Back to School

Back at it again, this time from a vintage café/bar on calle de Espíritu Santo. I just finished camping on the outskirts of the city for the last two nights. Definitely, the cheapest way to stay around Madrid, but it obviously has its drawbacks. It's about a 10 minute walk to the nearest Metro station and then another 20 minutes into center city. But, if you're up for a little extra travel time, this is a great alternative to getting a place in the city. At the campsite bar, I got to hang out with a few Brits who were on a tour of the Iberian Peninsula. They were going to car camp all over Portugal and Spain. I asked them how long they were planning on camping. They both looked at each other, then back at me, and said <'til we feel like going back home> The only thing I could think was: AWESOME!!! I almost joined them. Here are some pics of my palace at the great CAMPING OSUNA:



So, I stopped camping around noon today and took the Metro into the city to move in with my host family. That's right. I signed up to take a one-on-one course at a Spanish Institute for the next three weeks. My focus will be on retelling the history of Spain and Madrid through its countless monuments, museums, gastronomy, and architecture around the city. I hope my teacher is ready for me because I am full of questions. On a side note, it's nice to be a student again after having been a teacher for the last 5 years. I can't wait to get started. First class is tomorrow from 3:30 to 5:00.

So, my host mom is great. Esperanza is her name and she's a talker. Coming from a long line of talkers on my dad's side, I have only now met the woman who can challenge my grandmother to a talk-off. But, I've been well trained by Tita (my grandmother) and today was my time to shine as we squared off for about an hour. Now, you may think that an hour doesn't seem so long, but the amount of time we talked wasn't the thing. It was more about the fast-paced back and forth of it all. All topics must have been covered two or three times. And, there were at least 15-20 non sequiturs thrown my way, which really kept me on my toes. All the training I had done with grandma had now paid off. I felt like I was running in a race. Not a marathon but a 10k with a road full of potholes, cars (driving directly at me), and Blazer and/or Nitro from American Gladiators shooting at me with nerf balls in the event of Assault. (That's right, I just used an American Gladiators analogy. If you're too young to remember the event, look it up online. You're really missing the image I'm trying to set up if you don't remember.)

Anyway, it was fast but still long enough to wear me down. But really, Esperanza seems great! Can't wait to get to know her over the next 3 weeks.

So, that's where I am as of 8 pm on Sunday night. There's another student who will be staying in the apartment. He'll be joining us later tonight. More on him and and an update on the class in the next post. Stay tuned!