Weekend in Madrid

Hi guys,

The weekend is quickly coming to a close for me, and unfortunately I’m gonna miss the Superbowl because I need sleep more than I need to see the game.  :)  Regardless, this was a fantastic weekend, one that really made me feel happy and at home in Madrid.  It was my first full weekend in Madrid, and I definitely feel more comfortable and confident here.  Progress!

Yesterday was a super fun day.  My big group of friends made plans to meet up at the park again to have another picnic and enjoy the wonderful weather.  Victoria and I met around 12:45, stopped at the supermarket to get some food, and then hopped on the metro to the park.  We had a group of 10, so we found a nice grassy area by the lake and set up camp.  People slowly trickled in, and we made good work of the food.  For entertainment, we played Mafia, which is a really fun game but a little complicated to explain, so forgive me if you have no idea what this is!  The sun was shining in the cloudless sky – perfect!  After some incidents with the birds sending some unwanted surprises our way, we decided to stroll down the boardwalk.  There were little magic shows, puppet shows, vendors, and artists all along the lakeshore.  We watched one artist for about 10 minutes.  He used spray paint to make awesome paintings of nature—mostly waterfalls, forests, the moon, mountains, etc.  Amazing to see how the beginning develops into the finished product!  Around 5:30, we headed home to rest and get ready for a night out.

For Victoria’s birthday celebration, we got more dressed up than usual, and I borrowed one of Victoria’s dresses, which meant that I had to wear leggings with it!  The trials of the tall…  Anyway, we got to Sol at 10:30 and found a little sangria place that was small, hot, and crowded, but had great sangria.  We probably ordered too many pitchers (4!) but we finished them, so no worries.  :)  After we had our fill, we found a promoter who offered us free entry to the discoteca Joy.  This was the one that we went to a few weeks ago, and I didn’t particularly like it then.  But last night it was actually fun—maybe a difference between a Thursday and a Saturday night?  We were literally the first people in the club, so it was extremely awkward to dance in the spotlight for the few people in there to watch, but once more people showed up, it was much more fun!  Megan, Victoria, and I left at 3, and I was asleep by 3:30!

For Sunday, we had arranged to meet up at 8:45 AM (so early!) and go to the huge flea market, the Rastro.  I’ve heard really good things about it—apparently you can find anything and everything there—although it’s a hot spot for pickpockets.  However, when I got up at 8 this morning, I discovered everyone was way too tired for shopping, so I went straight back to sleep until 1 PM.  Then I got up and did most of my homework for the week.  At 5:30, I left to meet Victoria to go to 6 o’clock mass at school.  The chapel on campus is VERY small, and there were actually quite a few people at mass (mostly people from my group of friends—I guess we do everything together!).  After mass, I came home for dinner, finished some homework, Skyped with Mom and Emma, and now it’s time for bed!

In only a few hours, I will get to see Maggie, Michael, and Dad!  Have a safe flight guys!

Lots of Love,

Elizabeth