I just finished walking back from Glamour, a bar and restaurant really close to Madison's house, and I sweated so much that it's disgusting. I'm trying to feel cool and fresh again but so far it's not happening.
Anyways, today was the last day of class so we took an exam. It evaluated auditory and reading comprehension and oral and written expression. It wasn't very hard, and everyone got certificates. It was a little sad to leave, and I got the email addresses of Virginia, Lisa and Irene Yoon. Lisa told me that if I am in China I should look her up. :) Yoon asked how long I'd been studying Spanish and said I was very good and spoke fluidly, which was a nice compliment.
Anyways, today was the last day of class so we took an exam. It evaluated auditory and reading comprehension and oral and written expression. It wasn't very hard, and everyone got certificates. It was a little sad to leave, and I got the email addresses of Virginia, Lisa and Irene Yoon. Lisa told me that if I am in China I should look her up. :) Yoon asked how long I'd been studying Spanish and said I was very good and spoke fluidly, which was a nice compliment.
I had lunch with Pepe and madison at Habana Burrito and, as per usual, we had a lot of fun. I thought that I would like the conference today--about women in Cuba--but I didn't. The professor talked very fast and complained a lot about the price differences between Cuba and the US. She didn't say anything negative about what it's like to be a woman in Cuba; nothing about machismo, sexism in Cuba or anything like that, and I was glad when she was done. She just kept repeating that there are more women at the university level than men in Cuba, but there are also more women here too. The guy who talked about sexuality seemed to have a much better idea about the actual sexim/piropos/etc. going on in Cuba than she did!
The other girls went to dinner to celebrate the last day of class, but they didn't let Madison and I know about it. Pepe and us went to Habana Libre to buy cigars (I bought a box of machine-made ones--cheaper--and two handmade Montecristos, one for my dad and one for Ryan). Then Madison and I visited the market that is on Avenida 23 between Calle M and Calle N. We met a really friendly vendor who is in his year-long ceremonia de santos. I asked him which oricha he had because his beaded necklace was black and red, and I couldn't remember which it was--he told me Eleggua. I couldn't open one of the "magic boxes" for a long time--it was quite a struggle--but he laughed with me when I finally opened it and said "I did it, I did it!" (in Spanish). He laughed so much that I had to buy it. I got the little box and dominoes for 5CUC. We were looked at other stuff but we returned to that vendor because he was the least aggressive and the most agreeable. Madison bought a bundle for 15CUC, so we're both done buying things. She wasn't going to go to Varadero with the rest of us tomorrow but now that he has bought everything she needed to and still has a little money, she's going to go.
Pepe, Sarai, Madison and I went to see the movie Relatos Salvajes at Cine Yara and we liked it a lot. The title was very accurate--they were indeed wild stories--but I liked it and laughed a lot. There was a lot of dark humor in it. I think the movie was Argentinean. Madison and I bought a 2 liter bottle of orange pop and Sarai brought strawberry cookies, and we really enjoyed the experience. And of course it was super cheap again--just about 10 cents USD for a ticket!
Afterwards Madison and I went to Coppelia again. We were going to leave because the line was not moving very fast, but then we saw that the flavor of the day was coconut, my favorite, and we had to stay. The line moved pretty quickly afterward and soon we were enjoying our delicious (and cheap!) ice cream. We stopped at her house before visiting Glamour, where I had a Cuba Libre and ate a Hawaiian pizza. I also met Freddie, a very well-educated, gentleman-like waiter, who had wanted to go on a date with Brittany and had hung out with her a lot.
Then we walked to my house and Lute didn't seem annoyed with me, which is good. I am ready for Varadero, but I can't believe there's only three days left! Buenas noches.
xoxo, xenophile
The other girls went to dinner to celebrate the last day of class, but they didn't let Madison and I know about it. Pepe and us went to Habana Libre to buy cigars (I bought a box of machine-made ones--cheaper--and two handmade Montecristos, one for my dad and one for Ryan). Then Madison and I visited the market that is on Avenida 23 between Calle M and Calle N. We met a really friendly vendor who is in his year-long ceremonia de santos. I asked him which oricha he had because his beaded necklace was black and red, and I couldn't remember which it was--he told me Eleggua. I couldn't open one of the "magic boxes" for a long time--it was quite a struggle--but he laughed with me when I finally opened it and said "I did it, I did it!" (in Spanish). He laughed so much that I had to buy it. I got the little box and dominoes for 5CUC. We were looked at other stuff but we returned to that vendor because he was the least aggressive and the most agreeable. Madison bought a bundle for 15CUC, so we're both done buying things. She wasn't going to go to Varadero with the rest of us tomorrow but now that he has bought everything she needed to and still has a little money, she's going to go.
Pepe, Sarai, Madison and I went to see the movie Relatos Salvajes at Cine Yara and we liked it a lot. The title was very accurate--they were indeed wild stories--but I liked it and laughed a lot. There was a lot of dark humor in it. I think the movie was Argentinean. Madison and I bought a 2 liter bottle of orange pop and Sarai brought strawberry cookies, and we really enjoyed the experience. And of course it was super cheap again--just about 10 cents USD for a ticket!
Afterwards Madison and I went to Coppelia again. We were going to leave because the line was not moving very fast, but then we saw that the flavor of the day was coconut, my favorite, and we had to stay. The line moved pretty quickly afterward and soon we were enjoying our delicious (and cheap!) ice cream. We stopped at her house before visiting Glamour, where I had a Cuba Libre and ate a Hawaiian pizza. I also met Freddie, a very well-educated, gentleman-like waiter, who had wanted to go on a date with Brittany and had hung out with her a lot.
Then we walked to my house and Lute didn't seem annoyed with me, which is good. I am ready for Varadero, but I can't believe there's only three days left! Buenas noches.
xoxo, xenophile