January 26

Today all the AYA kids met for breakfast at Puerta del Sol. I thought I remembered how to get to the Metro from my house, but I obviously didn’t, because I got very lost. I wandered around for a while and then when I asked directions they sent me to a different station. I was supposed to meet Sondi but that didn’t happen. Fortunately, I got there on time-ish, but it was a little scary. Then we went on a walking tour of Madrid. I took lots of pictures. J We saw the Palace, the Royal Cathedral, the Plaza Mayor, and a lot of cool buildings on the streets. The architecture here is fantastic! She showed us the oldest restaurant in the world, and the restaurant where the conspirators of the Spanish revolution (I think) met in secret to plan. There are so many different kinds of paving in Madrid, but none of them are just plain concrete; it’s always some kind of paving stone or cobblestone or something cool. I took pictures of the streets too. When we were done touring, we went inside El Corte Ingles to buy shampoo and stuff like that. That store is ridiculous! There are like 4 or 5 different buildings, all with different things. There’s one for books and one for electronics, and one that’s like a department store, and I don’t even know what all else. It was very confusing to find everything we needed. There was a phone there that a lot of the kids are going to get that was 19 euros and comes with a plan where it’s 5 cents to call the others on the plan. I think you buy a certain amount of minutes and when they’re used up you can recharge it. I was debating getting that for here and then still using my cell to call home.
I told my señora I wasn’t sure if I would be home for lunch because I didn’t know when the tour would end. She didn’t like not knowing, I think. I totally would have been home on time, except Sondi and I got lost on the way out of the Metro. We were going to find her house and mine, since we live near each other. We got so turned around; it was bad. So I ended up getting home about a half hour late, and of course I couldn’t get the stupid doors open (the downstairs one pushes, not pulls) and I had to ring the bell at the apartment because I couldn’t get that one to open either. It shouldn’t be that hard; you turn the key twice and the door pushes in. I don’t know why it wouldn’t work. Then I got a talking to about how meal times are sacred here. She said it was ok because the first couple days are crazy, and I apologized profusely, but now I’m afraid to ever be late again! She sort of told me how to get to the Metro, and I’m slightly more familiar with the area now that we walked around it a lot unintentionally, so I think I can find it now. Sondi and I are going to meet some of the other girls tonight after dinner (which I made sure I would be there for!) and I think I remember how to get to her house. I hope!
I confirmed with my señora that there is no internet here, so I’m going to have to find an internet café. We saw one on our wanderings, but I can’t remember now where it was.
Not much more to talk about. I think I’ll try to be social with my family now (cross fingers).
Later,
Bethany