FLORIDA

It's been a little over a week and half since I got to Florida. I'm in Lakeland, Florida which is about an hour south of Orlando and 45 minutes east of Tampa. This is my first time in Florida and I think the biggest surprise has been that I actually feel like I'm in the South! Obviously I know Florida is in the south, but I never expected it to really FEEL like it. I tried grits for the first time (not a whole lot of flavor), have eaten fried cat fish a few times, drunk WAY too much sweet tea (but its so good!) and the other day stopped by "Pig Fest", an enormous fair that consisted only in barbecue pork (after walking around less than an hour and not even eating anything I still left smelling like bbq).

Yesterday Carlos (my co-worker) and I went to Orlando to Universal Studios! A girl at the radio station here gave us 2 free passes and a free parking pass that were all going to expire Jan. 31, so we had to go this weekend! We got lucky and it was a beautiful day. Poor Carlos, I am probably the worst person in the world to go to a theme park with because all the rides make me sick, but I did go on some. Disneyworld is probably more my speed–there are some CRAZY roller coasters at Universal Studios! But it was lots of fun anyways, since I never go to theme parks I like just walking around and seeing everything. The Harry Potter area was neat, but so crowded! People were standing in a huge line just to go in a SToRE.

I am staying in a little studio apartment that is connected to my host family's house, so that is really cool.  We are close to a lake that I have jogged around a couple times and tomorrow we are going to pick up passes to the college wellness center that they are giving us during our time here, so I am hoping to get more exercise!

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Ya llevo una semana y media en Florida. Nunca he estado en Florida y creo que lo que más me ha sorprendido ha sido que realmente siento que estoy en el sur. Evidentemente Florida está en el sur, pero nunca pensé que fuera así. Probé "grits" por primera vez (no tienen mucho sabor), he comido "catfish"(bagre?) frito, bebo demasiado té dulce y frio, y el otro fuí a "pig fest" (fiesta de cerdo) una fiesta ENORME dedicado exclusivamente a comer cerdo–despues de andar por allí menos que una hora y no comer nada a salir olía a cerdo.

Ayer Carlos (mi compañero de trabajo) y yo fuimos al Universal Studios. Un chica en la estación de radio nos dió dos entradas y parking gratis, pero iba a caducar el día 31, así que tuvimos que ir! Hizo un día estupendo. Pobre Carlos, debo ser la peor persona del mundo para ir a un parque tematico. No monto en casí nada por que me pongo mala en todos. (Creo que disney world sería mejor para mi). Pero monté en un par de cosas, y como no voy nunca a parques tematicos me gusta andar por alli y ver todo–la parte de Harry Potter me gustó mucho :D  ...pero fue una locura! la gente haciendo cola solo para entrar en una TIENDA.

Aquí estoy viviendo en un pequeño estudio conectado a la casa de mi familia anfitriona. Está muy bien, tengo cocina pequenita y todo.  Estamos cercas de un lago donde he ido a correr un par de veces y mañana nos van a dar pases para ir al gimnasio de la universidad que está aquí cerca, asi que voy a intentar hacer más ejercicio.