Summing Up Madrid

I finished my 3-Credit Spanish class on Friday and three hours later Lauren, Kristen, Katie and I were off to Madrid! We took the AVE high-speed train. It was pretty expensive to get somewhere comparable to the distance of Wisconsin and Minnesota but it was really cool to see. We got into Madrid around 10PM and checked into the hostile. Let me tell you…this was culture shock. Sharing a room with five other people and not having your own bathroom and space is quite an experience. There was an older man in our room and he was nice but I was pretty creeped out sharing a room with strangers. It was also a pain having to lock up all of our stuff whenever we went to the bathroom, let alone left the hostile. But it was cheap and what I will be staying in whenever I travel so I have to get used to it! We went to a really cute restaurant by our hostile for dinner and then checked out a couple of bars. On Saturday, we went to the Reina Sofia Museum and the Museum del Prado (one of the top attractions in Spain). We saw Guernica by Picasso, Las Meninas by Velazquez, Goya, El Greco, Ribera and much more painters. Contrary to what some of you may think, I have started to gain an appreciation for art! My ticket stubs are pictured below, as proof that I was actually there Blake! :) Then at night we went to Kapital, a really famous club in Spain. There were seven levels with a ton of different bars and areas. Katie, Tico (a friend we made who is from Michigan) and I sang to the “Club Can’t Even Handle Me Right Now.” Needless to say, my voice was a little rusty but it was a lot of fun!

On Sunday, we went to the Royal Palace. It was cool to see portraits up that we had just seen in the museums! We then went to a park and had churros and chocolate. Katie accidently dropped my camera and it broke but luckily there are Rebajas (sales) until the end of February in Spain so I was able to get another one on Monday for a pretty good deal! You can't not have a camera when in Europe! Sorry for the double negative...but it was necessary.

Madrid was just the start to my crazy experiences here in Europe. I can't wait to have more and keep exploring the world!

A couple of random tips:
- The weather is gorgeous here in Sevilla but if you plan to visit (hint hint John and mom and dad) bring WARM clothes to sleep in because it is freezing inside the houses. Now I'm guessing the hotels will be centrally heated but my house sure isn't.
- When you want hot chocolate, don't directly translate it as chocolate caliente because you will get melted chocolate, literally. You need to order Cola Cao, which is their most famous brand of hot chocolate here (equivalent to saying Kleenex instead of tissue).

Tomorrow I am going to Encuentro again..I really liked it last Wednesday! It is with other Americans and it has been awesome diving into a Christian community here. I am going to a church on Sunday that a missionary I connected with here goes to. I am excited to be immersed into a Spanish service and connect with Spaniards.

Love Life! xoxo, Rebekah