My new blog:

Hey everyone,
I am continuing my blog from Boston, but it has a new adress: go to
http://blogs.cas.suffolk.edu/joana1986 to read it!

This is it !

I'm sorry for those boring past few weeks you guys had to spend without getting any news from THE REAL WORLD MADRID! But I really did not have much time to take a breath - in the days after the fare well dinner I had to pack up my entire life from the last two years into three suitcases (and four boxes) and attend several good bye parties.

Anyway: I must say, the ceremony was a beautiful way to reflect over and conclude the past two years. The student speakers and the Dean held wonderful speeches, we received nice blue stoles with the Suffolk symbol, and we finally got to see a slide show with pictures from the past two years. I saw quite a few tears running down several cheeks that night! Afterwards we hopped on our trusted Yolcar buses and drove to the restaurant in the outskirts of Madrid. With its beautiful gardens, we had a nice setting to take pictures and chit chat a bit before the dinner. We ate in a huge ball room on large round tables with our closest friends next to us. Afterwards the ballroom turned into a dance floor, and everybody (especially Tom) enjoyed the music to the fullest!
Overall: una noche de diez!
It was the perfect good bye to this wonderful experience we had in Suffolk Madrid.
We learned a lot and we grew pretty close toward adulthood and independence as anyone can possibly grow in only two years. Congratulations to us!

But, don't worry, the next journey will start soon. Only a few months to go and we will all be in Boston together...

San Sebastián

We are back from our trip to San Sebastián!
(The last trip for this semester, and for some of us the last trip with Suffolk.)
San Sebastián, to me, is one of the most beautiful cities in Spain. This small city by the beach surprises with so much sophistication and flair that for a moment I thought I was somewhere in Switzerland or Austria (also because of the architecture). We ate "pinchos", we drank "sidra", we climbed up the mountain "Urgull" and we took long walks on the beautiful avenue along the beach.
The only bad thing about the trip was the terrible weather; but with umbrella and Converse you can make it happen!

Sir! Visit to the N.A.T.O. Headquarters, Sir!

You know how it's always quite beneficial to know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody?
Well, the students in our Government class "Politics of the Middle East" are lucky enough to have a professor with connections to the Spanish Ministry of Defense. Pretty nice! So, not only do we get to learn fresh and interesting viewpoints when discussing international politics in class, but we also get to go on quite remarkable field trips. Today, we went to visit the N.A.T.O. headquarters for "Chain of Command - Land" (if that means anything to you?!), which are located about 30 minutes outside of Madrid (the headquarters for Air and Maritime are in Turkey and Italy!).
We were allowed to sit in the conference room on one of these giant U-shaped tables with microphones in front of each seat. I don't know about the others, but I definitely felt like a president!
After the Commander welcomed us with a short speech (and our professor with a kiss on each cheek, of course), we got to listen to three really interesting presentations about the Madrid Headquarters and the current political issues N.A.T.O. is dealing with (you know... Somalia, Darfur, Georgia, Afghanistan, and so forth). In between we had some coffee and some cake, and took a group picture with the Commander at the end. Everyone around us was wearing military outfits and all kinds of hats. It was really an interesting environment, and a great way to finish our Politics class for this semester!

Oh, I forgot...

... to tell you how my Spring Break was. Well... see for yourself!


(Lagos, Portugal)

Counting Down

After a week and a half of spring-breaking all over Europe, everybody found their way back to Madrid safely.
What's next on the program? ...Oh right: FINALS!
In pretty much three weeks we will be out for the summer. And for some of us, this means our time in Madrid will be over. I know, it's pretty sad, but luckily our student council thought of something really special to complete this year: a commencement ceremony AND a nice dinner with dance afterwards! How much better can it get? We will even get picked up by buses that escort us to the restaurant.
The whole thing will end at midnight, of course, just like in all the good fairy tales.
Everybody is pretty excited and I'm sure it will be a great night.

But before that, we will have an amazing trip to San Sebastián!

I'll keep you posted...

Dude, where is my backpack?

We are very close to legendary Spring Break here at the Suffolk University Madrid Campus. It's the time when everybody is nervous about finding cheap offers for spending those eleven days visiting all the places they haven't seen yet. Road trips, cruises, or backpacking - we are being very creative this year.
No matter if on water, in the air, by foot, or on wheels, people are getting around somehow!
From what I have heard so far, Morocco, the Azores, Switzerland, and Greece are some of the most popular destinations.
Last year I flew all the way to Argentina for my Spring break, but this year I will take it easy and just go visit our small but friendly neighbor: Portugal!
What can I say - LIFE IS TOUGH! We gotta work on that tan, don't we?

Frühling! Spring! Primavera!

I am so happy that the depressing days of winter are pretty much over! Here is another thing about Madrid that I'm going to miss: the winters are much shorter than in other cities (cough, BOSTON!, cough).
Bye bye boots, hello ballerinas!
The spring started just on time with the end of midterms (and I must say: being boring and staying at home studying really pays off.) So now, everyone can fully enjoy the first days of t-shirt weather. Although, I have seen some crazy people around campus wearing short sleeves these past weeks!
So yesterday, some friends and I officially welcomed the cutest time of the year with a "hanging-out-on-the-grass-on-a-Sunday-afternoon"-session in Retiro. Apparently, about 5 million other Madrileños had the same idea, because the park was packed. It was such a nice day!
Too bad it's Monday already...

Carmen

Last week a group of staff/faculty/students (including me) decided to be cultural for once.
So we dressed up and went to the theater Lope De Vega on the Madrid-version of the Broadway, Gran Via, to watch a flamenco interpretation of the opera Carmen by George Bizet.
IT - WAS - AMAZING!
The theater was sold out, of course.
For two hours we watched the fascinating choreography together with the sounds of the typical flamenco guitar and songs.
It was sensual, emotional, and passionate. I didn't now you could use fans and ponchos for dancing - but apparently you can! And it looks hot!
The main dancer, Sara Baras (a famous Flamenco personality in Spain), wore several beautiful, long dresses in bright red or black and incorporated the long fabrics into her dance moves.
The audience, which probably consisted of 99% Spaniards, couldn't hold back their fascination. In between the scenes, somebody always screamed "Vamos!", "Olé!" or "Guapa!".
It was really a fantastic show!

Granada Excursion

One of the exciting excursions Suffolk Madrid had organized for this spring was a weekend trip to Granada - a beautiful little city in the South of Spain, at the bottom of the Sierra Nevada. We were a cozy group of around 40 people and we stayed in a cute hotel within walking distance from the city center.
We had a great weekend with lots of sun and amazing food! The Moroccan restaurant we ate at the first night was incredible - homemade mint/lemon/orange-blossom lemonade, spicy tomato soup, couscous with meat and cinnamon, and some delicious mint tea at the end. We all loved the crazy mix of different flavors!
The next day we spent the entire afternoon visiting the Alhambra. Located on a hill overlooking Granada, this old fortress is an incredibly impressive piece of Moorish architecture. We spent the day wandering around in its several buildings and beautiful gardens.
At night we watched a Flamenco Show, once again, that turned out to be a very entertaining experience. Apparently, women of all ages, sizes, and talent-levels are allowed to be on stage. Luckily, the second group left us absolutely speechless with their dancers, and especially with the cute guitar player...