Leche estropeada

Okay, so it’s been a while… I’ll try to update on my week post-Valencia.

Well this week was midterms. So that’s crazy.

As of right now, I have about 10 days left here in Alcalá. So I’m already 2/3 of the way done! Hard to believe… but the glass is 1/3 full!

Oh, this week Kaitlin and I discovered Madre Carmen’s flaw. (We knew there had to be one, we just didn’t see it until now.) I’ll begin with Wednesday… Dinner was ready, but we weren’t aware of it. So by the time I went into the kitchen to eat it (because Katlin was on a run), the food was cold. Problem #1: I didn’t know how long it had been sitting out. Problem #2: It was fish. Problem #3: It wasn’t fried or grilled (and lacked any evidence of being cooked). All of these factors made me a little worried. However, I was hungry. So I put my food in the microwave and heated it all up. When I was almost done eating, Kaitlin came home from her run, and I told her that the fish was cold and that it tasted funny. But I had already eaten half of it (which was more than I could stand at that point, because psychologically I thought I was possibly eating uncooked, or at least not freshly cooked, fish), and there was no turning back. Kaitlin—genius, pre-med student that she is—decided to cook hers (again?) on the stove. As hers was sizzling in the skillet, mine was churning in my stomach. (Okay, that’s probably an exaggeration, but in my head it seems accurate.) After a few minutes, she asked me “Do you think this is cooked now?” I responded “You’ve at least killed any of the bacteria that are now swimming in my stomach.” She took that as a yes, and ate her fish in peace. I, on the other hand, felt sick at the thought of what I may have eaten. And also decided I’ve had enough fish for a while… THEN, fast-forward to Thursday… For dinner that night, Madre Carmen offered me chicken that had been sitting out since before lunch. I wouldn’t have known that if Kaitlin hadn’t told me (I was gone on a field trip during lunch, so when I got back Kaitlin said that it had been sitting on the table all day.) THEN, later that night… We had a field trip the next day (Friday), and had to leave an hour earlier than usual. So, we told Madre Carmen that we would need sandwiches for lunch, and that we would be eating breakfast at 7:15 rather than 8:15. She asked us if we wanted her to get up and fix it for us, but I assured her we could manage. (What have I eaten for breakfast every single day for the last 3 weeks, you ask?? A croissant. And warm milk with 2 scoops of coffee and 1 spoonful of sugar mixed in.) I knew she would set out the plates and mugs, etc. for us, but thought surely we could handle the rest. However, around bedtime I got thirsty and went into the kitchen to get some water. I turned on the light and what I saw absolutely flabbergasted me. I was appalled, disgusted, and shocked. (another slight exaggeration, but it’s a literary technique… bear with me.) I hurried into Kaitlin’s room, told her “Come with me into the kitchen. I need to show you something.” We went back in there, and there it was. The table was set—plates, napkins, silverware, box of cereal, etc.—and the milk was poured. YES that’s right. She poured our milk for us—8 hours ahead of time. Kaitlin and I laughed about it, then decided to be sneaky and rebellious and (dare I say it) put our milk in the fridge for the night. Right as the refrigerator door closed, we heard Madre Carmen back towards the kitchen. Not wanting to explain our impulsive, irrational behavior of refrigerating dairy products overnight, we hurried out of the kitchen and I quickly hit the light switch on our way out. Luckily, Carmen was just going into the bathroom (right next to the kitchen, where she could have seen the newly milk-less table had we not hastily turned off the light), so we got away with our trouble-making shenanigans. (Meanwhile, Kaitlin and I ran into my room, trying to suppress our laughter, and as soon as we shut the door we couldn’t contain it anymore. We laughed about the situation and how sneaky we were being over something so silly and random and unnecessary. Then we stayed up until 4:30 in the morning. I felt like a kid again… haha). Even if the milk hadn't been rescued/refrigerated, there's no use crying over "leche estropeada" (spoiled milk). Unless of course you're laughing until you cry, as in our case... 

So then the next morning, less than 3 hours after finally going to bed, we got up to meet the group at the bus (this time more punctually) at 8:00am sharp. (however, the bus didn’t leave until about 8:15… go figure. After last week’s departure at 9:00 on the dot, when we missed it.) Anyway, we went to the town called Cuenca, about a 2-hour bus ride away from Alcalá. It was BEAUTIFUL. It’s this old town built on a hill/mountain. They utilized the mountain as a fortress, to be able to see attackers (the Moors at one point, Christians at another) from afar. As a result, the homes and everything are: a.) really old; b.) either up a steep incline or hanging off of a cliff. Here’s a picture of the famous “Casas colgadas” (hanging houses):

One of those famous houses is now a museum of Abstract Spanish Art (I know, random for a tiny old town like Cuenca), and we got to go in it! Most of the art was over my head (metaphorically speaking… the art wasn’t hanging on the ceiling or anything), because I don’t necessarily understand it, but there were some cool paintings there that were at least mildly interesting.

Also, before going to the museum, we got to go inside this cathedral:

Also: Those guys in the picture are professors from our school.
Antonio, on the left, is the OU adviser while we're here.
(We are accumulating a list of funny Antonio quotes, all of which will be shared later.)

It was beautiful (of course), and naturally cool inside—so a nice break from the general lack of air conditioning around here.

During our lunch break, we ate at a little café with a nice view. Here’s the view from our window, right next to our table:

well, this is the view from my seat at least. I could have gotten up to get a better pic,
but I was hungry!

Oh, and this is the bridge we had to walk across to get from the bus to the old area of Cuenca, and back:

It was kind of intense, but had a beautiful view!

(when we got back from Cuenca, I wasn’t feeling well and fell into a deep nap/coma. Apparently while I was asleep, Madre Carmen was telling Kaitlin how she was worried about me, and had hot tea set out for me to drink with dinner to make me feel better. She’s so sweet and motherly! Even when she leaves milk setting out all night…) So that was pretty much my Friday!

Saturday, Kaitlin and I went to the city pool, just a couple blocks away from our apartment. She swam laps while I read Twilight on a beach towel in the grass, and soaked up some sun (with sunscreen on!) for a couple hours. Then we went back, ate lunch, showered, and went to the mall! At first it felt like a giant Dillard’s or Macy’s or something. But it had like 7 floors.

-For example, one floor was basically a Bed, Bath, & Beyond.

-Another was just like Borders, with books, music, movies, and a café.

-The top floor had tons of TV’s, electronics, and toys (we spent most of our time up there watching highlights from the 2004 Olympics in Athens, on one of the display TVs).

-Another had lingerie and baby clothes (which at first seemed like a random mix, but later I realized that the former leads to the latter… think about it).

-And the bottom floor had make-up, accessories, shoes, and you know, a grocery store/supermarket.

So it was cool to see what it was like, but the only thing we bought was at the ice cream stand outside—I got frozen lemonade; Kaitlin got a vanilla ice cream cone.

So that was Saturday!

Sunday (today), we got up early-ish again to go to the Rastro in Madrid. Basically, at least a mile of streets and sidewalks covered in little tents selling all the souvenirs you could ask for—and more. Let’s just say I spent money there… And got LOTS of souvenirs! In fact, if you’re reading this, I probably got you something (Mom… Jon/Ashley… Colin).  But seriously, I was happy with my purchases! It was hard to resist everything though! (before we even got to the Rastro, we stopped at a little “tienda” (store) where some cute scarves caught our eye. We spent quite a bit of time there, because they had cute dresses, shirts, pants, and TONS of scarves! It was a good start, but it definitely got us in spending mode… Again, hard to resist all that Madrid had to offer!

When we got back from the Rastro, we recovered with a siesta. When I woke up, I got up and dumped everything I had bought that day onto my bed. Let’s just say I will probably have to buy a huge duffel bag to take as my 2^nd carry-on when I fly home… not kidding. Wish I was. For dinner, Kaitlin and I decided we wanted to splurge (the theme of the day, in a way) and go out for Mexican food! (Don’t judge us. We had a craving and went with it.) We each wore a new dress that we bought at the first little Tienda, and on our way out the door Madre Carmen was going on and on about how beautiful we looked (story of my life, right?), and she was impressed that the dresses we bought we didn’t even try on (due to the lack of dressing rooms), because they fit us perfectly. She was so sweet and sincere in telling us that! I felt so loved by her. It was precious.

At the restaurant, we had our own little private romantic table upstairs. Haha (we invited a group of people but we were late telling them about it, and late meeting them because of Madre Carmen’s compliments) we literally were the only ones up there. Here’s what our cute little booth looked like:

My lovely "date", in our cozy booth with a view.

I had nachos, Kaitlin had an enchilada. It was pricey, and not as delicious as the Mexican food I remember from back when I lived in Oklahoma, but it hit the spot for sure! We even splurged (again) and got dessert at McDonald’s. (seriously, their "Cono Black&White" is scrumptious).

Tomorrow begins the last week of school before finals!! (but it’s only a 3-day week, because Thursday is apparently a holiday here!). Oh and I've had a request for a video update, so that is coming soon... Until then, hasta luego. (I just repeated myself... "hasta luego" means "until then"... whatever. I'm repetitive and redundant sometimes.)