Quieres Bailar

Whew! What a week.. I crushed the final for our intensive Spanish course yesterday- wait, just kidding, it was super hard.  Important things aside, after our final CIEE took our group out to a tour of a bodega (winery).  We took a tour of the facilities which was actually quite interesting.  The process of making wine is a incredibly controlled process.  When the grapes are fermenting they are kept in HUGE tanks that must stay between 19 and 21 degrees celsius.   After they are transfered to a vacuum machine that super cools the wine to kill bacteria.  Then the wine goes into barrels for a year or so.  The barrels cost 1200 euro each and hold 250 bottles of wine.  I would explain better if I could, but I think the most important thing I learned was that it is a very controlled process from start to finish.

After the tour we were treated to what the dignified world calls a wine tasting.  With 28 American students, I'd call it more of a free for all.  We were offered a grand spread of foods and wines, red and white.  Everyone had a smashing time, including our professors!  HA!  Once the fun was over we had the afternoon to nurse our mini resacas before going out to El Barrio.  (Barrio is the word for a neighborhood or district within a city- for instance, I live in the San Blas barrio).  El Barrio is the name for the compact area in the center of town close to the beach where a crazy amount of bars are located.  The weekend scene is always hopping, with the fiesta starting a little before midnight and carrying on pretty much til sunrise.  My late night stamina has slowly been increasing; it's pretty crazy to start and end so late.

Alright, time to hit the beach!

~Michael

Taking in the sights last Saturday morning at Guadlest