Los Toros!

On Sunday, the Marquette group went to "El Museo de Jamon" to have lunch because the Colegio Mayor doesn't feed us on Sundays or Holidays. This place is a chain restaurant that has hundreds of different types of Ham. They eat so much ham here in Spain! The Museo de Jamon was on Gran Via, which is one of the more populated streets and areas of the city because it is close to Plaza de España.

After lunch we walked as a group over to the statue of Don Quixote and ¨El templo de Debod¨. These two landmarks iconic in Madrid. The statue is humongous and has a reflecting pond in front of it. The temple was given to Spain by the Egypt in 1968 to thank Spain for their aid. After taking A TON of group photos, we split up and went our separate ways. Carolyn, Allie and I walked down Gran Via towards Callao which is similar to Boys Town in Chicago. There are tons and tons of amazing stores there so went shopping for a few hours! The stores here are amazing! Everyone dresses so classy and put together. A lot of the women walk around in heels all day. I don´t think I could ever do that!

That night, we went to see a bull fight at the ¨Plaza de Toros.¨ Another professor what there and he was explaining everything about bull fights to us. They have such a rich history to them. Before there was a ¨stadium¨ for bull fights they used to happen in the main squares of towns. Everything would shut down and people would come watch them. They became popular because people like to see man put against the strength  of a huge animal. There are three parts to each bull fight. At first the men try to find out what makes the bull angry and where it retreats to when it needs a brake. Then men on horse come out and they hurt the bull in the strongest part of its back so that the Matador has a better chance to win the fight. After that only the bull and the matador are in the circle and they fight to the end.

The Matador has a contract that says that he has to kill the bull. The man that we were with said that if they didn't they might have to pay a fine or go to jail. It was so intense! I'm not saying that I liked the fact that the bulls were being killed, but it was really interesting and fascinating to learn about and watch.


The bulls are so huge and they go so close to the matadors. At one point a bull completely flipped the matador in the air! It was so scary to watch! I thought he would have gotten hurt but he didn't at all. At another point one of the bulls completely pushed over one of the horses. They have so much strength and force!

So, while this was a really interesting cultural and learning experience I don´t think I will ever be returning to see another bull fight.

Statue of Don Quixote! 

The girls (missing 4) in front of the Toro statue! 

Toro and Matador! 

Palacio Real y Más

Saturday was a big day! As a group we went on a walking tour of Old Madrid with one of our professors. The professor that was with us knew everything and anything you could possibly want to know about the history of Madrid. He didn't stop talking about things for two hours straight. The first thing that we saw was the Teatro Real which is a really fancy theater that cost a lot to get into. We walked over to the Palacio Real which is the official residence of the royals. However, the royals don't actually live there. The Palacio Real is mostly used for ceremonies and other things. It is absolutely beautiful and huge! I hope to go inside of it sometime this semester because it is full of historical artifacts. Next to the Palacio is the Catedral de la Alumdena. This cathedral was build over the time period of XIX and XX. It was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993. It is so beautiful that every time I see it I'm still amazed by it!

This area is a really big tourist area and there are a lot of different strange attractions. There are people in suits that hide their heads. This way the look like the are headless but can still walk. There are also people playing music. Sometimes they would play American music and it would seem so out of place because we were in such a beautiful place and there was an American oldies rock song being sung in the background.

We walked through a ton of the old streets and learned about what period of time they were build and how we could tell just by looking at it. I honestly walked around in a daze because I couldn't believe how gorgeous the buildings are. They are pieces of art!

One of the last places that we went during the walking tour was though Plaza Mayor. This is a huge square that has buildings on every side and is in the middle of the city. In the middle of the plaza is a statue of Felipe III on a horse. There are a lot of horse statues here!

Caroyln and I went back to the same church for Sunday mass. This time there was singing however it was a lot more formal that what I am used to. This mass was longer because it was Sunday mass so it was harder to pay attention since the priest talks so fast. I did catch on to some of the things there were saying though, which I think is really good for 2 times at mass!

That night we all went out for Sangria for one of our group member's birthday. It was so much fun, even thought the Spaniards still look at us really weirdly! The group is like a huge family already and we get along so well!

In front of Palacio Real!

The Marquette group in Plaza Mayor!

Beautiful buildings!

My first days in Spain!!

Hola! 

I have now been in Spain for three full days and it has been a great and exhausting! I am going to give you all warning that this is going to be a long post because a lot has happened in three days! 

I left Chicago on Tuesday evening for an overnight flight to Zurich, Switzerland. I sat next to a girl who was from Madrid and she started giving me advice about being in Madrid. The rest of the flight was long because I didn't sleep much but that was to be expected. Once I landed in Zurich with the rest of the group we went through customs and security in order to get to our connecting gate. I did get a stamp in my passport which was way more exciting than it should have been. We landed in Madrid at 3pm on Wednesday. The group met up with Profesora Sanchez de la Calle (Profe) who is our director from Marquette. We took a bus to the Colegio Mayor which is the dorm where we are living for the first week and a half of the program. 

Day two was full of orientation information. Lots of orientation information. We got our Spanish phones which are really old fashion but they do the job! In this orientation meeting we learned about the metro (underground train system) and the bus system. We met with two people who work with the US Embassy here in Madrid and they talked at us about safety. They warned us about everything from pickpockets to ending up in jail (which I'm not planning on doing...no worries). We also bought our abonos which are our passes to use the metro and the buses. Up until then we hadn't left the colegio mayor and I was so ready to go out and experience the city.

That afternoon (like 4ish) we went out to Avd. Princessa which runs right through one of the more popular parts of the city. There are ton of stores and cute little restaurants and bars in this area of town. The biggest store in Madrid is on Avd. Princessa. It's called Corte Ingles and is basically a department store on steroids. They have everything you would ever think you would need and more. A few of the other girls and I walked around for a while and then we stopped at a tapas bar for tapas and sangria. They were both absolutely amazing! Later that night most of our Marquette group went out to the bars because it was our first night in Madrid. We went out at around 11:15pm and no one was on the streets of Avd. Princessa. The Spaniards don't go out until around 1am and they sometimes stay out until 6am. They do this because the metro closes at 1:30am and then opens up again at 6am. It's absolutely crazy! I'm not sure I could ever do that, but we will see! 

Today we had more orientation but this time we went to the part of campus where our classes are going to be. In the Facultad (where we take our classes) there is an office for the Marquette program which is all decked out in Golden Eagle things! There are pictures of all the groups of students starting in 1965. It is really cool to look at! After taking a placement test (yuck) we went back to the colegio mayor for a siesta and lunch. My friend Carolyn and I decided to go to a church that we saw when we were on Avd. Princessa. The mass was really interesting. I could follow along with most of the mass but I couldn't participate because I don't know how everything translates to spanish. I plan on learning all of that before I leave Spain! The mass was only a half hour long which was strange. They didn't sing and all and they talked really really fast. 

As far as how I am doing, I'm doing well. I'm not all that homesick unless I really think about it and the jetlag is starting to go away. There are little things that I still need to get used to. The first thing is the food and the times that they eat. All the meals seems so far away from each other and I feel like I am always hungry. Part of that is because we don't have time to stop for snacks and the portions are very small. Us Americanos eat huge portions!! Everything is so much slower and quieter than it is is America. When we went out as a huge group we got a lot of weird looks because it's natural for us to talk so loud. Oh and everything is so clean. There is no litter anywhere and the metro and buses are spotless.So much better than the Milwaukee buses. They also clean the streets at night which is a little weird.

So, I have learned a lot in these first days and experienced so many new things. My Spanish has improved a little, maybe :D 

Again, for those of you who actually read through all of my rambles :D I'm sorry for the book! I hope to be able to write more often so I don't have to write so much! I'm going to post pictures soon but I'm waiting until after this weekend! 

Love and miss you all! Adios! 

¡Adiós America!

Hey all ~ Just getting my first blog post out there. I plan on writing about all the wonderful, exciting and different experiences I get to have this semester. As long as life doesn't get in the way, I will try to update my blog as much as possible!!!

So far, I've spent the last three days trying to strategically pack EVERYTHING I am going to need for the next four months. And yes, it's rather difficult to do. Especially for me because I do not pack lightly. Now that I have successfully finished packing, it's finally starting to sink in that I am leaving for another country tomorrow! 

I'm so excited to learn all about Madrid's culture and meet new people! I think living with my host family (a señora) will be one of the most rewarding experiences while I am there. I will really get to feel what it is like to live in a Spanish family! 

I'm going to miss my family, friends and Clifford :D 

Tomorrow starts the experience of a life time and I'm so excited!