Explorar la ciudad

"Exploring the City"

I haven't posted anything the past few days because I haven't been doing anything specific. Stephanie and I, along with some other friends, have just been exploring the city more. So we've been walking a ton and sweating even more. It has been so hot here, even at night, that our host mom walks around saying "Que calor!" (which would be like us saying "It's so hot!") all the time. The other night she slept on the floor in the living room next to a window just to get a breeze. We have found some interesting stores here, one of which is a huge department store, similar to Macy's, called El Corte Inglés. It is huge! There are 5 floors. There are also tons of smaller clothing stores and even more shoe stores.

I'm surprised by how much American influence there is. Everywhere you go you hear American music. My host sisters even play American music and they don't speak any English. Also, during the day lots of the TV shows are American with Spanish dubbed in, like the Simpsons and Men in Black. We have been watching one Spanish show with our family though. Its really dramatic but definitely entertaining. I've also heard that they show lots of American movies dubbed in Spanish rather than with subtitles but they usually get here much later than in America. For instnace, I see posters for "He's Just Not That Into You" but that came out in the US in Februrary.

Last night a few of us wandered around the center and decided to get some ice cream from an "heladería" (ice cream shop). I got a scoop of lemon pie and a scooop of berry. It was a little expensive but so worth it! We walked with our ice cream and then ate it by the Cathedral which is really pretty at night. Here are a few pictures. Two from the daytime and two at night. This Cathedral is the 3rd largest in the World and it is the largest gothic building. It used to be a Mosque but in the early 1400's they began to change it into a Cathedral. Christopher Columbus's tomb is housed inside but there is some debate about whether the remains are actually his. Some people thing his body is actually in the Dominican Republic. The tall bell tower in the second picture is called "La Giralda" and you can climb up to the top. We are touring it in November and I plan to climb up to the top and take pictures of the city. I might even go visit before November.