Jan 12th, 2008

Last night was my first real night out in Madrid. I was told:

"You think you're not going to stay out all night and get back at 7am...you will"

well they were right. I did.

We went to this Irish pub called O'Brien's for a while and drank. They were having a special where you could mix smirnoff vodka with anything and it was 4€, which is about six dollars. That is awesome too because they seriously fill HALF of your glass (like, 3 shots; they're big glasses) with Vodka and then top it off with orange juice. So in three drinks I had like 8 or 9 shots.

Then at 2 we went to a "discoteca" or "disco" called "El Palacio" which was a a huge club converted from a palace. We got there at peak time and cover was 15€!! that's probably $22. I felt totally ripped off, but at least that comes with a drink. That vodka redbull pushed me into the drunk phase anyway. So a group of us ended up staying there and dancing. Jacquelyn, my roommate, and I each were dancing with different guys and speaking MUCHO español. At the end of the night when some drunk guy talked to me in English, I had to ask him to repeat himself because I couldn't comprehend what he said for a second. My spanish is getting really really good.

The other girls there from my school didn't seem interested in socializing with the spaniards. And maybe it was just me, but they seemed to be giving off a self-righteous aire, which kind of bothered me. But I just forgot about them and had fun with my madrileños. (people from madrid.)

Jacquelyn and I stayed until the club closed at 6:30am. I wasn't even tired until I left the club and then I was REALLY tired. But the whole time we were there I hardly even noticed all the hours pass. It was so much fun. I felt like I had a actual cultural experience too. So then because the metro was already open for the day, we were able to take the metro home, escorted by the guy Jacquelyn had been dancing with all night and his amigo. I slept from 7:45am to 3pm.

This party-all-night thing is awesome but I really couldn't do it all the time because I end up sleeping through most of the day. Late dinners (as is the culture here) really help energize you for a late night partying though. I'm going to try to keep staying out all night to only a couple times a week. It's too detrimental otherwise.

What I forgot to post the other day was a record of the sites I saw in Toledo, because I want to have a list of those things:
-La iglesia San Juan de los Reyes
-La Sinagoga
-El Catedral de Felipe II cuando él trasladó la capital a Madrid.
-El mural "El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz" de El Greco

School starts for me on Tuesday. And tomorrow the "El Rastro" flea market where you can apparently find awesome stuff, good souvenirs, and a lot of pickpockets. I'll have to be really careful. Plus, I can't afford to have money stolen.

Hasta Luego.