A Blonde in Madrid

On Friday night my housemate and I went out with Zara and her friends Irene, Pepa, and Patricia for tapas and sangria at the cutest little restaurant. I was a little unsure of what the girls were ordering but as the waitress brought out each of our several tapas dishes to share I was very pleasantly surprised. I was also surprised to find that most of the dishes came on top of french fries. We had fried eggs, cheese, and ham over french fries, sausages over french fries with 3 dipping sauces, a spicy tomato sauce over french fries, and then croquetas, and little ham sandwiches. It was all excellent and so was my first experience with true Spanish sangria! We had so much fun just sitting and chatting.

After dinner we went to a bar called Cats. I loved the atmosphere here. It was like a big warehouse with a stage. There was live music and the woman was singing Aretha Franklin's "Respect" when we walked in. She sang several more American songs which was really fun. Pepa asked me what my favorite Spanish music was so far. I gave her the name of a singer I know but who I actually couldn't say I'd recognize on the radio. She laughed and said, "Patt don't lie, we all know American music is the best music." I'd have to agree. 

                                       

The girls found out that their guy friends planned on going to another bar close by called Ricordo's. So we walked over there to join them. I was surprised to see that the bar was packed with older people, (some older than you Mom and Dad) most of whom stayed as late as we did! It really goes to show you that staying out late and dancing is such a part of the culture here. I also found out that it is absolutely not ok to stand still when you are out dancing with Spaniards. Whenever I wasn't dancing, someone would ask me, "Are you ok? Are you sick?" So, I danced for hours. Thankfully most of the music the DJ played was American! I found a dancing partner in Zara's friend Patricia. She was dancing the salsa and I was shagging, but it worked. 

On Saturday morning I met Kensey, another girl from Wofford, in between our apartments and we took the metro to Gran Via to meet Leah for lunch. We went to Plaza Mayor and found a cute little cafe there where we could sit outside and people watch. It was such a beautiful day and so sunny we were all able to eat in short sleeves while at home in Charlotte it was snowing! We never wanted to get up from this lunch, we were so content taking in the beautiful weather, live music, and people. Eventually the sun went behind a building though and we got cold and decided to walk around for awhile. We popped in and out of shops and went to El Corte Ingles (Spain's department store) so that Leah and Kensey could buy school supplies. Real classes start tomorrow. I'm a little nervous but excited to finally have a routine!