Suitcases, Cell Phones

Hola,

I didn't blog yesterday because everything was still out of place. We had orientation at the NYU Madrid building. I learned that my suitcase was still not in Madrid. The orientation was long but they gave us a lot of information about Madrid culture and about our homestays.

For example. Staring at people is ok, not rude at all. Water and electricity are really really really expensive. We are not allowed to take more then one short shower a day. Also there are never any extra lights on. The lobbies are always dark which is kind of scary.

After orientation, the people in charge took all the students to lunch at a restaurant nearby. We had paella and it was SO good.

After lunch, we went to a store called El Corte Ingles which is like a big department store. We tried to buy phones but apparently the phone system was down in all of Spain so they could not activate our phones. They told us to come back later or the next day. Also at El Corte Ingles I was able to buy a loofa. Apparenly, wash cloths do not exist outside of the U.S.


Yesterday evening, my Señora's daughter came back (she lives here with us but was in the country for the weekend). When my Señora introduced me she said "She is from Georgia like 'Gone With the Wind!'" and her daughter, Latisia said "Oh Scarlett OHara! The men are so romantic there, no?"

It was probably the funniest thing that has happened since I've arrived.


Today, we had two orientation classes. My roommate Michelle was in my section for the first class. Its the history of Spain taught in "Spanglish," which apparently means all in Spanish with very few things translated into English, such as "rio" which we definately already knew...

After that we were divided into groups by our Spanish level. I'm in Intermediate II with about nine other people. We had a pretty good class. It was mostly stuff we already knew with a lot of practicing and grammar. Then we went on a tour of the NYU building, really cute.


After that we were free all afternoon. I went to lunch at a place called VIPS with Michelle and our friend Dasha. Then, we all went to try to buy phones again and this time it worked!


You can email me if you want the number. I receive texts for free and outgoing texts are 15 euro cents. Incoming calls are free for me but I'm sure they will cost a lot if anyone calls me from the states. So, texting, email, and skpe are still the best ways to communicate with me. Oh, also facebook.


I also had a doctor appointment with NYU's bilingual doctor to get prescriptions for insulin and test strips. I had to take the bus which was way easier then I expected. So that went really well.


On my way home I stopped by the school and my suitcase was there!!! Yay!!!

So now I am all unpacked and happy. We have 2 more days or orientation and then, weather permitting, we are going on a day trip to Segovia.

Speaking of weather, it is raining here... a lot... all week. And I forgot an unbrella and I only just bought one.

Our Señora showed us all the places to shop around her and right across the street is this little shop owned my a Chinese man that sells everything. Or at least a lot of random things. They had an unbrella and batteries for cheap.