Birthday!

Hi guys!

It’s my birthday!  And I have to say, I think this is the warmest birthday I’ve ever had (weather-wise, at least!).  It’s been a lovely week in Madrid, which is great, even though I wasn’t here Monday or part of Tuesday, and I’m leaving tomorrow morning for Granada.  Oh well.  :)

Anyway, the past two days have been kind of a whirl wind—getting back from Dublin, taking a really difficult Spanish midterm, writing a long paper for Positive Psychology, planning and celebrating my birthday, and getting ready for another weekend trip.  Yesterday was a normal but busy day—took my Spanish midterm, hung out in the sunny courtyard, went to philosophy, went home and wrote my essay.  Yesterday, for dessert, Maria served strawberries and pineapples with honey on them; I had told her that my favorite fruit is pineapple, and then she gave me some for dessert!  It was delicious.

Last night, I struggled with writing my essay for psychology.  I was just not inspired and definitely not motivated.  Plus, I procrastinated to the extreme, so that didn’t help.  When I was about halfway done, and midnight rolled around, I took a break to open the letters and packages I received for my birthday.  I got cards from both sets of grandparents, two girlfriends (thanks Molly and Emily!), and one from each of my immediate family members.  I was really feeling loved, but it also made me miss home a little.  The packages from my grandparents and my family were awesome.  It’s always nice to know that someone is thinking about me!

This morning, after insufficient sleep, I got up and met with Maria for another English-Spanish exchange.  I was so tired though, and I don’t think it was a very beneficial conversation for either of us.  Then I went to school, printed out my essay, and went to class.  In Positive Psych we discussed “flow” today, which is the feeling of being totally immersed and involved in an activity—to the point where you are not even in the real world.  To get a taste of “flow,” we learned how to juggle using scarves.  It was totally ridiculous looking, but extremely fun.  I haven’t done that since grade school, so it made me feel like a 20-year-old kid!  :)

Today was the first “field trip” for my art history class and we went to the Prado.  We were supposed to meet at 3:30, so I left school at 2:50, but I still can’t figure out that area of Madrid, so I ended up going down the wrong street and had to ask a policeman where the Prado is.  Luckily, I wasn’t too far off track, so I was only a minute late.  But we only spent an hour in the museum because people have class afterward.  It’s a long trek out there for not much time in the museum.  And we don’t get in free, which is disappointing.  Anyway, it was cool to see some of the artwork that we’ve talked about, but now that I’ve been to the Louvre, I doubt anything else will compare.

After the museum, I went back to school and met some friends for our weekly “after class sangria Thursday” event.  Lisa bought me a chocolate egg and Victoria paid for my sangria.  That’s a nice thing about birthdays.  :)  I got home a little after 6 and waiting for me in my room was a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Abi and Maria.  There are 20 flowers—one for each year of my life.  Maria also gave me a lovely copy of Don Quixote in Spanish and wrote a dedication in the cover.  I am so blessed to have been placed in this home.

yay flowers!

To further celebrate my birthday, I went out to a few bars with some friends tonight.  I had a good time, but am completely wiped out from the stress of midterms and lack of sleep.  And in the morning (early in the morning, ugh), Victoria and I leave for Granada, so I gotta pack and then sleep.

Birthday ice cream in Sol with Victoria and Madeline

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week.

All my love,

E