Orientations

These past two days we've had our orientations for classes and learning about SLU- Madrid and everything about Madrid in general. We woke up to snow all over the ground, which I had never seen before. Our walk to school from our piso is only about a 15 minute walk but considering the streets were covered in snow we definitly had to walk a little slower. This snow stuff is definitly new to me. But luckily, as the day went on the sun came out and began to melt the snow a little and by the end of the day only a few places still had snow on the ground. At orientation we were all split up into groups depending on our last names and we spent the day getting to know the people in our group from all across the United States and learned about everything our school has to offer. It's a pretty small campus, especially considering only about 675 students are enrolled, so there is only about 2 main buildings where classes are held. We also were able to purchase Spanish cell phones at the same time which is nice because now we are all able to keep in contact much easier. We got tours of the neighborhood our school is in, but I was miserable on the walk because I'd never been in such cold weather before. There is a lot around the school and it wouldn't be hard to find anything you'd ever need. We also signed up for a day trip to Toledo on Sunday and although I've been before it's one of my favorite cities I've ever visited and I'm excitd to go back. I also met 3 girls from LMU who I didn't previously know and it was nice to have a connection from home all the way over here in Madrid.

After a little siesta, we all ventured out to find something to make for dinner for ourselves. It's difficult to plan meals and figure out what to buy because the food and grocery stores are very different and much more expensive with the exchange rate. It's just going to take time and trials to figure out what works, so far cereals the safest bet. The one thing impossible to find here is oatmeal which is quite unfortunate.

We've all been finding people we've met from SLU-Madrid on facebook which has helped us stay connected and see what other people are up to. Last night we ventured down to Gran Via to the bar El Tigre where we were able to meet up with a lot of other alumnos de SLU. They have a huge amount of Tapas with whatever you order and it's in a nice location in Madrid. It was also our first experience on the Metro and it's very clean and easy to use, we didn't get lost even with changes! It was a fun way to mingle with everyone from school and get a chance to talk with a lot of people.

Our second day of Orientation consisted of a bus tour throughout Madrid. Today the weather was a little warmer, but very rainy all day. After talking with our senora, she told me weather like this is very unusual, and she told me she hated weather like this. You could tell even out in Madrid that the locals weren't sure what to do with the snow. But, the bus tour was nice, but it was hard to see out the windows because they kept fogging up and the traffic in Madrid was horrible. We weren't told how long we were going to be on the tour for or any information about what we were visiting either so it was pretty much just a bus drive around the city. Luckily, I knew a lot of the places because I'd been to Madrid before and it was very cool to see the way it looked with snow because the last time I was here it was hot and summertime. We passed by all of the Museums and Palacio Madrid, both of which we plan to visit this weekend. The area around the Palacio is beautiful with cobblestone streets and historical plazas that really are the origins of Madrid. Unfortunately, by the end everyone was really carsick and really hungry and the tour just left us kind of in the middle of no where and we had to find our way back home, but the Metro ride was only one stop away and we came back and had a long much needed siesta, a beautiful part of everyday Spanish life.

Once we were all more rested we went exploring a little more and were able to find a gym only a block away to join that was very nice. I haven't gone running ever in the snow and definitly don't think I'd be able to handle it so I'm going to have to get used to a treadmil for a while. But, it's a great facility. Once it starts warming up I'm definitly going to explore the parks for good running paths. There were a few brave souls running in the snow at the parks, but I don't think I'm that brave. After not having ran in almost 4 days I'm excited for anything. Luckily, we walk everywhere and it's good exercise.

We also found a natural food market and although the prices were a little high, I was able to find tofu and other vegetarian options that are hard to find in a country like Spain where meat is a staple at almost every meal. It's definitly going to make eating out at restaurants a challenge.

Classes begin tomorrow, which is weird because I keep forgetting I'm here for school :)