Saturday night, I got to meet most of the people I will be at school with at Middlebury. Gaby Ventura sent out an e-mail and organized a meeting place and we were able to meet for dinner. We walked around a bit and finally found a really cool place to eat and have a couple drinks just to the south of Sol. The group was small, only 5 of us as Phillip was unable to make it. I met Sean, a guy from Ponoma in California who is originally from Washington; Gabby who also goes to Pomona and is from Los Angeles; Gabriella who goes to Oberlin and is from NYC; and Peris who also goes to Pomona and is from Chicago. Sean and I shared some Chorizo, we had a couple drinks, and then decided to head out for the night. After talking to one of Dan's friends (Lucia), we were invited to a club and we got in without paying the 20 Euro Cover charge because she put us on the guest list. It was pretty cool - lots of hard hitting techno - eventually the outrageously priced drinks and the bumping got old, so we parted ways.

On Sunday, I woke up and met my landlord Ruben at my new piso and he showed me around and we finalized things. The new place is unbelievable. I am living with 2 Italians, 2 French Girls, a Spanish Girl, and a Guy from Britian so the house is pretty diverse which is great. I brought Sean and Peris along with me as they were still looking for Pisos and Sean will be moving in at the end of the month and Peris will be living right above me at the end of the month as well. I soon left and came back to the Perez's whereupon I went to a movie with Senora Ferraro (It's Complicated) in Spanish, and then had my last dinner at Dan's house. It was amazing. It started snowing while we were in the theatre so there was snow absolutely everywhere. Senor Perez happened to be at a Real Madrid Match at the Bernabeau, and eveyone had a tough time getting home. At dinner he offered to take me to the next game, and I am definitely going to take him up on it. I went to bed almost immediately after dinner, exhausted from the long day and night before before my first day of orientation.

Monday was an especially big day as I started school. I woke up early gathered my things and began the trip downtown to school. The school is going to be awesome. We had breakfast and had our orientation entirely in Spanish. To my pleasant surprise, I understood everything. The staff is awesome, and they definitely made us feel at home. I am going to be taking a classes on Environmental Policy in Spain, Art through Museums, Spanish Literature and Grammer, and another class on the history of Spain (entirely in Spanish). After orientation some of the other people (Ben, Tanika, Olivia, and Jillian) continued their search for housing while I was lucky enough to meet Ruben (my landlord) with Sean and move into my apartment. We later went out for a beer, and once again exhausted I went to sleep.

Today, I went on a tour of El Estadio Bernabéu where Real Madrid plays soccer. El Bernabéu seats 80 thousand and it is a beautiful sporting complex, with an extremely rich history - and although Americans are crazy about our version of football, it does not even hold a candle to how wild Madrilenos are about thier football. After a late lunch, I went and bought some essential items for my piso (sheets, some food, and towels), and am settling in for a quiet night as tomorrow I have a spanish placement exam.