13/9/2011

Funny looking date, right? I have to get used to the flip-flopping of the month and day too... And then there is the time! if it's 3 PM, it is 15:00. It's like military time, and I'm not very good at it yet.

It has only been 6 days and there is so much to talk about, so I'll try to control myself and keep this brief and entertaining. The hostel is nice, it's called Hostal Zamora. I have my own room, bathroom, and tv. Spanish television is interesting so far. There is a lot of American programming with Spanish dubbed over it. I stumbled upon a channel showing Sex in the City in Spanish and it was just as bad as it is in English (sorry James, I know you enjoy this show). There are late night game shows where people at home call in trying to guess the answer to something and then they win money. I think the shows are rigged because I didn't see anyone win.

My first day here, I got my Spanish cell phone through a carrier called HappyMovil. I chose them because they were cheap and their name made me chuckle. I needed the cell phone ASAP because my iPhone won't work here (well, it will work here but I don't want to surprise my parents with a huge phone bill). Don't worry though, I can still play Words with Friends! Challenge accepted? With my new phone, I had to call advertisements for apartments. Unlike us Americans, the Spanish will accept a call from an unknown number every time! I think that's crazy! Not really. But seriously, who does that?

Apartment hunting here is tiring and I'm kinda sick of it already. I have looked at 10 places and some have been great. Others have been sketchy, dirty, small, or expensive. I saw one place that was inhabited by 5 hippies and their apartment's theme, if it had one, was dirt. It was actually a lot like some peoples' places in Athens. You guys know what I'm talking about. They were Madrid townies. So many bikes and dreadlocks.

The apartment I chose is in a neighborhood called Salamanca and it is supposed to be the nicest in Madrid. From what I have seen, it is true. I will be moving in Thursday and sharing the apartment with 4 others. Apartments here tend to be full of people from all over the world, and I think that is the case with mine. So far, I know there is a guy from Greece and another from Iowa. I didn't get to meet the others yet. There was one apartment that had a person from England, Belgium, Italy, and France. It would've been a mini United Nations. Unfortunately, it didn't work out.

I have had some tasty food so far and my stomach is excited for more. I paid 8 euros for bread with olive oil and tomato, a large chorizo link, a piece of steak, salad, and strawberry ice cream (Nom!). Oh, and 2 beers came with it. At a restaurant here, beer is cheaper than water and comes with most meals. That is pretty cool. Don't worry Mom and Dad, the beers are smaller than our pints at home. I'm not going crazy. YET!

I was able to find a stream online of the UGA USC game Saturday night. I was so excited! But then we lost. Ugh. I could write an entire post on that game, but that isn't the point of this blog and it would only make me mad to think about.

Here are some pictures of some things I've seen so far:

street

i think this is a bank

plaza del sol

a fancy hotel at sol

parque del retiro

you can see more of my pictures at my flickr if you are interested.

More to come later. Adios!