I'm in Madrid too!

So I'm in the cafeteria of our university right now (UC3M- Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) and my first class starts in 50 minutes, so I have about half an hour until I should start trying to find the building. The campus here seems really nice, but it is very easy to get lost because it is a symmetrical campus, meaning it has two halves that mirror each other and have identical buildings...stupid, stupid design. I got to campus today 2 and a half hours before my first class (at 2:30), which was really not necessary at all hahaha, but I wanted to be prepared. 

As Hilary has already suggested, our first week in Madrid has been AMAZING. I love my host family so far, even though there have already been countless misunderstandings. 

mi casa! Surrounded by apartment buildings. It may be the only house in Madrid.

It took me a few days to figure out who all the people in my host family are. Those were some very confusing first days. It was clear that I live with my señora/mother, Maria Antonia, and her oldest daughter, Gema (30). When I first arrived, there was another guy there who looks like he is about 25. No one bothered to explain who he was and I wasn't sure how to ask without being rude, so I assumed he must be Gema's boyfriend or a famiy friend. He walked me around the neighborhood, showed me where the metro is, and ate dinner with us, and then mysteriously left the house. It wasn't until the next morning that my señora explained that he is "not right in the head" and cannot be left alone, so she babysits him during the day while his father is working. Two days later, I asked her what his name is because I was still very confused. He is Juan Luis and she told me about how when he was little, he fell on his head and now things are "not right." I'm not sure exactly what is wrong, but he is really nice to me and I like hanging out with him during the day, so he is like a family member too. I found out yesterday that he is 22 or 23, so he is closest in age to me. He uses the Usted tense when he talks to me though, which is really odd because it's a form of respect for adults who are much older than you, and I'm obviously younger than he is. I'm not sure if I am supposed to correct him or what.

On my third day in Madrid, more family members showed up. My abuela (grandmother) came with the younger daughter, Ana (24), from a vacation somewhere by the Mediterranean. At first I thought my host mom said she was having surgery, but that was not the case...she was just on vacation at a beach. Much better. I haven't seen Ana at all since I met her that day, and yesterday they told me she is in Grenada. So I don't know much about her, except my host mom keeps telling me about how she drives much too fast and she is worried about her. My host brother arrived on that day too! I didn't even realize I had a host brother because the program gave me a list of family members in the house and he was not on it. I think his name is Manuel, but his mom calls him Mani (Manny?). He is probably the friendliest towards me and loves talking to me about current issues and Spanish history, which can be very difficult because I usually can't form complex sentences about my views on immigration or King Felipe II, but I definitely appreciate his attempts. He lives in Mexico and owns a hacienda (which I think is like a fruit farm?), but I don't know how long he is going to be here in Madrid. This weekend he went to a field somewhere and picked a lot of figs that I got to eat during dinner last night- so good! So that is my current family situation, but more people may show up soon as far as I know. They also have a dog named Bulba. She just sleeps all day.

Hilary gave a solid update on all the things we did this week with the monitores. I missed the hard apple cider outing, but instead I went with another monitor (Helios) to Parque Retiro (like the Central Park of Madrid) to walk around and see an art exhibit in the Crystal Palace (ahahahaha...I love CP). very pretty.

            

Vale. it is probably time for me to go to class!

Hasta la vista,

Raquel