(Originally written Thursday, September 27, 2007)

Hola a todos!

Wow, can you believe that I've been here 5 weeks already? And, true to form,
I've gotten pretty busy (can you tell?). So, if I haven't responded to your
emails, I'm sorry. I have read them, I appreciate them, and I hope you will
keep sending them. Next week I will try to be better.

Let me start with some general things about Spain, something I happen to love:
food. Before arriving, I heard that Spanish food isn't very seasoned and not
too tasty. While it lacks the spiciness of Mexican food, and spices in general,
the mixture of the actual elements is what adds the flavor. For instance,
tortilla espanola. It's like an omelet, but will less egg, lots of potato, and
some onions. It is amazing! Obviously, salt and olive oil are added. I think
that olive oil is part of every dish. The salad dressing is usually salt and
olive oil, maybe a little vinegar. Sometimes it's simply mayo, which isn't as
bad as you think. My "mom" has also made broccoli soup, white asperagus, which
is amazing, pasta, which is mostly cheese and a little sauce, and a double
layer tuna sandwich. There is another Spanish dish that I love, but I don't
know the name. It looks like a big tater tot, but inside is very tender meat.
It's deep fried and probably very unhealthy, but that's another reason to like
it, right? Surprisingly, I don't eat much dessert here. "What?!?" I can hear
you asking, "what have they done to our dessert fiend?" Well, I'll tell you why
I don't eat dessert everyday. My favorite dessert here is an ice-cream cone that
is lined with chocolate inside and out, and filled with chocolate frosting. It's
so overwhelming that you don't want chocolate for the next few days. There's
ice-cream, which is nothing compared to Italian gelato, but it's still nice,
and then there are tons of cream-filled or chocolate-filled pastries. If you
want a real treat, get the marzipan from Toledo. Absolutely amazing. So, I
usually only eat dessert twice a week or so. Since they cook with so much olive
oil, I always feel full, and therefore don't snack at all. I have a cafe con
leche in the morning, lunch at 2:30pm, and dinner at 9pm. Looking at the times,
it seems impossible that I'm not hungry, but so it is. Although I could talk
more about food, I should continue.

The weather here, at least in the Madrid area, is very similar to Tucson,
Arizona (thank goodness because we all know what a desert rat I am!). It's a
semi-arid grassland, so it's dry and hot. Until a few days ago, the high was
about 37 Celcius, which is about 98 degrees Fahrenheit, with the morning
starting at 17 Celcius, which is about 70 Fahrenheit. So it's almost a thirty
degree temperature change (in Fahrenheit) everyday, just like the Old Pueblo.
It's also a dry heat, so my hands are just as dry as they are back home.
Unfortunately, the weather changed yesterday or the day before. That means I
walk to school when it's 10 degrees Celcius (I don't even want to calculate
that one!) and the high is about 25 Celcius, or 75 Fahrenheit. I'm glad I
brought warm clothes, but it's not even October yet! I don't even want to think
about December! So, let's change the subject.

Bull fights. I promise this is the last time I bring this up. If you want more
information after this, I'll email you personally. Last Sunday I want to a bull
fight in Madrid, Las Ventas: the bull fighting capital of the world. I got in
for 10 Euros because it turned out to be a novillada. Regardless, it was in
Madrid and these toreos-in-training were better than the real toreos I saw in
Alcala, which is still in the province of Madrid. Hemingway said that you will
see the matadors shaking and that the kills won't be very good, which will lead
you to appreciate a real corrida. Well. He was partially right. Of the 6 bulls
killed, only one was a bad kill, which means that the toreo had to try to stick
the sword in more than once. And these guys weren't shaking. They had trouble
keeping their feet glued to the ground when they were doing the "ole" (I forgot
the real term), but they would just take a few steps. The best guy was from
Ecuador, but he only killed one bull because he got so close that he was
knicked. That was entertaining. He was right next to the bull and the next
thing you know, he was on the ground. Luckily the bull was attacking his cape,
so he got up, finished tiring the bull out, and killed him cleanly. He didn't
even dance around from nerves. It was very impressive. The second best was a
guy from Sevilla, who was 21 years old, and he killed 3 bulls. He did a good
job, but no tricks and tired the bull out almost too much. The last guy was 24
years old and from France. He did the one bad kill. What can you do? I wish it
had been a real corrida, but it was still better than the corrida in Alcala.
There is one last one October 6, if anyone wants to go see it. I might. I'm not
sure yet. I still maintain that it isn't absolutely terribly violent. It
originated from a pagan sacrifice, which is why there are the bandilleros, the
picadores, and the toreo. However, as Hemingway states, different people react
differently. Seemingly prissy girls can love bull fights, whereas the most
macho men cannot stomach them. It depends entirely on your disposition. If
you're going to go, keep an open mind. If you plan on concentrating on the poor
bull, you will hate the corrida, I guarentee it. But if you think about the
toreo, facing death straight on and how difficult it is to get so close and not
jump away, a toreo trying to perfect this art, then it really is beautiful.
Regardless, I will not be able to convince you one way or the other.

Well, like usual, my email has rambled on for a good while now. I am going to
Barcelona this weekend, so you lucky people will be able to hear all about it
next week. I will also cover nightlife in Spain, from Noche en Blanco, to the
seven floor disco in Madrid, to the bars and discos in Alcala.