Caroline
and I began our experience at the Instituo de Ciencias Materiales de Madrid
during the 2nd week of our amazing adventure in Spain. The Institute is located
45 minutes outside of the city in University town known as Cantoblanco. In
order to commute to work each day Caroline and I boarded the 9 (purple line)
train at the metro station, Nuñez del Balboa, which was a 6 or 7 minute walk
from our house (depending on how tired we were from our long convos with Maria)
and then arrived at Plaza de Castilla, the major bus station in the city. After
reaching the bus station, we'd board the 714 bus in the direction of
Universidad Autónoma, and we'd wait for 5 or 10 minutes for it to arrive.
Caroline and I had to be strategic about our commute planning and timing but
after the first week we had down packed. Unfortunately after the first week
when July began, the bus schedule switched around again! Luckily with Caro's
super intense speed walking and my very occasional sprint we never missed a bus
or showed up late to work. 
Once arriving at the University we
discovered that we would be working with the most enthusiastic and hilarious
group of people in the program. We spent the most time with two women, Irene
and Rebecca, who were graduate students working on different theses in order to
earn their doctorate. These women were phenomenally intelligent and also
extremely dedicated to helping us understand the way they were conducting,
testing, and concluding each experiment within their project. 
Besides being
amazing scientists Irene and Becca also had great sense of humor and kept us on
our toes through the two weeks we were there with pop quizzes on the periodic
table and mini basketball challenges with the a ball of aluminum and the hoop
(trashcan) . Lunch times were the best when Caroline and I would join a group
of about 8 different grads who were also working at the Institute. Our lunch
time conversations included ongoing debates about American TV shows, varying
cuisine and deciding what color dress Jose would wear to the party that the
program held to welcome the beginning of summer. The party was held on the
Thursday of our first week and included a performance by full scale choir and
food to last for years. Caroline and I typically left work every day around
2:30, catching the bus back to the city and then the train home or to meet up
with the rest of the group.
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