Aloha from Madrid!

Oops, I mean hola. I guess I'm just in an international sort of mood, after having spent the weekend wolfing down any sort of non-Spanish food I could find. (Because in Algeciras the only exotic food is schawarma...we do have Chinese restaurants too, but apparently their food is comparable to dog food.)

I've been in Madrid now for 3 days, and I'm slowly falling in love. I was here for a weekend last december, but this time I had more time to stroll around and really appreciate and get to know the city. Gran Via at night reminds me of what (I think) New York City is like. (I've never actually been..). There are bright lights everywhere, people flooding the streets, and a general feeling of importantness and excitedness. I like it.

So Emily and I more or less (literally) spent the weekend searching out any sort of non-Spanish food we could find. I mean yeah, we saw Parque del Buen Retiro, el Palacio Real, Parque Oeste, Puerta del Sol, Plaza España, and all the usual suspects.

However, the highlights for me where eating chicken tikka massala and garlic nan at an Indian restaurant, having bacon/eggs/French toast and mimosas for lunch, a milkshake for desert, pizza for dinner, and a REAL cheeseburger with french fries the next night. The beauty of parque Retiro just paled in comparison.

Besides the food, though, I had SUCH a good weekend seeing friends! My friend Emily, a co-auxilar and precious study abroad friend, and I came up from Andalucia on Friday. There we met one of my roommates from college, who is an auxiliar in Madrid, and her best friend from home who was studying abroad in Germany. I also found an old co-worker from Culvers, who I would like to take the credit for convincing to come study abroad in Spain. (Tell me if I'm wrong...but what can I say, I'm a very persuasive person.)
It was great to see familiar faces for the weekend and feel special that even though I was living 3,000 miles from home, I could still find pockets of familiarity among the foreign.

Here is the saddest thing that has happened to me so far: I bought a coconut ice cream cone to enjoy as I walked down Gran Via at night. I was so happy, cause coconut is by far my favorite ice cream flavor. I must have licked it a little to enthusiastically though, because one second I was licking it and the next second I was watching it fall, in slow motion, to the sidewalk. It was so sad. At least the cone was a waffle come so I could still enjoy a little bit of deliciousness.

Tomorrow is our last day in Madrid, and I can't wait to spend it holed up in Kaitlin's apartment eating McDonalds and watching movies in English on the computer. Don't judge me.

(I typed all that on my iPod touch by the way, that's dedication.)

In between being busy searching out delicious food, I did take time to snap a couple pictures. Enjoy!

Gate outside of el Palacio Real.

Enjoying some macaroons in Mercado San Miguel. Probably one of my favorite deserts ever...

This is my favorite building in Madrid. Not sure what it is, but its all white and looks like a castle.

"I love you Carlos." Awwww! This was scrawled on the steps by the lake in Parque del Buen Retiro.

Classic Andaluz.