Since Carmen's been nagging us about getting out of the house (which we have been doing! but she's always gone so she never notices) we went on quite the exploration today. First el Rastro which is a flea market spread throughout what feels like a mile of different streets. It was huge. And very crowded. It kind of reminded me of the flea market that we go to every year on the cape, but much less organized. There were some beautiful tapestries and hand bags that I would definitely like to spend more time checking out on another date (as well as some soccer jerseys). But that's another story. For lunch we went to El Tigre, a tapas restaurant near Chueca. SO GOOD and so well priced! (Apparently the rest of Madrid thought so too because it was crowded there also) There were four of us so we got two big cups of sangria and two plates of tapas which came out to 3 euro each (not bad at all!). The sangria was really good and we got croquettes (nom), bread with what we think was pork on it and patatas bravas (which is a staple here). Definitely a great lunch! Better than what I've been having every weekday...ham and cheese on wheat bread, granola bar and piece of fruit. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad by any means but it's nice to liven it up a little bit now and again. Then after lunch we walked to Gran Via which is near Sol and lots of shopping. It was very hard to walk past the ice cream shop we came across but I just tell myself money and calories and I manage to keep walking. Surprisingly, even though I don't think I've been eating particularly healthy here, the lack of snacking and smaller breakfast and lunch (as well has more walking) has made me feel like I'm losing some weight. Even dad told me today on skype "Spain is agreeing with you" which was nice to hear!! Speaking of dad, I got to skype with a whole lot of great people today...Dibs and Rach who were in Schine with Jglow and Teen...always a stellar group and then my ENTIRE family. No I am not kidding. Ellen, mom, dad, Edwin, grandma and Vera all made appearances today. The only one we were missing was Aunt Cindy but her reason is totally fine (she finally moved back into her house!!! Once again, that's another story). But yes, overall it is great to see familiar faces and actually hear their voices instead of just imagining them while I read an email or facebook message. I miss them so much! Now off to bed before the school week begins. Oye.