I've made it to Madrid

[4:35, my home-stay apartment]

I've made it to Madrid, and so far I'm loving it. The nine-hour flight here went quickly and smoothly, except for the inability to turn off my overhead light and only getting an hour or so of sleep.There was complimentary beer on the flight so I thought it was only appropriate to begin my European journey by saying cheers to the Spaniard beside me and enjoying a cold can of Heineken while crossing the Atlantic.

After landing in Madrid, I was immediately taken to my new home for the semester: a cozy apartment in one of the wealthier areas of Madrid, very near the heart of the city, two blocks from Madrid's largest public park (Google Map of my Home-stay). My home-stay parents are both very nice; they've been hosting BC students for the past twenty years. The dad, Lalo, (65 or so) is a painter/art teacher with a studio down the street, and he looks and acts very much like a cartoon version of a Spanish painter with lots of hand gestures and facial expressions (Picture of Lalo). The mom, Maria Jose, teaches computer science and loves to play board games and cook. And they have two daughters in their late 30's who live in Madrid and have children of their own: one is a bilingual (Spanish-English) language teacher, the other is a psychiatrist/former professional ballerina.

As for adjusting to Spanish, its been smooth sailing so far. My roommate and I are both Hispanic Studies majors and both parents speak little English, so in the house its Spanish 24/7. But I'm able to understand surprisingly most of what they say, and they seem to understand my roommate and me without problem. Plus, my home-stay parents love to talk, especially the dad, so we just ask them a question about politics, culture, movies, etc. and let them do most of the talking for awhile. 

The apartment itself is pretty small, with a kitchen and bathroom not much bigger than arms-length in both directions, but my room is rather big with a large window that overlooks a popular street (see photos). However, the bathroom is shared by both parents, my roommate and I, and our shower contains only a hose without a holder above, so we must hold it over our heads when we shower.





Spaniards don't eat typical large, American breakfasts with eggs and bacon. Rather, our host-mom serves two pieces of toast, a cup of coffee (very strong Spanish coffee), and a old, tin box of Kellogg's cereal with room-temperature milk (something to get used to). Then we will have lunch together every day at 3pm and dinner around 8:30pm; we sit down with at least one of our home-stay parents for both meals, and we talk and eat for nearly an hour each meal, everyday.

Another fun fact about eating habits in Madrid: they serve beer, wine, and liquor in our university cafeteria. There's no central heating in the university buildings so when its 30 degrees outside and 40 degrees in the classrooms, as it was on Monday, it only makes sense for students to warm themselves up in other ways.

I hope to have some more pictures up later this week. Hope all is well in the U.S.

Carlito Hombrefrito