¿Adónde fue Marzo?

Oh my goodness, where did March go? I cannot believe that it is already March 21! This month has gone by so fast it is crazy! I have spent this entire month in Alicante which was much needed after spending all of February traveling. I just have fallen even more in love with this city, with this country and with my madre. I have also realized how I could never live without my family, my friends, peanut butter or March Madness. So what have I been doing all month? I will tell you but before I must apologize because this is a very shortened version... I have been doing a horrible job about keeping up with this!

The week after Munich, I must admit, I was totally worn out! From constant traveling, I needed a week to resettle back into my routine, back into classes and back into life at Aurora's. I think she was happy to have me back too and we spent the majority of the week just catching up. That Friday, March 5th, was Jose Carlos' concert, Aurora's son. His band is called Grave Yacht Club and Jose is the lead singer. Aurora told me about the concert and I invited Tracy to come with me. It was at a bar and his music is much different than Beatrice's calm, soothing kind. His was very energetic and loud! I loved it! Aurora's friend, Pedro and her sister, Lola, came too! Plus, we just happened to see three boys from our program at the concert. It was just a great night... One of my favorites in Alicante!

Then, that Sunday, March 7th, was the Alicante vs. Elche soccer game. Pedro invited Aurora and I to the game. Elche is about 20 minutes away from Alicante so there is a very intense rivalry there... Way more intense than the MU/KU "border war" that we have. First of all, the stadium had two completely different levels, one for Elche fans and one for Alicante fans. It was in Elche's stadium so they were closer to the field. There were over 80 buses that came to the stadium from each city. The buses actually picked up the Elche fans first, brought them to the stadium and then went to Alicante and did the same thing. They didn't want the buses to arrive at the same time because there have been so many fights in the past, so they used the same buses for both cities. Throughout the entire game they were yelling back and forth, singing songs to one another. It was hilarious! Little boys would just hold up their middle fingers to the Elche fans, women were screaming like men, men were taking off their shirts and yelling... I just sat there laughing with Aurora and Pedro. Pedro is actually from Elche but we sat on the Alicante level. So, when Elche scored he had to hide his excitement! Haha. Elche won 2-0 even though Alicante is number one in the league and should have won. Hercules (the Alicante soccer team name) has won the division and is now going to the Premiere Division and will play against teams like Madrid and Barcelona next season! So even though Hercules lost, the fans still were screaming and singing way louder than the Elche fans. They sang things like "Este año, sube Hercules!" over and over again. That means, "This year, Hercules moves up!" They also sang "A la primera!" That means "To the first division!"

Once the game was over, all of the Elche fans had to exit the stadium before the Alicante fans could. This meant all 80 buses had to be loaded, driven back to Elche and then back to the stadium to pick up the Alicante fans. We had to wait for almost an hour and the Hercules fans did not stop singing or celebrating! Ha, they are just so excited that Alicante has won the division and will be playing the bigger more popular teams next season. We didn't even ride in the buses and we had to wait, but atleast we were entertained by the crazy fans! After the game we went to dinner at this Italian restaurant in Elche that was very good. Aurora and Pedro like to take their time during the meal and especially after the meal just eating and drinking. It was fun but I was getting tired and was ready to go. Finally, after a couple hours and after I think the restaurant had already closed, we left and went to a little cafe. We drank some tea and just sat around talking. I really like talking to them, they have very interesting views on things. Although I don't always agree, I like talking about it and learning about what they think. One funny thing is that I think Pedro is in love with Aurora. He says she loves him too but she won't admit it, ha! She tells me he is "like a little boy" and kind of immature. Anyways, finally, we got back to Alicante around 9:00 PM and they dropped me off. Then, they walked around Alicante for some "alone time." Hehe.

The following week, Tracy's sisters came to Alicante. I was excited for her but it made me very jealous also because I would wish Brittany and Kelsey could come visit me! Ahh, that would just be so, so, so fun. Anyways, on Tuesday I went out to dinner with them and then we went to Dos Gringos for the beer pong tournament that they have every week. You have to pay 3 Euro to play and then the winner gets some of the money. There are about 22 teams or something like that so it is alot of fun.. And alot of people. Annie and Beth played these two girls and they went into overtime but eventually lost. Tracy and I played two frat boys from Mississippi and they were pretty obnoxious and no, I am not just saying that because they won before we even made one cup. So, we lost in the first round also and were left with a lot of beer to drink! We stayed around for a couple more rounds of the tournament and it was still going on around 3:30 AM when we left!

The next night, we went out for mojitos! We went to this place called Coscorrón, which literally means "a hit on the head." We had heard about this place that has the best mojitos in the world and has a little door. We walked around the barrio trying to find it and saw what looked like a window, but nope it was the little door! We joked that the people inside would say, "Who are these weirdos coming in through the window?" The name comes from the door because people hit their heads on it when coming in, they get a "coscorrón." Haha. The mojitos were SO great and I cannot wait to take my future visitors there!

The weekend was also alot of fun, we went to usual spots, Mulligans and Carpe Diem. It was really fun and I had my first official Spanish going out night because I didn't go out until midnight and didn't come home until 5:30 AM! Haha, Aurora was proud of me for being a true Spanaird! Of course, that same day, her family was coming over for the day so I was woken up by Marina!

I was putting in my contacts when she came in and started asking what I was doing and why I was putting "circles" in my eyes. Haha. I love when her family comes over though so I didn't even mind that they had interrupted my slumber. Ana, Beatrice, Jose Carlos, Marina and Ana's husband/Marina's dad Juan Carlos, plus Aurora and I all hung out in the kitchen while Aurora cooked. They are all so nice to me and talk slowly so that I can understand. They make me feel comfortable and remind me of my own family.. It's a really good feeling. We ate lunch, siesta-ed and then hung out in "la sala" for the rest of the evening. Jose and Beatrice left early but Ana, Juan Carlos and Marina hung out for a long time with Aurora and I. I even showed Ana pictures of my family from Christmas. She loved the "American style" kitchen which I guess it is known as over here because they have smaller kitchens and we value more open spaces. She kept saying how good looking Uncle Will and my dad are... They look like "Americans in the movies." Haha, that made me laugh really hard and Juan Carlos gave her a disapproving look. They have been dating since they were like 14 and are so cute together. Plus, Juan Carlos is adorable with Marina. We started watching some cartoon movie and Marina didn't want to leave until it was over. So, while she went to the bathroom, Ana quickly told Juan Carlos to fastforward it. I was laughing so hard when Marina walked back in because they had fastforwarded probably over half of the movie and she didn't even notice. She gave me a sassy look and asked what I was laughing at. She is such a sass and I love it. Just so cute.

Ok, so that brings me up to date to this week. Wednesday was St. Patrick's Day which was so much fun! Before leaving for class that day, I explained to Aurora that we celebrate St. Patrick's Day in America and it is a pretty big holiday for drinking green beer and going out. Plus, we have to wear green or we get pinched! Haha, she thought that was pretty humorous. Then, that day in class the Europeans made fun of us for wearing green, but we explained to them that it is an American tradition! All of them think it is hilarious that us Americans celebrate an Irish holiday. They think we just look for a reason to drink beer. But, I told them that a large percentage of Americans have a little Irish in them something that they hadn't really realized before so they agreed that we had reason to celebrate. We went to Mulligans that night because they were having a St. Patty's Day celebration with free tequila. Needless to say, it was a fun night!

Thursday was devoted to our marketing project that is due this week. Tracy and I got Subway for lunch and spent the day on Aurora's couch working on our paper and powerpoint. On Friday, I went to Tracy's for dinner with her and Elvira. Elvira might be lacking in the cuteness and talkative that Aurora has but she makes up for it in her cooking and her hospitality. She made us some great paella and is a pretty sweet old lady. Then, on Saturday, Beatrice and Jose Carlos came over during the day for lunch. We hung out for most of the day and then I went to Erin's. We had our own Mexican fiesta to start the night out, complete with fajitas and beans! It was so delicious and I was pretty proud of ourselves for making such a great meal!

Another accomplishment of the past week was finding a website for a live stream of the NCAA tournament. I love it! Ha, and it helps me feel connected to life at home. So, today I am planning on watching the MU game. Can't wait!

During the week, I still have class Monday-Thursday and I try and workout every day. Plus, with the weather getting nicer, I have been able to run on the boardwalk near the beach which I love. I cannot wait until I can just wake up, walk to the beach and spend the day taking in the sun, but I think that may still be about a month away.

This week Caroline comes! Yay! I am super excited to have my first Alicante visitor! She will be here on Wednesday but unfortunately she gets here right during my marketing presentation so I will have to meet her at the hostel. I have alot planned so I hope the weather stays nice.. Not like today, It is raining!

Then, I leave for my cruise on April 5th, get back to Alicante on the 12th and Granny and Pop will be here. Then, I travel with them, return to Alicante on the 19th and April is over! I cannot believe how fast this experience is going by. It is crazy! I am so excited to go home but I already know I will miss it here.

That is all for now! Expect another update after Caroline's visit! Love and miss you all!

Love, Me.