Two Weeks In

The first two weeks of my life here in Madrid have flown by with ease, and I have loved most of my time here. I must admit that I can't imagine my life here being anything but ordinary without Isabela as mi compañera de cuarto (roommate). I feel as though our little adventures have been different compared to what the other students have in mind. We don't go out clubbing and drinking every night, give us a good bag of homemade popcorn and some wine that cost 1 Euro at the mercado around the corner, and we are good.
Since Isabela loves the outdoors so much, she has been encouraging a lot of meandering around that I probably would not have done on my own. Most of the time, in any country I'm in, I just want to sleep all the time. Instead, we've gone out for the best sushi I've ever eaten, wondered the streets at night just trying to find a metro not caring how lost we are or what time it is, and we cook for each other a lot, which is nice, saves money, and simply makes it feel like we have a home here. Food is so important in comfort and culture. The sushi here is seriously amazing. I could just order a California roll at every sushi place I go and it will be something different every time, and it will be delicious every time.

Today we went to a lake in Madrid and tanned while listening to Spanish music and watching people kayak around the fountain in the center of the man-made-laeke. The lake was more like a very big pond, hardly a mile in diameter, and easy to walk around. It was comparable to Jamaica Pond in Boston, or Dorus Pond in Manchester.
We enjoyed a nice lunch and walked through several parks and streets, not knowing where we were, hoping to find where we wanted to go. When Isabela was on her pilgrimage 3 weeks ago she said that she walked by a river and that there was fish and a dame, and it was just beautiful to look at. We searched far and wide for her to show me, and we found an end of the river that was almost opposite of where we intended, but was beautiful none the less.

Not realizing how long our roaming took, we hurried home to change so that we could go out for 1 Euro sangrias... only on Wednesdays. Unfortunately the people we planned on going with had to cancel, and so Isabela and I decided to go out the two of us anyway. We went to a restaurant and had wonderful and lively conversations over sushi and a bottle of wine. I could never get bored with her.

On our way back home we saw a small stand doing henna tattoos, and we chose to get a little something. After only a glass of wine or two, most people lose their nerves, especially when it comes to nerves about speaking another language... so we chatted with the people running the stand. Isabela dove into the conversation talking about about where we were all from and just little typical things like that. We ended up getting the same butterfly henna, and the lady told us to wash it off in 20 minutes.
After our own little photo shoot in the subway, we were home and tried washing off the henna and it pealed right off! Nothing stuck on like it was supposed to! What a waste of money. The experience was nice... but that was kind of disappointing.

This has been a typical day. We hardly ever go directly home after classes, and I don't nap as much as I normally do when I have a relaxed schedule like this. After tomorrow our schedules get really busy on the weekends! All of September we have wonderful trips planned! This weekend to Valencia, next weekend to Marakesh Morocco, and the last weekend in September we're off to Berlin to see Magda and all that her new home has to offer! I'm really excited for that last one. I haven't seen Magda in over two months, and I've never been outside the airport in Germany either. I have a lot to look forward to, and I hope that these experiences are as relaxing and inspiring as I have heard they might be. More to come on the trips once they happen. In the mean time, it's time for me to get to bed.