Estoy en Madrid.

 Once I showered, took a nap, and called my family and my friend, I went to meet my Resident Director. His name is Jaume and he is awesome. I like to call him Señor Jaume.

 We went over safety precautions while being in Spain and other fun things like that.

 Then, once that was finally over, we set out to get what I came to Spain for, (drum roll please) chocolate and churros!

  As we walked down the streets to our destination, there were so many things to look at. One thing that caught my eye was a candy store that said Turrón y chocolate. I asked what Turrón is because it sounds like because it sounded like a Filipino dessert that my Lola recently brought us. It is basically plantains wrapped in spring roll wrappers and fried. Señor Jaume started to explain what it is, but then he said, "Let's just go in and check it out!" A lady working though gave me a few samples. It tasted like peanut brittle, but with almonds instead. There were also some that were softer than peanut brittle. So, it wasn't what I thought it was, but it was really good! I liked looking around at the different flavors and products they had too!

 Then, we left and continued on to Chocolateria San Gines. I picked a table outside of the building and he went inside and ordered. I got six churros and a cup of hot chocolate! I wish Señor Jaume helped me eat some because it was a lot, but he said he wouldn't be hungry for dinner if he did. Makes sense... The churros warm and crunchy. The chocolate was really dark and rich. I love it! So delicious!

 Next, I walked off all the calories from the churros with Señor Jaume around the city.

 We went to El Palacio Real, or the Royal Palace, and simply admired it. It is so huge and beautiful!

 It is so big, that I couldn't even get all of it in even a horizontal picture!

 We walked around some more and I took pictures of a few random, notable things. There was a band of violinists, cellists, a pianist, and a bassist that I thought was cool.

I liked this sign that said Joy. I learned that it's a club, but I just like the sign.

We ended up at Café de Los Austrias for dinner.

 I let him order whatever he wanted for us because I'm adventurous like that. We had to order tortilla de patatas because we were just talking about it about 20 minutes ago.

This is tripe marinated in tomato sauce. Tripe is the stomach lining of a cow. I'm sorry if that grosses you out. I didn't give you much of a warning... I didn't like it because it was too chewy, but I love the tomato sauce it was in. I liked dipping the bread in it!

This is the tortilla de patata. It is basically an omelet with potatoes in it. This version does not have onion. Sometimes it does, but not this version!

 Next came the fried calamari! I liked this new, weird food! The chewiness reminds me of shrimp, so it was familiar. The lemon squirted on it was a good added flavor.

 We walked back to the hotel and I got some sleep.

 I didn't realize how tired I was until I woke up the next day at 9. I usually wake up at 6 or 7 in the morning. Since I had to meet my director at 10, I didn't go downstairs for breakfast, but I had an apple cinnamon spice granola bar that I brought from home (and is delicious by the way, Ally! It definitely does taste like fall and so does the pumpkin.) I did my quiet time with Jesus, threw a cute dress on with my European converse, as I like to call them, and headed to meet with him.

We had a quick orientation, then headed for the Prado Art museum! There won't be any pictures in this post of any of the artwork because taking pictures was not allowed. So sorry!

 I love walking in the streets of Madrid! There is so much to see, from the architecture to the stores!

 The Prado Art Museum was so awesome! I got in for free because I'm a student, so that was cool. Roll Tide! There were so many neat paintings. My favorites were the paintings of various events from the bible. It was neat to see how the artist portrayed the event. Also, we went on a hunt for a specific painting that Señor Jaume really, really wanted to see. That was kind of funny, but then sad that we never found it. I even gave him a pen and he marked off every section off the map that we already checked.

Then, we went to get Tacos with a 'K'!... no, I'm just kidding. I just really wanted to say that. There was a place called Takos al Pastor that we almost went to and we kept joking about the 'K'! Instead, we went to get tacos at La Malinche! I don't know what that means actually... let me do some research... She was an interpreter who played a key role in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire! Cool! Anyway, I got two tacos with pastor and one with mole de pollo. The mole was very rich, a little too much, but I love the pastor! And Señor Jaume got a huge burrito! Ha! I am studying abroad in Spain and I decided to get Mexican food. What a shame... It was delicious, though!
 Also, this is interesting. When we go out to eat, Señor Jaume likes to get a beer without alcohol. I didn't think that was a thing! How cool!

 Now I have free time for the rest of the day and I'm not sure what I'll do with it...

Kthnxbai!