At 10pm I went to Nicols to meet Luis and watch the football game. They weren’t showing the Real Madrid game at Nicols so we headed over to Mezquita. Maria del Mar (the third grade teacher) and her boyfriend were there, so we hung out with them, drank wine and chatted for several hours. Madrid beat Valencia.
Our little group decided to go on an excursion this week to see the castle in Segura de la Sierra (a town close to here). I believe both Maria del Mar and her boyfriend have cars, which gives me the opportunity to get out of town and see something cool that’s close by. I’m not sure yet which day we’re going to go, but I’m looking forward to it. Whichever day we don’t go to Segura de la Sierra I will go to Ubeda.
The original plan was to meet Fernando after going to Mezquita since it’s his last night here in Siles. He is a substitute teacher and the normal teacher is coming back. Fernando ended up sending me a text saying he couldn't go out. Dang it! He did say we could get a cup of coffee the next day before he heads out though.
Instead Luis and I went to 1900 and played darts with Mari B and Carlos. As we were talking with Mari B I found out that she is the older cousin of one of the guys who has been hassling me and that he actually lived with her for awhile when his mom passed away. She was irritated to hear that he was acting that way and was going to talk to him and tell him to lay off.
Me and Carlos were on a team and Mari B and Luis were on a team (while we were playing darts). We each won one round. I ALMOST pulled ahead to beat them in the second round, but baaaaaaarely missed the mark. We hung out there for a bit but the other part of the original plan was to meet Almudena, Maria and Maribel so at 2:30 we headed towards Menphys. They were just leaving Menphys to go to the discoteca when we arrived so we headed straight there. We got free shirts and danced until 5:30am in the morning and then I headed home. It was so much better this time. I felt like I belonged. I wasn't searching for friends. There were people there with me...friends...people that greeted me when I showed up. I was there and didn't feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed. Heck yes.
Sunday (today) was another low key day. I got coffee with Fernando and his girlfriend Esperanza at 12:45. Esperanza is also a teacher but she teaches music. They invited me to visit them in Huelva whenever I need a break from Siles or want to visit the beach. I spent most of the day on the computer, catching up on the blog, uploading photos and wasting time. Eventually I showered and got ready so I could go to Mezquita and meet up with Maria del Mar and her boyfriend. Our excursion is going to be either Tuesday or Wednesday. I would have preferred to go tomorrow (Monday) but oh well. They were thinking we could go Tuesday. The only problem with that is that Monday and Wednesday are holidays are shops are going to be closed…if I’m going to Ubeda to do some shopping Tuesday is the only day I have. However, Monday Maria del Mar has to study and Wednesday her boyfriend has a six hour car ride back to their city (just outside of Cadiz). We are going to get together again tomorrow at Mezquita to firm up our plans.
We spent a lot of time chatting about food. With each round of beer/wine that we ordered we got a new tapa. They told me all the ways to tell if ham is good, where I should buy my food instead of at Dia (Dia, the main grocery store is the only chain grocery store in town…it is also the most expensive, even though it is the most convenient) and how to cook stuff. Maria is going to teach me how to cook some things (like Spanish tortilla) and let me eat at her house.
Fact of the day: Serrano hams (pigs) have white nails. Iberico hams (pigs) have black nails.
One of our tapas was gambas (shrimp). Mmmm. Gambas are typical for Christmas dinner. When trying to de-shell (de-skin? Peel? I told you I'm not going to be able to speak English by the time June comes!) my gamba it’s juice squirted all over me. We all had a good laugh about it.
Supposedly the gym is going to open this week. I hope that’s true. I haven’t been taking as many walks as when I first got her and I feel like I need some exercise…especially because every day I feel like I have a worse case of smoker’s lungs. The weekends are rough on my lungs being in the bars for so many hours. My cough started up again today and I always end up coughing crap up after I spend so much time in the smoke. I’m really curious to see how the next smoking laws (starting next month!) are going to change things around here, and if they will actually be enforcing the no-smoking-inside policies. Seriously, I think I’ve only met about 3 other people here that don’t smoke, so I’m sure everyone will be up in arms about it. Well, that or it will just be me and those three other people at the restaurants while everyone else is in the streets.
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