My apologies. Back to what I´ve been able to learn about Spain during my orientation.

Second, going to bars is extremely expensive. They have a saying here that the locals do not get drunk or emborachado. The reason for that the Spaniards do not get drunk seems fairly obvious. It costs too much to get drunk. I paid 5 euros for a drink at the local bar in Comillas, which I believe translates into more than 7 dollars US.

Third, America should not be the fattest nation in the world. I would say that every meal I´ve had here has had something fried in it. Potatoes, shrimp, meat, potatoes, potatoes, potatoes. The food is great, but everything is fried. If Americans walked as much as the Spanish, I´m almost positive that we - as a nation - would need to worry about our fat intake.

Fourth, tapas are probably the world´s greatest edible creation. Last night after arriving in Leon, a few of my friends decided that we wanted tapas for dinners. The concept behind tapas is great - you buy a cerveza or beer and with the beer you are given a small dish of food. Typically, each bar has its own tapas specialty. Since the selection of tapas is limited, a bar hopping of sorts ensues whereby at each bar you buy another cerveza and tapas. Last had papas fritas with chorizo and a mahou - the miller of Spanish beer - at the first bar. At the next, I had jamon con queso with an amstel. At the last bar, I had a chile relleno con more jamon y queso, a sanwich, and green peppers compliments of the house with another mahou. In total, I probably paid 7 euros. Tapas are definitely the most affordable and fun way to eat in Spain.

Fifth, when eating in Spain plan to do so two to three hours later than you would in the US. I usually eat breakfast around 9:30, lunch around 2, and dinner around 9 or 10.

Sixth, Spaniards do not smile in fotos. It was hilarious and interesting to watch the Spanish tourists at some of the sites in los Picos de Europa. Instead of smiling, they would just stare down the camera with what I would call eyes of resentment. It´s not necessarily a sentiment I would want to associate with my travels, but I guess it resounds with the Spanish particularly well.

Seventh, contrary to the popular belief that Europe is place of fashionistas, fascistas, and comunistas, there remain numerous place to enjoy the out of doors. On one of our excursions in the Montains, we went to a small pueblo renown for its trout fishing. On the first Sunday of September, there is a fishing tournament and a grand festival to celebrate the catch of the largest fish. After the fish is caught, all of the local restaurants bid on the fish to sell in their restuarant. The fish usually sells for more than 400 euros per kilo. Unfortunately, when I asked about the fishing, the lady at the centro de turismo to me that the fishing season had already ended the 31 of August. This week I´m going to investigate whether or not there are other areas in Spain where the fishing season is still open, because the trochas that I saw in the rio sillos were gigantic.

As an aside, today we had lunch in the nicest five star restuarant in Leon. The desert was incredible - like flan but made with chestnuts. Also, I have four days weekends and plan on traveling extensively in the coming weeks.