2nd week underway!

Hello again, good and faithful followers!

It has certainly been some time since my last entry, but I wanted to catch everyone up on what's been going on in Madrid! Above you will find an image out my apartment window, which is in the 18th story of a gigantic apartment complex.

First off, everything's great! I've settled into an apartment, found a single's ministry, made some contacts with the university, even begun to make a few friends ;)

I've been doing a lot of exploring as of late-- trying to really get a feel for the neighborhood, Spaniards in general, and what my life will entail for the next two years. This is very challenging, as it probably sounds. I've had interesting conversations with some people, gotten mad at others, and even thought about what it might be like to travel to other countries... such as Russia, France, Egypt, etc.

These will all happen in time.

I have been praying A LOT. About everything, literally. I'm still struggling with some aspects of adjusting, but for the most part things are falling into place. School starts on Monday, and I'm sure that will be a whirlwind. Still looking for a part-time job, whatever the Lord provides I'll take.

-W

In Madrid, again

Hello all!

I am back in Madrid for the second time, finally. I tried to run a few errands yesterday morning, such as go to the U.S. embassy to "register" as an American abroad, see my old host family, etc.

I even visited the university where I'll be studying here in about 2 weeks! A quaint looking building-- it's massive on the outside, slightly archaic on the inside. I'm still nervous about making Spanish friends. That will probably be one of the more challenging aspects of my stay in Spain this time around.

This morning I'll be off to church, where I'll hopefully meet the pastor who's agreed to put me up for the first semester in his appt. He lives over near Plaza de Castilla, and hopefully I'll get to see it and a few other apartments soon so I can go ahead and make a decision!

That's all for now. Keep checking back on this blog, and I'll do my best to post consistently with pictures!

-Walter

Back in Black

Hello all my followers!

As I hope you well known, I am back after a 1-year hiatus after finishing up my undergraduate studies at Stanford. I am now back in Dallas, getting ready to return to Madrid in 2 weeks time for a Masters Program in Aerospace Engineering.

I will be studying at Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, and am so stoked to be back in Madrid!!!

So I will be resuming my posts on this site.

Thank you for being loyal followers!

-Walter

I ate octopus on Sunday.

my life is average

I went to the zoo today, and it was really tight.

I wish I could put up samples of all of the cool photos I took, but that would be a memory overload. We saw a dolphin show, as well as some sea lions balancing basketballs on their noses and birds of prey flying real fast.

The aquarium was pretty sweet too. I know know, definitively, how to distinguish between a male and a female shark (tiburon en espanol) and I am so excited about that right now.

Life is good; Spain is beautiful; spring is blossoming; what more could a young lad ask for?

I love my life.

-Walter

Soccer Game last night

So,

I am not sure if all Americans have a great idea about what soccer (futbol) means to Europeans, and especially Spaniards, but last night I found out.

A bunch of Stanford peeps went to an Irish Pub to watch "el clasico", which is essentially the biggest futbol match of the year-- yep, you guessed it... Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona.

So much beer, so many tears... Barcelona destroyed Madrid.

And that basically ruined the social aspect of our Saturday night. Had Madrid won, the plaza del dos de mayo would have been hopping, seeing as yesterday was the Madrid Community Day w/ tons of festivals, concerts, etc.

But last night everyone was just sad b/c Madrid lost the game to Barcelona. BUT I did buy a sweet jersey, so I feel slightly better about that.

-Walter

way overdue post

yo,

i can attest to the fact that i have found a rhythm in madrid because i can never find time to keep up with this blog!

anyway, i'll try to fill you in on stuff that's happened recently. first things first, i am writing this blog post from a Starbucks close to my senora's house... this reflects the fact that fortune 500 companies really do have worldwide influence.

i will be going for churros and chocolate later tonight, which is one of the infamous treats of madrid.

also getting excited for the release of x-men (here called hombres equis), seeing as hugh jackman is my man crush. but seriously, as a big fan of x-men in general, i can't wait to see this film in spanish w/o subtitles.

i am finally starting to feel the quarter coming down on me, and i say that lightly because we still don't have that much work at all and it still feels like an all-expenses-paid vacation. no complaints!

ok that's all for now, i will write more frequently from here on out!

paz,
Retlaw (Walter backwards)