The Prado, the Park and Propaganda

Okay so I realize I´ve gotten way behind on this blog. I´ve got so many half-written drafts that I need to finish before I forget everything. But, let´s begin with a repaso of this weekend, which was just perfect.

Friday, we had our first class visit to the Prado. It was my second time in the museum and Marisa mostly repeated what she had already told us in class, but it was nice to see the paintings up close, especially the brilliance of the colors. After the visit a bunch of us students did the tapas crawl with Marisa. We had a tosta de gambas, or bread with shrimp and this amazing cream sauce at one place, then a tosta de pista, or bread with veggies and tuna at another bar before she had headed out. A couple of us decided to continue the fiesta and headed to another place for café y un poco más.

At around 6:30 we headed out and I went over to the apartment of a couple of friends from class. I had been craving tacos forever, so when Brian pulled out the Old El Paso seasoning packets and asked whether I preferred tacos or fajitas, I couldn´t have been happier. It was suprisingly nice to be back in a kitchen cooking food again - those of you from home know that I´m not exactly the world´s biggest cook, but this time, it was quite satisfying. Geez, I really am such a girl, conforming to all the stereotypes. Anyways, the food turned out quite well; I just wish I hadn´t been so full from lunch or I would have eaten more. After dinner we watched No Country for Old Men, which I´d wanted to see simply because it won so many awards. But like many award-winning movies, it made absolutely no sense to the three of us.

Saturday´s weather was just perfect, so Claudia, Bianca and I met up at el Parque de Gran Retiro para "estudiar." In our defense we did study un poco, but mostly we just hung out and soaked up those glorious rays of sunlight. We hung out at Claudia´s apartment and then Bianca and I grabbed a pastry before I headed home. That evening, Daniel, Sufiane and I saw "Ahora o Nunca," (The Bucket List), in Spanish. Afterwards we hung out at a café, and if it weren´t for the stupid metro closing at 1:30, I have the feeling that our conversation could have continued on throughout the night.

The beautiful weather continued into Sunday, so Rose and I headed back to the park, where once again, I did get a bit of studying done. But, at least on my part, it was mostly reading and resting. As I was lying there, I realized that this had to be one of the best feelings in the entire world, the feeling of the sun´s heat on your skin. Yes, I´ll admit, I was lying there letting my face bake sans sunscreen, but really, how can something that feels so good be bad for you? The sky was this impossibly intense shade of blue and there wasn´t a cloud to be seen. Children were playing hide and seek and volleyball around us, and Rose and I grew wistfully nostaligic for the days when our only care in the world was what game we should play outside with our friends.

That evening, I had one of the best meals ever, cooked by señora´s daughter Flori and her husband. He gave me a list of all the restaurants I have to try once the family gets here, so padres and Neeraj - I have a feeling all weçre going to be doing those three days is eating and eating and eating lol. Dinner consisted of croquetas de jamon (one of my favorites), a salad of judios (flat white lentils) and aceite de oliva and caldo a la cocida madrileña, or the broth from the traditional madrileño meal. After dinner, we looked at old family photos with Señora´s niece who came to visit. (Niece is a slightly deceiving term, since she is only two year younger than Señora. And I thought it was only in India where relatives of a different generation can be the same age as you). I don´t know how I got so lucky to get a señora so amazing. I honestly feel like a part of her family now - I don´t even want to think about leaving.

And now for today. As everything else, the good feelings had to come to an end, and that end came this morning in class. My EU class is the biggest waste of time ever - the people aren´t exactly the brightest crayons in the box and my professor showed us a propaganda video declaring that the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States is a conspiracy backed by the world´s international bankers to enslave the stupid American public and that we shouldn´t pay our income taxes because there is no law that mandates us to. Now I know people like to say what they want about the United States, BUT THIS CLASS IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT THE EUROPEAN UNION! The video made me angrier than I´ve felt in a long time and I almost wanted to walk out of class (Don´t worry Mom, I didn´t). As much as I love being in Europe, I´ve learned that I am American through and through, and I am pretty damn proud to say so.