El fin de semana (3)

Friday I went to work like normal, and had a normal day at work emailing potential speakers. I even called a professor that I met, that taught Guy this past semester, about having someone from her university come to the Summit. That night we went to get drinks at this cute bar/cafe in a park these girls pass on their way to work. It was fun. They were playing old American music and had hotdogs on the menu for some reason, but it was a comforting vibe. Then it started raining and one girl was trapped in the rain for an hour lost!! She ended up at the police station, but they didn’t have a phone so she used the cops cell phone to call us! It was crazy, but we all reunited. We went to bed relatively early for a Spanish Friday night because we had a trip planned for Saturday.

Saturday Halle and I woke up at 7:30 am and made it to school by 8:50 for our day trip to Toledo. Toledo is amazing you guys!! We stopped at the top and took pictures with the city behind/below us. What a sight! Then we went into the city, and our tour guide from the first weekend tour of Madrid was there with us. We got these bluetooth looking headsets like we were in a spy movie or something so we could hear him as we navigated the tiny, busy, streets. We saw the Catedral de Toledo. It was beautiful, as expected of a cathedral. All of them are magnificent and take your breath away. It is so difficult to comprehend how they made such elegant pieces and crafts without modern technology. We also saw the Cristo de la Luz, which is a small Arab mosque. It was so beautiful, and a small preview for what we will see this coming weekend in Cordoba. Then we made our way to the Synagogue. On the way out of the city, I happened to run into my assistant coach’s little sister that played volleyball at OU, and now will play at University of Washington. I knew she’d be in Madrid this summer, but we hadn’t seen her yet, so it was crazy I ran into her on my weekend trip to Toledo. Also she doesn’t really know me so I was awkward and asked, “are you Marion?” and she was confused and did not realize who I was at first. It was hilarious, but I just went for it and it paid off. Then we got on the bus to head back to Madrid.

Just in time for dinner, before the Champions League game started, we made it back. We ate dinner fast, Cristina was already gone to watch the game with her friends, and Guillermo had friends over. We headed out to meet up with everyone and watch the game at a bar. It was PACKED, but it was still fun. Real Madrid won!! Hala Madrid! After the game everyone walked to the same place we had the first celebration event I wrote about. So many more people were there this time, people in my program and people I did not know. I loved being a part of such a cultural experience.

   
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Sunday was definitely a lazy day for me. I was exhausted from the week and weekend apparently because I slept until noon! Halle and I decided we had been away from Mexican food for too long so we went on an adventure to a place our friend suggested and we were not disappointed. We are actually going back there tomorrow for lunch with some chicas! We had nachos with guacamole, flautas, quesadillas (the only complaint was there was enough cheese in one to fill two quesadillas so it was overwhelming), and tortilla soup with avocado, cheese, and chip strips to add in yourself. The funny thing we did, is at the beginning the waiter brought out three different salsas. Halle and I were so hungry, and deprived of any sort of season or spice, that we just started to take hefty tastes of the salsas by themselves. I loved that place, and can’t wait for lunch tomorrow. We found a sock store, and y’all know how much I love socks! That night we went to a play called, “Refugio,” and it was intense! It was rather hard to understand at first, but our professor agreed they were talking extremely fast. After the first scene it was easier to understand, and it was powerful. **SPOILER and TW suicide**
A very short summary is that the story is about a politician and his messed up family. A refugee was staying in their house, but he was constantly haunted by his tragic memory of his son and wife’s death. The crazy family dynamic and their constant arguing did not help his ptsd. In the end he kills himself, but the way they showed it was perfectly executed and I almost missed it (This could all be wrong because the play was in Spanish). Then I went home and worked on my presentation until bed.

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