Quick Update

And time is still just flying by here in Madrid... I can't believe we're already into May!! My last week or so has been great! On Wednesday, I went to the Spanish military's aerospace center for cartography and photography. It was really neat! They basically showed us around the entire place so we could get a sense of the process from taking the aerial photos, converting them into data, and then finally printing out maps of the areas with information on the airspace. So many of their machines are so old (like from 1980) though it was crazy. They all still worked, but they said that they were supposed to get updated about 5 years ago but because of economy stuff it just hasn't happened yet, haha. They were all sooo hospitable, it was amazing. They gave us breakfast and lunch (complete with beer and wine!) and even took our picture in front of the building and gave us each a copy. I was there for about 5 hours. Later on Wednesday, I celebrated my roommate Estrella's birthday, which also happened to be my other roommate Vanessa's last night in our apartment. We made dinner together and had a night of karaoke. I thought them some of my favorite 90's songs and they opened my eyes to more Spanish music than just Shakira, haha. 

My señora's grandkids Alberto, Jorge and Pablo.. and me with a nice fake smile

On Thursday, I saw my señora and her grandkids for a day at the park and a good home-cooked meal. Her grandkids are moving to Dallas next week, so I said goodbye to them. :( On Saturday, I went hiking in a regional park about 45 minutes north of Madrid called La Pedriza. It was fabulous and made me soooo excited to go to the Boundary Waters this summer! We just took a regional bus there and saw a beautiful old castle on a LAKE. It was the first stereotypical castle that I've seen and the first real lake that I've seen in Spain! We then went into the mountains and hiked for about 6 hours. It was all so beautiful and nice to get out of the city. I wish I had more free days so I could return, but in the 8 (!!!) weeks that I have left, I feel like every day is planned out. 

This picture doesn't capture how awesome I felt standing up there. I climbed up that face all by myself!

Last night, I went to the Real Madrid game with a bunch of friends - it was so fun!! Real Madrid won in the last few minutes, which was really fun. It was so cool to see the fans, and just see the stadium - it was amazing and huge and fun to try to figure out the cheers! 

Getting ready to leave for the game 

The weather has been beautiful lately - I've been able to go running most days (except today... I'm laying in bed writing this blog instead!) and I've been going to a nice park right by my apartment most days to read and bask in the sun. It is on a really pretty hill looking west, so it is a great place to watch the sunset. (Dad and Terri - at the templo de debod!) 

Melissa and me at the park

On Wednesday, I'm going to Mallorca with my roommate Vanessa (she moved out last week). We're staying with her family and will be going all around the island - I'm so excited! The island is supposed to be absolutely beautiful, so it should be really fun. I'll be there until Sunday, and then I only have one week to finish all of my papers.. eeegggghh. I don't know how I'm going to pass my classes when I get back to UW and actually have hard classes. Most of my friends are having visitors in the next couple of weeks, so I'm looking forward to meeting everybody! My two close friends who have boyfriends/girlfriends from home are both having them come visit in the next couple weeks, so I'm getting a bit jealous of them. But, just 8 short weeks until I'm going to be home, which is just insane. I can't believe I'm over half done! And in 2.5 weeks, Will is coming!! It is all going to just fly by.

I hope everybody at home is doing great! Lots of love, Bonnie