¡Feliz cumpleaños a mi! | Turning 22 In Madrid !

...I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22! 

My first birthday away from home and to tell you the truth, I was really dreading it. My twenty second birthday went from a strong 0 to a solid 10 within the space of three days.

I had the worst start to the week last Monday or Tuesday because I was feeling very homesick - I felt emotionally weak. I was missing home so much; my family, friends, home comforts and on top of that, I knew my birthday was creeping up. I just wanted it to pass by in a flash, I didn't want it to happen. I'm not a massive birthday person in general but spending my birthday away from home automatically put a downer on me. To cut to the chase, I 'broke down' at work. Embarrassing, I know. Throughout the morning, I was feeling down and upset. Questions and feelings such as "why am I here?", "what am I doing here?", "I just want to go home" were going through my mind. My mood was foul. I wasn't really talking to anyone, wasn't interacting with many students - every negative feeling was growing bigger and bigger. And what's worse is that it was all being bottled up inside my brain. After lunch, I cracked. I cried on a friend (literally) as soon as I saw her. I had never felt so low before and I know I just needed to let it out before I drove myself crazy. Although I was able to let some my emotions out, at the same time I felt embarrassed for crying in front of many colleagues. To be honest, I felt stupid.

Within the next two days, I began to feel better; slowly but surely. After speaking to a few close friends and family members, I started to feel slightly happier and managed to convince myself that everything is going to fine. Friends were reminding me that I will be going home for Christmas soon and to stay strong. These positive messages made me feel warm inside. I told myself to get over this little bump and to strive on. My amazing mother told me to "treat everyday positively, to enjoy going to work as much as possible because time flies when you're having fun and before you know it, you'll be home". These wise words really helped me and on top of that, they came from the person I miss the most. So, thank you mum - you truly are the best.

But enough of the negativity, I'm here to tell you all about how my birthday went from bad to good! ^^... So, here's how it began:

On Friday 27th - I walked into work as normal and class began as normal. The students were reading well and everything seemed fine... Up until class 1B (from next door) all gathered into my classroom with 1A. Before I could even question it, the word "surprise!" was whispered to me by my tutor, Mako. 5 seconds later, all 40 students or however many were present at the time started singing "happy birthday" to me. I stood there in shock, happiness and awe - I felt touched. My tutor then handed me many homemade birthday cards made by my students as a surprise to me. At the same time, I was being attacked by all of them giving me a birthday hug and kiss ^^'... I honestly will never ever forget this moment. It was so so sweet.

Thank you to Mako for planning this surprise for me and thank you for the present :) This moment had put a smile on my face the entire day. After work, myself and Esther went to Gran Plaza 2 to do some 'Black Friday' shopping. I really wanted to have some retail therapy because it seemed like we hadn't done so in such a long time! I ended up not buying much... but it was still nice to go there! We ended our night in an Indian restaurant that was nicer than the first one we tried for sure. The only downside to that day was the fact that our food took so long to come out that we missed our last bus home and had to taxi it home. But as S.M says, "It's all part of the experience" :)

I decided to go bowling with a few of my work colleagues during the day at Majadahonda on my birthday (Saturday 28th) because I am quite a fan of bowling ^^' and I didn't want to let the day go to waste by sitting at home doing nothing! Bowling was good fun; one big laugh! Guess who came first? ...birthday girl! ^___^ we paid 8euros 45 for one game and a drink which I thought was quite decent for Spain.

For dinner, I picked out an Italian restaurant called 'Reginella' located in Nuevos Misterios. I've walked past the restaurant numerous times when en route to the Korean restaurant that I've been to a few times and it caught my eye instantly. The restaurant is dimly lit, not too big and just looked pretty. The atmosphere was nice and the food was good too! Many thanks to my roommates for the little surprise! Here are some photos of our delicious food and my companions :) 

The night ended with a nice, hot original bubble tea from the hidden gem we had discovered recently. 

Thank you girls for taking the time to come out for dinner with me. 

...my birthday lasted the entire weekend (thanks to Esther and Samra) so on Sunday 29th, we went to the sports café which is about 5 minute walk from where we live, to have brunch. The weather was lovely; sun was out and we were able to sit outside on the terrace, in the sun. Only in Spain is the weather like this at the end of November! You'd never be able to do such thing back home in England. It was really nice to relax in the sun with good grub and good company :). After relaxing for a few hours, we headed home to begin our Harry Potter movie marathon! What more could you ask for?

I would like to note down that my 22nd birthday was overwhelming. I didn't go into too much detail for a reason... because everything that happened; every happy moment will be stored in my heart for as long as I live. I'm so lucky to have such kind, loving friends around me. Although I felt so crappy at the beginning of the week, all my worries had disappeared by Friday and that's mainly down to my roommates. I can't thank them enough for all the things they did for me. I am really thankful to them and I don't know how I can repay them. Friends like these are hard to find nowadays...and I hope our friendship will continue to grow, even after we part ways when our time on this placement comes to an end. Not only did my friends 'make' my week/birthday, my teachers did too. So for that, I thank them too but being so good to me. I may not show my gratitude openly but I appreciate every effort made to put a smile on my face this birthday.

Thank you all for a fantastic 22nd birthday.

- Tiffany

Special thank you to these to nutters. So much love for you guys!