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Our "noche vieja", as they call New Year's Eve here in España, was a blast. Here are some pictures that we're lucky enough to get on the web pretty quickly, thanks to Alex's phat new digital camera. The crowd in Puerta del Sol (Madrid's equivalent to Times Square) was packed so tightly with people that I was sore the next day from pushing back so hard amidst the hoards (valiantly protecting the lives of the females among us). The crowd was intense, to say the least; we witnessed an ugly, bloody street fight only feet from where we eventually stood fast for a few minutes, and riot-police beating people over the heads with sticks - I was a little too close for comfort when hell broke loose. I was (stupidly, as most of you will agree) contemplating helping a guy who seemed to be getting pummeled by an unfair number of people when, all of a sudden, the knives came out and I decided to back up and settle for the role of disapproving spectator. Once a cop started swinging his baton at me backed up to "become one" with the crowd and disappear into the throng. It was an experience, and even though I've never been in Times Square for New Year's (fancy that), I don't think it can be much crazier than Madrid's scene proved to be. The rest was part and parcel; Sarah had a standoff with a cop, who caught her with a champagne bottle in her hand (no glass bottles were allowed). She stood her ground though (any guy would have immediately been arrested), and somehow got away with just giving the cop the bottle. While she was talking to him, Jacob - hilarious - scrambled over to me like a little boy, spouting "Daaaannnnnn! Sarah's getting arrested!" I held myself back from getting into a fight with the police, which probably wouldn't have helped. After having "loosened up" in the apartment - only blocks from Puerta del Sol, we eventually ended up at a dance club not too far away, and stumbled back home sometime the following morning. Needless to say, it was great to be able to spend yet another New Year's celebration with members of "the gang": Alex, Jacob, Radka, Julie, Sarah and I all reveled in seeing each other again, and we couldn't have done without the allure of having several Czech girls around us . . .

Group Shot	Julie & Sarah	Get up & dance!	Duh...can I have that?	I'm a zombie, already.
Who's the DJ?	Dude. . .	Chug!	That's what I mean...	Umm. ...Yeah...
Dance Party	Cuba. . .	Czech's Pride	Show me more. ...