Today was a pretty relaxed day. In the morning Ivan and I walked downtown to meet up with the guys again. We’ve been noticing lots of signs and advertisements of a Gypsy market coming to Leon, and we all really want to go! But first, a Spaniard, Adrien, had a basketball game. So we all showed up to watch him and then run over to the market afterwards. Adrien´s team lost, but he played well. Once we exited the gym we noticed that it had started raining. Adrien made a few phone calls and found out that the Gypsy Market has been closed. Boo 😦 With nothing to do, we just made our way over to the mall and tried to find something to do. Well, every single store in the mall was closed, so we walked over to this candy shop and bought some candy. The candy here is good at least! There were pickles and olives in that store thought, what the heck?

I forgot a very important event last night during the party thing. When Adrien and that other chicas were trying to find someplace to go, I met another American exchange student! The chicas were introducing other chicas to me, and we ended up both speaking English. She gave me this giant hug because I´m American, haha. Her name was Marie, and she´s a legit exchange student. She´s been in Leon learning Spanish for about 6 months, and has yet 6 more months to go. Impressive! She´s also apparently from Salt Lake City, so I asked her if she was Mormon, and this is what she said,¨NO! Thank goodness I´m not Mormon I HATE them!¨ when I revealed to her my secret identity as a Mormon she slapped me. I´m not kidding! And it hurt! She then apologized and said she was a little drunk… I tried avoiding her until I met up with the other group. She was pretty annoying too: whenever she spoke Spanish, she still spoke with an American accent. It was like someone in Spanish 1 speaking fluently. Gosh… I hope she´s doing well though, hahaha

I had the most delicious desert I have ever had in my entire life. And that is saying something. They´re called Canelas. These are these beautiful rectangular, cream-filled, little biscuits. They are pure heaven, I was literally flipping out when I tried them, and my host family just thought I was tired but no it was overwhelmingly amazing!! Thank goodness for amazing desserts and naps afterwards.. mmm.

Ivan woke me up and told me that we´re going to processions tonight! yay! Processions is a Catholic celebration of Semana Santa, it´s pretty much a week-long Easter. Tonight was the first procession of Semana Santa. The center of city is where the Cathedral is located, and also lots of shops, pubs, bars, etc. It´s fun-mania for Leon. So what happened tonight in the Center, is this giant Catholic parade walked through the streets. This parade featured some guys that look like the Ku Klux Klan (Papones), a High School Band class, a Choir and a Priest. It was actually, really really cool. Lots of the Ku Klux Klan people were carrying this giant balcony with a statue of Jesus carrying his own cross. Others were either carrying big lanterns or flags or walking with these giant robes on them; I want to do that someday! We got lucky and found a spot where I could get an up close picture of the parade. Throughout Semana Santa, these parades just get bigger and better up until Good Friday. Can’t wait! After the parade, it´s tradition to go bar hopping and drink various juices and eat various fried foods. But man it was soooo crowded, but yet nice to spend some real family time with Ivan´s family. So, today was a pretty laid back day. Tomorrow is another full-day excursion… bleh.