Ya es OCTUBRE!

Merida is a much better city then I could have ever imagined. Not only does it have great Roman Ruins (still have to see them...waiting for some visiters!!) but there are quite a bit of other activities as well. Friday morning we went to a forum on Migration and Development in Extremadura, mostly dealing with Moroccan immigrants. It was interesting to as well because my final research paper for Spanish dealt with similar themes. And believe it or not, it felt good to actually be doing something a bit academic. Of course I am enjoying the leisure activities here but I also am glad to be getting involved in other ways as well.

Friday night we (my flatmate Sara and Kristina, from the UK) ordered in Telepizza...Spains version of Pizza Hut. VERY delicious! We also met up with our American friend Ben and his neighbors who showed us a great time. It is very true that the people in this region are super friendly and want to help you in any way if need be.

Saturday was a fun day as we went to Mérida's basketball game. There are a couple guys on the team from the US, and one put on quite a good show. It was cool to see how some cheers/chants are universal. Although there was no "wave" there was plenty of cheering and horn blowing as Mérida won by 2 in the last 30 seconds. Also on a funny side note the shot clock was 24 seconds quite an arbitrary number.

Saturday night was fun as well as people from the nearby city of Zafra came to visit. We also had a family style dinner with homemade tortilla de espana, pasta carbonara, bread, meat cheese and of course coffee at the end! Later we went to this place called the La Amsteleria, that Sara and I live above. It reminds me of a Spanish version of Applebees/TGIF...friendly people, standard spanish fair from Tapas to Paella, and frosted mugs. There was a group of about 12 of us from France, Canada, Germany Sweden and Italian! At the end the waiter brought everyone at the table either a t-shirt of this crazy Red back pack/fanny pack/ duffle bag....Surely will make a great Christmas Present...sidenote....(I'll be home for the Holidays!)

Another great thing about our neighbor hood is the near by bakery. Open from 7 am and on, its a great spot for bread and of course pastries! Napolitanas de york (jamon) y queso or Napilitanas de chocolate are possibly the most amazing thing ever...anytime of day or night.

I'm semi looking forward to another week of work, but hope that the kids at Ruta de la Plata (in Calomonte) are a bit more enthusiastic then the first time around...pero, thats typical for the classroom I guess.

Pictures to come soon...time for a shower and some Paella!