The Irish Pub

Short post today. Last night, as I'm sure at least a few of you know, was a huge day for soccer fans. There were at least 5 world cup qualifying matches. Me and a couple of my buddies headed out in the evening to watch a couple of them. We ended up at a famous Irish bar in town called Hannigans. Went inside, got a guinness and watched England thrash Croatia 5-1, The Netherlands narrowly squeak by Scotland (The scots had their chances but the dutch played such great attacking football) 1-0, and of course in the main albeit very boring event, Spain knocked off Estonia 3-0. I had such a great time just hanging out in the bar. There were a surprisingly large number of English people in the bar. I suppose most of them are on vacation out here and just knew an Irish pub would be one of the few places guaranteed to show games other than merely the Spain v. Estonia one.
When I come back from Granada, I've got just over 4 months before I'll be allowed into bars, and most of the clubs and frankly, it can not come fast enough. Having access to these places has made the city so much more interesting. Here in Granada, everyone is in the bars, it is the best place to interact w/ the local population. Many of them are as anxious to learn english as I am to learn spanish so it's mutually beneficial for all involved. We'll speak spanish for ten minutes, then switch to English for ten, and so on. In the US basically everyone begins drinking by the time they're 18 or so. But they have to do it in the private sphere where no one is watching instead of learning to do so in public bars and places like this. It totally changes the way you drink. It makes drinking a social habit. It becomes more of a meeting place than an activity.

This weekend I'm going off to Nerja. Its a coastal town famous for its cave dwellings, castle and beautiful beaches. In other words, I don't know anything about it yet, but I'm sure I will after the trip. Really, I'm just looking forward to going for a swim.

Headed out to buy a futsal ball and some indoor shoes this evening. Outdoor soccer isn't too popular because there aren't many fields but everyone plays futsal. Should be good to get some touches in ready for IM's in the Winter...