21 years...
It's my birthday.. or rather my birthday actually just ended. And it's been bittersweet. I'm in Madrid with Sarah and her host mother (her "senora") until April 3rd, when I move on to Stockholm to visit Jo. So slept in today, took a shower, got myself breakfast, and proceesed to explore "Old Madrid" on my own. It was a lot of fun. I wandered down to Plaza del Sol, and Plaza de Mayor. At Plaza de Mayor there was a royal procession of some sorts that I stumbled across, so I decided perhaps it would be a good idea to head down to the Palacio Real de Madrid (the Palace). And I did... I have a video of everything, I just haven't uploaded it yet. From there I wandered around some more eventually getting lunch (i survived the language barrier!), and went off to find Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales (a monestary in cental madrid). I did, but it was closed as most things are on Mondays.
Tonight Sarah and I went out for dinner and got Italian food (in spain.. i know, i know... but it was good!). Strangely, I pretty much forgot that it was my 21st birthday and just didn't order alcohol. I don't know, I've been able to buy alcohol for 6 moths now.. the novelty has worn off. Plus, I just don't really like it all that much. We came back and I talked to Josh on the phone for a bit, but unfortunately not that long because I don't know how much money I have left on my phone and incoming calls when I'm not in the UK are 20p a minute (read: 40 cents). After that, Sarah and her senora sang happy birthday to me (en espagnol!), and we had brownies.
Side story, when Sarah and I were in Athens we found Betty Crocker brownie mix and immediately decided to buy it, desipte being slightly insanely priced. It was almost the most exciting part of the trip... =)
Her senora told us that is Spain people drink champagne on their birthdays, and pulled out a bottle of sparking white wine. It was very sweet of her. So brownies and wine it was! She also told Sarah that she really liked the brownies, but had never had them before... and asked for the recipe - so we had to tell her it was from a box. =/
I'm loving my travling, and it was definitely needed to take my mind off things, but i'm going to be done in a week and have to face some facts. I have a lot of work to do in a very short time when I return - and I really wish I could go home sooner. Having my birthday here was wonderful, but I miss home. I miss my parents. And I miss Josh. The next few months will be interesting, I really have no idea what is in store for me.