Isn't Spain supposed to be warm?

So, the past few days all of us here have been disheartened by the Spanish weather.  Spain is known for its sun and temperate weather even in the winter. Those days enjoyed in the nearly 60 degree weather a couple weeks ago? Gone. So, it's been kind of rough for a lot of us. I am personally realizing how bad I am at packing because 1, I have nothing warm to wear besides a northface jacket- my thin trenchcoat does not help, and 2, because María, my señora hadn't done my laundry for a while and I have 2 shirts left. Dryers aren't common here, and usually line-drying, which I am totally in support in thanks to my mother, works well in the sun, but of course it's not here... Yesterday I dried one with a hair dryer. Whoops.  Also, it is INSANELY windy, which makes it difficult at night to go out! But it is all fine, I have clearly survived and don't mean to be so complain-y, because I know a lot of other European countries are having very terrible issues right now, I'm just surprised/not prepared.

I mentioned my señora, María.  I'm not sure how much I have said about her yet, but she is seriously the best.  I am so sad to leave her when I move into my piso in the next week or so! First of all, my situation is really different because she doesn't live with us.  Instead she lives with her husband Cortés a few stops away on the metro.  So this really sets us up for an independent living arrangement which we take full advantage of.  We have people over, friends come over after going out and eat, and we can have friends sleep over (María has a surplus of beds..). It's really nice! Though it is kind of strange only seeing her for an hour or so each day.  Earlier this week she stopped in at 11 am and I was completely confused.  And this week, we met her marido, or husband.  He is so great, obviously, just like María. He's a broker-- the first thing they told us was that in the spring, when it's nicer, we have to come over to the penthouse to have lunch on the terrace... uh, okay. No complaints.  We kind of assumed María lived this lifestyle considering she usually comes in and said that she got nothing done- she just slept all day. Or when she noticed my roommates Prada glasses and raved about Prada for a while since when she is in London, she goes there every afternoon.. alright. Besides that, we have told María about a couple of our friends and she has met some too.  Somehow, she decided that one is my boyfriend.. and then she gave me another. I'm not really sure what is going on, but I do know that I can't stop laughing during dinner with all of the different things that she brings up.

Classes started this week for Reunidas, the American portion of the program.  So far, they are all alright.  We will see how everything pans out though! Complu classes won't start for another week, so I'll be enjoying my last week of semi-break.  Earlier this week, we got our assignments for teaching English!!!! This is something we can do to earn a little extra pocket money while we're here- we didn't need a work visa or anything, so we get under-the-table cash. This is PERFECT. I will be teaching two hours a week and working with 2 3-year-olds. I'm pretty excited about the whole thing, because as I quickly learned, Spanish kids are about 83 times cuter than American kids.. and I love American kids. So you can imagine my excitement over this! Since I can't create a lesson plan for then (they are way too young, clearly), I will just be playing with them and teaching them American songs. All for 32 € a week (I HAVE NEVER MADE THAT EURO SIGN BEFORE THAT WAS THE BEST!!!!!).

I know this is lengthy, but I feel like a lot happened this week. Here are quick updates about 3 more discoveries in Spain:
1. CHEAP BREAD- I know this is super weird, but when you just want to have some bread for lunch, warm and out of the oven, all you need to do is wander to the local Dia, a supermarket here, or my personal choice (a block from my new apartment), Mercado de Argüelles. Bread is 45 centimos, or cents, for a loaf.  BEST THING EVER.

2. KAPITAL!!!- We finally decided to go to Kapital, a major discoteca in Madrid with 7 levels, on Friday night.  This can't be a habit, considering in cost 18€ (euro sign again, this is awesome) to get in the door with one drink (I forgot my coupon.. ugh, which would have given me 2 for 15€). Of course, like my dad told me, there are some things that I have to do for the experience, and this was one of them! It was completely worth it and I had a great time!! People came over here first for wine (perfect because we knew the drinks would be super expensive) and then we headed to Kapital. We ran into so many other people from our program, and one girl had a friend who had bottle service in one section of Kapital. It was pretty ridiculous.  We stayed out until the metro opened again and I kept my heels on the whole time!!!!!!! Just had to point that out considering heels and me don't mix.  Though I was struggling to stand on them (purely because I hate heels) by the end of the night.  I think I might have broken a toe. haha. But from now on, I am going to go on Thursday nights when it is free for girls and just suck it up through my 8:30 am class on Friday. I end early, anyway. (I realize this method probably isn't sanctioned...but this is Spain.)

3. Last night, I went to a concert- Don Omar- with a bunch of people from my program.  Now, this isn't my typical concert that I attend (I miss Interpol), but I knew it would be a fun experience purely because it was in Madrid. I only knew two songs..haha.  It was SO much fun! Besides that 1, I had to pee, and no matter how much my friends tried to convince me, I was NOT going to squat behind a pillar at the top of the stadium. And 2, I was under the impression that the concert hall would be really hot because everyone was dancing, and also under the impression that since the doors opened at 8:30 pm and we got there at 9:40 for a 9:30 show, we would get in right away. Nope. Cool. Remember that bitter cold and wind I talked about earlier? Still a problem. We waited in line for an hour outside, and I was just wearing my 3/4 length blazer.  haha...and it was still cold in the concert hall. But that's okay!!!!! It was a great experience and I'm warm now, obviously. haha

Sorry for the lengthy post, I have to crank out some contemporary lit homework before going out for the super bowl tonight!