Miercoles, 21 de Enero

Last night was so much fun! A bunch of us met in La Plaza Mayor at 11 and went to a medieval themed bar. A bar-promoter guy led us there (I’ve gotten so many cards from these guys in the Plaza advertising their bars to the American students). At first, there were only Americans and it was pretty disappointing. BUT all you could drink for 4 euros to celebrate Obama. I enjoyed plenty of sangria. Soon lots of Spanish people came in (mostly men) and I got to practice my speaking skills a lot. Jeannie and I were talking to two guys and one of the first things they said to us was, “Cuanto cuestan?” (how much do you cost) Cute. So naturally I responded with, “Uhh no puedes pagarme.” (uhh you can´t afford me) So he asked, “Pues, gratis?” (So, free?) “Callate hombre. Yo no soy gratis nunca.” (Shut up, man, I´m never free). Next thing I knew, I was being lifted in the air on a barstool by five Spanish guys. Of course that got the attention of everyone in the bar, pretty hilarious. Soon after, I was lifted up on the bar to dance with one of the barstool guys. Angela was already dancing there with another. They REAKED of BO! This was definitely a first. I wish I could tell you what I did to desserve this. I still don´t know. Danny and Thomas and Will (3 out of the 4 guys in our JMU group) were feeling jealous of all the girls for being able to practice Spanish in bars without any effort…the men come to us;) They were trying so hard to create speaking opportunities for themselves with Spaniards there. Allison left with Ally because she had a headache. I left with Tori, Leah, and Emily a little later. The only problem is I didn’t consider that we’d have to part ways once we got to the Plaza. I RAN all the way down Calle Toro. No one at all was out on the street, I didn’t have my phone, and knew that if someone popped out, who would hear me scream? Obviously I arrived home ok, but that was really stupid. Never again.
Waking up this morning was so hard! I was exhausted all through intensivo and had a headache in one of my temples. Today, we learned about holidays, directions, and courtesy. Afterwards, Allison and I got money out the ATM for the Portugal trip and stopped by a clothing store on Calle Toro where I bought really cute light brown heeled boots (made in Portugal--cool!) for only 30 euros. We returned home for siesta. Today, we had a delicious soup with clams and shrimp. Then we had fried fish (also delicious), and bread and fruit as usual. After lunch, I napped for an hour and a half; it was so hard to wake up. Allison was already gone when I woke up so I headed to the JMU office to check my email and hang out for a bit. I returned home to do my devotional, homework, etc. Dinner was pizza, bread, yogurt, and a salad of mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, carrots, corn, and that oil dressing…very interesting, Asencion. Spanish people do not understand salads, but it’s sweet that she’s trying since she knows we like them. The bread was different tonight and seemed to have dried meat inside it. yuck. The bread we normally eat looks like play food. The crust is so weird: crunchy like foam board. Not much else to report, I’m hoping to run on the track by the river tomorrow or Friday…I feel a little piggish.