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¡Buenos días!

Today is officially my 10th day in Madrid and I am LOVING IT! I don’t think it’s entirely sunk in yet that I actually live here – I still feel like I’m on some school trip or vacation or something. We’ve been doing mostly touristy things so far, so that’s probably why, but it hits me at random times, like when I’m doing laundry or cleaning my room, that this is my life for the next four months.

To quickly summarize what I’ve done so far:

• Walking tour around Old Madrid (Habsburg Spain)
• Shopping and exploring in Sol
• Orientation and starting school!
• Walking tour around New Madrid (Bourbon Spain)
• Exploring El Parque Retiro
• El Rastro flea market
• Flamenco show
• Aaaaannd probably a lot of other things I’m forgetting 🙂

Starting school this week was definitely weird, but with so many mix ups in scheduling and classes being cancelled, I’ve only had 2 classes so far and have my third (and last for the week) tonight. Since it’s the first week, we really haven’t done much, but I think my classes will be interesting and the people I’ve met so far seem really cool.

I have a lot coming up this week, including a trip to Toledo, a trip to Salamanca, a cooking class, and a couple full days of more getting to know Madrid! I love how much there is to see and do right in my neighborhood, and how easily I can get around the city to other new places. I am really trying to take full advantage of every day that I’m here (despite the very tiring Spanish lifestyle!) since four months really isn’t that long.

I have so much left to explore just in Madrid, let alone the rest of Spain and the rest of Europe! I’m finally starting to piece together all of my travel plans for the semester, so there will be A LOT more exploring and adventuring to come. Please let me know if you have suggestions of things I should see or places I should visit while I’m here! I can’t wait for the next few weeks to unroll and get into a real schedule. I will also be posting a video soon about my first week in Madrid, so stay tuned for that!! That’s all for now, but I’ll have PLENTY of travel stories next week 🙂

xx,

Megan