Parque del Retiro

No story here, just pictures!
Look closely for the hiding bee :)

Fuente del Ángel Caído
(Fountain of the Fallen Angel)

 

Palacio de Cristal (inside)

Palacio de Cristal

 

Monumento a Alfonso XII

The Metro

 

I rode the metro for the first time today. To sum it up quickly: it was nerve-racking. I am a bit directionally challenged (I'm sugar coating it here), so I was imagining that I would end up on the other side of Spain and not know how to get back. I studied the metro map for about an hour and spent 15 minutes talking to another tutor getting details (and encouragement) before finally hopping on the metro. I've been told numerous times that the metro is very easy to figure out, but I couldn't help my nerves. After taking five minutes to purchase a ticket from a kiosk*, I jumped on the first train that arrived and reviewed my plan of action: take the metro from Paco de Lucía and exit at Príncipe de Vergara, and from there head to Retiro. According to the route I looked at, I would go through 13 stops before arriving at my final destination. As the train came to a stop at the very next station it looked like I was already lost! I didn't recognize any names posted on the walls, but I stayed seated in hopes that I would get a better idea of which direction I was going by the next stop. And sure enough, I did! Although it took me a while to find my way around the station at Príncipe de Vergara, I eventually found the correct platform and headed towards Retiro. 

Although this blog entry may not seem like the most interesting, it signifies a major accomplishment for me. Navigating throughout Spain was one of my biggest concerns about making this trip (note the sentence above about being directionally challenged). That fear has been conquered now! Well... sort of. I still need to master the bus routes. I'm sure I will end up getting lost at some point, but I have confidence I can find my way home now! 

In case y'all were wondering where I took the metro today, I visited Parque del Retiro! 

Pictures to come soon :) 

*For those of you wondering why it took me five minutes to purchase my ticket at the kiosk, it's because I was trying to put cash where your credit card is supposed to go haha!

Making the Leap!

Okay! So this is my first attempt at blogging. Just a warning: I have no idea what I'm doing! Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a bit challenged in the techy-computer department. My goal for this blog is merely to keep anyone who is interested updated with my latest adventures. I'm thinking it will mostly be pictures, but hopefully I will have interesting stories to share as well.

To start off.... Here is my home for the next two months!

It wasn't that long ago that I was just entertaining the thought of how awesome it would be to go abroad, and now here I am! It's day two in Madrid, and it hasn't completely sunk in that I'm really here. It was a rough start to this new adventure: besides just having a long week in preparation for this trip, I had a delayed flight from Houston to Atlanta due to the weather, then I barely made it to my next flight in time (side note: the many warnings I received about the Atlanta airport are true. It's huge! If you need a train in your airport, IT'S TOO DANG BIG!). After the 8.5 hours flight to Madrid, I discovered that my checked bag was missing. To make matters worse, Antonio (the father in my host family) didn't seem to understand that I was telling him my luggage was lost. In fact, he seemed a little impressed at how light I was traveling with my carry on bag and backpack! After arriving at my host family's home, I was ushered into bed by Materesa (mom) to rest. Instead, I jumped on my phone and downloaded the first app I could find that let me make free/ discounted international calls. I called home to say "Hey, I arrived safely. My luggage was lost. Please help!" Then I called my boyfriend and told him the same thing. After complaining on the phone for about five minutes, I hung up and looked up the number for the Atlanta airport's customer service. Then I called Delta Airlines. It turns out my bag was placed on a plane for Madrid traveling a day behind. I have no clue how this happened... maybe because the first flight was delayed? Regardless, I was able to collect my luggage the next morning (today). So the crisis has passed!

I spent my first day here catching up on sleep, and today was my first lesson with the kids. Their English is pretty good already (much better than my Spanish). The eldest child, Maria, is a new lover of Harry Potter, which I am stoked about. We spent the entire lesson hour reading the third book (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) together. I think this is a good start to their lessons for the next two months. 

After dinner tonight, I gave my host family their gifts (Texas Pecan coffee for the parents, books for the kids, and honey glazed pecans and pecan pralines for the whole family). They immediately tore open a pecan praline and split the one piece between each other because they are "muy rico." I didn't tell them that I would have eaten two of those pralines in a single sitting by myself. :)

"We must take adventures in order to know where we truly belong."