Los madriellenos

Last week Ryan and I were fortunate enough to have lunch with one of Ryan’s family friends who spend part of her time in Miami and part in Madrid. Araceli has a home in both cities and was very excited when she heard that we wanted to study in Madrid. She works as a journalist (like me J ) so I think it’s really interesting to listen to her stories (and of course, she loves to tell them) She is very bright and has even written a book about the Castro’s dictatorship in Cuba. She is very sweet and even offered for us to stay at her house in the north of Spain during our stay- but we didn’t have enough time.

Her brother lives in Madrid with his wife and their son, so we met them all for lunch. At first, I was nervous because I knew it might be difficult to understand them, but once we met them, they were so warm and were genuinely excited to meet us. It was fun to see how they interacted with each other. We talked about the history of Spain, U.S. politics (which they were very excited/interested about) among other things. They seemed really interested in how we will use Spanish when we leave Madrid, if we would want to come back (Of course!) and our travels while in Madrid. The wife mentioned several times that when we come back, she is always available to help us.

The food was incredible. We ate this fabulous Galician restaurant near their home, which is very close to Retiro. They ordered for us and I got a chance to try octopus. It was actually very tasty and I had the most out of everyone. The fish was really good too. And finally, the dessert was my favorite part of course. Ryan and I split a chocolate and cream crepe. I had such a good time and it was really wonderful to spend time with Araceli and her family.

-Hanna