sangria, sangria, sangria

My expectations for my second day in Madrid were quite honestly low. I assumed that the orientation portion would make the whole day kind of blah, but I was very wrong. Instead it was filled with more fun and exciting adventures in the still very foreign looking city. I started my day with breakfast prepared by Carmen and Evert which consisted of tea, toast, and kiwi! Carmen introduced me then to the Metro where it is pickpocketing central. I held onto my purse so tight I think my knuckles were paper white; we made it though the Metro safely however, so it worked out nicely.

For the morning I went to the CIEE school and a hotel around the corner for orientation which was just as boring as it sounds. Once orientation was completed we walked to the Bastardo Hostel where we had lunch with everyone from the school! I got to know some more of my classmates and chat with some of the staff over soup and guacamole. At lunch I was able to order my first drink abroad! I ordered sangria (see the title haha) and it was soooooo good. Most students ordered sangria so they had to keep refilling thier supply at the bar so we had to wait a few minutes sometimes but it was totally worth the wait.

After lunch my friends Brenna and Emily and I walked to a phone store to see if we could get sim cards. Although we could not get the sim cards today, we still received all the information we needed. It was interesting at the phone store (Orange) because all of the purchases happened at ATM like stations. They even scan passports by taking a picture! Later I walked home as I was so tired from walking around so much all afternoon and at night had another great meal cooked by my host family! Tomorrow I start my Spanish class which will be very interesting to say the least!

xoxo, j