide that I needed to drop the finance class. There was a suggested pre-rec of intro to macro, which I did not take of course, and I was completely lost. I felt better later, though, after I talked with another kid from the class who had taken both macro and micro and still didn't know any of the terms on the homework. I love my communication class. The professor is very cool and laid back. She wants everyone to feel relaxed and to not worry about grades. She is also a psychotherapist. That's pretty awesome. She reminds me of Shannon Boston in the way she is jolly and draws people to her