!#%%&^#$%&&&(#@$%^#!!!!!!!

.....and that was how I felt upon realizing that I had been pickpocketed.

We went to Sol to meet up with some of Stefany's old friends. Just to paint a picture, Sol is the equivalent of Time Square. Since the Spaniards love to party, they did a test run of New Year's Eve last night. It was so crowded that I was surprised that I didn't break a rib trying to get from point A to point B. After about 30 minutes of being in the crowd, I noticed that my bag was unzipped. $47, 42 Euros, and credit cards, all gone. Those things are minor but there were things that held sentimental values, like pictures, the wallet itself was a gift, my UMD ID that I wanted to keep forever, my first "I voted" sticker. I immediately bursted into tears and hated the world. I ended up spending an hour and a half on the phone cancelling my credit cards while in a bar, using someone's cell phone. Thankfully I still have some US dollars and Stef is here to help me out. My passport is safe, and I wasn't physically harmed. I didn't want to be a downer and drag everyone else down, so I continued to hang out with them and went to a bar. My friend, Vodka, helped me get through a shitty night.

The excitement continues...........

We went to Plaza de España yesterday afternoon. This is one of Madrid´s busiest traffic intersections and most popular meeting places. There is a stone statue of author Cervantes, and below it, are Don Quixote on his horse and Sancho Panza on his donkey. We then headed over to Plaza Mayor. Much of the bullfighting, executions, pageants, and trials took place here. There were tons of lights and vendors set up in the plaza. I bought a peluca (wig) and enormously long fake eyelashes, ya know, getting ready for fin de años and all. Before getting back, we stopped by the supermercado and bought some bread, cheese, and ham, then had dinner at the hostel. The hostel owner prepared champaigne for everyone. There are people from all over the world, it was like the UN.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous today, warm enough to walk around without a coat. We strolled through Parque del Retiro, fed birds and ducks, then hired a boat and rowed around the boating lake in front of the monument of Alfonso XII. Us tres chicas had some arms! After lunch, I parted ways with the girls and did some solo exploration around Bourbon Madrid. I strolled past the National Library, the Ritz Hotel which was turned into a hospital at the start of the Civil War, went inside the San Jeronimo church, saw the Puerta de Alcala momument, Plaza de Canovas del Castillo, Plaza de Cibeles, Plaza de Colon, Teatro Español........the first song to play on my iPod was ¨Sitting on top of the world¨, and how appropriate that was!

Now I´m back at the hostel, about to take a nap before heading out for the night. The three of us are having a blast! This is the first time Stef and I had a chance to hang out by ourselves, and I just love her to death! Nina cracks me up, and I guess anyone who gets my humor is pretty admirable! And bless her heart for trying to speak English so that I´d understand. And no, we´re not teaching each other bad words in our languages!

Thanks to those who left comments! It makes me feel like I´m home away from home! So keep them coming! Em and Suz, you´re going to have such a great time here! I´ll give you all the deets when I get back!

Miss you all! Hasta pronto!

How can I top the first day?!

I must admit that, before heading out here, I was slightly stressed out about the trip...what to bring? What to do when I get there? Am I going to be OK with the language? Can I find my way around OK? In hindsight, all I needed was my passport, plane ticket, and a few pieces of clothing, because who cares? I was going to Spain!

The idea finally kicked in when I got to Amsterdam, where I had a layover before getting to Madrid. I made sure to buy a fridge magnet since I didn't get one the last time I was there, and I also made an observation...any man who has hair, has it spiked up. Right Ivo? Haha! Whatever happened to the buzz cut or a part? Anyway, off to Madrid I went...

I arrived Madrid around 11:30am, six hours ahead of the US, and met up with Cousin Stefany and her friend Nina, who is from Berlin. They met during the summer of 2004 when they studied here. Before long, I found myself chanting with them "Estamos en Espana!" (We are in Spain!") everywhere we went. Madrid is the liveliest place I've ever been to! It's the city that never quiets down. As I swirved through a sea of people down every street, I gazed at the buildings and the lights like a kid in a candy store. Our hostel is located on Gran Via, which is one of the busiest streets in Madrid. We went to Puerta del Sol, Gateway to the Sun, and of course knowing me, I took pictures of everything. The Tio Pepe building, the statue of Carlos III, the old post office, etc. My first meal in Spain consisted of tomato soup and chicken with mushrooms, yum! The prices for food here is reasonable, I think I'll still be able to afford food upon my return. After a much need power nap in the afternoon, we headed out again to check out the night scene. We went to a Hawaiian bar and had tapas and girly drinkings, using some absurdly long straws. Around midnight, we went back to the hostel to meet up with our roommates, two Italian chicas from Milan, then headed out again for a night out on the town. We went to a club called Palacio Gaveria in Sol, and let me tell you, it really was like a palace! High ceilings, marble walls and flooring, ancient artwork everywhere. There were multiple rooms that played different types of music, salsa, techno, hip hop. We kicked the night off in the salsa room and of course, with a lovely Mojito...........We danced till 4am! I was reluctant to leave, but by that time, I needed new legs and new feet. So we headed over to a chocolateria and had churros, deep fried sticks of dough dipped in hot fudge, very different from the jumbo pizza slices we have back at home. Haha! I crawled into bed at 5am, and probably fell asleep in two seconds. This all happened in less than 15 hours, and I hadn't slept in 39! This was the best first day! How can I top this?!

I woke up at 11am and was happy to find that I did not fall of the top bunk during my sleep. I inhaled some breakfast, which was quite decent for a hostel. By 1pm, it was finally time to get out of bed. Tough life, eh? The showers here are clean and there's actually hot water! How can it get better than this?

Stef and Nina just left to visit the lady who hosted them during their stay here. After blogging, I'm planning to sit down with the map and mark everything that I want to see during my time here. Then I'm going out to soak up this place.

The sun is out and I've got a smile stretched from ear to ear.......so happy to be here.