Todos los estudiantes españoles han vueltos

Lots of good news today!

First of all, we've made concrete plans for our fall break. We're flying to Dublin on the evening of the 12th, then spending the night in the airport (wahoo) so that we can leave at 6am the next morning for Edinburgh, Scottland. We got a hostel in a good part of town and a four person room with an in en suite shower. On the 15th we're flying to Galway, where we are staying in another hostel with the same type of amenities for 2 nights. From there, we head to Cork from the 17th-19th, where we're meeting up with our friend Dawn (she'll be in Rome for the first half). We also have reservations at a hostel there, a six-bed room. On the 19th we're heading back to Dublin and until we fly out the morning of the 21st. We haven't made an reservations in Dublin yet - but there are some prospects. Alfonzo told me that I should just find kin in Dublin and stay with them...

So that is very exciting. Today we had our first exam, and next week we have one more test, plus two papers and a presentation. So this break could not come soon enough!

Yesterday I convinced María Pepa to go for a walk with me in the park. It was 40% fun and 60% really awkward...

In other news, my trivia team won the pub quiz at Hannigans last night! This is a very big deal after four weeks of slow improvement. We got 62 out of a possible 86 points, and there were 12 teams (the most we've ever played against). Also, we were sitting next to a team of hilarious Danish boys. After meeting them and the Danish kids in Barcelona, I have come to the conclusion that there is not a single unfriendly person in all of Denmark. We won four pints of beer and four whole bottles of cheep Spanish wine! Also, our names were entered into the national lottery (over 100,000 euro).

Speaking of Denmark, did you know it's made up of nearly 500 individual islands? I learned that in last week's pub quiz...

In more cultural terms, the bullfight was pretty barbaric. I'll spare those of you who are especially squeamish the details, but suffice it to say I now understand why most Spaniards I've met disapprove of them. Although...I do have a favorite matador. His name is Jesús "Yiyo" Fernández, and he's the Chase Utley of public bull slaughtering. Also, did you know that it's tradition to eat a sandwich halfway through? Luckily, María Pepa packed me several.

Apparently, Sunday was a huge festival day honoring la Virgen de las Angustias (Our Lady of Sorrows?), the patroness of Granada. The streets were so packed that you could absolutely not move. From basically 9 in the morning until midnight, everyone was out attempting to walk around and eat pastries. When we got back from the bullfight, I had the incredible misfortune of getting stuck alongside what appeared to be a huge parade of somber-faced colonial soldiers. As the parade moved by (incredibly slowly), I suddenly spotted the main event. A huge, 20-foot statue of la Virgen slowly making her way up the middle of the street, carried by at least 30 men. Somehow, I managed to break free from the crowd and made it to a side street. Later, Kiersten told me that when all the women see the Virgen, they burst out sobbing as if on cue. I wish I could have seen that.

Well, that's about it for now. I'm planning on laying low this week until I get my paper done. Wish me luck!