Well, it looks like my computer only wanted to let me post that one picture that one time. Ill keep working on it though, so don't worry!
Things have been going really fast lately. We have been here a month! Its crazy. On friday we met up with two guys who were exchange students from Madrid at K my freshman year, Carlos and Guillermo. Both were my lab TAs. We went to Guillermo's house, which is off Plaza Mayor, and just hung around for a couple hours. Then at about 3 am we went out to a discoteca to meet up with Carlos. The discoteca was wierd, its called Vendetta, and is really small and smokey. It was too crowded to dance and too loud to talk. I ended up leaving about 5 in the morning, because my eyes were on fire from all the smoke, plus I was totally exhausted. But it was really nice to see Carlos! He is going to be going to the same school as us, so hopefully I will see him around more.
The next night was "white night" in Madrid, where all the museums and bars are open all night, and live bands play in the street. I didnt stay very long though, becuase I was totally exhausted, and we were waking up early on Sunday to go to El Rastro, the humongous flea market near my house. The flea market was AWESOME. I really want to take my dad when my parents come, I think he would love it. It was wierd all the American stuff they had, though, right down to some Confederate flags...and they had a ton of stuff that said things in English, but didnt make sense at all. Thats really common here, lots of people wear shirts that say things in english that make absolutely no sense. My favorite thus far: "I love PMS staff!" I mean, what is that??
Later Sunday we went to a bullfight, which I was pretty nervous about, but wanted to go to to try to get a better understanding of it, plus its such a huge part of the culture. Everyone either loves it or hates it, and I wanted to be able to form a real opinion. Well! I definitely did that! I HATED it. Everyone talks about it being gorious and honorable and how its quick for the bull, and they live great lives up till then and blah blah blah. But its not that at all. The poor thing comes out wounded, and then assistants run it tired and stab it with spears before the Matador even comes out to "fight" it. And the way they do that is pathetic, they make it run at them, and then they duck behind a protective wall. So, basically, they weaken it down by torturing it, and THEN fight it. And it ends when the bull literally gives up and lays down, and then they stab it in the brain, and the one I saw definitely suffered, it was not a quick death. Maybe its less gruesome if the matador is better, but still. I don't see honor in torturing and weakening an animal to the brink of death before the big strong fighter even comes out to conquer it. It also seems hypocritical, because the bull is worshipped here as strong and the symbol of Spain, but then they torture and kill it, for sport. That seems like the opposite of respect. Plus, it doesn't matter that the bull lived a great life until then, because its not going to remember that in its last moments! Its going to be preoccupied with the seven spears stuck in its back.
ANYWAYS. sorry about that.
Our first month of classes are over as of today! We have only had grammar until now, and we had our finals for that. We go to Andalucia tomorrow for a long weekend, then we start actual classes on Tuesday.
Sarah and I have been planning our trips, and I cant wait for them! We are going to Germany and to France, both for about 4 days, to visit other people on study abroad, including Erin in Strasbourg.
Well, I gotta run to dinner.
Hasta luego!

i played my first game of pool last night, and i won!
not much is new here, we only have three more days of spanish class, thank goodness. then we have our finals, then we go to andalucia for a week. then we start real classes, which im looking forward to. im miss learning about actual subjects besides grammar.
i really just wanted to try to put up more pictures, so lets see how that goes...

ummm...I a really stupid! i was straighting my hair with the straightener i just bought, and i dropped it. Without thinking, I grabbed to catch it, and guess what? I burned the entire palm of my hand! It hurts like no other, and started to turn white and blister almost immediately. I was really embarrassed, and i didnt want to tell my family because they have guests over and I didnt want them to make a big deal. So I just left, and walked a block to the pharmacy near my house. The good news out of this is that I got my first experience with Spanish health care and whatnot, which was very impressive. I went in, and said that i didnt speak much spanish but that I burned my hand with an appliance, and showed the woman my hand. She immediately went and got perscription pain medication/antibiotic, put it on my hand, wrapped my hand in a giant bandage, and told me how to take care of it by finding words in a spanish/english dictionary. Then I bought the medicine and bandages, and it came to 5 euros! thats like 7 dollars! for prescription medicine without using insurance! and bandages! it makes me happy to think about. Way to go, Spain.

So Julia and I never made it to Salamanca. I told my padre friday night that we were planning a day trip there, and he said something along the lines of "Salamanca is ok, but my hometown of Burgos is much prettier." I just nodded and said "si, si" because thats all I can ever do around him. Somehow, in the course of that tiny conversation, I had agreed to go Saturday morning to Burgos with him, bring Julia, and stay overnight! This was at almost 11 that night. I call Julia, she agrees, and off we go. I'm really glad we went, it was a neat little city, and its somewhere I would never have gone otherwise. Its in northern Spain, which Im glad I got to see. Burgos is famous, apparently, for the GIGANTIC gothic cathedral in the middle of the town, and the cheese. And its also a stop on a Catholic pilgrimage from southern France to the edge of Spain, and there were hundreds of backpackers, everywhere.

When we got there, my padre took us to his family's house there, which was also amazing. It was big and old and creaky, and right in the middle of the Plaza Mayor. He took us wandering around, and then just left us! and told us we were on our own until Sunday. It was nice though, we got some tapas and sangria for lunch, and then wandered around until dinner, when we did the same thing. There was a children's festival going on, which meant, for some reason, that tons of people were running around in drag screaming at the top of thier lungs.

The Cathedral was absolutely amazing, it was huge, endless, and super old. There was so much detail everywhere you looked, and so much gold, silver, and marble. All the stairs were worn away from where people had been walking on them for hundreds of years...it was all really impressive, and my photos dont really do it justice. Oh well. We also took this rickity old "tren touristica" that felt like it was going to collapse under the weight of all the tourists on it. But it took us to the highest point in Burgos, and it was pretty impressive. You could see how the cathedral just towered over the whole city.

My madre left today for Mexico on business, and Im kind of nervous about being there without her, shes the one I've been able to communicate best with. The four girls are all just so hyper all the time, and my padre is just very intesne to talk to, because he is always trying to teach me something, which is great, except its stressful to focus so intensely all the time, with no break.

Its crazy how fast time is going. its been over two weeks, in less than that, I will be in Andalucia, then in Portugal, then Erin will be here, then I will be with Erin, then its christmas with lindsay and new years with Brett! I can't wait.

also, we saw a crucifix with a jesus made of bull skin, and with human hair and nails. whoa.

So, I am testing whether or not I figured out how to post pictures in this thing. hopefully it will work, and you will be seeing an image of the Palacio Real from the inside courtyard. If not, sorry, Im working on it.

In my Spanish culture class yesterday, we discussed the popularity of the mullet in Spain. Apparently, Im not just imagining that 90% of the young male population has one! According to my teacher, its really "posh" right now to look tribal, or something. Hence the mullet. There is such a broad range of style here, its really impressive. It ranges from absolutely stunning to just strange. But everyone obviously spends a lot of time on their appearance, much more than in the states. It makes me feel like a slob a lot, but Im working on it.

Tomorrow Julia and I are going to attempt to go to Salamanca on a bus by ourselves, we will see how that goes. If it doesnt work, its ok, we can always try some other weekend. Sunday we are going to the huge flea market in Madrid, which is close to my house. I guess its a really big deal, is world famous, and has been in operation since the 1400s or something crazy like that!
In two weeks we go to Andalucia. We have so many little trips, I think the time is going to fly by a lot faster than it has been.
Right now there are about ten kids at my house, not kidding. I think all my Spanish sisters have at least one friend over. It was really chaotic, so I thought now would be a good time to chill with some wireless for a while. I like getting to know my family, but more on a one on one level. I feel like I can get more out of it, and also not be totally stressed out all the time. For example, last night I had a pretty decent and funny conversation with Marian, the 11 year old, about the Black Eyed Peas, and whether Fergie was good on her own. It was pretty funny to be talking about that, but it was an actual conversation so I was excited! The Black Eyed Peas and Britney Spears seem to be the only music people we have in common.

Anyways, this was mostly just a test, so I think I'll go. Hasta luego!

a few more pictures up at flickr.com/photos/anniemb
there is also some stuff up at snapfish, but i think you need to make an account to do that, so let me know if you mind doing that, its free, but i can always figure out a different place to host pictures if its an issue for people! if you do make an account, try searching for my name, or annie mb, or yourquietsmile, im not sure exactly how to find them yet, im new to it...sorry!
adios!

Ughh. I just wrote a really really long post, and then my computer lost internet, and lost it. Darn. Well, I will try again and hope it doesn't happen again.
Things are getting much better here. I am getting used to the lifestyle, and using the metro, and walking everywhere. The metro that goes to my school just shut down for repairs, so now I have to take a metro to a bus and then walk 20 minutes, to and from school. It gets a little old, but there isnt really anything to do.
It finally seems to be cooling down, which is awesome, It has been HOT recently, and its a real bummer.
School is pretty boring, and I dont really feel like I am learning much spanish from my classes. I am learning much more at home. I still cant speak it very well, but I can understand what people say very well, as long as they speak slower.
In the past week we have done a lot of things with the program that have turned out to be really interesting. We toured around the Prado, but really quickly. We only got to see Valazques, Goya and El Greco, because they are the most famous Spanish painters there. We found out that there was a huge Picasso exhibit there, and that it was leaving sunday, so we went back to see that. It was really a good exhibit, there were TONS of his paintings. Sundays are always free, which is great to know, because I definitely need to go back, and spend a lot more time there looking around.
On Saturday we had an excursion to Segovia, which was a lot of fun. It was free, and there was a lot to see. In the middle of the town is a giant Roman aquaduct, it was incredibly impressive, and you could climb to the top of it and see the entire city. There was also a gigantic castle, which apparently is the castle Walt Disney modeled the castle in Cinderella after. And there were two very large, very very old churches. One of them had what was supposedly human bones scattered all around, from the shallow graves in a graveyard from a long time ago. I didnt really buy it that they were genuine human bones from that time, because they were way too convieniently placed, but they were definitely bones, and it was creepy. It was one of those churches you could tell was super old, because all the solid stone was totally worn away where people had been walking for hundreds of years.
Next week a lot of people are going to the beach at Valencia, but I think Im going to skip out on that one, and go on another excursion in Salamanca. The beaches just have too much sun for me, unfortunately.
We have a couple 4 and 5 day weekends next month, and it looks like some of us are going to go to Portugal, which I am very excited for. My padre here tells me its absolutely gorgeous.
Yesterday, we went to the Palacio Real, which I already mentioned I live walking distance from. We got to tour a part of the inside. I'm glad we didn't see the whole thing, there are apparently 4000 rooms! I think we are going to the Reina Sophia museum soon, which is where Picasso's Guernica is. Im looking forward to that.
After the palace yesterday, some of us just went and sat on the grass, hanging around. It was right then that the weather broke, and it felt so good.
I thought life in Spain wouldn't be too different from home, but it really is. The customs are totally different, and its really hard to remember what not to do. Like, you cannot, for any reason, stretch in public. You get huge glares. No eating in public, too, unless its a restaurant. We also got a lot of looks today when we were at a mall using wireless. I think most people here don't use wireless, because its almost impossible to find any, and also, every single person who walked by stared at us, and whispered. Weird. I mean, they DO have wireless at this mall, so they must expect people to bring laptops and work. I don't know. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that there were 5 people in a row all with laptops typing really enthusiastically and speaking english.
Anyways. Im going to see if I can post this now, before it gets any longer and I lose it. I hope everyone is doing great, and I want to hear from all of you!
Hasta luego.

so i finally got my luggage, thank goodness. some people still dont have thiers, and i feel incredibly bad for them. its really hard to be here and not have anything. as soon as i got my stuff, i dug out my pictures and stuff and put them on the walls. i just unpacked, and even though its nice to have all my stuff around and not have to dig through suitcases (or wear the same pants and borrowed shirts for three days straight), it still doesnt feel like home. im definitely homesick, probably particularly because the first few days were so incredibly stressful.
my classes are in the morning from 8:30 to 1, and its pretty much grammar for the whole time. its really intense. luckily it only goes for a month. then we have regular classes. its really hard to have a class that early, because it means i have to wake up about 6:30, and be on a metro for almost an hour, then walk about half a mile to the school. its been rough with the heat. its been incredibly hot. i really hope it cools down soon.
its kind of hard to live with such a big family. its really hard to sleep, because the girls all stay up late running around and being incredibly loud, and then in the afternoon, when its supposed to be siesta time where i could nap for almost 3 hours, they are still incredibly loud. its really frustrating, because i dont know what to do. i dont want to seem rude or anything, but im totally sleep deprived.
besides that...its not what i thought it would be. a lot of the metros and buses are closed for construction, which makes it very hard to get around. and having the enormous family is pretty stressful sometimes. im hoping to get into a routine, so i can start to enjoy myself more, but right now, all i can think about is how much more i like home than madrid.
i live really close to the royal palace and gardens, and plaza espana, which is pretty awesome, but its been too hot to try to wander around too much.
yesterday our group met in el plaza del sol for a tour, and julia, phil, rachel and i got there early and went to lunch. we split a jug of sangria, and it was really nice to just sit on the sidewalk eating, drinking, and laughing. it was the first time i felt relaxed in a very long time. i need to do more of that, because it unfortunately didnt last.
i hope it cools down soon, because as soon as it does, julia and i are going to wander all over the place, and finally see what this city is all about. until then its just too miserable.
let see...tomorrow we go to the prado museum, and on saturday we have a day trip to segovia which i am looking forward to. i like the idea of getting out of the city.
we have a lot of long weekends, so im hoping to travel a lot, which julia and whoever else, to portugal and other spanish cities nearby.
i guess thats all for now.
oh, i think i ate a pigs eye.
and i put some pictures up, online.
go to: flickr.com/photos/anniemb

so in short, our flights were late, our luggage was left at heathrow, i have no idea when im getting it.
when i finally got to my host family´s house, i was amazing how nice it is. its huge, hardwood, and old. theres a courtyard in the center that my room looks out on. im super close to the heart of the city, and today i went on a bike ride with my host dad to the royal palace and gardens, egyptian ruins, a hill that overlooked the whole city, and where to get the best icecream in the city.
i have a host mom and dad, and 4 host sisters. teresa is nine, maryann 11, beatrice 13 and marta 17.
when i got there yesterday, my first meal was squid and rice, cooked in the squid´s ink. it tasted like ink. but what can you do?
today, before the bike ride i went and bought some sandals and shirts and stuff, since i have nothing. i really hope my stuff comes soon.
spanish is turing out to be pretty easy to understand, and difficult to speak. i start class tomorrow. we take a placement test, and spend the next month in intensive spanish class.
i have more to say, but i cant write anymore, its a little hectic with all the kids.

the euro-mullet rules supreme

im in madrid. the past 48 hours have been crazy. i have no luggage. none whatsoever. luckily, i live with a family that is letting me raid thier daughters closets.
i will write more later today hopefully, but right now i need some food!
i miss everyone.