The Search for the Language School

I'm in my neighborhood. I like how the city just stops and there are uninhabited hills just right there!

Today the only thing on my "To Do List" was to go to the town of Alcobendas. Alcobendas is between my town and Madrid. In Alcobendas there is a school offering Spanish classes for foreigners. I need to register for the class, pay, and take a placement exam.

I got a full 8 hours of sleep last night! I was so happy about that. I am still dealing with sleep problems. The main issue is that I choose to stay up too late talking to folks back home instead of sleeping and then wake up too early and nap on occasion. But now that I have given myself a bedtime, I'm hoping to get the sleep situation under control.

So I got a full nights sleep, then had a fairly lazy morning. I left the house at 11a or so and headed to the bus stop. I'm pleased to say that I am pretty comfortable with Madrid's transportation system. So far the buses and subways have been great. I haven't been on the trains yet, but I'm sure I will find them useful in the future. The bus took about 20min to get there (I think I just missed it). Last night I spent a good half hour with Carlos going over the maps, bus schedules, and he even took me to my stop so I would be certain I knew where it was. And I brought all my paperwork with me. All the little drawings he made. And my maps. But was the bus was going along, I kept seeing signs for Universidad Autonoma. When we got there, I got off the bus and figured I could find where I needed to go. I walked about two blocks before I realized that I didn't know where in the University my class would be! So I found an office and asked the lady at the information desk. She didn't speak english so she sent me downstairs to the international office where a nice young girl helped me. Apparently, the university is pretty much its own town. I would have to get back on the bus and go to Alcobendas. I was on the right bus, I just jumped the gun and got off to early.

It was a really nice day out and the campus was nice, so I didn't mind walking around. Again I had to wait for the bus. This time I sat right behind the driver. As we pulled into Alcobendas I saw the various land marks Carlos had told me to look for. I asked the driver where my street was (And in Spanish! Go me!). He said a bunch of words back to me and finally told me to stay put and then told me when we go to where I needed to go. I got of the bus and started walking. I've had a hard time find street names and building numbers. I was in the 100s and I needed 8. But I knew I wasn't that far off. I looked around a bit and decided my wandering around wasn't going to cut it, especially since I needed to be there in 10min or else I would have to come back another day! So I asked a man walking by where the school was. I showed him the name and address. He said a bunch to me and my confused look must have given myself away. He used hand gestures to say that I needed to go down the block and around a block and I was there.

And he was right! I found it no problem. Now... to get inside! The front door was locked. There were three buzzers but only two had labels. And the only business that had a sign above the door, but no labeled buzzer was the school that I was trying to get to. So I pushed the buzzer. I didn't hear anything or see. I walked to the right of the building. Nothing. I walked to the left of the building. Nothing. I looked up the building. Nothing. I must have looked extremely confused (and I was) because an older gentleman walking buy with his groceries stopped to tell me something. At first I couldnt really understand him. Then I understood that they were there. Then I understood that I needed to come back tomorrow. Then I understood that there was a town celebration and most businesses were closed. Drat. The man was very patient with me as I worked to grasp what he was saying.

Well, I guess there were going to be no Spanish tests today. As I headed back to the bus stop I checked to see how much change I had. I would need at least 1,25 euros to get back to my neighborhood and I only had 1 euro in change. So I left the main street and turned up a side street that had some businesses on it. I was looking for some place that I could buy something and then use the change for my bus fare. I found a little panaderia (bread shop). I ended up choosing a bag of minichocolate chip muffins. They seemed innocent enough and delicious!

After my purchase I headed up the block. I figured I would just wait at the next bus stop up the line. As I bit into my muffin I found a gooey chocolate center. It turns out, these are muffins of death! Spanish people love their chocolate.

I waited at the bus stop and ate another muffin, this time wiping some of the chocolate off. I like chocolate, don't get me wrong, but I want to be able to taste the muffin too! It was nice sitting there at the bus stop. The sun was actually pretty warm where I was sitting. Then I caught my bus and headed home.

The drivers on the buses in Madrid get to listen to music while they drive. It's interesting to hear what the different drivers choose to listen to. I'm surprised by how many of the songs are American. I like it. Hearing something familiar every now and then is comforting.

I went to Madrid to do some sight seeing yesterday. I will hopefully be posting the pictures for that later this evening. Today's pictures are of Tres Cantos (and my muffins).