18 cumpleaños + Carnival = Fiesta

Forget Sweet 16, in Spain 18 is THE year. Driving, voting, legally becoming an adult, all that happens at 18 here, so they typically go all out. Well, my birthday happens to fall on Carnival, a week of masquerade parties and lots of great food.

So my week started with mexican food (my first in 6 months) and a birthday cake (pastel de yema) 

And a day of shopping for Carnival costumes and accessories with my friends Mallory and Jesus

Jesus got into it

A trip to the Corte Ingles for coffee and a great view of Madrid

And of course it being Madrid we found lots of little ways of entertaining ourselves

My birthday was followed by a costume contest at school for Carnival 

and yes, that is the head security officer of my school as Snow White

Abuelo Jesus y Abuela Angela

The rest either need no explanation or...just can't be explained

And Friday night my friends and I headed to Kapital discoteca to celebrate my being allowed in disco's now (you have to be 18 to get in). Kapi is famous for being the largest club in Madrid, with 7 different floors, each devoted to a different type of music. So we spent the next 5 hours dancing from floor to floor, definitely a fun way to spend my birthday. 

And sleeping was a great way to spend the rest of my birthday.