Sí, es verdad. Estoy en España y me gusta muchísimo estar aquí.
We began our journey yesterday morning after having spent the night in Manchester. I didn't see the city at all, but the only thing worth seeing would have been Noel Gallagher, and I don't think he's been around there for a while. Sad.
Anyway, it was a long night, full of unpacking and repacking to try and make everything fit into only two bags. I've been carrying three ever since I started buying a lot of things, so I had to throw away lots of my older, more worn-out clothes. It was a tight fit, but man oh man have I gotten good at packing! I have everything in my bookbag and a small carryon suitcase. Rockin'.
So anyway, after a late night working out the details of our hostel and figuring out what we wanted to see on our little vacation, we got up fairly early to eat breakfast and finish getting ready to leave. We caught a coach to the Liverpool Airport and left from there. We thought we came pretty close to missing our flight, though, which was scary. Security took a little longer than we thought it would (the line seemed to be moving pretty quickly until we got in it. Naturally.) and they said they were going to close the gate with 30 minutes left before departure, no exceptions. But we ran to our gate and made it there just barely in time. Phew.
The flight was just under 2 and 1/2 hours and I had enough time to take a surprisingly comfortable nap and read The Importance of Being Earnest for the first time. As much as I love the movie (and the hunky men in it), reading the play was even more hilarious. I absolutely loved it, especially since it was such a quick read.
We landed in Madrid, found a place to store our luggage for a couple of days so we wouldn't have to haul all of it around, and made our way over to the metro to find our hostel. It's hot, but it's nice to not have to wear a hoodie in August!
Our hostel is in a really great location (within easy walking distance of all the cool stuff) and the owner is so kind! When he asked us where we were from and he found out that Jazlyn and Rhiannon were from Utah, he automatically started talking about the Mormons and how he visited the Washington D.C. temple visitors center one time. He went on and on about the temple and said it was "like you're at Disney or something!" I told him my parents were married there, and he just smiled and said again and again how beautiful it was. What a nice man!
We got settled into our room (with the great view of our part of the city) and eventually went out for dinner. We found this place called Vitaminas, which had all sorts of good foods and delicious real-fruit smoothies. Our waiter was really fun. We had just exchanged money a couple of hours before, so Jaz didn't have any small bills. She paid him with a large bill and said, "Don't kill me for giving you so much money!" and he replied, "SILENCE! . . . I kill you." We had some great conversation about Jeff Dunham and then he urged us to come back again when he was working. We probably won't just because of limited time, but he was a cutie. It was fun.
After supper we wandered around La Puerta del Sol, going into some of the different shops and stuff. Didn't buy anything, but saw some really cute things. Call me materialistic, but I like things.
We got back to the hostel and kind of just chilled for the rest of the night. We were up talking for quite some time, which was a blast. I do love these girls!
This morning we got a slow start because it just felt so good to sleep in. Jaz and I went out for breakfast and then came back and took an early siesta. (Siesta-ing in Spain!!!! I never thought I'd see the day!) Around 1:30 or so she and Annie and I went out to mosey our way over to the Reina Sofía, the art museum here in Madrid. We stopped at a few places along the way (I'm on a serious hunt for a cheap -- but not cheaply-made -- España soccer jersey that I wanted even before they became campeones del mundo) and eventually made it over there. We were there during a free time, so of course it was more awesome than paying money to get in. I really only wanted to see one thing: Picasso's Guernica. After having taken so many Spanish classes, I figured it'd be good to go pay my homage and see what this Guernica is all about.
I can't really explain how I felt. I've said before how I'm not extremely artsy and I don't really know my taste except that I don't usually like abstract stuff, but this was nice. Part of it was because it was so huge. I knew it was a mural, but I don't think I ever thought about how big it would actually be. Since I wasn't just looking at a small print in a text book, I just feel like I understood it better. The figures didn't just look like abstract lines and shapes, but I felt the more human side of it portrayed. The wide-eyed toro was my favorite part; to me it really conveyed the universality of fear and dread of war. That bull doesn't have to just be a bull that represents Spain and its civil war, but any creature -- any human, even -- that may be different from the ones depicted as the victims are also frightened and horrified at the violent scene. When wars ensue, all who witness are victims of the tragedies. Even though Picasso's style has never been easy for me to really like, I do love that painting and I love that I got to see it in person.
After our visit to Guernica, we wandered up to La Plaza Mayor and found a place to eat. I had paella, and loved it! It was even better when I squeezed lemon all over it. I didn't eat the seafood though, because I just didn't want to. Maybe I'll get better at that someday. If I can try haggis, I can try anything. I just didn't want to today.
After a little more wandering and moseying, we are now back out our hostel and ready to just hang out and watch a movie on my computer. I was going to see Toy Story 3 in Spanish . . .
Another day.
One more thing: I love hearing and understanding Spanish. I even love the Spanish accent, lisps and all. It's a whole lot prettier from real Spaniards than it is from the RMs who still have thick American accents and practically spit on you with their ths.
I also love using my Spanish and being understood. Love love love it.
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