Madrid

So, my posts are going in a bit of a random order this week, due to the fact that a) I am lazy and it’s just taken me awhile to get up the ganas to write about Madrid and b) the snow and cold in Burgos was just so much more pressing to write about, but I am finally getting my act together! So here goes, the post about Madrid that should have happened last weekend when the trip itself actually happened!

I went to Madrid last weekend! This in and of itself is not particularly interesting, as I have been to Madrid many times over the past year and a half, both to visit friends and to catch airplanes, but this time had a purpose: we went to see Real Madrid play a soccer game (or football match, if you want anyone here to understand what you’re talking about). SO FUN. But I’ll get there.

I arrived on Friday afternoon, and met up with Abby and Marcos who had come from Logrono to spend the weekend and watch the game, as well. We found a yummy place for lunch and then spent the afternoon enjoying the sunny, relatively warm weather. We met up with my friend Chris, who lives in Madrid, for drinks on a patio on the top of a hotel on Gran Via, a main street in Madrid. Gorgeous, truly. We then ended up at TGIFriday’s for happy hour (we’re American, get over it) and some amazingly good and insanely cheap drinks. By that time, The Boy (who has now become The Boyfriend; but more on that later) called to say that he and his friends were in town, ready to pick me up and take me to where we were staying for the weekend. So I said goodbye to Abby and Marcos at the metro, grabbed my bag, and was off.

So, the other reason we had planned this Madrid trip was because The Boy had decided we should go see a Real Madrid soccer game, since he loves the team. I personally wanted to go because Iker Casillas, the team’s goalie, is my boyfriend.

Me and Casillas

(This photo was taken in a bar, with a poster on the wall, which makes me a huge nerd, I realize that, but it just shows you the depth of my devotion.)

Anyway, so The Boy’s friend lives just outside of Madrid with his wife, and we stayed with them for the weekend. So Friday night we went out to dinner in the suburb they live in and then spent the rest of the evening looking at photos from their honeymoon and other silliness that their friends get up to. They were so incredibly nice and friendly to me, and I felt really comfortable with them immediately. I love Spanish people.

Saturday, the day of the game, we went into Madrid around lunchtime and met up with Abby and Marcos again for lunch, and then again spent the afternoon wandering around Madrid in the sunshine (are you noticing a theme here? The Spanish loooove their paseo, or afternoon walk). The game didn’t start until 8pm, so we eventually bundled ourselves into a bar and had a drink while waiting for gametime. Once we actually arrived at the stadium, the three Americans were stunned: this stadium holds 80,000 people and is full on a regular basis. I know we have football stadiums in the States that are that big (I feel like if I didn’t mention that I knew this, my Wolverine brother would kill me), but this was just impressive. I don’t know that the following pictures do it justice, really.

Excited about the Game!

Estadio Santiago Bernabeu

Anyway, to sum up the game: it was kind of crappy, since Madrid has been sucking lately due to a lot of injuries to some of their best players, and they missed a lot of scoring opportunities, but we had a really great time just being part of the atmosphere. But Real Madrid ended up winning, which is always a good thing. Plus, I learned a lot of good swear words listening to all the disgruntled Madrid fans, haha.

After the game, we headed back to the center of Madrid and went out to a couple of bars for a little bit, and then everyone went off to their respective casas again. Sunday was pretty mellow, eating lunch at The Boy’s friends’ house and then heading back to Burgos for the night – lucky for me, he has a car AND Burgos was on his way home, so I didn’t have to take a bus back! Woohoo!

Now, to the promised “boyfriend” part of the post. I unfortunately do not have an interesting and cute story about how we became novios, but we kind of decided that that’s what we wanted to be, so I’ve spent the whole week trying to get used to the notion that I have a boyfriend. It’s still weird to say, and he pretty much is still “this guy that I met in Logrono and who I like” when I talk about him to people here, but I figure I’ll become more comfortable with it in time! I could honestly go on about how great he is, but I will spare everyone that ickiness – ask if you have questions, how about that?

So, as it turned out, the weekend was pretty great. AND it wasn’t snowing!!

 

Futbol, Madrid y Amigos Nuevos

So, just as the emails slowly became less and less frequent and consistent, so, too, are my posts on the blog slowing down already, as well! However, I would argue that that isn’t my fault – I was gone for most of last week! But that’s alright…I’ll fill y’all in on what’s happened in the past week now.

Last Sunday – a week ago – my new friend John (from Liverpool) and I went to a CF Burgos football match, which the burgaleses won, 2-0. The stadium itself is pretty unimpressive and small, and it only was about 1/4 of the way filled, but everyone there was clearly very devoted to the team and it was a good afternoon out for everyone, seeing as Sundays are always pretty slow in Spain. And to top it all off, it was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm, so we basked in the sun while chatting and cheering the team to victory. They even had an anthem for the team, which John is now convinced he must learn.

Monday was a normal day at school, but Tuesday through Thursday were the annual Orientation Days in Madrid for our program. I wasn’t required to go this year, since I’d heard it all before last year, but I figured that a) I didn’t really have anything else to do and b) I’d like to meet other people who were going to be in Burgos this coming year, so I went. The orientation was pretty uneventful and boring, as I’d expected, but being in Madrid is always a good time. I spent one afternoon having coffee with my friend Raquel (who worked with our program in La Rioja last year and has moved to Madrid this year), which was lovely, and then another night out with my friends Chris and Annalise, friends from my study abroad time in Granada who are now living in Madrid full time. I’ve met a number of their friends over the course of the past year, and so it was just fun to see them all again.

We also went out one night with a collection of people from Burgos and La Rioja this coming year, and I’m starting to develop some really good friendships with people from all over the place now. Luckily, Logrono and Burgos are really close to each other, so I think there can be a good amount of back and forth between the two places over the course of the year!

On Thursday, I had planned to go back to Burgos after the orientation ended midday, but John and I were convinced to head to Logrono instead to spend a few days there. So off we went on Thursday afternoon to Logrono, where we played the tourist (for John’s sake) and went out and enjoyed the tapas and familar bars of the city. We ended up in our favorite, La Musa, for almost all of Friday night, and that was just a great time. Lots of good friends and awesome music!

On Saturday morning, I actually went and visited with one of my tutees from last year for an hour and a half. He – Diego – is just the cutest 9 year old kid EVER, and his little brother Carlos, who’s three, is adorable, as well. And they were just so stoked to see me, which is always a confidence boost! Haha. But we sat and chatted for awhile that morning, and Carlos drew me a picture of him and me and signed our names to it, which was sweet. Something to put on my wall in Burgos!!

John and I also dragged Jennis back with us to Burgos for the day/night, and she fell in love with the city. It’s really gorgeous, I do have to say that, although COLD. Here’s a link to some pictures of the city:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2386688&l=a86a0&id=2501475 (The first seven photos are Burgos, and then the rest are from San Mateo)

We didn’t end up doing anything too exciting in Burgos for the night – actually, just delivery pizza and a movie! – but we had a good time nonetheless. And people are supposedly visiting me in a couple of weekends, so we have plenty of time to enjoy the nightlife that Burgos has to offer in the future!

I suppose that’s it for the past week or so. We are talking about heading to Zaragoza this weekend for the Dia de Pilar, the patron saint of the city and a national holiday in Spain (well, actually, the holiday is technically the Dia de Hispanidad on October 12th, but it also happens to be Dia de Pilar), and then possibly a quick trip up to San Sebastian to enjoy some coastal living! I’ll be sure to keep you all posted on what happens!

Besos a todos!