Domingo

The change in the weather today reminded me of Chicago. Yesterday it was 80 and sunny and today it was cold, rainy, and windy! BRRRR! Hopefully it doesn't stay this way.

One of the things I've noticed most in Madrid is how much everyone dresses up, all the time. Sweatpants are not allowed. Jeans are hardly allowed! Yesterday I never put on makeup, wore shorts and a sweater with tennis shoes and felt SO out of place! Me=Bum. Everyone is so fashionable and I love getting dressed up but I still feel so not hip compared to the natives. Today Lindsey and I left the house and promptly saw a woman in heels, skinny jeans, a jacket, a scarf (total staple for Spaniards), sunglasses, and a perfect hairdo. I felt like a failure.

Some of the boys from our program went to a bull fight today. I thought about going, since it's a Spanish tradition and apparently the last one here in the Madrid for the season. But then I realized I didn't really want to see bulls get murdered for 27 Euro, even if it is a part of the culture here. Lindsey showed me some pictures of a bull fight she went to in Malaga, Spain so I lived vicariously through her photos.

Instead, we went back to the cafe that Alex and I went to on our first day (basically a tradition by now, I'm pretty sure the bartender remembered us) and got hot chocolate with Alex and her roommate Devin. The hot chocolate here is AMAZING. It's a lot like the coffee- very, very thick and strong. I felt like I was drinking melted chocolate=delicioso. Plus we usually eat fruit or cheese for desserts at our homestay so it was nice to get something sweet!

I also bought two libritos (tiny little books!) in Spanish para practicar mi espanol before school starts. I started reading one of them today and so far it's really good and fairly easy to read. Probably because its so small and the print is so big. I'm basically an 8-year-old in Spanish, haha.

And speaking of being an 8-year-old, Blanca totally treats me like one. Today after lunch she took something to the kitchen and Lindsey, Colleen, Roxanna and I starting speaking in English. I was the one talking when Blanca walked back in and she pinched my cheek, right where my dimple is, and said "habla espanol princesa!" (speak Spanish, princess). She always catches me... I love her though. It was the best thing that happened today.

I went to the Prado today during the free hours with a few of the girls. We couldn't take any pictures while we were there but it was AMAZING. I could spend weeks in that museum- it's gigantic and beautiful. Once in a while it hits me that I'm in Spain experiencing these amazing things and today in the Prado was one of those times! I love it!

In other news... CHI OMEGA RHO MU granted their first this morning through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, our philanthropy!!! I am so proud and jealous that I couldn't be there!!! We granted a wish to Beckham, a 6-year-old boy from Antioch, IL.  Beckham has a rare congenital disorder called Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum (ACC) in which the corpus callosum, the band of white matter connecting the two
hemispheres of the brain, fails to develop normally.  Beckham is in awheelchair and in non-verbal but communicates with his eyes and smiles! My sorority sisters met him early this morning at Midway Airport to make his wish come true-- the money we raised as a chapter last year sent Beckham and his parents on a Disney Cruise and to swim with dolphins. SO EXCITING!!!
And finally, I know that I was destined to live with Blanca because she has three little owls (Chi O's symbol!!) in the living room above her T.V. Definitely a Chi Omega at the bottom of her Spanish heart! :)