A Pride-ful Weekend

Well I would have to say that we had a pretty successful 4th of July. After laying out all day by the pool, a group of us went out on the town decked out in our red, white, and blue and just had a nice, relaxing evening together. Here is a picture of Ashley, Evie, and I (color coordinated and everything!) in Plaza Cervantes.

Don't judge us. We haven't seen America in over a month now and this was the best we could do. haha

So then yesterday, even though it was the 5th of July, we decided to go have a nice American meal at the Madrid Hard Rock Cafe. Cause really there's nothing more American than a big, juicy hamburger and fries and it was nice to have one outside of McDonalds. So what do we see when we get there? The good old American flag waving in the breeze. Now I'm no super-patriot and the sight of the flag doesn't really bring tears to my eyes, but it was nice to have a little America tossed into our day.

So we all went out and had a good time together once again in Madrid, except this time we had a little surprise. On our way to Hard Rock, we had to walk down Gran Via (one of the biggest main streets in Madrid) and through Plaza Colon (just another one of the giant plazas in the city). But what did we meet in Gran Via on our way there.........

Oh yeah. The Madrid Gay Pride parade. haha And let me just tell you, you haven't seen ANYTHING until you've seen some of the stuff we did. Thousands upon thousands of people were packed into Gran Via and we saw some of the strangest things I could have ever imagined seeing.

But hey, all of our teachers at the University had told us that we all needed to go see it whether we're gay, straight, or anything else there might be. Apparently it's one of the biggest parties in the world and millions of people come to it from all over the globe. I guess this is just another one of those things to show us just how liberal this country actually is.

So in just a couple of hours, a big group of us is going to hop on a bus headed for Pamplona, and we're expecting an awesome time. The Running of the Bulls is one of the most famous festivals in the world and by this time tomorrow, I'll be able to say that I've been to it. How exciting that I'm getting to experience such incredible stuff!

Which brings me to my next point. I love Spain and I really really love Madrid. The more I think about it, the more I love this city more than any other I've ever been to. I mean, I loved New York City for the action and I love Chicago for the culture. I loved Miami for the night life and I love Oklahoma for the people. And Madrid has every single bit of that all rolled up into one huge, ancient, yet incredibly modern, city. I can easily imagine myself living there for a more extended time and I would be surprised if I didn't look for jobs that would let me live there once I get back to the states.

It's funny to look back and remember how uncomfortable and out of place I felt in the beginning and how at home I feel now. Spain is an incredible place and I can't imagine not having this experience in my life.