Revelations of a Busy Weekend

-Food is good, but still odd. After awhile, its hard to not miss "normal" food- Paella, hot ham and cheese sandwiches, pasta.. yummy! Had some jelly thing that we tried in Guanajuato..still weird, and a very Spanish meal of lentejas is good despite the vastly different (and worse tasting) chorizo. Did have a lunch at a Mexican restaurant, which tried to be a little Tex-Mex and a little Mexican. Pretty good for Spain, but would not be able to compete with home!

-Seeing Piratas del Caribe (Pirates of the Caribbean) was wonderful, wonderful. Probably the most semi-American thing I've done here besides Starbucks. Still a little different (assigned seats and butterless popcorn) I can't deny it felt good to just relax and watch a movie in English. And the movie wasn't too shabby either.

-El Rastro is crazy. A huge flea market on Sundays, the Rastro is a place of seeming chaos. I think thousands of people were out and about, crowding the streets and tents, and usually smoking... and it was 95+ degrees. Anything and everything could be found at this place- shoes, shirts, antiques, lingerie, art, frying pans, you name it. Got there early and left when it was turning even more crazy... thank goodness we missed the "big crowd."

- The swimming pool was probably the most surprising thing that has happened to me. Erika, Kas, Mike (who rents a room in our flat), and I decided to escape the blazing heat of the day and go to El Lago, the Lake. Really a huge place of 3 pools, el Lago is popular. During our search for some grass to lay on, one could definitely point out the differences between this place and one from the US. One-- thongs are popular. On guys and girls. Two-- so are speedos, which are better, but not by much. Three-- and even more popular, no tops at all. Really odd to see who opted for that style, and especially since it was a public pool, with people young and old. Whew! Kas and I did make some new friends--- 7 year old Erika and her 4 year old brother Juan, who took it upon themselves to tell us everything about themselves and collect us about 500 little flowers, which they then threw upon us as we sunbathed. Really cute, but one can only take kids patting your head to wake up for so long hahaha

-And now that the weekend is over, it is hitting us all that we only have 1 week left in Madrid. Mixed feelings for everyone (some a little more happy than others). For me, I'm more ready to finish with homework and assignments than actually leaving.

Tapas y Vino

En el viernes anterior durante mi viaje a Toledo , comí en un cervezería en la tarde. A causa de la lluvia y malo tiempo, me senté adentro del restaurante. Ordené paella de carne, queso manchego, y tinto de verano. Dos cosas, el queso y vino, fueron mis favoritos. Paella fue nuevo para mi. Pero la experiencia fue muy interesante. Estuve estacionario para tres horas en un lugar; vi la vida diario de la ciudad cerca del restaurante. Había muchos turistas, de otros países y de España, y las interacciones fueron muy cómicos. En la mesa a la derecha de mi mesa, había dos chicas, dieciseis años más o menos, quien no supieron nada en español. Se sentí un poquito orgullosa porque comuniqué mejor de ellas. Este día fue fantástico; hablé más con mis amigas y comí comida muy rica.

How does one explain this?

I seriously cannot begin to describe how much fun I've had these past few days. Thursday night, we all went to a hiphop club called Sweet, which was a TON of fun (below is Erika and me before we went out). Met and talked to many people in the streets and a few people who work at the local bars. I cannot believe it has been only 5 days because I am learning so much every day-- especially from random encounters. Life here is so different, but it is very relaxed. And alive. People are out and about late at night, having dinner or eating in a chocolateria at 11:30pm. Despite the constant rain and cool temps---

Yesterday was our excursion to Toledo, which was fabulous--though very rainy and cold still. And lots of walking on cobblestone, ouch! But visiting the various churches and monasteries was well worth it, particularly the Cathedral. It was so ornate and unbelievable huge. 'The gals' (Erika, Kas, and I) spent the late afternoon in La Plaza de Zocodover, eating Paella (below is Kas and I with our meal) and having tinto de verano-- mostly so we could stay dry and warm haha.
And finally, last night we went to the ever-so-posh Joy Madrid, a club very near our flat. (Score: got free entrance!!) The disco was what one would call a stereotypical European club-- loud disco music, trippy lights, and an occaisional mullet. The highlight of the night was meeting the soccer team from Switzerland, whom we hung out with for awhile. Pretty darn crazy soccer players, I'd say!