Living on the 3rd floor (But not really)

Hola amigos!

I am getting used to how things are here in Spain. But the only thing so far that reeeeaally bugs me, are the floors. Not the tiles or wood, but the way they number them. For example, my family (close 5 friends from BIC) live in an apartment by Parque de Joan Miro. When you first come in, there are stairs up to a floor. That floor has utilities. Then there is another staircase up, which leads to...the first floor. So in America, that would be floor #3. But not for my family...and me since I'm at their place every day so far. In my homestay apartment there is only one fake first floor. But I don't like the teeny tiny elevator, and I'd like to get in shape, so I take the stairs. To the fourth floor. You Clintonians know, that's more floors than most buildings in town have. It's far more than I'm used to, and frankly I feel like they're just lying to themselves.

But other than that, I've had my first icky experience today. All of my food up to this point has been phenomenal. I love the Mediterranean flavors and freshness. Today, things got a little too fresh. We went on a hike in Tarragona, and it was absolutely perfect, beautiful weather and everything. After all our walking we stopped to eat at a little restaurant. I decided that it was time to live on the edge and try some new things! So I went for some mussels for my first course and swordfish for my second. Now mussels, if you've never had them, are really good if you can get over the texture. With lemon, son perfectos! However, my swordfish came a bit afterwards. I thought I would be pretty BA eating something that has a knife on its face. But I took two bites, and I really couldn't stomach anything more. So I set my plate aside and ate more bread with olive oil. We talked about my picky food habits, and left the subject of the fish for a while. Later someone else asked if they could try my fish, and I said claro! Of course! When she cut into the fish, she saw how absolutely raw it was. Only the very top and bottom were cooked, and I never eat fish, so I didn't know. A lot of other people had ordered it too, and all of theirs were completely cooked. Except mine. And I almost threw up.

But, alas, I have kept it all down. That was like 5 hours ago. Now I am taking some homeopathic Chinese medicine from my friend, and lying down for a siesta. Everyone needs a break from vacation once in a while.