Halloween, Lloret de Mar, and a Rotary Meeting

Last Friday was Halloween, and also the day that the Rotary weekend in Lloret de Mar began. Because Ethan and I did not have school, and were not planning to meet up with our friends in Zaragoza (whose families would take us to Lloret) until around 2:30, we decided to leave our area around 8:30 as to arrive around 10:30, and get to explore a bit on our own. We got off the bus at the normal station we go to in the center of the city, and decided that we wanted to go to the mall... However we soon found out that the large mall in Zaragoza was nowhere near us. Since neither of us really understood the bus system, we decided the most convenient and safest solution would be to take a taxi. We of course did not factor into our plan the extremely high gas rates in Europe, and the fact that the taxi would be much more expensive than what we were used to.... We ended up paying thirteen euros for a ten minute taxi ride...

The positive spin to that is that we decided to learn how to use public transportation, since you can get anywhere in the city for a euro thirty on the bus...

We got to the mall and just looked around for a while... I bought a few accessories for my Halloween costume (we were required to where them at Lloret), and we tried to find Ethan a new phone case. Eventually we got hungry, so with just under an hour left at the mall, we started looking for somewhere to eat... And we found a TACO BELL!! 

 Ethan and I both found it funny thatthey classified Taco Bell as Mexican food... 

It was weird, Ethan and I both agreed that Taco Bell tastes better here... Maybe it's because we just missed it so much, but it really does taste more flavorful... 

I drove to Lloret with my friend Amelia and her host parents. They were very friendly, and her host mom is an English teacher so she was able to speak to us when Amelia and I spoke English. 

We arrived to Lloret de Mar around 8, we weren't aware of how much later that was than everyone else (except for Ethan and the others from Zaragoza who wouldn't come until 11 or 12).The hotel we stayed in was really nice, four stars, with a huge outdoor pool, an indoor one too, a complimentary buffet for every meal, and a gym with a couple of stair climbers and a pull up bar. I stayed in a room with three other American girls, one from Hawaii, and two from somewhere I don't really remember. They were all very friendly though. Friday night, to get ready for Halloween,I went to another girls room to get ready. I dressed up as a goth punk type thing (super last minute costume). After I had finished with my makeup, my friend Michael came in with the other guys.  he was wearing his normal clothes and a mask that he said was poking at his eyes, So I asked him if I could do his makeup. He surprisingly agreed, so I made him into a pretty lady. A couple of othergirls from the room came into the area and caught on, so they went to find him am outfit. We ended up with a mini jean skirt, a shirt reading "keep calm and party on" and a hot pink push-up bra. I was kind of scared to walk by the Rotarians who were there, but they all laughed a lot (Michael is hosted by the rotary club of Lloret de Mar), and took plenty of pictures of him. 

There was a dance type thing at the hotel that we went to for a while, but it was more for little kids so we left, and ended up just hanging out. It was still pretty fun. 

Saturday, we went to the beginning of a Rotary meeting, but they got rid of us after we took pictures. 

We went to this park near the sea, which belongs to a rich family, who only come during the summer vacation. We had a guided tour, and the views were absolutely stunning. Of course, we took lots of group pictures. 

After the gardens, we went to the beach. They wouldn't let us swim, but we waded in up to our waists. The water was so warm! And the beach so beautiful. That place, with those people, really felt like a perfect moment. 

When we went back to the hotel, we were forced to hang out with the self-proclaimed "director of fun". We shot bee bee guns at targets, which was okay, but when we were told that we had to do Zumba (we were all very tired), my friends and I got permission from rotary to play cards in our room. As more people filtered in, we ended up in a very intense elimination round of spoons. It was crazy, it started with ten people, and at the end we had two winners, the girl from Hawaii, and me! That night, my friends and I hung out, did Zumba, and watched Germany has talent! It was pretty fun! 

Sunday, we left right after breakfast, and I got home around 7:30 (a long day of traveling). I was pretty tired, and went to bed immediately. 

Monday night, Ethan and I went to a Rotary meeting. First, they had three exchange students who had just returned from their exchanges present about their years abroad, and then they asked Ethan and I to stand up and speak a bit about ourselves. I was actually pretty proud of myself, as I was able to talk for about three minutes in Spanish in front of about thirty Rotarians (I could've spoken more, but Ethan had to as well). One weird thing about the meeting was that we were given wine. They did not even ask us if we wanted any, they just filled up our glasses. It was definitely a huge cultural difference. 

Nothing else has really happened.... I've just been at school... Tomorrow I'll go to Jaca to spend some time with Ethan and his Spanish friends there, and on Saturday I'm going to France with my host parents! 

Sorry this wasn't super long, I'm pretty tired. 

Hasta luego, Zeph(: