Halo from Spain!

Hola!

So we've finally made it to Madrid and have gotten settled in. In the beginning it was pretty rough because we both had a bad case of jet lag and had to deal with living in a hostel, going to our school orientation and looking for an apartment. Finding a place was not easy because no one wanted to rent to us for just three months. Luckily, Tania's cousin Jai was here visiting and could wander the streets looking for signs that say "se alquila" while we were at school. While we were looking for an apartment, we stayed in a hostel in the center of Madrid near cute little pedestrian streets, decadent plazas, and beautiful residential buildings. At first, we thought about living in that part of town, but we soon found out that it is party central around midnight every night. A few days later, we finally found an apartment for exchange students in Chameri, located between the center of Madrid and our school. Our apartment is very cute, but not fancy by any means. Given the exchange rate, it's just not the greatest time to apartment shop in Madrid. If you want to check us out on google maps, we live at Calle de Viriato, 21. (Plug in the address, Calle de Viriato, 21, 28010, Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, Spain. http://maps.google.com/)

So far, we've spent most of our free time wandering around town on foot and learning where all the metro stops are. We figure we'll hit the museums once our friends and relatives come to town. Evenings consist of (homework for Shanna), tapas, sangria, and outings with other classmates. Tania and her cousin saw a fabulous Flamenco performance and shopped at Zara (where she ran into a random friend from college) while Shanna was in Italy attending the most beautiful wedding.


Our campus courtyards are beautiful. The student body is very diverse. We've met people from the Dominican Republic, France, Peru, Estonia, Italy, Portugal, Germany, The Netherlands, Turkey, Lebanon, Bulgaria, India, and Japan. So far, everyone seems really nice and fun to hang out with. The weather here is great and summer seems to be never ending (especially for Tania who doesn't start class until October!).

Adios,

Tania & Shanna

(Organized by Cortilia)