Sleep and other such nonsense!

Sorry I haven't written in so long, it's because I've been sleeping. No, really. I've been sleeping. I got really sick on Thursday, and pretty much slept until Saturday. Rather than getting used to my new time zone, I decided to sleep enough to cover all of the time zones. I would wake up for meals, then go back to sleep. Thanks to Spanish schedule, la siesta makes this rather easy to do!

However, yesterday, I actually left our piso (apartment), and went shopping at Alcalá Magna (commonly referred to as "the mall of the future" by Katie and Rachel). It's pretty amazing, I love all of the stores (ps: the store H&M is even better in Europe!)... but my favorite part of this centro commercial (shopping mall) is the pickle stand!! Truly, there is a stand in the mall that is devoted to pickled things. Olives, big pickles, little pickles, pickle sandwiches with tuna and peppers in the middle... it's crazy! Best choice of tapas (late afternoon appetizers) ever!!

"Mall of the future"!!!

This is to help you visualize what a "piso" looks like! A family might have part of a floor as their apartment, and most have a small balcony. These are right across from my building.

Something I'm still not used to about España is the fact that everyone goes "out" all the time! At 11:30pm, along the streets of Alcalá, I didn't only see teenagers/young adults. I saw young parents with a baby in a stroller. I saw 70 year old couples. I saw middle schoolers. My host moms go out with all of their friends every Saturday night!! It's so much part of this culture to hang out outside, in the streets, in bars and cafés. I love this part of Spain! But the reason everyone spends time like this is because no one invites people into their homes! Homes are for families. Kids don't have their friends over to play, they meet their friends at the park or plaza. Homes are private, and "going out" is for seeing friends. I kind of like it! But I also miss just watching movies with a bunch of my friends, because that just doesn't happen here!

However, I do get to hang out at our piso with my roomie Chelsea, who I love dearly! I had to include this picture of us from last night... "I'll be the more creepy one!" -Chelsea. Haha, crazy!