I'm extremely tired, but figured a short blog couldn't hurt. It's 1:30Am and I got in around 30 minutes ago. Today was a little slow, I woke up and was so hot I took around 3 showers. Thats really the best advice I've been given...SHOWER. Then I lounged around and walked to La Vaguada, the mall thats about 3 blocks from home. I almost died walking 3 blocks!!! I went to the post office and the grocery store...not anything exciting. I got home and decided to follow my Lonely Planet guide book and go to Calle de Serrano. Serrano is like 5th Ave. It has all the amazing stores like Gucci, Prada, Versace, Chanel etc. I was really only looking for Manolo Blahnik...I've never been in one so I was pretty excited when I saw it in my guide book. Well, to make a long story short, my guidebook led me on a wild goose chase. I probably walked about 30 or so blocks up and down the same street and never found Manolo Blahnik! I was really disappointed!

Serrano was really nice but there's a lot of construction...and well yes in case you were wondering, the construction workers in Madrid are the same as the Charlotte ones. Every time I walked by, "Hola guapa! Mi reina adonde vas tan rapido?" its called piropo...cat calls I guess. My host family got a kick out of it when I told them. I loved walking down Serrano because of the people I saw. All of them were dressed perfectly...immaculate!

Speaking of dress...how in the hell do Madrileños wear jeans in this heat? I swear I was the only girl in a dress today. Everyone wears jeans and sweaters!!!! I can't even leave my room without sweating in a light dress! Maybe they are cold blooded...its crazy!

Another incident I had this morning is rather funny....well first of all I don't think Madrid has been introduced to window screens...you know like the kinds we have back home? I have seen some crazy bugs flying around this house. As a matter of fact theres a spider hanging out above my head right now. Today I jumped out of the shower because there was a bug...! I can only imagine how my sister would react!

Tonight was definitely a fun and exciting evening. I got home from Serrano and Sara and Maria got home from the British School. We had dinner and then about 20 minutes later we met some of their parents friends for drinks and tapas. AMAZING! People crowd the streets in rows of tiny little cafe tables. I drank the drink of the summer tinto fresco...red wine with sort of like a sprite kind of cola. Very refreshing, but it really gets to your head. My host mom took the girls to bed around 11:30pm and my host dad and I sat there drinking and eating incredible tapas with these two other friends. We left at 1am and the place was still full! The chef came out because he knows my family since they are regulars from el Barrio...he was very nice.

My host dad is really nice but seems a little shy. We've had our fair share of awkward moments. You know when its totally silent and you're trying sooo freaking hard to find a topic of conversation to end the silence?! Its really awkward but hes super nice. Well I'm off to bed. Tomorrow I am going out with some friends...they said I needed a good nights sleep because we probably will not get home until 6AM!

besos