I feel like I'm drinking out of a fire hose

I'm back! And it's only been two days. If I keep blogging this often, you're all going to get sick of me in a week. I just have so much to say and explain, because I feel like I'm getting so many impressions I want to share with you all. I could write a novel just on what I've seen in the last three days.

Saturday night, all of us Americans went out bar hopping with our English guide, Chris, who I mentioned earlier. He took us around and had us try different drinks I've never heard of in America, like a "calimocho" which is red wine and cola. I know that sounds terrible, but it was actually really good. We also tried some sangria (a drink Spain is pretty famous for made with red wine, fruit, and other liqueurs), but it was pretty bad at the place we went. I think the alcohol here is more diluted than in the States, but that's not the only reason people don't get out of their minds drunk here when they go out.

It's actually really interesting. My host mom took me out to some bars before I met up with the other exchange kids and Chris, and there were families drinking with their small children and grandparents all together at like 10:00 PM, which is absolutely crazy for me to see and would never happen in America. But here, it's a cultural thing to go out and drink. They say they don't consider wine to be alcohol, either. Spaniards also eat while they drink, something people also do in Ukraine, so that wasn't new to me. There are two kinds of snacks you can get at a bar in Spain: "pinchos" are light snacks that come with your drink because its part of the culture and its just included; and "tapas" are usually slightly larger appetizers you pay for. Everything is really cheap, though, especially in comparison to what I've heard about in US bars.

Here's a picture of Chris, holding an unfortunately named Spanish whiskey

Anyway, we were out until 3:00 AM, because that's what the Spaniards do, and when in Spain...

Yesterday, on Sunday, my host mom took me out to Chinese food for her sister's birthday. This is hilarious to me, because my parents thought there wouldn't be any here in Spain, and we got take out the Friday before I left. Anyway, it was good and it reminded me of home in a weird way. 

Later that night, Chris took a group of us all around Segovia on the longest walk ever. Spain is a very mountainous, and though a lot of central Spain is on a plateau, Segovia is in the mountains and is very, very hilly. There's a castle here called the Alcázar, where the monarchs Isabel and Ferdinand once lived. For those of you interested in history, they're the ones who sent out Columbus, forced the spread of Castillian Spanish, and evicted the rest of the Moors and most of the Jews in 1492. One hell of a year. Anyway, it's at the top of a giant, narrow cliff, perfectly situated to see anyone coming from far off and block the only direction of entry. Nearby, there's also an enormous, beautiful cathedral that comes out on the Plaza Mayor, or the main square. 

I stole this picture from Laura, one of the students here, but its just too awesome.
Here we are in front of the Alcázar!

After four hours of walking, I came home (I didn't get lost this time!) and passed out. Today, we had our first day of classes. There's not much to say about that, except that we have an excursion to La Ruta de los Castillos (the route of the castles) on Friday, and we'll be going to a winery to become snobby wine connoisseurs.

Great to see the ducks win this past weekend! And a big congratulations to WSU for that game against USC. 

El Catedral in the Plaza Mayor at night