bonjour, mon amour!

The other day, I was thinking about all the good times I had in Europe the past two summers, and I was feeling really nostalgic.  That's how this outfit was born. The funny thing is that I bought this shirt with the Eiffel Tower in a small store in Madrid.  So in a way, it combines my love of both countries, Spain and France!  Also, I love that the words are written in sequins, it definitely brightens up my day.

cardigan and skirt- Forever 21, knitted tee-
Spain, flats- Target

In other news, I'll be celebrating my birthday in three days! I can't wait :D Any other November birthdays?

españa- my second home

Since this is my last night in Madrid, I figured it was appropriate to dedicate today's post to the good times I've had this summer in Madrid.  It has been great catching up with old friends from last year and making new ones. I started out the summer with an amazing concert (Rock in Rio Madrid 2010, see pictures below), spent a lot of time eating tapas and going to discotecas, was here for the entire World Cup (¡campeones, ooooo eeeee!), learned a lot at an interesting internship, and I'm going to wrap up my time in Spain by visiting my Soria family. I would definitely have to say that this was another amazing summer in Spain. I've already talked to my best friend about this, but I am seriously considering looking for work here after I graduate. I can just really see myself living here on a day-to-day basis. I'm excited to be going to London to see my family, but I'm really going to miss Madrid and I'm already looking forward to my next trip here. In the words of Shakira, te dejo Madrid (but only for a little while)!

host family reunion

Yesterday, I went to see my host family from last year. I know I´ve been in Spain nearly two months already, but my extreme laziness prevented me from contacting my host mom and setting a concrete time for us to meet up. A couple of days ago, when I realized that I don´t have much time left here, I buckled down and sent her a text, and we agreed to meet at her old house.

First of all, she hasn´t changed a bit. She is still as vivacious and bubbly as she´s always been. Her kids also didn´t change much either; still as immature as ever (more on that later). I gave her a huge squeeze and two besos when I saw her; I couldn´t believe a year had passed since we last saw each other. We chatted for a bit, and I found out that they had operated on her for a heart arrythmia and that she had sold her old apartment and bought a new one. Then we went to see her new apartment, which was quite nice. It was very sleek and modern and bare, because she hadn´t yet moved into the place or had a chance to put her ´Carmen touch´ on it. It was quite a bit smaller than her other apartment, but she seemed happy and the location was good, so I know that they´ll be fine. We chatted in her house for a while, then headed to a terraza (outdoor seating of a restaurant) to have dinner. The reason I said that her kids were still immature is that while we were at dinner, waiting for the kitchen to open (we were a bit too early), the younger of the two boys (who is 12) would get up every couple of minutes and run off. For some reason, this meant that the older boy (who is 18/19?) had to get up and chase him and bring him back. Seeing the older boy run was just ridiculous- hard to describe, but basically he ran like a duck. The point is, it was really embarrassing for me, and I´m sure for their mom that these two boys couldn´t behave themselves in public. I wanted to yell at them, "Stop acting like two-year olds!" Anyways, aside for that, we have a lovely, leisurely dinner. When we parted, I promised my host mom that I would come back to visit. Actuallly, we´ve decided that I need to move to Spain when I graduate next year- we´ll see about that!