the Sanlucar Ferias

So this post was meant to be put up this time last week, I apologize for the lateness and lack of posts. It should get better for here on out!

Last night marked the best night in Spain thus far. Erin and I decided to hang out with a group of people we met here and we ended up going to the Ferias in Sanlucar. For those who don't know, imagine a county fair, minus animals, add Spaniards and alcohol and a never ending closing time...

Upon asking a Police Officer (on Thursday night) when the drinking ended, our response was "Sunday..."

On that note, its 10:20pm currently and I was up way to late last night due to the never ending party (which is apparently a favorite Spanish pastime!) and has to wake up for work. Running on two hours sleep is tough, so if nothing makes sense, bear with me! :)

So anyway, back to the story...

Erin and I were heading to walk to downtown Rota when we got pulled aside by a couple people hanging out and drinking. They told us they were on their way back from Iraq and their plane was broken down so they had a few nights there before leaving.

Believe it or not, half the planes heading back from Iraq seem to "break down" in Spain leaving troops stranded until parts arrive. This is probably the third time I've heard the story from three different planes...

So anyway, the guys wanted to know the good places to go out in town and figured we'd know. We were a little hesitant at first, but decided Erin and I would stick together and headed to town. Luck seemed to turn my way because this is officially the first group of peope who didn't immediate ignore us when we sad we were officially off the market when it came to guys and just wanted some friends. I spent most of the night talking about Andy, school, Iraq, Andy again, their wives, cars, and what they were excited to do when they got back to the states.

The group pretty much hung out at the Ferias until late or so (time flies when you don't speak the language!) and headed back to our hotels. Believe it or not, I was sober the whole time and had a blast... which is a feat most people my age can't accomplish ;)

Now here is the kicker (and picture!)... as we walked through the Ferias there were tons of stands to buy food, beer, cheap trinkets, or play games. One particular stand had suff to have your picture taken. Four of us decided to have our picture taken with a particular "object" they had... a small monkey wearing a dress. Sorry the picture is so blurry, it is actually a picture of a picture...

That's right, there is a small monkey sitting on my lap wearing a dress. Spain Rocks!