I LOVE Spain :)

Sunday: Most of the group got back on Sunday and we decided to go to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. All of us got chicken and rice chimichangas, except for Denny who opted for a quesadilla. The food was really good, but it, in no way, resembled Mexican food. They looked at Denny like he was insane when he asked if they had arroz y frijoles (beans and rice). When our food came our chimichangas looked like some cross between a quesadilla and an enchilada. Denny's quesadilla was a bowl of cheese covered meet with two tiny tortillas on the side.

Monday: Class started up again Monday, and everyone made it back from their weekend excursions. Monday was spent doing laundry and catching up on sleep. This week it finally set in that we've been extremely busy for the past 2 weeks.

Tuesday: Tuesday we were given another homework assignment in class that was due on Thursday. And we went shopping again. I'm getting a little better at finding my way around town now. We looked for a bookstore for an hour and failed to find it though. It's hard to navigate Cadiz because all of the streets look pretty much the same. Tuesday night, we went to our favorite ice cream place with our friend Matt. I'm going to miss all of the gelato and ice cream when I get home. It's sooooo good here.

Wednesday: After class Wednesday we decided to go shopping before lunch instead of taking a siesta. It was a really successful trip for me. I managed to get a pair of gladiator sandals (I kid you not, these things are crazy looking), a few bracelets and a bag to carry my stuff in around the city, mostly for my camera. After lunch I went back out with the other group that was shopping just to walk around the city some more. It's so pretty here. We met up with Carmen, Juan, and the other API group at 6:00PM for a tour of the Catedral de Cadiz. This cathedral is HUGE! We walked around learning the history of the building and then we went down into the crypt. This was the biggest crypt I've ever seen. It felt nice and cool down there, which was a nice change from the heat outside. After our tour of the cathedral, we walked up a long spiral ramp. It seemed like this ramp was never going to end. When we finally saw the end of the ramp, we noticed a spiral staircase going up the rest of the way. When we finally made it to the top, we realized that it was well worth it. The tower of the cathedral is the highest tower in the whole city and you can see the entire city from up there. The breeze felt really nice as well. We stayed up there a bit just taking everything in. It was so gorgeous, I felt like I was standing inside of a postcard. When it was time to go, we took a group picture and went separate ways to get more shopping in before dinner at 9. After dinner we all went up to the roof terrace and finished up our homework.

Thursday: Thursday was our last day of class for the week and we were visited by Jim Galvin from the programs abroad office. It was really nice to see him and tell him all about the wonderful city. We talked with him for about an hour and a half about the program. After the group meeting, I stayed and talked to him another hour about the OAP study abroad program. He is a very kind and helpful person, and I am very grateful for all the help he provided. Thursday night I sat in the TV room and talked with one of the Spanish guys living in our residencia to TA for the other American group. It was nice to practice my Spanish a bit more. He explained that he is from an area near Portugal and that he knows some portugese from it, but it's more or less the equivelant of the Spanglish we hear in San Diego (with the exception that it's spanish and portugese and not spanish and english). I couldn't understand any of the Portugese dialect. It really is very different sounding than Spanish.

Friday: On Friday we went to the grocery store again to buy snacks. On the days that we don't have class, we tend to get REALLY hungry before lunch. We also discovered Boy Meets World dubbed in Spanish on TV and watched an episode. It's so strange to hear the characters talking with spanish voices, but it was rather cool. A couple of the kids went out Friday night, but I decided to stay in and get some homework finished.

Saturday: Saturday was quite the adventure. We decided that it would be neat to go to Rota for the day and check out the American Navy base there. Joel has a military ID, which usually would get him and any other American citizens access. A few members of the group were really looking forward to going to the Taco Bell on the base. After 2 weeks they were REALLY craving rice and beans. So we took the ferry and had a very fun ride to Rota. The waves got pretty big on the way there and it was like being on a roller coaster. When we finally got there and found the navy base, we figured out that it's a Spanish navy bass that just happened to share with the American navy and because of this only Joel could get in. We decided to just nix the whole idea and get gelato before catching the ferry back in time for the concert. We got back just in time to meet up with Professor Moore to go to a free Flamenco concert in Cadiz. We got to hear a famous singer and watch a famous dancer and it was truly amazing. We were all very impressed with the performance. I also got to talk to Luis a bit about Bullfighting and he informed that I could go with Carmen to a bullfight on Sunday if I wanted to.

Sunday: Today, I was woken up by the Italian kids staying at our residencia being very loud. I had decided to not go to Sevilla today with the boys because I wanted to be sure I'd be back in time to meet Carmen for the bullfight. I got the chance to talk to my friend from Jerez online a bit as well. He works in Sevilla and was a bit sad that I didn't go with the boys, as we could have met up for coffee. He told me that one day was not enough to see Sevilla anyway and that we should try to go sometime when he doesn't have to work. I'm looking forward to wandering around Cadiz and Sevilla with him for a bit because he knows the area much better than I do and it will be nice to hear his input.

Anyway, I'm going to go wander around the city a bit and get some laundry done before I head out for San Fernando.

Edit:

Okay, so the bullfight was interesting... It was all novices, so some were better than others. The cape work is amazing. It truly is an art form. I also really enjoyed the band. But I'm not a fan of the work with the actual bull.