updates and plans.

So I’ve pretty much caught up in all of my major event blog posts, and have added some pictures. It’s only a fraction of the nearly 1,000 pictures I’ve taken so far, but hopefully it gives you a sense of where I’ve been. I’ve also gone through and added photographs to the posts I wrote without my laptop, so you can now see pictures to go along with the stories from Amsterdam and Heidelberg. Also, if you click on the picture thumbnail, you can see a much larger version of the picture.

School started two weeks ago, and it’s already flying by. Four of my classes have weekend trips, so I’ll be traveling to Morocco, the Basque Country in Northern Spain, Turkey, and Andalucia. In addition, I hope to meet up with some friends in Greece and spend a weekend with my Tufts roommate, Marissa, in London. I’m trying to get it all settled now so that the flights don’t get super expensive!

My 21st birthday is on Thursday, and I think we’re all going out dancing in a discoteca to celebrate. Turning 21 isn’t as big of a deal in Europe as it is in the States, since the teenagers here can legally drink at age 18. A few other kids on my program have birthdays soon too so we’ll combine into one big night.

Two days after my birthday, on Saturday, my dad is coming to Madrid to spend the weekend! He is going to be in Belgium for business that following week anyway, so he’s leaving a few days early to come see me. It’s a good thing too, because with all of my travel plans I’m not going to spend much more time in Madrid!

I think that’s all for now. As always, feel free to call my US number (it rings on my computer at no charge to you) at 847.852.4656 or e-mail me at jenninmadrid[at]gmail[dot]com. I look forward to hearing from you!

In Madrid, in the Plaza de Alcala, near the Parque del Retiro

mi casa.

Staying with a host family is a fairly typical study abroad experience. Everyone on my program has been placed with a family, and everyone I’ve met here from other study abroad programs has a family as well. The family is responsible for cooking dinner for us, cleaning, doing our laundry, and just making us feel included in the culture here.

The norms of family life are different in Madrid than in the US. First, the apartments in the city are generally very small. Second, it is customary to have “house shoes” or slippers. Since I left my slippers in storage at school, I’ve been wearing a pair of flip flops around the house. Also, Madrileños don’t entertain guests in their homes. While I always had friends over to my house in the States, the people here prefer to keep the home a place for family and rather meet their friends at a cafe somewhere.

My Señora is incredibly nice and usually a pretty good cook, though she does have quite the affinity for oil and salt. She speaks absolutely no English, so it’s sometimes difficult to understand her but she does a good job of explaining it to make sure I understand.

My bed, nightstand and one of my closets

Closet and shelves

The family room, as seen from my bedroom doorway

The family room, as seen from the front hallway. My bedroom door is just left of the TV

The bathroom I share with my Senora

The kitchen, with the washing machine next to the dishwasher

 

hola amigos.

Dear Friends and Family -

I have the wonderful privilege of studying abroad in Madrid for the 2008-2009 school year. Instead of e-mailing you all and unnecessarily bombarding your inboxes, I’m keeping a blog so that you can stay up-to-date with my Euro adventures (the PG ones, of course!)

I’ll post pictures, stories, and excitement on here frequently, so check back often. I promise to be as entertaining as possible so you will be super jealous of the fun I’m having while you’re stuck back in the States. (To make you feel better, the current dollar-Euro conversion rate is 1:0.644, meaning that for every $100 you send me, I only get €64.40. If you wanted to send me €100.00, you need to cough up $155.27, as of today June 18, 2008).

For those of you technologically inclined, you can subscribe to my RSS feed. If you don’t know what an RSS feed is, check out Wikipedia. Basically, it’s a way for you to be notified when I write something new so you don’t have to keep checking the blog when you’re bored and have no more crossword puzzles to do (Mom) or Drudge Report articles to read (Dad).

I know my parents will miss me, so be nice to them. And even though I’m a big girl now, I’ll probably get a little homesick every once in a while so if you’re anywhere in Europe, let me know and we can have a Euro-meet up.

I’m not sure what the internet situation will be like over there (although I’m sure it will be horrendous compared to the States since I’m super spoiled with high speed wireless every where I turn here), but I’m not one to be out of the loop. I will continue to be an obsessive-compulsive e-mail checker, so send me notes and love letters to JennInMadrid@gmail.com

I officially leave for my extended vacation academically rigorous program on August 10, but will be updating before then with travel preparations and such. And if you’re in Boston or Chicago between now and then, come say goodbye to me! When you see me again, I will be super Euro-stylish and I bet you won’t even recognize me. That is, if I decide to come back…

Amor a todos (Love to all),
Jenn