The McBeer

The McBeer:
I think we have uncovered one of the weirdest things about Spain so far: The McBeer. Yes, they serve beer at McDonalds. Last night we decided to do a bar crawl to become acquainted better with the city’s nightspots. The rules were one drink per bar. Although McDonalds is NOT a bar, what Americans could pass up drinking a cheap beer in this famous hamburger joint? After McDonalds we went to this little place that serves the best sangria. They put cinnamon in it, which sounds weird, but gives it a great flavor. The owner’s name is Pedro and he loved us. He kept giving us free things: lomo (which is like some sort of bacon/ham) pastries, and shots of something that tasted like Kahlua. The whole one drink one bar thing died when we decided to stay there and get pitchers of sangria. Three of our friends, Kris, Rachel and Jim, had missed the bus into the city and were running late. When they got there, they had picked up a new Spanish friend who was our age named Alberto. We eventually continued on to O’Brien’s, which is this Irish pub we have been frequenting, and then Alberto took us to this discoteca where all the Spainards are at. After finally hitting a wall because I haven’t slept more than 4 hours a night since I’ve been here, I went home at 5. The kids that live in Poligono (which is the suburb that is a 20 minute bus ride outside of the city) had to stay until 7 am when the buses started running again. I told my host mom this when I woke up this morning, and she said the university was silly to put kids so far away. In this country, it is normal to stay out past 6 am, because that is when the discos close.
Before the McBeer, I had dinner with Maria Luisa and then we watched some TV together. All she kept saying (in Spanish, of course) was “Why do they put these ugly men on TV? This is why I never watch TV.” It was pretty hilarious.
Today we are going to drink wine and cheese outside the city walls (Note: Toledo is a walled city and it’s legal here to consume alcohol when you are outside of them. In fact, there is this big outdoor tailgate called Botellón every Thursday where the local University students drink before they go out. We went this past Thursday, but there were not many people there because it was probably about 15 degrees out. Katie says when its warmer there is a huge fiesta) and watch the sun set. Then the NFL play off game is going to be playing at O’Brien’s.
I cannot believe we start class tomorrow. This just feels like a big vacation.