More Cadiz

We had class all last week and our last class is on Friday. We review basic grammar and learn classroom-appropriate slang. I have fallen asleep with my eyes open a few times! We also have discovered a new beach: Playa de Santa Maria. From where I live, it is over a mile away, but luckily Cadiz is flat and the view gorgeous so I just walk. It works out well considering all the food is very fried. I have had a blast body surfing, hanging out, and swimming. We have all adapted the beach bum lifestyle very well. We usually stay until around 7. We were hungry yesterday so we had some delicious tapas and Fanta de limon yesterday. My paella had some seafood in it and was stellar! I headed home and showered. Being covered in salt and sand isn't the most comfortable feeling in 90 degree weather.



The majority of Spanish people always go out into the street at night, even on weekdays. There are even toddlers up and about outside with their parents at midnight. It's kind of wild, but definitely interesting. As a group, most of us have been going to bars and just hanging out at night. Our host parents always encourage us to go out. It's not normal to stay in! My host mom, Puri, always tells me, "Me encanta la joventud. Eres guapa y joven necesitas salir." Basically she thinks I'm pretty and being young is great so I should get drunk every night and go dancing.

On Saturday, we visited this city called Ronda that is 2 hours away. It's a very quaint little town and extremely picturesque. I loved it. We accidentally came on the day of the Flamenco festival, which was exciting. It was decorated and crowded. I found delicious passion fruit gelato! No leche either! We walked around, shopped, and just enjoyed the scenery. We were tired towards the end and found our way to a gazebo where other people were hanging out. We chilled in the shade, looked at la vista bonita, and listened to some classical guitar. It was classy!



That night, we all met up in Plaza de San Antonio at 11 and went to La Punta. It's basically a boardwalk where you can drink publicly legally and there are lots of bars and discotecas. Apparently, grinding is not the go to dance here. The Spanish people have an awkward techno dance where they dance at each other like David Colmenares. We had a lot of fun and I started talking to some locals with some of the people in our group for awhile and we practiced our Spanish! Everyone here is pretty friendly and we were all buzzed. I wandered around and bar-hopped until 5:30. I was definitely tired when I got home, but managed to talk to Jake for awhile. He was a little worried, but I didn't know it was going to be like that. Europeans stay out until the sun comes up! Most places close at 7.



I woke up yesterday at 2:45 in the afternoon and went to the beach. We ran into some other Americans who dropped 25 g's on ONE semester abroad doing semester at sea. The majority were private school kids so I guess they are used to it.

Off to the beach!