Day 7- Mi Primero Helado de Santander

I think some of the culture shock is sinking in because I’ve been exhausted all day long for the past couple of days. All I wanted to do was sleep. To add to it, my whole body is sore from all the walking I’ve been doing, especially my shins. The hills are killer here! Actually, I would consider them small mountains. Despite the hills, most people walk everywhere they go. Even the elderly are out and about living an active life. I admire them for their healthy lifestyle. 

I woke up at 1 in the afternoon today and was shivering. Turns out the heaters in the house are broken and the repair man won’t be here until Monday. The Samana Santa celebration goes from today through Sunday, so a lot of stores and services are closed. I’m glad I have a warm sweater to wear but one thing I didn’t think to bring and wish I did was a sweatshirt. Nobody wears sweatshirts to school or while running errands in town so I didn’t pack one. Even though I have a million back home I don’t think I can live 3 months without having a comfortable sweatshirt to wear around the house or when it’s cold at night. I’ll have to suck it up and buy one. The weather in general hasn’t been as nice as when I first arrived. It has been more like Oregon like with lots of rain and cooler temperatures. It makes me feel right at home but I hope next week it gets warmer and sunnier so I can make it to the beaches.

I met up with my friends at 10:30 pm at our usual spot in el centro at el correos. We walked to “una heladería” or ice cream shop for dessert. I had already eaten dessert after dinner, but I wasn’t going to turn down an opportunity to eat ice cream. I got mint chocolate chip which is my all time favorite flavor. It tasted even better than regular ice cream since I ordered it in Spanish and was eating it in Spain. Now that I know how good it is I know I'll be a regular.

After ice cream, we went to a café and people ordered coffee or hot chocolate. The hot chocolate here is more like warmed up chocolate syrup. It’s very rich and thick. If you want to order the type we are used to you have to specify that you want French hot chocolate.  I just ordered water and was surprised that they served it in a glass bottle and poured it into a fancy glass. I forgot that here you have to pay for water when you eat out. The foofy water cost me 1,45 Euros and almost felt like a snob for being too good for tap water.