Broken Down

Hola mis amores!!!
Well...the things I have to tell you! First of all, the dinner at La Vaca Argentina was incredibly fun...we got all dressed up and went out for a good meal (actually I didn´t really like what I ordered, surprise, surprise). But Alec and Molly decided to share a big steak, and when they brought it out, the thing was still bleeding. No lie. Alec, who had pretty much forced Molly to share it with him, decided to make the best of the situation and chowed down on the first piece, insisting that the texture was pretty good and the flavor wasn´t bad either. That was when the waitress brought out the hot plate, where you cook your RAW steak right at the table.
I almost peed in my pants.
Then on the way home, I was walking down the Serrano, minding my own business, wearing my headphones, cause it´s a safe neighborhood, when an older man, about 50ish, wearing a pink tie and an ugly face, stopped me. I figured that he wanted directions, because that´s what everyone wants from me, and the best I can usually do is point them in the wrong direction. However, after I had liberated my ears from my ipod, he invited me for a ¨copa¨which is a drink, followed by the ¨cama¨which is bed.
Now, my parents have done an excellent job of raising me. They raised me with morals and values, so I knew that when an older, ugly man who I don´t know asks me on the street to go get a drink and go to bed with him, I do not comply. However, they also raised a cultured daughter, with manners to boot. So I simply smiled at him, a dazzling smile if I do say so myself, and proceeded with a very polite, ¨No, gracias.¨and continued on my way.
Looking back, I will acknowledge that the proper response would have been to slap him.
Anyway, then we went off to Andalucia, which as far as I can tell is in the bottom right corner of Spain, or at least in that general area. We started off in Cordoba, where we visited the Mezquita, which I still can´t spell, and where we tried Bull´s Tail.
Bull´s Tail is a delicacy in Spain, and so we were all pretty much cornered into trying it. I was a little bit uncomfortable, ok I was REALLY uncomfortable, but I decided that I had to eat SOMETHING weird while I´m in Spain, so I decided to give it a go. And you know what? I liked it. It didn´t really look like bull tail, which probably really helped.
Ok enough about that...we did a lot of driving on this trip...six hours to Cordoba, followed by quite a few more to Sevilla (I lost track). In Sevilla, we saw the Virgen de la Macarena, which no longer reminds me of that awful song, and oh geez, what else did we do? It already seems like a long time ago. We got really good tapas at a CHEAP restaurant, and then I went to bed early. On Saturday, we saw the Cathedral? Yeah, that would make sense...we also took a carriage ride through the city, which was INCREDIBLE, and then we went out to a lunch that I didn´t like. I think I´m getting really tired of Spanish food. Then we continued on to Granada, where we stayed in a really sleazy hotel, with modern style, and the walls were painted grey and yellow...yeesh..
Granada wasn´t my favorite place...they have a beautiful cathedral, and they have a wonderful mix of different cultures, but it was a bit much for me. It was kind of dirty...the area we were at was covered with construction which didn´t help. But we did go out for some AMAZING Moroccan tea. Oh my gosh, I want to learn how to make it. I can´t even DESCRIBE it. So that was really fun. And the waiter wrote all our names for us in Arabic, which was really neat. But some people were smoking hookah, which tends to get to me even if I don´t smoke it, so Molly and I tried to go back early, but ended up getting semi-lost and getting back at the same time as everyone else.
On Sunday I got to go to mass at the Cathedral which was incredible. I got up at 7 to go at 8, forgetting that I am in Spain and people are still coming in from the night before at 8am. So I ended up having to wait until 10:30, and being slightly peeved. Then we saw where los reyes catolicos are buried (Isabel and Fernando), which I found really fascinating. They have a way better grave than Franco, which makes me happy, but I still think that they should have like a firework show where famous people are buried, so that you don´t miss it.
We also went to La Alhambra, which is a really HUGE palace in Granada. It has amazing gardens and the Moorish influence is absolutely incredible. We went for a two hour long tour, which usually kills me, but I actually really loved it.
And now we get to the reference of ¨broken down,¨I´m sure you were all wondering. Yesterday I went to a cafe where there is Wi-Fi, so that I could write to you all and start research for my poly-sci presentation. This is where my beloved computer crashed, burned, broke down, died a horrible, horrible death. Actually, I have no clue, but I´m pretty sure that it´s fixable, but basically it won´t start and it won´t tell me anything except that I have some software installed incorrectly. But I didn´t install anything.
However, one thing that I´ve learned is that you can´t panic, because panic will do absolutely nothing to rectify the situation. So I calmly packed up my computer, considered my options (I THINK I know someone who can help???) and proceeded to go shopping. I felt much better after I bought a t-shirt with a pig on it, holding a sign that says I love Vegetarians, which I am wearing today (I had a ham sandwich for lunch).
So basically...I have no computer, I am leaving for Portugal tomorrow, and oh yeah, today is my last day as a ¨child.¨ Ugh...I can´t believe my birthday is tomorrow...I kind of want tomorrow to just be over.
Thank you to all of you who have offered to call me on my birthday, thank you to all of you who have offered pre-birthday wishes (thank you Jeff!!), thank you to those who have already called me or made me smile (thank you Alex!).
¡¡¡¡¡Muchos besos!!!!!!