Yesterday, I didn't have classes. Surprise?! No.. typical. I sat inside far longer than I intended and went on a 3ish mile walk around 5pm. First I headed down to the beach, because, obviously, that's my favorite place. I wanted to sit for a while and enjoy the warmth and the sun, but that didn't happen. A guy on a bike almost ran into me so that he could tell me I am beautiful. I went to sit on a rock ledge to watch the waves crash against the rocks below me, and I had the feeling that someone was watching me. Sure enough, I looked behind me, and there he was.. about 30 feet away.. just staring at me. I just thought eh, maybe he will just leave. No, he came over and started talking to me in Spanish, asking me my name, if I wanted him to take a picture of me (because I was trying to take a picture of my TOMS with the waves crashing), and more. I told him I didn't know Spanish in hopes that he would go away.. but then he started speaking in English. I ignored him as he kept talking, but then I realized he was asking me what my plans were for the night and if I wanted to go out with him. I said no, I have to go, bye. I practically ran one direction as he biked in the other.. I am so thankful he didn't keep following me. I was about to call someone to come rescue me haha. I continued my walk by the ocean and sat down a few times to enjoy the breeze. I circled my way up near the cathedral and went by my favorite part of town. I went home for a bit after my walk to make plans for the night. Hannah, Chelsea, and I went to see Black Swan in Spanish (Cisne Negro).. well, that movie was a trip. I understood the Spanish for the most part, but the movie storyline itself was whack. I am not a fan of the movie, but I enjoyed the ballet dancing and the music. Natalie Portman is an excellent actress.. and that is all I have to say.
Today I woke up and did homework.. the first homework I have done in about 2 weeks. Have I mentioned that I love living here and going to school here? I had to do some work with the subjunctive tense which everyone who has ever tried to learn Spanish recognizes as the biggest pain in Spanish. It has to do with verb tenses when there is doubt involved.. and it's so confusing. I ate my typical breakfast (banana, muffins, green tea with lemon, strawberries, water, yogurt) and headed to my room to open the windows and work some more. I basically worked until it was lunch time, then I had to get ready and go to my one class at 3:30pm today. Tough life. I dread that class (grammar), but it was actually fun today. We went over our homework then our prof told us stories of crazy students. For example, one Vandy student a few years ago went on a small boat from Palma to the Canary Islands (aka extremely far away) with some Spanish people that she barely knew without telling anyone. She was basically missing for 10 days until she contacted them to tell them where she was. He told us a few other funny stories.. and his point was proven: when you travel, tell people where you go, and don't call sex hotlines on your host family's phone either. He is a great prof and fun to talk to haha. Hannah and I went down to the beach to watch the sunset and take pictures after class. Now I am just relaxing, listening to all my music on shuffle, and thinking about food (it's almost time for dinner).
I really want to include some descriptions of my favorite foods here. One of my favorite things, that I had this afternoon, is called "arroz a la cubana" (rice of the Cuban). I think I may have described it at one point, but I am obsessed with it and want to talk about it more. This is the Wikipedia definition, but that picture isn't the best. This is a more accurate picture, except my rice is always in a perfect cup shape, and my eggs are perfectly cooked in olive oil and unbroken, and the hot dogs (with cheese inside!) are symmetrically placed on the sides of the rice. The tomato sauce is very simple.. I think it's basically just tomatoes and olive oil and/or water with maybe some garlic. The eggs are sooo good, because cooking them in olive oil makes them very fluffy. It sounds so weird.. and I was hesitant when I first tried it, but I am in love. I like to get a little piece of everything in every bite; I think it is best that way. I also eat bread with it and sop the yolk up using the bread just like my host family does. This is definitely not the healthiest thing, but it is so yummy!
Another of my favorites, again, not very healthy of course, is called "pollo al roquefort" (roquefort chicken). It is basically chicken breast with a white, creamy bleu cheese sauce and white rice. This dish definitely looks very white and not very appetizing, but rest assured, it is amazing. It doesn't really taste like bleu cheese to me, though, which is the weird part. It is ultra creamy and cheesy with a smoky, strong flavor. It is SO GOOD. I hope I can one day perfect the recipe for it.
The soups deserve their own section as well. Every soup I've had here was amazing. My favorites have been cream of cucumber, cream of pumpkin and squash, veggie soup with garbanzos, and cous cous with olive oil broth.
Okay, done with food talk for now. I feel like food will somehow be involved in my career. I think I'm going to talk to Brent for a while before heading to bed so I can spend my day at.. you guessed it.. the beach. :)
-Lynne
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