Awkward and Awesome Thursday: Fiestas de Amigos y Sardinas

Strawberry buttercream cake that looks suspiciously like a slice of pepperoni sub in this shot

I know I'm about a week late posting about this, but for Valentine's Day last week, our class had the lovely idea to get together to celebrate our friendship while the majority of the remaining civilized world was celebrating mushy gushy love. (Who am I kidding? I like that mushy stuff, too . . .)

Since Josh and I were the only two "lovers," so to speak, in the class, we felt silly running off to have our own little romantic evening while the other girls sat home alone watching Grey's Anatomy reruns. Therefore, viva la fiesta! We ate goodies, talked about our vacation plans, and attempted to play cards . . . but Kristen left early with the only sufficient knowledge of card-playing that we had between the six of us.

It was awkward, it was awesome, and a lovely time was had by all <3

Smooth like strawberry buttercream ;-)

Awkward:

• Unsalted popcorn . . . or rather, salting the unsalted popcorn for myself and creating an acrid mixture of crunchy crystalline chemicals masquerading as a party snack. I did better on take 2.
• Washing my skinny jeans (which were somehow eluded by laundry day) by hand . . . while I was in the shower . . .
• Broken sink, so I guess I'll also be brushing my teeth in the shower.
• Having Bre and Allie over for dinner and Carmen forgetting to feed them! Talk about a misunderstanding.
• Bre once again managing to stay out of every single picture I took at the above get-together.
• Finally making a hike to the mall at El Bulevar and finding out 2 euros later that it is closed on Sundays.
• Carnival. Funny costumes and good music, but it was so random and unorganized! We had no idea what was going on.
• The waiter at carnival who didn't seem to want us to get up from our table. Ever.
• The Gregorian chants floating up to my room as I type this. Apparently a local church is burning a giant paper sardine to represent the death of the flesh as lent begins.

Awesome:

• Popcorn (not the sinfully salty batch) covered in chocolate and cherry liqueur. Only the best for our Valentine's Day bash.
• Apparently sheep in Spain say "Meh" instead of "Baa." Haha, perpetually indifferent sheep.
• The little boy breaking it down onstage to a Rihanna song at Carnival. I have a video! Coming soon ;-)
• Gofres. Deep-fried waffles with ice cream and flavored syrup. Yes, please.
• Cathedrals. They never cease to amaze. They also do a good job of helping us decide which cities to visit. "Do they have a cathedral?" "No? Eh, let's skip it."
• Spanish bagpipes. Think Celtic times Africa and then divide by amazing.
• Finding a little craft store in Avila Centro! I'm going to buy some yarn and start some projects.
• Mastering the complicated bus system here in Spain. I once was blind, but now I see! 
• OMG OMG OMG OMG We're going to Milan tonight!!! I am so blessed :-D