ORD DCA MAD: Madrid with the fam and host fam

Escrito 13 septiembre

Well, now it’s even more real. I am living with a host family. In Madrid. It is hard for me to believe!

Yesterday I slept in waaay too late, and then I went to the Palacio Real with my parents. It was my first time taking the Metro, and I found the Metro pleasant. The system is huge, think New York except more user-friendly.

There was a pretty long line to get into the Palacio Real and I thought I was going to pass out in the mid-day sun (this happens when I don’t eat breakfast…). We had to make a pit stop at the cafeteria. The Palacio Real is no longer in use except for official state functions, and it is incredible. So much gold. Have I mentioned that my goal for the year is to marry into Spanish royalty?

Then we walked to the Plaza Mayor, the biggest plaza in Madrid. We sat in one of the cafés, and tried to pretend we lived lives of Spanish leisure. Then we walked over to the Plaza del Sol. And that’s about when my parents and I called it a day.

I couldn’t sleep at all last night, that same nervous anticipation, I guess, plus the fact that both of my parents are snorers didn’t help.

I did get up in time for the free breakfast this morning, which was good. My mom wanted to see the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, which I kind of thought was a waste of our time together. The school is huge, pretty dated looking, and covered with graffiti. I think there are about 100,000 students.

This afternoon my parents deposited me at my host family’s house. It felt pretty weird leaving them, even though I haven’t been living with them full time for the past two years. My mom of course was overly emotional. What can you do.

The host family seems very nice. My room is right by the front door and pink (perhaps my host mother always secretly wanted a daughter?). They have had many students live with them before, including a Georgetown alum who thought this was the best experience of her life.

Cristina is a lawyer who just started working again after taking time off while her boys were young. She seems like supermom – she told me that her sons are her world, and she does it all while being super fashionable.

Miguel is a banker. I didn’t get to talk to him alone too much but he seems friendly and he told me that Real Madrid is life.

They have two sons, Jaime and Carlos, who are seven and eight. When Cristina took me and the boys out for a walk, I freaked out because they were wearing matching clothes (shorts, dress shirts, boat shoes…later on matching superhero pajamas) and looked the same size. I made the brilliant discovery halfway into the trip that their hair is cut slightly differently. As long as this difference is maintained all year, we’re golden. I am somewhat skeptical over the feasibility of my living with children. Of course, I had a brother of that age, but I still don’t understand at all what makes eight year old boys tick. And one of the last times I babysat involved poison control.

The neighborhood seems nice, and safe. There are a lot of shops. There is also a Citibank, which will be excellent because I am going through euros like crazy.

We then walked through part of El Retiro, a large park, complete with waterfalls, hills, and a central water area with boats around which performers, such as a puppeteer, entertained. I actually had my camera with me but didn’t take any photos because I felt like it would kill the family’s authentic Spanish vibe, which in retrospect is not a great reason. I think I was just kind of embarrassed about potentially being judged over my tendency to over photograph. Luckily, El Retiro is within walking distance, so I imagine I will return many a time. Perhaps I will even start up a good exercise regimen so I can stop feeling like the biggest person in the room in Madrid.

I had dinner with Cristina and Miguel while watching the news in Spanish. She made me pasta and some kind of pork. Hopefully I will like the food and won’t gain weight. Everything I think here is cooked in olive oil, and the Spanish eat a lot of ham. After the news we watched a reality show about Spaniards who want to be circus freaks. I kept thinking of snarky comments to make in English, but I wasn’t sure how to translate, or whether they would share my sentiments, so I kept pretty quiet.

Cristina and Miguel kept telling me how great my Spanish was, but obviously I think they were just being nice. I do feel very limited by my vocabulary and am rusty. There were a few awkward moments, such as when Cristina asked what my brother studied at Georgetown, and I said literature and politics. When she remarked, wow, the same as you, instead of admitting my mistake and telling her that he actually is a bio major, I sheepishly grinned and said we were very similar. Later she asked whether I was “very uncomfortable,” and I said sí because I thought she asked me if I was comfortable. But I obviously will improve, and that’s really why I am here. Is it just me, or did I do a terrible job of writing sentences in English in this entry??

Tomorrow is the welcome dinner for the seven of us here from Georgetown this semester. That is when I really need to come out of my shell and communicate. Tonight I am going to head to bed early, even though it is La Noche en Blanco, this once a night festival when all of the museums and cultural sites are open late, and free. But I haven’t slept well in days and don’t have anyone to go with or a mobile phone set up or anything, so I don’t feel bad about going to sleep at 23:30, which is incredibly early in Madrid.

The good news: the family has wi-fi!!!! They still need to give me the security password, which is why this entry will be published later, but I will have access to the internet and therefore Skype, e-mail, Facebook, this blog, etc.

El Palacio Real: