Uphill Both Ways y Huevos Fritos

My plan after siesta changed to meeting up with some of my group members to go and cross the Casco walls and the bridge, but on my way to meet them in Plaza de Zocodover I got extremely lost. I realized on my way home I took a right instead of a left, or vice versa- I was a little turned around. I explored the the roundabout way to get to Plaza de Zocodover and made several circles for about 45 minutes of what should take about 20 minutes. I definitely looked like a tourist. But I didn't freak out or end up in any sketchy neighborhoods.

Once all 6 of us were in the plaza we made the decision to go to get gelato at a tienda that Mariah had found. I got tirrón which was like cheesecake- we wanted to know what it tasted like so I asked the ice cream man, in my semi-decent spanish, for a sample and he gave me one so I became the group's semi-official translator. I know my palabras for helado! And then once we all paid, the ice cream man told me that he went to high school in California, and my spanish wasn't horrible. I was so excited, I even pulled a tourist move and took a picture in front of the store.

Tirrón gelato and I in front of the store

We then began the uphill both ways route to the wall where you can cross the river. We made it about 200 yards and realized that unless we wanted to free fall for 50 feet we should use a different road. In the other direction there was a scenic overlook where I attempted to make a panoramic shot and we took several half-group shots to get all of the angles. On our way down to the road perpendicular to the bridge and parallel to the river we found the coolest arch ways- they looked like key holes and one had vines growing artistically next to it.

One of the key holes, as seen from the wall above.

We were all super jealous that Nebraska isn't old enough to have architecture like that. Once we crossed the road and got onto the bridge we could smell the river- and it wasn't all that pleasant. Someone's host mom said that if you swim in it, you'll grow a third eye and it made Holmes Lake in Lincoln look like a swimming pool.

El río.

On our way back across the street, through the archway, up the hill with steps every few metres and up the quadruple flights of stairs we decided that we needed a 'sit down and breathe' break.

Shoes and stairs during a break. 

After about 5 or 10 minutes we walked back up to Plaza de Zocodover and met some more of the group at McD's because it has A/C and wifi, and we made our official facebook group and made plans to go to el clase de baile tomorrow con our classmates.

Plaza de Zocodover.

After McD's Olivia and I walked together back home. We stopped into a little shop and the owner sort of followed us as to make sure that we didn't steal anything, which made it hard to look at things so we left. We eventually made it to one side of the cathedral and took some touristy photos before getting a tad bit lost uphill until we eventually found the back door of the Dios Madre University building where my class is at, and I was able to get home correctly from there.

After today I completely understand why there is the phrase "Uphill both ways!"

For cena tonight we had huevos fritos con papas fritas y ketchup. I wasn't too sure if I was going to like the fried egg because I am extremely picky con mis huevos, pero cuando yo comí la runny parte con pan, me gusta el huevo fritos. Y por postre yo comí yogur. (Es possible que tú determinas que yo hablé con mi familia por dos y media horas porque todas de mis frases son en español- la grammatica es un poco loco.)  Momma, si tú quieres que me probar nuevas comidas, espere hasta que yo tenga hambre o yo esté en un país diferente. ¿Vale? ¡Vale! ('Vale', en España, es la misma idea de 'okay' en ingles. And I'm going to switch back to English because it's getting hard to explain and I want to sleep.)

Sandra y yo talked about her youngest daughter being a rebel, the biblioteca in Toledo, y my día en clase and my afternoon. She made a wonderful tea and we watched a cooking show, called Master Chef- same as in the States, where they were in a competition to plate a caramelized sugar apple out of what looked like laffy or solid jello that they had to make by blowing air into it and shaping it. It was a wonderful choice because I understood the words they were using and only one person spoke at a time and they showed things as they went. I'm starting to see a trend that I might need to become a Spanish chef because those are the words that I know!

¡Buenas noches!