Tuesday July 3, 2007 - Madrid
It's been two weeks since I arrived in Madrid. Although I had been looking forward to the trip for a long time, when it actually came time to go I felt a sense of trepidation throwing myself once again into an unknown. Like other trips I've taken, I was just following a sort of intuition, or perhaps you could simply call it a whim. Whatever it was, there wasn't a lot planning involved other than, "I'm going there!" - with my finger on the map.

The one thing I did arrange ahead of time was a place to live. Once again Craigslist came through to the rescue! I found a couple, Kate and Carlos (Charlie), who have an apartment in an area known as Quintana not far from the city. It's actually a really great location because it is well out of the tourist areas but with easy access to everything. There is a supermarket and metro station around the corner and tons of shops nearby, and it is possible to walk to the city centre in about an hour if you felt like it. Kate and Charlie have been really great helping me get setup here and were so kind as to even make the apartment available to me early by staying with their parents. I feel really fortunate to be here.

Upon arriving I found myself in a pretty foreign environment, having to work hard to communicate, feeling uneasy about my surroundings, with many memories resurfacing of my visit to Italy. And really, this is what I wanted. I had many fond memories of my summer trip to Rome a few years ago and in planning this trip I chose Madrid thinking it may offer some similar aspects... and it does, though there are plenty of things different.

Richard arrived a few days after me. I was really happy when he arrived because I was actually feeling a bit lonely being on my own having to adjust to a completely new environment by myself. Being in good company is encouraging and of course a lot more fun. I think it's also been a good vacation for Rich, if not at least a complete change from his regular routine.

We started our classes the previous Monday and we are now finishing up our classes this week. I'm actually sad that they're ending so soon. We have learned so much and have really been enjoying it all. It didn't occur to me before that attending school would be such a great way to meet people. I guess that's just because I disliked school so much when I was younger. What's more is that the classes are small with lots of interaction, which makes it much more enjoyable. I'm thinking now about signing up for more classes for the summer both to continue learning and to be involved in the school's activities.

Our days seem to slip by pretty quickly (as usual) but we are managing to get out and do stuff too. Rich suggested to me and Vivian (a friend from Reality Check who visited for a couple days) that we go salsa dancing with some of the other students from the school. So Saturday night we headed into the city by metro. It was super packed because it was Orgullo Gay (gay pride) in Madrid that weekend and everybody was out partying... I mean like the streets were packed with people at 4 in the morning. It was pretty crazy, but lots of fun. I really didn't intend to dance, but I certainly didn't say no when the opportunity presented itself. I found that salsa dancing is not so hard so long as the dance floor is pretty crowded. A very cute girl from Colombia taught me some dance moves, and then I took my newly acquired skills to dance with more girls. I was surprised I had such a great time. When I find myself in Madrid alone, I think I may go back out to the salsa club because it's a really fun way to meet people.

This weekend Rich and I are planning on heading out to Pampalona in hopes of seeing the running of the bulls first hand... but only as spectators. We will probably also drive up to Bilbao to see the Guggenheim museum and go to the beach. We don't have too much time before he heads back to LA, so we're going to make the best of it.