La convivencia

I started and stopped this post a lot this past week... today is Saturday, October 13 and I started it like last Tuesday I think... Anyway, it jumps around, just so you know...


So my midterms are almost over (one to go on Monday) and then they start the 2nd round the following week - At least they're spread out, right? I am doing well so far... Maybe I will pull a Ryan and get a 4.0... Or maybe I shouldn't say anything and not jinx it...

I've been getting to spend more time with people in my classes... I can't remember if I've talked about these people yet or now, but Tessa is from Norway and is in my Anatomy and Psychopharm classes... She's already a nurse in Norway and is waiting to get her paperwork done so she can work here (her boyfriend has a job here - he's Swedish), and she is taking classes "just for fun" right now... Maya is from Croatia and she moved to Madrid for her boyfriend as well (he plays pro basketball)... She's in my theology class and is studying international business... Jackie is from the states and she's in international relations... she's in theology with me and we have Karen as a friend in common... Jackie just got out of the Airforce and is finishing college here at SLU with the hopes of living/working in Madrid after graduating... Ashlee is in my nursing classes... She goes to SLU in the states and is studying for a semester here... I think we're going to Segovia together for a day trip on Saturday...

Monday, after I finish my last round-one midterm, I go to "Medicos del Mundo" for a meeting on starting the complementary therapy there (massage, Reiki, etc.)... I'm excited to be a part of the team building up this program...

Other things: I have my national student ID card, which is nice because it means that I am now legal here until next August...

I have been going to my gym pretty regularly (step classes, latin aerobics, pilates, circuit training, and working out on my own)... There are nice women there in the classes that are regulars and I have been meeting some of them... I have to be constantly watching the teacher though because the music is soooo loud and I cannot distinguish any of the instructions... I just try and mimic them and hope for the best because they allllll like to do twists and turns and it's a miracle that I don't fall flat on my face or run straight into the other people in the classes...

Isabel and I went out the other week to a Thai restaurant to celebrate her getting her job back at the hospital and we ended up meeting the lead singer of a super-famous flamenco/rock group in Spain "Ketama"... he signed her purse... The same night she gave me a little present to congratulate me on making it through most of round one and doing well so far - apple body spray - she is of the opinion that apples consist of the majority of my diet, so much so that I am going to turn in to an apple one day, so she got it to be nice and to be funny... I've talked to her about letting me cook more and she has agreed to let me start cooking for myself little by little...

Manolo has water, thank god... He called me the other day happier than a little boy in a candy store, wondering when me and Laura are going to come visit his "palacete" now that it is inhabitable...

I treated myself to something really good called "arroz negro" (rice and shellfish cooked in broth and squid ink... hey, don't knock it til you've tried it :))... and today in Segovia I tried "greek yogurt" flavored ice cream (insanely good, I must say)

On to Toledo... Karen and I had a great time last Saturday, taking the train down and back (only 30 minutes each way)... the city center is totally walkable and we walked all over the place... We explored the walls of the city (inside, outside and on top), went to the Museo de Santa Cruz to see, among other things, El Greco paintings (for info on the famous painter El Greco go here) and a 15th century Flemish tapestry showing an Astrolabe... Went to one of the famous old Synagogues, the Singagoga El Tránsito that I described in my photo entry... Explored tiny winding streets, passed by a gazillion touristy shops and pastry places with marzipan and freshly baked yummy goodness... People-watched... Saw a wedding party outside of one of the churches... Went to the Mosque (Mezquita Cristo de la Luz) that I also described in the last photo entry... and walked and walked and walked some more... And went to the Iglesia de San Tomé (not pictured because you cannot take pictures inside) to see the most famous El Greco painting "El entierro del Conde Orgaz" ("The burial of Count Orgaz"), painted in 1586, inside the church, about the burial of the Count Orgaz (duh) a philanthropist of sorts and man of legend in Toledo who donated a bunch o' money to the expansion of the church of San Tomé in the 1300's... Drank a lot of coffee... walked and walked and walked some more... and stopped pretty much every two seconds to take pictures because everything is so very beautiful... it was nice to spend time wandering with Karen around the city... had a good time playing tourist for a while... The slow pace, the cobblestone, the callejones (small alleyways), the smell of garlic and bread and pastries and coffee, people being nice to you on the street and making eye contact with you as you pass by - this is the Spain that I came back to..
2 funny things from Toledo: Karen is learning Spanish (and is doing quite well I might add) and we were getting on the train in the morning to go to Toledo and she was trying to say "we're tourists today" and I'm saying it and she's repeating it "Nosotras somos turistas hoy" and guys in front of us says to us in Spanish, very enthusiastically, "I'm a tourist too! I'm from Toledo and today I'm a tourist!"... It was just totally random and amusing at the time... Second thing was that Karen wanted typical Spanish fare for lunch but we ended up at a kebab place (mmmm falafel... so good... made fresh right there for us) in which there was the strangest mesh of decorations (santa clauses, pictures of lebanon, hawaiian leis, hookahs, pictures of the virgin mary, middle eastern instruments, a german beer stein altar-thing... it was like a where's waldo of bizarre kitschy things)

This past week has been busy with exams and projects and papers... But I am doing well so far (knock wood)... we've gotten to probability in statistics, so that is kicking my butt but otherwise everything else is fine... Friday was vacation day (Día de la Hispanidad) so I spent it working so that I could go to Segovia with Ashlee today... Pictures and stories will be posted soon... Sorry I've been behind... I miss everyone and hope to hear from/write to you all soon...

Love and hugs to all!

Martha