It has been a while since I was able to catch up last... Among some of the more recent things I have done are as follows:

The first week of actual classes started last week. I have some great Professors in my classes, and I have been pretty consumed with the beginning of classes (buying books, making it to Prim on time, and trying to get into some type of routine). On Saturday, the 24th I walked around the city checking things out with Sean, and at the Train Station we decided to up and go to Escorial, a city about 30km from Madrid. Escorial is famous for its huge Monastery which was neat. It was really nice to get some fresh air, and see something new. Only a short train ride away, we saw tons of wildlife and the city sits up on a Mountain so it had great views.

On Sunday, I got together with Hansen and Karie Micklem and we went to an Irish Pub to watch the Playoff game between the Saints and the Vikings, which was a blast - and the Saints pulled through to the first superbowl they have ever made.

The school week was somewhat of a Blur as we are STILL getting adjusted. John-Watson and Justin arrived on Wednesday, and we crammed into my room but it was certainly nice to have some company. I ate dinner with Dan's family on Wednesday Night, which was a nice treat. I visited with Senor/Señora Perez and he invited me to the next Real Madrid game, which I won't be able to make unfortunately.

I took John-Watson and Justin out later with my roomates, and then Thursday I had class. After class, Hansen had John-Watson, Justin and I over to have Paella which was absolutely great, and we grabbed some drinks afterwards. On Friday, we took out trip to Toledo which was amazing (see pictures). We actually got to take the AVE this time and it is amazingly fast. It took us only 30 minutes to get there, and the city has a huge religious history which was fascinating. I also found out that the silver for the U.S. Marines swords is produced in Toledo because they have a special type of mineral that runs in the river making the silver stronger. Anyway, thats all for now, class and then off to Paris to see Taryn on Thursday