I don't want to leave!

My friends Matt, from Seattle, John from San Diego and Nikki from Portland (who all go to USF with me)came over to try Conchi's amazing food and meet this mystery woman they hear me talk so much about. Mat and Nikki heard so much about her, he crazy songs she sings in the kitchen and he weird corks and they told me they started to think she did not exist. So after Tuesday night dinner with Conchi and friends I am so content and happy. We listening to all her stories, one about how she was at her niece boring wedding and got in front of everyone and had all the old and young people sing a kids song to liven them up, and to her telling us what a great life we have although I already knew it...traveling, taking siestas, learning, eating great food. Spain and especially Pais Vasco is known for their great food, stylish dress, wealth in culture, and lifestyle. I am so glad I came to Bilbao and it is so amazing to say that I have lived in Spain. I would love to come back. I could totally see myself living in Barcelona or another part of Spain like San Sebastian for a summer surrounded by the amazing Mediterranean lifestyle. I could take my dog and live in an apartment and visit all over Europe. Since John is pondering the idea of living in the Ukraine or back in Russia, maybe teaching English, writing and practicing his russian, we would be close...oh well it doesn't hurt to think about it!

typical food in Pais Vasco and with Conchi

Basque food is really great, it involved a lot of seafood, like cod fish and there is a really popular dish made in black ink from an octopus. They also use a lot of potatoes, I would say the main ingredient for many meals. Eggs are very popular and great quality I think. One of my favorite dishes is a tortilla de potata which is like a thick pancake with onions and potatoes inside an egg outside. I made it a couple times in spain after Conchi taught me how in her kitchen and it was a success, now it will be interesting to see if I can do it at home. Conchi made great soups, like garbanzo bean, bean, pumkin, and a good mixed vegetable soup. Now she is getting creative with macaroni pasta, she will put it with cream sauce or broccoli or cauliflower and tomato sauce. I think my favorite is her creesy sauce with pasta or the macaronis with tomato sauce. She buy it at the store but then adds onions adn olive oil to give it more flavor. Conchi made something called pan tostada for me that is a dessert but it is very similar to our french toast. She soaks break in milk then fries it in egg and put sugar and cinnimon (no matter how I spell that word it looks wrong) on it and it is sooo good!

Friday to Sunday the 25th

Nikki and I decided to make banana bread and do a little cooking. It was definitely an adventure to encounter baking soda and mushy bananas since I never really go to super markets cus Conchi takes care of cooking. So after a little while in Eroski and Ercocera we went back to my kitchen to cook since it is always clean and has all the necesities to cook and make anything! So that was fun and we smelled up the whole little apartment with the most amazing smell. Conchi loved our banana bread too, she was like it is bread with bananas and then decided it was not bread but a pastry or something to have for dessert since it was pretty sweet with all the sugar we put in it.
Friday Conchi invited me to her little pueblo near Burgos just southwest of Bilbao about an hour and half or so to attend her brother and sister in law's year memorial service. They died in a car accident. So Feli, her sister, Begona (a very common name because she is the patron saint of Bilbao) and about 70 other family and friends celebrated the lives of Conchi's brother who was a great politician, I was told. We arrived and it was the first day that I was really freezing in Spain, maybe about 6 or 7 degrees Celsius. So a few government officials and friends spoke about Costan Santidrian and then opened a curtain to reveal a plaque given to the family in his honor. It was a very nice ceremony and I really enjoyed talking to all the townspeople and hearing what they had to say about Conchi and her family. I am so honored that she wanted me to come and experience that with her. I remember her face when she asked me, it lit up with enthusiasm, "quieres venir?".
So then Conchi stayed the weekend and I returned with Feli, who also hosts students and is super present. She showed me around Burgos, where we had to go from the little town Nocedo where Conchi actually has her house. I saw the cathedral, huge and lot like la sagrada familia cathdral in Barcelona, and el camino de Cid, which was a famous path for travelers from Spain to the rest of Europe way back when. Feli (short for felicidad, an inordinary name)is great and talked my ear off, very enthusiastic and nice. When we walked it got worse, she tended to bang my arm or grab onto me to enforce what she was saying.
On Sunday I went to an Athletic Club game, and I went with a couple of friends, but ended up meeting pretty much everyone in our program inclusing our profesors there. Walking over the bridge to the stadium, since i live about ten minutes away, I was stuck behind a huge crowd singing athletic club songs and chants. We sat in the first section and so close to the players, we could almost touch them. Athletic colors are red and white (red is the oficial color the Basque country). Athletic club was winning the whole time, everyone was cheering so loud and had flags that were waving in the air in the stands the whole game, and then the other team scored a goal and then tied it two minutes before the end of the game, it was sooo disapointing. I really wanted athletic club to win. It was awesome to see the players and how they are in such great shape! Everyone went out together afterwards and when I got home from walking home in the freezing cold, I had a steaming cup of hot chocolate in my warm apartment and watched some spanish tv.

Christmas in Bilbao

The Christmas spirit has definitely kicked in. There are little train cars in the streets here with people cooking unas castanas- chestnuts for people to eat hot off the pot! There are lights with little figures like Christmas trees or little lit up houses high up on the streets. They have lit up tomatoes in the streets in Deusto, a part of Bilbao, because years ago Bilbainos were famous for cultivating the best tomatoes from the fertile land. The people here are nicknamed tomateros. There are names like that all over Spain, like the people in Burgos, where my host mom is from (just southwest of Bilbao), are called soperas- because they are famous for their soups. All the streets in Casco Viejo (the old quarter) are lit up with the figures at night hanging between the buildings and it is so nice. Then the river has lights all over at night that are very pretty as well.
Kids in El Pais Vasco celebrate Christmas twice as much as regular spanish kids. They have this basque man named "Olentzero" who comes down from the mountains every 26th of december to give kids presents. He is the papa noel of el Pais Vasco i suppose. He is told to have been a coal miner bringing eggs...a ver funny image no? Then they have Kings day where I guess kings bring them gifts as well.

Lisboa, Portugal

What an adventure! Friday morning Matt, Nikki, Ayra and I met at the San Mames bus station to hop on the bus to the airport. Matt and Ayra were definitely running for the bus and just made it... and this was the first morning it was really really cold in Bilbao. So we got on the flight and stopped over in Barcelona, where all the christmas decorations were up (unlike last time) and it was very pretty and cozy.
We ended up meeting this American our age named Steven who studies spanish near Bilbao in Santander, but he happened to be on our flight to Lisbon and we COULD NOT get rid of him! He talked non stop about anything random and his spanish accent...well that's another story.
So we got in to Lisbon and took the bus to the center of town, Baixo Chiado, where there is great shopping and an even better view of the ocean down the hill. A lot of people say it is like San Francisco because of the hills, wind, and big bridge connecting the two...wow I just lost my train of thought..I am watching Love Actually in spanish and it is the part where the portuguese cleaner woman has to jump in for the papers of a book that flew into the lake and then the man jumps in...I actually understood what she said it was awesome...I learned Obrigada- thank you and a lot of other vocab that is similar to spanish. It is amazing how much I understood and I would speak in spanish and someone could respond in portuguese..a great system!
So then from downtown we walked uphill with all our luggage through the busy streets with smell of cooked chesnuts on the street in little stands. We stayed at the Oasis Backpackers Manson Hostel, in this great old building down the hill from a beautiful lookout definitely equivalent to twin peaks in San Francisco or something similar. Oasis was like a San Franciscan apartment with many small floors and beautiful white walls and old windows, with a great new kitchen and a garden patio and window balconies in the rooms. I would love to live in a place like that! There was a great common room with comfy couches and free internet..the best hostel I have ever stayed in! There were also an uncommon amount of Australians staying there. They are everywhere! The staff at the front desk were amazing and all spoke english and spanish...very convenient. Rita was my favorite and she was telling me all about her best friend from San Francisco, CA, so I think she will have to come visit sometime!
So Friday we went out to walk around and ended up in this line for something that looked cool. Like an elevator that goes really high where you can see a great view of the city. So we went up an old elevator after giving our four euro to a grumpy old elevator operator. We went up in that stuffy box and what seemed like 40 minutes later with many bumps and jolts, we ended up at the top of this walkway/bridge with an amazing view of Lisboa. The sun was going down so we got to see all sorts of colors. At the top there was this little cafe with a man singing and playing the guitar in portuguese, so we jsut sat and took pictures and listened for a little while- it was so incredibly relaxing.
Then we walked around somemore and across different parts of town and came upon a residential section. All the streets were made of cobblestone and were so narrow. We were about to turn back when we came across a little hole in the wall restaurant. The mother hostess and cook and server loured us in by price and charm. It was around 8pm so we were the only ones in the 6 table place. It was very elegant and the cheese was maybe the best I have ever had. Cheese comes in small round form like you would imagine in the olden rural days.
Saturday we started early with toast and coffee in the kitchen and headed out to Sintra to see the palace and gardens. So we caught the metro to the train to the bus. All fun and easy with friends, especially Nikki who has studied portuguese.
We arrived and drove up this huge windy road to the top of the mountain where we then entered these gates and hiked up to the Palace. It was so beautiful and huge with a lot of moorish influence from the south. The colors on the outside of the building on the different levels were dark shades of yellos, red and orange like the surrounding trees. In the back of the building through a tunnel coridor place was a beautiful view of what seemed like all of Portugal. You could see all the red rooftops and the ocean.
After hiking around the grounds and seeing lakes, the Queen's stone chair with a view of her Palace and ston estructures and hours inside the palace, we walked back down to the little town to do some souvenier shopping. I guess Portugal is famous for their towels or something- like hand towels. So we saw a lot of those. Also, tiles are huge here on and in and around all the buildings. The Arab influence brought the tiles in the design and architecture.
After journeying back, we went to this little bar (seeking out a non toursity place) and had a refreshing drink, sat and talked and then headed to Bairro Alto, where a mass amount of bars are situated. With everyone in the street and everyone in the bars, so that was fun to experience.
The next day we ate amazing pastries called "Pasteles de Belem." They are like little pastries with flaky crusts and a sweet smooth inside like pumpkin pie but a hundred times better. I think it is the best pastry I have had yet! Belem, a little outside downtown, is a huge center for activities. It has a great monument of discoveries, museums and everything. Oh, I also stopped by a place called Jardin Zoologico, and me thinking it was a zoo or a park or something fun, it turned out to be a theme park for kids...hmm translating names can be decieving...but a nice trip overall!

La Accion de Gracias en Bilbao

After class on Thursday everyone in my program met at school to walk down the river to eat Thanksgiving lunch at this nice hotel together! All our professors and people who work in the office we there eating and gossiping together. I was initially not super excited for lunch since I was not with family or eating turkey, but it was so much better than I could have imagined. When we arrived we came in from outside in the rain to a warm open room with a bunch of tables with Kas soda (a very popular drink in Spain) waiting for us and fancy settings. I sat with Matt and Nikki, my own little family here in Spain. Right away they served us our first dish- pumpkin soup. It was so amazing and tasty and warm! Although I must say the pumpkin puree that Conchi makes is a little better. Oh and we had a couple peices of warm bread, since bread is eaten with everything here. Then everyone started getting their turkey with practically built in cranberry sauce and stuffing. Just when I started drooling over the smell, I got a full bowl/plate full of vegetable lasagna smothered in cheese! I was in heaven. I couldn't wait to try it, so chewing and burning my tongue at the same time was the end result! But it was the most amazing lasagna I have ever had. It was a decent sized portion too, so I was very happy. A very fitting food for vegetarians on Thanksgiving. Jared, a guy in my program made a toast in spanish then finished by saying gracias for becoming my friends, since he didn't know how to say it in Spanish and we all laughed. Then he said something like may God turn this water we have into wine. So my professor Isabel thought that was funny so she brought him a glass of wine in front of everyone. Then I said "you know Jared, God shared." We had a good laugh. Then came the pumpkin pie and apple ice cream. Yummy!
After lunch, most of us students and professors headed to a bar called Crazy Horse. The theme is American music from the 70's and 80's. So there were posters and instruments all over of famous people like Janis Joplin, the Beatles and other bands. Themed discotecas and bars are all the rage here. Especially dark themes, like dungeons and dragons...weird, but entertaining. So some people got drinks, but I headed straight for the pool table. Steve, my friend from Chicago, and I decided to play against another team. Usually a new team plays the winner, and Steve and I won. So then we played our second and third game against Guillermo and a student. Guillermo works in the CIDE office and also teaches he is maybe 23 years old. His English is good, but he kept saying "I am going to win you this time!" Funny little dark haired Spanish guy. He was a little upset when I finally hit the 8 ball in. Three great games.

Wine in La Rioja, Spain

Saturday November 10th
Four girls from my program and I decided to take a day trip an hour south of Bilbao inland to a famous area of Spain called Rioja. This area is comparable to Tuscany and very famous for their wines. We took the 10:30 bus to a town called Haro (in the middle of nothing) and somehow found a tourist office to find out more information about where to go wine tasting. Conveniently enough the woman there spoke English and new we were students, so she sent us to Bodega (wine cellar) Lopez de Heredia that had amazing wine called Viña Tondonia. They produce their wine the same way as the founder did 130 years ago. They don’t make their wine according to modern tastes, just in the traditional way whether it is good or bad. We tasted six wines- two white, three red and a vino rosado. We had a red wine from 1981- older than us by five or six years! The woman who gave us the wine to taste spoke great English as well and told us all about the history of the wines. I guess a hundred or so years ago, the upper class drank white wine and it was much more expensive than the red because of taxes for one thing. So wine producers would put something in the white wine to make it look red so it would not be taxed then fix it later to make it white again. But apparently the wine that is pinkish- the vino Rosado, is the product of that tradition. I have heard horror stories of people bringing back alcohol to the US from Europe. If you are under 21 I guess the US fines you more than a thousand dollars and if you don’t declare your items at the airport on the way home you are even more screwed, so I thought I had better not buy any wine to take home, although I wish I could have.
Then we took a 20 minute bus to Briones, a little further south, where there is this huge museum about Spanish wine. They has a magnificent entrance with Cyprus trees lining th road and red grape vines on each side with the distant outline of mountains in the distance- we could see for miles and miles! There were exhibits on corks, (who knew there were so many interesting corks from all over the world! They had some corks attached to walking sticks and weird objects) wine bottles / jars, ancient art dealing with wine, and all different videos of the old and modern processes of making wine barrels, making corks, blowing glass, and cutting down trees. A huge glass sliding door let up into this heavenly room with hundreds of barreled wine. The scent was unforgettable- so rich and sweet, but not stale or humid. I could live in a room like that! Then we got to taste their red wine and grape juice. The grape juice was so natural and pure, not like anything I have ever tasted! Upon our exit, and after buying postcards and silly trinkets, the sun was setting over the mountains- so beautiful! Then after an hour nap we were back in the city of Bilbao- always good to be home!

Sunday in Barcelona

We slept in a little and nikki and I were craving starbucks coffee, only because of the size, the coffee here is about the size of a shot, literally. So we sat and read and wrote in our journals for a little. Then we walked down the main street, las Ramblas to do a little shopping on our way to this great vegan juice bar we had passed the other day. We has great sandwiches and healthy food there and then met up with Matt, since he was with a spanaird chatting it up he met earlier. Not a lot is open in Spain on Sundays so we just walked around. The weather was fabulous, I was wearing sandals and it must have been about 17 degrees. It is wierd converting over to a different measuring system, but I am learning a lot and getting a hold of it. So then we wanted to go to this big indoor market but i had just closed so we headed to the Picasso Museum. There was a long line out the door of this great old building on a cobblestone narrow street. We entered through this small gate and then the building opened up to huge rooms with 3 stories, I never would have guessed that huge building was where it was based on what it looked like from the outside. I was thinking oh man, I don't want to wait, but it was sooo worth it because it was not only free (because it was the first sunday of the month) but it was amazing too. I love his earlier work, before his more famous works. The landscape where he lived in Spain was very influential to his work. He has beautiful sketches and paintings of the sea and normal everyday life way back when, when he was alive. I also got to see some of his vases and jars and there was this funny small room with drawings of people having sex. They were not very detailed but it was interesting is all I can say.
After a few hours in the museum, we wanted to take a bike ride around to see more and get a better feel for the city. So we rented these great old beach bikes which was so not fitting since we were in the middle of a big city with cobblestone streets. Then when we rode to the beach though it was great. The boardwalk was so nice, and by this time it was dark. And now I know what the mediterranean ocean feels like, like everyother ocean I have been in or seen! But it was beautiful.
Nikki and Matt were behind me the whole time since I have the best manuevering and navigating skills. I almost hit about five lazy slow walking pedestrians. (They tend to get lost! I hope they don't read this!) After only an hour of riding we were exhausted and wanted to see this light show on this famous fountain, but we just didn't have the energy to find it, so on our way to deciding not to go we ran into this little cafe restaurant called Milk. It was the perfect place that we happened to find. It is an Irish cafe with cute old decorations, with wall paper and a crystal chandalier- a great ambiance. We arrived just in time for happy hour so we tried their cocktails. I tried Cava, which is a famous champagne made in Catalunya, the region that Barcelona is in. Then Matt oddly enough ordered guiness stew. Nikki was leaving via train that night so we went back to the hostel and hung out a little then she left and at 5am Matt and I left. It was such a great trip and we made it back to our 9am class just in time! I think I am still catching up on sleep. I will definitely go back and if anyone needs a tour giude for any of the places I have been to, I would love to go back anytime!

Saturday in Barcelona

Saturday started out with beautiful fall sunny weather walking down Las Ramblas, the main street, to Plaza Pi where we found and had heard about "The Bagel Shop". I swear the only place in Spain that sells bagels. We saw this great huge menu with all different types of bagels and toppings and everything, then we go up to order and they completely tease us with only three types of bagels and a few toppings,but no matter, they are bagels! So I ordered a cheese bagel with feta cheese and pesto. An interesting combination I have never had before, but thought I would try it since I was craving cheese (they don't really cook with cheese here, they usually just eat really good pure and fresh cheese for dessert or something). It was the most amazing bagel I have had in a long time! We ate it at at little park next to a art market with a bunch of independent artists. Barcelona is a very happening place for artists.

So then we walked around and went into this store called Happy Pills (they are not all in english I promise we just happened to run into these stores). It was set up like a store that gives prescriptions out to people in little plastic clear bottles with labels, but instead of pills you put all sorts of different candy inside. They had labels in Spanish, English and Catalan (the local language) with funny sayings like "against the cost of living" or "against imaginary friends with no imagination". I think they are funnier in spanish, but the idea was very clever. A lot of the stores and restaurants, and bars actually are very small because of the old architecture and huge amount of them everywhere, so Happy Pills was like the size of a walk in closet.
Then we walked around some more and found this free art enxhibit, after going into the Dali Museum store and browsing around, that has local artists work. After shopping a little more and walking everywhere we were craving chocolate con churros. We went to the best place in Barcelona, which was absolutely packed.


Then, surprise surprise we walked around the gothic neighborhood more and stopped at a beautiful old gothic church with a great little local food market outside in the square. After walking around in the church, which had beautiful rows and rows of candles, we bought goat and sheep cheese, honey, wine and bread for dinner.


Contently eating out cheese and bread back at the hostel, and watching a soccer game (since no matter what team they are always playing) we meet a French guy from Paris who spoke english pretty well. That is one downside about Barcelona is that it is not a good place to practice spanish, since many people speak english or italian or french, but it is very cosmopolitan. So he gave us great tips for Paris sightseeing and we had a good conversation about politics, since that topic always seems to pop ip somehow. This is Matt talking to him about places to go in Paris, he is the guy with big hair and in the red:

So also ended up talking to an Argentinian young guy who worked at the hostel we stayed at for a while too, then eventually went out to some gay clubs, since Matt was sick of us girls by then. That was very interesting. I have never really had any experience at gay bars or clubs, but it was nice to go to a bar and not be checked out by every old guy in the place for once! It wa sa good night, and we ended up leaving Matt to get his groove on and walking around Las Ramblas. After walking for an hour or so trying to figure out what to do and see if any bars or cafes were open to hang out, we stopped two young people to ask if they knew of anything. They said no they were looking for a place too, so we ended up walking together and talking in spanish. We finally found a place to sit and talked for a couple hours, until about 5ish in the morning. This is completely normal for them, to stay up until daylight! This kinda describes the people in Spain and how open and friendly they are. It was a great day and I was surprisingly not as tired as you would think since we walked forever! okay next blog entry: Sunday...

Oh Free Time

I was just thinking how lucky I am to have so much free time in Spain to travel and ponder about life! I go to class, travel on the weekends, do a little bit of homework and just take in the culture! I don't have to cook, since Conchi is amazing and pretty much serves me every meal- although I do set the table and cook for myself on the weekends (when she does not leave me food!) or pay bills. This semester has been too perfect and relaxing...nothing better than living abroad with no time restrictions and having the freedom of choice all the time. There is really so much we take for granted, but I am so appreciative! This lifestyle is so laid back too with a siesta in the middle of the day everyday! Thanks MJ and Dad for making this possible and for supporting me...John too! I am not homesick but I miss talk to you. Although it is a nice break from America, I will be excited to come home! And thanks Jan and Mare for always writing to me with your words of love and support!! okay i will write next about the rest of my weekend in Barcelona...there is just so much to tell!!

My First Day in Barcelona

Nikki, Matt and I were in Barcelona this past weekend and it was so amazing! Matt and I flew on an hour flight and Nikki took a 7 hour bus ride! She is crazy but also saving money! So Matt and I met up with her Friday morning at 10am for a 10:30 free walking tour. We met at Plaza Reial and a woman from Maryland, who is a spanish citizen, showed us around Barrio Gotico- the gothic neighborhood/ quarter, and told us about all the best places in Barcelona. All the buildings are so old and tall on cobblestone pedestrian streets. We were so craving Mexican food, and our tour guide told us about a great burrito place, La Rosa Negra. It was so cool to talk to an American who was actually living in Spain as a citizen...makes me wonder if i could do it! So we had great guacamole and chips and yummy burritos!
Then we took the metro to Park Guell. Guadi worked on the park for 14 years and ended in the early 1920's and this guy Guell was his friend. We took about six escalators up this mountain to get to the top because it is so steep(the kind of escalators they have at malls), then hiked up a windy dirt road and had the most beautiful view of Barcelona facing eastward towards the Mediterranean. We saw the huge Gaudi building La Sagrada Familia, a dome crystal building and other tall sparatic buildings along the coast. We could see for miles and miles. Then, we climbed down the other side of the mountain to see more Guadi buildings and structures. There is this huge view point with long tiled benches designed by him and then when you walk downstairs there is an open area with columns and a colorful tiled ceiling. It is really spectacular, especially for him to design this in the early 20th century. After the park (it is more of a dry deserty landscape but still considered a park i suppose), we walked about 45 minutes to La Sadgrada Familia. It is this huge building with many different points on the top and has been under construction for years now and will not be dont until 2020. We just stood in front of it and stared for a good half an hour! The line was too long to go into too...tired from walking all say we headed back to the hostel to recover.
Craving american food seemed to be a strong theme throughout the weekend, and we we set off to find some pizza- which was not hard because a lot of Italian tourists come to Barcelona since it is so close and on the Mediterranean. We sat down to a nice dinner and had pizza and crepes for dessert! After dinner we walked off the pizza and went to have a drink at Plaza Reial, just a little square off of the main street of Las Ramblas. Nikki and Matt LOVE dancing so they dragged me to a discoteca in a mall of all places! It was on the top story and called Sunset. I am not crazy about dancing but it is fun with them, so we danced until oh maybe 4am. Desperate for water we left and bought water and headed home on the metro which begins to run at 5am everyday..so we waited a little!
Oh I forgot to mention the hostel. First of all it was mislabeled upon enterig. It has a sign for Hostel Windsor instead of Hostel Rambla y Catalunya, so that was fun tryign to find it. Then you walk in far to the back of the tall hall, kinda like you walking into a church or cave and look up and there are 6 floors with a staircase up above. The reception was a little hole in the wall in the very back..so we got our sheets and head up to the 1st floor, which is actually the second floor because the ground floors in Spain are 0. So we walk into our room and there are 3 bunkbeds and 2 triple bunk beds! I have definitely never seen one of those! We were supposed to be in a room with 10 people but a couple extra is fine. We got settled and then started seeing people walk through our room through doors on the opposite side, so we peeked in and there was another room of 10 people who had to walk through our room to get to theirs! So basically we are in a 22 person room. AND THEN some more people walk through more doors in our room that leads to another hostel room of 8 or so people. I am thinking, thank gosh i brought my earplugs. Then another door opens to my right and a couple comes out of a private room....crazy! But it was really fun meeting people and talking througout the weekend, but I have never had so many roommates! So that was our friday!

Halloween in Spain

Well, definitely not as big of a deal in the US, but there were some great costumes. I went out with a group of friends from my CIDE program around 12, since nothing gets started here until 1 or after, and we walked (like we do everywhere) down the river and past the Gugenhiem to a discoteca. Every thursday, or in this case wednesday night because thursday was all saints day here where people go to cemetaries to clean the tomb stones of loved ones, there is an Erasmus party. Erasmus is an international european group of students that can study abroad for a semester or a year anywhere they want basically. So it is really awesome because there are British, French, German, Italian and everyone all together communicating in spanish. So their program holds parties for them every week and anyone can go. My friend John from southern california dressed up as a beach bum with a sun hat and a flower lay and this other guy tom had a painted black and white face like a skeleton; it was very embarrassing walking down the street with them and having everyone stare! We got there and towards the back, where there was the most room, we squeezed are way through saying perdoname and con permiso the whole way. Some wierd spanairds where really dressed up as ugly zombies and it was a little over the top until we realized they were professional dancers. After a little bit of staring, they grabbed me and shoved me into this coffin on the wall and started posing next to me for the camera...I was definitely embarrassed! I wonder where that picture went..but then they did it to everyone else. There was also a man and a woman dressed up as devils with very little clothing on dacing on a higher and small stage the whole night, you can imaging how sweaty everyone was by that point! Anyways, it was a good night, and I would even say the same as many others at the discoteca but with costumes!