Exams, Spanish driving, and lunch

Today we had our last day of orientation. That means 3 written tests and an oral exam! I was very, very concerned about the exams today, but I think I actually did pretty well on all of them. Whew. I'm still glad it's over.

To celebrate, the Geranios staff took us out for a celebratory lunch. I rode in a teacher's car with a couple of other students to get to the restaurant. Cars in Spain are interesting. Most of the ones I've seen are pretty old, and they all manage to fit down these tiny narrow streets. The teacher driving the car said she'd never driven an automatic before. Parking the car was an adventure, Spaniards manage to parallel park in the tiniest of spots. Today I discovered their secret. In the U.S., we squeeze and dodge to avoid hitting the cars in front of and behind us when we parallel park. In Spain, it is very acceptable (and often required) to bump the car in front of and behind you when you're fitting yourself into a spot. Parking is limited, spaces are tiny, and cars give each other frequent love taps. But they aren't bad drivers. Or at least they don't drive cheaply. Apparently, taking driver's ed and a driving test costs 2,000 euros (roughly $2,565.79).

So we after several friendly bumps, we eventually made it to lunch. I figured it would be a nice lunch with tasty food. I was not expecting the 5-course meal they served us. Strawberry salad with feta cheese, some sort of crab cake with shrimp in it, pork wrapped around a mysterious but delicious filling, choice of meat or fish dish, and an incredible cream-filled pastry for dessert. Everything they served was delicious. And not kosher, obviously. Good thing the only Jew in this program doesn't keep kosher (which I hear is very hard to do here). By the way, I figured out how to post pictures!