I am not worthy, an ode to Wayne's World?

Okay, this isn't really an ode to "Wayne's World" (a show which I occasionally quote with my mom, but I now realize I have never really watched a full episode of this show--well not really an episode because it's a sketch on "SNL") but I really wanted to make that the title this week. I guess what I'm trying to say is...thank you Madrid for the following:

1. Sun practically every day (seriously, I think it's rained maybe three times since I've been here and for about 10 minutes each time)

2. Amazing people who, if you are lost, will literally walk you to where you have to go. Okay, this needs elaborating

3. My señora lives here

4. My señora's food is here

5. A relaxing environment

6. Clean subway car and stations

7. Beautiful parks

8. Corte Inglés

9. A great academic program at NYU in Madrid

10. The fact that I can take Arabic...in Spanish

11. And now...¡Doctora está aquí!

Chirimoya!!! (a fruit...looks like brains...it's delicious)

Sancho Panza and Don Quixote

Actor who played Cervantes now playing a student at Universidad Alcalá y Sancho Panza now playing a student, too

Doctora and me next to Don Quixote 

Oh, my Halloween costume that I only wore in my room...

Joan's Halloween costume that she only wore in our room...

And now for something very different....
¡El tren de Cervantes!  You may be asking yourself, what is the Tren de Cervantes? Well...it's a themed train that goes to Alcalá. But it's no ordinary train. Throughout the twenty minute train ride actors perform various scenes about Don Quixote and Cervantes. It's fantastic! They include the children in the scenes, hand out candied almonds, and really make an effort to get people on the train involved.

Once you arrive in Alcalá, you're split up into groups and each group has a tour guide. Throughout the day you see the university, and  Cervantes's home, among other sites. They give you plenty of time to each lunch and explore on your own, too. The day starts at 11:00AM and you head back on the train at 8:00 PM. All for only 20 euros (not including lunch).

Okay, and now another switch. I must must must blog about my dinner last night with my señora Elena and my roommate Joan. It was possibly one of the best dinner conversations...ever! We had a whole discussion about why we don't have boyfriends (I won't get into the details), but trust me this is a very interesting topic to talk about with your Spanish señora, over dinner, and in Spanish, of course. Then, when she asked us what we were doing after dinner (so around 11:30 pm) and we told her we weren't going out for Halloween, she called us old ladies...in English!

Anyway, that's why Joan and I decided to put on our costumes --hence the pictures (I really just had wings and a mask and Joan only really had Halloween socks, spandex shorts, and a bandana, but who's keeping track?)--so we could at least pretend we did something for Halloween. Whatever, the wings and mask aren't going bad. Halloween will come again next year.