Morra & Cindy's Birthday

Last night, we went out for Cynthia (Morra) and Cindy's Birthday. Cindy is on AIESEC International and was in town for the weekend for her birthday celebrations. They are also both Mexican. So what did we do? Go to a Mexican restaurant for dinner! It was amazing...all of the food was spectacular. The decor? Like a piñata exploded on the walls. It was the cheesiest thing ever, but fantastic.

We went to Chapandaz (i think thats how you spell it) afterwards. Its a bar that has cool music, so works for lots of different people. The bar was FILLED with american exchange students. Apparently there are like 150 American exchange students in Barcelona and Madrid and they are taking over our spots... hhmmm although i love nafta and what not..not sure if i love this

Chapandaz has a drink that is very famous...called "Leche de Pantera" - Panther's Milk. It cost almost 10 euros but is HUGE! There is this cream liquid stuff that comes out of the ceiling, then the bartenders pour in like 4 different types of liquor and put in some cinnamon. People love this stuff! Personally I am not a huge fan of the sugary drinks, but it was an experience nonetheless.

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Churros

Stella and I decided that we didn't want to just sit at home and watch movies on the weekend, but instead explore the city and get to know Madrid a little bit more. So we ventured out Saturday to San Gines, a very famous churro's spot in Madrid. Its tucked behind a church on Calle Arenal, just off of Sol. It was amazing and the best thing for a chilly afternoon.We also explored Calle Fuencarral which had SO many cool stores and shops. We had only ever been there in the middle of the night on the way home from the bar, never when everything was open and it was amazing! Super crowded but at the same time, really cool.

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Team Day

Thanks to AIESEC, we had a team day that was pretty awesome. It consisted of three parts - bowling, dinner and ice skating

Bowling was a lot of fun. In general, we all kind of suck, with only 2 (out of 8) breaking 100 points. I must say that the bowling alleys here are way more ghetto than good ol' gateway lanes back home. They didnt even have machines at each lane so you could put in funny bowling knicknames! But still, it was fun - seeing who could lift the heaviest balls, how fast we could throw them and the bowling form of each person. It was also an accomplishment for some of us to even hit the pins. All in all, good times.

We went to a place called Chicago's for dinner. It was "American" food - so burgers, steak and greasy appetizers. Apparently "american" food restaurants are quite popular in Spain. It looked like a midwest gas station, an old general store and a planet hollywood threw up on the place. Pinned to the walls were motorcyles, old coca cola posters, an old gas pump and upside down tables!

Part 3 was ice skating. I have decided that I may be the worst canada ever - don't like cold, can't ski and definitely can't skate. But what I would like to point out is that I have potential. The potential to bean awesome canadian representative. At the beginning, Kimmie and I were hugging the boards as the Mexican, Chilean and Spaniards were skating circles around us (while doing turns on one leg!) but by the end, we could venture out on our own. One very successful point was that I didn't fall..AT ALL! even when i tried to turn around. Why yes, I AM proud of myself. The other highlight was that the very proud canadian sport of Curling is taught at this ice rink in Madrid! The curling circles and everything were painted on the ice. There was also a Zamboni - oh I love my Canadian fun facts (but I think my team is getting sick of me saying: "Fun Fact! Did you know that _____ is Canadian?!?!"). Hey! we might not have a national dance or food (other than poutine) but! we do have fun facts and I will be damned if I don't share them! I may not be the best ice skater, or a lover of cold and snow, but I do know my fun canadian facts!

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NPM 2.0

On the 16th, we had an extraordinary meeting for all of the LCPs in AIESEC in Spain. It was the 2nd round of MCP elections. It was the first time I had seen the members since September! It was good to reconnect and talk to them once again. It was also a great opportunity for me to reconnect with my team. Sebas and Raquel were running for MCP and Sebas won in the end.

Pretty much everyone slept over at the MC flat after the party and some even made homemade pasta after!

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guess whose back...

guess whose back in madrid? thats right! i arrived last to wonderful madrid.

flight over
the super long (9 hour flight) from calgary to london was fine except for the three crying babies around me. having to wake up every 30 minutes was delightful. not to mention the fact that the airline lost my bags, which was also wonderful. the flight out of calgary was also delayed almost 5 hours, but i had the chance to spend time with the walter family, which was awesome.

last 3 months
i know i haven't been posting much over the last three months, but nothing extremely excited has really happened. i was continuing my position (MCVP for the aiesecers) virtually from home. although it was fantastic to keep in touch with the position and the work i was doing, it did get lonely and frustrating working from my basement. i wouldn't recommend working from home :P other than work, i hung out with friends and family and generally relaxed.

now
so now i am sitting in the flat in madrid, looking out the window and seeing SNOW. i left edmonton to escape the freezing cold and snowstorms only to come to warm madrid at a whopping 0 degrees and light snow. now that i am back to the excitement that is europe, you can expect more pictures, posts and stories!

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