Botellón ;)

(Thursday)

This morning, Lindsey and I were feeling a little lazy. We got up in time for school, to get ready, but we absolutely did not want to ride our bikes. So we took the bus. Today we had Composición and Literatura. Both went very well.

We decided to walk home because of the perfect weather. On the way, we stopped in a store and I bought a fabulous orange dress for 10 EURO! And also a ring and a scarf for 3 euro. These amazing rebajas (sales) last until the end of February, and I'm hoping that they'll just decide to keep them forever :)

When we got home, Señora, papá, and Miguel and just sat down to eat lunch. We had arroz negro (black rice) with sepia (a type of fish) and muscles. It was incredible. I've never had black rice before, and it's definitely become one of my new favorites. We also had yogurt for dessert.

After lunch, I came up to the room to plan my future. Last night before the intercambio, a guy from our ISA group, Petyon, was telling me about this program called 'Somos Hermanos' that is intended for students just out of college and getting ready to go to medical school. It's a 6 month program in Guatemala that allows students to do medical work in rural areas and learn Spanish while living with a family. It sounded absolutely amazing to me, and so I've decided to graduate a semester early from college and go do it! I'm really excited, so, like I said, I spent all afternoon planning out the rest of my college career :) It's going to be amazing.

I showered around 7:00, and then at 9:00 we had dinner. It was asparagus and ham, with little pieces of toast with cream cheese and salmon, and also a quiche-like tortilla. It was incredible. I mean, seriously, Señora becomes a better cook with every meal we have.

After dinner, I hung out for a little, skyped with Jacob, and then took a cab downtown to meet some folks. We (Me, Jessica, Macy, Peyton, Kyle, Morgan, Ronnie, Bev, Marta Kat, Lindsey, Deanna, Caroline, Ben, and Miguel) hung out at a little bar called La Piedra for a while. Around 1:00, some of us (me, Macy, Jessica, Peyton, Kyle, Bev, Morgan, Ronnie, Ben, and Marta) headed to what is known as the Botellón. I would liken it to tailgating back home. It's basically hundreds of people in the street, some with music playing out of their cars, just hanging out, talking, and yes, drinking. It was a really cool environment. Everything is so much more laid back here. I took a taxi home around 3:00, and I started talking to the cab driver. He was very nice and engaging. We talked about the United States for a little bit, Obama, Valencia, the differences between the two countries. It was neat.

Each day I fall more and more in love with Valencia. And with being a part of a different culture. I like being away from the United States. I think that's one of the reasons that the program in Guatemala is so inviting to me. Now that I've experienced something else, my friend Emily McClain is right: You can never go home. Home is not the same for me, now that my eyes have been opened to what else other places in the world have to offer. ¡Yay, España!

Enamorada de Valencia,

Leigh

*Pictures (from top to bottom): the Botellón and some crazy people with a robot; Jessica, me, Macy (the birthday girl), and Bev at the Botellón.