jueves, 4 julio

Happy Fourth of July! This morning I made sure to remember to wear clothes to properly represent America- red, white, and/or blue! This morning in class the T.A. gave her lesson and with a combination of a warm room, not completely understanding the lesson about movies I've never even heard of, and the T.A.'s less than understandable quiet voice, I didn't understand most of the morning. We then transitioned into learning about pretérito perfecto and pretérito indicativo. We learned about the Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and did a lot of exercises to work on figuring out the differences between the similar grammar tenses. I had no idea who this director was until I came home and looked at the movie posters of his movies and realized he directed 'Volver.' I really liked how the worksheet was set up and how it taught the material, the only downside was the staple was on the right instead of the left so I spent a lot of time trying to figure out which way to turn the page and we all must have looked ridiculous. During the break we took a group photo of the Nebraskan's with classes in Madre de Dios.

Nebraskan's Fourth of July photo! 

For lunch today we had paella again and then for dessert we had this amazing fruit. I still don't know how to spell it but it tasted like a plum but was way juicier! After all of the food we had at lunch and the fact that it was around 100 degrees outside, I was super okay with listening to some quieter music and resting during siesta. I also packed up some things for this weekend's adventure to Madrid.

After siesta I went to Casco to find some mazapan and go visit the Cathedral. I found mazapan fruitella sin relleno at a tienda called San Tomé which apparently has some of the oldest recipes. It was really good and tasted like sweet bread.

My first piece of Mazapan! 

After eating my mazapan I wandered towards the cathedral. I somehow found the north side and the Portal of the Clock door which is next to the Chapel of St. Peter which serves as a parish church. The chapel is also dedicated to Our Lady of the Tabernacle. Next to the door was a list of all of the misas during the day, and the next one started in 20 minutes. I wasn't sure which chapel was the chapel with mass but using my Catholic-school-since-kindergarten reasoning skills I deduced that because of the red candle burning by the tabernacle, the chapel I was in was indeed a chapel for mass. Although had I waited a few minutes the stream of people would have been a great clue. I've definitely gone to enough masses in the last 2 decades that I knew when to sit and stand and all of those things, but I was really forced to pay attention when the priest was talking so I could actually know what was going on.

After mass I wandered back towards Plaza Zocodover so I could find my way home. I saw out of the corner of my eye a royal blue lace covered dress and I decided to try it on. I went in grabbed the hanger and found the dressing room. It was the only blue one left so I was really excited when it fit me, and then I bought it. I realize that I own way too many dresses, but that's alright with me!

After I got home I put away all of my things and then put my head on the pillow for 30 minutes before heading into the living room to watch telenovelas with Sandra. After one show was over, we switched the channel over to El Hormiguero, the SNL-like show. It was the last episode of the season so they recapped the highlights of the past season and I was able to understand most of what was going on. One thing I really miss about being home is being able to multitask while watching t.v. or while having a conversation. For dinner we had hamburgesas again and I had another one of those delicious fruits for dessert. After Sandra, Alba, and I had finished dinner Alfonso walked into the door, which seems to be the trend. The t.v. was then changed to a documentary about the Tour de France and it's history, I think, I'm telling you I stink at multitasking.

Just a heads up: I will be in Madrid Friday morning until Sunday night so if I don't blog everyday that is why!
¡Hasta luego!