let the travels begin!

Madrid, Spain

La Casa de Santibanez

El 7 de Febrero, 2008

11:03pm (4:03pm Denton time)

Ok…so new things as of today…

1. I’m listening to the new Jack Johnson cd that just came out this week. Great “home” music J

2. my baby bangs are becoming less and less terrible with every passing day… J haha I’m really glad I brought my shears to help with the development of them as they progress…

3. the family is leaving tomorrow at 8am for Las Vegas. A part of me looks forward to a week of “freedom”. Basically a week of not having to teach, but at the same time I’m totally going to miss them. We finished “Transformers” tonight. I can’t remember what I write here and what I don’t… but just in case, I’ve been letting the kids watch a little bit of transformers every night before bed this week. They love it. The next film they want to watch together is “Ratatouille”. So that will start up when they get home next week.

4. I haven’t seen Caitlin since Saturday since she’s been sick this week. That’s been really weird. Hopefully we see her tomorrow!

5. I think I get to get my pillow from caitlin’s mom this or next weekend! YES! My life is going to be eight million times better. I can’t wait J I’m so happy! Haha

6. Aaron and Lindsey are, Lord willing, coming to visit the Wednesday before spring break for a week. I seriously cannot wait for that. I’m so excited for them to be here. 34 days? I feel like every time I count the days on the calendar that it comes out to be a bigger number. I am kind of confused… haha.

7. I am not happy with my hair right now… I want a new hairdo overhaul… that’s totally not an interesting thing to put in here, but I was just looking at a pic of me and Aaron and his sis from some months ago, and I want my hair like that again. Haha. I’ll wait to do anything drastic for a while… at least until my bangs catch back up to normality? Haha.

8. I’ve decided to do individual Spanish study. I decided that I was learning more when I was studying/teaching myself at home than when I was in the class, and since I haven’t paid yet, I just decided to stop going. I’m learning a lot still though. So it’s good. I have a lot of time to study this week with the kids gone J

9. Ani (the maid) and I got to talk the other day for a bit and she told me that my Spanish has gotten a lot better since I got here! J she seemed really impressed J so that was really encouraging! Also I wrote her a note this morning and she brought it to me amazed that I wrote it! Haha. It’s so encouraging for her to be impressed with my seriously lacking Spanish skills J makes me want to know more. I’m glad she’s here. Also I’m glad she’ll still be here this week. She’s not leaving with the family. So that’s good. At least I’m not all alone at the house this week. J

10. I got a letter from Katie today in the mail! It was the highlight of my day J I forgot how fun getting mail is. And it’s even better when it’s from across the ocean J thanks, Katie! Love you!

Ok I’m going to bed now. I just realized that I hadn’t updated in a few days. I’ve been writing individual emails with people and just kept forgetting to update here since it felt like I had already told everything… J

I love you,

Denise.

p.s. reminder for you attached (dating OR married) J boys reading this… get your thinking caps going. Valentines day is coming up! Get ready to “wow” your ladies! Tell ‘em how special they are to you! It doesn’t take a lot (or sometimes any…) money, so don’t even use that as an excuse. It’s lame and you know it. ;)

Even though it’s a ridiculously over-commercialized holiday that doesn’t mean you can’t use it as another excuse to lavish her with love and adoration… J haha.

Consider this your encouragement and reminder in one.

And… GO! J

Madrid, Spain

Juan Valdez Café

El 8 de Febrero, 2008

7:36pm (12:36pm Denton time)

Ok I’m not going to lie, this is getting kind of ridiculous… the internet connection here is TERRIBLE!!! I just came in and spent 3 euros on a drink at this coffee shop so that I could sit enjoyably for a few hours and use some internet only to find out that the internet is broken… wonderful… so I guess I’ll just go back home and sit on my potted plant and hope that it doesn’t kick me off like it usually does… it’s so frustrating. It’s my only way of communication with home and I’m denied it so often. L I know it could be worse, but it’s still terribly frustrating. I just wish I could find ONE reliable way to communicate with you people who are so far away!

Anyways. cool thing, Cait, Katie and I are taking a bus to Segovia tomorrow morning for a day trip. It’s one of the places in spain that we wanted to be sure and visit, so that’s cool. And when Katie and I went to find out info on the busses today, we found out that it’s only going to be like 15 euros round trip! HOLLA! J that’s pretty awesome.

Ha….getting that information, however, was a totally different story. I think we rode the metro for about an hour or two just trying to get to a station that would give us information on getting to Segovia. Every place we went, they told us to go to another station (each one just having to be on the exact opposite side of Madrid than we are at that moment…) BAH! So frustrating! Haha. But anyways. I think we’re all going to stay at my house tonight and leave in the morning for the bus station. I’ll definitely let you know how that all goes! J Wish us luck! J

A toast: “A Segovia!” J