Wherefore art thou red umbrella?

la Univerdisad Pontificia Comillas

Here in Madrid I am studying at la Universidad Pontificia Comillas.  Comillas has two schools:  “la Facultad de Ley” and “la Facultad de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales”.  I am enrolled in the latter since I am studying International Relations in order to further improve my Spanish.  I am considering making Spanish a second major, hence it is essential I gain more confidence while speaking the language.  The main university is currently under construction; hence “la Facultad de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales” has been moved to a different campus, Cantoblano Universidad, another college in Madrid.  The commute to the Cantoblanco campus is about an hour since we have to take two commuter rail trains to get there.  I actually enjoy the commute since it reminds me of commuting into Boston, MA where I work full-time during the summer as a legal secretary at a law firm.  The countryside of Madrid is beautiful, it's quite similar to Palm Springs, CA, dry desert lands meet snow capped mountains, the ultimate oxymoron.  

Comillas logo

I cannot tell you much about the history of Comillas since I missed orientation (For those of you who know me very well, naturally, you will understand my stress-o-meter went off the charts).  During the commute from the main campus of la Universidad Pontificia Comillas to the Cantoblanco campus, our orientation leader, Patricia, lost me and another girl from Merrimack, Kaila, on the metro.  Needless to say Patricia’s idea of holding a red umbrella up, so we could spot her from afar, was a none other than a complete fail.  We were left stranded on the metro, which felt similar to being lost in a corn maze, the same philosophy applied, “your guess is as good as mine”.  I felt a strong yearning for my Garmin, packed neatly away in my glove compartment back home in the United States, miles away.  Kaila and I vaguely remembered Patricia mentioning something about going to Sol, a metro stop, and catching a train to Cantoblanco.  Therefore, since our options were limited, we put our best foot forward to try and rejoin our orientation group.  No map.  No cell phone.  No clue.  No problem. 

Classroom at Comillas, notice the pretty blue tile. 

Kaila and I reading children's books in the library.

We never did locate Patricia.  Kaila and I ended up going the wrong way on the commuter rail, which is quite similar to the Boston commuter rail except it is much cleaner; however the same amount of sympathy should be still applied.  Then, after we were an hour out of our way now traveling the correct way, Kaila and I got off at the wrong stop, thinking the actual Cantoblano campus was our campus, but no. No, no, no, no.  As a result, naturally, we are no longer novices of “the ways” of the Madrid metro.   

Spanish keyboard