Why are groceries so wonderfully cheap?

Monday, we had another orientation day in Vitoria, which is the capital of the neighboring province. I got to meet three teachers from my schools, which was absolutely great! They were so incredibly nice. I start work on Monday, and one of the teachers is picking me up near my apartment. Yay! I'm supposed to work with students age 12-18, which frightens me, but I always get three day weekends, which delights me.

So, some pictures!

I've met some very nice people:













That's Ryan, Kyle, and Dom. Ryan and Dom are English, and so we shared our culture with them by teaching them how to properly use the word "douchebag." It was one of the highlights of my day.














This is Jaron eating a raw carrot, something he does on a disturbingly regular basis. He's like Bugs Bunny.

Today was a beautiful day! I washed my clothes a few days ago and hung them outside to dry. Of course, it rained cats and dogs for two days, so I took them in last night. Apparently, the niceness of the weather is in an inverse relationship with the amount of underwear I have hanging outside my window. This is some of my neighborhood:


























In other news, all the libraries have free wi-fi, and there just happens to be one across the street from my house! I'm here at the library right now, paying a whopping zero euro to internet my heart out. Thanks to Roopa for the tip.

I went to the grocery store today, as well, and I bought water, bread, milk, eggs, wine, beer, and cake, and it all came up to 11 euro. Amazing! The alcohol is SO cheap. The wine cost me 1 euro. How is that allowed?! I'll never be able to buy a crappy $7 bottle of wine in the US again without feeling cheated. I also bought some gum:














I'm going to an intercambio tonight at an Irish pub with a few other people in the program. I can't wait to finally get some real Spanish practice in. Wish me luck!