Things are Heating Up

This week the weather has been beautiful. It's finally spring. I'm thrilled by this fact. It's been in the low/mid 70s all week. Right now it is sunny and 73. Ah. It's just wonderful!


Let's see, where did I leave off. Last week was very relaxed and very low key. I stayed pretty close to home the entire week. It was good, but this week I've been more active.

On Saturday I met with my friend Jenny at her house at about 9pm. We went to dinner and caught up with eachother. We hadn't seen each other in two weeks. She went down south to the beach for Semana Santa. She was floored by my London tale, but everyone is. After filling our bellies with delicious kebab we went to Sol and met up with Jenny's friends at 10pm. Carlos was there and three other spanish guys that I didn't know but who all seemed nice. We found a small bar to eat and drink at. Then we made our way to the Karaoke bar. The guys tried to weasle out of it, but if they hadn't wanted to karaoke, they shouldn't have come. We stopped off at our favorite free sangria bar then arrived at the karaoke bar. The place was oddly shaped, but not very full. As soon as we stepped inside we could hear the horrible sounds of someone butchering their favorite Spanish song.

We found a corner near the DJ booth, picked out some songs, and started dancing and singing a long. Everyone was in a particularly goofy mood, so we had fun. We waited forever for our songs. Eventually two of the Spanish guys left, but Rafa stayed behind because he had promised Jenny he would sing a song with her. I introduced myself to an english speaking couple who was near by. Sarah was from Arkansas and Chris was from Texas. They have both been living in Spain for about a year an a half and teach English in schools. They joined our group singing and dancing for a while and eventually left. It was getting late. It was about this time that I looked at my watch. It was already 2am!! I had not planned on styaing out that late at all! And we were not looking like we would be leaving any time soon. Jenny told me not to worry about it and to keep having fun. Finally our songs started coming up. We all sang "Sopa Fria" (cold soup, I don't get it either). Throughout the evening I heard a couple times that I could read Spanish pretty well. I think I can too, it's just the comprehension part I have a hard time with. I can pronounce most words, I just don't know what they mean! Then Jenny and I sang "Time of Our Lives" from Dirty Dancing. I don't think I ever realized before just how repetative that song is. It was fun though. then a song that my American friend Sarah had requested came up. But she had already left so Jenny claimed it. So Jenny and I sang "The Thong Song". After a few more songs by the group we were done and I was beat. I was ready for bed.

But bed would have to wait. Rafa led us through the streets of Madrid to a small, packed bar. We made our way through the crowd all the way to the back. I found a spot on a wall and did my best not to fall asleep on it. We only stayed there for about ten minutes before everyone decided they were ready to go home. The guys walked Jenny and I to her house and then said goodbye. I went up to Jenny's house and killed some time. I had about 30 minutes before the Metro (subway) would start running again.

I got to the Metro station at 6am. I rode the Metro to the bus station. I had to wait another 30 minutes for my bus to come. Madrid is crazy about its nightlife. I was not alone in the line for the bus at 6:30am. There were tons of 20 and 30 somethings who were all making their way home from a night out. I took a nice long nap on my bus ride home. I landed in my bed at 8am. I was exhausted.

I had planned on going running with the Hash Sunday at noon. But three hours of sleep for a ten mile run just wasn't going to cut it. I spent the afternoon taking naps and watching Spanish movies. It was nice.

This week I have begun training for the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk I'm participating in. Each week they are going to email me a program to help me prepare for the 60mile event. It has been a good tool to help me get motivated to get outside more. The goreous weather has helped to. It is supposed to rain on Sunday, but I don't mind. I'm ok sacrificing one day for the days we've been having.

Yesterday was a "Rest" day according to my training program. So rest I did. I took my lap top out to the patio and sat in the shade. The fresh air, the breeze... sigh. It was really nice.

This weekend should be a good one. I'm teaching an English lesson from 11:30-13:30 on Saturday and then going to an English speaking church that evening. Then on Sunday I'm going to the Hash. I'm sure I'll come up with something good to fill in the gaps.

I'm really happy, relaxed, and feeling blessed these days.