Madrid: Post Spring Break.

Soooooo lots has been happenin since returning from my beloved Portugal, let me try to summarize it all...

1. Jessica Kutz, my Greece buddy, came to Madrid for a few days because her program ended a month earlier than mine! So we spent a wonderful week meandering around the streets of Madrid, going out in Malasaña, and booking our flights to Ireland!

2. That's right! We are going to Ireland! Plans firmed up so it is definite that we will be in Ireland for a month working at a hostel/adventure center on the south coast outside of Cork. Could anything be more wonderful? No. We will fly into Dublin on the 28th of May and stay there for 2 days to see the city before heading down south!! We can not wait. Jessica left a few days ago to do a solo hike on this famous pilgrimage trail called El Camino de Santiago in northern Spain, so I won't be seeing her until we go to Irlandaaaa to begin the next step of this crazyyy Euro adventure :)

3. My classes officially ended last Wednesday. I had a huge written exam in my class with Spaniards that I hope went well, and in my radio class we recorded a final radio show where I had to be interviewed in Spanish about my experiences here in Spain, it was hilarious. So all I have left are two more exams in a few weeks and then I will be completely free from school and Getafe. Geez, it didn't just hit me till I wrote that last bit that I'll never again be in class with those Spaniards... makes me sad thinking about it..

4. We have been trying to explore new areas of Madrid lately to see what else the city has to offer. I finally went to the Prado, the most famous art museum here in Madrid, we checked out the National Library, which was weird because we couldn't actually go where the books are, we have walked to parts of north Madrid, got amazing Indian food in the immigrant neighborhood, and yesterday me and my friend, Krystal, literally walked 5 hours to the suburbs of Madrid where we watched some kids play soccer and found a beautiful park to rest in. It was cool seeing the more residential, less touristy parts of the city. Also, I have been trying to run more in Retiro and Park Oeste. Many people from my program have already left to go home to the United States (so strange to me), so I have been spending much more time alone than usual. Kind of sad, but I have found myself sitting a lot lately in the plaza by house reading a book or the newspaper. Speaking of the news, its odd reading about Osama's death from the point of view of a Spaniard. They seem to be much more critical of it all, and at the beginning a lot more disbelieving that he really had died. It seems to me that Europeans never think we do anything right...

5. I continue to meet the most interesting people here in Madrid. The other day at the bar, Tevia and I literally spent an entire hour editing a Spanish man's cover letter for his application to trade school in England. His resume was so poorly written in English that we pretty much re-wrote the whole thing for him. It was really funny and he was very grateful. Also, I finally met the owners of the hole in the wall Greek restaurant on my street. They saw me walking by the other morning and called me in to have a coffee and chat. So I went in, they made me a delicious frappuccino type drink for free, and we spoke in Spanish about Greece and our lives for an hour or so. Awesome. Met the Italian guy who I see everyday whenever I pass by to go get the newspaper who works at the Italian pizza place in the center of Malasaña. Met a Venezuelan guy who works at this club a few of us went to on Thursday and he pulled me up on the DJ stand and taught me how to play the Djembe (a type of Bongo drum) to the beat of the techno music. Hilarious.

6. And finally, FINALLY, I rode on a VESPA!!! Another goal complete haha. The other night we were walking around Sol, when our program director sped by on his motorbike. He has always known that I wanted to one day buy a vespa so he stopped and asked if I want a ride. Yesssss!! So the next 20 minutes I buzzed around the city with its lights glittering in the night, sooo happy. Brought back Bourtzi boys memories and riding around the countryside in Greece.

But anyway, tonight was a very good night. Chrissie, who just got back from Germany, Christian, and I went to yoga at the squat, then for a beer at Palentino, and then for another drink at a little cafe where we met up with his three other awesome Italian friends. I love when I can sit at a table and hear three different languages spoken throughout the conversation. It's amazing. I then walked back home, ran into the Italian guy and had a little chat in Spanish, then ran into the Greek guys closing up the restaurant who invited me to come have coffee there tomorrow morning. I am finally getting to know all my neighbors!!

Welllll, besides that, all is well. Chrissie leaves Madrid in a week so I will be spending these last few days adventuring with her!! I am going to be sooo sad to say goodbye honestly. Three more weeks left in Madrid... uggg I remember when I had three months. Time flies.