WOW I am so behind!  Okay so, I have a lot of catching up to do.  Firstly, I graduated!  That’s always a great feeling, to know you’ve graduated.  I am now officially certified to teach English to non-native speakers abroad! 

After the “ceremony” (most informal thing ever!) we all went to a Nepalese restaurant…interesting choice, but hey, it was so good!  I had the “menu of the day’ which was vegetables, rice, and a kazillion kinds of sauces, and it was actually pretty spicy, I had to get a second thing of water.  As soon as I walked in, I saw a picture of the Annapurnura range (famous range in the Himalayas) and I said to the whole group, “Yeah, that’s where I want to go,” and they just looked at me strange.  During the meal we had strange discussions with topics ranging anywhere from geography quizzes (you would not believe how few people know that there are 50 US states!),  really bad mistakes that English learners have made over the years (usually accidently saying a swear word i.e. “fuck” instead of “fork” etc, or accidental sexual allusions), plus a lively debate on the random drawings of who the people painted on the front window were, and where they came from.

Afterwards, I walked downtown for one of the last times.  It was drizzling—kind of like “Hey, you’re going to England you better get used to the rain!” I went to the Museu Xocolata, which was actually really interesting. I learned a lot about where chocolate came from and its use through time. The ancient Aztecs and Mayans used to drink it on special occasions but it was cold and really bitter.  Then after Cortes came along, he decided that it was pretty great and took it back to Europe where all the nobles added sugar and drank it as a luxury. Later on, the French made it available to the masses in the form of bonbons.  And then, everybody started eating it.  Yay!!! But basically, the whole thing was just an excuse to showcase all these awesome chocolate sculptures all over the place—and some of them were really detailed too! 

On the way back, this woman stopped me on the street and asked me in Spanish where the Picasso Museum was.  This happened to me before, and I freezed up and ran off, but this time, I stopped and was actually able to help her by giving directions in Spanish. At first, she looked really apprehensive, but as soon as I told the street name, she smiled as she realized that I was right, and she was only about 4 blocks away. I felt like a true native!