Officially finished my first week in Madrid

Okay, so today (or yesterday now) marked a full seven days since I arrived here in Madrid. I have been here for a whole week! Wow, it doesn't feel like its been a week. The days really are flying by. I am trying to plan a trip to Barcelona this month and it feels like this month is going to be over in no time at all!

You might be wondering what has happened since my last post. Well, fret not my dear ones for I shall tell you of my adventures. First and foremost, you should know that I started a Spanish class! Hooray! I've already picked up quite a bit in the week I have been here just by being constantly exposed to it. Tonight (or last night) I had my first class and it was great! The teacher is fantastic! I was a bit worried, but he is a very funny and patient teacher. In my class there are about 16 students. Only two of us are American. Most of the class is made up of people from Poland and China. All the students are great! They are all very helpful and a cheerful bunch. I am very pleased with the class I am! Hopefully, I will soon be speaking Spanish!

Oh! Random tidbit time. I learned today that I speak Spanish with a Mexican accent, and I need to stop it. I need to practice, practice, practice to break away from that habit. It is subtle things like how they say gracias. My tongue needs to be pushed between my teeth when I get to the "ci" part of gracias. Also, I need to learn to make the hard "r" sound which also involves my tongue, but this time it touches the inside of my top front teeth. My poor tongue... It isn't use to making these sounds. I will get it down though!

Next, I went into Madrid last Saturday and happened upon the Pride Day celebrations. It was amazing! There were so many people. They had roads closed down, and they were just filled with people. I've never been to something that big before. It was quite the experience. I will attach pictures below.

On Sunday I went out with an au pair from Poland. We wandered around Madrid for several hours. She had a handy map that showed all the famous places that tourist want to see when they are in Madrid. So, we started walking and saw practically all of them. I will post pictures of the places I saw below.

Be forewarned, some of the tile that makes the sidewalk is loose and it caused me to trip and actually hurt my foot. It has been painful to walk for the past couple days, but carry on I must! My host mother says it is not uncommon for people to fall in Madrid and actually break something. Which doesn't surprise me because everywhere you look there is someone with a cast on. I really hope I am not next...

Well, when I wake up tomorrow I will be beginning my second week here in Madrid. Only 11 more weeks left abroad!