It's the little things

It's definitely the little things that make being here so much fun...

Like finding tea with a very suspicious brand name...
Like rummaging through about 30 different animal puppets at the mall to find the one that wasn't scary (spider), random (cow with 3 udders), or way too hard to say in English (ostrich)

Like getting ragged on by an old lady at the bus station for wearing flip-flops on a 75-degree day... and seeing her reaction when she realized I spoke Spanish (and then of course becoming her BFF on the ride home).

Like having a random stranger take your picture at the park and come up with THIS:
Like THIS GUY (at a regular bar, people):

Like finding the humor in really unfortunate events (that's a re-enactment of her stolen purse and the trash can it is probably lying in after some gypsy took her stuff):
Having a blast in Spain, everyone. After a bout with the flu, I am back in action and trying to plan some fun weekends! Going to see my first bull fight this weekend - eek! Mom and Dad are coming on my birthday for their tour of Madrid! November hopes to bring a trip to Scotland and my attempt to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for my roommates.

Sorry these are so dreadfully short, but I've been really sick and busy with work and school. I hope to have some more interesting blogs soon!

Love and miss you all.

You can cut the flowers, but you can't keep spring from coming. - Pablo Neruda

Hi everyone! It's taken me a few weeks but I've finally created a blog for you all to read about and see my crazy adventures in Europe over the next 9 months. I'm settled into Madrid and my new job teaching Spanish pre-schoolers... exactly as frightening as it sounds. You'll read more about them I'm sure.

So my pictures are a lot more exciting than my babbling so let's check those out.

This is the Plaza Mayor in downtown Madrid. It's full of cafes and street performers and is lit up all night and bustling with tourists and Spaniards alike.

Next we have the Royal Palace, where the King and Queen of Spain used to live. I guess the new king has a mansion somewhere. Can't imagine it's bigger than this.



Facing the Royal Palace is the famous Cathedral, in this picture I took from the Templo de Debod, a park on the west side of Madrid.

Templo de Debod - Egyptian temple donated to Spain in the 60's. Prefect place to catch the sunset.

A few weeks ago I took a day trip to Segovia, which is about 1 1/2 hours from Madrid. Here are a few shots of the gorgeous city. This castle looks like it came out of a fairytale. And I climbed to the top of it!



Here is the Cathedral Alcala in Segovia. I couldn't take pics inside so this is all you can see.

Well, this has basically been all pictures and no blogging so I'll try to get better at that for my next post.

Things to LOVE about Spain:
1. They love food. So much that they take 2 hours to eat their lunch.
2. Everyone is friendly (caveat: even the gypsies)
3. Nightlife is diverse and accessible 24/7
4. Table taps and swearing are totally socially acceptable.
5. Dollar stores are in abundance and carry just about everything you could ever need.