Exploring Alcala!

Last night we before dinner Nicole and I went to the Plaza de Cervantes to explore a little bit. We went to the bookstore to get our book for class, and ran into a couple of our friends who were also trying to buy the book. The book was 24, 70 Euros, which was very cheap, compared to American textbooks, but apparently is very expensive for a book in Spain. We don't have textbooks for some of our classes, they will give us photocopies so we don't have to buy books. For the other classes, the books are pretty cheap. Then we all walked around a little bit on the Calle Libreros, which is at one end of the Plaza de Cervantes. Yesterday when Susana was giving us the mini-tour of Alcala she showed us where the Champion was, a grocery store, that we actually had in France. We went there and bought a couple of notebooks and different school supplies. Two of the girls bought boxes of sangria, which was only ,68 euros, which is roughly a dollar. After walking around, it was getting close to dinner time, so we all went home around 8 for dinner, then planned to meet up later to go out. We went home and ate dinner with Juani, then hung out for a little bit and headed back to the Plaza to meet up with Monica, Rose, E-bets (Elizabeth), Mystee, Lance, and Steve. Of course, Lance and Steve were late getting there and we almost left without them because apparently they live far away. There were 2 American kids that were walking around the Plaza while we were waiting for Lance and Steve and they asked us what we were doing and then they ended up coming with us when went to find someplace to go. We walked around looking for a little bar, we didn't really want anything too fancy, and we finally found a little place. It was pretty small but there was hardly anyone in there. Nicole recommended 43 con pina, which a bunch of us ended up getting and was very good. We all hung out there enjoying a couple drinks and the tapas they gave us, chips and peanuts, the fact that we are in Spain, and each other's company. We left around midnight or so and then went over to a park, and Rose went home and got the sangria she had gotten earlier and we all had some of that and hung out some more, and it was pretty good and we had fun. Nicole and I got home around 1:30 and went to sleep. It was nice because on Monday and Wednesday we don't have class til 11:30, so we can sleep in a little bit. This morning we woke up, got ready, then Nicole and I took the bus to school for the first time by ourselves. We walked to the busstop instead of taking 2 buses. We almost forgot how to get to the busstop, but then we saw our supermercado where we turn and remembered. We had our grammar class today, and we learned about the differences between ser and estar, the two verbs in Spanish that mean "to be". We rode the bus back home, ate lunch, then time for siesta. I think later we are going to try to go into the city because it is nice and sunny today, and fairly warm, at least for this time of the year. Tomorrow is the last day of classes for the week, then on Friday we are learning how to get into Madrid, which buses to take, and taking a tour, so that should be exciting. Then on Saturday we are doing a cultural tour of Alcala.

It kind of feels like we are on vacation, just living with someone else, speaking Spanish all the time. It is funny because we hear a lot of English songs, like when we were at the Plaza yesterday afternoon they had Usher playing by the ice skating rink. We are still trying to figure everything out, but it is getting easier to understand and we are getting adjusted and more familiar with our surroundings. We are going to start planning some of our trips soon. I think a bunch of us are going to go to the Olympics, and probably see the USA women's hockey team play a game, maybe against Switzerland, and maybe bobsledding or something else like that, so it should be awesome. I'm really looking forward to that. I'm realizing how out of shape I really am because my legs are a little sore from walking, but I don't really mind, I enjoy the walking. That's pretty much it for now!