Greetings Rotary Club, Family and Friends!
I’ve been speaking Spanish, thinking Spanish, and breathing Spanish for two months now! September was quite a month because everyone in Spain came back from vacation. It's funny because the whole month of August was slow out here, about a fourth of the stores closed for the entire month! When everyone came back in September, the city became REALLY busy. Almost every night of the week the streets are packed with people and Madrid is ALIVE.
I now live with a lady named Nieves who rents out two rooms in her flat next to La Plaza Mayor, a famous center of Madrid. It’s really cool because her daughter Manuela lives right next door and she has two kids, Jorge (8) and Leonardo (4 months). It’s kind of like I’ve entered a little family because the grandkids live so close! I have pictures of my new flat and my new family below.
At first I didn’t really realize what I had on my hands when I moved by the Plaza Mayor because I wasn’t aware of its magnetic effect. Everyone comes here! There are tons of people around this plaza at all times because there are artists painting, musicians playing and people watching ALL the time (not to mention the great restaurants). After living here for the last 3 weeks I now understand. Please enjoy the pictures of the Plaza Mayor.
I’ve also started music courses at “La Escuela de Musica Creativa”. This school is the reason I came to Madrid and I’m glad to say that they’ve lived up to their name. I’ve already started jazz guitar lessons with bebop master, Joaquin Chacon and classical voice lessons with virtuoso tenor, Braulio Galleguillos. My flamenco guitar classes with Nono Garcia start next week and so do all of the other ensembles. I'm having a great time with music out here and my first three weeks of school are captured below.
In addition, I've been making a lot of friends all over the city and I haven’t forgotten to include photos of Felix and Carmen Olle (my first Spanish family) in the Madrid Friends Section. I hope you enjoy it.
And finally, the Madrid North Rotary Club is back! For the entire month of August I couldn't figure out why there were no meetings, but after our first two in September I learned that many Rotary Clubs take August off. Just like the whole country does! So it made sense, everyone in the club was on vacation. I’m happy to say that the weekly meetings are back in full swing and my first speech is next week. To close I’ve included pictures of my first meetings with the Madrid North Rotary Club.
Below is my Spain Experience for September, please enjoy!
Click HERE- The Rotary Club and District that sent me to Spain
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