¿Que hay de nuevo, mi gente? Hope you are doing well. So - to catch you up -I have had a day and a half here in Spain (Madrid) and all the sights and the sounds have come back to me so quickly. Last I was here, was the summer of 07' and the summer of 08' - backpacked around and loved every minute of it.

In a nut shell, this is what I was able to do:

-Reorient myself to the space and the people and the energy of the city. It is exciting to be here as a writer, amongst other writers.

-Have a few tapas and a few drinks

-Walk from my host house - at a half block from the Metro stop (Retiro) at the top of EL PARQUE DEL RETIRO, all the way down, past la PUERTA DE ALCALA, all the way down la Calle de Alcala, and see PLAZA MAYOR and PUERTA DEL SOL.

All the ONLINE MFAers and our prof. Daniel Chacón were able to share and celebrate the next portion of the trip.

That was last night - I am still processing what we were able to do today. I will have that ready for you soon. In the meantime, enjoy the pics...