La Semana Pasada

So I keep putting off writing this because I have done so many things since I’ve been here!!! I landed in Madrid on Tuesday morning and quickly found other API students waiting at the airport which was very comforting. We were greeted by Curra, our program director who brought us to our hotel. Hotel Moderno was right in Puerta del Sol which is like the Time Square of Madrid. I love my roommate Sabrina, we get a long great. In Madrid we went to two art museums: The Prado and the Thyssen Bornemisza. Me and other students walked around the city a lot visiting different plazas, markets and  restaurants. Also in Madrid we took a tour of the Palacio Real (Royal Palace). This was a huge palace where the kings and queens of Madrid lived until Franco died and it became a museum. There are over 2,000 rooms and every single one extravagantly decorated.

On Thursday we took a bus to El Escorial and saw the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo. This place was literally everything. It was built by King Philip II and was his summer palace. It is also a library and is the most important religious library only second to the Vatican. It’s a monastery and school too.  And finally it also houses the tombs of all of the kings and queens of Spain (other than 2) and the royal families. It was incredible to see.

On Friday we traveled to Toledo which is significant because it was a place in Spain where Christians, Muslims and Jews lived together peacefully. The cool thing about Toledo is that part of the city is within a wall which encompasses “old Toledo”. There we saw a cathedral, church, and synagogue and toured different neighborhoods.

From Toledo we began our 5 hour bus ride to Granada. While in Madrid we had a lot of meetings about safety, academics, culture, and housing. Most of the students in my program chose to live in a home stay. On the bus ride everyone was freaking out about meeting their host family so me and Sabrina were so relieved that we picked a residencia (a Spanish dorm)…until we got there. When we moved in there were a few American students but most of the students who live here are Spanish. Me and Sabrina sat down for dinner at a table of Spanish kids who were talking so incredibly fast and we were so overwhelmed and couldn’t help thinking: What did we get ourselves into?! When we heard about how much everyone else loved their host families we kind of wished we had chosen a home stay. But not anymore!! Now I love my residencia. Maria Gracia owns the residencia and then Carmen, Francis, and Maria Angela work here. Antonio cooks all of our food (which tastes AMAZING!!!). And now that Sabrina and I are more comfortable we are becoming friends with the other students who live here. We have to speak Spanish constantly which is really hard but I can tell I’ve improved so much already because of it. Two nights ago the returning students had an initiation for the new students in the residencia. It was so much fun. The made us do ridiculous things like parade through Granada singing songs in our pajamas. It was embarrassing and 100% hazing but so funny and brought everyone together.

The second day in Granada we all got a walking tour of the city so we knew how to walk to the API office and our school buildings. There are so many beautiful cathedrals and an area of Moroccan influenced markets which are so cool. On Sunday me and a few other students decided to go on a hike. We had no set plan and started up Sacromonte, a gypsy neighborhood.  Once we reached the top we had a view of all of Granada. It was breath taking. I’ve been taking pictures but honestly the pictures do no justice. Spain in absolutely beautiful!

Yesterday I took my placement exam. It was pretty intense and had sections on writing, grammar, listening, reading and included an oral interview…it took me 3 hours! It was hard but I feel pretty confident. Scores are going to be posted this afternoon and will determine which program I’ll be in and what courses I can take.

Sorry that this post was so long, but I’ll try to update more often!!! Now I’m getting ready to go hiking yet again! I love Spain!!!

Abrazos y besos,
Kylie