my first weekend in spain

wow. spaniards are obsessed with 2 things: eating food, and socializing. and as you may know, those are 2 of my most favorite things in the world!! so friday i (and  2 american friends) met up with elena and her friend juan in Chueca which is the gay neighborhood in madrid. even though i'm from (close enough) to san francisco, and i've been to castro a million times, i couldnt help but oggle the spanish gay men. they are no different than the people i see walking around castro, but because i'm in spain, out of my element, everything feels like i'm seeing or experiencing it for the first time, even the universal gay man. then the 5 us of went to a place called papatus where they serve chicken nuggets and french fries with a different sauces. that was fun. then elena, juan and i went to a place called brantesaurus or something. and we got this gigantic drink which tasted like medicine and i did not like. you'll see pictures of it. we all shared of course. this is where i saw a man who was a dolph lundgren incarnation that i knew brooke would love. then saturday day...i walked around with elena a lot. got some more madrid tours. and then i ran into the idiot american who made the inappropriate comment about my earrings. and then i went out with manuel and his friends!

at the dinner for manuels goodbye party, i was VERY shy at first. everyone was so loud and talkative and social, and i couldnt understand a word they were saying. it was all so fast and loud, and everyone was talking at once. after about 1/2 an hour. of just siting and listening, i was able to start understanding what each person was saying. apparently i have to get used to the way each person speaks before i can start understanding them. this is when i could start adding a little to conversations. making comment, a sentence here or there. manuel was really really nice and talked to me at the restaurant and made me feel included. which was so nice, it was HIS goodbye party. the food we ate was really good a bunch of side orders. i had my first sangria which was delicious. i was going to go home after the dinner because some other people who were at the party were going home too. but manuel and his friend insisted that i go out wiht them. so i did. we went to an irish pub which was packed with tourists and they only played american music. When i first walked in i felt right at home. i thought i was in america, then i realized that oh ya, irish isnt american. we just have so many irish pubs in america! (side note, the public bathrooms in spain are nasty, my quads will definitely be super buff by the end of this because i never actually make contact with the toilet seat. squatting is the only way.) it was a really fun night, i really liked the 5 friends of his that went to the pub. i hope to see them again, even though manuel wont be here which is really too bad.
i ended up sleeping for  9 hours last night. i had senegalese food with elena and her friend alba today. senegalese food is REALLY GOOD. we went to this neighborhood called lava pies which is the place where all the minorities go to live. it therefore, has a reputation for being a bit lower class (maybe how people in los gatos might view parts of san jose). but elena lived there for years (and shes aryan) and knows it well. then i bought some REAL deoderant...this tom's is NOT working and i was sick of smelling like B.O plus whatever herb scent it was i got. thought it wasnt wafting, i could smell it, and i hated it. I got some dove deoderant but its not the normal deoderant that we have in america its way smaller and its their european line i guess. its the little ball that rolls on your armpit... you know ? its cute how the same brand will ahve different products for different countries. then i came home and slept for 2 more hours which is when i missed the call from mom and dad (sorry). and mom i am taking my vitamins dont worry. then i had some dinner with elena. and we talked some politics. i introduced her to john steward and steven colbert (she loved it) i think especialy because she works for reuters. i am going to bed now, i have a head ache, maybe i'm dehydrated. tomorrow i am going to take care of the bank account, hopefully visit the house i am to permanently move into, i want to contact my school, and get the month pass for public transportation. (dad have you contacted hillbrook?)

good night to everyone! i love you all!
xoxo