the 40th of May

So the Spanish has some expression...It's something like "Always wear your winter wear until the 40th of May." Which translates to June 10th or so. I'm glad my student explained this to me , because it finally makes sense why, despite the 80+ degree heat the past 10 days or so, people look at me funny if i wear a dress without tights, or even worse, open-toed shoes!
I maintain that this saying has to do with their insistence of being classy on the street at all times, but my student says it is actually for one's own protection...you know, in order not to catch a chill.
yeah..they're strange.

Besides this, everything is still good. Last weekend we went to La Pedriza, a mountain range about an hour north of Madrid for some really amazing hiking. There was a river rushing throught the mountains and parts of it were really green and foresty while other parts we walked along the sides of giant rocks.

We will see what this weekend brings...

Old lady birthday

Hello readers,

since Paris, I have hit the ground running in Madrid! I picked up a bunch of new classes and am working aroudn the clock. This is not a bad thing I guess, because I can save money for my summer travels. One of my new students is at a very advanced level due to his one year exchange program that he did in Muncie, IN! Small world, right ?
Last weekend was absolutely beautiful, and some friends and I spent a day hiking in the casa de campo...a huge green space within Madrid's limits. It is very hilly so we could climb through the forests and things and get great views of the city. We also took a long a picnic. very fun!
This past week, I turned 23, and am feeling old, although my European friends tell me that this is a very young age to be working and assured me that I am still very young. I had a nice day, despite the rain (it always rains on my birthday!) and most of my students wished me happy birthday. I went out with some friends that night to celebrate. Since then, the celebration has continued. Thursday night, my friends cooked me a curry dinner, and last night the women I lived with when I first moved to Madrid invited me and a few mutual friends over for a paella feast and a birthday cake! It felt like a real birthday.
The weather is not so nice today, but we're hoping to go back out to casa de campo for round 2 of hiking fun!

semana santa in FRANCE

bonjour mon cheries! I didn't actually learn any french in the 6 days I spent in France...it's a very difficult language!
Anyway, I took off last Wednesday for Toulouse, France, which is in the Southern part of the country and in the Pyrenees mountains. The city is known as Le Ville de Rose--the pink city because all the buildings are pink or red brick. It was very pretty and fun to walk around. good weather there, so it was pleasant to sit outside and walk along the river, and of course, eat fine french pastries, cheese, and bread! The best part of Toulouse was a peacock I saw in one of the gardens (or maybe the cheese fondue we had one night!). his feathers were all spread out. I didn't get the best picture of him ,because he was behind a fence, but it is posted above.
On friday morning, I had a 630 AM flight to paris. Thats not a fun time for me to be awake, but to make matters worse, there was some sort of fuel problem, and we didn't have enough fuel on the plane to make it to Paris. They spent a few hours deciding what to do, finally decided to put us on the plane, fly us to Montpellier (in the french riviera!), pick up more fuel there, and then continue to Paris. I woke up enough to look out the window as we left Toulouse to see the Pyrenees and at the Montpellier airport...beautiful, water everywhere, white birds. Finally got into a rainy, miserable Paris, was lost, cold, hungry, and exhausted. We waited in line for the Musee d'Orsay for 45 minutes...but after that our luck improved. I got into the museum for free (thanks Saint Louis Madrid ID card!), the museum was filled with Monets, Van Goghs, Degas', all in all amazing, and when we came out again, the sun was out, so we picknicked under the Eiffel Tower. (!)
We slept really hard that night, and woke up early the next day in order to attempt to see all the sights (we didn't even come close) in our remaining 2.5 days. We went to the Louvre the next day (for free again!), spent hours wandering around that massive museum, saw the Mona Lisa, then left the museum ,and walked along the river through the shops and street vendors to Notre Dame . All the main monuments are situated on one side of the river or the other, with gardens in between. we strolled for hours, ate nutella crepes, and returned to the glorious Eiffel tower. It was rainy and drizzly and cold all day with bursts of sun.
The next day was my favorite. We visited Montemarte, or the barrio de los pintures, as my students recommended it to me as. It is on top of the highest hill in Paris, and has sort of a San Francisco feel, artists painting on the streets, winding, narrow streets, boutiques, crepe shops, and great views. We stumbled upon an Italian man singing beatles songs on the steps of the Sacre Couer, the cathedral at the top of the hill. It was a magical moment, to sit on those steps, see Paris below you, and sing a long with people from all over the world. There was also a cool cemetary in Montmarte, and a lot of artists and cafes to check out. Supposedly this is the area where the Moulin Rouge is as well, but we never found it.
That night, we returned to the Eiffel Tower, and waited for dark so the lights would come on. It was AMAZING. the lights came on as the sun set, and then at 9pm, the Tower sparkles with little white lights all over, they flash for about 10 minutes, and it looks so cool! so many people were out in the park enjoying the sunset and the tower lighting.
the next day, unfortunately, had blue skies, but was only a half day for us. we enjoyed the jardins du Luxembourg (not nearly as impressive as Madrid's retiro park!) browsed the neighborhood streets, and headed for the airport.

and now here i am! back in madrid, and starting a full week of classes, i've picked up quite a few new ones in the past month or so, and i'm very busy with them as well as planning my glorious return to the USA, and what might await me there...
a lovely semana santa, and an even more beautiful day today in Madrid, the flowers and trees in Retiro are all blooming, and the weather is perfect.

Au revoir,

Megan