Day 3--Falling in Love

Today I fell in love with Spain. 

This morning we woke up and kind of had to rush through breakfast, corn flakes and coffee and these delicious corn muffins! Then we rushed to school, which took a long time because the train route we took today had lots of stops and a big transfer. For orientation day 2 we had a beginning "To Do and Not To Do" in your home stay. They are very, very electricity conscious here (apparently this year the rates went up 10% after last years 7%) so the lights in our house are off all the time. We have to turn off every light in every room we don't use, even just to go to the bathroom. Also, Spaniards think it is very strange/gross to not wear shoes in the house, especially when you're interacting with them. So socks/slippers/shoes are a must. 

Then we broke off into "language groups" that felt just like a Spanish class, "Where were you born, etc etc" and got a tour of the school. NYU Madrid consists of two houses connected by a courtyard--tiny little class rooms. After the language groups we had a bizarre "Spanish History" class where we learned about Spain and the Moors and all of that jazz--they gave us a "test" afterwards--I assume for listening comprehension/etc because the lecture was in Spanish. 

Then we had a stressful, freshman year/welcome-week experience when everyone got out of class and was looking for a group to go eat/wander with. But I split off with a great group, Kirstin-Emily-Maria-Abigail, and we went to some strange restaurant that seemed like it was an old man's club, but we ate there anyway. I had an empanada (with tuna and some kind of sweet stuff in it), a "tortilla espanola" which at this place was basically an egg and potato omlette over a piece of toast, and a "croqueta" which is a deep fried bubble of cheese and ham. Yum. 

Then we all decided to do some serious exploring, it was sunny and warm today, and went to the Palacio Real--the palace. It was amazing. 

We were all talking about how French it looked, like a strange Versailles type structure. Then Emily had the idea to read the guide book and it was modeled after Versailles! Then we wandered around looking at gorgeous, insanely picturesque streets until we stumbled into La Plaza Mayor, which is actually very close to my house. I then spent some time alone in the Plaza de Sol, which is my subway stop, and had a real "Oh my. I'm in love." moment, much like those had daily in New York. 

Here is my subway stop, where I fell in love: