Well, it's hard to believe that I have been here in Madrid for one month. These past two weeks have flown by with work and school consuming my everyday life. During this past month, I have realized a lot of things. So, I am going to pay homage to David Letterman and share my Top Ten List of what I've learned so far. Here they are in no particular order:
10. Wearing flip flops in Madrid during the month of August guarantees you will have blisters that never seem to die.
9. I know more about Eastern European politics than I do Asian politics. (Does anyone else find that rather amusing?)
8. It is impossible to find fresh corn-on-the-cob and corn meal in Spain. It is also possible to eat virtually anything you want and to drink all the Fanta Limon you ever dreamt of and still not gain any weight. (Insert walking regimen here.)
7. It seems that all of Spain has named their child(ren) either Ana, Maria, Marta, Ignacio, Javier, Jorge, or Luis.
6. Speaking less English causes you to speak grammatically incorrect English.
5. Line 7, heading in the direction of Pitts, is the hottest (literally and figuratively speaking) place to be apparently in all of Madrid, at 8:40 in the morning.
4. Soap that is made by a lady in a village iin Guadalajara, Spain who makes it out of grease and fat, among other things, is the best agent for getting stains out of clothing. It takes out EVERYTHING.
3. You can call any number in the U.S. or Canada for free, if you have a Gmail account.
2. I can't believe how many people really want to take the time to read this blog. Am I really that fascinating of a person?
1. I miss my family and friends more than anything, but am so lucky to have such a supportive system!
Let me tell you how hard it was to narrow that list down to ten things. Believe me, I could have gone on forever. Let me also add as an addendum to number 6 - it also causes you to forget how to spell words correctly.
Today I also realized that there is someone in Madrid who sweats more than I do. And this person is Spanish! It's actually my spanish professor. Poor thing, I don't know if he gets excited about teaching us or what, but five minutes into class this man is sweating through his clothes. Literally. I looked up today and all you could see were circles of sweat on his back, bleeding through his shirt. He was bleeding sweat as much as the papers I write for him bleed red ink. I wrote another composition today in red ink - hoping my reverse psychology trick works. The sad thing is, I'm doing reverse psychology on myself. Is that bad?
Sherry Troutman wins the prize for being the first person to send me a care package! It was so exciting to receive something at school today! The most fun part was sitting on my bed and dumping everything out of it when I got home tonight. I was like a kid on Christmas! Thanks again!
I went to another small group tonight. My Thursday night group is an Alpha Group. This study is really big in the UK and it's on a DVD. It's perfect for both Christians and non, because it forces you to question, "What is God and who is he?" Such a profound question, yet one that a lot of times gets overlooked. Warren and Karen (the hosts) had an awesome dinner for us with lots of veggies. The best part was the stuffing that Warren made. This meal was the closest thing I had to an American meal and it was so good! Tonight's group was comprised of me, the token American, Simon, a guy from North Ireland, Freda and Rebecca, twin sisters from Sweden, Hilda who is from Norway, and Warren and Karen who are from the UK. Afterwards, I talked with Karen and it seemed like she and I both came to Spain for the same reason - we had no reason NOT to come here. She's been here for over ten years and now considers Madrid to be her home. It was kind of like talking to myself in a mirror. Glad to know I'm not the only person who got an insane notion to pack up and move to a different country independently....
Good news! I have someone with a car who is going to help me move on Saturday! I have never met him yet, but he goes to the church and actually lives close to where I am staying now. Warren spoke with him and said that he could help me. How kind of this complete stranger to help me move!
I'm totally bummed that I will be missing the season premiere of Grey's tonight. This is the first time in five years that I will have missed it. Very depressing. But tomorrow, my friend Leigh-Ann and I are going to get together and watch it online! So if you tell me what happens, it's not going to be pretty for you. Just saying :)
Quote of the Day: "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." -Les Brown
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