On Wednesday I met with my CS friend, Alanna. We went to Museo del Prado with her friend, an art history major. It was neat. The museum itself is huge and maze-like. Luckily Alanna's friend had been there several times before and took us aroudn to all the master pieces. I just followed where ever they went and tried to find paintings I had seen before. I particularly like looking at religious paintings. Because of the Images of God in Art class I took in high school, I feel like I understand the paintings and their symbolism more then in other paintings. We spent a couple hours at the musem, then Alanna and I went off to find lunch.
In front of the Retiro is this famous monument. I believe it is called Puerta de Alcala.
I heart Spanish food. There is no doubt about it. We found a great little shop and picked out a selection of mini-sandwiches and a couple desserts. Then we walked over to Parque del Retiro to eat. We found a quiet spot at the Monumento a Alfonso XII by the lake and ate. It was a little chilly out but not bad. It was a great afternoon.
After we ate it was time for me to head back to Tres Cantos. I didn't want to be late to tutor and I'm still not a pro and scheduling my transporation. When I got to the bus station I went to my usual bus bay and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. All the buses that came through were not my bus. In fact, they weren't even buses that usualy came through that bay. I was thoroughly confused by this point. There were a couple signs that had my bus and routes on them, but that is all I could understand. I knew that something was going on with them, but I didn't know what. Erg. So I finally asked a young guy working for the buses. Actually I didn't really ask. I just said, "Tres Cantos?" He started pointing and talking. Then I asked if he spoke english, he didn't. So he walked me to the edge of the bus bay and pointed to an area across the street. Apparently that's where my bus is now.
How was I supposed to my bus got moved way across the street?
And low and behold there it was. I got on my bus right away and was headed for home. Lucky for me Javier would prefer if we didn't have classes at all. But what 13 year old boy would. He didn't mind that I was 15min late getting home.
On Saturday, Jenny and Carlos (from CS) met me at the train station at 11am. 11 is early by Madrid standards and the city was pretty quiet as I made my way there. From the station we caught a train to Alca la de Henares. Alcala is a fun, small, college town not too far from Madrid. It's biggest claim to fame is that it is the birth place of Cervantes. The three of us wandered around the city, taking pictures, telling stories, and laughing a lot. I had a great time. We then made our way to a great tapas bar for lunch. We had three little sandwiches each. The first was smoked salmon on (basically) a cream cheese bagel. That one is my favorite. The second was large calamari rings on bread. And the last was ham and egg on bread. They were all delicious. Like I said, I heart spanish food. After lunch we made our way back to Madrid and I took the train back to Tres Cantos. I made it home just as the sun was setting. It was nice. That evening I went with the family to dinner at a Chinese restaraunt. It was very tastey and surprisingly similar to Chinese food in the States. Whooray for consistancy! Though I have never had fried ice cream at a Chinese restaraunt in the States.
Pics from Alca la de Henares. I am a fan of self portraits, even when I have friends there to take the photos for me. We tried to join this tour group, but they weren't very interesting.
On Sunday, I made an attempt to go to a Baptist church in Madrid. I left the house a few minutes later then I had wanted to and ended up just missing my bus. I waited a half hour for the next to come and then made my way into Madrid. I caught the metro made a transfer and arrived in the neighborhood the church was at in no time. Unfortunately the late start meant that I would only be able to make it to the second half of the service if I found it right away. But I didn't find it right away, in fact, I didn't find it at all. I will have to copy down the directions better and try again next week. So instead of going to church I ended up walking, for what felt like forever, and listening to Christian music on my iPod.
When I got back to the house it was all set up for lunch. Natalia and Fernando were coming to lunch with their son, Alex. They are pretty much family and have been good friends with Carlos and Consuelo for a long time. Natalia and Fernando were also bringing their guests from Argentina (parents and three kids). Lunch was fun and lively as usual. I usually sit quietly listen as best I can and watch their facial expressions. Every now and then someone will lean towards me and explain the conversation but generally I just sit and smile if someone looks at me. I pick up words here and there and I can generally follow the gist of the conversation, but I'm pretty far from being able to participate myself. I was able to participate in a basketball game with the kids though. I just realized their hoop is only about 7ft tall. I can almost dunk. It was fun and it felt good to get up and move after listening and eating.
So that was my weekend. It was good for sure. This week I don't have anything too special planned. I'll probably go sightseeing on Tuesday with Jenny's friend from the States and I may got to intercambio (language exchange) on Wednesday to meet some new people and learn/practice my spanish. Then this Saturday Jenny and I will probably take her friend on another day trip. It should be fun. throw in some running and I've got myself an excellent week planned.
This is my view from the train. It is much more scenic then the bus. I may have to take the train more often.
Oh, I've also recently posted an ad offering english lessons. I've had several people interested and may begin some of those next week. Yep... I'm finding my groove and it feels pretty good.
No comments:
Post a Comment