Halloween y Segovia

so yesterday was Halloween. here its pretty similar to the states where people dress up and go around for candy, but im not exactly sure how the kids knew where to knock because I didn't see any porch lights on... so I don't know. but as for me, I met up with some friends from school outside of the school at about 7, and we walked farther into pozuelo. my school is in pozuelo, but its right on the edge. anyway, they bought some alcohol in a chino, and we walked to a park. on the way we had run into some other friends and they came with us, as well. they were my Romanian friends and on the way I learned 1-10, I love you, and hey you in Romanian. so it was a successful walk. so anyway, we were in the park, and the parks here are mostly the same, except I've noticed they don't really have swings in a lot of them. but in this one there was this thing. I don't even know how to explain it, but in essence there were tires and we were going in circles and it was just super fun. so we hung out there and more people came. at one moment,  one of my friends got out tobacco and paper and all that stuff, and was trying to roll a cigarette, but apparently he didn't usually smoke and couldn't do it, and since I had seen it done so many times, i actually rolled it for him. i didn't smoke or drink or anything, don't worry family. i actually left before anything really got going, but that was because i knew it would take a while to get home, so i left at like 10. so yeah, overall it was fun, and i enjoyed hanging out with them. so at 10 Jaime (hai-may) and Irene (ee-reh-nay) walked with me to the train station of pozuelo, and there i payed for a ticket. but i noticed that all the security things, where you put your ticket in, and it opens the little doors, were all open. and then when i got to aravaca everything was open as well, so apparently i didn't even have to pay, but whatever. im supporting the economy. so it was a good night.

so today is 'dia de los muertos' (day of the dead). but i was told by Lucia that people here don't say that because its such a strong phrase, so instead they call it 'dia de todos los santos' (day of all the saints). so usually this day is for visiting graves and putting flowers on them or whatever you want to do. but apparently there wasn't anyone my family needed to visit, so instead i went to Segovia with my father, his sister, and her husband. Ana and my mother are in Istanbul for a few days for Ana's birthday (im so jealous). but anyway, first my father and i drove to Pilar and Carlos's house. and then we went in their car to their daughter Ana's house. so Ana actually kindof lives in a house house. like it was pretty big. and she had a backyard. all the houses were still attached on the side, but its definitely the closest thing to a house that I've come across. so i enjoyed seeing her and her 2 kids. then we 4 left and headed to Segovia. there was a ton of traffic, so it took a while to get there. but it was amazing. its known for the 2000 year old aqueduct, the cathedral, and the castle. there's also a set of mountains called 'mujer muerto' (dead women) for the way they look. i didn't bring my camera, but here are some pictures from the wonderful internet.

 

mujer muerto

 

catedral de segovia

 

pretty little view

 

really old aqueduct.

 

so yeah. it was awesome. we walked around for a while and looked at stuff and talked and it was just great. also, during lunch, we were talking a lot about the differences between America and Spain and it was really nice to be able to have input into the conversation. Pilar was super nice about including me and it was a good day.

 

 my 2 month anniversary is coming up and its so odd. but i am loving it here. im really learning to seize the moment. like, if im not having fun, i have to go up to someone and start a conversation, or i have to talk to friends and make plans. i have to take that initiative and its actually a really awesome feeling. so yeah. 

 

M