Un mes!

I have officially been here in Madrid for a month! This past month, I have gotten to know a little bit of Madrid, traveled to five other cities in Spain, eaten paella and loved it, read two novels and 1 1/2 plays in Spanish, visited the Prado three times, and gotten homesick more times than I can count. It has definitely been an interesting month!

This past weekend was pretty interesting as well! On Saturday morning, I finally found the elusive Corte Inglés and did some much-needed fall shopping! (And also found rosin for my violin!! I was very happy about that!) The weather changed drastically a week ago--from about 85 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. I realized the hard way that I had only packed two pairs of long pants and one long-sleeved shirt--definitely not enough! I stepped into some awesome, thrifty and cute shops: Promod, H&M, and lefties, and bought a few things to keep me alive in this weather. Have I mentioned that I LOVE the shopping here? But there is too much to say about that... I'll leave it for another blog entry!

Anyway, later that day Tara and I went to the Prado because she hadn't seen it yet. We spent a solid hour and a half there, and then sat and talked for a little while outside of the building. As we were talking, we noticed a crowd forming in the street right by the museum--a protest! Our university has sent us several emails telling us to stay away from large crowds (because the protests turn into riots and someone always gets hurt). So we weren't really sure what to do--our way back to the Metro crossed that very street. We decided to wait it out, but the crowd kept getting bigger and the people were shouting, so we eventually left and took a roundabout way back to the Metro. As we were walking, we noticed another crowd of shouting people heading towards the first one! Sorry to say we missed out on that piece of news--but I'm glad I'm home safe and sound!

Then, Sunday morning I decided to be adventurous and try out a church by myself. I found an Evangelical Baptist church and went to their service. It was a little different from the church I attended in Granada--the pastor was significantly harder to understand, and I didn't like the music as much. There was one notable exception though: Sublime Gracia (Amazing Grace)! I enjoyed singing those lyrics in Spanish.

That's all for now! Adios! :)