Ohh Carnaval!

Hola Amigos!

So yeah, it's been a while since the last post, but not too much has been happening. Piso life is still good, although it has been an adjustment for Kate and I to get used to living with 3 guys. (not as clean as we would hope- sort of becoming little housewives, lol) It's working out great, though- having roomies who work at restaurants means that they'll cook for us every now and then, and take us out (free drinks and food!) whenever they get a chance.

Classes are probably the worst part about the whole experience (I know, I know, it is called Study Abroad) but they're actually really difficult. I'm trying to pay attention as much as possible, and take good notes, but the spanish the teachers speak is obviously more advanced, and it's usually hard to keep up. It's only been a few weeks, though, so I'm hoping that I'll get used to the pace. (5 1 hour and a half classes in a row would be brutal for anyone, even in english...so I'm not being too hard on myself)

This past weekend Kate and I (and a few other girls from WIP) all went to Cadiz, Spain for Carnavale! It was a mix of Mardi Gras, Halloween, New Years- pretty much any big party that we have in the U.S. times 5! There were a ton of people there (from all over the world) just having one big crazy party in the streets- not to mention Cadiz is right on the Atlantic- it was absolutely beautiful! We left Madrid on Friday at 2 and took the looong 9 hour bus ride to Cadiz at around 11, checked into our hotel, changed into our costumes, and headed out (with our awesome pirate tour guides) to enjoy the night!















Friday night was really fun, but not very crowded- we came home earlier than everyone else because we knew we wanted to sight see during the day, so it worked out really well. Woke up Saturday for our complimentary hotel breakfast (which was AMAZING- Spaniards don't really have big breakfasts, usually just some toast or a pastry with coffee, so having cereal, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, etc. was sooo perfect) then headed towards Cadiz to enjoy the beautiful day.












After walking around the town for awhile, we headed to the beach- sorry in advance to everyone at home, in the snow/ice...these are going to make you all pretty jealous.












We then headed back to the hotel to nap, shower, and get ready for Saturday, the last night of Carnaval. This time, we went a little more crazy with the costumes: flamenco dancers!! It was such a fun night- there was a live band that played (once again I didn't know any of the words), food and drink vendors all over town, huge crowds of people in the street, and really fun bars and clubs open late. It was a great, last minute thing but I'm so glad we went!


















Next up: Class all day tomorrow, packing, then heading out again- this time we're leaving Spain and going to Paris!! We've booked our hostel for two nights, and my friend from highschool, Melissa, is studying in Paris and is going to show us around and translate for us- pretty helpful since I'll probably get nervous and start speaking spanish (ha) I'm so excited!!

I'll write more after France- hope all is well with everyone! Love and miss you guys!

-Nicole

Good times with the roomies!

Well, we have definitely settled into our new place and it is starting to feel more and more like home. Only having classes two days a week is fantastic- the days are very long, but it is more than worth it to have the rest of the week free to do whatever we want. Kate and I have done a little more shopping (stuff for the piso, and of course clothes for ourselves- right now in Spain they are having "Rebajas" which means that EVERYTHING is on sale- this started in December, right after Christmas, and lasts for only another week- so of course we have been taking advantage!)

We have also been hanging out with the other WIP kids, who are all awesome. On Wednesday (Valentine's Day) we decided to be little party planners, and got a group of about 16 to go with us to Happy Hour at Friday's. (yes, the same Friday's we have in the U.S.- it's okay though, because I have wanted to try those giant drinks for forever...and now I can...legally! Plus our roomate Arturo works there, so we got to see him which was nice!) After Happy Hour a smaller group of us went to this little restaurant that sells small sandwiches (bocadillos) for 1 euro each..you get this little sheet an just mark off which ones you want, and then they call your
name when they're ready- cheap and delicious! Que bueno! Here's some pics from the day:














Overall we had a really fun time celebrating the holiday, even without our boyfriends, lol!
Thursday we walked around Chamberi some more and did some shopping, then came back to our piso to get ready to go out with two of our roomates, Cristian and Arturo! They took us a to a delicious Peruvian restaurant where we got to try new foods and got to know the guys better! It was a really fun night. There was a man who worked at the restaurant playing the guitar and singing to everyone- people got up and started dancing and it was so funny- SO Spain! After dinner we went to a club where a Spanish band was playing. Dancing the night away with our gay roomies could not have been more fun- we're such a cute little family- Arturo calls us his "hermanas" (sisters) all the time, and we really could not have gotten luckier with our piso find!









Today we're been bumming around, recovering from last night (haha) and trying to get in touch with some people from the program to see what's going on for tonight. Next weekend I think we are going with two other girls from the program, Katie and Maggie, to Cadiz, Spain for "Carnivale" which is supposed to be like a crazier Mardi Gras!! I really hope that all works out and we get to go..it sounds like an amazing time. Then the weekend after that is Paris (sorry to keep rubbing it in, Mom) and then a week after that we will have our first visitor: Kate's boyfriend Jesse! So many things to look forward to! (and yes, I do actually have school work so there is some studying involved in this study abroad, haha)

Hope all is well! I love the emails I've been getting- thanks everyone!! Hope to send out some postcards soon! Love and miss you all!
-Nicole

Dum de dum dum

Hello all!

Well, yesterday Kate and I move into our new home and we have spent today getting settled and do some much needed vegging out. We've been unpacking, done a little grocery shopping, and walked around the area, getting to know our new barrio.

In other news now that I have Wi-fi (yay!) I was able to start using Skype which is very fun- talked to my mom, Ryan, and Eileen! I also got a chance to talk to Melissa today which is awesome since Kate and I have just booked our trip to Paris- can't wait! It will be so awesome to see the city, and get to spend some time with Mel. We're also planning a trip to Ireland for the first week in May, with a possible side trip to Amsterdam with some of Eileen's friends from school. Should be a crazy week but it's definately something to look forward- I love being able to travel! We're also talking with some of our friends here about other trips to take, mostly to other parts of Spain.

Tomorrow I have class, including some of the Complutense ones...should be interesting. Right now I am taking a break from writing a paper for my Spanish Film class- I know right? My first assignment and I'm procrastinating already.

I can't believe how quickly the time is passing- once we started looking over our calender to figure out travel dates, I realized that Spring Break and all my visitors will be here before I know it! (Can't wait for that though- didn't realize until yesterday that so many people were coming! I love it!)

I'm happy to have internet though- it makes the homesickness not so bad, now that I can keep up to date on what everyone is doing and get a chance to talk to my friends back home. I can also keep in touch better with people on my program- we're all scattered now, living in different places, and this will be a better way to chat and make plans.

Anyhoo, just a brief update for now- pictures are up! (see the link in the post below!) I don't have that many from Madrid yet, but I'm feeling safer here and will most likely start bringing my camera out with me more.

That's all for me- more updates to come!
-Nicole

Oh yeah, and here's some info!

Nicole Fabrizio
Programa de Indiana, Purdue y Wisconsin
Facultad de Geografia e Historia
Edificio B
Ciudad Universitaria
Madrid 28040

(write me! send me stuff! lol)

Spanish cell phone: 01134-675-999-067

Pictures online! http://new.photos.yahoo.com/nicole_fabrizio/albums/

(also on Facebook- more to come I promise!)

Piso hunting? Done and Done!

Oh that's right! We found an apartment!! YAY!

It's in a barrio (neighborhood) called Chamberi which is pretty centrally located and our place is near several Metro stops which is great because we can get around to everywhere we need to go. Our place has a pretty big bathroom with a washing machine and a nice sized kitchen too. There's also a living room with some couches, tv, and stereo. Kate and I are sharing a room which isn't huge but it does have a large window with a little balcony which will be so nice once it gets a little warmer! We also have two roomates: Cristian from Spain, and Freddy from Columbia- both very nice (and both gay- how fabulous!) We're like a cute, little, disfunctional, Spanish family but I think it will work out really well! The guys are really laid back and when we went to see the place and take care of rent payments, Cristian took us out for drinks at a local bar and then back to the apartment for more drinks! We ended up spending 5 hours with the guys- just chatting and getting to know each other- they're very patient with us when we try to talk with them so it's relaxing and fun- pretty much makes the whole apartment hunt worth it. (and we'll have internet!!! yay!!)

To celebrate Kate and I decided to treat ourselves to a little vacation. We booked a trip to Segovia, a small town about 45 minutes away from Madrid. It is SO beautiful and quiet there- very easy to get around and the people are very friendly. We did sight seeing during the day on Friday and then went out to explore the Segovian night life. Very, very fun place! The only downside was trying to find something to eat- the Segovian specialty is "roast suckling pig": perfect if you're my brother, not so good for two vegetarian chicas. We ended up finding a small cafe that served veggie lasagna. There's a huge, beautiful, gothic cathedral that we had gone into during the day, and the cafe we ate at had a gorgeous view of the church. All in all a great success for our first trip! (Well, Toledo was technically our first trip but this was the first one we planned on our own. The only frustrating part was trying to find the damn bus station, haha)

Last night (well technically this morning) we got together with other kids from our program to watch the Super Bowl. The Bears scored in the first 14 seconds people! Come on! Anyways...that's all I'm going to say about that. (One girl from Chicago was pretty funny though. She turns to me after the game and goes: "I'm just not used to Chicago not winnning when they're in the finals. I mean, Bulls, White Sox, Bears...it's just a given that if a Chicago team makes it to the finals they will win!" Oh well. Next year.)

Today was the first day of our Reunidas classes (the ones with other Americans). I have three of them Monday and Tuesday and then I'll have two Compluense classes, also on Monday and Tuesday. Those start next week. For now I'm taking an art history class that includes trips to the Prado museum, a Latin American history class, and a Spanish film class (we're watching our first movie tomorrow!) While I'm not the biggest fan of getting up early to go to school, it's nice to get a routine started. (Plus, only having classes two days a week means soooo much time to travel! Working on a trip to Ireland as we speak)

Overall I'm finally feeling adjusted to life in Madrid. It's a pretty crazy place, but once you know your way around you find it's really not that big and actually very easy to figure out. I think having two Spanish roomates will help too- showing us the local bars, fresh fruit and vegetable markets as well as the grocery stores, and helping us get acquainted with our new home. Now that the other kids have found apartments we'll all be able to get together more and hang out more outside of class. Study Abroad 2007 is finally underway and I'm so glad to finally get out there and relax and live it up!!

Much love to everyone at home!! I miss you all so much! ( I actually had a dream about my dog last night...weird) Mom, Dad, and Joey- don't worry- I miss you guys more than Abby!

Keep in touch! Only one more week until permanent internet!!
Hasta Luego!
-Nicole