Packing and Prepping

So it seems that all I've been doing lately is packing and prepping. I gotta tell ya its really REALLY hard to pack for a year abroad. As a girl, my first instinct is to pack dress and pair of shoes I own, even though I've been told to pack very few clothes. I just gotta remember that I'm going to be shopping there and coming home with fancy European clothes. I've found that the best way to pack clothes and save room is to roll your clothes instead of folding them (works amazingly)

Strangely enough, I still don't know when I'm leaving yet! I'm planning to leave on September 3rd. I would like to leave earlier but i want to be in San Diego for my birthday on September 1st.

The wildly intense nervous feeling I had is gone and is replaced by a "I really gotta work hard and get ready" feeling. It truly is "crunch time".

My host sister Cósima left to go to Davis, CA on an exchange yesterday. I love that I'm coming from CA to Madrid and she's coming from Madrid to CA. I think she'll like Davis. Sure, it's no LA or San Francisco but she's close enough to those fun cities so she'll be alright. When I first talked to her about Colmenar Viejo she said "The town is not so pretty, but the people are very partying" Sounds good to me. However, I disagree with her on the prettiness of the town (look at the photo above and see for yourself). Plus, its a 30 minute train ride from Madrid which is gonna be amazing! You can't get much better than the capital city, am I right?

Its time for another random fact about Spain:

The world's oldest restaurant, Casa Botín, is in Madrid. Its been open since 1725

Buenas Noches y Buena Suerte

Annelise