And the results are in...

WE HAVE OUR FAMILIES!


Hilary is living with a mother, María Luisa (64) and her daughter María (27).  She has her own bathroom!  And the apartment building appears to be in the center of Madrid!


Rachel is living with a mother, María (58), una abuela, two daughters Gema (30) and Ana (24)  and their perro (dog).  It seems kind of on the outside of Madrid, but she's not really sure.  


Woohoooo!  We are flying to Madrid tomorrow!!!!  Tonight is our last supper with our monitores and profesores from Santiago.  We will miss them (especially the Domingos (Jr. and Sr.)).   
Now off to pack, adios Santiago y HOLA MADRID!!!

Hasta la vista,

Raquel y Hilary

P.S. Here is a gem from last night:

Social Climbers

We always knew we would climb high, we just didn't know we would climb everything in Europe. Such as: towers, cathedral roofs, fortresses, scary spiral staircases, mountains, and hundreds of high hills (alliteration added by Rachel). Seriously, our leg muscles are broken.

Here are three intertwining spiral staircases in a Galician History Museum/convent. Each staircase leads to different rooms in the museum.

Yesterday we went on a tour of the roof of the cathedral of Santiago. Yes, the actual roof. There was an incredible view of the city.

Due to climbing so many stairs, we though these were stairs as well, but they were actually roof tiles.

Last night we ate an especially delicious dinner. We went to a tapas restaurant hidden in a back alley and ate: Cheese of la Mancha (Manchego), hot (temperature-wise) chorizo, pimientos, pulpo, shrimp, lots of bread, and tortilla espanola, which is sort of like a quiche, made with eggs, potatoes, onions, and usually peppers. Afterwards, we devoured waffles with chocolate (gofres con chocolate). This was a most delicious experience. It was especially great compared to the night before, when we tried to share a hake (Rachel thought this was pronounced HA-kay) dinner, but wound up ordering veal by mistake. We must siesta for now,

Hasta la vista,

Raquel y Hilary

P.S. Here is a picture of our delicious churros con chocolate dinner from a few days ago:

Days 4 and 5: Vamos a Portugal! y aún más Santiago

On Sunday we went on an excursion to various places on the border between Spain and Portugal. Our first stop was Tui, where we saw a cathedral/fortress. The most terrifying part was climbing the tower of the cathedral up a flight of very narrow stairs with no guardrails. We both developed a little vertigo, in the footsteps of Lucille 2. 

On top of the tower. SCARY. Notice our history professor Domingo Sr. in the background leading the tour.

After that we went to Portugal for a couple hours to see another fortress, which was a much more touristy marketplace where they sold nice linens. Portugal and Spain are only divided by a river, but there is an hour time difference. Then we went to a mountain (Monte Santa Tecla) that had an incredible view. 

On the side of the mountain were the ruins of a small Celtic village from the fifth century. You can see the outlines of lots of little houses. 

We ended our trip with a short stop at the beach and ate churros con chocolate for dinner. So delicious. 

This morning we began our classes for the week of orientation: Spanish history and Spanish literature. In the afternoon we took an architectural tour of Santiago, which is all very Baroque. According to our enthusiastic tour guide, the best example in the world of an entire city designed in the Baroque style is Washington DC. Que mola. 

Hasta la vista, 

Raquel y Hilary

Day 2: Más Santiago

Last night we all went out in true Santiago fashion!  Los monitores took us out for tapas.  We ate more octopus (pulpo), sometimes hot peppers (it was like playing Russian Roulette with food) and croquettes and Sangria.  Afterwards was an odd outdoor concert for the Festival Dos Abrazos (festival of hugs).  We met a Spanish friend who was adamant about toasting to Spain.

Afterwards we went to a few bars and dance clubs.  Luckily the music was mostly American.  Some of our faves included Bon Jovi, a Grease medley, Nirvana, Guns 'n Roses, Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, and a Beyoncé tribute to Tina Turner (Proud Mary).  Obviously was sang/screamed along and danced wildly.  However, we quickly became the entertainment of the bar, the Spaniards had probably never seen anything like us.   All in all a successful night as we got back at 4:30.

We went to an outdoor market this morning with a plethora of fresh food.  We also went to a modern art museum that was slightly terrifying.  Hilary saw some art from Art 105-106, but the rest of it was scary and slightly pornographic.  We'll be in Portugal tomorrow!

Hasta la vista,

Raquel y Hilary

Day 1: Santiago de Compostela

¡Hola a todos!  We have just arrived in Santiago, Spain for orientation.  With no sleep and very little Spanish (especially on Hilary's part) we spent a successful day and a half in Santiago.  Armed with new and confusing cell phones we braved the Santiago nightlife.  We followed our monitores (Spanish student-guides) to a café/bar and watched VH1 80's Cover Power.  Afterwards we got tapas for cena at a for real Galician restaurant.  We insisted on sitting outside which was a cold choice.  However, the food was mostly delicious. Between seven girls, we ordered asparagus with goat cheese, some kind of questionable veggie jello that we thought was a leek cake, and some octopus with clams.  For dessert (postre) we shared tiramisu and a chocolate cake.  Muy deliciosos (except for the jello thing).  

This morning we made a pilgrimage to the Catedral de Santiago.  There were many actual pilgrims as this cathedral is a hot spot for Christian travelers!  

Hasta la vista,

Raquel y Hilary