Rice with Pulpo Sauce

I haven't written for a while, but nothing too crazy has happened since the weekend before last.

The workload is picking up for my classes. Rachel and I gave our presentation, which lasted 1.5 hours (including questions and professor interjections) and I think it went pretty well. We also had our first two composition and our first exam so it has been a lot to do. Last weekend, we went to Granada and Almeria. It was a lot of time on the bus but it was well worth it. We all found ways to modify the fetal position in order to fit somewhat effectively into the bus seats to sleep.

Granada was great. It's south of Seville but it's actually colder than Seville because it's right in the Sierra Nevadas. It was very cold there and we were outside all day. We took advantage of the hotel showers, as they provided an unlimited supply of hot water, unlike our houses. We visited the Arab palaces at the Alambra. Out guide spoke 15 languages or something crazy like that, which makes me wonder why he isn't working for the U.N. or something like that. The palaces were very interesting. The town of Granada has a very Moroccan feel to it. There are millions of little hippie shops with pipes and scarves and tapestries. We went to a tapas bar ownned by an Englishman, which was recommended by Shelby's friend. In Granada, each drink you buy comes with a complimentary tapa. So I ordered tinto de verano (red wine with sparkling lemonade) and I tried the pineapple pork and coconut chicken dish. We jumped to the next tapas bar and I tried vegetable cous cous with cinnamon and raisins and caramelized onions. It was unreal. I also had a bite of noodles with sweet almonds, which was amazing. I met an artist from Granada and ended up having my first long and successful Spanish conversation. People in Spain are very friendly and it is much easier to strike up a conversation with a stranger here than it would be in America.

After tapear-ing (that's the verb for hopping tapas bars) we went back to the hotel to change our clothes and go out. Unfortunately, I was so exhausted that I crashed. I was so tired from all the travel that I couldn't bring myself to go out again.

In the morning we visited the cathedral and explored Granada. I purchased a variety of dried fruit and tried some hand-made potato chips, which were excellent. Dried strawberries and banana chips are my new favorite foods. After that it was another long bus ride to Almeria. In Almeria we visited an old Arabic castle, which was my favorite tourist site so far in Spain. It was very cool, and our guide was this short, pale, girl with red lipstick and a big black coat who looked like she went to Hogwarts. I really liked her. We had dinner with the group at the hotel and went out for the night. We tried to find some young clubs, but all we found was clubs filled with people 40+ years old grooving to Sheryl Crow and the song "happy Birthday" which was odd. We eventually found a little cafe place and spent a low-key night there. In the morning we attended the most boring presentation on immigration I could ever imagine. Luckily, I ended up seated directly next to the speaker, and I found out after that my attempts to maintain open eyes the entire presentation were not subtle. Apparently everyone noticed me casually resting my head in my chin and manually keeping my eyelid open with my middle and index fingers. This was not one of my best moments, but it was definitely not my fault. I got plenty of sleep the night before. This presentation was just very boring.

After a long busride home, we made it back to the house for dinner. The rice we were served was mysteriously pitch black. When I asked why the rice was black, the padre said it was because of the "pescado" which means "fish/seafood." The rice had a very interesting flavor - one I wasn't too keen on, but I expertly moved my food around with my fork and hit rice under my bread with impressive deftness. Again, at the table, I asked "so what exactly makes this rice BLACK. Is the fish itself black?" To this, Alejandro replied "no, no no. it's not a FISH. It's a creature that is very smart. When predators approach it, it emits a black substance, and that is why the rice is black."

My eyes bugged out a little and I placed my fork down on the plate slowly. "This wouldn't happen to be octopus, would it?" I asked. "Ahhh YES!" said Alejandro. "Exactly!"

Rachel and I looked at eachother and I whispered the english translation of "pulpo." She, too, proceeded to put down her fork and reach for her water. There's nothin like a little octopus rice in ink sauce.

And one other story....

We were sitting at dinner with Alejandro (the padre) the other night and he made a toast to himself being the most handsome man in the world. I then proceeded to say, "To Alejandro, you are definitely the most handsome man in the house" (he is the only man in the house). I tell you, I have never seen someone laugh so hard in my life. He started hyperventilating laughing and holding his head in his hands. He was shaking, he was laughing so hard. Rachel and I were cracking up because we couldn't believe how funny he thought it was. Even when the Irish girl entered the room, he tried to tell her what I said and just lost it again, bursting out into another fit of laughter. I guess he appreciates my sense of humor.

This weekend we are going to Italia, a town near Seville for a short day trip. Other than that I'm planning on hanging out on the roof in the sun (I already have some tan lines!) and doing some homework. It should be nice!

Hasta luego!