Another reason why I love this place...

*Good evening! I should really be in bed right now, but I made the mistake of drinking a cup of coffee about an hour ago. The coffee isn't anything really special compared to American coffee, but one thing that's noticeably different is the sugar packets. Imagine a dinky, tiny, American sugar packet. Double the size (no exaggeration) and fill the entire thing up with sugar. The US is definitely holding out on us when it comes to condiments; all the stuff here is stuffed to the brim. I guess it's one thing I should've realized before pouring in the whole sugar packet.


*This is not the reason why I love this place. Keep reading.


*Secondly, I'm going on my first weekend getaway tomorrow! Kyle, Claire and I are going to Bilbao, a city in the north of Spain known for the Guggenheim. For more information, click here. Also, our professor from Butler (aka the woman that I want to grow up to be) is from there and she gave us a whole list of things to do. I'm excited, but it doesn't feel like I'm going on vacation since this whole semester feels like vacation.


*Also not the reason why I love this place. Keep reading.


Finally, another reason why I love, love, love Spain is going to be told to you in story-form:
One day (ie, today) a really smart, creative girl (ie, me) limped to class to learn about the history of Madrid from the 1700s to about the 1800s. She wasn't overly-enthusiastic, but she was sure she was going to learn something interesting.


She was listening to a lecture about "El dos de mayo de 1808" (the one-day battle where Napoleon took over the whole of Madrid in a suprise attack) when all of a sudden, the powerpoint referenced The Plaza del Dos de Mayo (I know you're not excited yet, but trust me). Now, in 1808 this was called the Parque de Artillería de Monteleón. It was here where about 70 Spanish soldiers bravely stood up to the French in a brutal battle before being conquered. These men were heroes.


As she listened to this lecture, her mind began to wander. Where do I know this Plaza? And then it occurred to her (with a little guidance from her professor): During La Noche en Blanco, when the Butler group was all jumping around hitting hundreds of beach balls in this gigantic game of childish craziness, they were standing on the one and only Plaza del Dos de Mayo. TELL ME WHERE THIS WOULD HAPPEN IN THE STATES.


Moral of the story: I'm not a huge history buff, and I'm pretty awful at chronology and dates, but it's unreal to be standing on a huge piece of history almost everywhere you go. I love it.


Well, I should get some sleep--I have a 5am wakeup tomorrow (I'll be ready Claire, I promise!) but when I'm home from the weekend I'll have plenty of great pictures to share.


Adi :)