Hola mis amigos y familia. So here I am back at it.
Well as most of you know, I am 20 years old and therefore it is illegal for me to enter bars and drink (unless you are in Wisconsin – amongst the best states ever – you may drink and enter bars if you are with your parents). As a result, I’ve had few experiences with bars. Consequently, this was my first chance to truly enjoy myself at the bars.
Friday night a bunch of my American friends and I were meeting up for tapas and beers. We had a difficult time finding a cheap place but then we eventually settled on a place called Café Tomate, which I have now visited twice. This time I got the house sangria – love the magical fruit in your glass you can eat after you finish your wine – and it was delish. I also got this amazing tapa (appetizer / dinner) with potatoes, chicken and then this delicious green sauce called Ali- oli – muy delicioso. After our dinner we decided to try and find some bars or discotecas. We were walking everywhere for a couple of hours trying to decide and settle on a place. At this point, a few people had left to go back home while a few of us were still trying to experience the nightlife. We had finally decided on a club and when we tried to enter, my friend was turned down at the door because she was wearing tennis shoes (these cute little grey Keds). Defeated, we caught the second to last train back to our neighborhood.
So we decided to try the nightlife again on Saturday. And may I say that we had great success. I met my girlfriends downtown at 11PM and we made our way to this plaza where literally people pre-game. For those of who you don’t know what pre-gaming its when people drink before they head to bars so this way they are already “loosened up.” After hanging at the pre-gaming plaza we made our way to some bars after receiving some advice from an English speaking Spaniard on where to head to for the bars. On our way there, there were these Spanish men literally singing a chant. I thought to myself, “Hm, they look like fun.” Next thing you know, one of the girls I’m with knows these fun, singing, dancing and drinking Spaniards. We all decide to head to the bar together.
Okay here’s the play-by-play on the peronas of these Spanish men. There are 6 of them:
1. Fat, short drunk one. He’s telling all of the girls that they are beautiful and then starts dancing with them. Made all of us feel uncomfortable.
2. Mr. Suave. Thinks he’s God’s gift to earth. Knows he’s attractive and tries to take full advantage of this.
3. Mr. Skinny. Didn’t talk to him much, but he was skinny. Ha
4. Johnny Cash. This guy would come up to me and every 2 minutes (in a Spanish accent of course) and say, “Hello I’m Johnny Cash” and then proceed to break into Cash songs. What a character. He also sort of looked like a Spanish Jesus with curly hair.
5. American looking one. He had light hair, but was Spanish. He was wearing really tight pants.
6. The leader. Really nice and spoke broken English. I liked him because he wasn’t aggressive as some of the other guys.
Some of your bar activities included hanging out, drinking CruzCampo and talking with some other Spaniards at the bar. Eventually we left, but then one of the girls I was with decided that if we were to get into any clubs we needed to head out on our own (aka girls only). Therefore we took a taxi to the other side of the river to a club called “Boss.” Because only 3 of us girls entered at a time, we got in easy. However, one of girlfriends tried to enter with the boys (who had followed us in a taxi) but had no luck because she was with boys.
So we got into the club! VICTORY! And we checked our coats for 2 Euro and then we headed to the dance floor. It was a great time. Music was going, lights flashing and the energy was so much fun. Literally the girls and I stayed until the club closed…which was early morning. It was a great time and I loved dancing. I cannot wait to go to the discotecas and have another night there because they are so fun.
The next day I pretty much spent in a sleepy state and being lazy. However, I did meet up with some of my friends at a Starbucks in the city so that we could talk about our nights. We did this because we all had such different experiences and it was so fun to recall the memories and the laughs of the night. We probably sat at Starbucks for 2 hours and the most wonderful thing about this culture is that it doesn’t matter how long we were sitting there. Time irrelevant and people just sit and enjoy themselves without having to put a time limit on something. I really appreciate this because back in the states I always structure my time, and it can drive me nuts. So having a “laxed” schedule is the best.
All in all the discotecas were the time of my life and I can’t wait for the next weekend!!
Now, for last night (Tuesday) I went to a futbol (soccer game) where Sevilla played Villareal. From the outside the stadium is pretty cool, its fairly large and there is this beautiful mural on the front of it where you enter. It is truly a prized possession to the Spaniards. We had nose bleed seats which we paid 25 Euro for, but it didn’t matter you could feel the energy of the stadium nonetheless. Where the loyal Sevilla fans sat, was truly insane. They sang, cheered, clapped, whistled, stood, danced, wove flags and chanted the entire time. They are so loyal – it is incredible. And anytime that a Sevilla player fell because of a Villareal player, people would rise out of their seats, whistle and curse. It was also interesting too because everytime the possession of the ball changed from Villareal to Sevilla the stadium erupted into thunderous applause. And when Sevilla scored, each time the stadium just exploded, it was crazy. I got to hear them cheer three times (3 goals) and the level of noise was incredible. Also there is just a surplus of men. Very few women were at the game. Even after being at a game and experiencing that kind of enthusiasm for soccer, I don’t feel like I can begin to understand their passion and love for the sport. Unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Viva Sevilla!
Anyways more students who are not in the 2 week Spanish intensive course are starting to arrive so there will be a new dynamic amongst who hang outs with who. My housemate will be arriving on Friday and I am very excited to meet her. Her name is Caitlin, she is from North Carolina and she is also studying international business. It will be great to meet another person who I can go places with.
And on another exciting note, I am traveling to Ronda, Spain this weekend with 10 other people. It’s a small town a little southeast of here – about a 2.25 bus ride away. It’s a tiny place, but I’m excited to start exploring this beautiful country. We are leaving Friday afternoon and then coming back Sunday night. A short visit, but there isn’t a ton of city to see.
Things to note:
-If you don’t want to be disappointed by Spanish discotecas…don’t wear Keds this way you can actually get into the club.
-If you are a girl, go to the club with a group of girls. If you come with boys chances are that you are going to have a hard time entering. Sorry boys.
-I never want to wear sandals to discotecas because I looked at the floor and scattered everywhere was glass.
-Toliet paper in discotecas doesn’t exist. So don’t poop. (Not speaking from experience)
-Spanish men and other European men are aggressive. Holy smokes. No timid American gentlemen here.
-After class one day at la Universidad, I noticed these really interesting posters. I looked more intently and noticed that the poster, among other things, was displaying women’s breasts…exposed. No big deal. And if you were to ask me what the poster was advertising … guess what? I HAVE NO CLUE. I was too distracted. HA. However the next day all of them were taken down.
-Learning a language takes practice, patience and passion.
Miss and love you all.
Besos y Salude
Erica
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