let the crazy life begin :)

Well I am a little more settled, and when I say a little I mean that I finally got my clothes put away in my closet.  The first full day that I was here (Mon.) I met all the other exchange students from America.  There are six of us total from all over the US and one girl who is from Afghanistan.  They are all very nice and it was good to have some English spoken around me.  We all got cell phones, so if anyone wants to call me just email me for my number - however, it will be an international call for you.  We then had a walking tour of the city, Villaviciosa de Odón, which is a beautiful city of about 30,000 people.  I am already in love with the city.  We then had lunch all together at a cafe, which was very interesting.  This is what my meal came out looking like...

It was looking at me, and had teeth!!!

After I figured out how to eat the fish we all returned to our houses to take a siesta.  We had also decided that we wanted to try out the bus system and explore Madrid that night.  So we all took a bus (about 15mins) into Madrid and went out.  We walked around the city and sat at little cafes and bars and had a great time.  However, when we tried to get home that night we did not have great luck.  Once we figured out how to get back to the bus station we waited, and waited and waited some more.  Finally, once the bus was like 20 mins. late we decided to take taxi's back because the next bus wasn't until 5am and there were not any people around and we didn't think it was a great idea for a bunch of Americans to be hanging around a bus stop at about 3am.  So after flagging down 2 taxi's to take us back to Villaviciosa the challenge then became telling the taxi driver where we lived.  I knew what street I live on, Calle Gaviota, but finding it at night and in a car when I had only walked there was a different story.  But all worked out in the end and I made it home at about 4am.

This is a little cafe that we found in Madrid near the Puerta del Sol, a famous plaza in the city.

The next morning we all went to the Universidad Europea de Madrid (UEM) to register for classes and figure out how to get there on the buses.  It is a beautiful campus with modern buildings and lots of International students.  I am taking 4 classes, all in Spanish.  I am very nervous but I am in a few classes with the other Americans which is good. 

Tomorrow we are going into Madrid as a group to visit the Prado museum and see the city during the day.  We are also having Tapas at Mercado de San Miguel & Plaza Mayor and trying to buy Real Madrid tickets. 
Having a fantastic time, but do miss understanding everything around me...