Mish-mash!

My apologies for the extended delay of my posts. I haven't had much news as of late. A and I mostly plan our lessons and go to work during the week. Our weekends have been filled with drawing, reading and occasional trips to eat kebaps (or kebabs). This last week was a bit frustrating since our electricity kept shorting out. We attempted to explain the situation to our landlady, who believes the problem stems from our stovetop. We came home that evening to find a box on our counter that said we were to use this to cook. It is a portable stove with only one burner.

As my days turn more into camping trips, I try to keep positive and explore different streets in the city. A and I went antique window-shopping last week and came across some beautiful buildings. I wonder what it would be like to live here.













We had an extended weekend because Monday is a puente or holiday. During the weekend, we traveled up to Plaza de Castilla to take some night pictures. There are some great office buildings up here that are constructed at a slant. I will post pictures of those soon. In the meantime, here's a picture of a statue in the area.




And now a short story about tests. This week, I received two new clients for English tutoring. They specifically want to prepare for the TOEFL exam. I hope that I will be able to adequately prepare them because I am a horrible test taker myself. I decided to apply for graduate school for next year, so I will be taking the GRE test here in Madrid. The test will take place at Universidad Europa de Madrid. Even though Madrid is in the name, the silly place is a half hour outside of the city! A and I decided to take the bus and try to find the place before test day. It was really nice to get out of the city and see the landscape. I must note that there was graffiti everywhere we looked. Here's a shot of the mountains outside of Madrid. Absolutely beautiful.



We took the bus to the end of the line and found the university. Our trip was a success, but it was a bit scary out there since it seemed so desolate. I was worried that there wouldn't be another bus to take us home! Fortunately, one showed up a few minutes later. Here is a picture of the university grounds.



Well, I better get back to studying and preparing for class tomorrow! Next week...Toledo!