A shout out to Rotary! I´m here on exchange through a program called Rotary. Being a world-wide service organization they utilize the ability to send students like myself to other Rotary occupied countries (this 
includes 168 different countries/ 1.2 million Rotarian). My sponsoring club (Catalina Rotary) , who I couldn't have done this without, is a part of District 5500 ( southern Arizona Rotary Clubs). This week my host District 2200, here in Madrid, had all of Spain´s exchange students gather for an orientation. The group is made up of all Americans except 3 Canadians, 1 Brazilian, and 1 Swedish student. The district graciously spoiled us with our own rooms in a nearby 
university and plentiful meals. A few hours conversing in English and sharing similar experiences was a nice get-away from the initial brain over-flow of learning a new language (I find myself unable to sleep at times going through new words of the day :] ). Although by the end of the weekend I could barely chew my bread (which we have at every meal.). After a few days of getting to know everyone we took an excursion to various parts of Madrid. Palacio Real was our first stop, the official residence of the king of Spain. Although the king doesn´t actually live there Real is still used for state occasions (I guess cleaning the house got a little overwhelming) . With 2800 rooms the Royal Palace is the largest in all of western Europe. 
Placed adjacent to the Palacio is the Cathedral de la Almudena. Its quite a new building (well according to places in Madrid) dating back to the early 19th century to the 20th due to the fact it took 100 years to build. Therefore the interior is quite modern in comparison to other cathedr
als in Spain. Dressed with golden figures of the past, an extravagant organ, and climbing arches, this cathedral took on more of a gaudy feeling than a peaceful one. You might get this feeling from the picture to the right that displays a shrine of the Virgin Mary accompanied by a surrounding stair case. 
Just add an angel choir as background noise and I think you would be set.
Next we took a quick peek into Plaza Mayor. I do admit most of my time there was spent indulging on a Spanish churro. I call it Spanish because here they´re not just your Disneyland churro. These ones are a fried stick of heaven that you
dip in a cup of pure chocolate, drinking what ever is left of the liquefied chocolate if you dare. Some of us went around having fun talking some of the ¨characters¨ around the Plaza. Many people looking for some extra change dress up as movie characters that will attract children. Well I´m guessing their costumes are not from the U.S because Pooh Bear had a disturbingly large ¨truck¨, Yoda looked like he was about to fall over from the fact his head was 10 times the size of his body, and Mickey´s smile was all but warm. What was most surprising was the fact that most of the Plaza building was still used as apartment complexes. But I guess I wouldn´t mind waking up to the sounds of bustling of cafes and the romantic tune of the Spanish accordion. But after all the amazing site seeing and new culture it was actually the precious taste of peanut butter (hard to find in Spain) that ended the weekend on a great note. One of the exchange students had brought it from home and if she really wanted to I think she could have charged a dollar a spoon- full by the look of our drooling faces. Whether its the taste of home, the continuous kisses (on the cheek...no worries dad) you receive when you enter a room in Madrid, the new friends, or the prayers and words from family and friends back home, God never forgets to remind me of my blessings. 
includes 168 different countries/ 1.2 million Rotarian). My sponsoring club (Catalina Rotary) , who I couldn't have done this without, is a part of District 5500 ( southern Arizona Rotary Clubs). This week my host District 2200, here in Madrid, had all of Spain´s exchange students gather for an orientation. The group is made up of all Americans except 3 Canadians, 1 Brazilian, and 1 Swedish student. The district graciously spoiled us with our own rooms in a nearby 
university and plentiful meals. A few hours conversing in English and sharing similar experiences was a nice get-away from the initial brain over-flow of learning a new language (I find myself unable to sleep at times going through new words of the day :] ). Although by the end of the weekend I could barely chew my bread (which we have at every meal.). After a few days of getting to know everyone we took an excursion to various parts of Madrid. Palacio Real was our first stop, the official residence of the king of Spain. Although the king doesn´t actually live there Real is still used for state occasions (I guess cleaning the house got a little overwhelming) . With 2800 rooms the Royal Palace is the largest in all of western Europe. 
Placed adjacent to the Palacio is the Cathedral de la Almudena. Its quite a new building (well according to places in Madrid) dating back to the early 19th century to the 20th due to the fact it took 100 years to build. Therefore the interior is quite modern in comparison to other cathedr
als in Spain. Dressed with golden figures of the past, an extravagant organ, and climbing arches, this cathedral took on more of a gaudy feeling than a peaceful one. You might get this feeling from the picture to the right that displays a shrine of the Virgin Mary accompanied by a surrounding stair case. 
Just add an angel choir as background noise and I think you would be set.Next we took a quick peek into Plaza Mayor. I do admit most of my time there was spent indulging on a Spanish churro. I call it Spanish because here they´re not just your Disneyland churro. These ones are a fried stick of heaven that you
dip in a cup of pure chocolate, drinking what ever is left of the liquefied chocolate if you dare. Some of us went around having fun talking some of the ¨characters¨ around the Plaza. Many people looking for some extra change dress up as movie characters that will attract children. Well I´m guessing their costumes are not from the U.S because Pooh Bear had a disturbingly large ¨truck¨, Yoda looked like he was about to fall over from the fact his head was 10 times the size of his body, and Mickey´s smile was all but warm. What was most surprising was the fact that most of the Plaza building was still used as apartment complexes. But I guess I wouldn´t mind waking up to the sounds of bustling of cafes and the romantic tune of the Spanish accordion. But after all the amazing site seeing and new culture it was actually the precious taste of peanut butter (hard to find in Spain) that ended the weekend on a great note. One of the exchange students had brought it from home and if she really wanted to I think she could have charged a dollar a spoon- full by the look of our drooling faces. Whether its the taste of home, the continuous kisses (on the cheek...no worries dad) you receive when you enter a room in Madrid, the new friends, or the prayers and words from family and friends back home, God never forgets to remind me of my blessings. 