holaaaaa....
so i just got finished studying a little bit for my final...im not nervous about the test part, but i ammmm nervous about giving a 5 minute oral presentation in spanish. we can use notecards (whew), but im still scared...I have to talk about how spanish people treat foreigners. I'm going to talk about how they stare you down on the metro, especially if you are in a big group and you're all speaking english...and how they look at our clothes because its obvious that we did not purchase them here...i'll talk about how they talk soo fast when you ask for directions or anything, but that they are usually very helpful and willing to help you figure out where you are going! I'll say something about how on the street, some spanish men yell "rubia! rubia!" (blonde hair) to the blonde girls in my class....i'll say how waiters are not very patient with us in restaurants...."um, perdon...que es THIS and THIS and THIS and THIS?" haha...but i'm also going to talk about how generally, people enjoy talking and helping us..like at the bullfight, there was a man in front of us who told us allll about the history and culture of bullfighting..he was great. anyway...i'll let you know how my presentation goes.
Yesterday, I went over to my friend ashley's house..she is in a homestay and lives with a senora. She had told me mannnyyy stories of her senora before, but I fiiiinally got to meet her...and it was definitely an experience... haha. Her name is Pilar and she is like, 75 years old...she is a widow and has children who live in Madrid. Ashley always tells me how she and Pilar just sitttt and talkkkk and eatttt together...watch tv together...do everything together. It's so funny. Ashley is one of the most talkative and patient people I know, and Pilar just talks talks talks Ashley's ears off because she's probably just happy to have another person in the house. When I got there, Pilar was at pilates class so we just heated up some food she had cooked ashley for lunch...it was gooooood...oh how i miss good food...i think i had my 40th grilled cheese sandwich today. anyway, when Pilar got home, she sat down and talked with us...it seems like everyyyyy old spanish lady YELLS when they talk. Like, everything was so forceful..."How was your day! What are you doing!!!? Is the pasta good!??? Where are you FROM!? EAT SOME MORE!!!!"...everything was just so loud and scary...haha...I had nooo idea what she was saying half the time but her tone was just scarrrryyy...she asked me some questions and I answered nicely...afraid she might hurt me....haha just kidding...she was nice..it just took some getting used to.
Oh yeahhhh... I'm going to Marrakech, Morocco this weekend! I'm so excited...Ashley, Tory and I are flying out on friday and coming back monday...I can't believe I'm going to be in Africaaaaa in a couple of days...crazy. Hope you're all having a good week!

ok the bull fight was amazzzzzzing! seriously..it was awesome. we were all a little skeptical about going, but i'm so glad i did. there is just so much culture and tradition in it...we were on the 2nd row, front and center and it lasted about 2 1/2 hours. there are 3 matadores who kill two bulls each...the matadores are very young- 18 and 19 years old and are MUY GUAPO (very cute)...they all still dress in traditional attire too. it felt surreal--like i was in a totally different world. I have so much respect for this tradition now...I can't wait to go again when my family is in town! After the fight, we went to a bar called El Tigre...its really popular and fun..you can get a drink and a plate of tapas for 1.50 euros...sweeeet deal, yeah? On the metro on the way to the bar, we met these two guys (twins) from louisville, kentucky...they seemed a littttttle out of place with their big southern accents haha..but they were in town for the night so they came out with us...they were funny and it was nice to hear some familiar words and phrases! it was a fun night :)

Hiii! Man..this week flew by...
School has been going well...we watched a movie in class this week and it was really funny. It was called "The Other Side of the Bed"..it was like a musical/comedy..we watched it in spanish with english subtitles (whew)...a lot of nudity...shocker. We have one more week of just spanish and then our real classes start, which i'm excited about. On thursday night, my roomates and I went to see this popular spanish band, jarabe de palo, in concert. It was at a theatre here in town sponsered by Hard Rock..the theatre was really pretty inside--reminded me of concert theatres in the states. The band was awwwwesome..my roomate, Kiley, studied abroad in barcelona last year so she knows all the cool spanish bands...we were on the 5th row and it was a really good show...veryyyy spanish, but awesome. there was a guest singer who did flamenco dancing..and they used a lot of different instruments. everyone was just dancing and singing and having a good time...i didn't understand a word of any song, but it was really weird to have everyoneee in the audience singing along..you know, just like if it were an american band at home. Speaking of my roomate kiley....she has an internship at the US embassy here..isn't that cool? Anyway, last night, there was this festival called "La Noche en Blanco" in Madrid..its where everyyyyyything in madrid stays open from 9pm-7am..plus, there are art and music exhibits and shows all throughout the city...and everything is freeeee. It was pretty fun except that it rained and got pretty chilly...we went to a music exhibit for a while...ate at mcdonalds (i know, so american)...and then went and toured the real madrid stadium. Real Madrid is Madrid's futbol team and they are awesome...the stadium was amazing and we got to go down on the field, in the visitors' locker room, and the museum with all their trophies and stuff...it was a fun night! its getting cooler here and I love it..can't wait for winter weather. My friends and I have been busy planning our trips and excursions...I'm sooooo excited..I just want to go EVERYWHERE. I'll let you know where all we decide to go...Also, I'm also getting verrrry excited about my family coming to visit..I'm been trying to plan out everything we can do..you know, try to keep them entertained..haha...they come in about 3 weeks so wahoo. Just some information for you...our program's housing director, pablo, was talking to us about growing up in spain and how different it is than the US...he said that most kids live with their parents until they are about 30...30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...He just moved about of his parents' house 3 years ago, and lives with a roomate now..so he's never lived on his own. He said that its just the normal thing to do...isnt that crazyyyy? The majority of parents in the states are pushhhing their kids to live on their own and be independent when they're like, 18. Man oh man...
We are going to a bull fight tonight so i'll let you know how it goes! I'm excited/scared...hope everyone is doing well!

I just got back from Valencia and it was greattttt...
We got there Friday night and went straight to our hostel..I've never stayed in a hostel before and it was a weird experience. It was located in a good area of town and was a youth hostel...so no creepy old people. It cost 15$ a night for each person...isnt that crazy? Jessica, Ashley, Tory and I shared a room...bunk beds and lockers..we had a tiiiny little bathroom too. You know those sink faucets that you have to hold down to get the water come out? And keep holding it as long as you still need water? Yeah...well thats how the shower faucet was...haha it was so annoying. Anyway, we unpacked and got tapas at a really cute restaurant called Las Cuevas...after that, we went out to a fun part of town..it was a late night but a lot of fun. On saturday, the hostel provided breakfast for us and then went to the world's biggest aquarium...it was really cool and realllyyyy big..we saw a dolphin show that was craazzzyy..who knew dolphins were so smart??..we then ate paella at a little cafe. Paella (rice, vegetables, and usually chicken or seafood) was originated in Valencia so I haaaaaad to have it...I didn't really like it, but oh well. Then we took a tour of a really pretty cathedral and saw, supposedly, the Holy Grail...there are a few places who claim to have it, and Valencia is one of them..who knows for sure...it was interesting though. We grabbed tapas again that night and went out to some fun bars...We went to the beach on Sunday and it was so so pretty...the mediterranean sea is sooo salty. seriously. I saw a lot of boobs and thongs, so that was fun. Its crazyyyy how the women here do NOT have issues with their bodies and have no problem showing it all off..old, young, everyone..its for sure different from the US...it seems like there is no "perfect" body standard here..everyone is so different and thats beautiful to them, you know? It was a breath of fresh air.We got back to Madrid late last night...it was a good weekend! Hope you all had a good one too...

oh yeah ok one more thing---
back to the touchy/feely couples in spain...(sorry i just can't get over it)..my teacher was telling me that movies and television here often focus on sex/sexual themes, whereas the movies and television in the US focus on crime and violence...makes sense that the US is way more violent than it is here, and that so many people here feel comfortable/able to display their feelings in public :)..ohhhh the powers of media...

hey-
hope everyone is doing well...
-we are halfway through our 4 week spanish intensive program...i'm still a longggg way from speaking spanish well, but i have gotten a lot out of the class...i'm learning a lot and the teachers are great..
-my friend from depaul (his name is chewy) is spending some time in madrid before he goes to study abroad in sevilla...so we've hung out a couple of times..its nice to have someone from home here! i feel like my worlds are colliding..its cool
-i joined a gym today..its near our apartment and i'm excited..i felt like i just needed a little escape to go and do my own thing..you know? i went running there tonight...and just so you know, alll the guys wear short, tight, spandex shorts to work out...(no thank you)...someone needs to give them a hint that that is NOT the way it should be.. yeah, so think about that one.
-a bunch of my friends and i are going to valencia tomorrow for the weekend...its a city in southeastern spain..its on the beachhhhh and its also home to the biggest aquarium in the world. so i'm pretty excited. chewy is coming with us too...we are all taking a bus there (4 hour drive) and staying in a hostel...i'll let you know how it goes!
-hope yall have a great weekend!

So the other day I decided to go on my first outing by myself...(without my spanish speaking roomates)...scary. So I went to this little icecream/coffee cafe..I walked up to the counter and attempted to order...in broken spanish...and finally the guy at the counter said "ok,quit trying and just talk to me in English". Haha...I was like ooook...so I felt dumb and ordered my coffee. Then, he asked me where I was from and I told him Tennessee..and before I could finish the word he said "Oh!!! Whiskey!! Jack Daniels!!! He's the man!"...haha!

just some things to think about...
*all the couples in madrid have a HUGEEEE problem with public displays of affection....im serious... on the train, on the streets, in restaurants...they are ALLLL over eachother..touching, kissing..i want to throw up.
*in spain, the letters ¨c¨ and ¨z¨are prounouced with a lisp...apparently, a longgg time ago the king had a lisp and he made everyone prounouce their words like he did...so its ¨graTHIas¨¨for thank you..¨THINKo¨for cinco (the number 5)...¨platha¨for plaza...its funny ...its hard to understand and im not used to it yet..
*it seems like EVERYONE here is alllways on vacation...doesn´t matter what time of the day, you´ll always find people sitting outside at cafes, drinking, laying in the park, walking around...everyone is just so laid back and in no real hurry...its like, do any of these people have jobs or responsibilties? haha its cool though...

more observations to come....

yesterday,me and my closest girl friends decided to be really touristy for the day and walk around and take pictures at some of the cool sites...we went to plaza mayor, retiro park, puerta del sol...we had coffee at this little cafe that overlooked the whole city...and then we got tapas at a little restaurant...we ordered patatas bravas (potatos with a hot sauce on top) and tortilla espanol (potatos and eggs with hot sauce on top)...very good...it was an awesome dayyyy and made me really happy to be where i am...

this morning, we went to this huge flea market type thing...they put it on every sunday from 9-2...it was fun but a litttttle overwhelming...it was crazy packed and they were selling everything you could imagine for pretty cheap...i got a ring and a pair of earrings for 6 euros....good yeah? it was cool to check it out, but i doubt we´ll be going every sunday..haha...

this afternoon we are going to retiro park to lay out and do some homework..the park is right by my apartment and it is gorgeous..there is a little lake inside where you can paddle boat and stuff..there are a lot of little cafes and icecream stands...its perfect.

i miss you alllllll and hope you´re doing well!!
-annie

hiiiiii! we still don't have internet in my apartment yet...i'm in an internet cafe now...but I'll update as soon as I can...things are going greatttttt..i love love love it.

ohhh madrid...

Whew. Well I'm finally here in Spain...I arrived Thursday morning. My flight was good, except they lost my luggage. That was awesome...I got it back the next day though. For the first two nights, everyone in my program stayed in a hotel close to Puerta de Sol (the center of Madrid). The hotel was amazing and it was really good to get to hang out and meet with everyone. We had an orientation type thing, and then just explored the city in the afternoon. At night, we all went out and had a good time...The schedule here is so hard to get used to! People don't eat dinner until around 10pm, and thennnnnn go out to bars and stuff after that. 3AM is when everyone is out...a lot go until 6 or 7 am....then get up and go to work or school. Its crazy. I'm slowly adapting. On Sunday, we were transferred to our apartment. I'm living with three other girls- Kiley, Tory, and Miriam. Kiley and I share a room and Miriam and Tory have their own. Our apartment is tiiiiiiny, but nice. Not many people have AC here so it gets a littttle warm during the day..but we have a lot of windows so its actually pretty nice. We live in the east part of the city (Goya)..its a nice part of town with lots of little shops and cafes. That night, we rode the metro to go see a movie in the park. Lucky for me, the movie was Transformers. I just looooove movies that are about things that could never happen...psych...It was in spanish too, of course...so it was a long 2 1/2 hours. Anyway...this morning, we took our placement exams to see which level of spanish we would be in..There are two levels- intermediate and advanced.I'm in the intermediate and I'm really excited about learning more spanish...it's realllly difficult trying to communicate. However, two of my roomates are pretty fluent, so thats helping a lot. I've met a ton of great people and I'm exciiiiiited to get into a routine and stuff this week...I'll have class from 8:30-1:30 Monday-Friday and then the rest of the day free. Hope everyone is doing wellllllll...I'll try to update again soon. Hasta luego :)