Guillermo Gomez

My last Friday in Madrid

I looked at my watch as the green backlight gleamed to life and the hands told me 2:00 am. The new group of CMU students, Europeans, and a handful of the other Estuido Sampere students all headed out to club Joy. Club Joy is one of the well-known clubs in Madrid, and we couldn't wait to get in. The admittance fee was a bit pricey but it was well worth it, we managed to get a flyer to get a free drink and a discount for each of us so we got a great deal. We headed to the sea of people and swam our way through its thick waters. The air was a mix of shots, smoke, and sweat: made cool by the air conditioning to give you the feeling of being truly alive. Bass was rocking people to the core, grabbing their arms and flailing them up in the air. Reds and Blues screamed to the lyrics, Whites scatted to the drums of the song, and the rest of the rainbow was demanding that you had to dance, scream, and jump.

I shivered as the brisk morning air hit me dead on. It was a nice wake up call seeing as how the 6:00 metro was going to start in only five minutes. Beth and Lauren (everyone else had gone their own ways) were with me as the sky started to churn from black to the purplish blue of sunrise and we headed down the Metro stairs. I said my goodbyes to Beth as she was going to Alicante in a few hours, and to Lauren who was heading back to the states. After climbing out of the stairs of Alfonso XIII onto my home street of Clara del Rey, there was a new energy that came about me. I don't know if it was something in the soft blue morning, the party people stumbling back to their homes, or the early birds getting up to seize the day, but something just felt alive. Quietly I entered my host's place, not wanting to wake Pilar, and whatever energy I had that morning evaporated as I laid my head on the pillow and started to dream.