missing EEUU

I'd started feeling homesick around day four, to be honest. Spain is wonderful and is more than everything I had mentioned before. I had never thought of myself as afraid of change, and I certainly wouldn't say that now either, but I miss the comforts of friends, family, and some nice big Amurrican sky (the Madrid sky is wide and empty): 

Estados Unidos (EEUU).

A city is a city is a city. Madrid is so much like New York, it's crazy. It surprised me that life and food are generally the same for "normal" people in both cities, despite what I'd mentioned in previous posts: they go to "normal" supermarkets and make "normal" food like sandwiches and salads (or is my homestay just very Americanized?). The greatest difference is the treatment of time, as everything is pushed back in the day (for example, lunch is at 3pm). On the other hand, tourists do exist to maintain the pickpockets at Puerta de Sol. I do consider myself a tourist still at this point, so I do strange and cool things like going to the popular tapas bars that are tailored for foreigners. And who shall I kid about my appreciation for art...I won't stop going to El Prado and such, but I get more excited thinking about green, really.

Palm tree.

Look at this palm tree at the Museo Sorolla. I couldn't tell you what it is, but it has a disease or infection that gives it a furry trunk. Isn't this wonderful? I'm dying to explore the Sierra de Guadarrama for some vistas and senderismo, which I'll do pretty soon because it's basically springtime already (except note: 12 celsius is still really cold for people here, ha, I'll get to explore Cercedilla without the crowds). I've decided that for my twelve days after the program ends, I would like nothing more than to explore a few rural, little towns throughout Europe.

My first day of university classes is tomorrow. I wish I'd had enough guts to take a biology class at the UAM, but talking science in Spanish scares me. Boring details about my semester: I'm currently registered for a seminar on the history of Spain, a lecture on contemporary art history, another on contemporary Spanish literature, and an internship at a children's attention-deficit clinic. I'm scared and I don't know why.