Random photo dump

Here are some thing I wanted to share about where I live. They are kind of random.

A selection of cheeses! I think this cost between 2 and 3€.

Vending machine haul. A white chocolate covered croissant. Smint gum, and I had no idea what those fruit things were when I bought them. Turns out they're gum. Can you imagine buying something from a vending machine with no label in just a ziplock bag?

 I took this picture of this statue from the side to show you what escanciar  is. Asturias is known for apple cider, or rather the alcoholic version sidra. There are sidra bars everywhere here and it's cutomary to hold the bottle up high and the glass down low while you pour it to aerate it and add fizz. Then you drink it fast.

This is on my walk home from the school. You'll note the grass is still bright green in November although the leaves are starting to fall. In the background there are gently rolling hills with houses. The hills kind of surround the city. Those red buildings, my apartment building is just behind those.

This is the same park as above, just looking to the right. That's a really old church and in the background behind it is the city center of Oviedo. It's about a 10-15 minute walk from my house.

Have you ever in your life, gotten to the end of a roll of toilet paper and thought, gee I really wish I could flush this down the toilet?

This is the front of my apartment building. I am aware that it looks seedy and it appears that I live above a porn shop but that store is out of business I guess, there's nothing inside. And anything could look seedy in the right light. That lovely park above is right around the corner. It wasn't immediately apparent when I first got here, but I'm starting to see the signs that I live in the 'immigrant' area of Oviedo. No wonder I feel so comfortable here! I was talking to the doctor I meet with every week and I was delicately trying to ask him where do the poor people live here. Poverty is just not in your face here. Or maybe it's just doesn't exist here in Oviedo, I don't know. But the doctor kinda laughed and told me that if there was a poor area, it's down near where I live, or just beyond. So yesterday I took a walk in that direction. Once when I was on the bus I saw another internet cafe with a sign that said productos latinos so I wanted to see what they had. This area is not poor by my standards. This is just where they keep the car dealerships, furniture stores, and the hidden strip club.

This place has nothing on Pulaski Hwy in Baltimore.