Update, part II

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The palace at Aranjuez was interesting to see. Like the Royal Palace in Madrid, there is one room completely panelled in porcelain, and other rooms full of tapestries and other treasures. Afterward, we went to a café and chatted for a while. Mercedes remembered that I´d said I was going to Italy, so she loaned me two guidebooks, one on Spain and one on Italy. (They´re in Spanish, but it´s good practice.)

Saturday, Ashley and I boarded a bus and headed to the amazing town of Segovia, which is about an hour north of Madrid. We walked around the town all day and saw a huge Roman aqueduct built in the first century without a drop of mortar. Then we visited a medieval castle. No joke, a castle! There were suits of armor on display and artillery and weapons and everything. And a MOAT and a drawbridge! It was all our dreams of fairy tales and castles, come true. They say the castle, called Alcazar, inspired Sleeping Beauty´s castle in Disneyland. We paid an extra €1 and climbed a long, dizzying spiral staircase up to the tower. What an amazing view!

We also went to the Cathedral of Segovia, which was truly magnificent. I think no matter how many cathedrals I visit here, I won´t get tired of them. (You all might get tired of hearing about them...sorry!)

After we returned to our homes and freshened up, Ashley and I met again in downtown Madrid, dressed to the nines and ready to hit the town. It was a great night. All I´ll say is that I met a handsome Spaniard named Manolo and IF I were to fall in love with a Spanish man here, it would most likely be him. I´ll try to have some self-restraint, because I don´t think the Latin-lover types here can be trusted. But Manolo´s a policeman...so I´m safe, right? :-)

The Spanish just love to party... so much, that they can´t just say¨"cheers" like everyone else. After someone buys a round of drinks, they stand in a circle and say, "Arriba" (up) "abajo" (down) "al centro" (to the center) "y dentro" (and inside), moving their drinks accordingly. It cracks me up everytime.

Not much else to note. I have actually been working a little with the children...it´s not all fun and Spanish men. I usually work for an hour with Elena, an hour with Ignacio, and then an hour with the two together. Ignacio has some trouble paying attention at times, but they are both intelligent, good students. We try to come up with fun things to do besides just workbook activities. For example, last week Elena and I emptied the clothes from my closet and made an imaginary boutique in my room, then took turns being the shopkeeper to practice colors and items of clothing. “Pardon me, do you have a black dress?” “Why yes, here is a black dress. How beautiful.”

Okay, that´s about enough updates for now. I miss you all! Thanks so much for your e-mails, letters, calls, messages, etc. :-) Any and all communication in English is appreciated.