4th wk happenings

last night i watched the real madrid game on tv with my host family girls (i still don't know how to refer to them...) my hermanas + senora? there is just something different about watching a game & actually having national pride for a team (i guess in soccer it's only ever been the women's national team)... just being in madrid, even watching the game on tv, makes it feel different.

this weekend felt really long & full. saturday i went to a cafe with katy & enjoyed the quiet time on the rainy day. it was really enjoyable. that night, we went out for "la noche en blanco"--a huge city-wide all night party, started at 9pm & ended at 7am. all the museums and sites were open for the entire night. katy and i went to teatro espanol to watch a free show, which was a site to see. the show started at midnight and the streets were full and well-lit. even families with young kids were out. the show was definitely a site to see...very different, sort of surrealist-esque. i think i understood it. what i got of it was that there was a president who was absent for the first half of the show & everyone was looking for him...when he came, he spoke of war, and that those who weren't "with him" were "against him"... i obviously immediately thought of our political state. but i tried to clarify the message with the older woman sitting next to me and she said it wasn't a simple theme, she didn't even really get it--hmmm... WOOOHOOO i made a photo on the page. which is awesome b/c a picture says a thousand words...

anyhow, sunday our senor taught me how to make pizza ... mmm it was delicious. can't wait to make it at home.

monday & tuesday were spent on the whole focused on school, as tuesday & wednesday were my final exams this first month of classes! but tuesday afternoon our ISA group went to palacio real--the gorgeous palace here in madrid, not too far from my home. it was humongous & exquisite. Though King Juan Carlos (holler atcha, brother) don't actually reside in the palace, they still hold state occasions there. we visited various salons of the king & queen, all very different though equally intricate, as well as the Royal Armory museum on one of the wings. it was wildly extravagant, but a lot of fun to watch (holler atcha, paul).

today i had my last day of classes (2 finals)! hooray to be done. and i get a mini break until tuesday when classes start anew, with a full school of students enrolled in semester long schooling at the universidad--including spaniards! should be a big change. i am excited to start my new classes, but also very thrilled to have this break for our trip to paris! tonight ISA has scheduled a "reunion" with spanish students our age, so we learn about the real life, if you know what i mean.

i will take loads of fotos in paris, obviously. should be a blast.

love you all & miss you!