I have been antsy to write another blog post because so much has happened in the past week! Classes started on Monday, but I have only had 2 out of 5 classes so far. Here, they block it so that you have the same classes Monday and Tuesday, a break on Wednesday, and different classes on Thursday and Friday. It's a nice way to break up the week.

My professors are phenomenal, and I can tell that I am going to learn a lot. I am struggling with understanding everything that they're saying and hoping to adjust in the next few weeks. The best way I can describe it is that I'm sitting in college-level lectures in familiar subjects such as History or Literature, but they're all taught in Spanish. Now that I put it on paper (well, electronically) I realize how crazy that is. It's already a challenge to take advanced courses, but then it's on a completely new level to process it in a second language. Also, I'm taking 18th-20th century literature, so our readings right now are in Old Spanish! There are so many new words that I am learning inside and outside of class. I'm trying to write down a couple of words I want to learn each day.

I met my host mom (aka "señora")!! I am excited to move in on Sunday and get into more of a routine. I met her at the apartment and talked for an hour and a half (!!!), so I was exhausted by the time we finished. She made me tea as well as a whole fruitcake for me. She let me take home the rest, and I've been enjoying it for breakfast all week and sharing it with other people in my program. She is in her 50s and lives with her husband, Hames, who I will meet next week. I found out that he's a musician and plays some sort of Spanish guitar (I forget the name). I play the violin and love music, so I already know we have something in common. Rachida has housed international students for years, and there was a girl from California still living there this week that I got to meet. I also got to see my room, which is pretty big! The apartment is small, but cute. She had background music playing on her speaker, which is what my mom does at home sometimes. I liked that! And I got to meet MIMO!!!!! Mimo is her Persian cat. He is orange and was chilling on the coffee table for a while. She calls him el tigre (the tiger). I got a photo of the three of us, which I'll post. There's a weird glare on Rachida's glasses, but it's still cute!!

For now, I've been living in the residences. As I mentioned before, it's not your average dorm. It's way too nice to be a dorm, and the people who live here during the year moved in this week. First off, my nose has noticed a lot more of a cigarette stench. I think some people smoke in their rooms, which is pretty gross. I see a lot more cig butts outside now. We also found out that each residence is like its own close group of friends. Every night for the past week, each residence gets together and chants a certain cheer as they walk down the street. They're all dressed in the same outfits, and they seem to take it very seriously. We asked one of our directors about it, and he called them "prank wars" but they seem more like cheer offs. During the day, it looks to me as if the older students are hazing the freshmen. For example, one day I saw them in a line holding hands and wearing diapers and baby bonnets. It's so strange. Their noise has kept us up at night, which sucks. But at the same time, it's very interesting to watch. I took a few pics, which I'll add to the album.

I make it sound like Spaniards my age aren't the best, but I know there are a lot of very great people! It's unusual for them to live in residences; most of them actually live at home. I want to meet locals, and I'm planning on doing the Intercambio offered through my program. Through this, I'll get matched with someone from UCM, and we'll meet up somewhere. We'll speak half of the time in Spanish and half of the time in English. This way, we can both practice our language skills and learn from each other. Hopefully, it will go well and I'll get to meet their friends.

I'm having a great time exploring Madrid! I went to Sol and Gran Via for the first time, both of which are amazing. I also saw La Latina, a really cool area only about a 10 minute walk from my apartment. I could go on and on, but it's almost time for dinner and I'm starving. Eating so late is such a struggle here. BUT I'll add my new pics to the Madrid album, so you'll get to see it for yourself!

CIAO!