second-hand smoke

I did it! I joined the gym. I really don't actually like gyms. I hate working out where other people can see me. Not that people are actually watching me, but the fact that they could if they wanted to just freaks me out. And makes me super self-conscious. (Apparently I'm forgetting how to speak English. It took me 4 tries to spell "conscious" correctly. And about 3 minutes to correctly type that last sentence.) But, I DID IT!!! I not only joined, but I even actually worked out. I had to wander around looking lost and ridiculous for a while to figure out where everything was, but then I actually worked out. Apparently only guys in Spain go to the gym. I was the only girl in there until one of my female classmates joined me. Anyway, I made it. Hopefully I keep going in. Well, I have to, because I paid a lot for a three-month membership. Can't let that go to waste.

Aaaaanyway, on to some much more interesting things. Well a little bit more interesting. My group went to Itálica yesterday. My group of 5 plus some others from CIEE. By "some others" I mean "the most obnoxious, stereotypical American students that exist" from CIEE. Good thing I didn't have to talk to any of them. Yikes, hopefully none of them somehow see this. Okay, the people that I actually talked to were cool. The others were too cool to talk to us "TDP" ers. Okay, back to the main point. Well, I already said it. We went to Itálica. It was pretty cool. Roman ruins in Spain. An amphitheater, house, mosaics, statues....pretty lovely! (I'll add some photos to this later)

Besides working out, Roman ruins and obnoxious students, I have been doing other things as well. First of all, we went into a candy store the other day. I might buy every single goody in that entire store to bring home. If I don't spend all my money on a flamenco dress for Sierra. One of the things we saw in the store was "chocolate olives." Chocolate. And olives? Hmmm. Well, we had to try it. We went back another day when we got up enough courage. We scooped like 5 of these so-called chocolate olives into a bag and paid for them. Then we walked outside and took one of the little goodies in our hands. Then we did the Spanish toast: "arriba, abajo, al centro, al dentro" ("up, down, to the center, inside." wow that doesn't quite have the same sentiment in English). Then we bit into the savory morsel. Words can't describe the flavor. A picture will have to do:




Wait a second.....that's just chocolate. Liars! It is an olive-shaped and olive-colored chocolate. That's as olive-y as it gets. So disappointing. Although delicious, chocolate-y disappointment.

Besides these things, I've been watching some television. And movies. Dumb ch131.com. It's going to be the death of me. I can still watch all the shows I would be watching at home. Plus some. And movies. Yikes. New hilarious show that I found? Running Wilde. Congratulations again, Fox. Will Arnette, Kerry Russell and Tobias from Arrested Development? Hilarious. Love it.

Well, this has been my life in Spain for the last few days. So exciting, huh? hahahah Although one exciting thing is that I bought plane tickets to SWITZERLAND!!!! I'll be there for 4 days or so, sooooo excited! My lovely friend Isabelle will be my host, and I found some cheap plane tickets, so it will probably be one of the cheapest yet farthest trips I'll be taking while here. Yipeee! Can't wait to see what Switzerland is like in December. Wait, what am I talking about? It's going to be freezing. Better go shopping... :D

Oh yeah, regarding the title. My señora's sister has taken to coming into her house to smoke multiple times during the day. I might explode. I don't like smelling smoke, I don't like smelling like smoke, and I don't like...smoke. If I'm not smelling the garbage that's right outside my window, I'm smelling cigarette smoke encroaching on my poor lung lining. Or whatever it encroaches on. If that's even the right word.

Yikes, I should have quit typing a really long time ago. Nothing like rambling on and on about nothing...