Bittersweet in Madrid

I've come full circle and i'm back in Madrid. Its cooled down to a bearable 95 degrees and i'm pretty thankful that this city moves at about 2mph because if it went as fast as the rest of the world i'd probably overheat. i spend my days with my cousin wandering the city or watching the world go by at a cafe, not to mention taking care of my sister's spoiled cat. but i can't complain. the fridge is stocked at my sister's apartment and i think this is the perfect way to end 2 months in europe.

the euro is kicking my ass. the exchange rate right now is about 1.6 Euro = 1 USD.. but Madrid is an excellent place to be this broke. the other day, i bought a can of soda for 65 euro cents. in barcelona, the same can would be 1.50.. and in Amsterdam it'd be about 5 euro. no joke. madrid is also an excellent place to be the shoe fiend that i am. for less than 10 euro i have a dangerously large collection of shoes to pick out of. but at this point its about getting souvenirs for people. sorry stoners, amsterdam was expensive so all i have for you are papers for crutches to share. haha. 

but this is without a doubt a life changing summer. its amazing the things you learn about yourself once you've been taken out of context. once you've been plucked from everything you find comfort in -- home, school, family, bests -- you start to measure yourself by your own units instead of everyone else's. its a beautiful thaaang ya'll. and after all the restlessness i was feeling in la jolla at the end of last school year, its exactly what i needed.