I semi-crashed a "Despedida de Soltero"

HELLO EVERYONE!!!

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. I got sick of writing about my life there for a bit, but I am better now. So here's what you've missed on...GLEE!! haha. No, here's what has been going on in my life lately:

Last weekend I stayed in Salamanca, but was exposed to a new part of the Spanish culture. My friend and I went out for tapas last Friday night and while we were eating this huge horde of men comes bursting into the tapas bar. Normally, this would not surprise me so much. However, the man in the blue wig and wet suite with a hula skirt and pink lacy panties did surprise me. In fact, my friend and I sat there looking so incredulous that one of the men from the party asked us where we were from. We had a nice little chat with this man, who happened to be the brother of the man looking like a fool, and turns out, it was a bachelor party!! Or in Spanish, a "despedida de soltero." Yes, apparently, the tradition in Spain is to completely humiliate your friend/family member who is getting married during the bachelor party. You bar hop around and there is a list of things that he has to do throughout the night. It was so funny! I was so upset that I didn't have my camera with me though. Anywho, so later that night I went out with a couple of my friends and I ended up running into this whole bachelor party again at this bar!! Salamanca is a small town after all.

This weekend we had a program excursion to Madrid! Unfortunately, it was only a day trip so I didn't get to see much of Madrid at all. Our first stop was the Palacio Real. King Felipe V built this palace after the original one burnt down in 1734. It is huge. Seven floors and 2800 rooms. And we only saw 12 or so of them. My favorite room by far was the dining room. The table in this room can seat 124 people. Now that is what I call a dinner party. After visiting the palace, we had some free time to explore a little and eat lunch. Some of my friends and I walked to a park and enjoyed our bocadillos (Spanish sandwiches) in the beautiful 64 degree weather. Then we found a café where we could sit at a table outside and enjoy the weather with the Tinto de Veranos that we ordered. Tinto de Verano is a Spanish drink of red wine mixed with sparkling water. So refreshing! After our little descanso (break), we visited the Reina Sofia, an museum dedicated to Spanish art. I am in a class on Surrealism and so my classmates and I met our teacher there and had to go through the museum completing little activities on all the works we had been studying in class. It was so cool to see the originals of what I have been studying and actually understanding what the painting was about. Because, trust me, if you do not know anything about Surrealism, there is no point in going to look at it. It is pretty bizarre. The Surrealist movement was all about fighting against the norms of society and thought a good way to do this through art was to incorporate dreams and the subconscious into their work in various ways. Despite their bizarreness, it was awesome to be able to see the original work of famous artists like Dalí and Picasso. Yes, I did see Guernica. Yes, it is amazing.

Then, this morning I went to Mass with some of my friends at the Cathedral. It was awesome. There was chanting and incense, I felt like I had been transported back in time. After Mass, we went to a cafe and ordered some tea and coffee (I opted for a blueberry muffin) and we had some good conversation. Then, my housemate Julia, our friend, Mia, and I went and saw a an exhibit of the photos of Robert Capa and Gerda Taro from the Spanish Civil War, World War II, the second Sino-Japanese War. Wow. It was really moving. All these black and white photos of refugees from Spain, and of the D-day invasion...really incredible.

That pretty much sums up how life is going here in Spain for now. I miss you all dearly and hope you are all doing well!

Love and prayers,

Hope