This past week has been pretty laid back. It’s been scorching hot outside so we don’t want to do much. I finally rented a boat in the park! It was really nice. Jacob did most of the rowing and I somehow squeezed myself into it also, but we didn’t go too far in the lake. Kelsey took some cute candids of our boat from her boat. My boat was me, Alyssa, and Jacob; Kelsey’s was her, David, and Kevin. My boat found Sagar on the other side of the lake and we convinced him to hop into our boat. The whole endeavor was a lot of laughs. I’ve now completed 20/25 of my Madrid list! :]

For dinner, Matt, Jordan, Kelsey, Alyssa, Sean, Mike, Emily and I (I think that’s everyone) went to dinner at this place called Tako-Away. It has burritos, tacos, and quesadillas. It was pretty yummy but not so filling so the guys grabbed some pizza also, and then we all went for ice cream. Jordan, Kelsey, and I were in the store when it began to rain so he and I split as we were about a block from our apartment. We took cover under a store awning, not because we wanted to stay dry, no no. We had to protect the toffee ice cream!

On Thursday, my friend Annette came into town. She’s studying abroad in Rome and came to Madrid for the weekend with a few friends. I showed her around Retiro and Sol. It’s so cool that I get to see friends from back home abroad! And next week, another friend, Amir, is stopping by Madrid. He’s doing some walk around Spain and then some touring, I don’t understand it even though he’s explained it plenty of times. My culture midterm is coming up on Monday. We’ve learned about 5 autonomous communities in Spain and I have to study facts about them. So after the midterm, I can hang with Amir!

Today I checked out one of the public pools with Kelsey and Brianna. I have to even out my awkward shirt tan lines! We were at the pool for about 2 hours and the time passed quickly. The pool was wonderfully cool and the perfect escape from the heat.

Tomorrow, I leave for Zamora and Salamanca. The Zamora excursion is through Nebrija, and because Salamanca is nearby, we decided to check it out. Next week, I think a bunch of us are going to Valencia. Going to play hooky and check out a new city!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD <3