(Originally written Wednesday, October 3, 2007)

Hola a todos!

Well, this is my 6th week in Alcala. Things are starting to settle down. I am
used to being able to buy alcohol and drink in bars, which means the shock of
returning to the US will be even worse. I'm joking; drinking here is very
different from the US and I only go out a few times a week now, not every day.
Since I'm on the subject, let me talk about night life.

Primero, I'll tell you about general nightlife. Since Alcala is in the
autonomous community of Madrid, it has quite a few bars, most of which I
haven't even seen. There are some bars dedicated to foreigners, which are the
ones I mostly know about. There is an Irish Pub on the main street, which has 2
for 1 drinks on Tuesdays, so a lot of people go there on that day. It's a lot to
drink for me (I don't need that much alcohol, as many of you know) so I will
usually share with someone else. As I said, the drinking here is different.
Drinking is mostly social and you will see very few Spaniards actually drunk.
Wednesdays we usually go to Cafe Antiguo, where I will be going in 2.5 hours
:). I don't remember if there are any drink specials today. Usually there is a
discount on beer before 11pm, but I don't drink beer, so I don't pay much
attention (I know, I need to learn to appreciate it. It's a long-term project).
The atmosphere in Cafe Antiguo is pretty laid back, the music comes on at 11pm
and usually the Americans will start dancing. The Germans rarely dance, unless
they have had a few drinks, and Spanish men mostly just watch. With guys
watching, it's much easier to dance after having had one drink, but sometimes I
just talk to my friends and sing along with the songs. Thursdays there are 2
bars. Nate, one of the guys from AZ, his host dad co-owns a bar, so we go there
about midnight and when it gets really busy, 1-2am, we will switch to Can-Can.
They switch between free beer and free sangria every Thursday until they run
out. I really like going there because there is a dance floor and there are so
many people that no one can usually see me dancing. :) The only thing that I
don't like about the bars is that people are allowed to smoke inside them, as
well as restaurants. So at the end of the night, the smell is on my clothes, in
my hair, and I can smell it when I go to sleep unless I shower before going to
bed.

That's roughly the night scene in Alcala thus far. I think we will start trying
out new places soon, and I will let you know how they are. Now, I'll take you
to a disco in Madrid: El Kapital.

El Kapital is a 7 floor disco in Madrid. It costs 20 euros to enter, which
includes one drink. If you get hard alcohol with a mixer, it's worth it. Don't
make the mistake of ordering a beer. Water, oddly enough, costs 5 euros inside.
So I left very dehydrated. There is only one full floor. There they play techno,
which is terrible to dance to, and have professional dancers that are basically
half naked. After every song, a huge spray of white mist shoots down and blinds
you, but also cools you down. Although it felt good to be slightly cooler for a
few seconds, it's probably unsanitary and the reason I was sick the following
week. Did I mention that El Kapital is an experience? The top floor didn't have
a ceiling, and the fresh air was wonderful. Being in the city, it was too bright
to see stars. I haven't seen stars in a while now. I wonder if they still exist.
At any rate, all of the other floors are about half that size and have different
themes. One had Spanish music, but mostly they all played techno. There was a
kareoke spot, but the microphones didn't work. It also wasn't the best
environment because of the cigarette smoke and everyone was incredibly drunk
and ridiculous. My friends and I didn't really want to pay 10 additional euros
to buy more drinks, so we were sober most of the night. Also, rule #1 when
you're a girl in a disco: do NOT talk to any boys that you don't know. EVER. Be
rude, they're so drunk that they won't remember you 2 minutes later. That was my
mistake, but I won't go into that. Luckily, Nate, the only guy to come along
with the group, made sure that the guys didn't get fresh with us girls. We left
El Kapital at 5:30am.

Two weeks ago was Noche en Blanco in Madrid. It's an event that goes to a few
major cities in Europe, such as Rome and Paris. It is supposed to be an all
night event, but most of the museums and gardens are closed by 3am at the very
latest. We should have planned it better so we didn't have to wait in lines,
but what can you do? The Prado, Palacio Real, the botanical gardents, and other
museums were open and free. Unfortunately, the lines were so long that we only
ended up going into the Botanical Garden, which had music and poems read
throughout. All in all, there were one million and a half people walking the
streets of Madrid that night. That was the most amazing thing to see. Except
for the fact that the moon was out, you would have thought it was rush hour,
but with a lot more people. We left at about 5am, pushing our way onto the one
bus back to Alcala. To get our way to the bus station, we had to ask Spaniards
for directions. I am happy to say that I talked to about half a dozen people
and understood them perfectly, and they understood me. Finally all of the years
of Spanish classes are actually helping me!

So, I know I said I would talk about Barcelona in this blog, but it's already
pretty long. Therefore, I will make you all wait in agony until the next
installment. Go relax in a cafe or bar with a beer, or sangria/tinto de verano
and watch the people walking by. It's amazing how time passes when you do that!