Asia Regresa a Madrid!

To all my friends & family,

My MBA summer study abroad blogs are finally ready to be posted!  There will be 1 for Spain, and 1 for Morocco.  Thanks for your patience, and enjoy!

Madrid: May 31 – June 4, 2010

The only 2 foods I love in Madrid are gazpacho & Manchego cheese!

The day before Memorial Day, I kissed Jeremy goodbye (to leave home and travel yet again) and boarded my flight to Madrid.  As most of you know, this was my second time in Madrid, since I spent an amazing semester studying there in 2004. (Thanks, Dad!)  My classmate Jessica and I arrived bright and early at 730am Monday morning, and rushed through customs to grab taxis to make it to class on time at 1030am. It felt really good to be back in Madrid! My Spanish came back more quickly than expected, and I was able to communicate with our taxi driver just fine. My other good friend and classmate, Mabela, was generous enough to ask her parents to host us in Madrid. Her parents are from Mexico City, but they also own a home in Madrid since Senor Diaz works there part of the year. By coincidence, we were all in Madrid at the same time, so Jessica, Mabela, and I stayed with her parents! They were incredibly nice and generous hosts, and I really enjoyed my time with them.  It was far better than my USD undergrad host mom experience. :)

Jessica & me at Mabela's parents' place

Jessica and I had fun practicing our Spanish with them too. My favorite miscommunication was over a nice dinner when Jessica said “Siento embarazada” which literally translates to “I feel pregnant.” What she meant to say was“I feel embarrassed.” Haha. Sometimes literally translating from one language to another just doesn't work out.

Dinner with Mabela's parents

Most of our time in Madrid was packed with class from 10-1, lunch from 1-230 (which is way too early by Spaniard standards), class from 230-530, and then either a school activity or free time. Therefore, there wasn’t much time to explore the city by day, and we quickly turned into night owls. Madrilenos (people from Madrid) are still very much the same as I remember them from my time there in 2004. They enjoy taking extra long meals that consist of jamon (Spanish ham), manchego cheese (what I live off in Spain), olives, and olive oil, as well as smoking cigarettes, and partying until 6am. Needless to say, none of us got much rest in Madrid!

Classmates Matt, Mabela, me, and Cary

We had many memorable nights out in Madrid, so I’ll paraphrase. USD hosted a dinner for us at a Spanish restaurant, and I cannot even recall how many courses were served. It was the longest dinner ever! I told them I was a vegetarian from the beginning, so I had many variations of vegetables soaked in olive oil while everyone else enjoyed red meat. Honestly, the best part was the unlimited red table wine. A few courses in, we were all feeling the love.

After dinner, we went dancing at a local disco nearby. Most people left at 3am, but Mabela, Jessica, and I stayed out until 4am. Somehow I'm able to stay out late when partying internationally. When in Rome…or cuando en Espana as we liked to say.

Matt and Mabela, and Noah and Jessica having fun on the dance floor

One day we had a company visit to Santander Bank. I felt like I was in the future because we were greeted by Ferrari robots and high-tech décor. They also spent their money on a huge private art collection, a golf course, shopping center, and more. Kind of like the Google campus, but with the feel of a bank. Does that even make sense?

The Spain/Morocco crew

After the tour, we went to the Prado museum. Even though I had been there before, you cannot visit Madrid without visiting the Prado.

Asia & Jessica outside the Prado

Another memorable night in Madrid was the infamous “all-nighter,” aka the longest day EVER. After 3 hours of class in the morning, we took an organized bicycle tour around Madrid. We got a lot of funny looks since most people in Madrid either walk everywhere or take the Metro. It’s not like San Diego where bicycles are common. Regardless, it was nice to be reminded of all the main attractions in Madrid, like El Palacio Real, Plaza Mayor, El Parque Retiro, and more.

After the tour, some of us attempted to start our papers that were due at 10am the next morning. Even though we didn’t finish them, we still had to go out, of course! We started with a traditional tapas dinner with Spanish beer and wine, before heading to the Penthouse, a rooftop lounge, and then El Kapital, a 6 story Spanish night club.  Needless to say it was a late night, and we were able to hang with the locals.

In closing, I still have my love/hate relationship with Madrid. I LOVE the people, the language, the culture, and the city. I hate the excessive smoking, and the bad food (in my opinion). I feel very fortunate to have visited Madrid for a second time in my life, and hope to return again one day soon.

The 3 roomates sipping Spanish vino on Mabela's deck after a long day of classes