Cuenca: A box of soocar.

This past weekend I ventured north of Villarrobledo to the Cuenca, the capital of the province of Cuenca.  It is beautiful! Cuenca really is a treat for the eyes.  There are more or less two parts to Cuenca, the old town, and the new town.  The old town is, I believe, a UNESCO site, and cannot be altered at all.  It stays as it is now, and as it has been for a very long time.  Its most famous attribute is probably the hanging houses, or Casas Colgadas.  The new town is really cool too--it is fairly modern and has a lot of good places to shop and eat, but I really loved the old town.  It is so beautiful and not as manufactured and tapped into as many other cities I've seen.

Krista and I originally went to Cuenca in order to get our NIE (Numero de Identification del Extranjero).  Unfortunately, that did not happen.  We actually have to go to Albacete to get our NIEs because of where we live.  When I found that out, I was pretty ticked off, haha, but I have an appointment for sometime in November to get my NIE...so hopefully it will work out just fine.  

It was really an awesome weekend though!! I hung out with some friends that I had originally met at orientation--Corinna, Jaclyn, Helen, and Natira.  We had a lot of fun going to El Quinto Picado for drinks and tapas, and just generally going out in Cuenca--it has quite a nightlife!  It was so fun to hang out with those girls all weekend, and it made me very thankful for the program that I am in, because without it I wouldn't have met them!  Jaclyn is from Ohio, and is an Ohio State fan, but I decided that I can be friends with her anyway :).  De todos modos, we had a blast listening to and laughing at "Sick of Love" by Robert Ramirez, exposing Helen to classic, yet depressing American movies (A Walk to Remember), and just getting to chit chat and plan possible trips throughout Europe! Woohoooo!!

Anywho, here are some pics from this weekend.

From left to right: Helen, me, Krista, and Corinna at El Quinto Picado.  We were there a couple of times this weekend--delicious!

Me in front of the casas colgadas.  One of the coolest and most beautiful things I have seen!

Natira, Krista, Helen and myself with the casas!

A tapa that we had Sunday night.  Previously we had also had goat cheese circles, shrimp (or prawns!), a meat, egg and bread plate, chicken with a *delicious* sauce, and probably more that I am forgetting.  I ate way too much this weekend, but it was worth it, haha :). 

A crooked house on the back side of the Casco Antiguo .  So cool! 

I put up a lot more pictures on my facebook in my Espana album, so if you want to check them out, go for it!   Here is the link: Click here for more pictures!! :)

So, now I am back in Villarrobledo and relaxing for a little bit before I prepare for tomorrow.  I am really excited for the end of the week because they are doing a lot of halloween stuff on Friday and I am looking forward to teaching about that!  

Love and miss you all!  Goodbye for now!