I apologize for having abandoned you. These last couple of weeks we have had a few days off from school, which means no Internet access.
Ok, let us start at the beginning- Thanksgiving day was kind of chaotic. I was literally running around all day. The day started off by walking to school in a bit of a drizzle. We had planned on going to Italica (Old Roman City) on this day but due to the rain we had to take a vote to see if people still wanted to go. If we decided not to go our other choice was to stay at the school and watch Gladiator. Now- I have never seen the movie Gladiator but even though I have heard it is a good movie, I was not going to let a little rain stop me from seeing a place I never will be able to see again. Some people stayed back, many of us went. The funny part was that it was sunny once we got there. : )
Italica’s Colosseum is the second largest in the world and we got to walk around in it. That is pretty awesome. Of course- it is always pretty cool to know that you are standing on ground that thousands of years ago a completely different civilization called home or used as form of entertainment. Overall- Italica was sweet.
I returned home for lunch, went to get some wireless at the park so I could post my previous blog entry, visited the old folks home for the last time this semester and then had to run back home to change for our fancy Thanksgiving dinner. I laughed to myself because even though I was about 20 to 30 minutes late to dinner, we still ended up waiting an extra hour for our food! We were the second to last table to get served. I guess I could have walked slower.
The food, at least in my opinion, was not that great. I missed my mom’s thanksgiving turkey, even if I just eat chicken instead. Oh well, when in Spain enjoy fake American food at a Spanish restaurant!
On what would be known as Black Friday in the States, John and I also woke up early but only because we had to catch our bus to Madrid. Once in Madrid we made our way to the metro stop closest to what would be our hotel, at the stop we met up with a friend from Northwestern, Hans. Hans is at Oxford this semester (remember when John and I failed at getting to London? This is the friend we were going to visit). We then wandered around in search for our hotel and miraculously found it (since no one we asked had any idea this hotel even existed). Once at the hotel we had to figure out a way to get a third person (we were only paying for two) past the reception desk of a small hotel (20 rooms) and not get caught or hurt in the process. It all came down to Hans having to climb in and out of our bedroom window. It was very entertaining but I feared us getting caught and having to pay an extra $100.
Lucky for us the time Hans did get caught leaving the hotel was our last morning in Madrid. That morning, like the other two mornings, Hans jumped out of the window, then we closed the window, put the shades down, waited a few minutes before leaving our room and then left the room, only this time we had to check out. We rang the bell because there was no one at the desk (this was strange because there was always someone at the desk or in a small room a few feet away from the desk). A minute later a very smiley receptionist walked in through the front door, he then proceeded to check us out in the slowest way possible, he asked if we had any “Extra Charges” and smiled. I said No, of course, and he just smiled and said that was all. We left the hotel feeling a little weirded out by the receptionist and when we walked out and did not find Hans, we knew something was up.
We headed in the direction of the metro stop and a couple blocks later we saw Hans standing on a corner. The poor guy was chased away by the multi-language speaking receptionist. Hans pretended to be a very lost tourist and I am sure he had convinced the receptionist that he was in fact lost, until he saw another tall American standing at the reception desk waiting to checkout. Oh well, we did not get charged extra which is awesome but I do wish I could have witnessed the awkward conversation between Hans and Mr. Smiley. John would say, “Can’t win them all”. : )
During our trip we visited some pretty sweet places that John and I had not seen our previous trips to Madrid and Toledo. It was a fun few days- both John and Hans are fun to be around. Plus- the giant Julius Caesar face that decorated our hotel wall just put me in a really good mood every day. I cannot explain it, it just did. : ) Our adventure came to an end at around 1pm Monday. John and I headed to the bus stop for our 6 to 7-hour bus ride (all depends on the driver) and Hans found his way to the Airport via Metro. I made sure he knew some keys Spanish words but prayed he would make his way to the airport without having to use his limited Spanish.
Tuesday, the 1st of December was John’s 22nd Birthday! He doesn’t tell people when his birthday is so only a couple people at the school knew. I tried to not say anything because he asked me not to… but I love birthdays! Sarah, the student ministries coordinator and her husband Jordan invited us over for dinner that night (after I blurted out that it was John’s Birthday). They made some mean Burritos and brownies and while they cooked, John and I played Wii! I have to confess that my Wii skills have seriously deteriorated since my days in New Jersey with Jonathan. It has been a few days and my arm is still sore. Fail. We also played some Pictionary man game. It was funny. Sarah and Jordan are pretty awesome people and it was fun to just be able to chill at someone else’s home for a little while.
Thursday night we Christmas caroled and it was mostly old men that came to watch us sing. One of them even got on the stage we were on and started dancing. Haha it was pretty epic. It is always a good feeling knowing that you are making someone happy… even if you feel foolish doing so.
Other random thoughts:
1.I eat a lot of fruit here. I had four mandarins in one day on more than one occasion.
2.I straightened my hair last Friday for the second time this whole semester. My host mom thinks it looks weird. She likes my curly hair. : )
3.My feet hate me for wearing shoes that are not meant for walking all day.
4.The toilet in our apartment could be used as a torture device. It drips constantly and it is pretty annoying. I forget about it sometimes but it drives my host mom crazy! Poor lady.
5.Coke tastes different here.
6.I want cheap ice cream but since it still gets in the 70’s here Ice cream is not cheap.
7.I should stop making you read my random thoughts.
On a different note, this past weekend John and I went to Lagos, Portugal. We did not spend much time there because our economy is hurting (like the rest of the world) and Lagos (a beach town) is not exactly lively in December. However, I still got some good pictures and we enjoyed some relaxing hours (not that we needed to relax…).
We had last Monday and Tuesday off due to Holidays.
Monday night Sarah, John, Yesi and I went to a ceremony for the Virgen that began at Midnight. The ceremony was held outside of he Cathedral. We listened to singers/bands called Tunas. I did not know the words but everyone else seemed to know them, I just danced along and pretended I knew them. It was raining a little but it was still fun. You would not believe how many people are out and about at 2:30 am! There were little kids at the ceremony! Spain continues to amaze me. hehe
I have a week left of this adventure… I don’t want it to end! : (
Ok, this is all for now.
May your hearts be filled with peace, today and always,
Karla <3
1. I liked reading your random thoughts.
ReplyDelete2. I also liked Lagos a lot. but I went during beach time.
3. One of the tunas tried to kiss me on the mouth when I went. I was ticked.
4. I peeled 6 mandarins for a three year old at school. I couldn't believe it, but he ate them all. In less than 10 minutes.
Enjoy your last day!