A lot on my shoulders

Alrighty, well so far I have been in Madrid for 3 weeks now, and I am finally getting to my blog. Sorry for all of you who have been anxiously awaiting this. Here it is.

First off, living situation. I live on the north side of Madrid, in a really nice area off the Nuevos Ministerios stop on the Grey Line of the Metra. I am in walking distance of three different malls, tons of restaurants and discotecas, a gym which I found out what 135 euros a month, both a burger king and a mcdonalds, several supermarkets, a TGI Fridays (oddly enough), the Real Madrid Soccer Stadium (Santiago Bernabeu), and tons of cool other places. I don't think I could have asked for more with this place. The maid is great, we have wireless interent, its very nice, our senora is really friendly and welcoming (last night, she lent me a blazor to wear out with my jeans and button down shirt).

I also have four roommates, Frank, John, Armondo, and Yusef. Frank is from DePaul/Chicago, John is from Pitsburg but goes to Arizona State, Armondo is from Wyoming and goes to University of Denver, and Yusef is from California and goes to Denver University. Two girls live next door with our senora's daughter and son in law, Claire and Claire (it gets confusing). Tall Claire goes to University of Denver, and short Claire goes to Arkansas. We all eat together, and it has been great because we all have been getting along together really well.

I've been pretty busy since I've been here. The first weekend here, I went to Cuenca. It is a city about 2 hours outside of Madrid. Its built up on hills, and it was really beautiful. We stayed at a hotel there, did some sight seeing, and ate there. The next day (the best part), we went cliff diving a few miles up from the city. It was definitely one of the coolest things I have ever done. We hiked for about a half hour up this mountain, through tunnels that cut through mountains. Then we hiked down to the river, and jumped in. As we swam/floated down the river with the current, we would climb up certain rocks, and jump off. We started off short (about 6 ft), and kept working up to the highest jump (60 ft). It was so amazing. Several times, they would have us lay on our backs, and we would float down little waterfalls (4-6 ft). If this was the only cool thing I did for the entire three months, I would have been content, because it was that amazing.

The next weekend, I went to a Bull Fight. That was interesting, needless to say. I knew that they killed the bull, but I did not know exactly what it entailed. First off, they killed 6 bulls. Ya, wasn't expecting that. They bring out all the matadors and horses in a procession, then they get started. They bring out the first bull, and then they have him run around to get tired, with several matadors "toroing" him towards them, and then hiding behind this fence at the last minute. Then, the horses come out, and the bull charges the horses side (which is paded). The guy on the horse shoves this spear into the top of the bull, pushing it deep, and this is the first major wound the bull experiences. After that, the matadors get the bulls attention, and then shove this two foot spears into the bull when he is charging them. Finally, after he is tired and wounded severely, the head matador comes out. He does the toro thing, and then once he has put on a show, he shoves a three foot sword directly through the bulls back, right through the heart. This is the major thing that kills the bull, and afterward the bull falls over. To put him out of his misery, they shove a 6 inch knife down the back of his neck, to sever the spinal chord, and cause him to die instantly. Then, they bring out some horses, and drag the carcass out. Then they bring out the next bull, and do it again 5 more times lol. It was an experience, and I did enjoy it (kind of cool), but it was also very cruel. Many Spaniards, including my senora and her husband, don't like it, but it still is popular. Fortunately, they take the carcass to the butcher, so at least the meat is being used. Apparently the tongues are really expensive (good for soup).

On that note, the food here has been very good. Our senora is a great cook, as is the maid, and we have been having some great authentic Spanish food. No burritos and tacos, if that's what your thinking. Some of my favorites have been the Paella, Tortilla Espanola (potato omlete), las croquetas (fried potatos and ham), bocadillos (sandwiches on baguettes, usually with ham (they love that here) ), a great lental soup, and a lot of fried breaded meats. They love fried food here, but everyone is really thin. I think its because of the size of their portions, and the way they eat. Breakfast is very light, and then around 2 they have lunch, which is the biggest meal of the day. Then, dinner is around 9, and is much smaller. During the day, they snack a bit around 11 and around 6, to get them to each meal, but never excessively. Also, they walk a lot, which helps a lot.

I've got some cool plans coming up. I am going to Segovia tomorrow, another city in Spain, and I'm not sure what we are doing, but its part of the program so i'm going (paid for it already). We will get back tomorrow as well. Sunday, I'm planning on going to mass for the first time with my senora. Afterwards, I am going to this flee market, which is the biggest in Europe. It's called El Rastro. After, I want to go el parque Retiro, which is this old park in Old Madrid which is supposed to be amazing. That night, I am going to go to the Real Madrid Soccer Game. I am really looking forward to that, I got to go outside the Atletico de Madrid vs Real Madrid game, which are the two big teams in Spain, and it was crazy. Its an intercity game, so like when the cubs and sox play each other. It was so much fun, so I'm assuming actually getting to go into the game will be even better. Hopefully, this coming Wednesday, I will be going to see La Bella y La Bestia (for those of you who don't speak spanish, thats Beauty and the Beast). It's the same musical as in the states, but it's been translated into spanish. Still rhymes and all, and same music.

Thats all for now, hopefully I will figure how to get more than one pic on this thing. Hope you all are well, and send me messages about fun stuff thats happening at home! Love you all.

-Ryan