Summer 2013 I’d been studying Spanish since 6th grade, and my dear friend Marta, from Madrid, had been a foreign-exchange student at my high school. To celebrate my high school graduation and 18th birthday, I set out to visit my “soul sister” in Spain for about 10 days. Marta and her dad picked me up from Madrid’s airport, and I stayed with them in the suburbs for the first half of the trip. We explored the city, visiting historic plazas, cathedrals, government buildings, and