¡Hay Muchas Cosas! (There are many things)
Life in Spain:

A couple of weeks ago I went to Jaime’s new house (he moved) and we watched the Spain vs. England soccer game. It wasn’t a championship, it was like an all star game. Spain won 2-0 I think. Viva Espana!

Yesterday I went to a Corrida de Toros (bull fight)—wow. Experiencing a bull fight in Spain, is an array of emotions to say the least. It is a huge party, with coolers full of beer, wine, and food. Why more places in the States don’t let you just BYOB and BYO everything else I don’t know. I digress, chatting and sharing wine, sangria, finger foods, dulces (sweet finger foods, cakes, etc…) and conversations at a bull fight is great! People are so much more welcoming than I ever could have imagined before coming to Europe.. such a nice surprise. I sat in the “Sol y Sombrero” section with Havens, Ashlee, and Andrea. We were told and assumed it was the nose bleed section because we bought the cheapest tickets--- well the nose bleed section in my little Plaza de Toros in Murcia is much closer than I anticipated! All of the events preceding the fight were entertaining. I would say it’s comparable to tailgating, accept you’re already in your seats. Anyways the poor bulls QUE TRISTE  (how sad). I am not a vegetarian nor will I ever become one—I like a good buffalo burger. But this is animal cruelty. It’s such a debate in Spain, these fights have been going on for centuries! I appreciate tradition, and heritage but the poor little bulls are just running around so confused and angry and uhl I felt awful. AND they have 7 rounds—7 bulls went through this yesterday. I won’t go into any gory details. You can Google it or email me. However, on a lighter note I think the 4 of us girls were on TV yesterday in Murcia because we had an interview! Can you believe that?? Me, Andrea, Havens, and Ashlee on TV, in Spain! I haven’t looked for anything on the internet, but it’s the local Murcia channel 7. I enjoyed the new friends we met at the bull fight, and after about 3 rounds I spent the rest of the time averting my eyes and talking with them. I’m glad I went, I saw that this is a family event of all ages. I now have an opinion about something that runs deep in Spain-- and the next time I hear a Spaniard say “Futbol Americana” is silly because it’s a bunch of men running around hitting each other, I can come back with you kill bulls—slowly and torturously. One more interesting fact is the final round the Matador was a Matadora… it was a woman. Not very common, but she was great so that was a cool ending.

Today I got my haircut!! THAT was fun! I’m pretty picky about my hair because I can’t stand it when it’s cut too short. My hair grows about .08 in/year. However, she did a great job, I’m very pleased, it was relatively cheap, and a fun little girly day. I need those every once in a while…

Tourist/Student Life in Spain:

Friday we (Havens, Andrea, Ashlee, DarriAnn) went to a rock concert! El garaje (the garage) was the venue and it was fun. I had no idea what the singer was jamming about, but it was still fun. Pretty typical local concert, oh yeah! They played ACDC’s “Highway to Hell,” without words haha that was still a little piece of America—actually home, good ole’ classic rock!

Saturday I went to Cartagena! That is a BIG deal… it’s home to a Roman Theatre. Unbelievable, I saw, and walked on stones that were 2,000 years old. Secretly I love history—not enough to pursue it much more than my classes demand; but maybe one day when I’m out of school and have FREE TIME—I can indulge in some good history books  That being said it’s indescribable, because touring around all day is tiring (especially after a concert the night before) and sometimes the artifacts all begin to look the same. HOWEVER that initial feeling, walking into the arena area is amazing. The whole time I was thinking to myself—some twenty-something girl probably traded at what remains of the market next to the theatre, there were shows sold out centuries ago, during the age of Cesar Augustus. My mind can’t grasp it. FYI- Cartagena sits on the coast and is still in the providence (Autonomia) of Murcia. It is the second most important city to Murcia because of all the history it holds. It is a city that has a natural port—which I’m sure came in handy! Saturday night there was a desfile (parade) for Carnival. That was the icing on the cake—standing on the sidewalk, eating churros con chocolate (fried yummies dipped in sin) watching all kinds of costumes, dancers, floats, and crazies go by. The only bad thing is they don’t “toss” the candy to you… they THROW the candy AT you! But it was still great.

Other fun facts—My roommate Marcus (from France) made burritos for me and my friends last week. They were fantastic! And it was such a treat to have a yummy, homemade meal already prepared for me. We all sat around talking and eating and just relaxing and it was great. Last week was the kick of International Week. The first activity was a “Meet the President” luncheon. Afterwards there were tables of tapas and drinks—and it’s so strange to me when I’m at a school function and there’s alcohol. I don’t disagree with it or anything, but the more I live here the more I can see why Europe thinks we’re so silly sometimes. The differences between the States and Europe are many, but then sometimes events (soccer game, concert) are almost the same just in another language. Either way I love both ways of life 

Sorry this one was so long, but I had an eventful weekend!

Oh yeah, one more thing—there’s always one more thing. The day before yesterday Andrea was hanging her clothes out on the line and dropped her favorite pair of jeans! She got them back—however last night while IIIIII was hanging my clothes to dry I dropped my um, undergarments. And went to retrieve them and a nice abuela (grandmother) let me in her apartment and showed me that she couldn’t get to them because she doesn’t have access outside like I thought. I’m still waiting… haha LIFE IN SPAIN!

ps- my internet went out and I wrote this on Microsoft Word yesterday so rewind every day 24 hours :)