La chupeterría.

I just got back to Málaga from orientation in Granada. It was exhausting! Me and three other auxiliares (that's what we're called--auxiliares de conversación de inglés) took the trip together on Wednesday at noon. We got to Granada, checked in to our hotel, then went to go eat. I had seen a lot of pizzerias around here, but it was my first time trying pizza in Spain. Mmm, it was good. God knows what the toppings were, but it was good. All I remember is that it had chorizo and ham. When we got there, we met up with three other auxiliares that I had hung out with before. One of them looks like Fiona Apple.

So, on Wednesday, we decided to go out drinking even though we had to wake up early for orientation the next day. We went to this 'tapas bar' first. Spain is big on tapas. They're small dishes or appetizers that you order instead of meals. I like it. It's like a small portion of food, and people usually go from one tapas bar to the next. Anyway, they didn't have San Miguel beer, so we got Alhambra beer. Mmm, also a good beer. We got free tapas, too! That place was cool. It was totally beat by the next place we went, a 'chupeterría'. That place does not kid around. Just so you know, a chupito is a shot. That's all they serve--shots. You walk in, and there's this huge menu of like 120 different shots. Each time you get a shot, you get a point. You can redeem your points for sombreros, caps, shirts and even a thong! We aimed for the thong, but were 40 shots short. We only had like 40 points. Only. I was pretty tipsy by that point, but we kept on. We drunkenly walked to the city center, had another beer, then decided it was too late to be out since we had to wake up early the next day. It was a pain having to wake up at 8am.

Orientation was... eh. I don't like big crowds of people, and there were about 375 auxiliares there. I get really quiet around that many people, so I didn't get to meet too many new people. It didn't seem worth it, either, because we were all going to be spread out around Spain, and I had already met a bunch of people who will be working in Málaga. It's frustrating to see everyone quickly make friends, though, because, for me, socializing with that many new people is a chore.

I think that I'll be attending a bullfight this coming weekend! A couple of girls who I've hung out with a few times invited everyone to their place in Fuengirola because there's going to be a big feria that starts on Friday and goes on for a week. I think the bullfights are on Sunday, and Spanish ferias are notorious for going on until the sun comes up the next day, so it should be a fun way to ring in year twenty-four. Ay, ni quiero pensar de eso. I'll stay twenty-three for.ev.er.

Today is my dad's birthday! Feliz cumpleaños, Eme!

Pictures are coming soon. I swear. I'm just waiting to have Internet access at home because I don't think I can download them onto these computers at the Internet cafe. I don't even know why I call them Internet cafes since they're technically called locutorios. I think it's because the first one I went to was actually a cafe, so it stuck.

Oh yeah, I also start my job tomorrow. I'm pretty nervous because I don't really know what I'll be doing, but I guess I'll see.

Anyway, good night.