The Day That Never Ends

Today I went to my first real review day for the Spanish placement exam. I probably slept through the first hour or so, Nicole had to elbow me in the side to keep me from drifting off. Thankfully I still retained everything and even managed to answer a question while completely zoning. I woke up for the second half of class though, which wasn't any more exciting.

The Classroom

After class Nicole and I walked around trying to find a shop called El Caballero to get our pictures taken for the centro. We went the complete wrong way, but after about 20 minutes of walking aimlessly we managed to find it. The pictures only cost 4 Euro for 4 passport pictures and a 4x6 photo. What a bargain! I paid $10 for two passport pictures at UNH.

We had butternut squash soup for lunch and grilled chicken, it was delicious. I got to take a siesta after lunch today for an hour, it was fantastic! When I woke up Javier's mom, Lola, and his sister, Estella, were over; Lola made Nicole and I eat a ton of food. She had us try bread with olive oil and a piece of dark chocolate; it surprisingly wasn't that bad. She also made us milk and rice (arroz con leche), with cinnamon, which was also good but not my favorite because it's very sweet. As if that wasn't enough, I ate half an orange as well. I was so full!

Lola also said that she is going to make Nicole and I scarfs, I'm really excited about that because I love the one Beatriz has! She's going to make me a blue one, I'm pretty pumped! Estella also makes cloth dolls, so she said in her free time she will make Nicole and I ones that represent us. They're kind of creepy yet it's still really cool! I absolutely love both of them; they are extremely helpful with Spanish and give us great advice. Estella is a forensic psychologist, so she told us all about her work while Lola cooked vegetable stew. At 7 we walked with Estella to pick up Ana and Beatriz at English class. Beatriz learned about the present tense, and Ana learned about Obama and politics in the US. I talked to Beatriz during the walk home; she is hopefully going to take Nicole and I shopping soon because her clothes are adorable! She also told me about her plans for her birthday on Tuesday; she is turning 13 and is having a birthday party on Friday of next week!!!!

When we got back to the house we hung out in the kitchen playing games on the tablets and talking with the girls. Estella and Lola left, and Javier and Beatriz were at work, so it was just Nicole and I with the girls. We had a really fun time bonding. Ana was adorable; she knows I love penguins, so she searched on her tablet for penguin games. She found one of a penguin that repeats back what you say, so we were goofy and played with that for a while. They also helped Nicole and I practice rolling our R's because we are not good right now. There is a really cute puppy in the pet store across the street from our apartment and I was telling Beatriz how I loved it, and she laughed because I couldn't say the R is perro (dog) correctly. So she tried to help me out. I'm still pretty bad.

We had pork and soup for dinner. After cleaning up, Javier sat at the table with Nicole and I are helped us with some of our pronunciation and word choices. He also told us about Morocco and Portugal, and mapped out the countries with his orange peels. It was really funny. He tried to show us a tiny island off of Portugal, and since the piece of orange was too big, he laughed and took a knife to cut it and make it more realistic.

Going out at night here is much different than in the US. Apparently you go to bars around 10 or 11, but don't go to the discotecas until around 1. If you're there earlier than that, well, you're there by yourself. Nicole and I decided to skip the bar hopping aspect of the night and head right to the discoteca Camboria for Ladies Night! We met up with everyone from our group and walked to the club, which has amazing views of the Alhambra lit up. The discoteca was on top of a hill, and there was a terrace you could hang out on and look at the scenic views. I didn't want my camera to get stolen so I didn't bring it with me, but I definitely plan on taking another walk there some night soon just to take pictures to share! It was probably the best thing I have seen since arriving here.

View from Camborio, my friend brought her camera

So, Ladies Night at the discoteca. Javier had told Nicole and I that Camboria was a safe place to go if in a group. Lucky for us, we went with about 12 other girls who wanted nothing to do with anyone else in the club. We got free entrance and drinks, and danced the night away with each other. Everyone laughed at the boys who tried to butt in on our dance circle; as always, girls stick together. When it's girls night, it's girls night. I'm really glad over half the girls on the trip have boyfriends. It makes going out with people much easier, and I trust the people I hang out with. Nicole and I made it home safe and sound around 3:30, very early in comparison to a typical "Euopean's" night out...I'm about ready to sleep, I don't know how people do this all the time. I know I definitely will not be making a habit out of this.

Buenas Noches y Hasta Manana!

At Camborio, the Alhambra is behind us

Ladies Night at Camborio!