Templo de Madrid

On Wedensay th 30th of January we all decided it would be really good to go to the Temple. It was really amazing. We took the train into Madrid and from there the subway. That is a given I know but I wanted to get that train picture in here. Anyways, it was a short walk from the subway to the temple and when we came upon it I was amazed. The same feeling that always comes when I see a temple for the first time came over me but this was all the stronger because It had been so long. It was a really neat experience. When we got there we all got together for a group picture and I asked someone to take it but Andrew wasn't happy with the quality so had to go back and teach her exactly how to take it. It was very funny. That is the one she took first and it wasn't too bad. The funniest part was that the one she took after Andrew's help cut off Moroni. We got into the temple and half of the people there spoke "portanhol". They were Portuguese. They were from a stake that, according to them, my Uncle was going to visit for a Stake President reorganization so I sent them with an "Abraco". They helped out with the baptisms and confirmations. It was really good because we had 30ish girls and only 4 guys. When it came to be my turn to get into the water and baptize, this Portuguese brother was the first. He had just been performing baptisms and so the card was in portuguese. I wasn't about to have them change it so I just went with it. It was really cool to be able to baptise in Portuguese. They all said I spoke very good Portuguese too so I felt pretty good about myself. It was really very nice. We took some pictures afterward and I have no idea why my camera has all those glare spots sometimes. But the Brother got done as we did and took a good picture of us all outside the temple and then I got one with them. We were sad to leave but knew we'd be back soon. We had already scheduled the group for the last Wednesday of each month and the 4 of us guys would for sure come back sooner for a session. The train ride home was equally fotogenic.

Chocolate Rice

I can't beleive that i forgot about this awesome experience. Anyways, the Wednesday night before Toledo we had just gotten our phone and Andrew decided he wanted to go running Thursday morning. The phone was out of battery and Andrew wanted to use it as an alarm clock so he set the alarm and put it out in the hall to charge. You should know that in the hall, our room is across our "parents" room at the end of the hall. There is a plug there and there isn't an extra plug in our room so he put the phone out there to charge. We had a lot of homework to do so he was studyinig/reading till late into the night. I went to bed long before he did and at 6:30 I awoke to the loud circus style music of the phone alarm. I sat up and looked around but had zero desire to get out of bed because I was able to sleep in till 10:30 so I wasn't about to wake up at 6:30. I did however, look around and search for it as Andrew stirred. Andrew isn't the most conscious morning person and through his head was passing the question of why there was a circus outside our window. When I realized that he wasn't about to budge I finally got out of bed to get the phone that I had deduced that he had left in the hall. Just as I walked through the door there was my Madre walking through her door in a long tee shirt but sadly no pants. Luckily the shirt was long but still awkward. Anyways, I threw the phone to Andrew's feet and woke him up. He went running and when he came back Eva was very angry with him. When he got out of the shower he thought he heard them arguing in the kitchen in the main floor. Because there was a chance they were arguing about him he decided to pop his head out our door to evesdrop and as his head was sticking out the crack of the door, she opened her door(she wasn't down stairs) and Andrew, feeling very sheepish, ducked back into the room. We were a little weary during the day but didn't think too much of it. When we returned that night however, we walked in to see Guillermo with an evil grin across his face. We first went up to our room in bewilderment as to the face of Guillermo but couldn't figure it out. As we walked down to the kitchen to eat, there were two plates on the counter of what looked like rice slightly bathed in chocolate. We had soup first and it was good but when the time for rice came around, it wasn't chocolate. It was probobly the worst thing I have ever eaten in my life. Altough, 2 years in Brazil came with an immunity to crappy tasting food so I was able to eat it somewhat quickly. Andrew did not have that however. He was dying and gagging and seriously suffering. It was very funny. He gave half to the dog. He was in the middle of gagging when our Madre came in and he feigned a laugh at the TV. Eventually, he decided to put the rest into a napkin and thow it away. It was a very very funny experience. We have now learned to fear the wrath of our Padres and to avoid upsetting them at all cost.

Ancient Egyptians

So, like always, we had a free day and I felt like I hadn't been to Madrid in a long time so I really wanted to go on the Tuesday that we got back. No one else wanted to however except Alex. There is nothing wrong with that though so the two of us headed out. As always we had to stop at the Mallorquina to get heavens. I havn't spoken in much detail about this place yet but I'll take a moment now. (I'm trying to remember the word that Mrs. Lyons used for this. It was my favorite thing to do in BC calc. Finding out the rate of rising water and such.) Anyways, there is this plaza called Puerto del Sol in Madrid that is a really great place. On the southern tip of the plaza is this pastry shop called the Mallorquina. They sell these things called Napolitanas which we have named heavens. They are these awesome things filled with what seems to be Nutella. (Spelling???) Anyways, we can't go to Madrid without getting one. This day we hadnt decided what we were going to do but we knew that for sure we'd have to stop off to get some heaven. MMMMM good. From there we decided to see the Royal Palace. We had no idea where it was but we asked around and fiigured it out. We turned a corner and there it was. It was pretty awesome with lots of stuff in front. It was closed when they got there but we were there in time to see the procession of royal horses. We wandered around and saw a bunch of gardens that were pretty awesome and off in the distance saw a pretty neat looking mosque type building. We headed there and it was quite the adventure to find it and as we drew near, we lost it. We climbed a big hill to find it and realized it was nothing more than a parking garage with a cool roof. No worries though cause the hill was a pretty cool park with a random ancient Egyptian Temple of Debod. At first I was suspect that it was a replica or something but I asked and they said all the stones were original. So, it was pretty cool inside and there were some carvings that looked like the abraham facsimilies. There was a group of old people doing there workout up there and it was funny. We were up there for the sunset and it was really cool. On the way back we saw a really cool church and of course, we stopped off to get more heavens. They were awesome. It was a pretty interesting day.