yesterday i went for a walk

and today it snowed.

yesterday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . today
yeah, friday night i decided that since i didn't have all much to do saturday, i'd let myself sleep in. maybe work off some of that sleep deficit, that sort of thing. except that i was guessing i'd wake up around 11 or 12... and i woke up at about 345. oops. i had been thinking i'd go to the park and people-watch, but it was still a bit too chilly for that, so i took a walk down fuencarral to gran via, and up paseo de los castellanos. fuencarral was all shops and crowds, but the paseo was very nice and open, plenty of pretty buildings all around. i wish i could've taken more pictures, but since i was by myself, i didn't think it would be a good idea to look touristy, too. several times i thought i was lost, or i wasn't sure where i was, but it always ended up that i was exactly where i needed to be. it's definitely a route i'll take again, though with company next time so i feel comfortable bringing my dslr camera and really taking some pictures.

also, all along the paseo de los castellanos, there are these life-sized cows that are painted all crazy, like we have trains in college station. i'll definitely be taking pictures of my favorites of those to pass along...

after my walk, i spent a bit of time on skype, then headed over to some friends' apartment.... the germans and dutch kids i mentioned from orientation on friday. remy, mike, esmir, and a girl are the ones that actually live there, but kiku, melanie, this random guy that goes to school with them, and two estonian girls all came over to hang out before the erasmus (uc3 foreign kids) welcome party. it was weird to be around people drinking and smoking and stuff, but they were very respectful of the fact that i wasn't going to partake. in fact, esmir doesn't drink or smoke either, so that's neat. they always ask me things about what the US is like, varying from how many people live in cities versus villages (which made me giggle a little, 'villages' sounds so old-world and too quaint for the US), to what we think of mexico and what should be done with healthcare. some very interesting conversations with those kids.
we stayed at the apartment until about 1245, when it was decided that we should probably head for the club. there were initally 11 of us all together riding the metro, but by the time we arrived at the club, we'd run into enough other erasmus kids that we knew that there were about 25 of us all mobbing the streets and talking loudly in english. it still strikes me as funny sometimes how much english does stand out here... so to get into the club, you had to have a ticket, which everyone else had previously bought for 10 euro. i hadn't bought mine already, for whatever reason, but was not at all looking forward to paying 10 euro. when we got there, it turned out they weren't selling tickets anymore... but the tickets were two identical stubs, perforated down the middle, so i used half of esmir's and we both got in. and i didn't have to pay! woohoo! after waiting 20 minutes outside the door and 40 minutes in the coat check line, we finally got inside around 230. by 330 i was ready to go, and by 4 i was dying. esmir offered to walk me home, because on google maps it didn't look that far, but when we stopped to ask directions (they pointed us the complete opposite way, by the way. i should know better than to ask people directions at 430 in the morning when they're probably drunk...), they said it was far away. so we went back to the club, and at about 515 other people in the group wanted to go home too, so we got a taxi. at 538 am, i walked in my front door.

ridiculous. i do like hanging out with those kids, but they might just be daytime friends, because i can't keep that kind of nighttime pace. i'm terrified of traveling at night by myself, too... actually, when i was getting of the metro to go to the boys' apartment, kiku had been on the same one and put her hand on my shoulder to get my attention. she came very close to getting maced by me, too, as i was on guard and already had the mace-pocket zipper open should i run into any trouble. plus the metro closes at 130 am and doesn't open again until 6 am, so anytime between then i'd have to take a taxi or walk. and i just can't stay out until 6 am, it's crazy.

needless to say, when i got home last night i was exahusted and thoroughly reeked of smoke. bleh, so gross. my jacket and even my purse were completely saturated by the smell... it's better today, though, i think being in the snow and rain and open air helped clean them off.

i came very close to deciding to skip church this morning, but then realized that this would be my last opportunity for a few week, since next sunday is an erasmus day trip to toledo and the next weekend is trip to granada. so i dragged myself out of bed, showered, realized it was snowing, lamented my lack of practical shoes, and headed out. i was running late anyway, but thought i knew exactly where i was going from having studies google maps (which, by the way, is pretty much the best thing ever). turns out, i didn't have a clue where i was going, or not enough of one anyway, and wound up trudging through the slushy snow for like 20 minutes until i couldn't feel my toes anymore. i'd already decided i had to buy boots that morning as i was getting dressed, but after giving up on finding the church (i still don't know where it is), i decided that i would go to Sol (the center of Madrid, saw some good shops there the other day) and i wouldn't leave until i'd bought boots. walked through pretty much every age-appropriate shop in the area and didn't find anything i loved that was under the 20 euros i wanted to spend. ended up in a department store called El Corte Ingles and found a few pairs, but the salespeople said they didn't have my size (38 or 39, i thought), only 37. so i had myself a little pity-party comfort food lunch in the cafteria upstairs with a hamburger and chocolate cake, then went back downstairs and tried on the 37s. and bought them. for wayyyyy over my budget, but that's ok. they're leather and nice and pretty and will get plenty enough wear to make them worth what i paid. plus, the euro to dollar conversion rate is better than usual today ($1.27=1 euro), so even better! and i also bought a skirt for 8 euro, so that frugality must balance things out, right?

i have a few skype dates this evening and a few more things on my to-do list, then it's off to bed at a reasonable time tonight... i was going to get up in the morning and go talk to the erasmus coordinator people before the first class i'm visiting tomorrow (we have until february 16th to visit and try out classes and pick which we want to take, then until march 2nd to change that class selection), but the office won't be open until noon. most of the ways they do things here is so crazy...