Wednesdays!

Wednesdays, or Miercoles as I should say, are the best days ever! There is no reason to wake up early, which means you can start celebrating Wednesday at midnight, take a short nap from 6 am to noon, rise and shine just in time to drink and dine! (that rhymed, fyi) And that is precisely how my yesterday started out! It was a fantastic evening filled with much 1 euro cerveza and more than enough good company just out to celebrate the mere fact that it was Wednesday. To add to the wonderfulness of this day the sun was bright and warm when I awoke mid afternoon. I promptly hopped out of bed and began the phone tree that had one question, what where and when are we doing whatever we are doing today. It was decided that we would grab breakfast/lunch at the BEST sandwich shop ever, 100(cien) Montaditos.

100 Montaditos also has 1 euro Wednesdays! Not sure why everything has to be so perfect on Wednesdays but I'm going to chalk it up as a sign from God that I should truly enjoy this day of the week. Despite the horribly long line, tables littered with flimsy used napkins and empty glasses, air quality that should come with a warning about lung cancer, and the abundant presence of Spanish lovers, we filled our order and waited. and waited. and waited. eventually snagged an open table. and waited. Spaniards are not known for their speedy services nor for their regard to the needs of others, meaning the majority of people occupying the majority of the space were done eating and their primary task was to smoke themselves to death. I should rephrase this to be more fair, I am an American and therefore have no regard to the intricate details it takes to make a 3" sandwich nor do I have any sort of experience in enjoying time with friends. Dear Spain, I apologize for the cultural differences. ANYWAY we finally received our fabulously delicious bocadillos (little sandwiches) and potato chips..

{HOLD ON interruption/side note: I am sitting in the library currently and the 2 people sitting directly to my left are about to make babies. I understand that Franco was suppresive about affection and that its not acceptable to have a boyfriend or girlfriend over at your house, but really I'm beginning to think that making out is like breathing here...everyone does it, everywhere, and they don't care if you witness it. It's so innocent yet so darn intrusive and it has this tendency to remind me that I, contrary to them, am not in love. thank you Spain yet again.}

...back to the greatest of Wednesdays! We more or less inhaled the delicious delectable delights called Montaditos and promptly set off to refresh our lungs, air out our jackets and take in some culture at the Reina Sofia, Madrid's musuem of modern art.

Picasso. What can I say? He's an artistic genius. Guerrnica is huge! And extremely impressive. Also say some stuff by Dalí but all in all I am not art critic so I thought the museum was pretty sweet and enjoyed looking at all the pretty (and some not so pretty) pieces.

After the museum we were having a bizarre craving for ice cream for which there is no better cure than waffles and ice cream! The ice cream was def a little freezer burnt and the waffles may or may not have been half sugar but nonetheless it hit the spot. We also met a man who thought it was important that we know that the US is BEST place in the world to live...we thought he was crazy considering we rarely eat waffles and ice cream in the states. By this time it was dark and Madrid was starting to come to life but it was clearly time for the American kids to hit home for the ever mysterious Spanish family meal.

This Wednesday was also particularly great because I was able to hear from my Grandmother in California, as well as my aunt, uncle and father! I found out that my grandma is doing much better than I thought however I still believe my little brother and I are planning a summer roadtrip to LA!! More tidbits of exciting news - I have a job teaching 2 7 year old girls English, and possibly another teaching job as well which means money in the bank! I also was offered the RA job at Carpenter again and I'm very very very excited to return, its a great building with wonderful staff, I can't wait to return! More news.. I head to Valencia next weekend (not this weekend!), Granada the weekend after that, then its mid-terms and then I head off my 10 day hiking/backpacking adventure through Northern Spain on the Camino de Santiago! Google it so you can be just as excited about it as I am.

Con un beso y abrazo!