stephica.

I'm going to preface this post with the bold statement of saying that today may have been one of my favorite days of my life.

The St. Louis University students had a free two hour bus tour today of Madrid this afternoon on a double layer bus which I sat on top of in the open air. It was so cool sitting up there minus the tree branches that kept hitting us in the face--ha. This city is absolutely beautiful. The architecture is unlike anything I've ever seen. Very romantic, very detailed. Most buildings just look like beautiful works of art and I can't believe they're actually used for something other than looking at. Downtown Madrid is very busy and fun and full of people, beautiful buildings, clubs, restaurants and shopping shopping shoppinggggg which will get me into trouble later on. It was funny to see a TGI Fridays, Starbucks, and literally Spainards are obsessed with putting Burger Kings everywhere.

Before the bus tour I took the metro to meet this gal Stephanie for lunch. I am so good at taking public transportation-something my parents most definately never thought I could accomplish. I was smiling the whole time becuase I was so proud of myself for being so metropolitan. On metros people just stare at you, and when you notice and glance at them they don't look away like they do in America. So blatant, so awkward. I'm foreign, it's so cool being foreign!
Stephanie and I grabbed salads and lemonade and apples from a local grocery store near our school, SLU, and just sat outside at a table. Besides being mercilessly assaulted by bees it was very nice. She goes to Wake Forest (the, like, one school that Baylor beat in football) as do a lot of people on this trip. She is pre-med, has traveled a lot of different places, and even worked in a hospital in Haiti this summer. We sat by each other on the bus and accidentally introduced herself to the girl in front of us as "Stephica." We are going to be GREAT friends I feel.

After the bus tour, I was in dire need of a nap. However, wanting to fully be a Spainard and immerse myself into the lifestyle I realize that Spanish people like never sleep. So instead, Stephanie, these two gals, Bailey and Mel and I sat outside and drank wine in the city. We met a few other people, and literally just talked for hours. We went to another bar right by the school and had a few more beers and free tapas. Yes, it was as enjoyable as you can picture. We all decided we want to go to Oktoberfest in Germany in a few weeks and are looking into hotels and flights. From what I gathered Oktoberfest is basically a big beer celebration. Who wouldn't want to celebrate beer?

Stephanie knows someone in Ireland that she wants to stay with and I invited myself along, so that may be a future trip. I also really want to go to Amsterdam for a weekend, this crazy Spanish Island called Ibiza, France, and Italy would be great. We'll see how far my budget takes me, but it's nice to meet some girlfriends that I can travel with and just grab tapas and wine!

I rode the metro home at about seven-thirty and arrived just in time for dinner which we have every night at eight. I met some spainards on the way who were all wearing soccer shirts and had a conversation with them and took a picture. They were celebrating the world cup--haha still. My roomates were already sitting at the table when I got home. We had spaghetti and then our senora made crepes. YUM. Home-made crepes with chocolate inside was literally the best thing. I must begin my gym membership tomorrow. Priority. The gym is just a few buildings down from my house and is very nice inside. My senora says she uses natural cooking oils and likes to cook healthy meals "porque no quiero los chicas gordas!" (I don't want fat girls!) Hilarious. She's very funny. We met her daughter tonight who is getting married next week! I'm really holding out for an invite. The newly weds would then travel to New York for their honeymoon which I thought was very funny but apparently is a popular destination for honeymooners from here! Surprising.

SOOOO last night. I took the metro with my roomates to a fellow SLU student's apartment that they know from wake forest. We met like forty people there and then we all walked to the metro to go out to a street called "sol" which is a very happening place to be. Bars, shops, restaurants, clubs. It was probably pretty funny looking watching forty ish Americans caravanning together down the streets and in the metro. On the metro I had a conversation with this grey-haired man asking him about Spain. He was very nice. Many people are so willing to chat and help with my Spanish and talk about their country.
We arrived at sol at two am or so and there were people everywhere. We went to an Irish pub that was literally packed like shoulder to shoulder. We danced and had some drinks and I asked the DJ if he had Britney Spears which sadly he did not. It is so funny that everywhere you go, in stores, on the metro, clubs people are playing American music. We all taxi-ed home at like five am. WHAT a great first night to go out in Madrid with my roomies!

I have classes tomorrow morning. I am currently sweating to my sheets--it's so hot. No air conditioning! Gosh it's like my house in Colorado. Spainards don't believe in air conditioning and neither do my parents. I am SO Texan in using utilities. Air conditioning is a blessing.

Hoy fue un buen dia! Buenas noches!