Odd Coincidences

Today I got to sleep in a little, and then a little more than I bargained for because last night was day light savings time. I woke up and studied for my history test all morning. One of the other girls came over and she talked us all in to going to lunch with her. She's very picky and prefers to only eat American food, so we had to go to TGI Fridays.

When we got there I was a little excited because I got to have a hamburger, I haven't had any red meat since I left California. At all people! So my hamburger was everything I dreamed it would be and made me very happy. After lunch Michelle and I had walked back to the apartment while the other girls went to see a bull fight.

I chose not to go to the bull fight because I don't think it's fair. They weaken the bull before he even sees the matador, how is that fair? I will go see a fight when the Matador's have the possibility of dying the same as the bull. One of the poor girls who went didn't know that they killed the bull every time. She thought it was just a fight, and I explained to her that yes, it is a fight to the death.

So I headed home and spent the majority of the day with Josune. It was a great day for me because she made me dinner while I sat and talked to her. We found out that both her father and my father broke their ankles and then we had to entertain them with westerns. They both prefer vacations where they drive around and stay where ever they happen to be. And they think everyone else is a fool, the only interesting difference is that my dad is in his 40s and her dad is in his 60s.

Her dad also loves to read Zane Grey books, and I remembered that I had read "Riders of the Purple Sage." When she called him later she mentioned that I had read that book. He told her that when we got home I needed to come to the house and he would give me some of the books from his collection, and let me borrow some others. He also told her to tell me that he will also give some books that are proper for a lady, not that much violence. He said that if I have read that type of book then obviously I was someone Josune should be friends with.

I then had her read an email that my dad sent me when I first got to Madrid. She loved it so much she made me read it to Alex when he got home. Both of them love my parents now and can't wait to meet them

.

Here is the email I received:

My Dearest Daughter,

I gave it a lot of thought last night and I am truly concerned for your safety. Being in a 3^rd world country has it perils! So I started thinking about your need for a sword, but then comes the total lack of upper body strength, according to the European web sites that I went to, this could be a problem. We did not talk about you carrying a lance while riding your new bull, but we can discuss this in the next few days when you have picked out the bull you will be riding (I will need to know the diameter of the horns, width and length. Spacing of the eyes is apparently very important, please keep this in mind; also something about "girth" but I think that is only if you are shipping. Shipping should not be a problem to other countries, I found that a lot of other countries have a bull exchange program, we can discuss this later).

After extensive research, I have decided that you should wear armor I can get it from Toledo in stainless steel so that it will not rust in the rain, at this point in your trip it might be something to think about. If the other girls are interested, we can get them fitted as well. The armor will take about 2 months to make, if they rush it. You will probably sustain some damage the first 2 months, but by the 3^rd month you will be on your game and the armor will come in to play (this will also allow you to hunt down the people that damaged you in the first 2 months).

Having a dagger is a must, this is something that you should pick up today at your local store.

We did not discuss carrying a hammer, but with the upper body strength issue I think we should table this for now, but I do have an alternative.

Now, this is a hammer pendant, this can be used to tap people on the head to get their attention followed by the use of the dagger. I need to know what type of metal you would like before I order this, gold and silver is too soft, they recommend staying with bronze, but this is your call. I can go with aluminum so it will be lighter, but you would have to probably tap them multiple times, again your call.

As far as the "snake dagger" it is not recommended due to trapping bits between the blades and requires constant cleaning after squirmishes, save time…..don't go with this one.

As far as a shield, the Spanish Government recommends that this be carried at all times (they do say that you have to leave them outside of bars and banks and some stores, not sure why the stores but so be it). I can order this on Monday if you like the design (they also said I can replace "Conan's name" with yours if you would like. I say leave the name, it will help instill terror.

I know that you really want to carry a mace, but it is really heavy and I say let it go unless you are going to put it on one of your pack animals.

I think that this is the style of sword that will go with the armor; light and fast moving, I say go with it……your mother I'm sure would agree.

If you let me know by Tuesday, I can go ahead and get some made up for the other girls and it will match yours (remember safety in numbers). It comes with a handy stand that you can put by the front door. Engraving is very expensive, so they will have to do this on their own. Interestingly, if you want a blood bowel to sit in the bottom of the stand it is only 5 euro's more, you can get it in wood or stainless steel (I say go with the stainless steel, cleaning will be easier).

I know that I have given you a lot to think about, but these are things that need to be taken care of as soon as possible. They need 3 full days to fit your armor as it is sent out to the local villages to be made.

Oh, KT borrowed your jeep yesterday. She said the tires seemed to be rubbing a little bit, I will take a look at it later today, I'm sure it's no big deal.

I love you Sissy and I'm thinking about you………..have way too much fun! But please, please be careful until we get you the shield and dagger as a minimum.

Love Dad

El Escorial

So I woke up this morning at seven. I was perfectly fine after last night and excited to go see El Escorial. It's a small town a little over an hour North of Madrid and it's famous for it's monastery. Stephanie, one of my other roommates, and I had a quick bite to eat and were briefly interrupted by Mandy swaying in to the bathroom. Steph wanted to know if she was sick and I let her know that no, she's still drunk. After helping her get the bathroom door back open she let us know that she didn't get home until five that morning, we then found a copy of her passport and keys on the counter. Fun.

We got to school and met up with the others, and then we headed to the Atocha station. Once we got there we bought the tickets and checked to see that we had an hour before the next train. Atocha station is actually known to be one of the most beautiful train stations in Spain. In one wing they have a large tropical garden, while walking through the garden you can see ponds full of turtles. It was so beautiful.

Finally we caught our train and headed out. Once we got there we realized that the weather is extremely different from Madrid. We were freezing! We found out which direction to go and took off. We walked through a small town until we hit a large park with one long, straight road down the middle. Unfortunately the long, straight road was completely up hill. So I had to walk about a mile up a hill in the high altitude – I almost died. But when we got close and the trees opened up we saw the most amazing view of the monastery, which Philip II also used as a palace.

We finally made it to the entrance and made our way in. First we toured the basement, which was full of the tools and materials used to build the buildings. There were also models and drawings of the construction. After that we made our way up to the art gallery, here we saw a lot of the royal painter's works. Then we toured the royal apartments, where we saw the bed that Philip slept in (really tiny) and eventually died in. We also saw a long strip of metal in the floor of one of the conference rooms that was used as an indoor sundial, I'm getting one.

We then walked back down to the mausoleum and saw all of the tombs of the royals who were buried there. A large majority of the tombs were built for the children who died before puberty. Finally we saw the inside of the basilica, which was amazing. You could stand in the center and look all the way up into the center of the dome.

After the church we walked across the small town to a small place to eat lunch. Here we found a menu del dia for 5 euros so we were pretty excited. We read through the menu and realized that though they tried to translate their Spanish into English there is some words that didn't quite make it. For instance, espegetti con crema translated into past with scum – very appetizing. I got sopa castellana, ham, egg and bread soup – which I love. And a piece of chicken with French fries. For desert we all got café con leche.

Later we headed back down to the train station to head home. On the train ride home I talked to Alex, Josune's boyfriend. He brought up that he thought it was odd that I have a Mexican accent when I talk about some things. I didn't realize that I did, but now of course I pay attention to that like crazy. I explained to him that I was raised by the Mexican family next door and that now I spend almost all my free time with Mexicans so it sounds like they're rubbing off on me.

We also were able to see the giant stone cross of the Valley of the Fallen. This cross was built by prisoners of war in the Spanish civil war and is now the burial place of Franco. It was cool to get to see it from the train because you can't really go there. It is a fascist landmark and is one of the most controversial things in Spain.

Once I got home I stopped by the store to grab a baguette and some jamon Serrano (I'm obsessed with it now) for dinner. I ran into one of the girls from the other apartment and we shopped together for a bit before heading back home. After eating my bocodillo I jumped straight into bed and passed out.

A Night for Drinking

So our roommate Mandy is pretty dramatic. Today she officially broke up with her boyfriend who she has been dating for two months. Granted, she did sign a year lease with him and move in together after a few weeks, but there ya go. I'm sure this will be a continuing saga and I don't want you all to miss.

Today after class a few of us went to grab a quick bite to eat at a small sandwich place down the street. We were talking to one of the other girls who loves to ice skate, another girl asked if she had seen ice princess because it's a cute movie. She said yeah, I was in it. She was a stunt double! Crazy huh? She got paid a ton of money that was put into a savings account that she can't get until she's 21. So now we are all dying to get the movie so she can show us her parts.

After skyping with my parents for a little bit I met some of my room mates down stairs to talk about plans for the night. It was decided that we should grab some alcohol and have a little party, just us. So I grabbed some Bacardi while everyone else was content with Smirnoff – lightweights. Josune, one of my roommates, pointed out that the Bacardi here is made in Cuba, not in Puerto Rico like at home, pretty stinkin' awesome.

So as the night went on it got more and more exciting. Mandy left to go out clubbing with some of the girls downstairs, and then the boys came over to have a drink with us. Two of them were drinking gin and tonics which I thought was very odd. I tasted one and it didn't seem that bad, but I was pretty far gone by that point. I had an amazing time, and apparently everyone enjoyed seeing this side of me. They claim that I didn't stop making jokes the whole night.

I made sure to drink three bottles of water before I went to bed and eventually I was asleep by about four in the morning. All in all, it was a great night.

El Llanto

Today was a pretty nice day. It was about 60 degrees so that's really nice weather for us. After class I went to grab a quick bite with my roommates Natalia and Michelle. We went to a small sandwich chain and I ordered un Bocodillo con bacon y queso. So that caused all kinds of hilarity because I said "baah-cone" y queso. Natalia and Michelle were laughing and laughing at me because they said I said it wrong. This is because in Mexican Spanish there is a different word for bacon, but here bacon is actually a type of ham steak thing. So when I got home I asked my resident Spaniard, Josune, and she said I was right. I was right! Hahaha Natalia still refuses to accept it so I walk around saying it as much as I can.

After spending a few hours at school for my precious internet I headed back home. Natalia and I grabbed a quick café con leche to get our caffeine boost and then actually had a pretty serious study session for our literature class which was a first for this trip. At about 7:30 we headed out to meet some of the others to go see a play called "El Llanto".

The play was based on a poem by Lorca that is about a young man who dreams of becoming a matador and an aging matador who does not want to continue fighting bulls. As we walked to the theater thunder and lightning started getting pretty intense and next thing we knew it was pouring rain. We all partnered up to huddle under each other's umbrellas and ran as quickly as we could to the theater. By the time we actually got inside my pants were soaked and my shoes and socks were actually leaking water. The theater was actually very small; it had about 100 seats, so it was interesting to see a play in such an intimate setting.

The play was fascinating. Full of Flamenco dancing and singing which was amazing to watch. I absolutely loved how passionate the performers were. The entire cast consisted of three actors and one piano player. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, and it didn't hurt that the young Spanish man was very easy to look at.

Once the play was over we all stood up to leave, I turned to edge out of my row and the man who was sitting next to me stood up as well. A woman from the other side of theater came over and started arguing loudly and very passionately with him. They continued to yell and the argument got very heated very quickly. Meanwhile, I was directly behind him with no idea what they were saying and no way to get passed them. Eventually they settled down and I was able to leave. I asked some of the others what the fight was about and it turns out that the man had been shushing people throughout the play whenever they clapped. The woman was offended and came over to tell him so; he told her that the only thing good about the play was her because she made him laugh. She told him to respect Lorca and he said basically … Lorca. Not good. Then talking to my teachers they said this was because Lorca was killed by the Francoists and by cursing Lorca the man was showing that he was a follower of Franco. It was a very interesting discovery and my first glimpse into the serious turmoil between Spaniards over the civil war.

We eventually made it home and finished our homework.

Spring Break Planning

Today I sat through class and tried to stay awake. But after class I went upstairs and skyped my parents which was fun as always. Plus I bought my tickets for my trip to Italy! I fly into Milan on April 9^th and from there we will take the train to Venice, Florence, Pisa and Rome and then fly home on April 18^th.

I'm working on a list of all the things I have to see while I'm there and I have no idea how I'm going to fit it all into 10 days. Crazy. Thankfully I have been getting a lot of good advice from my family and anyone else who can think of anything please let me know. It's weird to think that I will be going to Italy in two weeks which is crazy.

Later that day we went and did some grocery shopping for the week, I was able to get everything for 8 Euros which is really cheap. We all mostly stayed in to work on homework that we had been putting off so it was a pretty boring night.

El Rastro

Today I woke up almost completely exhausted from yesterday at Aranjuez. I woke up early to go to school and meet a few other people and Kieren and Sian to go to El Rastro. El Rastro is an enormous flea market that happens every Sunday morning. We jumped on the metro and headed over.

On the way over I was talking to Kieren because he went to Valencia to see the giant festival. He said that the minute he got off the bus on Friday there were little kids throwing firecrackers at him. So not cool. He couldn't get over the parents lighting these big firecrackers and then handing them to their children to throw into the street. He said it took him a long time to get use to the noise and stop jumping every time a firecracker went off by his feet. On that note I was so happy that I didn't go because I would not be able to handle it. I would be a nervous wreck by the time I got home.

When we got to the market I realized just how giant it really is. It is a type of swap meet like anywhere else but it takes place throughout a big neighborhood. The booths are set up on the tiny, winding streets up and down steep hills and it seems to go on forever. We walked around for a few hours until we figured we'd since a good majority and headed home.

I tried to study during the afternoon and got a little bit done. Finally as it was getting late a few of us decided to go grab some dinner. My roommate's boyfriend was there as well and he was getting hungry so he came with us, while she took a shower. We went to a little place on the corner called El Mundo Kebab. Here we got some shaved lamb sandwiches and a couple of drinks. It was very good and after a while we headed back home.

We spent the rest of the night putting off writing our English essay and talking to each other.

Aranjuez

Today I woke up at 8, again missing Natalia. I got ready to go and Michelle and I headed to the metro to meet Doug and Sian at the train station. We had decided to go out to see a smaller city, Aranjuez, which was about 45 minutes by train south of Madrid. Michelle and I knew nothing about it but Doug said there was a palace and amazing royal gardens so we were hooked. We jumped on the train and headed out to the country side. I had brought along my eReader for the trip but Michelle and I talked the whole time, plus the other train passengers were fascinating. The majority of the train was full of people my age that had been in Madrid partying all night and were just now heading home. We watched one girl pluck her mustache for a while which was very entertaining for us.

When we pulled into the train station I was reminded of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when their train pulls into a small town in Bolivia and it's just a square with chickens a few pigs. We pulled in and it was a very beautiful building with enough room for a small donut shop. We walked out, looked around and had no idea which way to go. We asked one of the people who were waiting for a bus and they said to go straight and then turn left. So we did. We walked down a road that was extremely straight and it seemed like a large majority of the town had come off the train with us, they kept turning off to walk into the smaller suburbs. We walked down the road which would have been beautiful if all of the trees had been in bloom, until we came upon the palace. It was just like that, one minute we were walking and the next we saw this huge palace. So we walked in and got our tickets and an audio guide and we were golden.

We started out in the courtyard and then followed the tour through the various rooms. I'm beginning to notice that the important parts of a palace are all pretty much the same. They have a large entrance with a stair case, the king's rooms on one side, the queen's rooms on the other and the throne room in the middle. They were lavishly decorated and a large majority had been re-decorated by Isabella II. I am becoming more and more fascinated by her, especially because she is so prominent in Spanish history. Then we walked down stairs and saw some of the personal items of the royal families that had lived here. We saw giant, extravagant baby cribs, toys, clothing, furniture, and a few carriages. We also saw some of the wedding dresses that some of the princesses had worn which was really fun to see.
We left the palace and walked around the garden surrounding it. They're very planned and organized like those at Versailles, with a lot of hedges and fountains. After walking around for a while we thought about what we should eat for lunch. As we came around the front of the palace there were about four or five young boys that ran up to everyone and handed out pamphlets for their restaurants. We looked through these and decided on a menu del dia that sounded great and happened to be right across the square.

A menu del dia is basically a fixed lunch. The meal also includes wine, beer or water; so in true Spanish form I had a glass of vino tinto (red wine) with my lunch. We chose our first course from a short list. I got a soup made in a dark broth with ham, egg and bread. It was a large bowl and very delicious. For the next course I got a pork chop with potatas, which turned out to be French fries, and a spiced mayonnaise sauce. Doug and Sian got salmon and a salad, and Michelle got chicken in a broth with French fries. For desert we had strawberries and cream and chocolate mousse.

Feeling revived, we headed across the town to look at the other gardens. We walked through beautiful walkways and orchards and I took hundreds of photos. We then came up to the royal boat museum and stopped in for a quick look. This turned out to be a small house full of the barges used by the kings and queens to float down rivers to other towns. They were amazingly ornate, and beautiful to look at. That is definitely saying something because I don't care too much for boats…or airplanes for that matter…sorry dad.
We left the museum and walked through the garden some more, I found a small castle they had formed out of hedges. I immediately ran over and went inside, it kinda reminded me of the fort that my cousins and I swore we had in Grandma Alice's backyard but that turned out to just be some grapevines – but it was still awesome. We saw a pond with a sort of Chinese design, or at least they tried to. We saw some peacocks and some beautiful pheasant which I have never seen before, and some geese which was not fun at all for me I ran away. We then walked to the end and found an even smaller palace but this one was closed already.

So we found a small café which consisted of a counter and a sink with tables and chairs out in the grass. We order café con leche and relaxed after such a long day of walking. As we were sitting there some of the spores, which looked like dandelion seeds, started blowing down off the trees. It was so beautiful to sit in the bright green grass covered in small daisies and have the small white seed blowing around like snow.

Finally we got up and walked the few miles to the station. Miles people. I am getting in way better shape than when I left that's for sure. We got to the station and as we walked in the train was getting ready to leave so we were able to sit down and head back to Madrid immediately. On the way home Michelle and I talked about Arizona, she was raised in Bullhead which isn't too far from Kingman. We spent a while trying to explain just how incredibly hot it can get there to Sian and she had never experienced anything like it. Then Sian mentioned how she wanted to see LA now after hearing so much about it and I immediately invited her to stay with me. She's 23 and such a sweet heart it would be perfect. So I'm going to try and convince her to come stay for a while so I can show her the sights, plus then I would have a friend who lives in England which is incredibly appealing to me.

We got home around eight and I was so exhausted I went to bed as soon as I walked in.

A day for Food

This morning it was really weird to wake up by myself. I told Natalia the night before to wake me up when she left so I could say goodbye but of course I immediately fell right back asleep. I miss my roommate, but it is also nice to have my room to myself for a little while. I woke up around 8 so I could go meet my English teacher, Doug, and a few other students. It is so weird for me to call my teachers by their first names, at home I avoid it by not directly calling to them but here it's pretty unavoidable. We met at eleven so we could go to the Architectural museum, it was under serious construction and a large majority of the exhibitions were closed so the admission was free. The brief walk to the museum was great because it is in the richest neighborhood in Madrid. All the buildings here are amazing, you see some huge ornate buildings that are over a few hundred years old next door to buildings that are only a few years old; I can't get over it.

Once inside the museum started with its oldest collections to the more modern periods. They had a few mummies and sarcophaguses from Egypt. They had a lot of bones and fossils that they had found, and some tools and pots from the stone period. They also had a collection of Grecian Urns and jewelry which surprised me because I didn't realize that the Greeks had lived on the peninsula. Then they had a very large collection of Roman art, tools, coins and a variety of other objects from the time period the Romans ruled Spain. They also had some medieval artifacts which were very ornate but also extremely religious because Spain is such a Catholic country.
Because the museum is so small right now we went next to door to see the National Library. Here we were able to see copies of books and music from Mozart, Beethoven, Rousseau, Voltaire, and a ton of others. When we were finished we walked down the street (the fifth avenue of Madrid) until we found a small but elegant Italian place. We stopped in and each ordered a pizza. I got a four cheese pizza and it was amazing, their cheeses are very different here, I think it is because goat cheese is more common that cheese made from cow's milk. The sauces and flavors were amazing. We ended up staying here for almost three hours talking. It was me, Doug, our AIFS advisor Sian, and one of the couple's who went on the trip.

The girl of this couple, Michelle, drives me insane. She is my age and thinks she knows everything. She has a story to tell and always can top whatever anyone else is talking about. She never thinks about what she is going to say before she starts so "like" makes frequent appearances in every sentence. I sat through the majority of lunch trying to figure out who she reminded me of when it hit me. I am a Jane Austen fanatic and I love the movies of her books. In the movie Emma there is a character who constantly walks around going "I don't say so myself but my friends tell me that I'm quite good" about whatever it is they're talking about. That's her!!! She actually told us that she is such a great cook and that she can just throw whatever she wants in and it comes out. She said that she made chocolate chip cookies around Christmas and through in smashed candy canes, she said her friends actually ask her for baked goods rather than presents. Pa-lease.

After this exciting lunch we headed off in our different directions. I went home to work on my list of things that I want to see in Italy. I feel like have to make a list so I can see what I need to see and what I can cut out, very difficult. Later that night I invited the same group to my apartment so we could go grab some dinner. We ended up going to a small neighborhood a few stops away from our apartment. We stopped at this small vegetarian restaurant and we were actually able to get in for dinner, it was only 9 and we had to promise to be out by 11. First they brought us bread and a bowl of warm mush – this turned out to be garbanzo beans mixed into a sort of chunky dip with Garlic sauce. It was amazing. Then I ordered a sort of stew thing, it had wheat noodles, carrots, celery, onions, tofu and mushrooms in a thin ginger sauce. It was again, amazing. I have never been to a vegetarian restaurant and the lack of meat did make me sad, but the flavors were very strong and after eating sort of lightly flavored food I was grateful for the change.

After dinner we said goodnight to Doug and walked down the street and found a bunch of smaller boutiques that we all want to visit when it's a weekday. I finally got home around 12:30, fell into bed and slept.

The Cosmopolitan Evening

So class today was pretty much the same as usual except that Natalia had to pull me out of the middle of class. It turned out that I had finally received the package my parents had mailed to me. Not only did I have to sign for it but I had to pay 32 Euros in taxes. They only charge taxes for any new electronics and I had a small cord for my computer and a DVD in the box, that must be why I had to pay but I'm still not sure. I also got some cards from home which was really great to read, and I also got a small calendar with Pug puppies on it. I love Pugs! When I get my own dog I'm going to get one of those, what other dog can you have that is always looking concerned? That's definitely the pet I need – one with a huge personality. When I got out of class I ran home so I could read my letters and put on the ring Katie sent me. It's amazing; it's a thin brass ring that looks like a piece of string tied around your finger.

Later, everyone came home to get ready to go to Valencia. I was initially going to go on this trip because there are a lot of great things to see in Valencia. However, there is a huge religious festival there this week with the giant finale happening on Friday night. They spend all week building images of the town's patron saints out of paper mache (Or Paper Maa-shay as Kieren says it), and then on Friday night they burn the images in a huge bon fire. This is all fine and dandy and should be a sight to see except that there are no hostels to stay in at all. None. So the group of people decided to go anyways and pull an all nighter on Friday. Half of the group decided to stay in Valencia all night Friday and then try and get a hostel on Saturday and Sunday night, then come home Monday in time for classes. The other half chose to stay in Valencia and then catch a bus to Barcelona at 3am, then stay in Barcelona until Sunday and come home Monday morning. All in all – way too much for me.

Later in the evening one of my roommates, Melissa, was in my room talking to me and we decided to open up my window to watch the sunset. It was amazing. The sun had set but the buildings were still lit up, and the breeze was cool but not too cold. Finally I brought a chair over while Melissa sat on the window sill – she's way braver than me. It was so nice that I opened a bottle of wine I had bought and we drank really good wine and watched the bats come out and fly around. It was a very cosmopolitan evening for me I must say.

I realized when I went to get the wine that we didn't have a bottle opener but the girls downstairs did. So I ran downstairs and asked if I could borrow it, they let me in and I followed her into the kitchen. The rest of the girls were in there and when I looked around they all looked normal except for one. Wow, apparently I had never seen her before without make up because I did a double take to make sure I knew her. She usually wears a ton of foundation and eye makeup so when I saw her it was like looking at a pale girl with no eyes. Really quite a shock.

So throughout the evening us girls who were staying for the weekend helped those who were leaving. We had a really great time talking and laughing. I am again so grateful that all of my roommates are so amazing.

Creative Writing

So today was pretty nice. I started looking up all the information I needed to go to some of the places I want to see and I actually made a folder on my hard drive for Travel. That's definitely a first for me and I'm thrilled. My roommate and I, and a few other girls, are planning a trip to Italy over our spring break in a few weeks. We will fly into either Milan or Rome and then take a train to see Florence and Venice. I am also planning a weekend in Paris and another in Prague if I can pull it off. I spent most of yesterday morning reading about these trips and then I came home for lunch.

I bought some chicken the day before and decided to cook it all so I could eat it throughout the week. So I scrambled an egg and had a piece of chicken for lunch – weird I know, but was really good and filling. My roommate, Natalia, on the other hand was much braver than me. She had bought a tin of clams in some sort of sauce and decided to cook it. She eats clams on a regular basis so the only exciting part was the sauce – it was very dark brown and sweet smelling. So we tried to cook it, there weren't instructions, by heating it until the sauce thickened and the clams were heated through. It was all good until she actually tried it…she didn't actually eat anything more than the initial bite.

Later that night everyone was panicking about an 8 page short story they had to write for Creative Writing, a class that I'm not in. So it was a night for everyone to sit in the living room and tell their stories and decide how to turn it into a narrative. After a while one of the girls wanted a break so she decided to make herself some rice. This girl is such a sweet heart and is barely out of high school. Oh her name is also Stephanie so that's fun. Well she put the rice in water and boiled it but then didn't know what to do, so since we have a sparsely stocked kitchen we handed her a sort of strainer spoon and told her good luck. That lasted a good twenty minutes and about 15 pictures worth of excitement. Finally the high hilarity died down and I went to bed around eleven, though I hear that the rest of them didn't go to bed until three – good times.

And Even More Drama

Today was pretty much the same as any other day. Natalia and I started putting together ideas for our spring break. We are planning on spending it throughout Italy. We will probably fly into either Milan or Rome and then take the train to some of the other major cities we want to see. I'm so excited; it's going to be so much fun.

There's more drama in our apartment too. One of the other girls left her keys in an outside pocket of her backpack and of course, they got pick pocketed. So now there is possibly someone out there with keys to our apartment. Natalia and I are trying to talk to AIFS to see how soon we can get the locks changed and who has to pay for it. The girl who lost them of course refuses to pay for it so we'll play that by ear.

Right now I'm sitting in my history class and writing my blog. My history teacher just read to the class an email she received from Fullerton College saying that she needs to focus more on her classes than spending time with the students…interesting. And then she started blaming it all on our other teacher, how old are these people. So now all the other students want to get involved. Our coordinator from Fullerton is coming out the first week of April to check on how the program is progressing and all of the other students are planning on defending our history teacher to her. Wow.

Fun Discoveries

Today was good, totally had to fight to stay awake in class today. For my history classes our teacher gives us study guides of multiple choice questions on it and it turns out that she takes directly from these guides to make her tests. This is good for us to study except that means we don't have to take a lot of notes because she already gives us all the information.

After class I hung around school and used the internet for a long time. I skyped with my parents for a long time which is cool and I got to talk to Katie for a while too. She made me laugh so much that I was totally busted by all of my other classmates who were in the same room. Then I went to the grocery store for some food and the usual stuff and then headed home.

So here everything seems a little different. For instance, the toilets. This is really weird; we're on a peninsula so they had water issues just like LA does. But every toilet has a little button on top that you push in and it's like a fountain. A flood of water comes pouring in from the side until the bowl is almost entirely full – very strange. Another thing that is weird for me is the light switches; instead of little switches like we have they are big squares on the wall. Every single room has its own light switch, including the majority of public restroom stalls. You also always need to check on the outside of the room for the light switch because that would be crazy to expect the room to have the switch on the inside.

Let's see…another fun thing. Their metro system is huge. So we get everywhere we want to go by taking the underground. It was hard to get used to in the beginning but now it's a lot easier to figure out where we need to go. The thing I like is on some of the modern trains there are no connecting doors between the cars, it is one huge open train. Pretty exciting to look down the train around a big turn – I learned that one from my dad. Whenever you want to get on or off at a station you have to press this glowing green button on the door to get the doors to open. It's very space age but was difficult for us to figure out the first few times.

Lazy Sunday

So on today we just hung out and had a relaxing day for once. I slept in a bit which felt great and then hung out and worked on all my homework. It feels like we have the same amount of homework as before .we left with less time to do it. Later that afternoon my roommate Natalia and I went out and got some coffee. It was nice to sit there and watch everyone walk by and feel like we actually live in Madrid.

My mom told me later that Chris Parnell was on Jimmy Fallon's talk show and he and Andy Samburg did a live performance of Lazy Sunday. It was amazing and so funny so I had to dedicate my lazy Sunday to them,

My roommate is awesome. I can't believe how much I lucked out with that, there are so many people here that I could've gotten paired up with and Natalia and I get along really well. We just laugh at some of the stupid stuff we do which makes me miss Katie and Ashlee.

So the crazy girls who came to our apartment last night – wow. There were three of them, two girls who had drank about three bottles of wine throughout the day so they were gone, and the other girl was that crazy vegan whose boyfriend brought his guitar. She was amazing to talk to. She thinks that she knows everything about every subject that is brought up – boring. She then flat out asked each of us there what religion we were, very strange, but I didn't care and told her but when it came time for her to tell us she didn't want to say. Natalia and I were talking later after they left and we think she is probably a Wiccan because she's cool like that. It was ok until she started acting like she knew everything about scientology and I was like – ya what do you want to know about them, they ran my license plates.

So then we were going to try and go to bed early but then we all kept talking until the next thing we knew it was one in the morning.

The Mexican Fiesta

So I woke up today at nine in the morning and felt pretty good knowing it was Saturday. I was still a little sleepy so I laid there to wake up and next thing I knew it was twelve. A few of the girls went in search of the internet café our school had set up for us, while I stayed at home because slowly but surely I am getting over my dependence on internet. When the girls got back I found out that the same girl who had been pick pocketed had dropped her metro pass through the crack in the elevator at the station – wow. So then we walked over to the boys apartment for lunch.

They decided to have a Mexican fiesta and make fajitas, rice and beans. When we got there we were all impressed – their apartment is amazing, one of the bedrooms has windows across the entire wall and they have two showers for four boys. We have one shower for 7 girls, the apartment downstairs has one shower for 9 girls. We all ate and had some wine and my roommate, Natalia, made Mimosas which is actually a type of punch with orange juice, seven up, and beer – I thought it would be so gross but it was actually pretty good. After a few hours we headed home.

Natalia and I were planning on going out to grab some churros con chocolate later that night but different people kept coming in to talk to us about all kinds of random subjects – ranging from religion to global warming, very very strange. Then next thing we knew it was two in the morning so we just hung out at the apartment for the night.

Toledo

Today was our first big outing. We all hurriedly got ready to go and meet at the school at eight forty five in the morning. It was pretty over cast and extremely cold and windy but thankfully not raining. So we all got on the bus and headed about thirty minutes outside of Madrid. It was interesting driving through the outskirts of the city because it reminded me a lot of the outskirts of LA. As long as you are within the heart of the city it is nice but as soon as you start to leave the neighborhood becomes more and more run down. There is graffiti everywhere, which makes me wonder if we are just much stricter about cleaning it up in California than they are here.

So as we started to get close to Toledo we could see this beautiful city on top of a hill. Toledo is one of the only medieval cities left in Europe. It was designed by the Arabs who first inhabited it, and then they were joined by a large Jewish community. They lived together until the Spanish Catholics, led by Queen Isabella, took over the city. The layout of the city is especially medieval because the street layouts were designed to confuse their enemies if they were ever able to invade the city walls. Toledo is also known for their sword craftsmanship, there is a very large river that surrounds the city and its cold temperature is crucial to for their ability to create their swords.

As we got near to the city the bus randomly pulled over and a woman got in; apparently she was going to be our tour guide for the day, so there ya go. She sits down and introduces herself to Kiren, Sian and all of us. By the way, Kiren and Sian (pronounced like Shawn) are our AIFS reps, Kiren is a disheveled British guy about 25 so he of course reminds me of Harry Potter and Sian is a 22 year old British girl; they're both amazing. So Carmen gets in and starts telling us about the town and we drove past the city to go way up on a hill that overlooked the city so we could see the whole thing. As we were driving up Carmen told us that the houses here are very large and expensive country estates. The manors that overlook Toledo are almost double the price than those that don't have a Toledo view. The terrain is very high desert, a lot of cactus and olive trees. So as we were driving through these hills it was very beautiful and desolate at the same time because they are having a much longer winter than they are used to. We reached the over look and the bus pulled over so we could get out and take photos. The view was absolutely breath taking and I took a ton of photos just overlooking the city.

Then we headed back down towards the wall around Toledo and stopped at a factory that made swords and silver and gold engravings. It turns out that this little workshop was so famous for their craftsmanship that Peter Jackson had them create all of the swords for the Lord of the Ring films. We were able to get a tour of the workshop and saw a man heating and shaping a sword blade, and then we went upstairs so we could see some people doing the hand engravings. From there of course the tour ended in the gift shop; I was able to buy some beautiful little trinkets that were actually created in the workshop.

Next we got back on the bus where they took us to the escalator. Yes, there is a giant set of escalators that take you up over the wall and into the city. We also were able to see the section of the Toledo wall that fell during the huge rainstorms they had last week, luckily it was only a very small section that collapsed but it was still sad because the wall is over 500 years old. So we took the escalators up into the city and saw a great view of the newer Toledo and the surrounding countryside, mostly olive trees. The tour guide led us through the small winding streets and alleyways until I was sufficiently lost.

We stopped outside of a giant cathedral that Queen Isabella originally wanted to be buried in because she was so taken with Toledo, until she obtained Granada which she loved more. The Cathedral walls actually have shackles bolted to the outside of the cathedral walls. These chains were found on Christians who were being held captive by Muslim forces in Granada when the Spaniards invaded and Isabella had them sent back to Toledo so no one would forget. Some are missing from the time of Napoleon's invasion; his troops removed a large majority of the chains so they could be melted down and made into cannon balls. This church is the one of the most popular wedding locations in Toledo and there is at least a two year waiting list.

From there Carmen took us to the synagogue, the oldest one in Spain. When the Christians took Toledo they removed a large majority of the decorations from the walls but the architectural features remained. The interior design is actually designed to look exactly like the Mosque of Marrakesh. What I thought was really interesting is the columns and walls are decorated with intricate designs of 8 point stars and pine cones. The pine cones represent fortune and good luck and there aren't any stars of David because they weren't used yet for their religion. The synagogue isn't used today because the entire Jewish community was removed by the Christians and they never moved back to Toledo. However, Jewish people still come from the country side to use the synagogue for important ceremonies so the traditions are still kept.

After this we walked to another church. Going through all of the streets and alley ways Carmen might as well have blind folded me and spin me around so I wouldn't know where I was. In this church we saw the burial of an important Toledo citizen and above his grave we saw an El Greco fresco. The Burial of the Count of Orgaz is considered one of El Greco's best works. He represents the burial of the count by the two saints. He also shows a small boy at the count's side – this is his son, in his pocket is a piece of paper, on which El Greco signed his name. Behind the saints are the town's nobility you can see Greco himself looking out of the portrait. And above them all he has painted the heavens accepting the count's spirit.

So after this we spun around some more and wound up at the Toledo Cathedral. It was giant! It was especially huge considering the small town and the winding roads and then to have this enormous cathedral right in the middle. It has a giant tower and a dome, the tower was actually designed by El Greco's son who was a famous architect. Within the cathedral it was very open and made entirely of granite – the natural rock around Toledo. The interior reminded me a lot of Westminster Abbey, probably because most Gothic Cathedrals are designed the same way, after Notre Dame. In the very center of the cathedral is the choir because they are considered the voice of the cathedral and therefore the most important. The alter itself is very large and decorated with saints as well as Jesus on the cross with the two thieves he was crucified with – this is very unusual to see. Then we walked into a smaller gallery where they had a large majority of their art collection. Here they had most of Greco's paintings, a Raphael, a Pousin and a few others. Then as we walked throughout the rest of the cathedral I noticed red hat things hanging from the ceiling, these turned out to be the Cardinal's hats who had been buried in the cathedral. After this Carmen took us back to the main square so we could get some lunch.

For lunch a group of us went to eat at an outdoor café that boasted paella and pizza – an odd variety for sure. I had a jamon y huevo sandwich where they cut a hole out of the bread so you can see the yolk of the over easy egg. From here we walked around for a few minutes to do some shopping, we went into a bakery that was famous for their marzipan, marzipan is one of the most common deserts in Toledo because it is surrounded by almond trees. After a while we walked down the street and took another set of escalators down the other side of the wall to our bus. The bus ride back was nice and I immediately fell asleep until we pulled up at our school.

After we said good bye most of us went back to our apartments for naps. I can't really nap in the middle of the day so I read. Later that night at about ten a few of us decided to go find this tapas bar that everyone said was the best, El Tigre. So we got on the metro to take us to one of the bigger stations, Sol, the stop before Sol a big group of people pushed onto the train and I checked to make sure my bag was entirely zipped up and I held onto it. However, when we got off the train sure enough one of the very American looking girls had had her wallet stolen. We found a fairly quiet corner of the station so she could call and cancel all of her cards. Unfortunately because there was no violence and she was only pick pocketed the police can't do anything. So after about an hour we decided to keep going with our quest for tapas. We walked around until we found it and it was packed. I have been in a lot of very crowded bars and places but this beats everything hands down. We pushed and shoved and couldn't physically get anywhere, it was fascinating. We finally made it back outside a half hour later and took a breath. We walked back up the street a little ways and found a little café to eat at. Some other people met up with us there and we ordered some wine and the bartender gave us some plates of tapas.

Tapas really mean "to cover" they were created to cover your glass of wine to keep the flies out. We had slices of ham on toast with a red hot sauce, toast with tomato and sardines, and a plate of pickled potatoes. Then a few of us got sandwiches for dinner, I had a bocodillo de tortilla which is a baguette with a sort of egg and potato omelet in it, very filling and good. After a few more glasses of wine we headed back home, luckily we got home just after one because the metro stops running at one thirty.

Overall it was a very eventful day.