Weekend Craziness!

Hola, muchachos!

I have officially experienced my first weekend here in Toledo, and it has definitely been interesting!

Friday, after the tour, I came back to my apartment and promptly passed out for a lovely little siesta. For those of you who don't know, the Spanish culture has this amazing concept, where they essentially hit a "pause" button in the middle of their day, and everyone has the opportunity to go home, have lunch with their families, and then sleep it off to recharge for the rest of their day. Most days, I haven't taken advantage of this opportunity, but after a long week, I was definitely ready for some additional Z's. After my siesta, I spent some time with the fam before heading out for the night.

A few friends and I went to a local bar, and we arrived at about 11:30 to find the place basically deserted. This is an after-effect of the siesta; since people nap in the middle of the day, they have the energy to go late into the night, meaning late-night hotspots aren't populated until the wee hours of the morning. Anyhow, we decided to try out our spanish skills and order a drink. I told the bartender I liked orange, expecting an orange juice-based drink, and instead was handed an orange soda with some alcohol mixed in. Definitely not what I was expecting, but not too shabby nonetheless.

On Saturday, my madre asked if I would like to accompany my host sister and g-ma to the market. I assumed it was a little farmer's market and we would pick up some fresh produce, so I agreed and gladly tagged along. Definitely not a farmer's market. Instead, "the market" means an open-air shopping EXTRAVAGANZA!! This entire parking lot was covered with tents and vendors, selling everything from underwear to belts to shoes to coats. Most of the prices I saw were pretty reasonable, and I am 95% sure all of the merchandise was new, as in no previous ownership. Like I said, 95% sure. Since I was expecting green beans and broccoli, I had no money on me and therefore made no purchases, but I think it's safe to say that I will be returning to that market on a future Saturday, ready to spend some euros!

After the market, I then took the bus to the local shopping mall with my friend Hannah. This mall is absolutely huge, but shopping was pretty overwhelming. I normally can shop with the best of them, but this new environment kind of stunned me into inaction. All of the prices had to mentally be converted to US dollars so you could have a handle on how much you were actually spending, the fashions were totally different, and most of the fabrics even felt different. Sadly, I walked away from this shopping trip empty-handed as well, but I am confident that I will be making some purchases in the not-too-distant future. At the conclusion of our time at the mall, Hannah and I decided to hop back on the bus and go home. However, we got on the bus going in the wrong direction, so we had to sit on the bus for 90% of its loop, as opposed to the 10% we expected. Yet another case of "live and learn" here in Spain!

On Sunday afternoon, a few friends and I decided to go to a local soccer game (basically the equivalent of a Chiefs game, for all the Johnstowners out there). Obviously, soccer is the premiere sport here in Spain, so I was very excited about the prospect of seeing a sport I love in a country that loves it, too. We made sure to get to the field at least 30 minutes early to be absolutely sure that we would get in. Well, at 4:30 for the 5:00 game, we were 5 of the probably 10 people in the entire stadium. Apparently the demand for tickets wasn't as great as we expected. As kick-off neared, the stadium did fill up more, although it was far from a sell-out. Toledo won 4-0, which was exciting. We sat front row, so it was easy to see how much pulling and grabbing was being done, in addition to which falls were dives versus real falls caused by legitimate fouls. At halftime, we were treated to a fight breaking out among some of the teenager fans, complete with punches, kicks, and police intervention. Thankfully, the fight was on the opposite side of the stadium, so it was more of a cultural exposition than a fearful moment. All in all, my first European soccer experience basically lived up to my expectations, with big celebrations upon goals, and loud cheers throughout the entire game.

The final memorable moment of this first weekend came as I was eating dinner with my host family. We had the TV on, and my padre switched the channel to this game show network, or something similar. The show appeared to be the Spanish version of "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge," aka a show where contestants do ridiculous things in hopes of earning some money, while the viewers laugh hysterically at their foibles. One of the mini-games on this episode consisted of contestants dressed up as knights, and they were attached to bungee cords which were attached to the wall. The knights then had to stretch the cords out as far as possible to grab a sword from a rock in the middle of the arena, then return to their portion of the wall, and place the sword in a basket. At this point in time, it sounds a bit difficult, but really not too bad, right? Well, that's what I thought. Shortly before the game began, the show introduced one more little obstacle: A LIVE BULL CALF. That's right, while the contestants ran from one end of the arena to the other, stretching a bungee cord behind them, they also had to avoid a charging bull calf the entire time. This calf appeared to have some oomph behind it, as it was able to knock down all 4 of the contestants repeatedly over the 5-minute period. Thankfully, the arena also staffed men whose jobs appeared to be to pick up the assaulted contestants and distract the calf while the contestants regained some composure and kept fighting for those swords. Rarely during my first few days in Spain have I felt the overwhelming urge to blog about something I saw or did. This would be a very clear exception.

OK, so that about summarizes my weekend in Toledo. I hope everyone had a great weekend themselves :)

Jill