What a day(s)!

Today was quite busy! I felt a little sick this morning and couldn't place why. I will give you, faithful readers :), a rundown of yesterday to try to solve the problem.

Breakfast was, again, bread. Today there was toast though! It was very dry, even with the margarine I added. I asked for tea instead of coffee, so at least I was able to drink something in the morning. Yay.

After our second orientation about acclimating to the culture and apartments and classes and such, we all went for a bienvenidos (welcome) lunch. It was veeery interesting, especially for non-Spaniards. It was essentially a meal of appetizers. It started with basic things, ham and bread, then because more distinct. We had shrimp, but different from any cocktail shrimp I've ever had! We had to remove everything: head, legs, tail, shell... sick. Then inside you could see the 'fecal matter' or pepper, as I called it so I could at least mentally prepare myself to try it. Anyway, the 'pepper' was crunchy, so I could only eat one. But I'm proud I tried one!
Then came the little squid, I forgot the name but it is something like chipirros, maybe. Or I'm making that up (a bad habit I have in Spanish!). This wasn't bad at all. I cut off the tentacles, I'm not quite ready to eat all of everything yet. But ate everything else, it was slightly rubbery but not offensively or impossible to digest. Next came the peppers, which had a potato chip aftertaste, interestingly enough.
Next was the dessert!! There was a cheesecake thing, a floured cake thing, and then cheese with a jelly type thing. All was very good and yummy!

After lunch and the important locations and pretty scenery tour with our profesores - they all seem great, I can't wait to have classes with them - we went walking around some more to get back. Once again, I was unable to participate in the siesta, maybe soon though? For dinner, we went back to Galeon, the place we had our first group dinner. I had another bocadillo, this time the tortilla francesa- it's basically like an omelette. We are getting to know the waiter, Jose, pretty well but because everyone has been getting sketchy hamburguesas and feeling ill, I doubt we will frequent El Galeon.

This morning, I woke up a few times in the night feeling ill. I'm assuming it's because I haven't had any juice since Thursday. Which could mess me up since I drank so much of it, or because I haven't been eating fruit. Anyway, I didn't eat the carb-caffeine breakfast, but had an orange before we started marching to class. We left at 9.00 am (not, Spanish time is pimp- everyone is late, how perfect for me!) and got there at 9.4 am, this campus is where our electives will be. On the way there, the walk is soo gorgeous! It is very green, there are a variety of trees (even palm trees!), and beautiful hills. There is a place on the side of the street that is sheltered and provides an excellent view of the boundary of Santiago. I called it make out lookout, because it is very apt. But then we realized it is just a superfluous title, PDA is rampant there! Because I don't have class at 9.30, a few of us went to the cafetería. I got juice because I was going to go crazy... but I'm not sure we entirely understood the process for ordering and sitting. Who knew that something so simple could be done in different ways? Behind us, at another table, a couple was making out hardcore, what a great breakfast background! Haha, a great example of PDA.

The first class is about Islamic culture in Spain. I LOVE la profesora, it will be a fun and interesting class! Then we had Spanish culture, el profesor is very funny, he uses great and witty analogies and things. He told us that we could bring gin, whiskey, cocaine, red bull to class to ensure we were awake, attentive, and participating in class! Awesome! :) Then, we went back to the hostal. I was hungry, since I had an insufficient breakfast, but was luckily feeling better after the juice. I went to a 24 hour store and bought Cheetos (which taste like the regular cheese puffs but LOOK like Cheetos - don't be confused or tricked) and an ice cream cone thing. It was SO good! It kind of tasted like Cold Stone's cake batter on a stick. Yum. After that, we had a party in my room and were listening to my goofy songs, like Aladdin and 2gether. At 4.15, we left to take our placement exams. The writing part wasn't terrible, the questions at the end of the exam were essentially impossible, and the oral part was all right. We left for the other side of the north campus to pick up a messenger bag thing with maps. Lame.

After everyone finished their exams and picked up their bags, the group went to our first apartment showing. It wasn't so hot, but that's all right. The landlady was really nice and we were talking quite a bit. Katherine, Claire, and I went out for a de-stress pre-drink. We went to the Rock Cafe and Claire and I had chocolate rock. OMG. It was hot chocolate with Frangelico and whipped cream and sprinkles, I know. I've decided that the vino tinto (red wine) is always better than vino blanco (white wine), which is very good to know. After this, we went to the second apartment showing. This place was much improved, but kind of far away. We have 6 or so more landlords' apartments to check out, so no rush or pressure.

It finally started to sprinkle, after hearing that it essentially rains every day, this was the first. And it wasn't even super rainy. Anyway, we went to a tapas bar first. This is where you order a drink and they bring food with it to you. Bonus! Afterward, we went to Anatolio's, which is a doner kebab place. Later, we went to Moore's pub. Monday night is American trivia night for the Pub Quiz, and it was just generally a lot of fun. It's a nice place to rest your brain from Spanish for a night. Anyway, I had a beer there that I actually liked! It was called 'desparados' or something that translates to the desperate ones. I got home around 1 am. Their hours are SO difficult to fully understand, the adjusting part is going slowly for me. Because I don't have a class before 11, I should be able to start staying out later which will force me into a siesta... Anyway, I'm going to go to bed, I smell like smoke from everywhere I've been today, to be ready for breakfast and Mar's class and to see what our grammar/convo class will be like. Love love!