Hoy cumple 21 años!

Today I celebrated my 21st birthday in Spain! It was wonderful and will always be a unique birthday in my memories. Thanks to everyone for all the cards you sent with me from home and all of the loving emails/fb messages. I feel so loved even though I am away ... thanks to everyone at home for making me feel special today!

But, even though it was my birthday ... our schedule remained busy. The day began with a trip to campus for orientation sessions with Isabel and our "Examinaciones Orales" ... We took the train to the Gefate campus and on the train ride everyone sang "feliz cumpleaños" to me. Also, Isabel taught us about the Spanish birthday tradition of ear tugging :). This tradition entails tugging on the birthday girl's (or boy's) ear once for each year with the last tug being the strongest. I participated and was "ear-tugged" by Isabel. Then we had orientation at the university. We took a break for lunch and went to this incredible sandwich place - a UCM3 student hot spot. This place has EVERYTHING you could possibly want on a sandwich. Plus you can name your sandwich and put it on a colorful card to stick up on the walls (I love a restaurant with a personal touch!) They we had coffee - Spanish cafe o cafe con leche. I chose cafe sola and it is so flavorful - I am really going to miss Spanish coffee.

After lunch y un cafe, we took our oral placement test. This test was basically a conversation format with a professor to judge out language ability. This evaluation (along with written and grammar exams, tomorrow) will determine our language class level. I feel that I did my best, I guess we'll see tomorrow :)

After that, out day was free so we set off to find a place to celebrate my birthday. We tried a bar

on Grand Via (similar to Broadway in NYC) but it was pretty expensive and also very touristy. Eventually, we ended up on the roof top bar of Hotel de Letras where I welcomed my twenty-first year with a glass of red wine while looking out on the city of Madrid. This was such a fun day and it will live in my memory as a wonderful, unique birthday. However, I cannot wait to celebrate it again with all of you who I am missing while in Spain. Thanks for making me feel so loved on my birthday. Hasta luego ...