Another Quick Update

Hello!


I am going to give you guys a short update. Things are going really well. I love living right in the city. It is so easy to get around! I went clubbing with some friends last weekend and it was really fun. Then on Sunday I went to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. The artwork was really interesting and Emily, Ara and I spent a couple hours there. Then we went to eat at La Latina, a part of Madrid that has a lot of restaurants and bars. On Sunday mornings it has a flea market. We went to a couple bars and had drinks and then had some delectable tapas. Overall, it was a very good day.

A couple days ago it was my friend Emily´s last day here so Ara, Ara´s brother, Emily and I went out to my favorite restaurant, Lateral. Then we went to a bar on the roof of a really nice hotel. It had the best view of  the city and there was a pool and a bunch of bed to sit on. It was very trendy and I had the tastiest mojito : )

I decided to take the afternoons off and now I am taking Spanish classes from Monday until Thursday. It is really helpful and I am learning a lot. Work was kind of slow at the beginning of the week, and then on Wednesday Ara and I got bombed with a 16 page contract to translate. I like translating though, so it was good.


Tonight is Ara´s brother´s birthday party, so I am excited for that. It should be really fun! We will also do something educational over the weekend, don´t worry parents : )

So, in an earlier post I mentioned the artist Liesel Kippel. That is her married name. her artist name is Liesel Beukes. If you want to see her artwork, her facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/#!/Liesel.Beukes.

Best to all,

Julia

Living In The City!

Hello All!

I have finally arrived at Javier Cremades' home right in the Salamanca district in Madrid. It is a really great location because I am literally five minutes away from work! It is also right across from Retiro Park, which is like the Central park of Madrid. Javier and his wife have seven super adorable children. I spent a lot of time over the weekend with them, and they have definitely taken a liking to me. They have all left for their summer home in Málaga, which is in the very south of Spain. I have been invited to go there for a weekend and I will definitely take their offer! They will be gone all summer, along with the mother and father, so Ara and I have the apartment to ourselves. It's going to be nice, but I really like the children, so it is kind of a bummer that I won't get to see them.

Anyway, last weekend was super fun because I went out with Ara and her roommates. There is a girl from Texas who is nineteen and she is very nice. She goes to the University of Hawaii. I am super jealous. We first went to Plaza Del Mayor to a famous market. The history behind the plaza is that is used to be a place where they would publicly humiliate people who went against the church, and eventually kill them. It is weird because now it is such a beautiful place where everyone comes to relax. We had tapas and drinks there, and then we went to a special bar that makes yummy fruity drinks. I had a special Brazilian drink with liquor from sugar cane. It was delicious.  After drinks there we went to a club and they gave us free VIP bracelets. Living the life. 

Yesterday I was going to take a moped tour of Madrid with Ara and her friends from Mexico who are visiting, but there was a gay pride parade, so we went to that instead. It was so fun! There were so many characters there. I took lots of pictures, so you will see them on Facebook very soon. This morning Ara and I went to a couple museums and walked around the park. Later this afternoon we are going to a flea market in Plaza La Latina. There are also places to get tapas and drinks, and we want to visit a couple churches. I can't believe that I only have three more weeks left! This summer is going by too fast. Ara and I are planning to pack our days full of cultural experiences and traveling. After all, I am not only here to work, but also experience Spain. Speaking of work, it has been a little bit boring because all I do is translate and print contracts. I guess that is the work of an intern though, and it still is a good experience to be here at the firm.

I hope the fam is having fun in Colorado! I am so disappointed that I can’t be there! Happy Fourth of July! Miss and love you all!

xx,

Julia

Quick Update

Hey, so I have not written on my blog in a while because I have been super busy. Two weekends ago I went to Germany to visit my friends from Chile and go to Julia’s birthday party. She featured artwork in her house from a great South African artist named Liesel Kippel. It is really amazing and she sold her first painting! Yay! I got to meet my friend Claudia’s grandmother from Norway, who is very nice. I also did some more sight seeing and saw a church completely made out of recycled materials. A Russian man made it who survived the Holocaust. He lived until he was 110! It was very cool to see.

When I got back, I had so much work to do. I helped write some really important documents in English and translated a little bit. I also work with excel and power point and all of those programs. I am working on a presentation because they want to help sell a few hotels in Spain. Today I got yelled at though because there is one printer for the 100 people that work there, and a big part of my job is printing contracts. They take so long to print and one of the lawyers kept running in and swearing in Spanish. Then she started to yell at me and was like, “I have something really urgent to print and your printing is taking a long time, so I am going to cancel your job. I explained to her that the printer downstairs was not working and she just kept yelling at me. It is not fun to get yelled at, especially when someone yells at you in a language that you aren’t fluent in.

Anyway, last weekend was really fun because I met Ara’s roommates and we all went out to a club together. I didn’t get home until eight in the morning because people stay out really late (early) here. They are French, but their second language is Spanish, so we had no other choice but to speak Spanish with each other. It was good practice.

On Sunday I went out with Ara (and this girl who moved into the house I am staying at from Philadelphia). We went to El Museo de Prado. It is a really cool art museum downtown. Then we went to the movies to see Midnight in Paris. It is terrible. DO NOT see it. Overall though, it was a fun day.

Ara and I have been doing fun things during our breaks and after work. We go out for drinks a lot and shop around. We both really want to experience Madrid, so that is nice. We have a lot in common. Next week we are going to live together at the managing partners apartment right in the city. It will be nice because there will be more to do, and it is less of a commute for me.

Anyway, Ara and I may go out with her brother and his friends this coming weekend and maybe go to a bullfight! All fun things.

Miss everyone!

XOXO,

Julia

First Week @ Work

So, at the beginning of the week, I had no work, and all I did was sit at my desk and talk to Arantxa. Looking back though, it was fine because I got to know her really well. I love her, she is great. She gets a lot more work than I do, but it is fine because she is a lot more experienced. I ran into one of the lawyers on the metro going home, and he said that I could help them do the work they have to do to open an office in New York City. I am super excited. Possible job opportunity right there! 

I love Arantxa! I honestly would have to quit this internship if I didn't have her. She helps me so much! As much as I love her though, I really want to make more friends. I don’t know how that will happen though. I get home so late. I work until 7, and don't get home until 8 or 8:30, sometimes later. I wake up, go to work, come home, and go to bed. I really haven't gotten to see anything yet, but it has only been a week. I can't believe that! It feels like I've been here for so long.

Ara went to Salamanca to visit her friend, so she was gone for the weekend. I thought I was going back to the country, but they thought it best that I stay home and relax. The four-day-old baby got baptized, and I saw all of the children dressed up in the cutest outfits ever. All the same little dresses and sweaters for the girls, and the same button downs and khaki’s for the boys. Spanish children are all very well dressed. Anyway, I spent the weekend at the house by myself. I did laundry, cleaned and sat by the pool. So fun. Haha. Hopefully I will get to sight see a little bit next week. I am going to Munich for my friend from Chile’s birthday party at the end of the week, so I am taking a couple days off. The people at work said, “you are young, don’t spend too much time at the internship and really explore Spain.” I’m like, if you insist : ) Aunt Janet is going to be in Venice in July and hopefully I will go visit her. I am really excited. I love Italy and I’ve never been to Venice, so that would be very exciting. I don’t think that she knows that I plan on coming. Hehe. She’s in for a surprise. Anyway, I will try to take some more pictures.

XOXO,

Julia

The Country

So, their country home here is amazing! Lots of animals, a tennis court, a basketball court and a pool. The have two huge houses because their entire extended family goes there. I got my own room and a porch with the most amazing view! They have a staff there of chefs, nannies and maids. I try to help as much as I can, but I think it's considered inappropriate because only the maids clean. I went downstairs for breakfast and when I came back to my room, my bed was made and my clothes were put away. I did not ask for any of this. It is not real life. There were fifteen children there, from 4 days to 12 years old. It was crazy, but Spanish children are very well behaved. I spent a lot of time with them and they are no longer afraid of me (and I of them). I won them over with my charm (and maybe my iphone : ) That always comes in handy with children. Everyone was so nice, I loved their grandmother (abuela). We really bonded.

I spent the first day exploring with them. I held a baby chicken and got chased by a sheep. They are actually really scary. I think I screamed more than the children. We played by the waterfalls and caught las grías (grasshoppers). One little boy picked a flower and gave it to me. Too cute!

This morning we went to a famous monastery and I walked around while they went to mass. There was a little village above it, so I ventured up there and it was so pretty. Your typical European small town. When we got back, lunch was ready and they gave it to us course by course. I ate baby lamb because I didn't want to be rude. Never again. I bit into a huge piece of fat and Santi was like "do you like it? He saw my face and was like, okay everyone close your eyes, Julia needs to spit out her food." So much for your manners speech, mom. Sorry. They all thought it was really funny though. Then the grandfather asked me if his family reminded me of the mafia. I was like, "No, but you do a little". Everyone thought that was funny too. Oh, and this was all in Español. : )

First day of work tomorrow! I am excited. Now I am off to study Spanish law a little bit.


Pictures below : )

Adios!

The First Day!!

So, I am pretty much making this blog so Adam and Sarah will read it, so here goes.

Estoy aqui! (I am here!) The house is beautiful! It is very modern and it is one of the nicest areas in Madrid. The children are so cute, but I think they are afraid of me. I have to admit I am kind of afraid of them. There are so many, I cannot keep track. I have the weekend with the family and then I go to work on Monday. My flight out here was a mess. First, I was super uncomfortable because I got terrible blisters on my feet from walking around NYC. Adam and Sarah, I regret to inform you that I fell asleep for the meal. I thought I just dosed off, but when I woke up everyone was finishing. I promise I will stay awake for my flight home. How can I go through life without a great AirFrance meal? Anyway, then I only had an hour between flights, and my flight was late, so I missed my second one. Then I had to go back out through security in Paris and go to the ticketing agent. Well, these French policeman started yelling at me in French and I was like, Je ne parle français! You should always know how to say you don't know how to speak whatever language when you go abroad. Julia's travel tip number one : )  He kept yelling at me and I was so overwhelmed. Apparently there was an unattended bag and they were closing that side of the airport. Finally I managed to change my flight, and then I realized that I left my sweater at security, so I had to go all the way there and get it. Series of unfortunate events. Anyway, I am here now. Last night I just kind of chilled in my room. I tried to unpack, but I was so jetlagged, I just fell asleep. I woke up to one of the children, Gema, opening my door this morning. She is just too cute! I love her. She is two years old. I have been speaking a lot of Spanish and I am already getting better! Well, I am officially going to unpack now. I am leaving at four to go to their country house. Apparently they have cows, sheep, chicken and other farm animals. I am in heaven. Okay, well that's it for now.  More blogging to come!

xoxo