Second Day of Orientation

Hola tod@s!

Today was the second day of orientation. We met at 9AM to walk around the Universidad de Madrid Complutense. Here are all the kids in my program :) Minus Larissa, who gets here on September 9. And minus the two girls who slept in and missed orientation today. But there's only 20 of us; I thought there'd be like 50.

Then we had a really long safety presentation. Once that was over we all went out to lunch together. Dad, here is the beer I had with lunch. It was okay but not as good as the one from Friday night. (Susana told me this one was "water", which is probably why I didn't hate it.) Also, I'm learning beer is the beverage of choice here.

The Elizabeth in Oviedo OGs will remember this classic: tortilla de patatas. I've been looking forward to having this again since I got here, and today was the day. It was really good.

After lunch we all went to El Prado<3<3<3. We are taking an official tour later this week with a professor too, but there's so much to see that El Prado will never get old. El Prado <3 Then we went to the Real Jardin Botanico and walked around. (Jack this picture made me think of you xoxo I thought you would like it.)

Also the Jardin Botanico.

After that we dispersed. I went to Corte Ingles, which is this massive store, and bought some stuff. (Rebajas are the big sales that happen in July and August here. It's like Black Friday for two months.)

I saw this bookstore today and, obviously, unmatched vibes. (Emily, this one's for you. There was a book in there called Los Secretos de Las Brujas... slay.) Will be going back but only when I know I can firmly remember I have two suitcases to get me home.

I rode the bus for the first time today. An ode to public transportation: I love it here. It is so easy to get around. The trains and buses go everywhere and they come so often and they're so clean. It was 20 euros for a month-long pass for unlimited metro/bus use. And the national train system is so awesome too.

The Elizabeth in Oviedo OGs will also remember that I'm obsessed with casadiellas. OBSESSED. I love casadiellas probably more than El Prado even. I asked Susana where I could get some here and she said they don't have them because they're Asturian. Each province in Spain is very different and has its own food, traditions, languages, dress, culture, customs, etc. But I was like, "I'm in the largest city in Spain, the third largest in the EU... how hard can it be?" Hard. I started my hunt today and came up so empty. The three people I asked had never heard of them. I had to spell it out and give a description and everything and they still didn't know. So it's gonna be an uphill battle. But I am for real not resting until I find somewhere that has them. There HAS to be somewhere.