My Birthday!

So I now have internet on my computer, which means that I'll update you all more frequently. Yay!
I have a 3G modem from Vodafone, so technically I can be on the internet anywhere - it's pretty cool.
Today is my birthday, and I'm kinda sick. It's because I went out last night to celebrate, which made my developing cold into a real one. But I think it was worth it - we really had a blast!

Yesterday, I went out shopping and bought a super cute black dress with a lace neckline to wear as my birthday suit with Jaimee and Liz. We also found some great deals at Zara, so I bought myself some little presents.
At 8pm (or more like 8:30), we all met up at La Latina metro station. There were 17 of us in total! Pretty much everyone from Stetson-Marist, plus Natasha and Sue came along with Siera and Emily from UC3 (they're from California). We went to this organic vegetarian restaurant called Viva la Vida, which Isabel recommended to me. I figured for my birthday we could all eat like me! It took us a little bit to find it since it's in the old Moorish part of Madrid with lots of little streets and alleys. I was a little confused when I walked in because it's a pretty tiny place, but then the lady told us that we could all fit in the downstairs seating area, which was furnished and decorated in a very hippie style. The place was a buffet, so we went up in waves to get our food. I was a little worried that people wouldn't like it, but thank goodness everyone loved it! It was definitely some of the best vegetarian food I have ever had, so a good birthday choice.

After dinner some people left, but the rest of us headed over to Sol to find a bar that could fit us all. Most of the bars in Madrid are super tiny, and since it was a Saturday night, they were already filling up. I wanted to go to La Soberia, but it was really crowed, so wandered up the street to Dubliner's, where I knew we'd all get a free shot. We all toasted with our tequila and then I got a glass of wine since it's cheaper than beer - a funny combination of alcohol. Even though we didn't plan on staying long, we met some guys studying in Barcelona from North Dakota of all places. I learned and remembered all their names, which impressed them. They were drinking Corona, so I told Matt that we should drink a "loaded" Corona together, which is when you put either a shot of lemon vodka or white tequila in the beer. He thought I was crazy, but I assured him it tastes good, and he agreed after we ordered the tequila and poured it in - the bartenders were looking at us like we were crazy though.

After I finished that, everyone who hadn't left headed to El Jardin Prohibido, a bar we discovered on Weds were we made friends with David and Andres, the bartenders. David made me a sex on the beach and we chilled while some Brazilian guys hit on Megan and Claire. We lost Audra since she was hanging out with some British actors at the other bar. Emily and Jaimee went to fetch her, and wound up staying there too, so once El Jardin was closing we headed to get them and then to Sol y Sombra, another bar David brought us to on Weds. We also made friends with Papi and Diego, the owner. We all got in for free since David called ahead and told them we were coming, but Audra brought the English actors with her, so she didn't come with us when they weren't allowed in with us. I have no idea where they ended up, but she's alive today.

At Sol y Sombra, Papi gave us all shots of Cacique, a really nice rum, and then when Diego found out it was my birthday, he gave me some kind of flaming shot that I had to drink through a straw - I have no idea what it tasted like. It was really packed so we danced practically on top of one another until it closed. Everyone except me and Jaimee left at this point to go home, but Diego told me to wait for him until he was done and he'd take us to another bar. So despite the cop who was flirtatiously telling us we were supposed to leave, we hung out with the staff (who are all incredibly good-looking) and Melissa gave us a drink while we were waiting. Before Diego was done, one of his "minions" came and told us to come to the bar across the street with him. Papi and some of the other bartenders came with us too. It was definitely a very Spanish dance club, so we were the only Americans, which was fun... and so we also attracted a lot of attention. Papi and Diego hung out with us a little, but then when the bar closed, Diego told us he was going to give us "una copa." So Jaimee and I linked arms with him and headed somewhere... which ended up being his apartment. We enjoyed a glass of wine with the guy sitting on Diego's couch, Fernando, I think - I couldn't figure out what he was doing there because as far as I could tell he didn't live there. Diego showed us pictures of his kids and then we left around 8:30am because he had to go pick up his baby son. I drunkenly took the metro home and got in bed around 9am. Crazy.

That's the most interesting part of my birthday. I didn't get out of bed until 3:30, partly because I was still drunk, and then hungover, but mostly because I couldn't breathe right, so I figured it was easier to just sleep, lol. I ate a little bit of lunch with Natasha - who left for church this morning before I got home. We joked around about my drunken debauchery and her religiosity. I opened up the gift that mom and dad packed for me to have on my birthday, and I LOVE IT! It's a silver box with roses on it and my name engraved, and inside was a necklace and earrings set of amethyst and diamonds - super classy looking! I also opened Keilya's birthday email, which was both thoughtful and hilarious. She sent me a bouquet of roses via a collage she made, but the best part was the fact that she titled it, Surprise! Happy 21st Birthday, but don't get too drunk because you have school tomorrow! Along with the rose theme, I wore the rose scarf that Marie got me out last night :)

I might go see a movie with Liz later, but for now I've just been resting and recuperating since I do indeed have school tomorrow!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!