Madrid

Our group headed to Madrid this weekend and it was a great time. We took the train, which was about a 2 hour ride, and then checked into our hotel right across the street. The "backyard" of our hotel leads to the entrance of La Reina Sofia which was our first stop after lunch. I have been to La Reina Sofia before but didn't remember much except for seeing Picasso's La Guernica. I really loved the 2nd floor of the museum because it was all works by Picasso, Miro, Gaudi, y other more well-known artists. After that we had about an hour or so to hang out and then we went to the Prado which consists of works by Raphael, Velazquez, El Greco, Rembrandt, Goya, Murillo y Zurbaran. I loved this museum as well but was a little worn out from the first. For this reason Ashley and I walked around and only went the works on our guide sheet but had a great conversation. I love good conversation.
After the museums a few of us girls headed out to do a bit of shopping and two of the guys came with. We thought we told them what we were doing but apparently "We're going shopping" was translated into "We're going to eat." They were pretty good sports but eventually ditched out to find some food. We caught up with them and 6 of us went to a tapas bar and then back to the hotel. We all went back and got ready to go out. About half the group went to la discoteca La Teatro Kapital. Since it was a 20 Euro covercharge I opted out. The rest of us left the hotel around 2:00 ish? to fond a place to go but ended up just walking around for a while. I was completely fine with that because it actually turned out to be a lot of fun. I don't quite remember how it all came about but for some reason Tito stopped walking and I turned around to say something to him and our conversation with him saying, "Box, kaboom!" and lightly kicking this box on somebody's door step. Turns out there was a man sleeping on the inside. We had no idea. After we got over the shock of a man's voice coming from the box we turned and did a tip-toe run. On our way back through that street we opted to walk on the opposite sidewalk.
Yesterday we pretty much just spent our time walking around the city and shopping. A few of us went and ate lunch in a restaurant just off La puerta del sol and then after more shopping we met up with the group and took the train home.

Overall, Spain is amazing. I love our location, the university, my host mom, the group, everything. Oh, and our director is ridiculous. She is so funny. When I get a chance I'll try and get some pictures up including one of her in what we call her "lion coat." Sorry for so many words and little to see lately but I really do promise, pictures will come soon.
I want to end this post with more things I'm learning.

I'm learning:

-to like flan. I didn't think this day would ever come, especially after my first night here when I literally choked down the flan my host mom gave me for dessert. Only 10 days later and I am perfectly content when she hands me a cup of flan for dessert.

-to really like wine. Those of you who know me well know that my drink of choice is Mike's which isn't really an option for me now. So when we go to a bar for tapas and a drink after class and everybody gets a beer, I'll get a glass of wine and like it. Always red, though.

-to live without much internet access. I'm the only person in the group that doesn't have a laptop. Therefore, those of you who have expressed frustration in my lack of timely response, I apologize. I actually really like not having internet access often so please, be patient with me.

-to like not having things to do besides walk around or go to a cafe. It's nice.

-to be okay with the fact that my host mom probably thinks I'm an idiot. I can express myself and say what I want in Spanish but only to a certain extent, and sometimes or often rather, with many errors. Example, before I got a movil she was trying to tell me that I should get one and I tried asking if they were cheap. As easy of a question that is to put into Spanish I still screwed it up. Any Spanish speakers out there know of a word that's similar to "barato?" (cheap)... Yes, that's right, I asked her if the cell phones were "borracho." (drunk).

I think I'll end my post on that note.