Our first full weekend!

Yesterday was a fairly typical day, classes in the morning, as well as a hefty lunch when we returned home. At school, we got a tour of the gym and athletic facilities that they have on campus. Dont worry dad, I got a good look at all the bleachers. Although I doubt I will be doing much working out while I am at school, it was nice to know where everything was. On our way home we stopped in a little cafe with a few students from Caceres to eat some tapas. Its been interesting to talk to the younger generation of Spanish people to hear what they have to say about America. As expected, everyone asks about Obama, but the two people we ate with actually had different opinions than what I have heard from the majority. Its very eye opening to hear the opinions of outsiders to see what they really think of americans and the united states in general.

After lunch, Ginny and I took a siesta of course, and then headed into town to meet up with Andrew and Sean. We grabbed a quick drink and then met up with some of the rest of our group over at one of our new spanish friends apartments. We hung out there for quite awhile and then proceeded into town to go to a disco:) After a long night of dancing, and choking down smokey air, we decided to head home.

The smoking here is pretty ridiculous. I am so thankful now that we have a smoking ban back in Iowa. I forgot how much I would get annoyed at Mulligans when it was smokey, but being here has brought back that wonderful feeling of not being able to see or breathe. Everrryyyone smokes here. I had to brush my teeth twice last night to try and get the taste out, but my clothes are pretty much done for. We talked to our mom about it today and she just said that even though many of the spanish people know its bad, they continue to do it. As cool as it would be to wear some sort of a face mask around town at night, I think I am just going to have suck it up or find more outdoor activities to partake in.

By the time we woke up this morning, lunch was getting ready to be served. We helped get everything ready and sat down for our typical family lunch. Afterwards, we headed into town to drive up to the mountain to do a little sight seeing with Sean, Andrew, Ginny Carmen, Carmencita, and I. Theres a really nice view of the city up on top of the mountain where there is also a small sanctuary and guardian that watches over the town. It was fun to get out of the house for a little bit with our Mom and her daughter.

After Carmen dropped us back off into town, the four of us (sean,ginny,andrew and I) went to grab something to eat and a little icecream. If you go to the right places, food can be pretty cheap. Since they have a lot of smaller portions that are more like a snack, a small sandwich is usually only 2 euros or so. Not too shabby.

Tonight there is some live music that we want to go to. Some sort of reggae/jazz mix. Should be a good time!

I'll be sure to fill in the details later.