Little America in Madrid

So the other day I went to Madrid to see a political debate in the American embassy.
But this day was interesting because of other things as well.
First I planned on going to the movies but went to a Belgian bar instead.
I was really craving some Belgian fries you know... and I had some!
A Stella beer, belgian fries, a curryworst special and of course some real Belgian mayonaise.
Afterwards I did some more walking around Madrid, through a neighbourhood I hadn't seen before. Clearly, since I'd only seen shopping streets so far :)
To get to the American embassy, you walk through the most beautiful part of Madrid, the Plaza de Cibeles with the surrounding Palace of Communication (or City Hall)

This building is truly magnificent!
But so was the Casa de America...
I must say walking into the building was an experience all on its own.

One of my teachers was the moderator for the debate, which was held between two Americans with hispanic origins. You got that right, the whole thing was in Spanish - something my teacher forgot to mention. I understood most of it, however my concentration failed me every 10mins or so. It was very energetic and entertaining, even though I don't like debates in general I found it very informative. I think 80% of the debate depends on the speaker's charisma, which in this case, the democratic candidate had plenty of :)

I forgot to mention some other fun things that have happened lately!
Me and my housemates had some very nice times. We once organized a pizza/girls night with a Beyonce dvd, which gets everybody in the mood for fun! We also had a wonderful Sunday brunch with everything homemade: apple pie, smoothies, pancakes, eggs, yogurt,... and watching some good old Cinderella! It's safe to say we're spending a good amount of time together, which I like.

Yesterday, Jessica and I went to a zumba and body pump class. Very unplanned, but obviously needed since I'm incredibly sore right now!

Also, I'm looking forward to some friends and family visiting me soon!

1 month anniversary!

Wooohoo! I've been in Alcala exactly a month now, the same amount of time I was on the camino.
It's strange how both occasions have a completely different time concept though.

The past week was culture overload. Alcala celebrated their local holiday, the birthday of Miguel de Cervantes, who was born in Alcala and is represented all over, whether it be streetnames, statues, buildings, squares, parks,...
To celebrate, Alcala held a week long Mercado de Don Quijote. A medieval festival with a market that spread all over the city, the stalls were all medieval themed, arabic, artisanal, etc. All the shopkeepers were even dressed in typical medieval fashion. All the products were devine, handmade jewelry, kitchen stuff, toys, accessories, cheese, bread, chips. A vintage, hand operated carousel; a little farm, birds and snakes! Even some traditional barbecues. I went back to the centre a few times this week, just because there was so much to discover!

Me and one of the Brazilian guys attempted to climb the Alcala mountains, which was once again a failure.  We asked around a bit and it turnes out, Alcala people don't know their city, since we walked about 12kms to finally find the entrance to the park, and by then we had lost interest. It was a nice walk though with good company. Turned out we had been very close at one point until someone pointed us in the wrong direction.
Next time, I'm taking the bus.

One evening Jessica, a friend and me went to a latin bar where people practice their latin dance skills.
I am no longer a latin dance virgin! This does not mean I am any good at it though. I was mostly there to watch, so I did feel bad for all the men that asked me to dance. I can't even tell what dance it is by the music, so I figured it best to walk before I run!
Also, I am not good at following :)
Since the hiphop class is probably a no-go, I will start a quest for the perfect latin mix dance class to get my feet wet!

Later we went to an Erasmus party which was pretty busy. It think there's going to be some fun times ahead at these parties. 

This week I also got my bachelor-paper options. But since only one option applies to my field of study I don't really have a choice and it isn't all that interesting. Thankfully I have my friends in Belgium to advise.

No more complaining about the weather! It is my perfect temperature now, around the 20s - and it seems it will stay like that for a little while longer.

This week I sadly have to give in to Madrid temptation once more. One of my teachers is moderating a American debate between a republican and democrat in Madrid which I'm really interested in attending, I'll let you know how that goes.
Since I'm in Madrid I might as well catch a movie; whether it'll be an original or a horribly dubbed film (to practice my Spanish) I have yet to dedice :)

Untill next time!

Alcala Impressions

Erasmus has finally begun!

The past week has been a week of impression-overload;
I could finally restrain myself from going to Madrid every five seconds and start discovering Alcala.

I am now completely engaged in the two courses I'm following, and I'm glad to say that I enjoy both of them very much which is a far cry from my classes in Belgium.
Even though these two classes have different people in them, and I only see them 3hours a week, I'm still trying to make a connection.

Me and Jessica decided to take dance classes together, with some very "anti-crisis prices" as they call it here. It turned out their turn out was also very crisis-esque - the class is cancelled until they have enough members. There goes that attempt at being sportive...

On the other hand, I found the best way to really experience a place is on foot, so I put on my work-out gear and walked 10kms to a 'centro comercial' nearby, centros comerciales are pretty self-explanatory but there's a movie theatre, two supermarkets, a bowling, a Media Markt, a Decathlon, etc. Obviously there are plenty of busses that go there, which I took advantage of on the way back - there was no way I was walking the same route home...

Alcala also has a mountain area with the remains of the original Alcala setting, this whole area is now a park with trails and panoramic views. Yesterday I decided to go walk there, but by the time I got to the foot of the mountain I was already so exhausted I went back home. Next time I will take the bus there :)

This week also meant the beginning of erasmus activities. The erasmus office here has apparently been in some sort of coma, since the schoolyear started over 4 weeks ago but they're catching up.
We had a welcome dinner, over 200 students showed up, which was totally crazy but very exciting!
I went with Jessica and my german roommate Anna Lena but we consciously tried to socialize with other people as well.
We met some Mexicans and a group of Brazilian guys, and later we joined them to the local erasmus club and had our first dance session of the year. Much needed by the way!

I was planning on going on an organized erasmus trip to Toledo but the list filled up too quickly so I went walking instead. Later that evening me and Jessica met up with the Brazalian guys at a Mexican restaurant. My first time eating Mexican food, in Spain, and it was delicious! Later, we went back to the erasmus club, which was completely empty but we still managed to have a great time.
Also, for once I felt threatened in the dance department - these latin-americans... phuuu!
It is clear that we Northern-Europeans lack some sort of elegance and style, I have no idea how to dance in pairs!

The boys were kind enough to walk me and Jessica home (a 2.6km walk I might add, quite chivalrous people those Brazilians)
Communication proved rather difficult though, they don't speak English, nor Spanish, so the conversations rely mostly on hand gestures, which are easily miss-interpreted and caused some rather akward moments...
One of them has kindly offered to join me on my mountain hike so to diminish my fear of getting attacked by things one might find hiding in the bushes :D

On a more sad note, seeing the crisis' effect on Spain leaves a deep impact on me, I think about it almost daily. I see people like myself begging on the street, 50% of shops have shut down, people without jobs, adds on every lantern post offering simple things like cleaning your car. There was a massive strike in Madrid on two occasions that I went there, thousands of people crying and angry.
But seeing the massive turnout on Alcala's town square on a Saturday night is truly touching - people come there for no other reason than to be together, and forget about the troubles they're in.

The past week, I aso found myself thinking of the Camino often, I really miss it. Who would have thought, you could miss waking up at 5.30am but with a solid purpose, feeling proud and fit every day, thankful for every conversation. That's probably the reason why I've been walking here, to re-create the feeling.
But I'm sure erasmus will have given me plenty more beautiful memories by the end of the year!

Birthday goodness

I've known for a few years now that having your birthday in the first month of the schoolyear is not ideal once you start university...
Every time I start at a new school it only gives me a week or two to make friends with whom I can celebrate - this year would be no different.

There was the possibility that my roommates and I would go out, but I wasn't counting on it.
One of my friends from home had a surprise planned the day before my birthday so I made sure I stayed at the appartment to accept the delivery or whatever it would be.
I had many things in mind: either she'd send me a cake, flowers, a pair of Louboutins, a Birkin even?
The fact that she would be the one arriving in my mailbox I could only dream of!
I'd been waiting for three hours before delivery time, with all my windows open, jumping at every sound. Finally I heared a car, and when I looked out the window I saw my friend Martha in the back seat of a taxi.
I can hardly describe what came over me - my heart jumping out of my chest is an understatement.
I basically ran down the stairs in my pyjamas to welcome her!

The fact that there are people in the world who would do this for me gets me rather emotional...

It took us a few hours to decide the plan of action for the day, simply because we couldn't stop chatting! We finally managed to take a bus to Madrid, there we explored the Golden Mile, a shopping area I would only dare to go with my best clothes on - and high heels of course!
We checked out some half naked men at Abercrombie and had a wonderful dinner.
The next day, we had another wonderful lunch before I saw her off at the airport.

That evening I must admit I was too lazy to go do anything else. My roommates were all busy anyway so I spend my birthday with my greatest love: the laptop.

A few days before that, I had spend another day windowshopping, travelling an hour and a half to get to this massive mall just for Primark :D - to discover on my way back that there was a direct line from Alcala that would get me there in 15mins.

This week I also decided to drop one of my classes that is basically a repetition from wat I've seen in Belgium - and since I'll only have 2 classes this semester, I'm starting dance classes this week! Belly dancing and hiphop... (you're never too old is what I think)

I'm also getting involved in some Erasmus activities the coming week, there is a dinner planned, and a trip to Toledo - update will folow!