I´m Cold

It´s cooooooooold!!! I woke up Wednesday morning and I was suddenly freezing. No fun at all.

Wednesday was yet another Spanish holiday, el Día de Hispanidad. It´s a patriotic holiday celebrating the armed forces. So no school that day, or the next because I don´t have classes on Thursdays. Wednesday I played basketball in the rain until I decided I might get the flu, and Thursday I went into the city with no plan. I really must stay away from Gran Vía from now on; the devil and all his pretty shoes live there. Madrid, despite it now being cold, is lovely in the fall. All cities are, I think. Everyone walks around in scarves and hats and leaves are falling... it´s like a movie. So pretty.

Last night Gabe and I went to Madrid to see Dilated Peoples, an amazing hip-hop group from the States. The show was great but we got there in time for about seven songs. In the States, if a show says they´re going to start at 9:30, they´re on by 11 at the earliest. I´ve never heard of a show like that starting right on the dot. Even jazz starts on time. After that we wandered around the city a bit, discovering some deserted coblestone alleyways along the way, the narrow kind that wind up and around apartment buildings, where your voice will echo for a hundred feet down. We ended up in Plaza Mayor, which never impressed me much in the daytime, but is breathtaking at night.

My room is about 10 degrees colder than anyone elses so I´m not really convinced that I need to leave my bed today. I just watched the 90s sequel to To Sir With Love (Rebelión en las Aulas II) and now bullfighting is on. Blah. I´m thinking about taking a shower, that´s today´s goal. Tomorrow my friend Melissa is coming to Madrid for fall break... and then Wednesday I´ll be in Barcelona to see the WHITE STRIPES!!!