Exploring Madrid!

hola! So, I've spent a few more days here in madrid and I'm having a blast! I finally feel like I'm in Madrid, Spain now after exploring Spain today. So, here's what's been going on I started classes yesterday and they seem pretty easy...Christian Beliefs and Latin Rythms and Dance. Then last night me and some friends went out to sol...which was soo much fun! :) Then today Me, Melissa, Lynn, Ally, Michelle, and Emily all went exploring Madrid! We had a map and followed it for the most part...but saw a lot of EXTRAORDINARY things! Some of the majors were the another palacio reales...(the king/queen have 6, i have seen 2 thus far), plaza mayor, and the cript of the cathedral of madrid. We also stumbled upon other finds in the city as we veered off of the map a bit, including...plaza de Isabel II, Plaza de oriente, basilica pontificia de san miguel, and dalieda de san francisco. It was a lot of walking...just about 4 hours in the hot Madrid sun...without a cloud in the sky might i add...but it was definately worth it! I loved the fact that I had learned about a lot of these places in my spanish classes and was able to see them in person and hear the stories yet again. My favorite of the day definately had to be the palacio real #2 because of all the intricacies that were involved it was cool to think that the buildings had been there for hundreds of years, all the people who made this really cool building a reality and the royalty that once walked and lived in these rooms...it was amazing.
Apart from the exploring I have been doing, I have been adapting or at least attempting to adapt to the Spanish culture. Here is what I have learned thus far, their ambulances are yellow, I need sunscreen to walk to class and around because the sun is so strong, people wear VERY colorful pants, people are not ashamed of staring, people will stare if you are very pale, have freckles, ect, people are willing to help you if you attempt to speak spanish(no matter how choppy it might be :)), aseos=bathroom, correo=mail and that you can walk to just about any place you need. I have also learned that Spain is doing their part in conservation ,in my opinion, for the environment...they don't have AC(for the most part), they take quick showers to conserve water, they don't leave electronics plugged in or on to conserve energy, and they don't have washers and dryers for their clothes. Now I could be wrong for generalizing any of these things but this is just what I have been observing.
I love it here though it is full of history and life! My senora makes scrumchious Spanish meals, my roomies are a lot of fun and what could beat waking up to hearing music, violins, pianos, and sometimes opera! I'm planning on going sight seeing again tomorrow! I can't wait to see what else Spain has out there!
Hasta Luego!
p.s. working on getting the pictures smaller and in slideshow format! :)