I met a really nice girl named Sonia who lives just down my street, she is also on study abroad and lives in San Fransisco. I was so happy to meet her, because now I have a friend not related to Kalamazoo at all with whom I can hang out. She lives in an apartment down the street, so last night I went over there and we watched a movie (Sahara) and ordered pizza. It was really nice. Its nice to know I can be social without having to take the metro somewhere.

Earlier yesterday we visited the European Union's seat in Spain. It wasn't at all what I was expecting, it wasnt fancy at all, it was almost run down. And there was a halfheartedly removed grafitti of a swastika on the front, which I thought was pretty horrible. They barely tried to get rid of it, so we could still tell exactly what it was. You'd think getting rid of it would be a pressing issue.
They gave us EU pens, hats, keychains and bracelets though, so that was kinda randomly cool. And the seats in the meeting room were hot pink.

I'm going to visit Erin in less than two weeks in Strasbourg, and I'm really excited. I'm glad to be leaving Spain again and exploring somewhere new, and it also was just so much fun to be with Erin in Europe, I'm glad we get to do it again.
And now its less than a month until Lindsay comes and we go to Barcelona for Christmas, and just over a month to Brett and Paris. I'm getting SO excited for the both of them. Both visits are going to be so great, and are definitely needed.

I guess not too much has been going on recently, just day in day out stuff. The decorations are really big and elaborate here for Christmas. Its kinda exciting, though Thanksgiving is making me pretty homesick, too. But it is refreshing to have homesickness be a new feeling, its not anything close to what it was over a month ago. Now I'm generally happy with occasional pangs, instead of the other way around.

ALRIGHT. I have work to do! More pictures will be up soon!

recap on the queen of spain, and annie goes to germany!

So, I meant to explain in further detail about meeting the queen, and then I totally forgot in the excitement of having Erin around. So I’ll do it now!
For our program here we have a bunch of required visits that we have to do, that are generally pretty boring. This was one of those visits, we had to visit the Congress building and just walk around it. So we wander aimlessly around the building for about an hour, listening to a guide who talks way too fast for us to understand. When its over, we leave, go outside, and see a big tent and lots of guards dressed in their traditional clothes, complete with neon pink feathers in their humongous hats. So we wander over to it, and lo and behold, it’s the Queen of Spain, holding a fundraiser for the Red Cross. If you donate any amount of money, even like five cents, she will shake your hand and give you a little Red Cross pin (it’s a little white flag with the red cross on it). So obviously we all get excited and do it. It happened really fast and I didn’t even really realize until after I was done shaking her hand and was being ushered away by a man wearing pink feathers that I had actually just met Reina Sofia. It was pretty awesome, and I feel really lucky, because I know that lots of people in Spain would love to meet her, and I just kind of happened upon her.

On another note, this past Wednesday I went to Germany to visit my friend Ariel. She is studying in Erlangen, which is a bit outside Nuremburg. It was a ton of fun. I was only there two full days, but we managed to pack a ton in. Erlangen is a really nice small city, and it was gorgeous there, because unlike Spain, Germany does in fact experience fall. All the leaves were yellow and orange, and the weather was cold and brisk; it felt so nice.

Thursday we wandered around Erlangen and then went to Nuremberg for the afternoon, with another guy I met through the JSO, named Danny. It’s a cool city, it gets very into Christmas, so decorations were already going up. It was fun to see. We climbed to the top of a huge hill to an old castle to overlook the whole city, and it was pretty amazing. That night we went to a bar and I met a bunch of the other K kids who are in Germany. The beer was really good in Erlangen, and it was all really huge. Apparently the average size of a beer in Germany is half a liter…that’s a lot! I was sooo full, but I had to do it.

The next day we woke up early and took a 3 hour train to Munich, where we spent most of the day. It was a great city, and I was so happy that we got to go. I was afraid we wouldn’t have time since I was only there for two days, but it actually worked out perfectly. We wandered around the old city, saw lots of sights, and, in keeping with the tradition I seem to be creating on study abroad, climbed yet another incredibly steep staircase to the top of a steeple to over look all of Munich, which was even more impressive than the view of Nuremberg.
When we came home Ariel cooked me a delicious meal of basil tofu stir-fry with zucchini, greenbeans, carrots and green pepper! It was sooo good, and it was so nice to eat something that wasn’t fried and pig.
I feel like I got to know Ariel a ton better, which is awesome too! I cant wait to get back to K and hang out with her outside the JSO more. And I think she’s pondering visiting me in Madrid now, sometime in January, which I really hope she can work out, because I think it would be a ton of fun.

It was a really quick trip, but it was a blast! It felt so good to get out of Spain, finally. I’ve been feeling a bit cornered in, so it was a breath of fresh air, literally. I will post pictures soon at www.flickr.com/photos/anniemb so check that out, too! And I’m still working on that Google webpage, I just never have strong enough internet to really spend much time on it, but we shall see.

Erin goes to Spain, etc.

Well! It has been quite the crazy week. Erin got here on Monday in the afternoon. I met her at the airport, and we definitely ran towards each other arms outstretched across the room. From that moment on there was nothing but fun to be had. We got the rest of the Strasbourg visitors settled into their hostal, and then she and I went to my house, because my Madre and Padre let her stay with us for free, which was super nice of them. They even cooked her vegetarian soup! They are so nice. That evening we took it pretty easy. We walked from my house to the Egyptian temple where you can overlook all of Madrid, and then on to Plaza de Espana and the Palacio Real, where the king and queen used to live. We grabbed paella for dinner, then we met up with the Strasbourg guys again, at Plaza de Santa Ana, which is my favorite place in Madrid, I am pretty sure. We had some good tapas, and some mediocre beer, and then headed back home, sleepy.

Tuesday I had early class, so Erin went to the Prado, and I met up with her when I was out. After some food, we wandered around a bit, went to the area called Sol, which is super touristy, but they have this AMAZING vegetarian restaurant, called Maoz. You order a pita that is cut open and has falafel in it, and then there is a little buffet of toppings that are incredibly delicious. So we went there and stuffed ourselves, then wandered around some more, and somehow ran into the rest of the people visiting from Strasbourg. So we went to a Chocolateria with them, and had some good treats, then headed home to get ready for Halloween. First we went to this sangria place but we ended up going to this discoteca near my house, for a Halloween party thing. It was packed and crazy, but a lot of fun, and we left about 4, and came home to collapse for a few hours.

Wednesday we slept in a bit because I had no class due to All Saints’ Day, and then did some more walking around. We met up in the Parque do Buen Retiro with the Strasbourg guys and went on boat rides in the little lake there. We went to flamenco that night, which was the first time I’ve done that since being here. It was really close to my house, so I’m hoping to go back, maybe with Brett and/or Lindsay when they come, and most likely my parents and sister too. It was really good, very impressive and intense. I loved it! As did Erin, I’m sure.

Thursday I had class again and the Strasbourgers went to the Reina Sofia for the morning. Erin came with me to my ICRP later that day, to play with children at a NGO that teaches single immigrant women from African countries how to survive in Spain, basically. I was glad she got to experience it with me, because I feel like its going to be a life changing experience, and this way someone else can have a kind of idea of why that is.
Later that night we went to Kapital, which is Madrid’s biggest nightclub. Through some crazy happenings we ended up getting in for free, bypassing the 20 euro cover charge. We also got drinks for 5 euro, instead of the usual 10, so we lucked out pretty well. The other kids from Strasbourg came as well, and Julia too. It was a TON of fun, we danced pretty much for 6 hours straight, met some interesting people, and got home about 7 the next morning, as my family was getting up and eating breakfast before school and work. It was a little awkward to come home then, but I think my madre was actually proud of me, she thinks I don’t go out enough, she’s always trying to convince me to go out longer and more often.

So we get home early Friday, and wake up 5 hours later, and catch a bus to the town Segovia, where I went earlier, in September. It’s the town with the giant aqueduct. Erin really wanted to see it, and also wanted to see something of Spain besides just Madrid. So it worked out really well, though we were tired. That night we came home and had Indian food with most of the K people in Madrid and Strasbourg, and then we came home, fell asleep, and then that morning I left before she was really up, because I had to go to Toledo.

I know I’m forgetting a ton, but that’s the best I can do right now. Overall it was the best week I have had here yet. I was sad to see her go, we had such a blast! It was so great to be able to just talk and talk with someone who knows me so well, I have missed that. But I go to Strasbourg to see her in about a month, so I don’t have to miss her toooo much, I’ll try to just stay positive! I shouldn’t work myself into a hole. And I think we are going to Brussels while I am there, so that should be a ton of fun too. Belgium!

Toledo was really interesting to see, Im glad my parents will get to see it. It has a lot of history, what with being “the city of three cultures,” where Jews, Christians and Muslims lived peacefully for hundreds of years, until the Reconquista de los Catolicos in 1492. There were two synagogues we went to, both of which had at later times been used as churches, and also had definite Arab influence in their styles. It was really cool, because everything for all three cultures really had pieces of the others in them. I will have pictures up on www.flickr.com/anniemb soon; so don’t forget to check that out.

This evening I went to a Real Madrid soccer game with Julia, her housemate Jade, a girl named Erica and a couple german boys. It was a lot of fun, despite the fact that they lost. We somehow had seats in the 14th row, we were incredibly close, and could see everything. Including how beautiful David Beckham is. He really, really, really is.

In two days I leave to go to Erlangen, Germany, to visit Ariel and Danny, who I got to know in the JSO last year. Im looking forward to that, but its going to be a little nerve-wracking, I haven’t yet flown to another country out of Madrid yet. But I think its going to be a lot of fun, I really cant wait, I’m glad I only have to wait two days. It’s a little disappointing that the EU means that I am not going to get my passport stamped for any of this traveling though, its kinda a bummer. I wish my passport could be full of all the countries I am going to! Oh well.