Study Abroad
Day 55
March 13th, 2006
6:34PM

This weekend was fantastic because a little piece of home came to visit me—my roommate Megan! Danielle, Amy and I went to pick her up at the airport on Friday, along with Megan Sherman, an AKPsi friend of Danielle and Amy, who was flying in from France. We all went back at the hostel to drop our stuff. I booked Hostal Miralva just off Gran Via where all 6 of us (2 Megans, Danielle, Amy, Morgan and I) could all stay in a room together. We chatted with Hector, the owner, who was very nice and took care of us (and Danielle’s mom and brother) all weekend.

We had lunch together at the Zahara Café, where I had a fantastic hamburger and we split a big pitcher of sangria (thus introducing the Megans to Spanish cuisine). After lunch we went over to El Corte Ingles for some groceries. Megan Williams had to pick up a couple of items to bring back to our other roommate Melanie, who is apparently missing the Spanish Principe cookies.

We went back to the hostel after our shopping excursion for a descanso, we let jet-lagged Megan Williams sleep while we all chatted a little. After our rest, we decided to all go out for some tapas. We went to a place where we split little tostadas with different spreads on them—salmon, crab goo, tuna, olive paste. Pretty good.

The next morning, Danielle and Megan Sherman went to the train station to pick up Kendal (another AKPsi friend) who was coming on the train after her flight into Amsterdam. When they got back we all got up and ready to take the 12:20 train to Toledo. We spent the day walking around, stopping at interesting places for drinks and tapas, seeing a synagogue, and shopping. We ate a paella/pizza lunch outside on Zocodover, tea in the Jewish quarter and outside at Enebro.

We didn’t all know each other before Saturday (I’ve met Kendal before, and heard a lot of stories about Megan Sherman, but we’d never hung out together) but by the afternoon it felt like we’d known each other for years. We ran into Robin in Toledo, who said she’d meet up with us in Madrid. Somehow we convinced Hector to let us squeeze 8 people into the 6 person hostel room. We picked up some sandwiches and had a picnic in our room, and rested a little before getting ready to go out.

I think I’ve alluded to the crazy nightlife in Spain. In Minneapolis, the bars close at 2, but in Madrid, that’s when the clubs open. We were dressed and ready to go after midnight, and arrived at Kapital, the biggest club in Madrid at 1:00. As we waited in the long line that snaked around the corner, I figured out that the building next door to the club was the hotel I stayed in when I was in Spain the summer after 8th grade. Jenna and I threw wet paper towels out the window at the side of Kapital six years ago!

Kapital is all I’ve heard about since I got here. It’s 7 floors, and each floor has a different theme. On the first floor is the main dance stage, where they play techno music. There are platforms and a stage with professional dancers in costumes, and every few minutes the ceiling sprays a cool mist over all the dancers and spits confetti and glitter. On the second floor is the main bar and karaoke, the third is couches and a lounge area. The fourth is hip-hop music, the 5th is salsa, the 6th is the make-out floor and the 7th has restaurant-style seating and a big fountain. The 2nd-4th floors have balconies that overlook the main dance floor. I may have gotten some of that wrong—the place was so big it was hard to keep track.

We danced on the main floor at first, then went exploring all around. Slowly but surely we started losing each other and finding each other again. I finally can consider myself a Spaniard now because I we left the club when it closed—at 6AM. I still can’t believe we all found each other and left together, disheveled with our hair full of confetti. Everyone had stories—the Megans got separated and spent the night together and Kendal met a guy from Senegal and got to practice her French until she lost her voice.

We had to check out of the hostel at 11:00, so we were only able to squeeze in a couple of hours of sleep before we had to pack up. Hector let us keep our stuff there for the day, and set it up so that Kendal and Megan Williams could stay there a couple more nights (they leave tomorrow). Amy, who apparently needs no sleep, went to grocery shopping while we got ready, and we all went over to Parque del Buen Retiro for a big picnic.

It was delicious—we had bread and chorizo and ham and cheese and chips and cookies. Parque Retiro is apparently where all the Spanish families go on Sunday afternoons, so we all lounged around on the grass and watched the babies go by. The weather was perfect—at least 70 degrees—and I even got sunburned. We walked around and watched people row by on the pond and got some popsicles. We had to say goodbye to Megan Sherman who had to fly back to France and Morgan who had to go pick up her cousin from the airport, but the rest of us walked around some more.

The Juliens and Kendal went to go buy a new suitcase (one of theirs broke and Danielle and Megan Williams’ brilliant engineering couldn’t keep them from dragging it all around Toledo), and Megan W. and I walked all the way down the Paseo del Prado. We stopped into the Botanical Garden and looked at crazy plants (there were quite a few even though it’s still March). We all met up on Gran Via at 6 and decided to go back to the Zahara café to eat.

Amy and I had to catch the 9:20 train back to Toledo and we could hardly believe that we had to go back for Monday class. I really wished I could have stayed with Megan, but I didn’t feel so bad about leaving her alone since Kendal was going to be staying there, too. Megan walked us to the Metro station and we said goodbye.

It was just the best weekend—great weather and fantastic company. Having Megan here meant I had somebody to catch me up on the news at home and having someone who would get references to roommate stories. Plus I got to get to know Megan Sherman and Kendal, 2 of Danielle’s really good friends from AKPsi who she tells stories about all the time. I get to see Megan Sherman again when we all go to Barcelona together in a couple weeks, so that’s something to look forward to!

On our walk back into Toledo we saw a big group from the Fundacion sitting outside at Boveda. Laura (nicest girl EVER) ran up and caught Amy and I up on the Andalucia excursion. It hit both of us this weekend that our semester in Toledo is ending quickly. Only a month left before our Spring break (when my family comes!) and 2 weeks after that until the semester is over!

***It will be awhile before I get pictures up from this weekend (there are a lot!) because I want to get the ones that everybody took.