Ridin' Solo

So todays ends my first weekend in Alcala. and let me just say that I feel like I have been here for weeks. no joke. Every single day just seems to go on and on. Which is good, don't get me wrong, but at the same time it's overwhelming to remember just how much more I have to do.

As I mentioned before, for our Spanish Art class we were given an assignment to go to the Prado and find these ten specific pieces of art. Well Monday thru Saturday the museum is open from 6-8pm for free! it's very nice. So after facebooking girls in the group, Chelsey and I just decided to go to Madrid on our own and just make a day out of is. Ana Maria told us that while we were by the Prado that we HAD to go to the Parque del Retiro. We slept in a bit, had lunch in Alcala, played with Oscar, then went on our way to Madrid just to two of us...it was actually really nice not having a huge group going together.

Anyways, we found the park and walked around for 3 hours. It's basically the equivalent of Central Park in NYC....in other words it's WONDERFUL! We absolutely loved it! The weather was perfect and we just wandered around the park basking in the glory that is Madrid. There is a mini lake/pond thingy in the center of the park where you can row around in the water. We didn't do that this time but we are definitely getting a couple more girls and doing it before we leave.

Things to remember from our first park trip

-there were freaking cats everywhere! I kid you not it was ridiculous.

-I'm starting to not be worried about Chels and I getting snuck up on. We are both very aware of what is going on around us and react to pretty much anything suspicious. A couple times while on the way to/at the park, one or both of us would notice some creepy person and get somewhere "safer" quickly.

-we are tired of our picture poses. I expect that we will come up with new inventive ones just to change things up a bit.

We then found a couple girls from our program in the line to get into the Prado. Once we were in we split up, so that we wouldn't be in a huge group, and went on a hunt to find the pieces. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. It's amazing to see pieces of art that I have heard about or studied in real life! like that painting is right there in front of you. You can just reach out and touch it...but we don't of course cause that could be bad. It's only open for free for two hours and we used an hour and a half finding and analyzing our paintings...2 hours is just not enough time to spend there! We will for sure be going back.

Today we had Church. Like most everything else, it is on the other side of the city. Also like everything else, it's in Spanish. Luckily, Lindsay sat next to me in Relief Society and explained what we were talking about. Once I figured that out it was easier for me to try and follow along. They do Relief Society first here, then Sunday School and then Sacrament. It was freezing today! And to top it off the heater broke in the church building. They cancelled the talks in Sacrament so that everyone could go home early and "not get sick".

Tonight we are having a group party thing at the Larson's place. It will be nice to just chill with the girls in a closed environment with nothing else to distract us. We just had dinner and it was a feast! Ana Maria had her friends Mercedes and Freddy over with their son Alex. They are so funny and we were laughing the entire time. And the best thing, I could figure out what they were saying! I'm learning so much! :)

Tomorrow we start our other classes! So excited and ready for my Spanish class to start. Let's get this language thing going already! This next week we have our first Temple trip and a day trip to Toledo. Should be exciting!

Other things to note:

-my friend Clark works in the MTC and asked me (through FB) if I had a little brother in the MTC...no I don't...CAUSE IT'S SPENCER!!!! I cannot even begin to describe my joy when he told me he was going to be sitting in class. Spencer is on a freaking mission!! Hooray! I'm way sad that I didn't get to see him before he left, but I will write him and I'll see him when he gets home so it's all good.

-I love Flan. That's all.

-Chelsey and I are getting along perfectly! It's a marvelous match.

till next time

~Chloe