Wait....it's already week 3?

My gosh how time flies here! It's like one minute you're dreading waking up for class on Monday and the next minute it's already the weekend all over again. The time flying is both a good and a bad thing for several reasons.

Good because I know that when August 15th rolls around I'll probably be ready to get back to the promised land of Oklahoma. And good because everyone loves the weekend, especially the weekend in Europe.

Bad because I'm really growing to love both the country of Spain and the people I'm here with. I love the fact that all of us have become so incredibly close over these last two weeks and I'm really honestly to the point where I can't imagine life without everyone. These other Oklahomans aren't just other exchange students. They're not just friends. They're family.

So since time flies so fast I find myself slacking on updating this blog, which is irritating because I really want this to be an accurate journal of my life in Spain. I want to be able to look back later on and know what I was feeling throughout this entire process. So for the sake of keeping things up to date, let me try and tell about my amazing weekend.

First of all, Thursday night ended up being a wild and crazy night for the majority of us. In true Spanish form we all went out to some local discotecas and bars and stayed out until the sun came up. Which was one of the more fun nights I've had since I've been here, but it wasn't the wisest decision considering the fact that I was supposed to go to Toledo the next morning at 8:30.

Note the phrase "was supposed to go."

I finally opened up my eyes and looked over at my clock around 11:00. A good two and a half hours after my bus for Toledo had left. So then I did what anyone else would do in my situation. I rolled over and went back to sleep until 2:30. The Spanish life is rough on the body. haha

So when I finally got up I was awfully upset with myself because I missed out on a free trip with all of my friends. And I had heard from several people that Toledo was a cool place. But I guess I'll never know now. Anyway, I tried to salvage the day by taking a walk through Alcala to try and learn a little more about the city, which made it a bit better. I made the hour long walk out to the mall again (all by myself) and felt like I had accomplished something amazing. At first I thought I would never be able to learn this city, but little by little I'm figuring it out. By the end of the summer I'll be able to walk these streets blindfolded.

So anyway, I stretched the walk out into a 6 hour excursion throughout the city and really actually enjoyed it. It was nice to just get away from everyone and just take everything in. No cell phone, no iPod, no distractions. Just me and Alcala. And believe me, there is a lot that can be learned from this city. Mostly things that can't really be put into words, as much as I would like to share it with everyone. But it's just something that has to be experienced rather than told about.

So I ended up going to bed early that night because I figured one night out until 7 am was enough for me. And plus, a huge group of us had decided to go into Madrid the next day to do some museum-hopping and to see the sights at a leisurely pace as compared to our crazy fast tour on our first weekend.

I took a few pictures that I figure I can post for greater description:

First of all, here is the famous Museo del Prado that is supposed to be one of the greatest art collections in Europe and the world. This little entrance actually doesn't do the museum justice, because it is much more grand than it looks here. It really was an amazing museum. I feel so cultured. :)

This was actually just a random building that we passed in the city that I thought was cool. It was one of the ministry buildings, for agriculture or something I think. The point that can be made here is that every single building in Spain is photo-worthy. The main difference between the US and Spain is that in the states the buildings are built for functionality, with very standard skyscrapers built to house as much business as possible. However, in Spain the buildings are built as an art. Beauty is the key here and if the building isn't beautiful, then it wasn't built right.

I like this picture just because it shows how artsy the city of Madrid is. It's a very green city with these canopies basically covering the entire city. There are also these really ornate fountains all over the city. It's a pretty beautiful place.

This is in Retiro Park, which is Madrid's version of NYC's Central Park. Which I think Retiro is much prettier than Central Park. It's so green and absolutely beautifully landscaped. It's easily possible to pass several hours just going for a walk through this park. (I'm finding that I'm becoming a bigger and bigger fan of taking walks after being here)

This is the big lake in the middle of Retiro. It's really cool because they have all kinds of kayak/canoe races here that you can just sit and watch for hours. And right by this lake is all kinds of street performers and activities. Such a cool place just to go relax and spend an hour or two.

This is my friend Lindsey playing an accordion that she took from a street performer. (she asked if she could borrow it, even though stealing it would have been much more spanish) Needless to say, she wasn't all that great. :)

So as you can see, we just leisurely passed the day going throughout the city, taking stops here and there and wherever we felt like it. It was an amazing day and the weather was as beautiful as it has been the entire time I've been here.

That night our plans were to get ready and go back into Madrid to take in the big city nightlife, which would have meant that we wouldn't get in until sometime around 8 am again. However, even though all the guys were ready to go, the girls felt the need to spend WAY too long getting ready and we missed the last train into the city. But we're a resilient group. And we make the best of every situation. So we went out in Alcala again. haha

There are some really REALLY fun places to go in Alcala, such as a discoteca called Can-Can, a pub called Mediapinta, and a bar called Gabana (which is owned by my host dad, which explains a lot). So we decided to hit up all Alcala had to offer once again and tons of fun was had.

Interesting/really incredibly awkward story time:

So Spanish guys are pretty much known for coming on pretty strong towards women here especially when they've had a few drinks. A girl rarely has to buy herself a drink when out at the bars because the Spanish guys always buy the drinks for them. Sometimes the spaniards can get vulgar and pretty often we guys have to play bodyguard and make sure that the crazy Spanish guys back off.

However, the tables turned on me this time around. Not really sure why, but this random Spanish guy decided he wanted him a little Jordan Carlton. Which was okay at first because he kept supplying me with free drinks (don't judge, drinks are crazy expensive here). However, the cool-ness ended when he came up to me and started stroking my face. I definitely learned exactly the creepiness that the girls go through here. So needless to say, that is when we all decided to switch bars. Which everyone else thought it was really incredibly hilarious that this was happening to me, and its a story I've heard re-told about 100 times now.

So we continued on to Can-Can, but nothing too note-worthy happened there. Just tons of dancing until the wee hours. But here are some pictures from my night out:

Here are my friends Cherrie and Brian. It's not too easy to tell, but they're dancing here. I know Brian kinda looks constipated, which I think makes the picture hilarious. But these are two of the coolest, most laid-back people I have ever met and I love hanging out with both of them.

Here are a lot of the girls from the group. Which girls vastly outnumber the guys in our group. I think overall there are like 25 or so girls and about 6 or 7 guys. But everyone is cool and I truly honestly could not imagine a cooler group of people to be here with. But anyway, the girls are dancing here, too. From left to right it's Lauren M., Lauren S., Lindsey, Cherrie, and Kristin.

And here I am with all the girls. Personally I think this makes my cool factor go up by about a hundred. :) This picture is of all the same girls with the addition of Hannah, who is the blonde girl standing next to me.

Here I am with Hannah and Cherrie, both of whom are amazing. They're roommates here in Alcala and both of them are here for the entire summer, which is something I'm incredibly thankful for.

And last but not least, here I am with Kristin and Lauren. These girls were a huge help to me when the crazy Spanish gay guy was trying to get all over me. Thank the lord for these two.

So then we ended the night once again right around sunrise, which was okay because we all had all Sunday to sleep if we needed to. A big group of us met that night to go study together because a lot of us had tests on Monday. We found this amazing little cafe called Vaca Flaca (which means "the skinny cow" in spanish. typical weird spanish stuff) and hung out there for the majority of the evening.

And then started the week. Nothing too spectacular to mention there. A test here, an assignment there. Just the usual routine stuff. (which actually amazes me that life here is becoming routine)

I realize this post is getting really ridiculous long for basically rambling the entire time. But I just have a few more things I want to say.

First of all, I can't say enough how much I have grown to love the other American students here. A big group of us talked today about how we really do feel like family. Because we basically are all going through the exact same emotions and feelings, and we've basically functioned as each others' support group. It's been great to get to know these people and I really hope we all stay this close after this is all said and done with.

And finally (and I promise this will be the ending), John and I have finally come to the realization that Spanish people are just weird. Plain and simple. They dress funny, the kinda act funny, the are just a quirky bunch. So even as we grow closer to our host family, we still have those moments where we just feel awkward and out of place. I feel like nothing really explains this better than a story about Mario, our 7 year old brother, and his random comments in English.

Now, I'm pretty sure I've previously stated that Mario thinks he knows english a lot better than he really does. Which means that a lot of times he says things that he doesn't really know what they mean. Like the other day when he called me a sock and John a starfish. However, I feel like he topped that and more with a question he asked John and I today.

So John, Mario, Tony, and I are all sitting at the dining room table eating our lunch (which was paella again, one of my favorites) and Mario starts trying to use his english on us. So he looks up at us with his big brown eyes and asks us in all seriousness "Do you like your penis?" Now imagine a little 7 year old thick spanish accent saying that.

At first John and I just stared at him. Then we started laughing so hard we couldn't talk. So Tony, who doesn't speak a word of english, started asking us what he said translated into spanish, but we were laughing so hard we couldn't talk. And poor little Mario just kept asking us the question over and over because we couldn't answer him.

What a perfect representation of the crazy things that happen here.

Such is my life in Spain. :)