Spain won the World Cup!

Again, it's hard to update everyday. Nights are busy and tiring, and there's little time during the day. I haven't even been keeping up with the daily journal I have to write in for class.

Friday we had class, unfortunately, but my teacher is really awesome so it wasn't a big deal. Mostly we're still doing review of concepts and a lot of grammar. I personally feel like I need to work on my vocabulary; the grammar comes easy to me but it's hard to communicate when you don't know the words for things.

After class on Friday I went with Chrsitina and we went looking for a pair of yellow shorts for her for the game on Sunday. I ended up buying some really cheap jewelry, which was awesome, and a white skirt from H&M for 3 euro.

The Italian food Thursday night was fantastic! I had some of the best tortellini in my life. It sucks that our restaurant isn't a good representation of what Spain has to offer in terms of food. Last night one girl even got food poisoning from some mystery meat she ate and she had to go to the hospital. Good thing I don't eat meat.

Saturday we had our trip to Segovia. The town was absolutely gorgeous, and the castle was amazing. I took so many pictures. The castle is on a hill, it reminds me of the one in the Harry Potter movies. We ended up having some sangria there and it was awesome - Segovia is known for it's wine and the aquaducts. The aquaducts are huge. Pictures don't really show you how big they are.

Sunday we went to this quaint medieval town called La Alberca in the mountains. I felt like I was in a storybook or a fairytale. All the buildings were really old and there was flowers everywhere, and a lot of the walls had moss on them. Apparently the mountain water there is so clean they have little fountains where you can drink from or fill water bottles with. It was so cold! We ended up eating in this little restaurant overlooking the mountain view, and the food was really good. We made sure that we got back in time for the game. We went to a bar and even though we got there more than an hour early, we ended up sitting on the floor next to the screen and speakers cause there were no seats. It didn't matter though, just watching the game in a bar filled with Spaniards was amazing. Everyone was nervous with anticipation for what was going on. And when Spain scored in the final minute of overtime, oh man the place exploded! Since the internet sucks here I can't upload any of my videos, but I have one of the whole bar singing a song after they won the game.

Muchos Cosas para Hacer

Lo siento, I know I haven't updated in awhile. I've been incredibly busy with things to do, and trying to get some sleep, that I haven't been able to find the time. On top of that, the internet here is very very slow, muy lento, and it's hard to get a lot done in a short period of time. I'll try not to ramble on here as I recap the last four days.

Monday was the placement test. I got into the third level, intermediate, with another member of my group. Today another girl transferred into our class whose in our group as well. I really like our teacher. She's animated, happy, funny, young, and keeps the class light. It's mostly reviewing the different tenses right now. She hasn't given us much homework, so knock on wood that it stays that way. Some people have a lot more homework than we do. Especially those in the advanced classes. Even though we're not technically learning new grammar, you learn just by speaking and listening. In class it's taught completely in Spanish. We get a ten minute break and a half hour break for coffee or a tapa. Monday night a lot of us went out to the bars. We stopped at La Chupeteria to get our favorite shot, then to the Irish Rover. One of the girls works there and she gave us free drink cards. Not that the drinks are a lot anyway.

Tuesday we stayed in and relaxed because we knew we would be out and about for the game the next day. Class is at 10, ends at 2, then it's lunch, a nap or whatever, dinner, etc. We do a lot of walking around and checking stuff out. I have yet to buy a watch, since siesta is during the hours after class and all the stores close. Tuesday we did go out after five and we bought jersey's and face paint for the next day.

Wednesday, or yesterday, we had a walking tour of the city. If you can imagine walking for two hours in almost 100 degree weather, that's what it was like. By the end I felt like I was on the verge of heat stroke, which I used as an excuse to get some mango ice cream. The ice cream is amazing here, close to gelato. So many different flavors and they are all over the place. It's hard to resist when it looks so delicious! and cheap, a small ice cream is about 1,70 euro. The tour was beautiful. I took about 80 or so pictures of the beautiful buildings and sights. We got to see the famous churches in Salamanca, and a statue of a bull that had been there since the Roman era, probably 100 BC.

After that, we changed and went to la corta igles for the semifinals. Spain won 1-0 against Germany. Afterwards the streets were insane. So many people celebrating, honking their horns, flying flags. Some people even had little fireworks that they kept lighting in the streets. We went to the plaza mayor, which was packed, for something to eat afterwards and hung out.

We also decided that many of us are going on a trip for a weekend to an island called Ibiza. It's absolutely gorgeous there. Mostly we're planning on going to the beach and relaxing, which we're all really excited to do.

Today, we went to class, and wanted to buy a watch. It's very hard to travel without a watch. But, because of siesta, the store was closed. So we ate a quick lunch and went to the pool. It was a short bus ride away and the pool was pristine looking. They don't allow cameras or I would have taken a picture. We relaxed, took a swim and cooled off. Now I'm back here. We're planning on going out to eat tonight, get some Italian food which I'm incredibly excited about. Although the restaurant where we get our food from is fine, it gets a little boring sometimes and is definitely not a great representation of the Spanish cuisine.
Adios para ahora.

Here and GOAL

So after we arrived in Madrid, we went to get our baggage and I was one of the lucky ones whose got rained on because they obviously weren't smart enough to put a tarp over the luggage when they transported it through the rain to the other airplane. All of my important informational papers, new notebook, journal, towel and jacket got wet. Thankfully nothing's fully damaged, and if I can't get a new notebook I can use the one I have. And one girl got her luggage lost, poor thing.
Then we take a two hour bus ride to get to the hostel. I got to claim my room (the biggest single of the bunch) and as I was talking to my fam for the first time since I got here, the power goes out, and the internet with it. Apparently this is the first time that has happened. I have a feeling we might be cursed.
but we got the power fixed. Went to dinner and I found out on the bus ride to the airport that there's another girl whose also a vegetarian. They really didn't have much for us to eat, however. Rice, pasta, peas and corn, and salad. After that I changed and we went to watch the soccer, or futbol, game with a huge crowd of people. They had this massive screen set up and a bar for drinks, soda, and food. there were hundreds of people there and it was an incredible experience not only watching the game with them, but celebrating their score and the win. After wards walking back there were tons of people in the stretes, horns honking, flags waving, people singing and shouting, it was crazy. We got to walk through the plaza mayor and it was absolutely beautiful. It really did look like the buildings were made of gold.
Well, that's it for now. I'm here, unpacked, got power and drying off!