February 11, 2011


I AM IN SPAIN.

I am so behind on this blog. SO BEHIND. There are so many ridiculously awesome things that have happened. For instance, I officially got a certificate saying that my school is a Guinness world record holder! For instance, I went to Dublin!
We’ve seen a LOT of Shakespeare since I last wrote, including the best As You Like It I’ve EVER seen. I even decided that As You Like It is my favorite Shakespeare now (since I know you are ALL REALLY INTERESTED)… Hamlet is great but maybe it was TOO MUCH IN THE SUN…

I also turned 21! Which means a lot less here than it would have in the states. I had a LOVELY day spent making crumble and hanging out and eating A LOT. My party was Nicki Minaj themed!
I WENT TO DUBLIN. It was WONDERFUL (but expensive). We did a lot of museum hopping and Guinness storehouse touring and pub visiting, and it was all so lovely. I did feel for most of the time like I was kind of missing something, though. Like I didn’t really understand Ireland enough to fully appreciate it? I would definitely like to spend more time there. But we went to a pub mentioned in Dubliners and I saw the Book of Kells, so I got my little nerdy happiness.

London is becoming a bit more routine, but I’m definitely still taking adventures! Last week I went on a walk to Regent’s Park and then spent all of Friday looking around Covent Garden while my friend and I were queueing for theatre tickets. We didn’t end up getting the tickets, which was really disappointing, but we did take ourselves out to dinner afterwards to drown our woes in chocolate!

AND NOW I’M IN MADRID. I’m getting the “I don’t get it” feeling even more here, which probably has a lot to do with my complete lack of Spanish. While we were at the Reine Sofia the other day I had a moment where I realized I just couldn’t imagine what it’s like to be Spanish. This coincided nicely with an exhibit that was literally just the front pages of newspapers around the world from 9/11, so I ended up a little unhappy that night. All was cured, though, when we saw the highlights of Spanish culture — a couple of alums are here for Fulbrights and they took us out for tapas and sangria. So basically I was a happy girl after that!

Today we went to the Prado and saw AMAZING ART!!! We also had a picnic lunch at the Retiro, which is a park in the center of Madrid. When we were eating lunch we were sitting next to a Spanish guy who kept playing Bob Dylan on his guitar. We rented rowboats and walked around looking at street performers and such — so cool! If you’re wondering about the picture that goes with this entry, The Social Network is really my favorite movie right now, and we saw a Spanish pirated version at a street vendor today — you don’t make five million amigos without making a few enemigos! Throw in a Lord of the Rings reference and I’m sold.

Tonight we’re going to an Irish pub to try to watch the Superbowl in Madrid! Wish me luck! And I’ll write about Rome (we’re heading there Tuesday) when I return to London this weekend!

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