mi vida madrilena

mi habitacionBefore I got here, I was thrilled to hear that I didn’t start class in Spain until twelve thirty every day. I am anything but a morning person and was glad that no one was trying to turn me into one. I set my alarm for ten on the days I have school…which turns quickly into ten thirty after two or three swift smacks of the snooze button. I shower and dry my hair and hopefully make it out my door by eleven thirty. I live on the southeast corner of the city but have to go all the way uptown for classes. I walk ten minutes to the metro, take the nine-train heading north, and then walk fifteen minutes more to ‘campus.’

Campus is…well, not really a campus, rather two town houses joined by a patio. Anyway, Monday through Thursday I have my Introductory Spanish Intensive from twelve thirty to two thirty (which, if you ask me, is longer than any of our attention spans can handle…) On Mondays I then have a four hour break—I see who’s around and usually grab a longer lunch because it doesn’t make sense for me to go home. Monday nights I have an econ class about the European Union…it would be interesting if it weren’t nearly three hours long. The rest of the week I’m done at two thirty.

If I’m staying I grab lunch by school, otherwise I go home and eat there. Food in Spain is really expensive as compared to the prices we pay back home (yes—even in New York). For chain food like McDonalds or Starbucks, I’m paying the same, if not maybe ten percent more Euros than I would have paid dollars for the same commodity in the states—that plus the conversion (1 Euro = 1.50 Dollars) But I guess if you’re earning your living in Euros, spending in them wouldn’t seem nearly as bad. Sometimes I succumb to the general napping norm and take a siesta. At about seven, I wake up, do my homework, maybe watch some TV, and decide what to do about dinner. People here eat a lot later than we do at home—few eating before ten at night! Here it is customary to go out around one in the morning (before the metro closes at one thirty) and party until six in the morning (when it opens again). Let’s just say I’m not quite there yet, but I’m definitely working on it!

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