Feliz Dia de Cristobal Colon!!!!!!

Ok, so for those of you who do not know, Cristobal Colon is Christopher Columbus to the Spaniards, and here, Columbus day is one of the most important national holidays of the year, always celebrated on October 12th.  Not only do the Spaniards get off work and school and close businesses, but they also have fiestas and events throughout the cities, including a parade of soldiers through Madrid. And all museums are open to the public for free.

Wanting to experience something cultural, I attended the parade (but did not get there early enough to get a great spot.  It was fun!  Loads of different groups of military men and women in various different military uniforms and carrying (or riding) various pieces of military equipment.  Plus there was an air show of sorts with various planes flying above (and some of them spewed colored smoke...so cool!). Neat-o!  But I was disappointed when the Royal Family did not ride in the parade as someone had told me they would.  Still, a great experience and worth getting up for.

Here are my photos:

 

Spanish Flag...in colored smoke!  SO COOL!!!

 It was adorable to see all the little children on their parents' shoulders

 Notice the symmetry and synchronization in all the groups of soldiers?

Afterward, I stopped again at the old-book fair I have mentioned a few times.  I cannot resist strolling through it when I pass by, even if I do not make any purchases.  Well today, because I had walked so far down the street hoping to get a better view of the parade, I walked through the book fair from the opposite direction (meaning that I saw some stalls I had not ventured down to already).  And...I found...pages from newspapers published by the Republicanos and Nacionalistas in the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War!!!!!!!  Of course, I purchased one from each side.  They were quite expensive, but the man who sold them lowered the price of one by 2 euros and the price of another by 10 euros for me and then gave me a third free of charge, so I figured it was worth it.  These will be worth money some day, I can use in my classes when we talk about the war, and it is exciting just to own such important pieces of history.  These are not easy (or cheap) to come by - what an opportunity!  Definitely the excitement of the day so far.

Other good news:  I talked to a friend of Paula's who has been looking for tutoring jobs and she is interested in tutoring the daughter of the cuidadora (the one who watches the kiddos I tutor and had asked me to tutor her daughter also).  I am excited to have hopefully found someone great for the position for her.

Other than that, nothing exciting.  Maybe I'll go somewhere else cultural today...maybe I'll just take a nap.  Haven't decided yet.  (EDIT: accomplished some things on my to-do list)My only plans for the evening include homework (darn group presentation and phonetics reading/exercises), a phone date with one of the Lifeteen teens, and dinner.  And that's fine by me.  A nice chill day sounds great.  And then after classes, a presentation, tutoring, dinner, and my intercambio tomorrow, the weekend begins!  Yee haw!  Sounds like a big day tomorrow, but I am actually excited for it (minus the presentation part).

New adorable host mom quote:  We were talking about dinner tomorrow and she told us we were having potatoes.  So I asked, "Potatoes with what?" Her reply?  "Patatas con alegria." (Potatoes with happiness!)  LOVE!  So cute!  I definitely told her that when she gives us recipes at the end of our time here, I am going to write patatas con alegria on that one :)

Hope all you Americans enjoyed the USA's version of Columbus day and are having a fine hump day.

Peace and Blessings,
Melanie

Spanish Words of the Day:  periódicos = newspapers, historia = history, desfile = parade, soldados = soldiers, ejército = army :)