A lot has happened in the 6 days following the last post. Maren and I arrived in Madrid on Saturday and made our way to our hostal. We spent Sunday strolling through and picnicking in the Parque del Retiro (it is like Central Park in NYC) and visiting a Picasso exhibit at the Prado. Oh a hard life it is! The park is beautiful, with tons of flowers and shady paths para dar un paseo (to take a walk).




On Monday Maren left for her orientation and I walked about the city and rested in the hostal. Tuesday marked the beginning of my orientation at the Hotel Husa Moncloa. After a treacherous subway ride to the hotel (taking 80 lbs. of luggage through the metro alone is quite a feat with the many stairs) I checked into my four star room and got ready for lunch. Lunch was in true Madrilleño style – an affair that lasted almost two hours. The appetizer was bread and olives along with vino tinto (red wine). Then we were brought out salads with tuna, and more wine. After this course we were all full and not expecting more comida (food). We were wrong, and we knew this when the waiters walked in with platters of some kind of grilled meat (there is a debate as to whether it was pork or veal), grilled mushrooms, and a Spanish version of scalloped potatoes. This was also very good but I didn’t eat it all. Then came out a pastry and custard desert (and more wine). And to top the meal of we had coffee. Later that day we also went on a bus tour of Madrid. It was very touristy, but still fun and good to get our in the air. We saw tons of old buildings, abandoned buildings, statues, arches, and fountains.








The next day, Wednesday, we had a morning of chats about various subjects and then met our Señoras and went home for lunch. My señora is very nice and my roommate and I live close enough to the school that we can walk there in about 20 minutes. I have a roommate who goes to KU. Later that afternoon we had a Spanish test and then a tour of the Spanish University we are affliated with. The tour was boring so we left and just in time to duck into a bus stop before the rain really started coming down. We waited out the storm and walked back to our house. That night we went out for tapas (small things to eat with a drink) and then visited one of the local bars.