the past few days

So our assignment for last week´s Spanish Life & Culture class was to make a traditional Spanish dish. My apartment and a couple people from the homestays made some pretty great food. We made Patatas con chorizo (potatos with chorizo) and Mushrooms Segovia Style. We had a little potluck at one of the other girls´apartments. It was fun to make and eat with everyone.

On Friday, we took a little field trip to the Valley of the Fallen and El Escorial. What the heck is this you ask? I will tell you.
The Valley of the Fallen is a huuuge monument that is the only sign of the late ruler Franco. Franco was a ruler that pretty much everyone hated. They have destroyed almost everything that had a sign of his rule, except for this building. During the Spanish civil war, tons of people that died were just thrown into this ¨valley,¨which is probably a big reason it was not destroyed. There are only two marked graves in the whole place. It is crazy, because there is almost no literature on this man. Everyone just hates him. And if you do like him (fascists), you don´t tell people in public. It´s mostly the older people that do. Everyone hates him because he oppressed tons of people. He didn´t recognize homosexuals, lower-class people, disabled people etc. as humans. However, he did do a lot of good for Spain´s economy. That is the only good thing I heard about him. Although most Spaniards have never even been to this monument, I´m glad they took us here because it is important to know the history.
Theeen we went to this cute little town called El Escorial. We saw the Palace where all the Kings and Queens (and a bunch of other people) are buried. It was pretty, but the tour of the Palace was about three hours and my legs were getting tired.. :]
The whole day was super fun. One of the best things was that there was an actual tundra at the Palace. It was so WINDY! We almost gone blown away. I got some good pictures. They will be up on FB as soon as I get unlazy.

Last night it was one of the girl in our group´s 20th birthday. They had a shin-dig at their apartment. It was WTF themed? Basically everyone dressed up in ridiculous things. The point was to wear the most random stuff you have together. It was really fun. I like dressing up! &my outfit was ridiculous. Pictures to come.

I love you all. I miss home, but I am also literally having the time of my life. I would not trade this experience for anything.