Where there is a will, there is a way......

This weekend Edu suggested that I come with him to this park near Madrid and bring my bike. At first, I wasn´t really excited about the idea but then I decided that I should take advantage of an offer to see something in Madrid that I haven´t seen. I was thankful that Edu went running with his friend and that left me alone to ride the bike, stop for pictures, water, etc. at my own pace over the next hour. Here are some photos I took and a map of the park:After a while, I saw this little train that I guessed took people around the park and so I threw my bike in the water and went and got on the train. Just kidding! I´m doing a little better with the bike but I have to say that I enjoy it even less than I enjoy running. And on my 2nd trip around the big circle, I saw this little 11 year old girl for the third time and she wasn´t even breaking a sweat!

Also this weekend Edu and Carmen had some friends over for a BBQ and just when we got the grill going and were comfy outside on the back patio, it started POURING! It hasn´t rained since I got here and all of the sudden it was coming down in buckets. But Edu was DETERMINED to keep the fire going and cook all the meat we had on the grill, and in the end we had great salchicha, carne, pollo and costillas. Here are some photos of how he did that and Miguel laughing at his crazy dad:I had so much fun playing with the kids Danny and Ruben, especially chasing them around the backyard. Carmen and Edu kept telling them to ¨give Ania (my nickname here) a rest¨ but then they would come up to me and ask me to chase them in Spanish which I think was ¨me pilles¨. It was so cute!We also went to the summer house for Sunday lunch with everyone and Paquita made paella again and it was SO good! Carmen and Edu´s dog, Aena, finally came up to me voluntarily and let me pet her and even started jumping around and barking like she wanted to play with me. This is progress since she is EXTREMELY shy and even though I take her out for a walk every day, she is hesitant about me. I was very happy to hear from my cousin Tracie who is currently in Granada studying at the Univerisity there until the end of August and I´m going to go see her this weekend! I can´t believe it´s already almost been a month since I´ve been here! How time flies. I´m so blessed to have such an amazing Spanish family and I´m really thankful!