I survived the end of the world (el fin del mundo) and celebrated it at my friend from school Sara's 18th birthday party. Here I am with Natalia, Adriana and Sara the birthday girl.
Celebrated Christmas the Spanish way
1. Light show at the Palacio de Cibeles
Followed by taking advantage of Gran Via (basically Madrid's Broadway) being roped off to stop in the middle for a photo opp
2. Pictures under the giant christmas tree (harbor de navidad) in Plaza de Sol
(Chewbacca happened to be there, turns out he looooooves California)
3. A trip to the party neighborhood (el barrio de Chueca) to do some christmas shopping with my friend from school Jesus
He brought us here, a good friend no?
The end result, very happy americans
Even got my first spanish cd from his uncle's music store. And just from looking at that hair you know it's going to be good.
4. Hiking in the snow
5. Snowball fight with my friend Laura and her sister Blanca
...Laura lost
6. A trip to the top of the Circulo de Bellas Artes to get the best view of the city
7. The Christmas Tree in Plaza de Colon with my brother and his girl friend Paula
8. Plaza Mayor with the family to see the christmas market
and to eat bocadillos de calamares
9. Outdoor iceskating with Paula's little cousin
Once Christmas was over, my german friend, Anna, who's staying in the north of Spain for her exchange came to visit me.
Anna with my host dad
So we took her for a night out dancing in Madrid
My friend Rafa, Anna and I
Alonso, Mallory and Marcos
And on a trip to the city of Segovia
The aquaduct of Segovia
Lunch
Her first trip to Starbucks in 4 months
Parque del Retiro
And then of course New Years Eve (nochevieja)
1. First Plaza de Sol at noon with the family for the rehearsal. Why they need to rehearse eating a grape every second (for luck) for the 12 seconds before the clock strikes midnight I'm not really sure.
12 grapes of luck
2. Cheering on the runners in the San Silvestre Vallecana
3. Family dinner, grapes at midnight and sparklers
4. And a house party with my friends lasting till breakfast time
Followed by a day of rest, and then onto the next holiday, Los Reyes Magos (the three kings or three wise men), which included a family meal
Yes that is a whole pig's leg sitting in my kitchen
And of course the eating of Roscon, a special bread made only for Christmas and the three kings day
Which has a special figurine inside some piece of it and the person who gets the figurine will have good luck in the new year and has to pay for next years Roscon
12 more months till I need to ante up
Vacations done, I headed back to school only to be visited by some friends from home
So I took them to do a bit of sightseeing
Puerta de Alcala
A strike outside the bank of Spain
And to my favorite place, Retiro
It was my first time seeing anyone from home. The only people I've seen in the last 4 months have been people I've just met in the last 4 months, so it was a little sad to see them go. But, with exchange you realize there is always something new to try. So, the following weekend I found myself in my friend Mallory's pueblo. What is a pueblo you ask? A teeny, teeeeeeeny, tiny town. Mallory, my exchange student friend lives in the pueblo Alpedrete, about 40 minutes outside of Madrid by bus. When I told my brother I was going there for the weekend he first asked, "where is that?" and then "you're joking right?"
But no, I took the bus for the first time out of the city, by myself, and found myself walking around Mal's town (didn't take long to do), stuck in a storm and hopping from bar to bar so we could get coffee from each one before they closed early due to the storm.
So we did what any good exchange student does in a situation like this, we shopped
True, the pickings were a bit slim
But when shopping failed, there was of course, sheep chasing
By far one of the weirdest weekends I've had. But also one of the most entertaining. And a great way to end the old year and start a new one. 6 more months in Spain I'm sad to see them go, but thrilled to have them.
No comments:
Post a Comment