6.17.2011

The last 24 hours

Yesterday was another pretty calm day. I found out that my internship placement is at FEDETO, which is a business federation that represents small businesses. I don't know exactly what I'll be doing, because I was still pretty tired and out of it yesterday and couldn't understand much Spanish to save my life. Today is better though! They only speak to you in Spanish here and not many of the locals speak English which can be challenging. I feel like it's definitely different in places that are more touristy like Madrid and Barcelona but Toledo is more off the map than the others. Seriously though, if you ever come to Spain, you need to visit Toledo. I can't even put into words how beautiful and special it is.
Last night we had an orientation and a little party with a bunch of different foods and a little Spanish mariachi band that came and played for us. Very cool. Then a giant group of us went out. 3 euros for a giant mug of sangria right outside of the Fund (nickname for the place we're staying) and it was delicious. Then we all walked to this discoteca that actually used to be in church; it was a strange feeling ordering drinks inside a church. The nightlife is definitely different here. We thought we went out late at 11:30, but we were literally the only ones there until at least 12:30 and the bars don't close until 4 or 5 in the morning. It was a great chance to get to talk to people more and I now have found 3 other people from the Chicagoland area!
Today was a long day. We had a long tour of the city which was amazing. I will post the link to my Flickr at the end so you can just look at all of the pictures. Everything here is so old and detailed. It is absolutely incredible here with all of the history and different styles. One funny thing is that the streets are SO NARROW. I have no idea how cars even drive down them. They're all 1 way streets and half the time you have to squeeze into a doorway to avoid getting hit by a car.
We had a meeting for Arcadia students today just to get to know eachother a little more. I just got back from it and dinner is in a few minutes thank GOD. I don't know how Spanish people survive. First of all, they barely eat a breakfast which is my favorite meal of the day. We have cereal, some pastries, and coffee. Breakfast is at 8:30 and I'm starving in an hour. Then, they don't eat lunch until 1:30! I'm so used to snacking throughout the day and it's really difficult to go that long without eating. The past 2 days I've felt sick to my stomach from being so hungry and I think that was a huge part of my problem yesterday. Then, they don't eat dinner until 8:30 at night. They have tapas during the day that are open for a certain amount of time which is basically a tiny little appetizer to tide you over. A couple of us took advantage of those today on the way back from our tour. I had something that I can't remember the same other than the word migas. It had bread pieces that tasted exactly like stuffing, a couple pieces of chorizo (sausage), garlic, and topped with an overeasy egg (these food descriptions are for my father)
Hope everyone is doing well and hopefully it finally warmed up back home.
I haven't loaded the pictures yet because food is on my mind but here's the link for later:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brittanydoss/

3 comments:

  1. Sounds like some good "eatin" to me!! Not as good as West Virginia Country Ham, but probably a close second!! Too bad you don't have a better breakfast. Sounds like you're in jail, but I'll bet dinner more than makes up for it. Enjoy!

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  2. Sounds Amazing!!!!! The pictures are beautiful and can't wait to read more posts. Hang in there with the eating, your stomach will soon adjust...do they have cheese balls there?? If not we have a tub full here if you would like us to mail them to you. I believe some might have fallen on the floor ;) Love ya girl

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  3. I need cheeseballs! Just the crushed ones from the floor though :)

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