Viva España

I arrived in Spain last Monday evening. The rest of my study abroad group wasn't due to arrive until the next morning, so I was the only non-Spanish speaker in the entire building that night. For the first two weeks that we're here, we're staying at a dorm on the Universidad de Madrid campus. It’s pretty nice and I have a great view from my window. I can see the three tallest buildings in Madrid.

I don’t know what this building is, but I think it’s really pretty so I took a picture of it too.

There are probably 20-30 Spanish students here for summer classes. Originally my plan was to lock myself in my room the first night I was here and not come out until the rest of my group arrived. Hunger got in the way of that plan however, so I ventured down to dinner at 10:00pm. If walking into a cafeteria full of people you don't know by yourself is a scary thought for you, imagine doing that AND being barely able to speak the language. I sat down with a group of engineering students and managed to make it through dinner. I don't think I've ever said the word "what" (or "qué," I suppose) so many times in a conversation. Before I left for Spain, I was pretty confident in my Spanish speaking abilities, but it amazing how much harder it is once you get here. I just keep hoping I’ll wake up and speak fluent Spanish, but I doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. Lesson learned: guess I’ll have to work a little bit harder than I though to make this Spanish thing happen. I’m okay with that, though. That’s what I’m here for! Luckily, the rest of my groups arrived the next morning. I hadn’t met any of them prior to leaving since they all go to Marquette, but they’re really nice and we’ve been getting along really well. We’ve gone to see the Parque de Buen Retiro together. It’s the Central Park of Madrid. The main attraction is the huge pond.

Behind the pond is a monument to King Alfonso XII. I’m not really sure what this guy did to get this monument, but props to him because it is seriously amazing. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.

I’ve also been able to meet my soon-to-be host family, although we’re still in the dorms for another week. My family consists of Isabel, Javier and their two kids, Silvia (9) and Victor (2). I wasn’t able to meet the mom when I went because she was at work, but I met the rest of the family plus a grandma, two aunts, three uncles and a cousin. I’m glad I’m living with a family that’s so involved, but I’m also REALLY nervous. I had an incredibly hard time understanding the little girl because she talks a mile a minute. The dad is a fast talker too, but slows down when he remembers. All three of the uncles are married to Americans, and it was really nice to have one of them there because she knew exactly what we (one of the other students in my group is living with the grandma, so she was there, too) were going through. I’m excited/ nervous for my move-in date next weekend. I know that my Spanish will improve drastically once I move, so I’m trying to focus on that and not on the fact that I can’t comprehend these people when they speak to me. Yikes!