Valentines Day!

Thursday February 14, 2008

After class today we had a Valentines Day party/February birthdays party, it was basically an excuse to ingest way too much sugar in one sitting. We had three cakes, one that was made only from sugar and marshmallows in the shape of a three-sailed ship. It was amazing to look at but not so great to eat. After our “fiesta” we headed home and had lunch. I got a card from my official “pen pal” Emily Kacere today and that was a nice surprise! For the record…I miss all of my girls. But I digress…Thursdays are my Fridays, and today was even better because we didn’t have our ONG   (volunteer work) today. I’m sure that sounds horrible but follow my thought pattern. For the past three weeks we have tried to go to a place called “Carbonerîa,” where there is a flamenco band and dancer on Thursdays. We haven’t been able to go, so this Thursday we finally had the option. Allison and I met up with a few classmates and we arrived at “Carbonerîa” at about 10:30pm. The atmosphere in this underground bar was unlike any others that we had been to before. All of the tables were low and were bench style seating, there was a fireplace just as you walk in, the walls and floor were all cobblestone, plants hung from the ceiling and a small stage sat at the back of the room. We watched the flamenco show that started at 11:30pm and lasted about an hour. After the show we headed out and found a pizzerîa. Allison and myself, as well as three other girls from class shared pizza in La Plaza de Alfalfa. While on the way to the pizzerîa we were handed free passes to “Catedral” a discoteca (club) and we decided to check it out. We got in easily and stayed for a while. We danced and had a good time until one Spanish/French man started creeping on me, so we decided that it was time to leave. Afterwards we talked for a while outside and then headed home. Allison and I shared some water and an apple and then headed to bed at about 3:30am.

 

Interesting Facts About Valentines Day in Spain:

-Valentine’s Day is only celebrated by “couples.”

-There aren’t cards or candy at school for any of the children. Personally, I think that’s lame. One of my favorite parts was assigning the Valentines messages to specific people in my class. (Don’t laugh, you did it too.)

-The front page of the paper was printed in all pink. The rest of the pages had pink headings and all of the statistics were in hearts.

-Avoid all men, they turn into complete creepers. To me, Valentines Day is not a valid excuse for your lack of sanity.

-You really appreciate all of the chocolate, candy hearts, warm wishes and socks that you get from home for Valentines Day.

-No one wears red or pink, I wore black.

-They don’t start celebrating Valentines Day until the actually week of Valentines Day, instead of directly after Christmas

-Valentines Day was good this year, minus not being in the States.