Back in Madrid

Got back in Madrid yesterday around 7 in the morning. Couldn't sleep at all on the bus so was miserable all day until I took a nap after class. Didn't do much yesterday besides homework and chill. Barcelona was fun, made some friends in the hostel. 2 Austrians and an Australian. Practiced my German a bit with the Austrians which was depressingly awful considering I took it 6 years or whatever.

I uploaded some pictures so I'll put a bunch up here. Some are Segovia/Avila (can't tell the difference, went on the same day) and others are Barcelona.

Today was our first "hands-on" HW assignment. We had to go to the muebleria (furniture store) with a list of 10 types of furniture and find them, check the price, and write a description about them and what they are used for.

As for the questions Mom asked before:

1. For the most part the culture isn't that different. The people are pretty friendly (more so here than Barcelona). Barcelona people are mostly assholes. Have way too much pride in their state and are openly racist and dislike people who can't speak Catalan, even if they are fluent in the national language. We walked about a half block behind a Muslim woman in full garb and in those 45 seconds witnessed two elderly women (separately at different times) get in her face and harass her over her clothing/religion. Also a lot more poverty/drugs in Barcelona. Another thing I've noticed is that people are much better with language. Most people here can speak a good amount of English, and a lot also speak another Spanish dialect (such as Catalan). But in Madrid whenever I need to ask someone a question they are really helpful and nice (for example, today I asked a young couple about one piece of furniture for my HW, and they decided to come around to each piece with me until I finished my HW even though I told them it was unnecessary).

2. The school work is going well. The first couple grades were only okay because I would make small grammatical mistakes that added up, but the past 5 or so I've had one of my friends who is fluent proof read, and as a result my past grades have all been 90+. My class is only 6 people. Me, my room mate, a senior I've become friends with, and 3 girls who are alright. I really like the teacher and feel like I'm picking up the language well. Each night our typical homework is read 5-10 pages of Lola Lago (those little children's detective novels) and do either an excercise, composition, or go on an "excursion" (like today).

Barcelona:



























1/2:Segrada Familia. 3:Me and a friend on the trip at a bar. 4. Barcelona FC Stadium.












Segovia/Avila: 1. Inside of a very old royal home, with about 3-4 foot monuments to all the former kings on high up on the walls (obviously not all are shown in this pic). 2. Picture of one of the cities from a mountain far way. 3. Picture of some houses. 4. Big fort wall around one of the cities. 5. Outside of a Cathedral.