GOLLLLLLLLLL

I am sitting on my couch, looking out my window to the first overcast day I have seen since I have been here. It is pretty funy because just this morning I was saying how it hasn't rained in almost 4 weeks. Hopefully it won't actually rain. Last night was my first experience with going to a professional soccer game. It was AMAZING. Real Madrid played Ajax and trounced them in a 3-0 victory. We sat up near the top row (maybe 6 rows down), behind the goal and they were amazing seats for the price of the tickets. We could see everything that happened on the field. We were behind Ajax's goal for the first half and it was great because Real scored twice during the first half. Of course, Ronaldo scored the first goal of the night. The whole crowd was so much more animated than any sporting event in the US I am sure. People were yelling and chanting and hugging each other and going insane. (We were amongst 85,000 other fans) We stayed the entire time, leaving in the 91st minute. We just beat the rush of everybody leaving the stadium, walked up the street with the crowd and rode a very crowded metro back to our part of town. Although it was a little pricey, I might have to go to another game because it was one of the coolest things that I have done/been to.

In other news, I have already booked 2 big trips for the semester. For fall break, I am going to London with Sam for 4 days and then for the weekend that I come back from London, I am going to France with Sam and some people from her program. Another trip that I am planning (haven't bought tickets yet) is that a couple friends from my program and I are going to Portugal for a weekend to hang out and run a half marathon. I might need to start training for that..oh well. I will be fine.

Also, for clarification purposes, it might seem like all we do here is go out drinking and partying. Not true. We do go out many many nights, however, here is the thing. Drinking is not what I am here to do. It wastes way to much money where I could be traveling or eating. We look for free places to go and don't waste money on drinks. Just thought I would let everybody know. This weekend I am going to Valencia for 2 days with my program. It is going to be very exciting and we can hopefully have some beach time. Finally!

Luke

Toledo

This was a very busy, yet very fun, weekend. There were a lot of people visiting here. (Sam's roomate Meghan, their friend Ben who also goes to Notre Dame and his girlfriend Becca who is studying in Toledo with Sam. Ben and Meghan are studying in London) Everybody arrived on Thursday night and we spent Friday showing them a little around Madrid. We had a lot of fun and then on Saturday we left for Toledo. To sum up Toledo in 0ne word-Beautiful. The city is only 45 minutes away and the bus ticket was only 5 euro. The main part of the city is surrounded by a massive wall with a huge gate opening. The streets are all cobblestone, narrow and busy. The city is known for many things: art, blades, El Greco, Don Quijote/Cervantes and architecture for sure. I spent most of Saturday walking around the city with Sam. She showed me all of the places that she knows, where she goes to school and where she lives. I took a lot of pictures. Toledo is a very interesting city in that it has traces of history from Catholic, Jewish and Arabic pasts. Compared to Madrid, there were many smaller shops with very interesting things in them. Mom, there were Lladros everywhere. You would go crazy. Spending the day in the city where Sam lives was very cool. She definitely loves it there. As we were sitting in one of the plazas, some older lady came up just to tell Sam she was very pretty. I would love it there too. The atmosphere of the city is a lot different too. Things there are a lot slower and more relaxed. It doesn't have all the "hustle and bustle" of Madrid, but that is definitely not a bad thing. People were hanging out in the plaza listening to music, children were running around playing and everybody around was just plain enjoying life. I definitely was. We ate dinner at a little place on the corner and then afterwards had some gelato across the street. I felt like being brave so I ordered something off the menu that I had very little of an idea as to what it was. It turned out to be a great choice. It was a couple of fried eggs, french fries and some type of tomato-y sauce that, when mixed together, was an amazing brinner (breakfast-dinner). We hung out talking on the corner until we saw a huge procession for a festival for the Virgen. There were people carrying a giant float and a band. We went to a little bar for a bit and by that time everybdy was exhausted. The hostel that Ben, Meghan and I stayed in was very nice. It was my first experience with a hostel and it was a great one. It was basically adorable. Yeah I said it: adorable. I had a great night's sleep (8 hours). In the morning Sam, Meghan and I went purse shopping (yay for me) and walked around some more. Actual "yay" for me, I went and bought a knife. Toledo is very famous for their blades so I had to buy a little knife as a souvenir. We ate some breakfast and said our "goodbyes". Meghan, Ben and I took the bus back to Madrid and they left for the airport. It was a very successful trip. Everybody had a lot of fun.

One and Done

I successfully completed my first full week of classes. (I love how a "full week" is only four days) I am currently sitting in my apartment, just waiting for my night to start. I, in a not-so-smart decision/accidently, took a four hour nap today. Needless to say, I had to rush around the last couple of hours getting everything in order. I had to go to the store, eat, shower and put more minutes on my phone. Sam is coming here tonight and so I have to wait for her to the metro stop near me so I can pick her up. It is pretty hard trying to coordinate a visit when you have no minutes on your phone. (No way to contact each other). Luckily, it is all figured out and she is on her way here right now. So my first week of class was very uneventful. All of my classes are very interesting and the only homework assignment that I had was to write a summary and opinion paragraph for an article from a Spanish news website. (My article was about a painter). I have some interesting stories about last night. We decided to go to a cave bar, where we drank one of the strangest things I have ever had. It was called "Panter's milk". Sounds scary, right? It was. Some kind of liquid starts pouring into our mug from a stalactite while the bartender mixes in at least 5 other liquors, milk and cinnamon. It wasn't all that bad. We each shared a glass because there was a lot in them. After that, we ventured down to Sol to go to a place called El Tigre. This bar is a go-to spot because with any drink you order, they give you a monster plate of tapas. It is so worth it. However, we took a different way to get to the bar so we accidently ended up going through the street that just HAPPENS to be famous for its..prostitutes. They were everywhere and all kinds of aggressive. While walking through I had one of these girls grab me by the collar and tries to coerce me into spending my precious time doing things of the unspeakable nature. Obviously, I had to get out of there ASAP. I pulled away and kept moving until we were far from Prostitute Lane. Other than being accosted by a streetwalker, my night was quite fun. (Also, when I got home I definitely washed my hands repeatedly. You never know.) Tomorrow I am going on a field trip to Franco's old home and it should be very interesting. Also, this weekend I am going to Toledo with Sam and her two friends from school. I am very excited to check out the city where Sam lives because I heard it is so beautiful. It should be a great next couple of days. I will post some pictures and tell you all about it.

Luke

Class is in Session

Well, I guess it was about time that I started doing some kind of work around here. Going out at night and laying by the pool in the afternoons-that time is over. (Or is it?) I started my classes on Monday. I am taking four classes at the IES center (my program). The classes I am taking are Spanish Grammer (M-T-W-Th), Contemporary Spanish History: Republic to Present (M-W), Cultural Myths and Spanish Literature(T-Th) and El Greco, Velazquez and Goya in the Prado Museum(T-W). I will just go in the order in which I have the classes during the week..

Spanish Grammer- Just a basic Spanish class. We continue with grammer rules and all that jazz in order to strengthen up our skills and become as fluent as possible during our time here. The professor is this very cool lady who actually taught at Bowdoin a few years ago. She is really good friends with my favorite Spanish professor at Bowdoin. This class is going to be very easy.

Contempory Spanish History- This is going to be my toughest class (probably not saying much). The professor is an older gentleman who seems very serious about his work and his class. (All of the professors all teach classes at local universities) The first day of class we took about 2-3 pages of notes over the whole history of Spain. Today, we finished up with another 3 pages of notes. I don't know what else we are supposed to learn. We went over everything. I believe that this class will give me the most work, but at the same time, it is very interesting so I don't mind at all.

Legal and Political Structure of Modern Spain- A very interesting class. It is closely related to my history class, however I think this one is going to be a little more interesting. There is so much going on in Spain that it will be very interesting to learn all about it. The professor is very good and seems to know very much.

Cultural Myths and Spanish Literature- This class is going to be the most fun. The professor is amazingly hilarious. He shows up, looking as young as a student, wearing bright green pants, a striped shirt that ranges from green to blue and a blue jacket to match the whole thing together. He has the most opinions about everything and they are all so funny. He loves Spain more than anything, except maybe Pedro Almodovar. We talked about the Oscars for about half of the class. Other than him, I have already read 5 out of the 7 works that we are going to read. He told us that he planned to take us to the theater at least twice so I am very excited for that. I am not worried about this class at all. It's going to be great.

El Greco..Prado Museum- The class for which I am probably the most excited. This isn't just any old art history class. I get to spend an hour and a half every Tuesday and Wednesday in the Prado Museum. Also, I do not have to pay any entrance fee. Free trips to the Prado? Amazing. I am going to know every inch of that place. This class is going to be amazing.

In all, I am very excited for all of my classes. My schedule is a little strange. Most days I have a break from 10:20 to 12 and then other days I have a break from 1:20 to roughly 3:30 (I have to take the metro to the Prado). I start class every day at 9 AM (that's rough). However, one good thing about my schedule is that I don't have any classes on Fridays. Also, these professors all talked about how they don't want to give us a lot of work so that will be wonderful. I don't have any cool pictures at this point in time but I will after this weekend because I am going to Toledo to visit Sam. Instead, I added a picture of us happy students, enjoying a night out. From left to right..Jay (my roommate), Eric, Myself, Andrew (Friend of Eric who is studying in London now), Austin (known as "The Gomez"). 2nd Row-Colin (Alex's friend from school) and Alex. More news to come,

Luke

Slow Weekend

I am so glad that I decided to stay in Friday night. I drank some emergen-c and tea and on Saturday I felt so much better. (It also helped that I slept for almost 11 hours) We all felt like checking something out that we hadn't seen yet, plus it was a beautiful day, so we went downtown to the Parque de Retiro. This park is absolutely massive. We walked around for maybe an hour and a half and saw just about half of it. In the middle of the park there is a lake with paddleboats (we plan on using those in the future) and a beautiful monument. In Spain, it seems as if people enjoy spending time in the parks more than in the states. There were people everywhere. People were sleeping, taking their kids everywhere, watching street performers, running, walking and everything else you could think of. That night we went back out to a pub and met up with many of the people from our program. We had a lot of fun being total "Americans" and dancing all over the place like crazy. After all that, we ended up in a little shop where we had churros and chocolate. They were divine.

Today we decided to check out El Rastro, which is a huge flea market that stretches all throughout the streets. Rastro only happens on Sundays so we pulled ourselves together to go this morning. I would have had some pictures but this is the number one spot to be pickpocketed so I was a little torn between bringing a camera or not. It was a very cool place, with so many different things to look at. Everything was pretty cheap, so I will definitely have to go back and really look at some of the stores. Today was just our trial run and we walked through, not stopping at much. Tomorrow is the first day of class so we are just laying low tonight. We are heading down to Sol (our favorite place so far) to find a bar that we can try and watch some games. I have one friend that is a Patriots fan and one that is a Chargers fan so that will be quite interesting to see. (They play each other tonight) Of course, I am hoping my Niners keep doing well. I will tell all about my classes next time.

Luke

Segovia

Today we went on a free trip to Segovia through our program. We went out the night before and we were all pretty tired but this trip was well worth it. The city was only about an hour away by bus and from the moment we got there, we could tell how gorgeous everything was going to be. Two main things that we saw were the aqueducts and the Alcazar. The aqueducts were insanely cool and they stretched far throughout the city. The Alcazar was amazing. It was a serious castle. It was built on a rocky crag and has an astounding presence. We walked around in small groups throughout the whole castle and saw everything from the armory to the King's bedroom. We spent the whole day walking around and looking at all the beautiful architecture of the city. After our tour of Segovia, we went to eat at this little restaurant that turned out to be very fancy. We had a six course meal the consisted of many many things to eat. It was amazing. We were given four different appetizers, salad, big pieces of roast chicken and an amazing dessert. On that bus ride home, we were all FAST asleep. Tonight I am just laying low and going to bed early. I am very tired from all the other nights of going out and it is taking its toll. I have maybe 30% of my voice. Oh well, time for bed.

Luke

Luke

Pictures of my Place

Finally, here are some pictures of my apartment. Sorry it took so long!

Well-Fed and Happy

So the last couple days I have been experiencing some great food that Spain has to offer. I had one of the best meals of my life at a restaurant called "Botin". It is the oldest restaurant in the world still running, founded in 1725. I took many pictures of the night. My friends and I all had different things to eat but the majority of us had the suckling pig. It was so amazing. It was by far the best pork I had ever had. I was a little upset that they didn't give you the whole pig but it was worth every single cent. The appetizers that we had were croquettes, iberica ham with melon and I had some chicken consomme. It was divine. We, of course, ordered two pitchers of sangria. The night was so much fun, as we walked around Plaza Mayor and all around Sol. The Museo de Jamon (Ham museum) is a greatr place where you can get the best ham in the world. Not only does the ham taste amazing, but all the legs hang from the ceiling. I had a ham sandwich (un bocadillo) for only 1 euro. (That was yesterday) We also ate at a little tapas place where we had these amazing little sandwiches that were only 1 euro as well. We got a deal with 6 for 6 euro. They had shrimp, smoked salmon, calamari, anchovies, monkfish and another that I can't remember. I love the food here so much. I just have to eat out every so often because it is definitely expensive. I am heading off to Segovia tomorrow for the day so I will let you know how that goes, and include pictures!

Luke

Almost One Week Down

So I have been here almost a week and already experienced more than I thought I would. I am so tired because every night we have been coming home at roughly 4:30 or so. It's awesome. I went to an amazing DJ concert at a club called the Sala Heineken, a seven-story club with a different club on every floor called Kapital (I got in for free), a couple of bars and last night we met with Sam and her friends and went to a couple of small clubs/bars. I am having such an amazing time. There are definitely many things about Spain that are so much different than in the states.

1. Hardly any refrigeration-one of my least favorite things. I like cold water. Why don't Spanish people?

2. Light switches-Usually little tan square panels on the OUTSIDE of the room. Kind of annoying.

3. People don't work here-The siestas are two hours of everything closed, Saturdays they are open half the day, Sunday most things are closed all day and every now and then they have "holidays" where it is just a day to not work.

4. Everything is expensive-Don't they know I am a broke college student? My secret way around the system=My friends live in a residence hall with other college students and they have a free meal plan. I just eat there for free (all the staff think I go there now because I am there so much)

5. Spanish girls all dress so much nicer. (No offense to American girls) They all wear nice dresses and put themselves together well. It is quite nice.

6. Driving-They are pretty aggressive. I have been nudged by maybe 3 different cars.

7. Meals- Weird times and I feel like I am always hungry. I usually don't have much breakfast (apple or yogurt) depending on when I wake up, lunch at 2 and dinner at 9.

8. Washing clothes-Little baby washers and no dryers. You have to hang everything.

9. Metro-Really easy to use but can be very dirty. Closes at 1:30, usually ends in taxi ride home. (Always split the cost!)

10. Spanish people-Aren't as rude as you would think. We have only received very nice help.

This is just a short list right now but if I think up anything else, I will definitely let everybody know. I will also have pictures up eventually (I swear!) Time to go grab a quick bite to eat.

Luke

The Prodigal Luke Has Arrived

Well, here I am. This post is coming from my living room in my apartment on Hilarion Eslava, Madrid, Spain. (I was set to have one more post from the airport, before I left, but I got to lazy to transport it and I am too busy) After many hours of travel, and very few hours of sleep, I arrived in Sunny Madrid on Monday 10 AM. We stayed one night in a hotel called the Husa Princesa. It was a very nice, four-star hotel. We were given a four course meal, featuring an appetizer with some kind of cracker/spread with some roe on top, grilled vegetables, one of the best porkchops w/gravy I have ever had, and my personal favorite was the dessert. It was a raspberry ice cream in a waffle cone type setting. It was so good. The first night we went out, after all, we needed to experiment with our new-found freedom of purchasing alcohol/going to bars. The lack of air conditioning in these apartments is not the most fun but at night it is absolutely gorgeous. The days are roughly mid-90's and the nights are in the 60's/high 50's. So about my apartment..It is gorgeous. The place is huge. We have a very large and open living room/dining room. The kitchen and bathrooms (2) are small and the bedrooms are medium sized. I am in one room with another guy from the engineering program, who actually goes to Bowdoin. Small world. Also, the best part about the apartment is the balcony terrace. It is large, sunny and so cool. We can hang out out there and look all around the nearby buildings. Sorry I don't have any pictures up, but they will be on their way I promise! As for people on my program, they are all very nice and I have made some good friends so far. I am loving everything about this place and I will let you know more as the day goes.

Love from Spain,

Luke