Alcalá Week 4

Jean and me in Toledo

• First and foremost I should probably mention the bar here on campus called Nivola, because it is a very popular hangout for all the students and features calimocho- a mix of wine, Coke and a splash of blueberry syrup. Spanish students, including my roommates, finished exams on Wednesday, February 3 and coincidentally Wednesday is the big going out night here at CRUSA dorms. I got to hang out and dance with my roommates all night and met some of their friends too, it was a lot of fun. I also have three other American students living with me in the dorm, and I have met and hung out with all of their roommates- it is proving to be a good method to get to know Spaniards.

Miriam, Ines, Sandra, me and Sara! Out of their pajamas and dressed to impress

• My criminology class at La escuela de derecho (law school) of the Universidad de Alcalá was supposed to start Wednesday, but my professor did not show up two days in a row. Luckily the Spanish students were also waiting outside the room so it was not like I did not know what was going on because I was American. It was that no one knew what was going on.
  

• Friday February 5 was a class trip to Toledo. We took a bus and I got to see the Spanish highway system- turns out it is ugly. Toledo, however, could not have been more beautiful. Its windy streets run between ancient looking buildings nestled into the hillside. We looked inside La Iglesia San Juan, which had 2 parts- a big lofty cathedral and a square of elaborate statues surrounding a courtyard of orange trees. To give you a better idea:

The entire square had statues just like this

The big cathedral

• Toledo is famous for its sword making, I believe the Lord of the Rings swords were made here. Even if that's not true, all the tourist stores were full of knives ranging from letter openers to full blown swords that could probably kill a person.

• Surprise! Toledo also had a trademark dessert (I think I could get used to this), which I both tasted and photographed:

Marzipan

• A river surrounds 3/4 of Toledo- this city used to be the capital of the Kingdom of Castile until its growth was contained by the river and King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel united their kingdoms by moving the capital of Spain to Madrid.
  

Hola!

• Saturday there was a party hosted by Javi, one of my American friend's roommates. Interestingly, all the Spaniards really like to play beer pong and quarters (the great American past times) so it is pretty easy to fit in.

• Finally, SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! I went with a group of friends to an Irish pub in Madrid to watch the game, which did not start until 1am here. We ordered a full table of chicken wings and nachos and got to watch on a big projector screen. Let me tell you if there's one thing I miss about America, it is chicken wings (also, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups)- they were delicious. Unfortunately we were watching a broadcast out of the UK, so all the announcers had British accents and there were no commercials :( That does not cheapen the experience, however, since the game was great. All sorts of people were there to watch; a man from New Orleans sitting behind us was explaining the sport of football to his French friend and we got to help a little!
  

Delicious.

Please note that I wore my Jared Allen shirt to the game and indeed have been wearing my AP jersey to bed every night since the Vikings lost. I cheered for the Saints anyhow, NFC loyalty?