I've spent most of the flight listening to Enrique Iglesias on my CD player, just to get me in the mood. About halfway through the flight, they showed a movie in Spanish, and I actually understood a lot of it!

Madrid native Enrique Iglesias is one of Latin music's top-selling stars.

Anyway, my plan is to make my American family learn with me by using Spanish words here and there so that by the end of my trip I can write to them almost entirely in Spanish (español).

Marcela Cristina Fernández Muñoz, my host sister, wrote me to say that she and the rest of her family (la familia) would meet me at the airport (el aeropuerto). I can't wait! I hope I can remember all their last names!

A statue of Spain's King Phillip III surveys Madrid's Plaza Mayor, which the monarch had built in the early 1600s.

At the Puerta del Sol, the buildings are arranged in a semicircle, and there are many cafés and shops. On the corner of Calle del Carmen is a bronze statue (estatua) of the symbol of Madrid. I can't wait to see it. It's a bear reaching for the fruit of the strawberry tree.

Then I want to walk over to the nearby Plaza Mayor and eat in an outdoor café. I can't decide what to try first: chorizo, Spanish sausage; paella, a typical Spanish dish of rice and shellfish; or calamares, squid. I was pretty disgusted that time we had squid for dinner at home, but hey, I'll be in Spain — I'll give it another try! I am definitely going to try a tortilla española. Although it's called a tortilla, it's not like the Mexican tortilla we eat in L.A. It's an omelette made with eggs, onions, and potatoes.

Marcela wrote to me that we would be able to go the Parque del Retiro and take a boat ride on the lake and have lunch. Of course, I want to visit the throne room in the 18th-century Palacio Real de Madrid. The guidebook says that El Palacio Real is even larger than Buckingham Palace in England. Also, I will get to visit the Prado. It'll be cool to see in real life the paintings by Goya and Velázquez I've seen only in textbooks.

El Rastro is the most famous mercado in Spain. Filled with the colors, sights, and smells of Spanish culture, the market opens for business every Sunday in Madrid.

Oh, I can't forget about shopping. I have the list my mom gave me and will try to find gifts for la familia at El Rastro, the famous flea market.

Marcela promised to take me to see lots of sports: soccer (fútbol), tennis (tenis), golf, swimming (natación), and a Spanish bullfight (corrida de toros). Typical me — I'm so pumped about seeing a Spanish fútbol match, but I'm not sure if I want to go to a corrida de toros. I have to think about that a little. More on that later.

I am a little concerned about dinner, though. They don't eat until 9:30 or 10:00 at night, and with my appetite I'm afraid I'll starve! I hear they have tapas bars (bares de tapas) where you can get something to drink and a little snack. I hope there is one near where I am staying.

Before a traditional running of the bulls along narrow city streets, men on horseback release the bulls from their holding pens and drive them through the open countryside.

OK, here we go — the captain just asked us to fasten our seatbelts. Time to land at Barajas, the Aeropuerto Internacional de Madrid. Bye (Adiós) for now. Next time I will be writing from España!

Hasta pronto,
Samantha