Madrid nights

Thursday night, we went to Club Kapital, multi-level discotheque. A few levels are lounges or karaoke bars, and the main level plays club music while another plays American hip-hop. People were dancing, but still, it seems that us Americans were the most enthusiastic about it, hah. Living up to expectations, the guys here are pretty forward; all the sudden I would look around, and just about all the girls I came with had been accosted by some Spaniard, haha.
Me, Laura, Emily, Katherine, Samantha at Kapital

On Friday, we went bar hopping around Sol, just walking around, tons of promoters will ask you to come into their bar/club. We only went into the ones that offered us a free shot, hah. Of course the shots were almost all sugar water, but it was still fun to go in, get our chupito, and leave. By the end of the night, when places were filling up, we did have to pay for a couple drinks, but still, a nice cheap night..
Saturday, we purchased a bottle of Smirnoff and some Fanta, and participated in botellón. The youth of Madrid gather in various plazas and sit in circles to drink and talk. We met some Madrileños who taught us some rude colloquial terms, heh.
botellón

As a result of staying out until 6 or 7, I definitely slept much of Friday and Saturday. Honestly, it seems like the norm here though, and I do not even feel guilty about it, haha.

museos y cine

On Friday I went to Museo Nacional Del Prado. It is a major art museum that has a lot of Rembrandt, Goya, Rubens, Greco.. It is huge, so I plan on going again.
The Prado

On Sunday I went to Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, a modern art museum. There was a machine/science/art exhibit that was very cool. I saw a lot of Picasso, including Guernica. I also went through a special Edward Steichen photography exhibit. You could definitely spend a whole day in this place, I was too tired to go through much, but I definitely want to return to at least see some works by Dali.
Sunday afternoon I saw Che: El Argentino, a Spanish movie about Che during the communist revolution in Cuba. I did not understand most of it, so it would be difficult for me to say whether I liked it or not. From what I could tell though, the movie painted Che in a fairly positive light. His violent actions were downplayed by his grand ideals and intentions for people; they really emphasized his role as a doctor to illustrate him as a caring man. I guess this is debatable..

Primera Semana

Plaza Mayor

I arrived in Madrid exactly one week ago.. The first couple days we stayed at a hotel near Puerta de Sol, a very central, busy, and touristy part of town. We walked around Sol and Plaza Mayor; the only other landmarks we came across were Botin, the first restaurant ever, and Palacio Real, although we didn't go in for the tour.
Friday night we ate a tapas place in Sol, then went to a hole-in-the-wall bar in Chueca, where they had 3euro mojitos and kalimocho, half wine and half cola, a favorite among the youth here. Afterwards, we went to a pre-club bar. It's a bar with a small dance floor that's supposed to get you ready for clubbing, which usually starts around 2 at least. No one here goes out at all before 11. At these bars, they typically play Spanish or salsa music, but as soon as we got in front of the DJ, he played Bon Jovi, selected songs from Grease, and the Twist. No joke. At every bar here, they make their drinks strong, which I guess makes up for some of the prices. Any time you order a rum and cola, it is about half rum. We all went back to the hotel afterwards, because we were moving into our homestays the next morning.
I moved in with my Senora on Sunday morning; she lives near Calle de Atocha, a very typical part of Madrid, the "heart" of it. It's very very cute; there is a little terrace, and she is an interior decorator who does woodwork, so I think a lot of my furniture might have been made by her. The eating schedule is different here, and I kind of love it. I grab breakfast before class, just some bread or something, then lunch is at about 3, and it is the main meal of the day. Dinner is at 9, and it is much smaller.the terrace

Saturday night was La Noche en Blanco, an annual event that takes place in many cities around Europe. A bunch of museums and other exhibitions are open all night, and the major streets are closed for traffic until 6 or 7am for people to wander around. I only saw a couple exhibits and they were underwhelming compared to just the sight of all the people.
On Sunday I went to Parque Retiro, and not much else..
Monday through Thursday I had class; I am still in summer mode, so that was difficult. I'm taking grammar and conversation, and there are 3 people in my classes, which is kind of awesome, except for today, when I almost fell asleep. I take one civilization class, which is interesting.
Wednesday night, I went to a Real Madrid game! They were playing Belarus, I think. It was 2-0, so not that intense, but still so much fun.. Everyone here, as one would expect, so super passionate about the sport. After the game, I went to an American Bar, Maloney's. It was tiny and full of students, but they gave us tons of free drinks.. I actually think I didn't spend any money that night, heh.
Tonight is my first real weekend night out.. !

En Madrid

Soo I got to Madrid today : ) It's gorgeous, although I haven't gotten to see much yet. There is a two day orientation period before I move in with my family, which I am pretty nervous about. Before I write an entry about here though, I realized I never finished writing about Korea.
After a couple days seeing family and friends with my mom in Seoul, we spent a few days in Jeju do, and island off the south coast of Korea. They had amazing clementines, and a lot of strange seafood. We went on a tour which was at time tiring; it would have been nice to have a day to just lounge on the beach.
Jeju do

We spent another couple days in Seoul, shopping and spending time my mom's uncle and his family. Our last meal was at a buddhist vegetarian place, a welcome break from Korean barbeque. Speaking of which, I just saw a Korean restaurant here; it's weird how Seoul now feels so much less foreign than Madrid does. When I came back from Korea, in a way it felt like I never left, like it always does. I had just a few weeks before leaving for Spain, so I just saw as many people as I could and visited Boston one weekend.
Now I am in Madrid, although it has barely hit me; I am excited, but still apprehensive about meeting my host family and my lack of Spanish vocabulary. I've done no official sight seeing yet, but we did walk around Plaza Mayor and Plaza del Sol, as well as the Royal Palace.