Madrid Spain

I said my goodbyes to Kelly and her roommates on the 8th in the early evening. It was really nice visiting Scotland, its a very lively place. Unfortunately however, because I ran out of Pounds on my second last day there, I think Kelly must have been fiscally burdened to have me with her for a few days. I´ve decided to send her a present from Spain (probably a bottle of wine or something) just as a parting thank you gift. When I got to the airport I ended up sneakily wearing 4 layers of clothes to reduce the volume of my back pack so I could still count it as hand luggage - it worked.

I arrived in Madrid on the 8th at 11:30pm. I was greeted warmly by Africa, Pablo and a close friend of theirs - añlgabwu (pronounced pa la yo). Because Afri and Pablo finished their exams earlier that day, they were very exited to go out. Consequently, we got into the car and started driving to a club straight away. It was a 7 leveled club that was infamous for it´s expensive drinks and its attraction to international students. I thought it was cool. The bottom level and the top level were the best (which meant a lot of walking) because they had live ´dancers´ (models which can only do the most basic moves) and a machine which blasted out a wave of smoke into the crowed during the best parts of any song that was playing at the time.

Africa´s parents are just as cool as I remember them. Also, her friends are very nice too. They all speak fluent English which is a big relief for me because I had fears that I would be unable to communicate with people here. My fears aren´t fully put to rest though because I still find that in group situations everyone will still speak in Spanish and pretend I don´t exist. Pablo is a legend though, he really makes an effort to try and keep me in the loop despite the language blockade. He often attempts to redescribe the topic of conversation in English after the conversation is over. Whilst this is an interesting social dynamic, I still feel relaxed with the people around me, and I can easily socialize with Afri, Pablo or any of their friends when i´m talking o them 1 to 1.

i went to a place today called 100 montaditos. It´s famous for having 1 Euro meals and 1 Euro 0.5 pints of beer. Needless to say I still spent as much money as I would have if I went to a bar, but I just drank 3 times as much.

i´m going to Africas country house tomorrow. That should be a lot of fun.