Carnaval and another day with Pedro

Hola a todos,

This weeken

d was pretty crazy, I must say.  Carnaval i

s 

a m

ess of an extreme Mardi Gras, that's really the only w

ay I can describe it. Everyone just dresses up and goes to the street and goes crazy! I have never seen so many males dressed like females (including Drew who wore Jen's dress and makeup!)  I went dressed as something Aurora put together for me--part flapper girl, part fake eyelashes, part red lipstick, and part who knows.  The end result was actually a decent costume, and the best part is I paid nothing for it, outside of the fake eyela

shes I had to buy at Corte Ingles for 5.85 euro..

We had a great time, but at one point I realized I didnt have my phone.  I am going tomorrow to see if I can get a new one, because mine is completamente perdido (completely lost).  Another waste of money.  How do I lose everything!?

I guess its not the end of the world.

So today, I woke up and Pedro picked Aurora and me up for our Sunday outing.  This time we

 went to Jadea and Altea, two towns about an hour and a half away.  I took d

ramamine before because I knew we'd be driving all over mountains.  The landscape here, I can't even describe it to you.  

These mountains are just covered with white houses, it looks like Greece. There is this huge moutain that just comes out of the water and its like an island but its just straight rock and goes straight up.  I couldnt get a decent pic because of the guardrail, but thank goodness there was a guardrail.  On the mountain roads, we passed a Russian church that had been built there because a lot of the inhabitants are from Russia and are retired.  Russia, Germany, UK, places like that.  It sticks out like a sore thumb..all these white houses made of cement and then this huge purple and gold church!   If you want to

 retire well, retire here,  reallllly unbelievable. So pretty and so natural, and so rural.  All you have is your mountain and the sea in front of you, the sunset, the sunrise, and really nothing else. How amazing does that sound!?

We ate at an excellent restaurant on the port in Jadea, got the best seat in the house and ate great food.  Please, anyone that reads this, I'm about to talk about alcohol, so if you would rather stop reading,...

First we ordered our drinks: una caña (Mahou 5-star on draught!) for me, una for Aurora, a 50/50 martini for Pedro, and a bottle of Marina Alta for us to share. Mar

ina Alta is an amazing wine that comes straight from Alicante.  Its so fruity, it tastes like flowers and fruit.  Aurora assur

ed me that when Mom comes over here that she'll have one sip of Marina Alta and she wont be able to stop!  Because its so good, not because my mom gets drunk or anything.  I told her that she was more into dry wines.

hen to eat we had fried sardines, which we delicious except of all the bones I ate), almonds, bread with garlic alioli, a ton of tiny clams which I love, then a paella for 3.   

The paella was like ours that was made en casa only everything was bigger.  It had huge clams and huge gambas. Delicious!

Then we walked back by the beach and I saw the water hit the rocks and spray everywhere.  Gorgeous.  Then we walked too far and forgot where we parked so we got to see all these vacation houses that were just like plantations only right on the beach, just looking like the most relaxed place on Earth.  

After

 finding our parking spot, we went back towards Alicante to Altea to watch the sunset.  Although we didnt get to Altea in enough time to see it set there, I think being on the road was even better.  It was amazing!  I saw the sunset in so many different places and sigh

ts and how it came down through the mountains and the mountains just cut the sun in half, and then how it just filled this entire valley with sun.  Wow!

Then we went to this plaza where there is a realy old church, it was so neat with its blue circle top (I forget the word).  

Then we had a tea at a cafe and then we left.  Altea is amazing, the streets, I'll show you pictures.  It was once completely inhabited by the Arabs that used to rule most of Spain.  They left some of the best architecture and traditions Spain has.  On the walk back to the car we were walking on a big hill and Pedro told me that in every city where there are mountains, the hilliest street is called always Calle de Calvario (Calvary Street) like the hill Calvary in the Bible that Jesus walks up with his cross to be crucified.  Every hundred fee

t or so, they have another "station."  Every one tells the story of Jesus walking up the hill, and during Semana Santa here they have an actor that performs the exact walk that Christ was supposed to have made up the hill.  The stations each have some action that Jesus did on his way up.  The ones that really got me were stations 7 and 9, Jesus' first fall and his second fall while trying to climb the mountain with the cross on his back.  Although I'm not too religious, that to me was very interesting and also says a lot about the culture of Spain.

A couple of days ago, Aurora took me to eat churros...I will show you a picture.  They literally gave us CUPS full of liquid chocolate to dip them in.  Needless to say Xenia and I went running later.  Saturday during the day, Xenia, Lauren and I went to the beach but it got windy so we went to get coffee and then went browsing through a few stores.  A fun day nonetheless.

Bueno, pues nada, its about time for bed, Hope everyone had a good weekend and a good Mardi Gras!  Spain is going crazy because Penelope Cruz won the Oscar for best actress.  The first time a Spanish actress has won..and last year, Javier Bardem won for best actor, SPAIN is taking over the world of Hollywood!  Her dress was fantastic. Felicidades a España y Enhorabuena!

Yesterday (Wednesday) I made my first paella.  Well, I watched and now I know how.  I woke up 

at around 9:40 because Wed I dont have class until 3pm.  It is my sleep-in day!  After I woke up Aurora asked me if I wanted to accompany her to do the buying for the paella that we would be making and eating later.  So, off we went to Mercadona, a supermarket here.  We went straight to the fish counter, which to me smells terrible and in all the supermarkets I always avoid it.  First we bought a huge squid with all the ink still all over it.  It had to be cleaned but Aurora said the ones that arent cleaned have more flavor (more ink?) then we bought two filets of whitefish and the lady cut them apart and left the heads on, I wonder when that will show up on my plate!  THen we bought a chunk of tuna.  I felt stupid for not knowing that a tuna is a HUGE fish.  The thing was like 5 feet long and a foot wide and we just got a big red chunk of it.  Then we got some clams.  Then we also got some big gambas which are like shrimp only bigger and you suck the brains out and eat them.  Personally I dont think you get enough meat off it to count for anything.  THe ladies that work behind the counter at the fish part of Mercadona are brave ladies.  Or maybe they are just Spanish so they are more accustomed to raw food in the sense that nothing they buy here is frozen.  The fish have heads and dont come from a bag.  They were choppin heads left and right and pulling out skeletons and wiping off ink from the squids.  They were removing eyeballs and they have to go home every night smelling horrible.  Yikes.  Anyway afterwards we bought a big sausage and then we bought some cookies and left.  Aurora wanted to go in one of the Chinese stores just to browse because we were "good on time" as she said.  I had to eat by 1:30 to get on the bus by 2 and even then I am always rushed on Weds.  But we just browsed.  She bought a candle, because she loves candles because they hide the smell of tobacco in the  house.  She doesnt like her new candle as much as the Sweet Pea flavor one she has from White Barn Candle Co, but luckily my mom is mailing her one!!

Then on our way home we stopped by the tobacco store so Aurora could buy some more cigarettes, and reluctantly, i entered.  I hate the tobacco shop obviously but the lady that works there is interesting and we ended up having a long conversation about how only hoosiers really smoke in the US and how its really taboo and "malvisto" (seen as bad).

Aurora says when she went to NYC she didnt know where to throw her cigarette when she was done because even the streets in NYC arent littered with cigarette buts and trash like the streets in Alicante. I said duh!!!  Oh Alicante... God love it.

Also, Grandma sent me a letter for Valentines Day and asked me if she had heard right that I dont have a dryer! OF COURSE I DONT HAVE A DRYER!  They dont have them here.  In Madrid maybe because it snows.  The coldest it ever gets here is like 45 degrees and thats extreme.  Plus its sunny almost every day, so everything dries on the line. I actually just took a bunch of my stuff down off the line.  We also don't have AC or heat so whatever the weather is outside, it also is inside.  

It is dinnertime here when I am writing this and I just made myself scrambled eggs in the microwave because I wasnt sure which pan to use.  Then I had some bread with jam also.  Earlier for a pre dinner I had an orange (to die for!) and an apple. Auroras out for a beer with her cousin Juana down the street so she told me to just go in the fridge and make whatever I want.  

So back to the PAELLA.  Here is the recipe....keep on high heat the whole time:

1. Fry half a red pepper in about 3/4 inch of olive oil in a frying pan.

2. Then put in the squid. And fry it.

3. Mash 2 tomatoes with a cheese grater in a bowl.

4. Put in 3/4 inch chunks of tuna(like half a bowlful..).  (cooks very fast)

5. Add parsley 

6. Put in grated (pulpy) tomatoes and let them fry to one side of the pan.

9. Then actually mix them in. 

10. Add the clams and when they open you know they are cooked.

11. Add enough water to fill the entire pan, but note how much you add.

12. Add salt, and add gambas (the shrimplike/prawnlike things) after peeling them slightly (just breaking the backbone and removing the legs, ..leave eyes, brain, and shell to be removed later).

13. Add orange food coloring.

14. After moving the mixture to a paella pan,  Add 1/2 as much rice as you have water. Use a 1/2 kilo of rice for 5 people. (must be fresh rice, in bag, not instant)

15. Cook on high heat for 10 minutes, then on low simmering heat for 10 minutes.  Cover with a towel. 

THE PICS ARE OUT of order, but click for bigger!

QUE RICA! DELICIOSA! QUE SABROSA!  

Auroras son Jose Carlos came over for lunch today, so I ate with him.  We had our paella with a lim flavored beer.  It was delicious also.  Then I had to run to get on the bus for class.  We talked about the US for awhile and he said I spoke very well.  I love being able to have intelligent conversations with people in another language.  It is satisfying.

Miss you all, love you!

Look! Its AON in Valencia!

Dad, Here's your company in Valencia. Who knew?!?!

We hiked this whole castle!

Me on a staircase with no railing 40400404004 feet in the air!

The chicas!

Sunset on the terrace

me on the castle de Sao Jorge

This weekend, I went to Lisboa, Portugal, with 2 friends, Kelsey and Lauren.  They are both from Springfield, MO.  Anyway, we had a great time! We stayed in a hostel called the Easy Hostel on Rua Sao Nicolas, in the heart of Lisbon.  We left Friday morning during the night and a taxi had to come pick us up to take us to the airport.  Luckily all of us live close by.  Aurora called the taxi for me the night before at about 10 pm for it to come pick us up at 4:45 am.  It came to my house and I packed my bag into the trunk, we picked them up, and we were off!  Of course all our flights didn't leave on time since we were flying with Iberia, the worst company in the world.  Regardless, we finally arrived at our hostel at about 3 or 4 pm that day.  Soon after arrival, we went to a place called Cafe Brasiliena or something and we had pizza and i had a mango smoothie..delicious.  We went o dinner later at a cafe near our hostel that was pretty cheap (we ended up there a few times) and I had grilled Codfish....delicious! a specialty of Lisbon.  THey are known of their chicken, cod, and pastries...fine by me.  Then that night we went out to the Bairro Alto, alto meaning "high" because it literally was!!  Who would have known that Lisbon very closely resembles San Francisco, CA!! I noticed this in 3 distinct ways...1st of all, they have a literal golden gate bridge there, ill show you the pics.  2nd of all, the whole city is just hills and hills.  3rd of all, they are really open to gay and lesbian people, and that reminds me of what I always hear about San Fran.  Anyway, Friday we really just went to check it out more than anything so we could actually go out Saturday.  We wanted to know our way there and around so we wouldn't get lost.

Saturday we had a great day around the city.  We trudged by foot all over LIsbon.  First we went to the Castle of San Jorge, near our hostel.  It was really neat.  You could get an AMAZING view of Lisboa from the castle.  

Then we went to a cathedral, I cant remember what it was called but it was neat also and reminded me of Notre Dame.  Inside it was spectacular.

Then, we went to a different part of the city, what is referred to as the "Fado" part, fado is a type of musical very typical of Portuguese people and os Lisbon.  We had to wind our way through a labrinth of streets to finally find someplace to eat.  We sat down in a funny little restaurant/someone's house and then an old man approached our table.  Mind you that we were the only people in the restaurant.  Where were all the customers?? Hahahaa..behind Kelsey at our table there was a ridiculous shrine..I'll have to put up a picture.

So then I ordered a fish cream soup and then I got codfish rice.  Unlike the rice in Spain, which means paella, rice in Portugal literally means rice.  It really had no flavor but it filled me up and was decently healthy.  THe man spoke no English or Spanish so it was point and say "Obrigado" or thank you.  That is really the only word we ever said in portuguese.

Then after getting a little lost we finally got home and were so pooped, so we took a siesta and showered and then went out to dinner and out Sat night.  But first, we went to a terrace to watch the sunset over Lisboa.  The terrace was hopping (clearly because it was V-day) and they had music and you could order drinks and food.  The service was really bad though because everyone was just sitting in chairs and couches and none of the waiters knew where anyone was.  I ordered a chamomile tea but by the time the sun had gone down it hadnt even come yet.  I knew they had forgotten about me so we just left.  But is was incredible, the view.  For dinner that night I had a ham and cheese omelet sandwich. Delicious again.  We went out for a little bit and Kelsey wanted to talk to "Stripes" who we thought was a Portuguese guy who was wearing stripes.  Our timidness kicked in though and we definitely felt like foreigners..hard because we didn't speak a lick of Portuguese! In the end, we ended up talking to a British guy, Ben, for awhile.  He kept telling us if we wanted to dance we had to go to the dock, but we were not really in the mood to walk so after Ben abandoned us for the dock, we went home.  It was an early night but we needed the energy for the next day.

The next day we went to Sintra, a town about 45 min away where there are a tonnnnnn of castles!! We hiked the HUGE Moorish Castle there and saw the most amazing view of all of Sintra and 2 other castles.  We also visited a great pasteleria (bakery) and tried these typical pastries, one was cinnamony and had a crunchy shell on bottom, like a little cup and then the other one was covered in sugar and had apples inside...Dr. Atchison will LOVE my cavities when I get back.

We also went to the National Castle of Sintra and toured it.  There is also the Palacio de Pena, but since Pena means pain and it looked like an even further walk after our huge hike up the Moorish Castle, we opted to simply take pictures of it.  It is really neat though because it is Pink and Yellow and all colorful.

After that we ate at a typical restaurant there and it was really good.  I had an egg on a hamburger with a salad.  Then we left for home!  On the train ride we were all falling asleep.  That night we cooked in our hostel in the kitchen and made a pasta with tomato sauce and tomatoes and garlic powder and oregano and olive oil and peas.  We bought all the food and used the hostels and we got our whole meal for 3 people for less than 2 Euro.  cant beat that.

We traveled almost all day today so I am tired and going to go!  I hope I didn't bore you with my giant description of the weekend.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day.  Mine was great although I spent it with two crazy girls instead of with my Z!

These past few days have been pretty good.  On Monday, like I said, we hiked the castle, which was awesome, then we met up with Armando to go to the school where I will be volunteering this semester.  I am going to be with a group of 17 year olds helping them with their English before exams in May.  I am excited and I think it will be fun to get to know them.  They seemed timid the first time we met them but I hope they will branch out.  I am thinking of bringing my photo albums and photos of my family so we can start talking about family, things like that, kind of to break the ice.  My friends Joe and Jimmy are also going to be with me.  

Monday I also received my Valentine's Day gift from Z.  The pearls he sent are absolutely beautiful and you can see them in the picture I post.  I am SO lucky to have such a great guy in my life.

Last night, Tues, I couldn't go to Guacamole night at Austin with my friends, BUT, I had a great reason not to.  Aurora's son in law, Juan Carlos', brother, Fele Pastor, is an actor who has been in 2 short films.  Last night was the second "corto" or short film exhibition that they have had for the releases of their films.  The directors name is Luis Soravilla and Fele is his main actor.  This one was titled Código 142 or something close to that, and the subtitle was (Mountains of Alicante).  It was about domestic violence and was made to make you think.  It was funny because the first part of the film was shot in the library at the University, and I thought, "I'm there every day!" The short film lasted about 20 minutes after a brief question and answer and thank you speech with the actor, director, a film critic from Alicante Arts Association and then some other guy named Juan Pedro.  I felt like I was in Hollywood!  Aurora's daughter Ana and her son in law Juanji, as she calls him, were also in it.  I have a confession-Juan Carlos (Juanji) is totally cute!  It just so happens he is one of four brothers and they are all extremely good-looking.  But, they are all older.  I think Juan Carlos is the youngest and he is 34 and married to Ana. They are all really nice though. Ana and Juan C. make an adorable couple.  They have been together since Ana was 15, now married with the cutest little daughter ever, Marina.  If I haven't posted pics of Marina yet, I need to!  Last night I also met a ton of Aurora's family.  Her sister, Lola, came, and her niece Amalia who I have already met, and Aurora's cousin Juana.  She is very energetic.  Ana hadn't even ever met her before, and I got to meet her!

After the film viewing we went into this other room and had refreshments and finger food.  Delicious.  I got really warm and was sweating but none the less I had fun.  I talked with Beatriz and Ana, Aurora's daughters, for a while, and her niece, and Juan Carlos.  It was my first time wearing heels since I have been here...so I was struggling a bit.  I also towered over everyone else.  I wore my jeans with the crease in them (my favorite ones) and the purple shirt I wore on New Year's, as well as my new coat I bought in Alicante at the market (NOT my green coat, my SPECIAL one).  I took a pic of myself before we left because we didn't take pictures there so you can see.  It wasn't anything special but I did wear heels!!!

Now that I have probably confused you with Juan Carlos's and Juanas and Juanji's, I'll let you go.  I am getting prepared for my trip this weekend to Portugal! Gotta book my hostel!!  Ahh..

I also got my schedule more or less worked out.

Monday-3:30-4:30pm volunteer

5:00-7:00pm Lit class

Tuesday-8:30-10:00am class

Wednesday-3:00-5:00pm class

  6:00-8:00pm class

Thursday -8:30-10:00am class

3:00-5:00pm class

Friday-travel!

Yesterday, Monday ( I DONT HAVE CLASS YAYY!) I hiked the Castle here in Alicante with my friend Xenia.  IT WAS SPECTACULAR!! Here are some pics.

Valenciaaaaaa...

This weekend, a group of us girls went to Valencia, a city about 2 hours by train from Alicante.  It is to the north and it is referred to as the "rey" of Valencia, the province (Alicante is part of the province also, Valencian Community, it is called). "Rey" is King.  In Valencia, I found a building with AON written on the windows, same font, same logo as Dad's company!!! I went crazy.  I felt very close to home.  Valencia is fantastic!!  Way prettier than Granada or even Alicante.  All the architecture is authentic and old.  Aurora says that in Alicante in the 60s and 70s they tore down all the old architecture to create high rises for money's sake, because Alicante is a very tourist-y city where the beach is very near the city center.  

When we first got to Valencia, it was night time.  We walked about 20 min to our hostel.  It was soooo neat!  When we got to the hostel, we met Sergio, a guy with a huge beard and really long hair.  He was super nice and helped us with everything.  He gave us our towels and sheets for the beds and luckily all 6 of us got to be in the same room, room 12.  It was so quirky and kitschy at the hostel.  All the room doors were huge photographs of the numbers in some situation.  Room 35 was a SPEED LIMIT 35 sign from the States.  All over was the letter Z.  The letter Z was everywhere!  On the walls, lights, stuff like that...so of course I thought of all the Zeiters and Zoellners and Zonkers I know.  I will post pictures of some of the examples.  That night we went to look for a tapas restaurant but after a long time we couldn't find one and it was already 11 o clock...so we ate kebabs...typical fast food.  Not very authentic or good but cheap.  So thennn, we went out to a few different places.  They were more disco types than there are in Alicante, which i didnt like as much, and things are more expensive there.  i am coming to realize that we have it really good in Alicante as far as prices go.  

Saturday, we woke up at around 10 and we went to eat after getting ready.  We ate in a corner cafe outside.  It was windy but it was sunny, so it was a little cool.  We ate a bocadillo or a sandwich on french bread with tortilla española on it and a café con leche.  It was pretty good but the food got cold really fast because it was so windy!  Afterwards, we walked across the street to the Mercado Central (central market).  It is just like the one in Alicante but prettier and bigger!  We bought a bunch of dried fruit and Valencian oranges to eat for snacks while we were there,  I made it home with 3 oranges left.  Then, at about 2pm, we took the 95 bus to the Ciudad de Arte y Ciencias (City of Arts and Science)  which is just incredible!  Every building is an engineering marvel.  Pictures to follow.  It is hard to describe without pictures.  There we spent all afternoon in the Aquarium called L'Oceanográfic (in Valencian) and we also went to dolphin show!! It was soooo fun.  Afterwards, a little girl came up to my friend Lacey (who is a redhead) and she gave her a big kiss.  It was sooo cute.  Then her sister asked Lacey if she could give her a kiss also.  It was so adorable.  The show was great.  The music that they put on in the background included Rhianna's "Disturbia" and also yankee doodle and Forrest Gump soundtrack.  Also from Star Wars.  Gotta love America's influence.  The aquarium was awesome!  We got back at about 5:30 and we really wanted to try to get tapas again, but it was too early because nothing opened for tapas until 9pm.  So we went to get ready, then went to an Italian restaurant because that was all we could find.  I still have yet to enjoy tapas with my girlfriends!  Afterwards, we went out with a big group from 6 hostels that was arranged through a company.  It was really fun.  We got to try "Agua de Valencia" (Valencian water) which is orange juice, champagne, and vodka mixed together..it was delicious but too sweet!  I didn't drink the whole thing.  But good to try.  

This morning we woke up and went to get some breakfast.  We went to a restaurant near our hostel.  The waitress was rude, but everyone here is, so it was understandable.  Its just a way of life, and we are American, so to us, it is strange.  I miss the friendliness of the US.  Here they say that Americans have a false friendliness, and that when the Spanish want to be friendly, they really are, and its genuine.  Well, all I know is that when I say hi to someone on the street it makes me feel better, and thats all I know. After, we went to a pretty plaza where there are 2 cathedrals, and there was a big dancing exposition going on.  It was beautiful and warm so we stayed there for a little bit.  Then we got ice cream at this great place, then left for our train.

We had a realllly fun girls weekend.  We are hoping the boys realized how important we are, in other words, we hope they had a terrible weekend without us (suffering....)  Valencia is a gorgeous city.  I will post the pics as soon as I can!  I miss you all!!!!

Stench

Ohh boy, does my green coat have a stench!  I had to go buy some Febreze this morning on my way to Univ. because my closet reeks.  And now that I have been running more, my dirty clothes are in my closet with my clothes...its a mess!!! Right now we cant do laundry because they are painting the interior patio where the drying cords are kept so Aurora had to take them down.  This weekend I will be wearing all clothes that have pretty much been worn before.  My concept of clean has definitely changed a little bit.  I have more or less been wearing the same jeans on and off for a week!  Please don't judge me! Haha...I can't do laundry.  

This Week

Helllllllllllllooooooooo everyone!

This week has FLOWN by.  I can't believe it is already Thursday.  Tuesday night I went for a run.  It was pretty good but it was a little colder than it was before so this time I had to wear my trusty Kappa fleece, which now smells.  Then I went for another run this morning.  I am trying to keep up with Mike because he keeps telling me he has this new workout routine...and I certainly do not have a new workout routine.  Wednesday during class we finished up the movie Frida about Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, two prominent Mexican artists from the early 20th century.  The movie was fascinating.  Of course, we watched it with Eva(!).  I keep going to bed pretty late after falling asleep on the couch with the mantita, or blanket.  I have pretty much made my little place on the couch with it.  I went over to Kelsey's new apartment last night and was able to use the internet at night!! I know!! Crazy!! We are planning our trip to Lisbon, Portugal for next weekend.  We are booking our flights.  This weekend I am going with a group of 6 girls to Valencia.  Alicante is in the Valencian province, but we are going to the city of Valencia, about an hour and a half away by train.  The train ticket only costs 12 euro.  We leave tomorrow (Fri) at 5 PM and get back Sunday.  I am very excited!  Lauren, Kelsey, and I are going to go to Lisbon.  Aurora says its her favorite European city after Paris.  She loves Paris.  I miss seeing open fields here.  So much city.  Maybe I will during the train ride back from Valencia.  Leah is also going to go to Barcelona the next weekend, so I might meet her there!  How great!  February is going to be a busy month, but its the cheaper time to travel.  As soon as April and May hit, the prices skyrocket.  Tomorrow I have my final exam for my 4 week intensive class.  Kelsey is coming over tonight to study.  It shouldn't be too bad.  I probably won't post anything until after Valencia, so have a great weekend and I will talk to you Monday! 

Eva

Please read Kelsey's blog about our teacher Eva.  It is titled, "Eeevaaaa!"

Spanish life is different.

I want to clarify a few things before anyone makes assumptions that they don't really know anything about.  Life in Spain is very different.  There are vast cultural differences, the greatest with food, drink, and nightlife habits.  I hope that on my blog posts it has not seemed like I have been partying and going crazy because I strongly assure you that I am not.  Although I get home late, Spanish bars do not open until 12 am.  In order to not stick out like an American, you cannot get to the Barrio before 11:30 pm or people will laugh and stare at you.  Contrary to popular belief, I do not believe I am not going out too much.  I am going out when my friends do, on the weekends; spending time with two 60 year olds, however, does not constitute going out, no matter how tired it makes me.  I don't understand how anyone could think that I party too much here.  I don't understand how anything I am doing here is any different from what I do at home or at Mizzou.  I go out on the weekends to have fun with my friends.  I am always safe about it.  I never let myself get out of control, EVER.  This last weekend, my friends went out Thurs, Fri, Sat, and then even Sunday night to watch the Super Bowl here which started at 1 am. ...But I only went out Friday night.   Maybe the difference here is that I am making it more public for everyone to see but I would like to share with you all everything I do and especially to outline those cultural differences.  People take 4 hours to eat a meal here and finish a bottle of wine with it.  Normally, I don't drink it with them, but instead order maybe 1 beer and then water, with a meal.  It is customary to drink some type of alcohol while out to a meal, and it is looked down upon if you don't.  I know I always have the possibility to refuse, which I have, such as last Saturday when I was out to dinner and then when Aurora showed me the bars in the Barrio.  I did not drink that entire night.  I hope everyone understands that and I hope that I have made myself clear.  

The Weekend

I had another busy weekend!  Kelsey and I and the whole group went out on Friday night.  We hung out at the beach for a little while and then went to Austins, Carpe, and Directo.  We also just walked around the Barrio a little bit.  It was our friend Quinton's last night in Alicante and needless to say, he took full advantage of it..so I also spent a little time taking care of him :(

Saturday I slept in til 11 after getting in pretty late.  I woke up and spent the day at home just hanging out then at around 8 or 9 Pedro came to pick Aurora and I up and we went to a little seafood restaurant.  Truth is, I dont LOVE seafood.  I like to try everything.  I more or less was stomaching everything down.  I prefer chicken and turkey still :)  BUT, it was good nonetheless and the company was good.  The owner of the restaurant came and sat with us the whole time and then the cook, who is his daughter, came over and then the only waiters were her husband Luis and son Angel.  Its a totally family business.  It was also really cheap.  For all of us to eat  and drink it was only 23 euro.  Later, i thought we were going home because it was alreayd about 12:30 at night.  But no, Aurora can stay out later than I can and she can party harder than I can too.  The lady is crazy!  But anyway so we walked down to the Barrio.  i was really tired so obviosuly I wasnt in a good mood.  She wanted to show me all these Spanish bars where the Spanish people hang out so I would stop going where all the Americans are (austin and carpe).  But, since I was in a bad mood I didnt make the best of it.  After all the seafood I also didnt feel up to par.  We went to 6 clubs, and stayed at one for about 40 minutes.  She and Pedro danced but I stayed on the wall like an awkward wallflower.  I felt really out of place.  Maybe if I go with Kelsey it will be better.  A couple of the bars we went to were gay bars and Aurora loves gay men.  They were fun places, but at the time it was a bit much for me.  The smoke was also really bothering me.  I am inhaling more secondhand smoke here in 6 months than i will have in double my whole life, easily.  I hate the smoke.  So after that we went back to Austin so they could have a Guiness, and I had wanted to go home 3 hours prior...so I was like about to fall asleep on the table.  But then, I saw all my friends walk by because they had gone out but I hadnt bc I was with Aurora and Pedro and so they made me feel better. Kelsey came over and sat with us for awhile and then when we FINALLY left we went over and all 3 said hi to all my friends, like Jimmy and Drew and Robbie (my twin).  It was fun in the end to see them but all I wanted to do was go home and rest!!!! We finally got home around 3:30 in the morning...Aurora, I tell you, she's LOCA..

Yesterday (Sunday) we went to Benidorm a city about 45 min away.  It was really fun and we ate some great stuff.  Auroras youngest daughter Beatriz went with us (shes 28).  She is really nice and laid-back.  SHe works and has class all the time so Aurora rarely gets to see her.  We went to a Restaurant way in the mountains called el Font de Molí.  We had bread, duck kidney's with strawberries, mussels (clams?) and then a paella that was magnificent.  it had snails!! my first time.  It also had rabbit.  My 2nd time.  then we went to La Cala, which is a beach town.  There are these huge mountains that just give way to beaches.  It is really pretty.  It was cold and rainy but there were people surfing. We went to an irish pub and had tea, all the people that worked there were from the UK.  They spoke English and not Spanish.  Kind of a welcome treat for me.  I talked with Pedro while we were there about a lot of things.  He is an interesting guy and alwyas very inquisitive, but he is also very nervous.  We got home at a decent hour, around 8.  Then Aurora and I watched Notting Hill and I studied Spanish and she studied English.  We are such students!

More tomorrow, or the next day.  Love you alll!  I wish I could have spent the weekend with my family in moberly celebrating Gram's bday!!

Happy Birthday to my dad!! I won't tell you how old he is...