Educación, hoy.

Dinner last night was great! We walked over to El Mercado de San Miguel, which is right off the Plaza Mayor here in Madrid. It has lots of little stalls inside that serve tapas and wine. We actually ended up eating right across the street and having paella, a traditional Spanish rice dish, since the mercado was so crowded. We did, however, go back after dinner to enjoy some wine and tapas-style desserts and hang out for a bit around the tables there. How authentic!

Outside the glass market

Olive tapas

Dessert

Afterwards we wandered around for a bit and chatted with some club promoters in the street. One guy offered us free mojitos at this new bar, so we went. We assessed the situation, like good, safe American girls, and figured that we had strength in numbers (six), and watched them make our drinks. It was actually really fun, and we sat and enjoyed our free mojitos before wandering home to the hotel. 

To we had nothing scheduled, so we slept until noon, and then wandered the city some more. We were going to go the the Prado, but figured that after so many tours this past week and still more to come that we can visit the museum and appreciate it more at some later point in the semester when we come back to visit the city. One of the girls who has been here before visited went to an espadrille shop right in our neighborhood, so we searched that out today- so fun! Casa Hernanz makes the shoes for Madrid's royal family. The place was packed, but I managed to get a cute pair of black heels and a pair of flats to wear around the dorm in Cordoba. And my total was only 25 Euro! 

Outside

Inside- they make the shoes right there!

I found a vegetarian cafe right around the corner and had a great falafel for lunch. It was so nice to have semi-normal food. If I'm feeling this way after a week, I can only imagine how I'll be feeling after two or three months. (Read: send care packages.) 

And while digesting lunch, I walked around the area. Everywhere sells fans. Its not just a stereotype. Bins of them, and on every corner. 

And of course, the song of the day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLJ9fHqDlOA Blasting out of the frozen yogurt place down the street. How can you not stop and sing along?!

After lunch I went for a run with Sarah and Kim, two of the other girls from Preshco. We ran from our hotel to El Parque Retiro, and did a few laps around the park. it was hot, but it was so nice to be out and cruising around the city. And in the time it took up to run around the park a few times, a massive protest had been staged in the street between the park and our hotel. There were probably 20,000+ people protesting education reform here in Spain that had descended on the street. The police closed down the sidewalks, so we were left to run against the chanting crowd. It was great! EDUCACION HOY- very cool to happen in the middle of a massive protest that's been in the national news. And I was glad I had my phone (tracking my running) and could whip out a camera in the middle of the chaos!

After a run, I got to Skype with the boys back in the US! It was so great to see thier little faces- I miss them so much. 

This evening we had a meeting talking about classes (of yeah, education... right! That is why I'm here!) once we get to Cordoba. We have to come up with our list of preferences for tomorrow morning as our entry ticket for the bus when we leave Madrid at 9am. Off to Barcelona!