Madrid

The Spain Fulbright orientation took place this week, and we were invited to attend. So on Monday the five of us plus Jordi took a bus to Llieda and from there a train to Madrid. We really had no idea what to expect, but we were thinking that since it was an official Fulbright event it would be in some fancy hotel with important people. Well, that’s not exactly the case. We stayed in a university residence building where the rooms were sketchy and bare and the food was just edible. We made up for that by feasting at the various bars nearby. In Madrid, when you order a drink, they will often bring you a tapa for free, like different types of meat, olives, nuts, bread, even mussels. We even found a döner kebab, something Alex had been searching for since the day she landed in Andorra.
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Anyway, the schedule was basically meetings in the morning and then free time for the rest of the day. Most things were geared towards the teaching crew in Madrid, which was interesting to hear about how different their program is, but at the same time not really relevant. (Basically, they work in a bilingual school system where certain classes are taught in English and they are assistants in the classroom). We suspect that they invited us so that they could squeeze some skiing jokes into their speeches.
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Outside of the orientation, we managed to visit some of the sights in Madrid. I know next to nothing about the city, but Jeff studied in Madrid for a semester and acted as our tour guide. We saw the Palacio Real, a cathedral, the Plaza Mayor, the Plaza de España, El Retiro park, the outside of the Prado, and we went into the Reina Sofía to see Picasso’s Guernica (free entrance, thank you ISIC!). We also fit in some shopping, knowing that Andorra doesn’t really have cheap stuff unless you are looking to buy cigarettes, alcohol, or electronics. The whole orientation was ended by a garden party where the acting ambassador spoke and everybody enjoyed the free finger food and wine.
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Overall this experience has been great. I mean, a week in Barcelona, then a week exploring Andorra, then a couple days in Madrid. Who can complain? However, it’s hard to judge how this year will be when I’ve been here for three weeks but haven’t yet begun my teaching job. It all starts on Monday, and from the reports of some of the other Fulbrighters here who already started teaching on Friday, it will be a challenge.
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Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/kelsey.maass/Madrid?feat=directlink