Lo pasando bien...

The title means "living it up", "having a good time", "enjoying myself", you get the point! WOO HOO! I'm on vacation! Tomorrow I will be leaving Spain for a reverse vacation...going home for vacation, instead of away from home. I've never gone on a reverse vacation! I'm looking forward to it, and can't wait to see all of you. I will have to post some more pictures once I'm home and have some time. I haven't posted pics in a while because my camera was broken, but now it is semi-fixed (it's a little fiesty, but works 75% of the time) so I have some pictures to post.

I finished writing my last "final paper" on Friday at six pm, but managed to celebrate before that! In the last two weeks of school I wrote 30 pages of research papers (in Spanish, of course!) and took two finals. I'd say I deserved to celebrate. So, Friday me and my girls went to "Los Baños Árabes", Arabic Baths. Yes, that's right. Four of my best friends from the program and I went for some relaxation, and relax we did! We kicked back, rotating from pool to pool, drinking tea, and getting massages. It was great. Then we chatted over "pisto" in Sol (yes, where the attempted robbery occured...I was more careful this time). "Pisto" is one of my favorite Spanish foods. It is a tomato/vegetable stew with a fried egg on top. You eat it by dipping bread in it. Yum!

Saturday was my first day of freedom...nothing I HAD to do! I went running in Retiro, got my hair done, went to Bible study, and went out with my roommate and her friends. It was a great day. In our Bible study we had a Muslum visitor and the leader asked each of us to share our testimony with him. That was really neat. It was challenging to share my own testimony, but great to hear how God works in people's lives! I think we should share our personal stories more often in church.

Today I was a tourist in Madrid again and loved it. Sometimes in the air pollution and traffic I forget to enjoy life in the city, but today I fell in love with Madrid again. I got up early and bought a few last minute Christmas gifts in the Rastro (huge Sunday morning flea market near my apt), went to church (I decided the church I go to is a little too conservative for me, but I still enjoy it), then I shopped and wandered and took pictures till I dropped. I ate a sandwich at "Rodilla", a Spanish sandwich chain (it means "knee", yeah, I don't get it either but the sandwich was delicious). Then, it was so chilly out that I wanted a hot chocolate to go and since I don't know of any bars that will give you "Cola Cao" (Spanish hot chocolate) in a paper cup, I went to Starbucks. As a rule I don't go to Starbucks because I hate them, and as I walked out with my overpriced hot cocoa it dawned on me that that was my first Starbucks purchase ever (and hopefully last)...although they do use fair-trade coffee...hats off to the company taking over the world faster than McDonald's. Speaking of McDonald's, I was forced (not really) to eat there last week, too! Rocío, my intercambio (person that I talk Spanish and English with), suggested it and I said "sure". Up until last week, I hadn't indulged in any fast food (except two cones from Mickey D's in September... .60 Euros, how could I resist?).

Well, enough babbling. I'll put up some pics of the Christmas lights in Madrid and "ya verás" (you'll see) everything! Merry Christmas and I'll see you all probably before you read this (unless you are in Spain, in which case I'll see you in January)!