Wait...Where did February go?

It will be March tomorrow and I can't believe it. Well, you all know the saying, 'time flies when you're in a foreign country and all of your English groups have suddenly started'. I think that's how that goes.

So, here's an update on some of the fun/exciting things that have been happening here: (in a bulleted list of course, yay Amber!)

• Last night, some of the girls and I went to an M.C. Escher art exhibit. Escher is the guy that does a lot of like optical illusion type drawings, you know, like where there are all the staircases but you can't tell if they're going up or down or where they end or begin. And he did some other really cool stuff too that we got to check out. My friend had free tickets so that was nice that we got to go. And they had used computers to animate some of his works and that was really something to see. Check out M.C. Escher, I recommend.
• Yay for traveling! My friends and I have realized how short our time here actually is so we've gotten on the ball about planning the trips we want to take. And for me, what it looks like so far is...Santiago de Compostela (that's in the north of Spain, right above Portugal) one weekend in March, Sevilla and Berlin during Semana Santa (the week leading up to Easter). I'm really excited about all my trips so far, especially Berlin. Lindsey and I are going together and we'll be there 6 days which is quite a long time. I didn't think I would be this excited but the more I research, and think about it, and talk to people about it, the more I'm looking forward to going.
  
• Last night, Lindsey and I went to the movies and we saw Letters from Iwo Jima, mainly because we thought it would be in English. But we did not read the sign properly and it was in Japanese but with Spanish subtitles. So I was able to understand everything, but it was still not what we were expecting. And we sneaked in some tortilla bocadillos and the lady in front of us kept turning around and looking at us. Sorry.
• I bought fun new shoes today! They are flats, white with black polka dots. Very cute.
• Four of my English groups started this week. This is great because I like having more to do and being busy. I have a new group meeting for the first time tomorrow with my roommate Ana and 7 (7!!) of her friends. I am so excited that this group is actually happening because I didn't think it would. God has totally surprised me with this one.
• I accidentally told my Spanish friend that hamburgers were from Germany.
• Today was a good day.

Well, that's about it for today. It will be March here in about 10 minutes, so those of you still in America, enjoy the rest of February. Write me! Love you!

No Rain in Spain Today

Today we are having the most beautiful weather in Madrid. It' s warm and sunny and not a cloud in the sky. Perfect day for doing laundry (since we hang our clothes out to dry) and that's exactly what I did this morning. I wish I had a frisbee or something so I could go to the park and play.

I met up with Lindsey (one of the other interns) and Xan (my Spanish friend) on campus today and we hung out for awhile. Lindsey had to leave early but I stayed with Xan and he introduced me to some his friends and classmates. It was fun hanging out with them and I laughed when they referred to me as the "amiga misteriosa". They are your typical college students and they welcomed me into their group. They even offered me a drink from the communal beer they were all sharing (I refused), and I took that as a good sign. I hope we can hang out again soon.

Yesterday I tried out a new church and I really liked it. I think I'm going to go back. Everyone we met was really friendly and we even met some career missionaries that were originally from Tyler, TX so that was good to talk about that. They've been in Spain for 29 years though so I don't know how much Texas is really home to them. Can you imagine living in another country for 29 years? That seems really incredible to me. I wonder if I could make it. I'm realizing more and more how much the creature comforts of home mean to me. Could I go for 29 years without marshmallows? Without watching American TV? Without being able to call my friends and family for free? Without driving in my car to Wal-Mart? Well, maybe that last one I could live without.

Just some thoughts for the day. Oh, the above picture is from last semester. Shannon, Kara and I walking on La Complutense campus.

New Blog! New You!

So here's a photo from the pillow fight that I told you all about. Pretty crazy eh?












I've decided to change the old blog a bit. The other service I was using wouldn't let me post pictures and I decided that that was bad. I chose that service because it allowed anyone to leave a comment, but since no one leaves comments anyways (is anyone reading this? I don't know), it wasn't worth it in the long run. But if you have an opinion and think this blog stinks or the other one stinks or whatever, let me know and I might take that into account. Or I will probably hear nothing back and so I'll just do whatever I want. Ok.