Expect the Unexpected

I just posted earlier this week and I feel like I have to catch you all up to speed before my weekend trip to Valencia!

Getting lost on purpose

After my morning Spanish class, which ends at 11, I planned on exploring the city during my free time between classes. The night before I searched on Pinterest: "free things to do in Madrid" (lol). From that, I found a really cool rooftop lounge on top of the mall Corte de Ingles in Gran Via that overlooks the city, for free. Of course, I had no idea how to get there and had about five hours to kill so instead of turning to my GPS for instant help, I roamed through the streets until finally stumbling upon the place! I definitely was not expecting what I walked into: an entire floor dedicated to wine, food and desserts; oh and a good view! After eating and taking a few shameless selfies I continued to meander around the area (successfully avoiding H&M and other stores). Exploring on my own was great, I got to patiently walk around and meet some Americans in the process! If you're ever somewhere new and have time, you should try it!   

The British guy who speaks Spanish

After walking through the Gran Via area for a while I decided to head back to the metro station headed to the Prado Museum. As I was waiting, the guy next to me sparked up a conversation, which never really happens in Madrid (people keep to themselves). He began to ask me in Spanish, where I was from because I didn't look like I was from around here--hm, was it the maxi dress I was wearing? Not a lot of Spanish girls wear those, from what I've noted. I told him how I was from the U.S. and asked him where he was from. Get this, he's from England, but spoke great Spanish, probably better than mine! We continued our conversation in Spanish as he told me he's been here for four months and picked up the language from living here. He took up a job teaching English to Spanish students. As the metro took us to our destination he asked if I'd be up for a drink later. My answer: Sorry, I have dinner with my host mom but maybe sometime soon (smooth?)! 

Found a church community

That same day, my friend Hope invited me to an International Church here in Madrid! You don't know how hard I've been praying that I find a community like that here in Madrid. God is great and I am so excited to see this side of Madrid! We joined a community group of students to pray and worship before talking about relationships (family, friends and romantic). I also got to chat with one of the women who leads the community group and she mentioned that they do street evangelism! I'm hoping that I'll be able to do it at least once while I'm here.  This was hands down the highlight of my week. I went from doing something for the church, Phi Lamb and bible study to really nothing here, so it was extremely refreshing to be surrounded by people who love Christ as much as I do!

Spontaneous trip to Segovia

My Art in the Prado professor cancelled our class on Wednesday because he was going to a convention. So naturally you think to yourself, "hm, what am I going to do during that time?" Well, a group of us decided to hop on a bus and travel an hour to the small town of Segovia (Yes, Princess Diaries references to Genovia were said). We spent the entire day there exploring the town and wow-oh-wow was it amazing! Walking into the town we were greeted by a massive Roman aqueduct. History fascinates me, so who knew that this random little town we decided to venture out to contained an ancient Roman aqueduct, a grand cathedral and a medieval castle! I lit a candle in the cathedral for my Tia Cheli who I know would have been so excited I was there. After we strolled through the city we settled down and ate at an outdoor restaurant overlooking the Spanish countryside. Don't be fooled by the glitz of it all, we paid 16 euros roundtrip, 6 euros for the tours and 8 for the meal; I'd say that's a deal. 

Hope you all are having a great week! TGIF, right?!

Con amor,
Amanda