hola a todos

Hi Everyone,

There is so much I have to update on since my last post. So, I'll do this chronologically.

My trip to Madrid with the group during the first weekend of Feburary was fun and tiring. Imagine 60 Americans, 1 French girl and a Swede in two huge chartered buses trekking across snow covered mountains (the trip was 5 hours). The snow made me feel like I was back in Illinois and during our pit stop we had a snowball fight. Also, imagine the thrill of hotel guests when they saw all of us crowd into the hotel lobby. I stayed in a room with Melissa (from the u of I) who is 1 of the three girls I hang out with here everyday (the others are Jamie (from wash d.c.) and Charlena (from grand rapids)--they were next door). Anyways, the first day (Friday) we went to the former palace of the Spanish King and Queen. It was huge and smelled like history (read that how you will). We then walked over to the Plaza Mayor (main plaza) and a very old cathedral. I have a lot of pictures of us posing like saints, climbing on cow statues that are all over Madrid, and playing in the Plaza...very American. We had a break so the four of us wondered around the city aimlessly before going back to the hotel after a long conversation in sign language on the metro (Melissa knows sign language and has been teaching us). The hotel was nice however we had every meal at the hotel buffet which was typical buffet food--mysterious and undercooked. That night we were all tired so we hung out in the hotel room and listened to music on Spanish MTV. The next day we went to Segovia which is a town an hour from Madrid and it's freezing cold. Seriously! I am now accostumed to Bilbao's oceananic climate and the weather in Segovia is miserable in comparison. We went to a Castle which was really cool and climbed to the top where you could see all of Segovia..so pretty. Also, we had an awesome tour guide who at the end pulled out a quarter collectors booked and asked us for American quarters for his missing states. HA! (I thought of you Grandma!). Unfortunately, I didn't have quarters to give him. That night our entire group went out dancing at a 7 story dance place which was fun. I learned how to salsa from one of my friends in our group who is an expert. On Sunday we woke up at 6am, had a decent breakfast, and went to el Museo de Reina Sophia. I LOVED this museum and could have spent much more than four hours exploring. Next time I'm in Madrid I know where I am going. This same museum led to a 2 hour conversation with my ama about art where at the end she exclaimed tu espanol es mucho mejor! (Yes!) After this we piled back on the bus and headed home to Bilbao and warmer climates.

Lets see, since Madrid I have had school. I really like my classes however I do not like being a commuter and spending an hour en route to class (gah). Thankfully though all my classes are blocked so I don't have long breaks where I have to make several trips back and forth a day (some of my friends are not so lucky). What else, what else. Oh, the next weekend the director of the program invited us all to come see his friends rock band (our director is in his 50s but a very lively, fun character). He also said that the five people who could dance the best to rock music would receive cds from the band... My friend Jamie took this very seriously. She would not allow Melissa, Charlena, and I to take any kind of breaks (bathroom, talking to friends, etc) throughout the entire night. But in the end, you know we won that!! The cd was terrible but it is a story for my blog.

I was sick (cold) for about two weeks in Feb before my ama finally convinced to go to the doctor. She kept saying, es gratis aqui, es gratis aqui!. (it's free here! go!). And so I had my Spanish hospital experience. Spain has socialized healthcare so it is free for everyone. You can make appointments for routine type things or whatever but for a cold you go through Urgenicias (e.r.). computer dying now finish this later