Capítulo Tres: Lost in a Portrait

"Once you do something, you never forget, even if you can't remember."
- Zeniba, Spirited Away

Ended up not going to El Museo Reina Sofia -- we'd thought it was free from like 2-9, but apprently it closes early on Sunday. We accused our CIEE Agenda sheet of providing us with false information, but taking a second look, we realized that those hours were for Saturday. It had been a pretty hot day, so we just went to a cafe, sat, and chilled for a while. Still, lesson learned from this excursion: read things more carefully.

El Encierro de los Toros (running of the bulls) yesterday morning was a bit on the disappointing side in my opinion. Maybe it was just because we didn't have a good view of it (it can cost over 1000 Euros to get a good spot), but it really happens so fast -- we were only staying for the initial release of the bulls and watching the crazy runners flee for their lives from these enraged animals -- and if you think about it, what inevitably happens with the bulls is just sad. Do animals really need to die for a tradition? Still, it was neat to be part of a very important cultural experience that only happens once a year. One of the bulls actually wiped out pretty badly when it was turning the corners. Now that is something you do not see everyday.

Visited La Universidad Carlos III de Madrid today. I was under this impression that this was going to be a huge public university. Turns out that this school is about five times bigger than Illinois Wesleyan...which isn't saying much. Carlos II has about 14,000 students, which in comparison to other colleges, is tiny. The campus isn't that big, either, which I'm not complaining about at all -- I like small campuses; it's one of the reasons I chose Wesleyan.

We took a tour of the campus (which has some pretty neat artwork all over), ate lunch, and had some presentations about how to activate the email account, look up classes, and a program about teaching Spanish students to speak English. Also had an 'examen oral', which really was just a conversation with a professor to assess you and how you speak. It was pretty simple actually, though I can think of a few places where I could have done better. Then again, we weren't allowed preparation for it, but oh well.

But some good news: La Universidad never has classes on Friday! So hurray for three day weekends!

Just a thought:

I have a bitter-sweet feeling about classes. On one hand, I am very anxious to start them. I mean that's the real reason I'm here: to learn. I'm interested in everything Spain, and I know the classes are only going to make me more enthusiastic. Not to mention that, as much as I've enjoyed the bit of down time, I'm ready to get to work and have a set schedule.

On the other hand, I'm nervous about them. I don't think they're going to be extremely difficult, but my Spanish isn't as great as I'd like it to be at the moment. My ultimate concern, though, is commuting back and forth between the University and my apartment. I know it's going to drive me nuts to do have to do that almost everyday of the week, not to mention my utter fear of missing my tren or going to the wrong place or something. I guess I'm going to have to leave extra early or something, and really memorize locations.

Alright, I posted some pictures below! Those of you on Facebook have probably seen these already. These aren't all of them, but there's only so many this blog'll let me post. I'll probably have a post with just pictures later. Still, I need to take more...hopefully this weekend before classes begin.

Heading back to la universidad tomorrow, so I need some rest (not going to bed, just kind of relaxing).

Hasta luego.

~ LSquared