Alright, caught up with the Morocco blog, now it is time to throw down the blog for the past week. It was a pretty slow week as they go. Monday I was exhausted from the trip over the weekend but I got myself to class in the afternoon all the same. I heard from ASU about my course equivalencies, and that I was not going to receive credit for one of the classes I was in, so I had to get in touch with my Counselor and get the mess figured out. After a little bit of foot work I got it all sorted out and changed my classes for the third time! The rest of the weeks classes ran smoothly.
On Wednesday evening I went out to dinner with bunch of the Portuguese people. One of my roommates Carolina, was moving back and it was a small celebration, or going away dinner. It was really good, we went to Lateral, one of my favorite Tapas restaurants, and I met more of the many Portuguese people that my roommates know here in Madrid. The next night it was Indian food with the guys, and then a night out on the town at Joy Eslava, the club that all the exchange students go to on Thursday nights! Friday I made it to class and then we had a dinner at the neighbor, Rita's house. We were supposed to go out with Carolina and friends after dinner but everyone lost steam and we ended up calling it an early night which was fine by me because I had an engagement Saturday in the early afternoon.
Saturday afternoon, Ismael invited a bunch of us over for a lunch at his house. His family is Mexican, and made a wonderful spread of Mexican food for lunch. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to actually eat some decent Mexican. I had been to a couple of different restaurants and completely given up hope of eating any good Mexican on this side of the planet! Ismael's mom made a Aztec cake, which was like a casserole with corn, corn tortillas, chicken, salsa verde and cheese. It was real good, we also had rice and beans, chips and guacamole. It was real cool to have the whole group together, even though we were missing Alvaro. (The people who were present: Javier, Marc, Kike, Isaac, Joaquin, Pitu, Vicky, Elena, Ismael and myself.)
After lunch, we all hung out for a while and then Marc and I went to his house to watch a movie and then have dinner with his family, or my adopted family!
After dinner it was back to Madrid to have the Final Shebang before Carolina left on Sunday morning. Javier, Ismael, Marc and I all met back up at Ismael's flat at Plaza de Espana to have a drink or two and then we met up with the roommates at a club called Gabana. It was the first time that I had been there, but we all had a great time shaking some tail! (The people: Catarina, Rita, Carolina, Diogo (Carolina's Boy friend), Ismael, Marc, Javier, and I)
Sunday was a day to kick back, did nothing except for help Carolina pack her stuff into the car, and say good bye. The rest of the day I hung out talked to the family, friends and who ever else there was to talk with, watched a movie and called it a day. I guess that is what Sunday's consist of when a few other nights of the week you only sleep 3 or 4 hours!
Well, there is not much else to tell ya'll but I hope this finds everyone doing really well.
Much Love,
Phil
P.S. I MISS YOU AND LOVE YOU TOMMY!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Marrakech
Ok, here it is finally, sorry for the delay...I was not happy with the quality of the video blog that I shot for the trip so I am going to go ahead and do this one by hand.
Marrakech (yes it says it is a spelling error in the U.S. but here in Spain, this is how we spell it) was quite the adventure. The week leading up was relatively uneventful, just was getting back into the swing of classes. Thursday night we finally got all the guys together for the first time to go out for Indian food. Pitu had been on exchange in Wiesbaden, and some of the guys were in exams, so this was our first big reunion. The dinner was good as always, the owner Jalal had just come back from a month of vacations (probably thanks to Marc and My habit of going there once a week!) and we had a great meal as usual. By the time we were done with dinner it was about 1a.m. and we headed over to Pitu's house to hang out for a while. It takes about an hour to get there by metro and then car, so it already put us to about 2a.m. and the flight was at 6:30 a.m. so to be at the airport by 5:00a.m. there was not much reason to sleep. We all laughed and hung out until it was time to go.
I was not expecting many people at the airport at 5a.m. but goodness was I wrong. There was a huge line to get through security; luckily we still made it to the gate on time. We were some of the last people to board the plane, but we made it. Upon boarding the adventure began. Just as the last few passengers were getting on the plane, a fellow about 5 or 6 rows back from me started having an epileptic attack. It was one of the scariest things that I have ever seen. they made an announcement over the intercom to see if there were any doctors on board and a couple of fellow's jumped up and began helping him. The fellow that had the seizure appeared to be going home to Morocco, after a few minutes they carried him off the plane, and the other two or three people that were with him were yelling at the crew members and doctors helping him telling them to let him stay on, and it was not a big deal, it happens to him often! It was quite an exciting bit of time. It took more than 15 minutes for an ambulance to get to the plane and start helping him, which I would venture to guess is about double or triple what it would take in the U.S. Everything is slower in Spain I guess, for the good and bad.
After this whole ordeal we were delayed a total of about 1 hour. Finally in the air I was able to catch up on some ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ's that were much needed. Before long I was rudely awoken by the pilot speaking on the intercom. Apparently due to poor weather conditions below, we were put into a holding pattern, circling above Marrakech. An hour or so went by until I was awoken again by a frenzy of angry passengers after the pilot cam on a second time and told everyone that we would be landing in Agadir which was about 300km away. We landed in what was by far the smallest public airport I have ever been too. There were not even stairs to help you down from the planes; apparently even these big planes have stairs built into them! It took about a good 45 minutes for the Moroccan police to punch all of our information in by hand, and then it was another hour or so waiting for the buses to arrive to take everyone to Marrakech. The whole detour turned out to be a blessing in disguise, not only did we get to catch a few more hours of shut-eye on the way there, but we drove through the mountains and villages that we would not have seen otherwise. The approach to Marrakech reminded me a lot of poor areas of Mexico. It was very undeveloped with people washing clothes in the streams, kids walking around barefoot, and people riding donkey pulled carts. It was one of those eye opening experiences where you see how well we really have it. After being dropped off at the bus depot, we caught a taxi with a couple of other passengers from the bus trip to get to the main square(yes 5 people in a mini Taxi, Alvaro and I were intertwined in the front seat, as the other two passengers that shared the back with Marc were bigger!).
Upon arriving at the main square with some, but not enough rest, it was time to try to find the Hostel and then some food as we had not eaten anything all day and it was 4:30 pm by the time we arrived (yes 8:30 was the scheduled arrival, you do the math). Luckily, Marc had done some research and kind of knew how to get to the hostel because it was just through a small arch way and a big labyrinth in the middle of the city! We arrived and got checked in, grabbed quick showers and it was time for some chow. We went to a place that the guy at the front desk of the hostel recommended, or tried to at least. I am not sure that we made it exactly to the right place but it was really good none the less. We all had couscous with chicken and lamb. After the late lunch we began to wander. Going out from the main square there are a ton of different Souke's (groups of stores) that sell different things. One might sell spices, while another will sell animals or rugs, or clothes...anything you wanted you could find. After wandering aimlessly for a few hours we found ourselves deep in the labyrinth not exactly knowing where we were, or how to get out; just that we were the only foreigners and it was dark! After some wandering we made it out and back to the main square, heckled some shop keepers to get a feeling for how it worked and made our way back the hostel to take in the sights from the terrace while enjoying a mint tea. After relaxing for a little bit we wandered back out into the city to find some dinner. We went to the main square where about 40 or 50 vendors bring out and set up make shit restaurants that serve grilled meats, couscous and a variety of different wild things such as Goat Head. The first night we stuck to just the basic grilled skewers and vegetables and ate very well for about 6 Euros each after food, drink, tea and tip. After that we called it a night.
Being that Friday was cut short, we only had the day Saturday to do touristy things because we left early in the morning Sunday. We got up bright and early for breakfast at the hostel and were treated to Fresh squeezed orange juice, Crepes, and toast, not too shabby for $15 a night! Right after breakfast it was off to see the Madrasta, an old school in Marrakech that Marc had read about in the travel guide...Marc basically was the travel guide seeing as he was the only one that did any reading as about what to check out, I would have just wandered aimlessly the whole time! The Madrasta was breathe taking with the wood and tile work all over, to think that it was built so long ago, and yet still was so well kept intact and impressive was something else. Apparently, it was used until about the late 1950's. After the Madrasta it was off to ride some camels, or that was the plan at least. We got to the park that we were recommended and it was POURING down rain; apparently camels or their owners don't like to make money when there are silly tourists out in the rain!!! After failing to go for a camel ride we went back into town and had lunch in a little square outside the main hustle and bustle of the city. This was the best meal that we had the whole trip, Marc and I both had lamb couscous and Alvo had a meat sandwich of some sort. It was just a cool little spot and nice people.
Later in the afternoon we went to an old palace of one of the king's or rulers that I do not remember the name of. It was supposedly one of the most impressive palaces of its time, but it has since gone to ruins. The wild thing about going to the palace was that none of the ruins were roped off, we were able to walk around, touch and see whatever we wanted...there was not a single person there to tell you what to do or not to do. We wandered through the ruins that were underground and climbed across fallen down walls (pictures of all this to your right, up above a little bit). After doing the tourist thing all morning we were worn down and ready to kick up the feet for a little relaxing. We hung out on the covered patio of the hostel, out of the rain and ended up meeting a group of really cool people. We met 4 girls, 3 from the states and one from New Zealand, if I recall correctly it was Margaux, Eileen, Lucy, and Vanessa. Two of them were working in France as English teachers, and the other two were studying abroad in France. We spent the afternoon talking, and telling stories and that evening we all hit the town for some dinner. We went to a little restaurant that Margaux and Eileen had been to already that was really good. We all had couscous and I took out my culinary desires on everyone! I ordered a serving of goat's head to try! It was something that I was really quite unsure about eating so I figured I would order some as a side and make everyone join me! Unbelievably EVERYONE ended up trying it! Yes there is a video...and it really was not as gnarly as I was expecting it to be, I think I ate both some cheeks, or other meaty part and I also had some of the brains. the last thing on the list of things to do was to buy some typical clothes from the Souke's. I ended up buying a Jalapa, and a Head Wrap, and also a few typical hats. After the shopping, heckling and heckling was over it was back to the hostel where we all hung and chatted for a bit more before calling it a night.
Luckily, the flight back was much smoother than the flight to get there. I slept again for 90% of the trip and we made it to Madrid ahead of schedule. Just a for fun side note, this was the first time that my Portuguese Passport was stamped...the trip to Morocco that I am sure I will never forget.
Well, it might not have been as fun as the video blog, but I have not mastered it yet, and was not willing to put up some super poor quality product so I leave you with this. I hope you all enjoyed, and this finds everyone doing very well.
Much Love Always,
Phil
P.S. Strange fact that is useless to everyone but interesting to some, maybe like my momma! Lots of my memories from this trip were in Spanish, so I had to translate them to put them down! I think this is a good thing, means I am learning the language and thinking in it!
Marrakech (yes it says it is a spelling error in the U.S. but here in Spain, this is how we spell it) was quite the adventure. The week leading up was relatively uneventful, just was getting back into the swing of classes. Thursday night we finally got all the guys together for the first time to go out for Indian food. Pitu had been on exchange in Wiesbaden, and some of the guys were in exams, so this was our first big reunion. The dinner was good as always, the owner Jalal had just come back from a month of vacations (probably thanks to Marc and My habit of going there once a week!) and we had a great meal as usual. By the time we were done with dinner it was about 1a.m. and we headed over to Pitu's house to hang out for a while. It takes about an hour to get there by metro and then car, so it already put us to about 2a.m. and the flight was at 6:30 a.m. so to be at the airport by 5:00a.m. there was not much reason to sleep. We all laughed and hung out until it was time to go.
I was not expecting many people at the airport at 5a.m. but goodness was I wrong. There was a huge line to get through security; luckily we still made it to the gate on time. We were some of the last people to board the plane, but we made it. Upon boarding the adventure began. Just as the last few passengers were getting on the plane, a fellow about 5 or 6 rows back from me started having an epileptic attack. It was one of the scariest things that I have ever seen. they made an announcement over the intercom to see if there were any doctors on board and a couple of fellow's jumped up and began helping him. The fellow that had the seizure appeared to be going home to Morocco, after a few minutes they carried him off the plane, and the other two or three people that were with him were yelling at the crew members and doctors helping him telling them to let him stay on, and it was not a big deal, it happens to him often! It was quite an exciting bit of time. It took more than 15 minutes for an ambulance to get to the plane and start helping him, which I would venture to guess is about double or triple what it would take in the U.S. Everything is slower in Spain I guess, for the good and bad.
After this whole ordeal we were delayed a total of about 1 hour. Finally in the air I was able to catch up on some ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ's that were much needed. Before long I was rudely awoken by the pilot speaking on the intercom. Apparently due to poor weather conditions below, we were put into a holding pattern, circling above Marrakech. An hour or so went by until I was awoken again by a frenzy of angry passengers after the pilot cam on a second time and told everyone that we would be landing in Agadir which was about 300km away. We landed in what was by far the smallest public airport I have ever been too. There were not even stairs to help you down from the planes; apparently even these big planes have stairs built into them! It took about a good 45 minutes for the Moroccan police to punch all of our information in by hand, and then it was another hour or so waiting for the buses to arrive to take everyone to Marrakech. The whole detour turned out to be a blessing in disguise, not only did we get to catch a few more hours of shut-eye on the way there, but we drove through the mountains and villages that we would not have seen otherwise. The approach to Marrakech reminded me a lot of poor areas of Mexico. It was very undeveloped with people washing clothes in the streams, kids walking around barefoot, and people riding donkey pulled carts. It was one of those eye opening experiences where you see how well we really have it. After being dropped off at the bus depot, we caught a taxi with a couple of other passengers from the bus trip to get to the main square(yes 5 people in a mini Taxi, Alvaro and I were intertwined in the front seat, as the other two passengers that shared the back with Marc were bigger!).
Upon arriving at the main square with some, but not enough rest, it was time to try to find the Hostel and then some food as we had not eaten anything all day and it was 4:30 pm by the time we arrived (yes 8:30 was the scheduled arrival, you do the math). Luckily, Marc had done some research and kind of knew how to get to the hostel because it was just through a small arch way and a big labyrinth in the middle of the city! We arrived and got checked in, grabbed quick showers and it was time for some chow. We went to a place that the guy at the front desk of the hostel recommended, or tried to at least. I am not sure that we made it exactly to the right place but it was really good none the less. We all had couscous with chicken and lamb. After the late lunch we began to wander. Going out from the main square there are a ton of different Souke's (groups of stores) that sell different things. One might sell spices, while another will sell animals or rugs, or clothes...anything you wanted you could find. After wandering aimlessly for a few hours we found ourselves deep in the labyrinth not exactly knowing where we were, or how to get out; just that we were the only foreigners and it was dark! After some wandering we made it out and back to the main square, heckled some shop keepers to get a feeling for how it worked and made our way back the hostel to take in the sights from the terrace while enjoying a mint tea. After relaxing for a little bit we wandered back out into the city to find some dinner. We went to the main square where about 40 or 50 vendors bring out and set up make shit restaurants that serve grilled meats, couscous and a variety of different wild things such as Goat Head. The first night we stuck to just the basic grilled skewers and vegetables and ate very well for about 6 Euros each after food, drink, tea and tip. After that we called it a night.
Being that Friday was cut short, we only had the day Saturday to do touristy things because we left early in the morning Sunday. We got up bright and early for breakfast at the hostel and were treated to Fresh squeezed orange juice, Crepes, and toast, not too shabby for $15 a night! Right after breakfast it was off to see the Madrasta, an old school in Marrakech that Marc had read about in the travel guide...Marc basically was the travel guide seeing as he was the only one that did any reading as about what to check out, I would have just wandered aimlessly the whole time! The Madrasta was breathe taking with the wood and tile work all over, to think that it was built so long ago, and yet still was so well kept intact and impressive was something else. Apparently, it was used until about the late 1950's. After the Madrasta it was off to ride some camels, or that was the plan at least. We got to the park that we were recommended and it was POURING down rain; apparently camels or their owners don't like to make money when there are silly tourists out in the rain!!! After failing to go for a camel ride we went back into town and had lunch in a little square outside the main hustle and bustle of the city. This was the best meal that we had the whole trip, Marc and I both had lamb couscous and Alvo had a meat sandwich of some sort. It was just a cool little spot and nice people.
Later in the afternoon we went to an old palace of one of the king's or rulers that I do not remember the name of. It was supposedly one of the most impressive palaces of its time, but it has since gone to ruins. The wild thing about going to the palace was that none of the ruins were roped off, we were able to walk around, touch and see whatever we wanted...there was not a single person there to tell you what to do or not to do. We wandered through the ruins that were underground and climbed across fallen down walls (pictures of all this to your right, up above a little bit). After doing the tourist thing all morning we were worn down and ready to kick up the feet for a little relaxing. We hung out on the covered patio of the hostel, out of the rain and ended up meeting a group of really cool people. We met 4 girls, 3 from the states and one from New Zealand, if I recall correctly it was Margaux, Eileen, Lucy, and Vanessa. Two of them were working in France as English teachers, and the other two were studying abroad in France. We spent the afternoon talking, and telling stories and that evening we all hit the town for some dinner. We went to a little restaurant that Margaux and Eileen had been to already that was really good. We all had couscous and I took out my culinary desires on everyone! I ordered a serving of goat's head to try! It was something that I was really quite unsure about eating so I figured I would order some as a side and make everyone join me! Unbelievably EVERYONE ended up trying it! Yes there is a video...and it really was not as gnarly as I was expecting it to be, I think I ate both some cheeks, or other meaty part and I also had some of the brains. the last thing on the list of things to do was to buy some typical clothes from the Souke's. I ended up buying a Jalapa, and a Head Wrap, and also a few typical hats. After the shopping, heckling and heckling was over it was back to the hostel where we all hung and chatted for a bit more before calling it a night.
Luckily, the flight back was much smoother than the flight to get there. I slept again for 90% of the trip and we made it to Madrid ahead of schedule. Just a for fun side note, this was the first time that my Portuguese Passport was stamped...the trip to Morocco that I am sure I will never forget.
Well, it might not have been as fun as the video blog, but I have not mastered it yet, and was not willing to put up some super poor quality product so I leave you with this. I hope you all enjoyed, and this finds everyone doing very well.
Much Love Always,
Phil
P.S. Strange fact that is useless to everyone but interesting to some, maybe like my momma! Lots of my memories from this trip were in Spanish, so I had to translate them to put them down! I think this is a good thing, means I am learning the language and thinking in it!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Feb 10th - Feb 15th
Goodness Gracious is there a lot to tell you about. I just got back from quite the adventure in Morocco and will be posting a video blog guest staring my traveling partners as soon as I can get them both here for a time to shoot the video. Hope this finds everyone doing well back at home.
Lots of Love Always,
Phil
Lots of Love Always,
Phil
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Feb 2nd - Feb 9th
Lots has happened since the last post, and guess what you are all in for this time...A video blog, yes you heard it here first, working on it right now, should be up tomorrow, yes TWO days late!
Much Love,
Phil
**Please leave a comment about what you like/dislike, or think could be improved on the video blog...advice welcome, I am aware the lighting was not great...will work on that for next week.
Much Love,
Phil
**Please leave a comment about what you like/dislike, or think could be improved on the video blog...advice welcome, I am aware the lighting was not great...will work on that for next week.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Jan 26th - Feb 1st
I knew I was forgetting to do something today, right, posting my latest adventures and stories. I am finally done with exams, I have a new apartment, and life is GOOD!
Last week was a semi-stressful week. I had to study for my Management exam and also look for a new place to live. The apartment hunt went on for way too long, but it is finally over. My aunt in Portugal, Tia Nicha, has a neighbor (Suzanna), who has a daughter (Filipa), who had two friends who were looking for a roommate, so it ended up working out really nicely. Did you catch all that? It was quite the explanation. Needless to say having a house locked down by Wednesday was nice because it gave me time to really get my head in the books, well at least try to.
Most of the days, I stayed at Marc's house, slept in and tried to study little by little, I did not have too much success. For some reason walking the dog, or talking to people back home always seemed to win out over hitting the books. On Wednesday it snowed again. I did not get to see the snow in the morning because I was sleeping, but I caught the snow in the afternoon. On Thursday night, Marc, Joaquin, Alvaro and I went to the Indian restaurant, it was good as always. Friday was a slow day. In the evening I was supposed to meet Marc in Madrid to buy a present for Joaquin who celebrated a birthday on Saturday. About half way to the city, on the bus, I realized that I had forgotten my cell hone at home. Of course the metro stop we were meeting at had 4 different exists so I waited around trying to bump into him at some point but was not able to. I remembered that Marc had sent me his cell phone number before I came over in August, so I decided to try to find an internet cafe to look up the email and call him. With my luck I was in the absolute wrong part of town to find an internet cafe. I walked around for about 45 minutes, asking people all over before I finally found one. About an hour and a half after we were supposed to meet, I finally found Marc, and by this time the shop we were going to buy Joaquin his present at was closed, so it was a wasted evening.
Saturday was test day, my last one. I woke up at some absurd hour, I think it was about 8a.m. and began the Trek to get to campus; as always it took me about an hour and forty-five minutes from Marc's, but I made it early and was able to study a little before the exam began. I arrived about ten minutes early to the exam room, just to find it over flowing, so the professor split us up into two classrooms. When the teacher came into the class I was put in and said, "Ok, I switched you guys into this classroom because I trust you guys. Please don't cheat, I think this test will be very easy for you. If you have questions please come into the other classroom." I was shocked. Right when the professor walked out, kids starting pulling out their notes, and talking to each other...Never in a million years would that have happened in the states, one teacher to proctor over 130 students! After the exam it was off to Joaquin's Birthday. I arrived a bit late, but was lucky enough to still get some of his mom's homemade Argentinian Empanadas. We ended up hanging out and talking there for a few hours, and then went back to Marc's house for the rest of the night. We had high ambitions of going out Saturday night, but the day had been long enough, and we called it an early one.
On Sunday, we went on a family excursion. Marc's family took me to this little Pueblo called Sepulveda...yes, like the street in Los Angeles. In this quaint town about an hour and a half outside of Madrid they are famous for their food. For lunch we had the traditional baby lamb that was roasted in a wood fired oven, and man was it good. It just melted in your mouth. I have never had anything quite like it. the waiter would bring a clay serving dish to the table, about 8"x15" oval shape, with a quarter of the lamb in there, ask if it looked good, then cut it up. the lamb was accompanied with a basic salad, and fresh bread. This was by far one of the best meals that I have ever had. After, we got back, Marc and I watched a movie, and then it was off to move in. I got all of my bags up to my room, but have yet to unpack them. the roommates are really nice do far, their names are Catarina, and Rosario, they are both form Portugal, Lisbon actually. I think that it is going to be a good semester.
Today was the first day of classes. I had an international finance class that seems llike it is going to be very interesting, and then spent the rest of the day re-arranging my schedule for the semester so I would not have class too early in the morning, or too late at night. Well, that is all from Madrid. Hope as awlays that this finds everyone doing well.
Love from Moncloa (my new neighborhood),
Phil
Last week was a semi-stressful week. I had to study for my Management exam and also look for a new place to live. The apartment hunt went on for way too long, but it is finally over. My aunt in Portugal, Tia Nicha, has a neighbor (Suzanna), who has a daughter (Filipa), who had two friends who were looking for a roommate, so it ended up working out really nicely. Did you catch all that? It was quite the explanation. Needless to say having a house locked down by Wednesday was nice because it gave me time to really get my head in the books, well at least try to.
Most of the days, I stayed at Marc's house, slept in and tried to study little by little, I did not have too much success. For some reason walking the dog, or talking to people back home always seemed to win out over hitting the books. On Wednesday it snowed again. I did not get to see the snow in the morning because I was sleeping, but I caught the snow in the afternoon. On Thursday night, Marc, Joaquin, Alvaro and I went to the Indian restaurant, it was good as always. Friday was a slow day. In the evening I was supposed to meet Marc in Madrid to buy a present for Joaquin who celebrated a birthday on Saturday. About half way to the city, on the bus, I realized that I had forgotten my cell hone at home. Of course the metro stop we were meeting at had 4 different exists so I waited around trying to bump into him at some point but was not able to. I remembered that Marc had sent me his cell phone number before I came over in August, so I decided to try to find an internet cafe to look up the email and call him. With my luck I was in the absolute wrong part of town to find an internet cafe. I walked around for about 45 minutes, asking people all over before I finally found one. About an hour and a half after we were supposed to meet, I finally found Marc, and by this time the shop we were going to buy Joaquin his present at was closed, so it was a wasted evening.
Saturday was test day, my last one. I woke up at some absurd hour, I think it was about 8a.m. and began the Trek to get to campus; as always it took me about an hour and forty-five minutes from Marc's, but I made it early and was able to study a little before the exam began. I arrived about ten minutes early to the exam room, just to find it over flowing, so the professor split us up into two classrooms. When the teacher came into the class I was put in and said, "Ok, I switched you guys into this classroom because I trust you guys. Please don't cheat, I think this test will be very easy for you. If you have questions please come into the other classroom." I was shocked. Right when the professor walked out, kids starting pulling out their notes, and talking to each other...Never in a million years would that have happened in the states, one teacher to proctor over 130 students! After the exam it was off to Joaquin's Birthday. I arrived a bit late, but was lucky enough to still get some of his mom's homemade Argentinian Empanadas. We ended up hanging out and talking there for a few hours, and then went back to Marc's house for the rest of the night. We had high ambitions of going out Saturday night, but the day had been long enough, and we called it an early one.
On Sunday, we went on a family excursion. Marc's family took me to this little Pueblo called Sepulveda...yes, like the street in Los Angeles. In this quaint town about an hour and a half outside of Madrid they are famous for their food. For lunch we had the traditional baby lamb that was roasted in a wood fired oven, and man was it good. It just melted in your mouth. I have never had anything quite like it. the waiter would bring a clay serving dish to the table, about 8"x15" oval shape, with a quarter of the lamb in there, ask if it looked good, then cut it up. the lamb was accompanied with a basic salad, and fresh bread. This was by far one of the best meals that I have ever had. After, we got back, Marc and I watched a movie, and then it was off to move in. I got all of my bags up to my room, but have yet to unpack them. the roommates are really nice do far, their names are Catarina, and Rosario, they are both form Portugal, Lisbon actually. I think that it is going to be a good semester.
Today was the first day of classes. I had an international finance class that seems llike it is going to be very interesting, and then spent the rest of the day re-arranging my schedule for the semester so I would not have class too early in the morning, or too late at night. Well, that is all from Madrid. Hope as awlays that this finds everyone doing well.
Love from Moncloa (my new neighborhood),
Phil
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
