so i'm starting to pick up on habits of the city, for instance: it's very common to hear firework noises but see no fireworks anywhere. it kind of sounds like a wild west shootout circa the 1890's. today, kara and andrea said they were walking to a cafetería and a little kid set off a bunch of fireworks right in front of them as a joke, really funny.

also common: intense kissing in the calles, coches , restaurantes, you name it. apparently, it's normal to live with your parents here until you get married and move out. the Spanish are

also very private about their homes, so it's not appropriate to bring guests back to your home often unless invited for a meal or something. the result is a TON of PDA. it's usually not

so bad but on the beaches it gets real. especially since the girls are typically topless.

another fun fact: there's rarely ever toilet paper in public bathrooms and they have a strange sense of humor about the signs they use for the bathroom. very calvin and hobbes

i ended up in the centro historico last night and met up with people at pub corona, a little bar in the carmen area. inside, there were these big metal tree things with little tables sticking off of branches and they had string lights on the limbs that changed colors, and little ornaments hanging off the ends of the branches. reminded me of bonnaroo

the carmen area has lots of bar/discos that are smaller than the discotecas and don't charge a cover, but are fun for talking to locals and practicing my spanish. ran into a bunch of australians in a place called the music box last n

ight and i had the hardest time understanding them because i was expecting to hear spanish and their accents kept throwing me off. the best part though is they play spanish mashups of popular american songs from like 2 or 3 years ago so it was fun listening to throwbacks with a little salsa flair

made myself get up this morning and spent the day on the beach for like 7 hours. it was packed today, i guess sundays are muy popular for going to the beach. me quemé un poco, but only on one side of my face because i fell asleep on my stomach with my face turned to the side. i look a little ridiculous, might wear a turtleneck to class tomorrow

tonight for dinner we had deviled egg

s with a twist, they were in a pan made with tuna (made me think of cami) but then just covered with shredded lettuce. so i guess that's considered a salad? and we had baked potatoes and pasta salad. not just any old pasta salad though, the only ingredient in it that i was accustomed to was the pasta and oil part. there were also: raisins, crab meat, pineapple, cheese, apples, and corn. but it's all delicious here, especially those french fries; she fries them in oil with garlic and salt, eat your heart out mcdonalds.

i'm going to rest up tonight for my second first-day-of-classes, deséenme suerte!