exploring the city

I apologize for my absence; I got caught up with Madrid. Every day I discover something new about Madrid. Last weekend I went to a nearby park, Retiro. This park is very famous throughout Spain, and for good reason. It is beautiful with a lake, where you can rent paddle and rowboats, a lovely statue, and tons of green grass all the way around where people relax at all times of the day. I was there to do none of this, however. I went for a lovely jog through the park and did some exercises. The main ingredient of everything here is carbs, so I felt like I needed to be active.

Also last weekend, I had dinner with my second cousin, Emily, who happens to live in Madrid with her British husband Dan. They showed us some local places for sangria and food, and gave us some advice in the city. They were super down to earth and I'm so glad we did it! One of the places they told us was a local shopping neighborhood away form the touristy stuff. We did that the next day on Saturday, and had a fun shopping day!

In other news, after struggling to find the studio for my dance class, and lots of confusion with the scheduling, I found it. I need to buy special shoes, that I'm going to get tomorrow. It's a very physical class, lots of wrist and hand motions, as well as coordinating the arms with leg and hip action, coupled with the tapping rhythm of the shoes. Hopefully I'll have a little more rhythm and coordination by the end of this, because I'm starting off a little rough I feel like. 

My other classes are going alright, but I'm not happy with my schedule. I start every day at 11, then have a few hours break, then have at least another class or two till I'm done. I would much prefer them all together. Also, Friday classes makes planning trips difficult, but I'm making it work.

Speaking of, I'm going on my first trip tomorrow! I'm going to Milan to visit my good friend Katie May, who's studying abroad there, aaaand our friend Samantha Jones who is in Barcelona is coming as well! I'm super excited!! We're booking all our trips that we know we're doing, before prices go up. Right now Leah and I are planning a trip with a good friend in Copenhagen to go to Rome at the end of October. Flights were a little more than we were anticipating, so we're looking into couchsurfing as an option of a free place to stay. If you're unfamiliar, couchsurfing.org is a great website, where people can post that they have a couch you can stay on or are available to meet for coffee or drinks or whatever. Just a free way to get to know someone of another culture. Everyone is vouched for and approved to be safe, and you can look into everything about them before booking. We're hoping to find a girl somewhere near our age, but we'll see. 

Other than that, I've just been getting acquainted with classes and with Madrid nightlife. Still haven't been able to make it to 6, but I have stayed out way past my bedtime. 

Those are all my highlights- more to come after MILANO!!!