Back home, Back to the blog

Oh, Hi! How are ya? It's been a while...yeeeeeeeaaah.....

It's been a loooong while. A busy, examenes, viajes, descansos filled while. But no that I'm back home and with very little else to do but to dig through my crappy short-term memory to fill in the gaps of my last weeks in europe.
That being said, going back in the time machine almost a month ago in May...

I had to make a little field trip to Barrio de las Letras for an assignment. Our professors' attempts to get us to see and go out to certain spots of Madrid are neverending but also very appreciated. This area of the city on Calle Huertas, kinda in between Plaza Mayor and Paseo del Prado area, is literally a neighborhood of letters. The streets are named after famous literary Spanish figures, many of which lived in that area. There are also plaques and writings on the walls and sidewalks with quotes from some of their works, including Cervantes' Don Quijote and I think from Garcia Lorca as well. In addition to that, its a pretty nice area to walk through. There's a bunch of little shops, some some good places to eat and drink. Kinda wish we knew about this place a few weeks earlier

Spring is finally here so we decided to stop in one small spot to cool down and get some gazpacho, and it was pretty awesome. Tasty, cool gazpacho (cold tomato soup) with fresh diced tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, and onion to add. So good. Although I must say that right before trying it, I almost suspected it to be spiked with sleeping pills. But even so, worst things could happen...

FIELD TRIP NUMERO DOS!
Same day, 2 field trips. Later that day our cine class went out to meet our professor at the Universidad Compultense de Madrid campus where she teaches. The film Tesis was filmed there so we decided to walk around the Media and Communications department where some of the scenes took place. Classes were done for the day people were just leaving. Let me say it felt kind of odd being around other students, I mean, kids OUR age. Surrounded by them. We're so used to our little world at the Instituto in el Centro that it felt strange to back on a college campus again. God if only we were there more, just to check out some of the Spanish cuties ;__:



Anyways...the building was pretty cool. Not quite the same as in the movie, but similar. We also got to see some of the production stages where they film scenes and segments, with full on camera set-ups, lighting kits, newscasts sets and green screens. Uh-buuuuuuh. So nowhere near the type of equipment I'm used to, totally sophisticated equipment, specifically TV equipment. Yeah, I felt owned.


Cine trip parte dos - Yet another film we watched took place in an old and famous restaurant called Casa Mingo, a short walk from the Compultense campus....or so the professor said. A short walk turned into at least 20-30 mins. We were tired and hungry, I'm guessing that was pretty apparent when our professor said something about Americans not walking very much in the States... It's true, sad, but true.
Finally we get to restaurant, known for its cider and roast chicken. There are bottles of cider lined and stacked above the bar, dark wooden floors and walls, has an old timey-feel for sure. Food was good and relatively cheap but the best part was our professor. She loves to talk and joke around. So adorable. But she's also got some "vestido peligroso" as she says. On the way to dinner, apparently the strap on her bag got caught and some how undid some buttons on her dress. Bra was shown....Yeaaah. But of course knowning her, she handled it wonderfully, accepted and joked about it. Oh Rosanna, so legit.
Honestly, the daily entertainment that our teachers provide will be one of the things I miss most.