Madrid & Toledo

I think I've finally recovered from jet lag which is the weirdest feeling I have ever experienced.  Every time I walked I felt like I was on a boat and I never wanted to eat at normal meal times.  The list of random places I've fallen asleep includes: the airport floor, three different bus rides, two meetings and standing up on a tour of a museum.  But now I'm finally on the same time schedule as the rest of the country and having so much fun!  We have spent these last days in Madrid and today we went on a day trip to Toledo.  Our days have been filled with things to do and places to go and visit.  If I were to describe everything that we have done so far most of you (with the exception of my parents and Laura) would probably stop reading here so I'll list it out and make it easy for you. 

1. Went to the Plaza Mayor in Madrid and had tapas for lunch right after we arrived, (I was a zombie from being awake for twenty four hours) and ate paella for the first time which was very good.  We also had an interesting encounter with a man dressed as spiderman (the world's fattest spiderman).

2. Our first meal as a group was at an Italian restaurant?

3.  Took a tour of the Puerta del Sol and the Plaza Mayor.  After that, we wandered around the streets of Madrid for a while, I surprisingly am finding out how to get places pretty easily and haven’t been lost yet.

4. Took a tour of the Museo Nacional del Prado and then the Royal Palace in Spain.  So many places in Madrid remain in the same state they were originally built in, making the city very beautiful.

5. Made some Spanish friends who told us that our Spanish was very good!

6. Visited Toledo for the day and had lunch there.

7. Rode the escalators in the department store up and down all seven floors looking for hair straightners which eventually ended with success.

8. Ate churros, and drank all of the chocolate after.

Random fun things I have learned so far:

1. You don't have to tip in Spain, our first few waiters must have really liked us.

2. Street vendors love to harass people and will come up to your tables while you eat outside and try and sell you everything and anything.

3. The royal family doesn't actually live in the palace because it's too big for them.....

4. Pinky promises are international.

5. High-fiving in every day conversations is semi-international, sometimes you get high-fived back, sometimes you get weird stares.

6.  Attempting to shake someone’s hand upon meeting will get you laughed at.

7. An hour and fifteen minutes before you have to get on a bus is not enough time to get lunch.  Meals are a very slow and long process, and you can't take food to go.

8. “Vale” is apparently a question and an answer. And is the go to phrase whenever there is confusion.

9. All of the music I have heard so far is the same music that is popular at home.  We asked some of our Spanish friends about this and they told us that they like listening to it but they don’t really know what the songs mean.

10. You actually have to pay attention to the "walk" and "don’t walk" signs at cross walks.  Cars don’t slow down for pedestrians, especially the taxis.

11. The art of mastering awkward solo shots.  Pictures of just me in front of important/ interesting things coming soon! 

Tomorrow, we go to Salamanca where I’ll be living for the rest of the semester and move into our residencia.  I’m excited to not be living out of a suitcase anymore and to actually know my way around the city of Salamanca!

Hasta Luego