Nutella Frosting

Tuesday was my friend's birthday, and I must say, Nutella frosting is the best idea ever. For real, everyone, go buy or make a cake right now and dollop on the Nutella. You will not regret it.

At her birthday we also planned Spring Break. Originally I was going to go to Amsterdam with one girl, but I thought she wanted to stay in Spain for Semana Santa (this blew up in my face because I had misunderstood and she thought I had just ditched her. It was a total misunderstanding and I feel terrible about it!) so I joined up with a group going to Italy. Italy ended up being really expensive, so some of us are going to London and Paris for 3 days each. We will fly into London, chill there for 3 days, take the chunnel to Paris, and stay there for 3 days. Our return flight home leaves at like 5 am, so we decided that instead of paying for a hostel for 3 hours we are going to stay out all night and just be really tired when we get to Madrid. Then, since it will be like 7 am in Madrid, we are going to hang out there for the day (running entirely on coffee) and head back to Caceres for the end of Semana Santa. I am really excited. Even though I have been to London and Paris before I was sick when I was there, so it will be really cool to go healthy. Maybe I can see Wimbledon while I'm there, too!

Tomorrow we are going to Merida, which is apparently an old Roman walled city. It is the capital of Extremedura (the state I am in) and should be a good trip. Saturday my friends and I are climbing "la montana" or "the mountain" which I think has some religious symbolism but I don't really know. We are going to bring lunch and we bought Fanta limon (why does America not have this stuff?) and some fruity wine drink that is apparently the best girly drink around, and Oreos (the most craved American food of the moment) and will picnic at the top before returning home in the mid-afternoon. I think the boy will have internet this weekend, so I will Skype with him a few last times before he heads off to Afghanistan, which will be really nice.

Tonight my friends and I are going to finalize our spring break plans (get hostels) and then we are going out with some ERASMUS students, so it should be a good night. I don't know how, but almost our whole friend group is falling ill right now. We all have sore throats, are losing our voices, and just in general have lost our energy. I, of course, have fallen victim to it with my champ of an immune system, but it is not too terrible, so hopefully I'll be all better by Saturday to climb the mountain.

On the subject of things America needs to have, here is my list of desires so far:
Fanta Limon. Top of the list for a reason. It's like carbonated lemonade, and it is amazing.
Kinder chocolate. Equivalent to dying and going to heaven.
Trufas. Almost as good as Kinder chocolate.
The heated table. This is a comforter over a small table and a space heater underneath. Where have you been all my life?
Siesta. Who doesn't want a break in the middle of the day?
Public transportation in abundance. Convenient, cheap, and environmentally friendly.
Hostels. For when you just don't want to spend upwards of $100 for a bed.
Good seafood. Maybe this is just the midwest, but seriously, the fish here is so good!
Little cars. Safe, environmentally friendly, and easy to parallel park.

On the flip side, there are some things America has that Europe needs to catch up with:
Hot water. I get it, you like the environment, so do I, but I like my hot shower just a little more.
Heating. See above. (I think this is just a Spain thing, but still)
Dentists. I have seen enough yellow, crooked, rotten teeth for a while.
Showers. Yes, they have them, but they should really start using them more. Again, I know they like the environment, but my nose doesn't appreciate this.