Casa de Granada

Another day of classes… nothing too unusual other than having a very boooring substitute teacher for Econ. It’s not that the subject material was boring, it’s just that it went on seemingly forever without any breaks. We were studying the history of the European Union which is very interesting and I don’t know why we have never learned anything at all about it in the past. In Cuento which I had just before this, we simply did introductions for everyone in the classroom which took the entire time period because he arrived late. In previous classes we had way too many students and so he had divided up the class and now we were in our final positions so he found it important to get to know something about each other. Although it was an elementary class I actually felt that it was important and made me feel more comfortable in the classroom. The professor is one of those guys that knows something about everything. He seems like a very well read person who has done a lot of thinking in his life about what things in life are important. I am very excited for the class and I feel like he will give the readings very new and different perspectives while at the same time providing a classroom environment which is favorable to classroom participation. Overall I am very happy with my classes and I’ve already started the process of getting them all approved for when I get back to BC in the Spring. After class and the gym I got back, went on the computer, relaxed, had a massive Italian sausage and ham pasta dish, and took a short nap before going out to the metro stop Tirso de Molina to meet up with my friends for the dinner I organized for that night. Dinner was at 9 so I told everyone to meet at the metro stop at 8:30. Because I organized it I felt like I should be there on time so I ended up getting there 15 minutes early, so I found the restaurant which was up on the 6th floor, pretty much hidden away up there, and checked our reservation. When I got back down, no one was out there. I ended up waiting for 30 minutes out in the cold before Kevin Perrin showed up which was nice because it gave me someone to talk to for a little while and drink the Sangria which I had picked up earlier. 15 Minutes later.. it’s now 5 minutes after our reservation, people started showing up. It all ended up turning our alright and somehow… exactly 14 people showed up to eat. Sometimes things just work out. Dinner was great and got to meet a few new people and catch up a little with Pierro and Andrea. I couldn’t believe that they were both 24 or 25 years old.. they definitely don’t look it. I’m getting old. Food was pretty good. Not excellent. I was expecting better. A lot of fried tapas dishes, but it wasn’t expensive and so that was nice. We all had a good time so that’s all that matters. We then headed over to the Joyeria after counting through tons of small change for the bill. Open bar on Thursdays for just 5 euros.. not a bad deal except for the long lines and the heavy smoke. All my clothes needed to be washed after. I think I’m going to develop lung cancer. Might as well take up smoking. More people smoke in Spain than I’ve ever seen in my life. I headed back early with Greg and Kasia because I, like they, were tired early for some reason. I had even taken a nap. I guess sometimes it just goes that way. I’ll sae up my energy for Saturday night which is El Noche en Blanco, a night when the city doesn’t sleep and everything is open. Everyone goes out and parties and all the museums are open that night. I think we’ll be bar crawling or something in the Huertas district. Finished We Were Soldiers that night and went to bed.