1.5 months down, 2 to go!

Today is October 20, which is CRAZY. it does not feel like i have been here over a month. And now, October is almost over which is also insane. Since fall break is now over, I just have to stick my nose to the grind and just do some work. Which shouldn't be a problem since i rarely have a TON. But i just dont feel motivated here. The motto of everyone here is my favorite: No pasa nada!

Friday was our second excursion to El Escorial and el Valle de los Caidos. El Escorial is the largest building in Spain. It houses a royal palace, a monestary, a cathedral, a library, and probably other things that i can not remember. All the old kings and queens of Spain are buried there and we saw their "chamber". It was cool. We were not allowed to take pictures inside nor were we allowed to carry anything like a backpack. It was a beautiful building and we spent a good 2.5 hours in it! El Valle de los Caidos( el vi-yay deh los ky-ee-dos) is the home to the largest stone cross in the world. it is 152 meters tall! it towers over the mountains and can be seen from the highway! Under the cross is the Basilica that we visited.....it is under the mountain. CRAZY! it was so beautiful....but we also could NOT take pictures. lameos. However, the old dictator of Spain, Francisco Franco, was buried there so it was fun to see that. i dont really understand why he was buried in the church...since he was a DICTATOR and a communist. oh well. the spaniards are strange.....sorry, not strange. DIFFERENT. ;) haha

My weekend was pretty easy going. I stayed in on Friday and Saturday night. I went on a walk with my friend Lana on Saturday around the Alcazar. It rained while we were walking, but it was still nice. Sunday i went to the small protestant/evangelical church around the corner from my house. I forgot how nice the people were there! I am very glad that i found this place because its nice to have some place where i can worship at all with others. I am also going to be singing in their little "choir" for a pre-Christmas concert on December 18. That will be cute. I am even singing alto! It is the Spanish version of Hark the Herald Angels sing....so fun.

well, i need to finish a lit paper for Thursday sooo yah. I better get on that. :D God's Blessings to you all!

Con carino,
Emily