So this is Madrid....

There's a snapshot here of some of the beautiful sights around la plaza Santiago where I have stayed for the past two nights in a hostel and then in the hotel that the program provided for us. The group of us girls from Catholic Jill, Kara, Jeannette and I arrived a day earlier than the program starts and so we had to provide our own accommodations. That part worked out so well for us because our director, Patricia picked us up from Barajas airport and drove us almost to the front door of our hotel. She was 4 or 5 numbers off, but it was fine because we didn't have to use the metro with the mountain of luggage we all brought. I've been pretty exhausted with the time change since the first day because once we got to the hostel around 12 we slept till 7pm and went out for a stroll of the city. The hostel, Mucho Madrid was on the 7th floor and we had a balcony!! I took some snazzy pictures of some memorable places from the first two days. Already I feel like a wine drinker, but I'll take the Sangria over the wine. It was delicious the first of the tapas bars we went to the first night with our director Patricia. I'm really happy with our director. She is very laid back and knows her gig. My host mom Susy Herreros is equally awesome. I feel almost fluent when we talk because I can ask and she can explain in Spanish and we almost never use any english! It's great! I feel like I'm finally doing the things that I'm here to do. And the great news is that I'm not going to have any trouble with getting around the metro and all because we went on a nice hike around the neighborhood Hortaleza and I got a feel for the metro stops and bus stops near me and how to use them. Plus I have a couple of malls and centralized businesses all around a few parks, tennis courts etc. I'm happy I'm not directly living in the city. I can walk for a while around here and feel pretty safe. I just finished eating and watching some Spanish TV and it's almost 12. I have to get used to the late dinner part but it was nice cooking and cleaning with Susy and in the process finding more phrases to learn. Well there's a lot on my mind about everything going on. I guess the other thing I wanted to record is just that I discovered that Susy has 3 places. Madrid, Málaga, y Valencia. She was born in Valencia and studied in the US at the same age that I´m now. She said the first thing she noticed about me, is that I have the same natural hair color as she did growing up! Well that´s all for now folks!