4 de Julio

So... just because I'm out of the country, doesn't mean I can't celebrate American independence! A travel/events organization called "We Love Spain" put together a fourth of July fiesta on the beach. The party was 25 Euros and included:

transportation to the beach 1.5 hrs away

entrance into a beach terrace lounge/bar

music by 3-star DJ's

fire and bongo drum show

Spanish tapas and all you can drink Sangria or beer

Sounds good, right? WRONG!

I guess they decided to take us to a different beach.... Tarifa, known by EVERYONE we've talked to for surfing and wind surfing because of the strong winds there. I figured that since the beaches in Portugal where we went surfing were pretty windy, that it would be a little annoying but still fun. However, just picture the windy-est place you can imagine… and times that by about 20. That’s what it was like.

First of all, we arrived in Tarifa- 2.5 hours away, and our “tour guides” had no clue what they were doing or where exactly we were going…we stopped at a rest stop to get a MAP! I would definitely recommend “Discover Sevilla” over “We Love Spain” as a travel agency here.

Then, we got to the beach, and it was SO windy, that the sand was whipping at our legs and it felt like needles. There was no way to put your towel down and just lay out; there was no way to not have sand in your eyes, mouth, ears, everywhere.

So then we got to our "beach terrace bar" and it was a shack on the beach, and if we hadn’t been there, no one would have been. I have no idea why anyone would have to pay a feee to get in. Our all you can drink sangria was a little Dixie cup of sangria and then there was some more in like plastic bottles- like soda you can buy from the store.... anddd we had tapitas- aka, a toothpick of tortilla de patata and little piece of bread.. that was our "food". The bar had food and had a whole menu of stuff but they were sold out of eveything except ham, of course. We brought bocadillos to eat and were eating them in the bar (and half eating sand) and they told us we couldn’t eat it because you have to eat your own food outside.... in the hurricane of sand.

The three-star dj was...... someone’s iPod. The bongo drum and fire show was a little drum you could buy at a Sunsations, and some random girl swinging around nun chucks that were lit on fire, only to be put out in two seconds by the wind... amazing.

Soo.. We tried to make the best of it, even though there was NOTHING to do... They took us out to a terrible place and basically stranded us for 12 hours...because we left at 10am and got on the bus to leave at 10pm. It was a nightmare. We got in the water, which was a little better because the sand wasn’t whipping in your eyes, but when the waves crashed, the water would pick up with the wind and whip back into your face... And we trieeedddd to lay out...which is allll I wanted to do that day, but in literally two seconds me and my entire towel was covered in sand. AHHH I HATE SANDDDDDDDD!!! It was impossible to just hang out and relax and have a good time out in the sunshine. So... It was pretty much absolutely horrible. Here are some pics of the beach though..

But anyway, thank god it’s over. And thank god school is over!!! Today was our lastttttt day! We turned in our papers and took our final exam and now I’m free from thinking for another month and a half!! And luckily, we are going to the beach again this weekend to redeem our Fourth of July disaster!

Flamenco

A couple nights ago we went with our school to the city to see a Flamenco show! It was kind of different than I expected. The dancers we saw performed solo until the very end, but it is a very dramatic dance. The performers looked almost like they were in pain. Maybe if I understood the words to the song the guy was singing it was a story or something that would have made sense..but I guess I'll never know.. lol. :) Here are some pictures of the show!

gorgeous roses growing in the courtyard we sat in

Villa, Villa, Villa! Villa Maravilla!

Last night we went to Phoenix to watch Spain vs Germany in the world cup semi finals! As you should all know by now, Spain played awesome and won 1-0. :) Now Spain, for the first time ever, is going to the finals vs the Netherlands and I will get to witness it on Sunday!!! The game was pretty much awesome since Spain dominated Germany the whole time and everyone in the bar, let alone, the entire country, was going wild. Everyone in the bar was screaming.. "Yo soy español, español, español!" (I am Spanish, Spanish, Spanish), "Villa, Villa, Villa! Villa Maravilla!" (for one of their star players-David Villa) and "A por ellos!; Viva España!" and so much more... The atmosphere in the bar was incredible, especially when Puyol scored the only goal of the game.

Everyone was screaming, chanting, waving flags, jumping up on chairs, blowing horns, craziness... When the game was over we went outside where people were all rioting in the streets to celebrate and there were drunk old guys throwing ice cubes at people?? People were honking their horns and running around draped in Spanish flags and singing the Spanish anthems. Then we headed over to Plaza Nueva, where there were tons of people swimming and splashing in the fountain in the square and climbing up onto the top of the tall monument in the center to celebrate and cheer for Spain!

us in front of the fountain

P.S. The world cup has its own "groundhog day" in a sense, every game day. Except.. the groundhog is replaced by Paul, the pulpo (octopus), who predicts the winner of each game. So far, he's been right about the past four games.. and let's just hope he picks Spain to win the Copa Mundial! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcxKgQtBVAM

Next, we headed to a bar to meet our Texas friends that we've been hanging out with here lately. There, we met some Spaniards that took us to our first legit botellon! - which is basically a huge group of people drinking and partying in the streets. It was absolutely insane because there were sooo many people and there were cars just whipping in and out between them as if there was no one. These Spanish people are crazy drivers. They have these tiny little cars and they just think they can go wherever they want with them.

viva España!

I will definitely miss the fiestas in Spain and all the crazy excitement that goes with it... and I can't wait for the finals on Sunday, which could possibly be the icing on the cake to this wonderful experience I've had so far. :)