Pig ears and burnt almond fudge!

  I am loving Spain!! I want to shout it from the mountain top! I seriously love this place so much. So this week has been pretty exciting. I have just been studying hard and making friends. Thursday after school we went on an "excursion" to Gijon, a small town about 15 minutes from Oviedo on the beach. I loved this place a lot... well I love the beach a lot! We went to a little art museum, and then to the aquarium and it was awesome! I saw all kinds of fish and I felt like a 1st grader on a field trip. It was a huge aquarium though full of fish, sharks and penguins... simply amazing. After that we went to the beach and had some Gelato, could life get any better? The answer is yes...

   So friday was your typical party night. I went out after shopping at about 11 and stayed out until 4:30. I still can't get over how completely normal that is here. Anyway so we went to the little pub "asturian" where all the americans hang out. The bartender "john" is from oregon. This is a cute little joint with great cheap pizza and sometimes free coke. (John likes us). So saturday we had another "excursion". We met the bus at around 10:30 (half of the group hung over from the night before, I love the perks of not drinking) and we were off. We went to some cathedral in the hill towns about an hour out of Oviedo. It was cool, just another church. Then we were off to the most amazing beach ever!! And... it was sunny! So basically a bunch of americans that were almost glow in the dark because we are all so white took over this beach. I played a little futbol with some locals boys and took a walk with Tim my sort of professor. After spending 4 hours on the beach we all boarded the boat to head home. Luckily we weren't glow in the dark anymore, we were purple with sun burns! Anyway we had about 2 hours to get ready and then get back on the bus to head to our fiesta! So that night we went to this little pub where they feed us some healthy tradition. We had some bagpipes and traditional spanish dancers come and play for us and teach us to dance. Then we feasted on some local cuisine... mostly seafood, bread, and Sidera. Sidera is a famous drink in Austurias. It is like a strong apple juice that is alcoholic. Needless to say putting college students and unlimited, free alcohol in a little restaurant may not be the best idea... most everyone was plastered. It was hilarious for us sober people. Once we were full and happy we headed home to bed.

   So now it is Sunday. I woke up and went to the amazing little branch in Oviedo. After church 6 of us went to a members house for lunch. They fed us a traditional meal from Brazil (where they are from), so we dug in. After we finished the food, which was sort of like a hawaiian haystack they informed us what the mystery meat was... pig ears, hoofs, and tails.... can you say YUCK! But it actually was kind of good.... weird. Anyway now I am in the Oriental with the crew. My friend and I decided we wanted ice cream, so we ordered one and guess what kind it was... burnt almond fudge! I almost started crying I was so happy... I still am! Grandma would love it here! Anyway I am off to bed and to study.... I have a test tomorrow. I hope all of you are enjoying your lives. I miss you guys!! I can't believe I will be home in three weeks... so bittersweet. Anyway Adios!!!!