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I woke up this morning to an email from my Dad, the first contact (besides the phone call to let them know I made it here safe) I've had with him since I've been here.  It made me start crying, in a good way, because I didn't realize how much I miss him and my Mom and brothers until this morning.  I'm sad yes, but I think that letting it out with some tears is totally acceptable and good for you, as oppose to keeping it bottled up inside.  I'm going to skype all of them this Sunday so that will be an interesting experience considering we (besides my youngest brother) are not the most technologically advanced family.  I've already done it once with my brothers though, so there shouldn't be a problem.  I'm having an incredible time in Spain don't get me wrong, but of course I miss my family. 

As the days go on over here in my host mom's apartment (or abuela-she's 62), I miss my Mom's cooking more and more.   It seems like all Carmen cooks for me is either eggs+potatoes=tortilla, soup with a base of potatoes and carrots, occasional salads, and things that are either frozen, boxed, or canned, and lots of bread.  She's made me microwavable pizza twice and microwavable lasagna once...I wonder how much all of this is costing her...probably not much!  For what I am paying her every month I expected a little bit more effort on her part with the food.  I just want fresh food everyday, is that too much to ask?  Mom back home works all day and then comes home to make the most delicious meals ever, and I miss everything she cooks.  Even just egg with rice.  I've only had rice here twice...I have been craving so many different types of food it's ridiculous.  French toast, bacon, eggs, rad-na, pad-sa-ew, bagels with salmon and cucumbers, alfredo pasta, chimichangas, etc.  And the worst thing is, I can't really cook any of these things either.  Because Carmen already provides me with breakfast and dinner, so the only option I have is lunch to make these things.  Plus I feel weird using her kitchen to cook.   I can't wait until my birthday because I'm going out to a Thai restaraunt, it'll be epic.  I don't like eating the same things all the time, Delaney can back me up here.

On a lighter note I'm really excited for the next few weekends here in Madrid.  I'm trying not to party this weekend so I can finally get over this cold I have.  Today I'm hoping to go roller-blading through Retiro Park, depending on how much it is.  But everyone here roller-blades, it's awesome.  Tonight at 7:30 I'm meeting the child I'm teaching English to through a program called T-Oigo (for deaf children trying to learn English), his name is Santiago.  I'm meeting his mom at the metro station and then she is showing me how to get to their house from there, it's kind of on the other side of where I live though.  It's all volunteer, so I don't get paid but hey good karma right? 

Tomorrow I'm goin to Toledo, the old capital of Spain, to take photos for my presentation in the Spain Seen Through Photography course I'm taking.  I may also be meeting some of my friend's intercambios and their friends for a short night out on the town, we'll see.  Sunday I'm meeting up with some Spaniards we happened to meet at a club and they are going to take us to the 4 Torres, a famous monument apparently right next to the futbol stadium, and we'll grab a bite to eat probably.  I'm still waiting to hear from my intercambio, Natalia. 

School has been pretty busy, my Track III teacher Jorge is pretty strict, despite his good looks he assigns a lot of homework and reading, I also have him for my Literature class.  It hasn't been too bad yet (knock on wood) but what did I expect taking 18 units ya know.  My Cinema class is pretty straight-forward, we watch movies, discuss them, and write a 2 page paper on them.  The teacher is from Scotland, funny little guy. 

Well I'm off to get dressed and start my day.  It's starting to cool down in Madrid, not sure how I feel about that.