tapas y sangria - MADRID!

Soooo this weekend I went to MADRID with Katy, Laura, and our friend Marilyn who was visiting from Chicago. 

Thursday night we took a plane and landed about 9:30pm and took the metro from the airport to our hostel. Our hostel was INCREDIBLE! We only had to pay 50euro each to cover all 3 nights, it was clean, our room was private and HUGE, it was in the perfect location. Props go to Katy for organizing that! We freshened up and then went walking around Madrid's most central square, Puerta del Sol, and we found a tapas bar Alhambra, for dinner and sangria. Madrid is so crazy - people eat so late, and even the older generations are out super late into the evening! We were eating at around 11:30 or so and there were so many people just getting ready to go out for the night. The food was AMAZING, and then that bar was closing so we checked out another one called Sol y Sombra. We were soooo full from dinner that we just felt like going back to the hostel after a little while, which is precisely what we did.

Friday we got up semi-early and went back to Puerta del Sol and this other square called Plaza Mayor. The weather was beauuuutiful and it was full of so many people, I just loved walking the city and being able to see everything. We ended up doing some shopping, going to this park and the Royal Palace, seeing a Cathedral, stopping for some lunch and sangria, and walking around some more. We went back to the hostel around 6:30 and took a SIESTA (getting real Spanish, here) and then finally all "woke up" and started getting ready to go out. Around 10pm we found this restaurant in the Plaza Mayor, so we sat outside and got tapas and sangria again, and just people watched. We had plans to go to a club that evening that was recommended to us by a friend, but we didn't want to go yet because it was too early, so we went back to the street that Alhambra was on and ended up going into the bar next door called Venta el Buscón - good thing we did! The place had a decent sized crowd and great music, and we became friends with the guys that work there! This one guy Angel ended up giving us free drinks!! They were so nice and so goofy and we had a great time talking with them and it was nice to meet such friendly people. When we were done there we went to the club, Kapital -- 7 floors, each with a different style of music. Soooo much dancing! Our favorite floor was the one with rap on it, because it's easier to dance to seeming as we don't salsa, haha! We made some friends but nothing "legit", and when we were finally sooooo tired (at 5am!) we left and decided to go to this Chocolateria we heard about that's open 24 hours. Again, crazy Madrid people -- EVERYONE was out and about even at 5am! Even old people! We found the chocolateria and got churros and chocolate - oh my goodness, delicious. We came back to the hostel around 6am and passed out.

Woke up at 11pm because we still had plenty of things we wanted to do! We found another outdoor cafe and got lunch, and then walked to the Museo Reina Sofia - a modern art museum where there is a lot of cubism and surrealism, so lots of Picasso! His most famous piece, Guernica, is there, and i literally died when i saw it. I always wanted to see it in real life and I finally did =) Then we went to a big park right by there and wandered around there, it was beautifullll. Right by all of that was another museum, Museo del Prado, which was beautiful! The art was mostly classical, so I didn't care much for it, but the museum itself was really cool. It was POURING so we took a cab back to our hostel and got ready for the night again. We decided to go back to Venta el Buscón since Angel and the other guys had been SO nice to us the night before, we figured it was the least we could do. We got tapas and sangria there for dinner, and then they gave us free drinks again!! We took pictures with the guys and just had a great time, it was so cool! We went back to our hostel, fell asleep, woke up early the next morning and took a plane back to Paris!! 

I loved Madrid so much - I loved the people, the lifestyle, the food, the architecture, everything! and I was SO PROUD of myself and my spanish speaking abilities! I always knew I could read it and comprehend most things, because of my knowledge of french and italian, but I literally did all the talking for my friends! I was able to understand probably 95% of what people were saying to us, and I could respond in basic sentences or ask questions if we needed. It was very invigorating and made me want to possibly learn more spanish, or at least go back to Madrid since I know I can find my way around. It was such a great weekend, no lie! 

Next big thing - ITALY!!! For spring break, Katy, Laura, John and I are going to Rome, Florence, and Venice. I can't wait!! We leave next Thursday already, I can't believe it. Other than that, we've just continued our routine of school and spending time together. The weather is getting so nice here, like 60s every day. For those of you that don't know, my mom and dad came to visit me the weekend before Madrid =) It was sooooo good to see them, because I missed them SO MUCH and I got to show them all around Paris, which is kind of like "my city" now! I know they had such a good time, and I did, too. I'm extremely thankful that they got to come. =)

I just can't believe how many cool experiences I'm having, not just being able to travel to so many different places, but all the things I'm doing here, too. I'm so lucky to be at this point in my life and doing all these exciting things, and I thank God every day for it. I hope you all are doing well, and i'll see you in about a month and a half! Peace and love. 

Here are pictures from Madrid! 

MADRID.

the time of my life.

Helllooooo everyone! It's been so long, I know, I really apologize! It's just that I started my internship, and as school continues on, I've been getting so busy!! Here is an update on a few main points, and then about the best weekend of my entire life (pictures included). 

INTERNSHIP:

I'm working at an art gallery in the 3rd district that sells contemporary abstract art - I love it!! The gallery owner is sooo nice, she's very friendly and talkative and always gives me things to do so I'm never bored. So far I've helped set up a new exposition, put together promotional materials to send out to clients, translated some of her website into English, and done an inventory on all the lithographs/prints that we have in the basement. I absolutely love it and I'm always excited to go there. =) 

SCHOOL EXCURSION:

2 weekends ago, we went on a field trip with our school to Chantilly, a small town where there's a big castle / art collection, etc... It was fun, but when we got there it was incredibly foggy out and we had an hour to kill before we could go to the castle. Naturally my friends and I got off the bus and played in the fog. =) Then we went to the castle, had a guided tour that was really interesting but quite frankly TOO long, then we had lunch in the castle which was delicious, and then we went on another tour of the water pump system of the castle (*yawn*)... All in all, pretty good day, just too long! Pictures are below. 

SCHOOL:

school continues to go well! Just more and more homework, midterms coming up, etc... Honestly nothing really to report, unfortunately. 

BRITTANY:

ohhhh my goodness, this is where it gets interesting!! About a year ago, I did some translation for a french documentary on slam poetry. The guy that was filming/directing it, Youn, didn't really speak English that well so he needed a translator for the weekend and someone to show him around Chicago. It was so much fun, I was in a few scenes of the movie ;), and we've kept in contact since. WELL, he knew I was coming to Paris for a few months, and had said that I should trek out to Brittany for a weekend, where he lives, to spend some time! Ironically enough, last weekend was the first projection of his documentary, which I was in, so he invited me to come out to see it and spend some time with him and his friends. Naturally I went, and it was the best weekend of my entire life.

Friday I took a train from Paris to Rennes, his city, and he met me at the train station. It was really surreal/bizarre seeing him at first, because it's already been a year since we were together and although we've kept in touch, it's not like we know each other that well! But it was fine! We picked up right where we left off and were both at ease. We went to his apartment so I could drop off my stuff and then went and got a coffee and lunch with one of his friends visiting from Paris. After that, he told me we had to drive to where the movie was showing because it was two hours away - kind of suprising, but you all know me, i just go with the flow! So we drove two hours (i'm not sure what the name of the other town was) and got there a little bit early, so we went to the ocean and went exploring in the woods. It was raining so I couldn't take pictures, but it was absolutely breathtaking. After that, we went back to the car and drove to this café/bar in the middle of nowhere, called Café Théodore. The people that own it have their house connected to it, and the inside is decorated really cool, like hippie style, and the ambiance was great. The range of people in the place was the best part - kids as young as 5 years old, people as old as 80. Everyone just comes together and talks and eats and has a great time just being together; i felt like I was in a commune! Everyone was very hospitable and interested in what they had to say and helping each other out, playing with the kids, getting behind the bar and helping the owners, etc... Not only that ,but it's not like Youn was paying 100% attention to me, clearly I couldn't just follow him around like a lost puppy all night. So i was just meeting random people, talking to them about how Youn and I met, talking about the movie, my life, etc... It was just a very laidback ,fun environment! Around 9pm they showed Youn's documentary on a big projector, and it was awesome. He did such a good job, and it was cool to see the finished product since I had been there while it was still in process. I saw myself on screen several times, ;), and my name was in the credits! haha 

After the movie was over we just all hungout at the café for awhile later, until everyone started clearing out around 2am. We didn't want to drive 2 hours back to Rennes, and since it's such a "hippie" environment, I guess it's pretty common for people to spend the night on the property, in one of several places: The attic of the café, the owners' house, orrr in the backyard in this thing called La Yourte. What did we pick? La Yourte! It's kind of like a big tent, but it's constructed out of wood and is circular, with fabric draped on top of it. On the inside, there's a big firepit with a chimney to heat the place up. On the floor are a ton of oriental rugs, fabric hangs from the ceiling and there are candles lit, and then there are mattresses, pillows, and blankets EVERYWHERE. We all claimed our spots to sleep, lit a fire, the owners gave us some food, and we stayed up talking and goofing around until 4am. It was me, Youn, and about 8 of his friends (with whom we spent the whole weekend) and it was the coolest thing ever! We woke up the next morning at 10am and the owners made us coffee and breakfast, and we just sat on the back terrace. The kids woke up and we went in the Yourte with them and got in a big pillow fight :), then decided to go back to the sea since it was so nice out. We brought two of the kids with us, and we just sat on the rocks for about an hour, taking advantage of the sun and whatnot. One of the guys, Swan, is a photographer, so he took a bunch of pictures of us.

After that, Youn and I had to go back to Rennes for another showing of the movie. So we booked it back and showed up at the place, watched the movie, and there was a question and answer session afterwards, which I did a bit of translation for. After that, we went and got coffee with his friends again, taking advantage of the good weather. All the girls were going to a club, but I didn't really wanna go because it's not really my "thing", so I hung out with the boys and went to a rap concert. A rap concert in French... interesting, let me tell you! When the concert was over we went to a restaurant to get dinner, met up with the girls, and then all went back to Youn's apartment to drink some tea and listen to some music and hangout. We stayed up until 6am (lol!) and then everyone left; Youn and his girlfriend slept in his room, and this guy from Paris, Thiphaine, and I slept in the living room on Youn's futons. We woke up the next morning and went and got coffee at a café around the corner and sat outside for a few hours. We met up with Mark Smith, the inventor of slam poetry, from Chicago, whom I met when I did the movie last night. It was so good to see him again! After coffee we went back to Youn's again and he showed us some of his short animation films he has done in the past. After a few hours, Swan (the photographer) invited us all to his house for dinner because he lives in the countryside and he thought it would be cool for Mark to see. 

Swan's house was soooo cool - it's HUGE, with a big fireplace, all his original photography on the walls, good music was playing, we made an amazing dinner (lasagne with fish/crab/crevettes and cheese and vegetables) and drank wine, Alex was playing guitar, I was playing a bongo, we were talking about life and culture and telling stories and again, it was a very laidback atmosphere but one of the best things I've done. All the people were so nice and I had so much fun. We left Swan's at 2am and went back to Youn's, Thiphaine and I crashed in the living room again, and then got up at 10am the next morning and went to catch the train together (we were on the same train back to Paris, oddly enough!). It was sad to say good-bye to Youn, after I had such an amazing weekend and he was so nice and accommodating.. but I guess we all have to return to the real world at some point! 

The main reason this weekend was so amazing was because of the environment - I was completely disconnected from the world, which i LOVED. I didn't have internet access, my phone lost its charge the first day I was there, so I had no phone the whole weekend. I was speaking French the whole weekend, I learned so many new phrases and it was a great thing for me to do. Also, normally when I go out here, I'm still with people I know or other American kids so there's a bit of familiarity. However, this weekend I went all by myself - seeing Youn, whom I didn't really know THAT well, and then being with all his friends, people I've never met before... It was such a good experience, and basically exactly the type of thing i've been wanting to do since I've been in France -- and I finally did it! The weekend was so rejuvinating, I felt "alive" (if that makes sense) and I was walking on cloud 9... Words  cannot even express how thankful I am to have been given that opportunity and how lucky I feel to have passed such a great weekend. =)

I hope everyone's doing well -- I've already been here for almost 2 months, can you believe it!? Below are pictures from my field trip, and then from my trip in Brittany. enjoy! Love you all!

Chantilly and Sainte Chappelle.

Bretagne - Brittany.