Overwhelming 10/02

Today I met up with Puri's friend Maite to go to a Carnival parade. We got to the plaza mayor early so we walked around and I met a bunch of her friends.  Once the parade started we got a front row viewing spot.  The way the parade works is that groups of Segovians dress up as the same thing and then walk in a group together.  There was a group of people with downs syndrome dressed as m&m's which was really sweet. After the parade a group of men sang acapella, one of the singers was Maite's son.  They were pretty good! The second they finished singing, it started snowing a lot so we went inside a building where the singers were all taking pictures. I somehow got pulled into said pictures and all of the men in the group were talking to me all at once and it was overwhelming! But they were all really nice and fun.  After pictures we stood outside of a bar and they bought me a glass of wine and we all shared some tapas.  I talked to a bunch of people and it was again, overwhelming but fun.  After a long while of this Maite and I had to leave to get back for lunch with Puri.  It was lunch with Maite, Puri, two women (sisters), and me.  We had a traditional Catalan lunch which was some sort of onions that are really messy to eat, potatoes and shrimp, and then a 'pastel de queso'. They gave me so much food and I had to eat it all and I was starting to feel so full/sick! Not to mention I wasn't feeling like drinking after all that sangria last night, but I had that glass of wine earlier, a glass of wine at lunch, and then a liquor for dessert (despite me saying no no no I don't want it). Too much alcohol and food and then coffee and then there was so much conversation! 5:30pm rolls around and we are still at lunch.  The women decided to watch Jane Eyre so I took this as the chance to run away and go do homework. I did have a lot to do but also I was tired (from alcohol and from so much talking!) and wanted to run away. I snuck in a brief nap, did some homework, and then spoke to the ladies a bit more before they left.  It was sweet because they said I speak the best spanish out of any of Puri's host students. I know I don't speak very well but it made me feel good :) I felt good today again about spanish, I spoke a lot and understood a lot.  In the middle of returning to my homework I got a text from Jorge, the 31 year old son of Maite and we ended up talking for two hours about places to see in Segovia/Spain and about Carnival and such.  It was a good practice for my spanish! It was then time for dinner and when I sat down I had to keep myself from laughing. I was so stuffed from lunch and puri had put out a whole tuna pie thing for me with just a fork and a knife (like no serving utensils or anything, all for me). I ate like one piece and then left it. I was not going to be pressured into eating a lot again! I almost died at lunch! After dinner I got a lovely chat with mom and kristin which then turned into avoiding my homework... I did the bare minimum and then went right to bed. I'm so tired, today was a long day!