First real post, long time coming!

Hey guys! I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to make a post! I hope to update more frequently now that I'm a little more settled! I've been here in Spain for the past 3 weeks now, starting my new Spanish life! I have a few excuses for the tardy post; in the past 3 weeks I have: rented an apartment, started a bank account, applied to be a legal worker in Spain, started a new job (today was my first orientation!), had a 1.5 week vacation in Spain with my parents, bought a spanish cell phone, and made about 500 new friends here! My Spanish is getting better poco a poco, I learn so many new words every day!

As you can tell from the picture portion of my website, Santander is a wonderful place to spend a year! My apartment is absolutely beautiful, you can see the ocean from the kitchen! I am also only a 20 minute walk from my school, I.E.S. Alisal. I will post pictures as soon as possible!

My new roommate, Jenny, is a really cool person. She's in the same auxiliar program, teaching in a small town outside of Santander, Santa Maria de Cayon. She's from Nebraska, is a vegetarian and likes to run! We went running together yesterday and she obliterated me. We're getting another roommate, Mario, tomorrow. All I know about Mario is that he is 23, working on a master's in civil engineering, is from a city near Santander, and, according to our landlord, is "muy majo" ("very cool"). Jenny and I are very excited to have Mario as an incentive to speak Spanish all the time at home. When we're together, it's too tempting to just speak in English!

I've been spending a lot of time with Nelson and Alejandra, friends of a Colombian friend of mine, Cesar. Nelson and his daughter, Alejandra, who's 10, have been helping me adjust! Since Nelson has a car, I went with them to Comillas, a little town 30 minutes away from Santander. There, we saw a castle by Gaudi and went to the wonderful beach! Check out the pictures on facebook!

I also went to Madrid for 5 days for the orientation of the language assistants in Spain. This wasn't just for the English language assistants- there were language assistants from France, the UK, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Switzerland, everywhere! It was a very interesting international environment; every time you sat down for a meal, you would meet another person from a different country!
We spent some time exploring the city, though not nearly enough. I went to all three of the major museums- The Prado, the Reina Sofia and the Thyssen. We went to the Palacio Real, where the Spanish Royal family used to live. I also watched the soccer game between Real Madrid and Sevilla! Madrid has a few nice buildings, lots of fabulous art, and a great nightlife. I can't wait to go back and see more of it!

I really enjoy getting e-mails from you, so keep sending them to maddiebarker@gmail.com! Besitos a toda mi familia y amigos de Oklahoma! Te echo de menos!!!

Your Spanish viajera,

Madeline