Later that week, it was time to fly out to Madrid for new years. We packed our bags and went onto our journey.
When we arrived to Madrid, my first impression was that it was not a whole lot different than Germany. The buildings and streets looked similar but as we kept walking, differences became stronger. Spain had a different atmosphere. It craved pieces of battiness. For example, you rarely see a German jaywalk whereas in Spain, that’s just what people do. Spanish people are more open and don’t give a rats ass about what others think of them for the most part. In Germany, people are so reserved. I had never seen a place like Spain.
After settling into our hotel, we went for dinner to my mom’s friends house. We ate a large, delicious dinner with all sorts of Spanish food. There were Tapas, Tortilla Española, Manchego cheese, insalada, piscado, etc.. It was a great home cooked meal.
We then set out to get ourselves situated at the Puerto del Sol to celebrate our new year. It was insanely crowded and people were shouting and laughing and spraying everyone with champagne. When the clock struck midnight, we ate 12 grapes and drank champagne straight from the bottle. The crowed whooped and hollered and did the same. Then everyone dispersed to either go home or start partying.
Madrid is also the only place I have been to where is is absolutely okay to drink in public. As in, out on the downtown streets. When we got home at 3:00am the party was far from done. There was still racket outside and people were making their way to their favorite discoteca.
The next couple of days, we explored Madrid’s streets and saw some amazing sights. We went to an outdoor market that happens every Sunday where they sell anything and everything. We got a lot of late xmas gifts there. We also saw the king and queen of Spain’s castle. As you can imagine, that was amazing. Then we saw a great view from in a lift that stretched across the Casa del Campo area of Madrid. It seemed no matter what view you looked at Madrid, it was always beautiful.
And just as we were starting to think about moving to Madrid, it was time to go back to quaint Germany. No parties there. Noelle had to leave the next day so she could get ready for her next trip to Florida. But my mom stayed until the 6th.
In other news, I am no longer at the Schleypen’s. Long story short, I decided to move to a different barn because Reinhard said he didn’t have any horses for me to ride, which is a bummer. I will miss that place but I hope to visit before I go back to the states. So as of Sunday, I have moved into a house of another working student (or Bereiter) of Martin Sander. His stable is just 15 minutes from the Schleypen’s. My first day of work was on Monday and I ended up riding 5 beautiful and talented horses! Martin gave me lots of advice whenever he was nearby. I feel like I can learn a lot at this new barn. The people and atmosphere is very positive, which I like a lot. It’s a bit like Blackshire (but not the same, of course! Nothing could ever replace Blackshire). I like this new place a lot, but I am still very homesick. There is no wireless connection at the house I am living in, which means I have to use their computer. I can’t talk to people as much as I used to and it also means even less blogging. Sorry! I sure wish I could have more computer time. At least there is only 3 months left.
I haven’t heard much from people back home besides what’s on Facebook. I’ll assume no news is good news. :)
Hasta Mañana!
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