I was thinking this morning about my breakfast. The first day, Paz asked me what kind of cereal I liked, and I ended up with corn flakes. After a while I realized that there was not enough fiber or substance in cornflakes to get me through the day, so I asked if we could get mueslix (granola). Paz said okay, and she got some chocolate mueslix. That night we all had chocolate cereal for dessert, and Paloma had it for dessert again last night, so today when I wanted to try it out for breakfast for the first time, there was not much left. Hmm, chocolate, I thought. For breakfast? Weird. Then I remembered that Paloma has a glass of chocolate milk for breakfast every day, and cookies are another pretty common breakfast food here. I noticed how well my cereal tasted with coffee, and with orange juice, and I thought, hey, maybe these Spanish people are on to something. After all, women in Spain eat like this, and they all have amazing bodies. Then I remembered that their bodies all have a totally different concept of metabolism than mine. On the other mano, when in Rome.... (hey I am going to be in Rome soon.) Chocolate cereal is also kind of nice because nothing here is very sweet. The cookies, the cakes, the pastries, the candy... all kind of sweet but nothing that will satisfy a craving. Except for maybe a bombón, which is a tiny drink of half espresso and half nata. Nata is pure cream. Bombóns are quite sweet but I think too many will kill you. Class was good yesterday... a long day but it felt much more normal to be busy during the day, and to come home at night. I was going to go out but my friend never showed up at the meeting spot and her phone wasn´t on.... hmm. Today I´m going to an outdoor market and doing some Italy planning. Tomorrow, after class, Madrid! A weekend excursion with Council. Should prove to be awesome.

The afternoon turned out to be a good one yesterday. I went to a famous museum of archeology with two other girls, Amy and Lauren, and it was a success. We walked there in the soggy heat-- it has been rainy lately ("rainy" means that sometimes 6 raindrops land on you while the sun is still shining, and there are somewhat fewer people on the beach) but it has made everything very humid and icky. We were disgusting when we got to the museum but they let us in and we spent a few hours learning about items from different eras that have been found in this area; it was really well organized and interesting, lots of different mediums, sound and videos and artifacts, organized into sections from the prehistoric period to the roman empire to the 19th century. Long long walk home, on which we saw a bus that was on fire, and Amy and I succumbed to the call of churros and chocolate. Danced to Red Hot Chili Peppers with my sister last night and slept a lot to get me through this long day. Wednesdays I have my three language classes from 9-12, then my combined class (Urban Development and Human Geography in the Mediterranean/Women in Contemporary Spanish Society) from 12-3 (usually ends before 2:30) and Dos Democracias from 4-7. ¡Ay! Today was the first day we had the women´s studies part of our combined class-- it´s really not combined at all, but just alternating classes each week taught by different professors. They combined them because there weren´t enough people interested in each class but together they can still be offered. Anyway, it was great to be in a women´s studies class again!! We read this article about some research these people are doing on the sexist nature of the dictionary of the spanish academy-- it´s surprising, and amazing, and interesting, and I remembered why I like studying this so much.

Yesterday was a sleepy day, so I took a 2 and a half hour nap. Hung out, did some homework, ate some dinner, and then I went out for ice cream with a girl who lives in the same neighborhood as me at a little café. It was nice and low key, but I am wishing that I had more going on because it is hard to find stuff to do that doesn´t cost money. Classes don´t have that much work either... maybe that will change. I am wishing that they were more spread out instead of having one 10 hour day on wednesdays and also have days like today when I will have one hour of gramática and be done. That´s more time on the bus than in class. Have I mentioned that there are cats everywhere? There are cats everywhere. Little scrawny stray cats. I saw one today who looked like a scrappy Jasmine.

Hmm, it´s been a while since I´ve been able to write an update. Thursday night we ended up going out for dinner and doing a little bit of shopping and hanging around the Barrio. Friday the 13th was an unlucky day in some aspects; my mom´s car got towed during the night so we were all late to school and work, and I forgot to bring the lunch I had packed for the beach. We still went to the beach however, which was beautiful. Ellie and I went to the beach in San Juan which is the really nice beach. It is 20 km long or something ridiculous, so it doesn´t feel crowded, and it´s nice and quiet and peaceful. Our bellies got to see the Mediterranean sun for the first time, and mine was so embarrassed that it blushed a little bit. My white fishbelly has never had a color before. : ) My day passed much better than Paz´s, because when she went to pick up her car from the towing lot it was covered in fish scales. While they were towing it somebody had thrown a bucket of fish scaley water into the street and it went all over her car and into the engine. Apparently the smell was unbearable. She had some unpleasant interactions with the jerky police working there but eventually the car got cleaned off and she got it back home again. That night I went out for drinks (sangria!) and walked around the Barrio with some friends... It´s still not quite my scene. Eh, oh well. Had to get home and rest before Saturday, when Ellie, Lauren, Amy and I decided to find our way to a little city called Alcoy where there is a "parque natural" called Fant Roja. We took a Greyhound-type bus that wound its way over the highways and back and forth up the side of a mountain to get to Alcoy. The double decker tour buses are awesome in terms of scenery, and we were way up in the front on top. Once in Alcoy we managed to find a taxi to take us up to Fant Roja, where we ate our picnic lunch and then hiked the 7 km trail. It was great to be there where it was quiet and natural, the opposite of the hustle adn bustle of Alicante. We got caught in the rain at the end, but when the taxi took us back down the mountain there was sun again. It was cold up there too, another nice change. We walked around Alcoy for a while and then headed home. I was tired and gross, so after a shower I took it easy at home until Paz, Paloma, Paz´s friend Jema and her daughter Sylvia came back with the movie Chocolat and some ice cream. I don´t know how much I would have followed in Spanish if I hadn´t seen it before, but we had a fun night. In the morning I went to the beach again and then came home and took it easy. Domingo in Spain is amazingly relaxed.... nobody is out anywhere unless it´s the beach. Siesta is calling my name.... Last night I ended up staying up past 2 AM talking to Paz about religion and her life and my time in Spain and cultural differences between Spain and the US. I really lucked out when it comes to my family. We live simply in a very small apartment, but she is a single mother and after her divorce she painted the whole place and bought everything herself, so it is really her place and she has made a good home for herself and Paloma. I feel so lucky that she has brought me into that home, and she really wants me to be comfortable and to feel that I am at home. She doesn´t want me to worry about needing to ask her to do things or use thigns or eat things, because she wants me to be part of the family and feel like I live there. I am so glad that she is as open-minded as she is, and she is a strong person but she can be very welcoming. I was trying to explain to her that of all the people I have met here, she is the person that I feel like I have clicked with the most, and it is wonderful that I can have that happen at home because that is what really makes it feel like home. She thinks it was destiny. I did a lot of listening last night and I am so anxious for the time when I´ll be able to speak more and we can really have more of a conversation, but she says that I speak with my eyes and she knows I understand her, and I can always get my idea across when I need to. Now I´m ready for a nap though... all that listening can tire you out.