Tapas, Travel, and Textbooks

 Hola! It's been a while since my previous post, but quite a lot has happened over the last few days. Last Saturday we went to the Sofia Reina which is more of a modern art museum which, I'll admit is not my favorite style of art because most of the art looks like either a five year old made it or it just doesn't evoke meaning. For example one of the displays was an empty room that held 4 stone walls/ bricks and it was called a "Masterpiece of Mystery". The only mystery is how the artist convinced a renowned art museum that is home to some of Picasso's art to display it. Regardless there are some famous pieces in the museum such as the Guernica.  Guernica is one of Pablo Picasso's most famous works, created in response to the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. On April 26, 1937, Nazi German forces, supporting Francisco Franco's Nationalist faction, bombed the town, killing hundreds of civilians. The attack was one of t...

Today has been a much better day that allowed me to better explore the center of Madrid, the Palacio de Madrid, Plaza Mayor, and the Galleria. I am happy that the older parts of the city provided me with that European charm that I was looking forward to experiencing on this trip. We started out the morning at 8:30 AM where we figured how to use the metro system which is very clean and accessible. For breakfast we got Starbucks and I thoroughly enjoyed my ham and cheese croissant. After experiencing the Spanish Starbucks, we went over to the Palacio de Madrid.  The Palacio de Madrid is as grand and imposing as one would expect and I thoroughly enjoyed walking through all of the gilded rooms filled with all of the luxuries you could imagine. The interior of the Palacio Real is impressive, with lavish decorations and a vast collection of art, furniture, and historical artifacts. Some of the most notable rooms include one of the many throne rooms adorned with red velvet walls, a grand ...

Today was probably the longest day of my life. Starting at 6 AM on the 21st, I headed to the airport and had two uneventful but cramped flights from SFO to DFW to MAD. Unfortunately sleep evaded me for both flights and I only watched one movie even though I have at least 5 movies and a couple tv shows downloaded. After finally landing at 9 AM on the 22nd, I felt like a zombie. We were able to hop on a taxi and head right to our hotel where I proceeded to then sleep for 7 hours. I will admit that the jet lag has hit me like a rock and I no longer know whether it's time for lunch, dinner, or breakfast. At least I'll have a few days to settle in before my classes begin.  Many people have told me of the phases that I would go through while studying abroad: the honeymoon phase, homesick phase, and the phase where you finally gain a sense of belonging. Now that I have finally begun my adventures abroad and I can confidently say my first impression of Madrid was very different from wh...