Aranjuez and the Sisterhood

This past weekend was delightful.  On Saturday, a friend and I had decided to go to a little town about 50 minutes from Madrid for the day called Aranjuez.  My friend, Raeann of Seattle, and I instantly found an outdoor cafe, where we could soak up the sun's surprisingly intense (for March) rays.  I had no idea what there was to see or do in Aranjuez, and didn't care because I knew it would beat a self-loathing, cooped-up day in my bedroom as previous weekends. 

To our luck, there was already a group of au pair girls there.  They came to meet up with us at the cafe.  I stared up at the six new arrivals, five of which I had never met.  My stomach kind of lurched and I found myself wishing I hadn't come at all.  At that moment I questioned whether I had some slight social anxiety. 

 This has happened to me often though during forced meetings.  Not to sound as if meeting all the girls was against my will, but rather not on my own accord and in a natural or coincidental way.  I think that I am just so insecure and concerned with how people perceive me that seeing five new faces peering down at me, overwhelmed me with the task of having to entertain, befriend, and impressive these people.  Clearly with that kind of mentality, everyone would have wished to be alone in their room hiding behind a computer screen.

After the initial introductions, rearranging of chairs, and most of us ordering an ice cream cone, I began to relax a little.  I really began to feel at ease once this easy-going, sweet British girl and I began to chat.  The conversation went as smoothly as the ice cream that slid down our throats.  I think for people who know me well, this might come as a surprise, to know that internally, I freak out a bit when having to meet new people, in particular, large groups.

  The fellow au pairs

  

There we all sat licking away at the fast melting ice cream, two Canadians, two Americans, three British and one Swedish girl.  Each of us are au pairs.  Although, coming from all parts of the world, a sisterhood seems to be forming in Madrid... crazy enough, the majority of us met online first. 

After enjoying our chilly treats, the sisterhood traveled down the road to the Palace.  The sisterhood was quickly divided when we discovered the tickets cost 5 euros.  Many seemed to have the opinion "if you've seen one palace, then you've seen them all..."  I would have to disagree, and therefore, I along with three other gals, entered the palace. 

The unsightly scaffolding and first two dull rooms with no furniture and only a few carpets hanging from the walls made me reconsider my decision.  Yet the rooms got better and better, and more and more ornate.  The four of us had a grand time walking around observing what it would be like to live in a lush, ornamented palace, and occasionally making fun of a few portraits portraying rather unsightly and masculine Spanish women of centuries before.   I am super satisfied with my decision, it was a gorgeous palace.

An Arabic style smoking room

The entire room was covered in porcelain 

After the palace tour ended, we reconvened with the rest of our party.  As a loud, chatty group we slowly made our way back towards the bus station.  The sun had worn us all down and we all groggily went home. 

My night didn't end there though.  I went to Raeann's flat and we had a old school sleep-over.  One which included the usual: talking, overeating, movie watching, and staying up until we could barely keep our eyes open. 

The following day yielded yet another treat.  Originally, we had agreed to meet the girls from Aranjuez in a park on the complete opposite side of Madrid, around an hour metro ride.  Feeling lazy, having gorged ourselves the night before and stayed up too late, we were reluctant to go, and decided to go to one of the parks near us.  One friend decided to join us as well.  We were rather thrilled when we unexpectedly saw five of the girls come out of the metro.

El Capricho

We went to El Capricho Garden/Park.  We were a bit put off by the fact that they wouldn't allow us to have a ball in the park and confiscated our friend's.  Luckily, we had brought a pack of cards and had a good time playing the game "Spoons".  Considering we didn't have spoons on us, we had to make-do with using water bottles. 

I went home Sunday evening feeling completely satisfied (and a bit sun-drunk, which resulted in a sun-hangover, something painfully similar to a migraine.)  I enjoyed meeting these new girls immensely.  We had a brilliant time, and I am just so incredibly thankful to have friends and a social life here in Spain.  Now, if only I could meet some boys.......