The Past Three Weeks...

Okay so I have gotten a bit behind with my blog but I will try to update you all. I will try to be as brief as I can but a lot has happened so I expect it to be very long and full of pictures!

Okay so after the Tomatina, Annie and I then went back to Sagunto and had a wonderful dinner of calamari, patatas bravas, horchata, and a killer ice cream sundae on the beach.

We woke up early Thursday morning and took Annie to the airport. I was sad to say goodbye but so happy she came to Spain. We had a great time and finally fulfilled our dream of traveling in Spain together.

On Friday I went with Sus and her family to another river. It was really beautiful (as everything in this region has been) and it was fun to hang out with her aunt and uncle and precious 2 year old cousin. Later that night we went to the Castle of Sagunto and had an amazing tapas dinner in an open plaza. We were looking up at the centuries old castle, listening to live music, and eating incredible food. It was a great ending to my vacation in Sagunto and Valencia.

On Saturday, Jordan and I took a bus back to Madrid. It was really nice to be back in our apartment and no longer living out of a suitcase. It is amazing how quickly a place can become home. I feel so comfortable in my room now and I still really love our building and area just as much as before. I have finally finished decorating and arranging my room (at least with everything I have for now) and I love it!! It feels very much like me. Jordan describes it as being "very Kayla": girly, sparkly, bright, and full of Shakira!! The best part is that I have lots of photos of all of you guys all around the room so I see you always! Another exciting thing is that I received my first letter and I was so excited!!! I have always really loved getting mail but I’m telling you when you are thousands of miles from home it is even more fun and exciting than I could have ever imagined. So that being sad, please send me mail!!! I’m hanging on my cards on the wall by my desk so they add another nice personal touch to my room.

My room!!! I love the balcony and the whole area around my couch thanks to the beautiful, colorful artwork I found!

My bed and my doors that open into the living room.

My desk which I covered with sparkles!!! And my beautiful computer! And of course Shakira :)

One side of our living which is better now that we rearranged things and decorated the walls with some old records Jordan and I found.

On Sunday we went the the Rostro, a huge open air market that has anything and everything you might ever want to buy. Later we went to check out an Egyptian temple that is in a park near us. It is from the 2 BC and was given to Spain because Spanish engineers helped save it when the Aswan dam was flooding. Pretty cool and interesting…it was weird to be looking at something Egyptian in the middle of Madrid.

The next week was spent just hanging out with our roommates (who are amazing!).

Here we all are. From the left it is Jordan, Gaby, Maite, Saila, Guillermo, and me!!

Jordan is my fellow Oklahoman who I have already mentioned. He is also doing the same masters program as me and I'm so happy to be living with him. We are good friends, have a lot of fun, and it is a very nice comfort to have someone who comes from the same place and culture as me.

Gaby (Gabriel) is 18 and is from Nice, France although his mom is Spanish so he has lived in southern Spain for the last 5 years. He is beginning his 5 year program at a University in Madrid this year.

Maite is 25 and is originally from Bilbao, Spain (which is in the very north). She is the only one who doesn't speak English which is actually quite nice because then all of us are forced to speak Spanish which means we get to practice a lot more and improve.

Saila (pronounced Sigh-la) is 24 and is from Helsinki, Finland. She is in Madrid for a year to finish up her masters. She and I have a lot in common so I have a blast hanging out with her.

Guillermo is 22 and is originally from Mallorca, Spain. Mallorca is an island of the east coast of Spain which I'm hoping to visit sometime this year. He works for a PR and marketing firm and is really fun! He loves to go out and dance and we hit it off really well!

We have a really good balance of personalities and all get along well, which is so nice and makes sharing an apartment with so many people much easier and actually extremely fun!!! I have so much fun just sitting around the kitchen table or living room with all of them. We have had some pretty great moments so far, especially during the week before we started school. Since we had nothing to study and nowhere to go we just hung out and partied a lot. Good times. We joke about ourselves being our apartment 'family' and we have come up with some funny nicknames for each other that are all very fitting. We have "Mama Maite" because she is the older, very responsible one who from time to time seems to take care of us all...and some how she knows everything concerning cooking, cleaning, etc. And she likes to pretend to give us curfews when we go out (she is the only one that doesn't really like to go out and dance and party). Then there is "Baby Gaby" because of his age (17) and because it is his first time to live on his own so he is learning a lot about cooking, etc. Jordan is Jordan Dormilón, which is someone who sleeps a lot and Saila is Barbie Loca (Crazy Barbie) because of her platinum hair. And I am Kayla Cookie because they all learned how much I love cookies and love when I make them the cookies from the cookie mix my mom sends me from home.

Today a new guy named Simon moved in to a 7th room (that previous to this week none of us knew existed, haha). He is 21 and is from France and seems pretty nice so far. He is finishing a Masters in Biology. So now our apartment is completely full. 7 people, 2 refrigerators, 3 toilets, and 1 shower...that's right, ONE SHOWER!! haha, it has been okay so far but that seems to be the only problem that might arise. There is another shower that needs to be fixed so hopefully our crazy landlady will get around to that soon.

Here is a group that we went out with one night all hanging out at our apartment. They are all European exchange students that go to Saila's university. They are from Finland, Portugal, France, Brazil, Germany, Italy...many places. They all enjoyed the American drinking games Jordan and I taught them...of the beauty of sharing one's culture :)

Boomer Sooner baby (even though we lost). Jordan subscribed to ESPN so we can watch any games they cover (which so far was only the first one since they dropped us after the loss). Luckily we made the wise decision of leaving mid-game to go out dancing with our friends. But no matter where we are in the world, our hearts will always scream BOOMER SOONER!!!

Here is a group of students who are in our Masters Program (so they are all American). We come from all over the US: New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, California, Florida, Arkansas, New Jersey and many more. And there is even another Sooner!! Jordan and I didn't know her before but we have many mutual acquaintances. They are a very fun group! We have had several party nights at our apartment (making the most of our free time before the program began) since we are located right in the middle of the city. It is the ideal place to meet up and pre-party before going out to the thousands of bars and clubs that are all in walking distance of our place. I just love it (if I haven't already made that clear, haha).

Only September 10 & 11th we had orientation for the program which went really well. We all then enjoyed one last weekend of freedom before becoming both teachers and graduate students at the same time (which I can assure you leaves very little free time). Last Monday I began teaching and I absolutely love every aspect of it! My school is amazing, my kids are incredible and I'm thoroughly enjoying teaching. I have much more to say but I will update you on my entire first week of teaching tomorrow because right now I have to eat and get ready to go out. Tonight is a really cool night in Madrid called La Noche en Blanco, which means the Night in White. They shut down all the roads and no cars can come into the city and thousands of people are walking everywhere and all the museums are open all night long (until 6 am) and there are tons of free concerts and art shows and poetry readings and special clubs opened. It should be cool. And once again we are in the center of the action and on of the concerts is happening in the building next to ours :) Yay!