The way I see it.

Ok, I have been here for over a month now and have tasted the night life, seen some of the sights, and gotten to know a few people. Here are some neat, fun, or interesting facts about Segovia and life here in Spain.

Our first taste of Sangria to celebrate Ryan's Birthday

1. Yes, people really do kiss you on the check here instead of shaking hands.  Just don’t let the boys kiss you more than once on each check; because some will try itJ.
2. Segovia is absolutely beautiful.  Disney even modeled one of its castles from the Alcazar Castle here in Segovia. 
3. Segovia is small enough that you can get almost anywhere you want on foot, but large enough that your feet will hurt by the end of the day if you do walk everywhere. 
4. There is construction everywhere.  But it’s almost always construction on sidewalks, not streets.  They do a lot of it by hand, by laying pieces of stone or brick instead of coving everything with giant slabs of concrete.  Actually the sidewalks here are really nice.  While there is construction everywhere, they move at a surprisingly quick pace.  You know how when ever you see highway construction in the states it always looks like only half of them are actually working, that is not so here. 
5. They really enjoy American music and movies here, especially the younger population.
6. Fashion is the done thing here; even the kids are dressed better than I am most of the time. 
7. Chocolate con churros is very good, but do try the varying other pastries in the pastelrieas.  I actually like them better than the chocolate con churros.
8. When ever you talk to a Spaniard about his country and "things" Spanish, everything Spanish is always the best and if it isn’t really “than at least it bets the French”.  They are very proud, but in a good way, of their country and heritage. 
9. You can get the best Sangria you have ever tasted at a bar called Oso Blanco here in Segovia.
10. Time is not nearly as rigid here; it is not uncommon for people to be late.  This is not a good thing for me, because I am already a non-punctual kind of person, now I am an almost always late kind of person. 
11. Yes they really do talk louder and use there hands a lot when they speak. 

Now to the most important thing that I have discovered:  While things and people here may act, look, or sound different, deep down people are people everywhere you go.  For example, the other day I was waiting for my friends and I saw three kids playing what looked very similar to our monkey in the middle game.  My family has taught me some card games, one of which is very much like Solitary.  My host brother here is just like my one at home.  My mom would refer to him as a “pistol” and ironically they even have the same name, Daniel.  I imagine as time progresses there will many more interesting, at least to me, observations.  I will keep you posted.  Until then…Hasta Luego,

April