I stayed in Santander all weekend. No, I'm not a loser. Yes, I have a life. I just figure I'm here to study. I don't need to travel all over if I'm here to learn Spanish. I would rather spend time with my host family or have a fantastic understanding of the northern culture of Spain (which is very different from southern) than travel all around. Plus I don't have the time or the money. This isn't a vacation, this is an educational experience! On a side note I discovered that I love Calimocho and Mojitos. So much for studying and saving money, I knew you were going to call me on that, so I figured I would call myself out before you did. HA! GOTCHA!
No but really. Calimocho is incredible. It's wine and Coca-Cola. I have no idea who invented this brilliantly strange combination, but they were straight genius. That's all I have to say. I've also been here in Spain for seven weeks now and realized that all they eat is fried food. Everything is fried, it's a wonder I don't look like this:
But it's delicious so I'm not complaining. Also, their olive oil is incredible. In the U.S it has a nutty flavor but it's so pure and fresh here it's sweet and fruity. It's amazing. So I don't feel too bad when my gambas (shrimp) come out drenched in sizzling oil and garlic because it's not like the oil in the U.S.
I had my first series of midterms here. They were a little stressful but after they were over I looked back and realized my teachers just want us to learn. And since everybody learns Spanish at different rates they are pretty good about grading and understanding everybody handles the lessons differently. The following is a picture of me studying at a cafe and drinking Coca-Cola sin vino.
One thing I love about Coke here in Spain is that they always put a lemon in it. I'll be so accustomed to it that when I return to the U.S if I don't have a Coke (and the place only carries Pepsi) I will be quite angry. Also I will need a lemon. But it still won't taste the same because the Coke here uses real sugar and half the preservatives that the American's use. Also, they come in (usually) 8oz. bottles. This giant I took a picture with was the first Coke I bought that was bigger than 8oz. At first it was hard to accept because they don't have free refills and also there usually is more given than 8oz. I had a bit of a fit until I realized that they tasted better here and it was worth it. No matter.
Another thing I found out today that I wish the U.S had? Topless beaches. Not because I want to check out chicks, ya perv! But because it felt very freeing to walk in the sand and not have to worry about people judging me on my spots and the fact that I wasn't wearing pants to cover them up. But in reality, I would like to see some of these people try and find shorts or pants big enough to fit me. Even Jarrod from Subway's pre-diet pants wouldn't be anywhere close to fitting this butt. Going on that beach just made me a little sad that American's are always worried about getting offended and they think they are entitled enough to say what is and isn't right for another person. Hell, if I don't want to wear a shirt or pants at the beach or girls don't want to wear their tops and you don't want them to, don't look. Here Spain women don't wear tops simply because they don't want tanlines. It's not like they are trying to show off their bodies and honestly, no one here even cares. Why can't that just be a thing in the U.S? Why are we so worried about what other people are doing? Just leave them alone, damnit. It's ridiculous in my opinion. Who care's what someone around you is doing, why don't you focus on yourself. Here if a person isn't comfortable taking their top off no one judges them, if they don't wear it people still don't judge them.
I'm starting to realize, as much as I miss home, compared to Spain the U.S kinda sucks. Better soda, better beaches, more accepting people, better clothing, better weather, a prettier language... After getting out I'm learning that the U.S is pretentious and the people that discovered the Americas? Yeah, they had it right all along. Where did we go wrong?
Sorry for my rant. That is all. Next weekend I'll be over in the inner cities like Toledo and Segovia. I'll take pictures, as always. Looking forward to writing soon.
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