¡Viva España!: only one month left in the most beautiful city :(

Instead of writing a Spanish paper in Spanish, I am choosing to write a blog post in English. Homework can always wait, especially in Spain!! And, let's be honest, I am the queen of procrastination, but always manage to get it done sometime.

This past week was relaxed, but very eventful. We are getting down to crunch time now, folks. I can't believe I only have one month until I return to the states. Ever since the beginning of the semester my friends and I have always said...."oh we need to do that before we leave" or "let's go see that sometime..." Well, now we have a totally different mind set as the days we are in Spain are becoming fewer and fewer. Now, I just do things even if I have homework and buy things/spend money without really hesitating. I am only in Spain once so my bank account can suffer a little and my homework can definitely wait!

On Monday the day at the hospital was a little boring because, again, a lot of my patients were MIA or were in x-rays and whatnot. I did get to talk to my English-speaking patient though! We always try to start the conversation with him speaking in English and me speaking in Spanish, but it always ends in all English. haha Oops, English is just so much more convenient. And he, even, gave me homework to do for next Monday. He was telling me about a very funny American comedian, and he wanted me to watch a few clips on Youtube and then report back with how I like him. Also, he was asking me why the Cowboys and the Lions always play on Thanksgiving Day, and I had no clue so I told him I would ask my Dad or my sister (the football pros) in my family. Also, on Monday, before my class at 7:45 I went running and found myself running in pitch blackness, due to daylight savings time. I'm not a big fan of this time of year, but it was kind of cool to get a run in in the dark and near the river.

On Tuesday, I went adventuring with Elizabeth. We walked down from the Plaza de Zocodover and went and adventured around the Puerta del Sol. I like adventuring with her because since she is a history major she always knows historical facts for everything!! I didn't have much time to adventure though because I had to go teach English. The English teacher was late because she forgot the keys to the building so we started class a little late. We practiced the alphabet, body parts and writing numbers. The kids also ate jell-o and got a kick out of that. Most of them liked it! This coming Tuesday I am going to be on my own teaching because Nuria (the teacher) has a conference she needs to attend. A little nervous...so hopefully the kids are on their best behavior!!

With not having class on Wednesday until 7:45 at night I usually try to do some more adventuring during the day. Usually I go to the track in the morning and get my workout out of the way, and then I have the rest of the day to do whatever. Even though I had a presentation on Thursday that I hadn't even started yet, I decided to go adventuring with Laura. She wanted to go to a cafe (Central Perk) that is just like the Central Perk on "Friends." Our friend, Alyssa, has gone there and told us it was awesome so we wanted to go and see for ourselves. It just so happens that Central Perk is over by the track so I was able to show Laura around. She loved it and said she felt like she was in a whole different city because she had never been over there before. With our trusty map and our travel smarts, we found the cafe in no time, even though Toledo (and all of Spain, really) fails to mark any streets with street signs.

Well, Alyssa was right! Central Perk was awesome! On a big screen tv they had episodes of "Friends" playing over and over, and they even had the couch and 2 brown chairs set up just like they are in the show. There were pictures hanging on the walls of references to "Friends," like pictures of New York and Smelly Cat. It was just a cozy little cafe which was perfect to visit on Wednesday because it was cool and rainy outside. I got some type of coffee drink, and surprisingly it wasn't that bad. It was very sweet though! And apparently had a lot of caffeine because I found myself wide awake and twiddling my thumbs in my bed at 2 in the morning.

After my class on Wednesday night and after my host Mom and I ate dinner, I finally decided to start my presentation. I had to read an excerpt in our book and then make a powerpoint presentation on it and present it to the class. Well, long story short, I didn't have a clue what my excerpt said without my host Mom's help!! She was so helpful and sat down with me and we went through it word by word. I actually learned a lot too. After I made my powerpoint and wrote out what I was going to say, she edited my notes, and I practiced giving my presentation with her. My host Mom saved the day once again :) I don't know what I would do without her.

Thursdays here are always quite busy because I have 3 classes with awkward breaks in between them. It really isn't enough time to go back home or do homework or go on adventures so I usually just sit outside in the plaza near the fund if it's nice out or waste time inside the fund. For my art class we went and visited a convent. It was actually pretty interesting, and the nuns that were there seemed very nice. After classes were all done, I went with Laura and Elizabeth to McDonald's because they love the Mc Flurries here (I guess they're different!) and the ice cream cones (they put a kit kat in the cones here!). I never get anything, but it is still fun to go with. Laura and I, then, did a bit of adventuring and then later that night we went and got tapas at a new restaurant that we'd never tried before. Here, in Toledo, and in the suburbs of Toledo, they are doing a contest with a bunch of restaurants. Each restaurant has a sponsored tapa that you can buy for 2 euro, and then you can vote on which tapa you liked the best after going to a few different restaurants. We plan to go to a different restaurant each week until the contest ends. The restaurant we went to this week was quite classy. We had to sit outside because there wasn't a lot of room inside, but it was okay (even with the cooler temps) because they had heat laps under the umbrellas!! The tapa was fish (cod) in a sauce and then, of course, bread. It was very tasty! I, also, got tinto de verano, but I've gotta say, I think I like the tinto de verano at Enebro's better.

On Friday, I woke up bright and early, and went on an excursion with others from the fundacion to El Escorial, which is a little Northwest of Madrid. It was so beautiful! And, unlike the Palacio Royal, it was not buzzing with tourists which was actually kind of nice. We got a guided tour of everything, and it was nice because our tour guide (from the fundacion) spoke English, too, so if we all looked confused or if it were words we probably wouldn't know he translated them to English. I liked that because I felt like, afterward, I actually got something out of the tour. Sometimes after a lot of Spanish like that I tend to just tune out the tour guides, and then I am not learning anything at all. Today, El Escorial is a library, a university, a high school, a convent, a church and a museum. How cool would it be to attend high school there?! Also, this is the place where a lot of Kings and Queens and royal families are burried and was once the palace of Felipe II. The exquisite detail was explicable, like mainly everything here in Spain!! I just don't understand how they can paint such detailed paintings of things on ceilings...it just blows my mind. The library was probably my favorite part of the whole thing, with the church a close second. We could only take pictures outside and in the patios so unfortunately I could not take any pictures of anything else, but you all should google El Escorial to take a look.

We also ate at this very good restaurant where we got served a 3 course meal. First was pasta with spaghetti and meat sauce, then was the main dish of a huge steak and steak fries (very American and I LOVED IT!! finally I get a steak here...) and for dessert it was kind of like a crepe rolled into what looked like a burrito with custard on the inside. It was soooo delicious! Soon after eating we headed back as it was almost a 2 hour bus ride back to Toledo.

On Saturday I got up early and headed to the track, only to get confused with the buses once again. I don't think I will ever get the bus schedule right!! I thought the bus came at 9, but turns out it didn't come until 9:20 so I sat at the bus stop and froze my butt off! Eventually I made it to the track and got my workout in, which is the only thing that matters. After, Elizabeth and I were headed to Madrid for the day. It was such a fun and relaxing day...I loved it. First things first--going to the theatre and buying our Rey Leon (Lion King) tickets. We were crossing our fingers that they still had tickets available for shows when we were still going to be here and turns out they did! We will be going to see Lion King the weekend before finals. It will be a nice study break!! After buying the tickets, Elizabeth really wanted to go to Starbucks because we don't have one here in Toledo. I ordered a hot chocolate with caramel, and it was to die for. I don't know if they have that in the states, but if they do, that is going to be dangerous for me come January! We sat in Starbucks for awhile and people watched (secretly...from the windows on the second floor!) and just relaxed and took in the sights of Madrid. Then, I went to the Reina Sofia and Elizabeth went to the Prado. I absolutely fell in love with the Reina Sofia...it is so much different than the Prado. The art in the Reina Sofia is much more modern and up my alley. Although, don't get me wrong, I really did enjoy the Prado as well, they are just two very different museums.

Since we neglected to eat lunch, after the museums we were both starving, so decided to get a little muffin snack at Starbucks before taking the metro to the bus station and heading back to Toledo. A successful day in Madrid it was :) And back to Toledo in enough time to eat dinner at our houses (that way we save money!).

Today, Sunday, I have just been watching some Spanish tv and working on loads of homework. Or, more like, "working" on loads of homework. It is that time of the semester I think...just don't feel like doing any school work anymore. Nonetheless, school work in Spanish.

Just a few side notes:

-My host Mom washed my running shoes in the washing machine, and they look like brand new! Such a good idea.

-They don't have water towers here...instead they have water fountains and that is where the water comes from. (I asked my host Mom this because I was curious.)

-We are pretty sure that the mountains you can see going from Toledo up to Madrid have some snow on them!!

-Some stores in Toledo have started putting Christmas displays up and I just have to laugh at some of them because they have fake snow. Pssshhh, Spaniards don't know a thing about snow. They should come visit Wisconsin!

-My English class shared palmeritas with me this past week. We don't really have anything like them in the states but if I had to describe them it would be kind of like a cross between a cookie and a toast and they're kind of sweet. Hard to explain! They are pretty tasty though! Nuria gave me the whole box so I could share them with my American friends because she couldn't believe we don't have anything like it in the states.

-I love that taking siestas here is such a big part of their culture...makes me feel less guilty when I take them...like today!

-One of my friends, Anny, went to Germany last weekend and bought German sweet bread and shared some with us one day at lunch this week. It was so good! I was so full after lunch, but of course, I couldn't turn down sweet bread!!

Well, I think that is pretty much my week in a nutshell. I probably should get back to writing my essay seeing as how it needs to be 3 pages, and I have one sentence written.

Spanish love to everyone :) LOVE and MISS YOU all!! xoxoxoxo