No Bill O'Reilly you are not welcome...

This is just too hilarious for words. 

Background: Last December on his program Bill O'Reilly gave my town Great Barrington shit for not having enough Christmas lights in downtown and for generally being anti-Christmas. (?) He called GB "the town that hates Christmas." Well actually, the Chamber of Commerce was trying to save a little money and electricity by turning off the lights two hours earlier. How many lights does a town of 7,000 people in western Massachusetts need anyway? Who's out past 8 pm to look at these things? 

So now Fox News has returned to Great Barrington....and you can watch:

1. ) Favorite quote: "This town is held hostage by secular progressives" 

2.) Yes. We do hate your input. 

3.) I know the guy with the baby! Ryan Arnold.

 Ironically I see him every year at the Christmas Eve service. Anyway Ryan posted a quote on youtube: "That's me with the Baby, I didn't think to ask what station this was for. I want to assure Mr. O'reilly that my two year old is not anti-christmas... but may be a secular progressive. Great Barrington is a gaggle of leftist uber-liberals but we still enjoy a bit of egg nog and Santa Claus!!" 

Very true. 

48 hours

I'll be heading home in less than 48 hours!! Gracias a Dios. 

I've discovered that having nothing to do can be difficult (for me). 

Most of the IES kids left last Saturday (or Friday) and it was sad to seem them go. There was a big goodbye comida at a fancy schmancy restaurante that was quite good. Everyone was sad that the semester had ended so fast and it's hard to say when we will all see each other again. 

At that time I was definitely glad that I had an extra week to enjoy Madrid. I was still glad on Sunday and Monday when I was studying and taking my last final. Tuesday and Wednesday I was glad because I saw the last art exhibits I had missed. But now I'm sitting here on Thursday, pretty much packed, with nothing to do. Sure I could go shopping or get some food, but 1.) I'm trying not to spend any more money and 2.) I couldn't fit more clothing in my suitcase if I tried. My friend Virginia and I are going to walk around later and it actually should be nice because it's sunny and 52 degrees F. Niceee 

Other than the weather (wmass, you guys have power yet?), I will be happy to be back in the EEUU. As much as I have loved my time in Spain, I don't think I would ever be able to blend in or live permanently as a madrileña. I will miss the city itself though...the parks, the bars and restaurants EVERYWHERE, the metro, the language (hearing it, not necessarily speaking it because I'm still not fluent), the people watching. Madrid is wonderful. Really a great city. 

I'm secretly hoping that the 2016 Olympics are in Madrid and not Chicago so I can come back, although I will come back regardless. 

it's the final countdown....

15 days until I leave Spain. How did that happen? 

I'm excited to go home, but I'm afraid that excitement is going to wear off really quickly. I will be home from December 20th until January 10th or 11th (whenever I decide to go back to Tufts.... classes start Jan. 14th).  

I probably shouldn't torture myself like this, but when I'm home I'm going to:

EAT

cheerios and milk, cheddar cheese on wheat thins,  broccoli (basically my Dad's stir fry), wheat bread, brown rice, peanut chicken, stonyfield farms vanilla yogurt, turkey sandwich, burritos from all the best places, american cheese, pizza from four brother's, greek salad from four brothers, feta cheese

DRINK

Actually the drink in Spain is way better than home. I will especially miss chocolate a la tasa - really really thick hot chocolate, not too sweet, but very rich. And I don't turn 21 until June 15th so there will obviously be no alcohol (?) when I return to the states. 

DO

watch TV, run around (for exercise and for fun), drive my car, go to a mall where they make jeans that fit me (I mean come on Spain, there are women that are larger than me), play paddle tennis and basketball, go skiing, movies, 

SEE

My family for the holidays and my friends before THEY leave for abroad

ahhh should keep me busy....

This is a little old (Feb 25, 2007) but I just happened across it on NYT and it's about Great Barrington, MA. For those of you who don't know the Berkshires has its own currency ...a fact that is altogether ridiculous....and charming.

Fun Fact

The population of Madrid (city) is 3,228,359.  That is larger than Chicago (city) which has 2,836,658 people. That means that if Madrid was located in the USA it would be the third biggest city by population. Heyyy 

#1 is New York City and #2 is Los Angeles.  

Of course if you include Chicago's metro area and suburban area it is much more populous than Madrid.