El viaje a Madrid

¡Hola a todos! So much has happened... it's hard to know where to start. I left my wireless card at home, so I don't have internet at my house yet... so sporadic email checking at school is all I have right now. Oh well, it's teaching me to just chill a little :-) Surprisingly, it isn't as bad as I thought - although I'm dying to catch up with everyone.

So, to quickly finish the story of coming over here.... I flew through London. The lines were pretty huge for security, and all I could bring on the plane was my laptop bag. I even had to check my backpack. I tried to go to Boots, my favorite store in England (it's like the Walgreen's of England), which is located in a shopping area of the airport. I had a couple English pounds that I found at home in WI, which my parents' had from another trip. When I tried to buy a banana, they wouldn't accept my money! Apparently, the money I had was out of circulation because it was so old. You should have seen the chuckle and the strange look the cashier gave me. Hehe. Um, a bit embarrassing as I had to put the banana back and trudge away still hungry.

When I got to Spain, I was filling out some form they'd given to foreigners on the plane to give to customs. Some security officer came up to me and started telling me in English, "You don't need to fill that out." I guess it was some form for people bringing items into the country that you would want to declare. I don't have any of those. Anyhow, he started talking to me, and asked where I was from. He mentioned he'd lived in Utah. Utah, eh? Lo and behold, it turns out he went to BYU! He's investigating the church, and said he wanted to get sealed next year in Peru to his wife in the Lima Temple. Cool! Craziness. It was the first person I met in Spain.

Then, when I was getting money exchanged at the American Express counter, this guy named Walter was chatting with me, asking what I was doing in Spain, etc. I was saying how I was looking forward to improving my Spanish, and he said he needed to improve his English. Then all of a sudden, he said something ending in, "Te intereses?" (Are you interested?) I don't have any clue what he was referring to... I thought he meant in me coming back sometime to the cash counter to exchange more money and practice speaking or something... but then, all of a sudden, he hands me his number. Um, practice Spanish on a date? Hehe, I have no idea, but since I am still confused what happened in that conversation, I think I'll just let it be. Jeje.

Well, today I start my classes... Spanish Civilization and Culture and Intro to Hispanic Lit. this afternoon. Hopefully, I'll remember enough Spanish to keep up! Tonight, my señora won't be home for dinner cause her theater group is practicing. She's in plays and stuff. She always sings and hums around the house. It's really cute! She is an active lady... always chatting with friends on the phone, going out for walks with her friends (the other night she went for a walk downtown at 10:30 P.M. with a friend. EVERYONE is out late here!!), etc. I hope I can keep up with her! Hehe.

Ok, I'm out! Hasta luego.