Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Today is "el once-m", aka their equivalent of September 11. Mom, Dad, and Laura - I thought of you guys a lot today! Our señora was trying to explain to us what happened five years ago with the bomb at the train station and in true Spanish fashion, wouldn´t listen to me until I finally interrupted her for the 10th time. She kept explaining that it was the same group that attacked the "tall towers" (she forgot the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania field..) and said she wouldn´t hesitate to wring their necks if she ever met them. I let her know that I understood quite clearly what happened that day and remember it vividly because most of my family was there (well, close)! I forgot to say this earlier, but in Madrid there´s a big monumet outside of the station, at the end of the Paseo del Prado to commemorate the day and honor those who died. I took a picture but since it was dark I doubt it will turn out great.
Ok, so I woke up and went to my one and only class for the day :) then took a loooong walk around town. I explored some parts of the city that I don´t know well at all, mainly Gran Vía but I saw a LOT! It was so nice out, I think it got up to about 75º but the sun is so intense here that it feels much warmer. In the shade (which there´s not a lot of, considering most of the city is pavement..) the temperature drops significantly and at night in the summer they say it drops 20ºC!! So when I finally got back for lunch, I was exhaused and fell asleep as soon as we were done eating. Then I changed clothes, grabbed my computer, and headed out to do some Skyping. I went to my cute little café that has wireless and had a "chocolate con nata" (melted milk chocolate w/ whipped cream and sprinkles) but the internet wasn´t really working. So I headed to the CLM and got to talk with Rob then Mandy and Dad who were at Mandy´s place. I´m so glad that we get to "see" each other! It was good to talk to all of them but I had to get going because I had my first soccer game! Yay! We met at Plaza Einstein and headed over to the fields, aka cement. It was a really cute complex and there were lots of people working out. Our team is Me, Taylor, Jenny, Penny, Kristin, and Nick. Honestly, I was surprised at how good we were - everyone has played competitively at some point and we naturally feel into a sort of formation and rotation. We played with a futsal ball so that takes some getting used to, but there was a ref and everything. The weather was perrrrrfect for a game. The other team had matching shirts which I was a little jealous of.. It was really fun to get out and do something different, hang out with other people, and get some real exercise. The best part though is that we won 3-2! I even scored a goal! Buuuut, when I was goalie we got scored on, so I guess I broke even :) I´m really looking forward to our next game!
