The weekend went by really fast because it was nonstop activities and fun. On Friday, Kelsey and I spent our afternoon running along the beach and shopping in town. It was so nice to not have to rush anywhere for once so we strolled at the pace of Spaniards (FYI they walk half as fast as New Yorkers and it takes them hours to get anywhere.)
Something I noticed every time I go shopping, is how crowded every store is. All day and all night there are people flocking to the stores to shop. For a country that claims to be in such a crisis, they sure seem to spend a lot of money. For example, Sarah's host mom comes home every single day with bags. It's a joke to us to see how many bags her mom brought home the night before. These people have a shopping sickness!
Anyway, Kelsey and I met up with Andrew and Tyler that night for the best shrimp tapas in town at this restaurant, "el llagosti." Because we had an early morning on Saturday, we didn't want to stay out till dawn so we came home around 1am after going to the beach with some other friends.
Saturday morning, my Gastronomy class took a field trip to "el centro mercado" to see the different types of food being sold and how people bargain with the merchants. In case you didn't know, GASTRONOMY is the culture of food, not about planets and stars lol. The market is more of a social activity than a chore. As interesting and pretty as it was, it was really nasty seeing dog and horse meat next to the chicken in the window. To end the interesting class we went to the beach for two hours and had our lecture there. ON THE BEACH. Can't even express my guilt for all those in Ithaca right now sitting in a foot of snow. Sorry I'm not sorry.
After an awesome morning and afternoon, I was invited to a "futbol" game with a few friends to see the Alicante team, "Hercules." So far, best experience I've yet to have here. I'm not really a soccer fan but it was such a rush and so exciting. The tickets were only 19 Euros for 5th row! Oh and you can't get more culture than a fan spitting on you because he's screaming so much... I'm starting to get tired of having to change my clothes 5 times a day. Bathrooms also had no toilet paper, paper towels or soap. ADVICE #5: We learned to bring napkins and hand sanitizer everywhere because 75% of the bathrooms you will use in Spain, don't have anything but a toilet. Oh and they need to make the skirts on the bathroom signs bigger. I accidentally walked into the men's room about 4 times thus far. So luxurious.
The night also proved to be really successful. Sarah, Kelsey and I met up with a few friends at Cien Montaditos on la rambla for drinks and tapas. What started out as 5 people ended in a group of 30. The group split around midnight to start heading to the bars and eventually discotecas. I couldn't tell you how many we went to. We came up with a range of 6-10 places. They're all very close so it was easy to just hop from one to another for a change in atmosphere.
Sunday was a relaxing end to the weekend. The day consisted of a huge lunch, siesta on the beach, TV and pancakes for dinner. **IF STUDYING ABROAD, BRING YOUR HOST FAMILY PANCAKE MIX AND SYRUP. THEY LOVE IT.**
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| Andrew, Sarah, Kelsey, YO, & Tyler |
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