MONDAY

Registration Pt. 1

9am we met at the ISA office to finalize course preferences.

I picked 4 computer science classes. It’s difficult taking other classes because

• they meet at a different campus
• most are really boring (sorry, I still don’t enjoy history, politics, writing…)
• they are hard to work into my schedule

Puerta del Sol, a pretty touristy area. The area the big clock tower is called Kilometre Cero or KM0 for short

Presumably this guy’s the namesake of my university

SIM Card

I stopped by the CityLife Madrid office to pick up the free starter kit I signed up for. Part of this bundle was a free SIM card from Lycamobile.

• only 10€ for 7GB data and 100 minutes
• the activation process is a pain

I ended the day going to the Mi Casa Inn office to inquire about their meal plan.

TUESDAY

Registration Pt 2.

8am we departed for Universidad de Carlos III (UC3M), Getafe. My classes will be at the other campus.

• like UMass, it’s a race to register as soon as your slot opens
• I didn’t get into 1 of my 4 classes
• ISA can make special requests to ensure we get into the classes we requested

Afternoon

• Burger King for lunch… the group’s choice not mine
• Explored Corte Inglés (big department store with like ten floors)
• Discovered Matadero Madrid

The view from atop Corte Inglés

Matadero

I started walking in the general direction of Legazpi hoping to find something cool. I was allured by a big clocktower, which led me to the the big entranceway of MATADERO. Google told me this translates to SLAUGHTERHOUSE. I was creeped out but intrigued.

Beyond the wall, there was a huge complex of brick buildings which opened to a huge plaza.

Plaza Matadoro

I checked inside of one of the buildings and seemed to be intruding on people working in glass offices.

Anybody home?

Nonetheless, I followed people through open doors and reached a really weird room.

Sorry for potato quality… it was almost totally dark

It was like I entered a dark basement with its walls and ceiling unfinished. The only light came from 3 big slabs scattered around on which videos were being projected. I put on the provided headphones to listen in. One of the films was two Japanese fighter pilots expressing their feelings to each other about their shared war experience. A lot of the films were too weird to explain, but they all seemed to revolve around topics of war.

I tried to explore the other buildings and found some more odd common spaces like a warehouse style room full of artsy chairs where strangers were silently hanging out. I think that was the weirdest part of the whole complex — it was so quiet.

Most of the other buildings were closed. I returned home and made another grocery stop.

• hold up, I can get a baguette for 0.39€???
• it’s hard to find chicken, but easier to find turkey meat
• I heard pork is popular, it was cheapest so I ate pork belly with rice
• ate almost the entire baguette with dinner