pregnant chinchilla?

Along with a cat and a rabbit, my host mom also has three chinchillas. You know, " crepuscular rodents, slightly larger than ground squirrels, native to the Andes mountains in South America." And guess what? One is very pregnant. So soon the three chinchillas will be four and the lovely nocturnal chirping/barking/scratching noises they make will be even louder. Joy. 

Other news: I am so excited to spend a weekend in Madrid. I've been gone the last three weekends. A little crazy. Tonight my friends and I are going to a popular bar near where I live and then possibly Kapital, the largest discoteca, if we are up for it. 

Today we traveled to Toledo, Spain. It's a small, very old city in the region Castilla y La Mancha of Spain. The old buildings and narrow cobblestone streets were very nice. I was most impressed by the huge gothic cathedral. Construction started on the cathedral in 1226 and took about 300 years. It was especially pretty because it was built out of white stone (marble?) which, along with huge stained glassed windows, made for a very luminous cathedral. The cathedral doubled as an art museum as well. The spanish painter El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) lived and worked in Toledo so the cathedral housed some of his portraits along with a spattering of other painters including Caravaggio and Zubarban. 

Toledo is also famous for mazapan or marzipan. Before I went here I didn't really know what marzipan was but it's a moist and chewy almond meal- sugar cookie. Very rich, but it really doesn't taste like much. The texture was the best part. 

My family is coming to visit me in Madrid a week from today!