Today is the 5th anniversary of the train bombings in Madrid. The four trains that were bombed all left from the Alcala de Henares train station a place a frequent almost everyweek and pass on my way to school everyday. There is a big candle light ceremony in the plaza tonight in remembrance of the 200 who died. It is kind of weird to imagine walking through the same ticket booths as those four men did that die and boarding a train on the same tracks as they did.

Women's Day

Today was Women's Day in Spain. Spain does not celebrate a Mothers Day and instead have a whole day devoted towards all women. It was down in the plaza and began with a 1 mile run. A bunch of girls I go to school with and I ran the race. It was free and you got a free tshirt in Spanish (it is very rare to find any shirts with Spanish on it) After the race there were dance classes in the plaza and a bunch of different sports to be played. It was a gorgeous day so it was fun to just hangout. There was a also a little market set up so I did some shopping for little things. Tomorrow I go to see Congress. Should be interesting.

Alright I figured out the reason why abuela was talking about her underarm fat now. Her granddaughter, Jolie, was having surgery to remove the fat under her arms because they found some kind of balls that did not look normal. She was in surgery all day yesterday but is now doing just fine. Glad I got that cleared up!

Change in the Weather

The past two weeks I have been in summer. The weather here was absolutely beautiful and reaching 80 degrees everyday...I spent much of my time in the park or running. The only bad thing is that when it gets warm here it starts smelling really bad. The sewers seem to be overflowing with the stinch of what is down under the streets BUT no matter, I would still take the heat! Unfortunately it has become VERY cold again. The wind is insane and I unfortunately have gotten sick. Whenever there is a drastic change in weather, I usually end up feeling pretty yucky so today I am just resting in my room, curtains drawn, listening to the wind howl outside and playing on Itunes...(I dont plan on leaving my bed only for the bathroom) I am glad I had not made plans to go anywhere this weekend since I am not feeling well. Perfect time to work on my ten page, single spaced papers one on Economics and one on the Spanish war of independence.

Yesterday I had a class fieldtrip to the Museum of Money...yep it was about as exciting as it sounds...it was basically just a bunch of old coins from the beginning of Spains history. Spain has been ruled by a lot of different people so their money was always changing and they have only used the euro for about 8 years. I thought we were going to get to see where the money was made but that did not happen.

(all the clothes just blew off the lines outside my window...thats how windy it is)

I had a very disturbing experience yesterday. I was downstairs watching my usual programs on spanish television "El Diario" (a really dramatic talkshow) y "Ven a cena conmigo"(cooking show where five people switch off each night cooking for each other and then they vote on whose was the best dinner and someone wins money)...Anyway, Abuela and I usually watch these two together and sit and chat about the crazy people on the shows and how we think they should solve their problems...Last night same old routine but we were silent for quite sometime and then abuela starts talking about something that I could not understand one bit of and ALL OF A SUDDEN she lifts up her shirt to show me the fat under her arms!!!!! (obvisouly I did not know the words for underarm fat so of course I had no idea what she was saying) I WAS HORRIFIED...and she thought it was completely normal...O ABUELA!

I was also able to talk to my whole family (minus the husbands) on Skype conference call last night! It was so fun even though we were all talking over each other and the nieces were a little tired. Chrysti said she had to take my number out of the speed dial so the girls would not try to keep calling me and wonder why I was not answering. While on Skype, Ally kept wondering why she couldnt see anybody and kept telling me all the yummy snacks she was going to make me when I got back (cupcakes, brownies, maple syrup something) Chrysti I am so glad you broke down and got internet at your new house. Just like Becca said on her blog, If you dont have SKYPE get it! Its free and you can talk to me for the next 56 days im here (as Dad informed me yesterday that thats how long I have...I think he misses me!)

Well next Thursday I leave to go to IRELAND!!! I could not be more excited. I will be in Dublin on Thursday and Friday and then Saturday I am hopefully going down to Cork to see the town where my family is from. I have a friend, Megan, from high school who is studying abroad there so she said she would show me around. Its actually funny because Megans roommate at Boston College is actually here in Alcala with me (small world). After I get back from Ireland on sunday I have two days of class and then its off to Tenerife in the Canary Islands for Las Fayas! Las Fayas is a BIG festival that I get school off for even though I wont be celebrating it...I will be at the beach RELAXING!!! I talked to the guy at the hotel and he says the weather is wonderful!!! If you have a chance you should go online to look at pictures of this island. Its off the cost of Africa but it is owned by Spain...the hotel I am staying in is called Hi!Tamaimo...I need the beach...I am more white then I think I have ever been in my life. My teacher actually asked me if I was sick the other day because of how pale I looked. I did not bring a bathing suit here with me but tank tops can work...Who cares about tanlines when your on an island off the coast of Africa!!! Its going to take us three different buses to get to our hotel (exclusive much!)

Hope all is well State side...although everyone here from Auburn seems to be very into politics so I have been kept informed of the good and bad... We shall just wait and see!

I forgot to tell you all that I ate something else weird...Aloe Vera leaves...actually good. Abuela grows them on the porch. We ate them kind of like stuffed peppers with meet and cheese on the inside!

Field Trip to Cuenca

Today I went to Cuenca on a school field trip. Cuenca is about 2 1/2 hours from Alcala and the roads were horrible the whole way but I saw the most green I have ever seen in Spain. The town is built on rocks and all the buildings are going off the side of it. It is a pretty cool thing to see. We went to the Museum of Modern Art which is a big deal to the town because it only has art produced after Franco's rule and a lot of the pieces show the emotion of Spainards during the time of his rule. We also went to a Cathedral which was freezing! The Cathedral does not seem to have a lot of money for restoration so all the paint was chipping and you couldn't even walk in some parts but I kind of like that better. You could see the age of the building which was really cool. Unfortunately we could not take pictures on the inside. A lot of people are buried there too but mainly old Bishops.

Main Plaza

I'm standing on a bridge in the middle of this huge canyon.

The Museum of Modern Art...hanging over the side of the rock

At the bottom of the rock

Pilgrimage

Tombs of Jacinta and Lucia

The Cathedral

Stations of the cross

"those who are pure of heart will see God"...in Portugese! Theme for 2009

FATIMA!

Fatima

Resting

Father Felix!

Fanny and Blanca...we took a break from Karaoke for a picture...did you know that the song "La Bamba" actually has words..

Abram and Fernando...bus buddies!

MY BUS!!!

People from Alcala...Javier, Inma, Me, Craig, Abram