Nightlife

Just got back from church (like a good Catholic girl) and thought I´d leave an update here. Right now, I´m watching Mary Poppins on TV with Elena…dubbed in Spanish. It´s not quite the same without Julie Andrews´s voice!

Friday, I went to El Escorial, a monastery commissioned by the royal family of Spain in 1563. It was an hour´s bus ride north of Madrid. The monastery looks very severe and austere from the outside, but inside, it´s something else. Almost all of Spain´s royalty since the reign of Charles V are buried in elaborate Baroque tombs inside the monastery. The kings and queens used to use the monastery as an autumn retreat, and the furniture they used is still there! It was amazing to see the king´s bedroom just as it was in the 1600s. The building has an extensive collection of paintings by Titian, El Greco, Velázquez, Tintoretto, and others.

After lunch, I walked around the small town and just watched people. It´s amazing to me that these people live with their nation´s royalty buried practically in their backyard!

Now, the fun stuff. Friday night, I went out with Laura (another non-whiny American) and some of her new Spanish friends, Rafa (short for Rafael), Tomas, and Victor. Before I left, Concha gave me the “don´t ride with people who have been drinking” lecture…then 10 minutes later, I got the same from Victor. We met for dinner at a great restaurant on the south side of Madrid, and later went back to Tomas´s apartment to hang out. The guys were really funny, but not exactly the Spaniards of my dreams…they were kind of goofy. J But I enjoyed hanging out with them. It was good practice for me, too, because only Rafa spoke English (and not a lot), and Laura can barely speak Spanish. All night, I had to be the translator!

Saturday night, I went with my host family to a block party and I met a girl who used to baby sit for Elena and Ignacio. Her name is Begonia! (Dad, there really are people named Begonia!) Anyway, she´s 23 and she seemed really nice, and she invited me to go out with her and her friends later that night.

As I´ve said before, everything is later in Spain happens later. Begonia and I hopped in the car at 11:30 and headed to downtown Madrid. We picked up her friends, Olga (what a name!) and Sylvia and went to a trendy, expensive club called Cats. Luckily, Begonia´s ex-boyfriend was working the door, so we got in for free. (Friends in high places.)

The club was pretty empty when we got there and the band that was playing wasn´t great. I was a little worried…where was the wild Spanish nightlife I´d heard so much? Well, I didn´t need to worry, because by about 1 the club was packed, the band had left, and the party was on. For some reason, I´m a much better dancer when I´m with strangers, and I had so much fun dancing last night! (And I hadn´t even been drinking, don´t worry, Mom and Dad!) We danced for about 4 hours straight and were joined by Begonia´s friends, Peter, Juan, and Nacho. (Nacho kept trying to teach me all the Spanish dances…we almost succeeded!) I also met a really cute guy named Raúl. Don´t worry, Mom, I don´t think I´ll marry him…but I did get his phone number! Begonia and I got home at 6 a.m.! It was already light out. But that´s the way they do things here…when in Rome, and all that.

So, anyway…Props again to Jason and Flegel for the Cubs updates, and to all my awesome friends and family who have been leaving messages! If I haven´t gotten back with you personally, I´ll try to do so soon. I try not to tie up the phone line too much.

Off to have lunch (at 3 p.m., GEEZ) and later to watch Ignacio´s soccer game…and then the Spain – Portugal game! ¡Viva España! Hasta luego...


Stupid Things I´ve Said in Spanish, Chapter 2

-At the club, a song came on that sounded like, “falta, falta” – which means “fault” or “foul” during sporting events. When the song came on, everyone started jumping up and down. I asked Begonia, “Oh, falta, like in a soccer game?” She started laughing and told me that they were saying salta, which means “jump”.

-While I was playing soccer with Ignacio the other day, I told him to kick it to me because I was the pelota. I was trying to say “I am the goalkeeper,” but what I really said was, “I am the ball.” (Pelota = ball, Portera = goalkeeper)