Thoughts from El Camino de Santiago

So I have thus far shared the actual events of my adventures abroad and in the light of the Easter holiday, I’m going to open my heart to all of you and share all the thoughts I tripped upon during my Semana Santa (Holy Week) in El Camino de Santiago. The best way to do this is to just reiterate what I told my trusty moleskin journal…so into the thoughts of Rachel Craig we dive…

March 26th, 2010 9:13 am
It is roughly 9 am and I’m in Estacion Sur waiting for my bus to Ponferrada to leave. I’m spending the next 10 days walking El Camino de Santiago. I’m so excited to get out of the city, spend some time with nature and maybe answer some of those questions that bubble up ever once in awhile. Like what am I doing with my life? Do I really want to be a teacher or is it the easy way out? Is being a RA for another year good for my mental health and physical health? What about student manager at the Brew? What will I do when I graduated? Why am I unhappy with so many things? Blah blah blah… I think this is going to be an exhausting experience but it’s about time I took some time to just think, however, I’m going to enjoy the scenery for the meantime.

March 26th, 2010 7:44 pm

Well I successfully met up with Andi, I was slightly worried about this because she took an earlier bus and I left my mobile in Madrid (whoops!) but thank God Andi is a smart women and knew I didn’t have my phone. I found her waiting patiently in the bus station in Ponferrada. Not even 10 seconds after we left the station did it start down pouring. Welcome to El Camino! It sure was one hell of a way to start our hike…

March 27th, 2010 4:55 pm

We met Paul from North Carolina last night and hence why my thoughts weren’t exactly finished. He seems like a pretty cool cat and definitely good company. Here is Paul’s story from what I can recall. He’s 24, graduated from UNC(?) went to Costa Rica for a year to seek out a life in the seminary but was told by the Episcopal Archbishop that he should get a little more life experience and try again, so that’s how he ended up on el Camino! On a different note, I couldn’t sleep at all last night, most likely nerves and excitement and possibly the fact that our German friend decided to play with his Blackberry all night. My insights thus far have not been grand, but its hard to think when you’re worrying about your feet or whether or not you should make conversation. I wish I had don’t this alone because at this point I need some serious time to just think about what I want in life and how I’m going to get that. Clearly I want to be happy but what makes me happy? Shoes, kids, being in love, nice clothes, the outdoors, being adventurous, traveling, my family, meeting new people, having cool things, being independent, being a shoulder to cry on, being involved in intellectual and insightful conversations, wine, good food, good hair days, having revelations, crying, my brother, fires, stars, music, and a relationship with God… this is where I get stuck, how can I have all the said above things and maintain a REAL relationship. I feel like mine is pretty superficial right now. I pray and talk and think of God, but do I ever really act for Him? Do I want to act for Him? I think of people like garret gundlach and just want to be him, he is so happy and content with his life and I want that but how do I give up the things he’s given up? Or Tom! Jesus works through all of us, but none so obvious as those two. Maybe this camino should be about eliminating things that make me unhappy and replacing them with God? If I want to complain, I send up a prayer of thanks, or want to be selfish, do something for someone else. We’ll try this tomorrow. Today we walked from Ponferrada to Villafranca and according to our elevation map it was a “flat” day...tomorrow is looking much more inclined. It shall be fun and if I’m going to do it, I honestly have to do it at my own pace, I want to be strong and feel like I pushed myself. From here on out it’s about doing and being the best, to give the most of myself. “Magis!” Maybe I’ll be happy and find God along the way. On a different note, it was beautiful today! Cloudy this morning but not long after we started the sun came out to stay. We saw some beautiful woods and brooks and lots of countryside. I love the red clay earth and vineyards, especially with the mountains in the background; it’s the perfect view for a hike. It’s what Nebraska should be with a glimpse of the Rockies. One thing is for sure, I need to live near mountains. There is something majestic and empowering about them. They inspire me, which is great because I’ve been finding it hard to find things that evoke inspiration. This is a lot for one day, I’m going to go rest. My face is warm from the sun and my feet are sore from the earth, time to just breathe and drink agua.



March 29th, 2010 8:26 pm

Yesterday: Climb mountains, the high is real, the pain is worth it and the view is always astounding. Although I won’t lie it was extremely hard on me, physically and mentally. Andi and I were probably extremely sick of each other but we prevailed and pushed through to O Cebriero. However, after we hiked and climbed roughly 37 kilometers there were no beds left in town… We ended up taking a taxi back DOWN the mountain we had just climbed to first try to sleeping in a school but there was no hot water and the place was freezing and full of spiders. It’s one thing to go camping and live without such commodities as a shower, its one thing when you don’t actually have a tent to enjoy. We opted out of that luxurious option and instead paid way too much for a room in a hostel, that coincidentally was without heat. We had to get up at 5:45 am to catch a bus back up the mountain to continue our walk. While yesterday was rough, I think I have a better grasp of who I am and what I want. I’m pretty sure law school is a must; I need to start living ad being Magis. There was no coincidence that “magi” was written in stone on the peak of our first mountain. To give “the more” of myself to everything I do and everyone I met.

Today was a wretched start in the dark, rain, cold, wind and snow. However it was all down-hill. Since we couldn’t find a place to stay last night we pushed ahead and now we are spending the night in Samos. The last 10 kilometers I walked/jogged in torrential rain and have never been that angry with God in my entire life. I was tired, sore and frustrated and I just don’t know what He wants from me. I’m pushing myself but I’m not finding any answers and the rain didn’t help. I had hiked ahead of Andi to just get to Samos. I was soaked to the bone and I had lost Andi. The entire last 4 kilometers were a race to find her/get a phone where I could call her. After finally arriving in Samos I found a smile upon my face that I didn’t understand at the moment because I was so angry. But after I calmed down, I realized that I had just followed through for 2 days in a row. I had done what I said I was going to do and I did it purely because I wanted to, not because someone else was asking or making me do it. Walking into the Albergue (pilgrim hostel) was great because the first face I saw was Andi’s. She had taken the wrong path out of Triacastela and went back to look for me, couldn’t find me, so she took a taxi to Samos. After I had removed all of my drenched clothing, I took a ‘warm’ shower, hung my mud/rain-stained clothes up and headed across the street to eat some hearty soup and pizza. It was delicious and warm. Now me, Andi, Paul (North Carolina), Tim and Brad (Canada) are listening to Tim play his guitar. The songs are beautiful and some just make me want to go home, and right now I just really miss Mom and Dad; Dad to give me a hug and Mom to encourage me to keep going. I miss Adam making me laugh! Of course I also miss my grandma. I wish she could just know all the thoughts going through my head. She’s in just about all of them. Time now to rest my feet. Tomorrow is going to be a bit of a climb.


March 30th, 2010 2:23 pm

Currently sitting on a bus to Portomarín. Andi has no skin on her 2 pinky toes and I worried that I busted my left knee really bad. My right hip doesn’t want to life my leg either, so we’re taking it easy today. We hiked into Sarris this morning, so that was a good 12 kilometers in the morning rain. I couldn’t sleep again last night because 1) there were no pillows and 2) all the men were snoring. After trudging through the rain for 2 hours all I wanted to do was sleep. That was mildly frustrating. I’m also really upset about my knee. I had been running and jogging to somewhat physically prepare myself for this and its disheartening to have a broken body. Maybe I shouldn’t have pushed myself so hard yesterday or I should just know my limits better. I’m stupid to care but I’m worried that others would think less of me if I didn’t do what I said I was going to. This is probably another thing to add to my list of things to work on, self-willpower, self- confidence and self-strength. Basically I need to believe in who I am and not let others influence that (unless I am out of life of course!) So my pride is little hurt today because I don’t want to “cheat” by taking this bus, but I have to care for my body, this is when humility would come in handy…

March 30th, 2010 5:14 pm

So by the time we got to Portomarín the albergue was full again. I’m currently in my sleeping bag on a concrete floor in a “sports center”. Not a sports center like at home but a big open concrete building with broken windows. Tonight might be a long night but I know I have it better than a lot of the people in this world. Hopefully this will help me to learn to appreciate what I have in life.



March 31st, 2010 7:54 am
Well we’re back on the road again… and by road I literally mean road, in a bus. Andi’s toes are pretty bad and most likely infected and we spent all night shivering in that damn “sports club”. I wish Andi wasn’t infected and I wish I hadn’t strained myself. All in all I learned a lot. Pushing yourself is great, pushing yourself until you’re broken, not so great. It’s a lesson I definitely needed to learn however I will be back to the camino and I will do the whole thing, just on my own terms. My hip is in a knot, my knee sucks, my face is greasy, my hair is a rat’s nest, my legs are hairy, my feet are still cold, and my spirit is broken. Andi wants to go back to Madrid today. The German girls we met last night want to go on to Casanova today and be in Santiago by Friday. I can’t decide if I should go with Andi to Madrid or go on… I’ll let you know what I decide.

March 31st, 2010 6:38 pm

I’m back in Madrid. I’ve cried to my mom and to Katie so far because I just feel like I let myself down by not going on, but I wouldn’t have wanted Andi to go back to Madrid by herself and I took the easy way out. Mercedes told me I have a good heart but I’m not sure if that’s true. I think I do a good job letting people believe I have a good heart. I was in pain today, no doubt, but I could’ve gone on. I know that. I could have finished. But instead I spent 53 euro to take a 6 ½ hour bus ride home to Madrid. Dr. Passero had called Mercedes so she wasn’t surprised to see me. As soon as I walked in the door Mercedes hugged me and could instantly tell I was upset. I love how well she knows me. I also like how Mom and Katie gave me completely different advice. Mom told me that I could learn from this and just take what I have learned and continue on next time. Katie told me I should be proud because I was selfless and I tried and that would please God. I’m pretty sure God can read my thoughts and would not be proud because I wasn’t happy with myself about going home. I think I used Andi’s pain as my own excuse to give up. That is no reason to be proud. I cried because I had let myself down, not because I wasn’t “allowed” to finish.

But before the memories start to fade there are a few things I don’t want to forget and few lessons I learned from the people I met.
Paul: You have to stop with your own agenda and let God’s plan unfold
Julio (from Cadiz): Have fun, drink wine, life is short.
Jose/Jose: deal with what you’re given, a bed is only a place you sleep
Colombian girls: Friendship is a 2 way street, sometimes you give and sometimes you receive.
Swedish guys, Erik and Christian: you can’t hike and smoke. Cheese bocadillos are not a substantial form of food.
Brad (Canada): you don’t have to know everything right now, take a break to figure things out.
Tim (Canada): Spread music, it speaks more than words, its speaks feelings
Chris (Texas/Barcelona): Seek out those who look lost and make friends
Claudia and Ana (Germany): Ask questions if you want answers. You can never be 100% prepared (Achilles heel). Have a positive attitude, people notice. Be funny!
Andi: wear good shoes.
Ana (Barcelona): SPEAK SPANISH
Myself: I am capable of the things I want to do. I like being from Iowa. I’ll marry someone with a similar spirit to the men I met on the Camino. Chocolate and red wine go great together. I need to know my limits. I love my family more than I’ll ever be able to express. I have faults, a lot of them. I want something out of life. I can climb mountains, so why am I settling for hills? There is a God and He believes in me. Magis.

Would you rather have to run from a tapas bar or get held up by gypsies?

Answer to above question: Krista and I accomplished both, but not exactly as they are worded in said above question.

Like any responsible college students would do during the long weekend before mid-terms, Krista and I took a mere 7 hour bus ride to the South of Spain. Granada, Spain to be exact. The land of Muslim-Christian art, sangria, olives, tapas, sherry and cork trees? The trip there was tiring in itself given the one highway between Madrid and Granada somehow managed to have a traffic jam worse than a backed-up toilet at my family's Thanksgiving gathering. Life in Spain is slow in general so just imagine a Spanish traffic jam! During these precious hours, Krista and I did a little research and thus found out the main industries in Southern Spain, all of which were to be explored and enjoyed will there. So here begins our journey.

Muslim-Christian art: For you art history maniacs out there, Spain, and especially Southern Spain (Andulsia), is home to the very unique blend of Muslim and Christian cultures. Los moros had once occupied and thrived in Spain until the Spanish Reconquista in which Christians took over all of Spain. The evidence of this history is what embodies Granada. Everything from simple doors to the breathtaking Alhambra, the mezcla of these cultures is everywhere. Speaking of the Alhambra, it was numero 1 on our to do list! So after our tarde arrival at our hostel (where we were met by a pleasantly short fast speaking Spanish lady) we headed immediately to El Mirador de San Nicolas. This is the view of the Alhambra from one of the many hillsides of Granada. However finding this point of interest was like searching for God. There are directions everywhere and arrows pointing you in all sorts of directions, but the reality of the fact is, is that you just have to find it on your own. (This, by the way, ended up being the theme of the weekend - lost.) But also like a spiritual journey, when you reach your destination, the view is completely worth the sweat. Breathtaking, awesome, amazing, beautiful, grand, etc. All of these do not do justice (like my pictures from this trip) to the grandeur that is the Alhambra. (P.s. not to be rude but you DO know what the Alhambra is right? If not, google it.) Here a picture in case you prefer to learn visually.

(note: my camera and I were seriously fighting, sorry for the less than spectacular photos, you can also click on a picture and it gets bigger!)

Sangria: Sangria is a typical Spanish indulgence and it also has magical powers that heal any sort of drag from climbing winding curvy alleys of Granada. It is most commonly drank accompanying tapas and will never fail to be delicious. We found ourselves enjoying this delicacy not too much after the wonderful view of history.
(Note: olives are delicious! But I will not be seen eating Jamón Serrano for quite some time!)

While the sangria was superb and the olives divine, we had yet to discover the true treasure of Andulsia - TAPAS!!!

Tapas: Small portions (raciones) of "appetizers" that accompany drinks. One could live soley on these dishes and given enough practice, will learn, one - how to order them correctly and two- how to eat them for free! Our first tapas experience has officially scarred us for life... I can speak Spanish, Krista can speak Spanish, but neither of us can order off a menu in Spanish. It would be like a Spanaird trying to order from a Carnie at the Iowa State Fair without a picture menu. So we found something that sounded like "meat" and after Krista's request was seriously questioned and probably gossiped about, we recieved our "meat". A table wide platter of cold cuts. Cold cut salami, cold cut ham, cold cut everrrryyyyttthhiiinnng meat! Have you ever tired to eat lots and lots and lots of meat? Well don't, especially when your stomach is accustomed to not a lot of meat. There is no documentation of this nightmare of carne, but trust me that it was weird enough to receive several wary glances, glances that seemed to question our sanity.

The next was meet with no desire to see, smell or even think of meat and so we decided to do what girls do best. SHOP! Shopping is something I have not taken the time to really do while in Spain and let's just say some sandals, a watch, earrings, ring, jewerly box and mosaic mirror later, my thirst for spending money was satifisfied. I am desperately in love with all of my purchases and my single largest fear right now is that I will break my mirror by adoring it too much.

With a solid day of shopping and walking under our belts, we set off once more to discover the hillsides Granada. Only this time was a little less safe and most likely very dangerous. It was reaching dusk and Kristi and I had been wandering through this part of Granada called Albacin aka land of gypsies. I do not use that term inappropriately, it is who they call themselves because they are travellers and sellers of goods, most likely herbal goods. They also have a tendency to be sneaky and not the best of sorts to run into on one of those long narrow alleyways. Coincidentally enough our encounter wasn't in near as tight corners, we had discovered a sort of "city park" and just upon our entering I see something shiny glinting of the top of a garden wall a good distance away. I look back, and without thinking, look at Krista, say "gun" very calmly and we both turn abruptly out of the park and soon find ourselves lost in graffiti covered walls. This is a very uncommon thing given guns are illegal in Spain, but however, I do not doubt for one minute that I saw a gun climbing over a garden wall. We were never in direct danger but our hearts might have had a minor adrenaline rush.

Moving on to less frightening things, Saturday found us making friends with our neighbors in the hostel, and by friends I mean we knocked on the wall back and forth, it was mildly bizarre. After our almost success at making Spanish friends, we researched the best tapas bars in Granada and set out with our handy dandy durable map. The first tapas bar was called Poë and it was fabulous! With each drink you get a nice little stoneware bowl full of yummy steaming hot food. We had something involving chicken and added a side of pork skewers! They were delish and the atmosphe was sooo pleasant! After that we hit up an Indi flared tapas bar just around the corner and by some grace of fate our tapas were on the house! It was fantastic! Just involved the fact that the place was practically packed/overflowing with people and there was absolutely no way we were going to succesfully get to the bar to pay for our 2 € drinks and free tapas. We rounded out our tapas tour at Café Central and enjoyed the most delicious salmon and cream cheese thing I have ever consumed! After too much food and just enough wine we called it a night.

Sunday morning was rainy. Just rainy. BUT we were going to the Alhambra and rain wasn´t going to dampen our spirits! We turned to our trusty .50 guide (aka best map I have ever used) and set out a path to the Alhambra. Funny thing about maps is all they show is the way, not necessary ¨how¨ you will go that way. So we ended up walking up skinny little alleys, lots of uneven stairs, probably someone´s back yard, and a garden, all in the rain, but no worries, we found the Alhambra, just unconventionally. The Alhambra is big and b-e-a-utiful! I loved it! I do wish it would not have been raining, but it is what is. We enjoyed it all the way to the end, in which we left with only 1 semi-functional umbrella and Krista had 2 very very cold and wet feet. I wish I could elaborate more on this pictures can rarely do its beauty justice. The use of nature, water, stone, and intricate detail just amazed me. I´ll have to upload some pictures as soon as I get the chance!

To put the cherry on our Sun"dae" we spent the night in the Granada bus station with nothing but an endless game of "would you rather?" and the odd presence of some Romanian adolescents who thought 50 cent was more or less a divine prophet. To put in in short - Life in Granada is GRAND!

Clearly the only way to solve this problem is to get naked...

You may be wondering "What in the world could this title possibly lead to?"... well as fate would have it, I got into another fight with a shower, only this one had high pressure water jets...

Our group arrived in Valencia around noonish and were to check into our hostel, however the hostel was full and we lucked out by being given apartments to stay in! It was splendid! The apartment building was clean and close to the hostel and our piso (apartment) was great! I was rooming with the lovely ladies of Avenida de America, Krista, Andi, and Alyssa and just like any normal person would do, we immediately went exploring our new found territory. We found a massive cheatah blanket, a balcony, 2 double beds, a day bed, a kitchen, 2 bathrooms and....a fancy high tech shower! Being the curious cat I am I was playing with the settings and had it set on the "rain" setting where the water comes straight down from the top and the next setting I saw was one, that according to the image, shot up from the bottom of the shower. I had never seen this before and of course I turned the nob to check it out.... well the water doesn't shoot up from the bottom but rather directly out from the shower wall, full blast, at me. I have been mildly hit as my cat like reflexes quickly close the sliding glass doors of the shower. So now, I'm standing there with wet spots all over my shirt, staring at these power jets shooting water directly at the doors, where if you were to open the doors, the water would shoot directly into Krista's bedroom. "Guys.....we might have a problem." The group assembles but soon enough it becomes very very clear that the only way to solve this crisis is for someone to get naked and get in the shower. Given it was my doing, the only logical answer was that I had to be the one to do this. So under direction of the videographer of the situation, I stripped down, not so bravely opened the shower doors, swung my arms around untill I grasped a nob and just twisted, with no real idea what I was doing. In record time the pressure jets were defeated and once again I found myself standing mostly damp infront of a shower. Karma got me back with a cold shower the next morning and hopefully I have learned my lesson to just leave all showers be as they were.



On to more adventures!

Valencia was in the state of a festival called Las Fallas! According to Ricardo, it is originally a pagan holiday that celebrates the end of Winter, being of Spring. However, Christians adopted it in order to overtake the pagans and now it is celebrated in conjunction with the feast of St. Joseph. Since Joseph was a carpenter, local artisans build this massive, 2-3 story tall sculptures out of cardboard and wood. The process of putting up the "fallas" started the weekend we were in Valencia and Friday the festival of burning them takes places i.e. getting rid of old, starting anew. Las Fallas were very colorful, very bizarre, and sometimes creepy but they were very very grand to say the least.
Since the festival was going on, the streets were extremely crowded and there were firecrackers exploding every 2 minutes along with drum bands breaking it down and loads of botellon sessions taking place. While all the hustle and bustle was very exciting I had done some mild research on Valencia in the crisis that our tour was dreadfully boring and knew of some sweet places to check out. So with our 2 hours of free time, Krista, Nicki and I set off to discover the less exploding side of Valencia.

After much fuss over which way was which, we stumbled upon a Spanish drinking fountain, el Jardín del Turia, fresh oranges, Torres de Serranos, a sweet fountain, la Plaza de la Virgin and finally the Cathedral of Valencia. The Jardín del Turia used to be a river and with the rich riverbed a garden was created. It is absolutely stunning and also has quite a few soccer fields! I loved it!


Next, following our outstanding map, found the Torres de Serranos! If you look closely you can see the canon ball marks from the Moors! This is one of the 2 original remaining entrances to Valencia.

Finally we exhausted our 2 hour break and met up with the rest of the group to go on another exciting tour with Ricardo. If anyone would ever like to hear about the architecture of a church, I have more than enough knowledge to share. So here is the Cathedral of Valencia in which exists the one and only HOLY GRAIL... supposedly. Ricardo told us that if you are Christian you believe it is, but this was not his concern more just the design of this particular church.


After the thrilling cathedral tour, Ricky took us out to explore Valencia by foot, which meant walking through tons of crowds and stopping randomly so that he could point out various architectural details of a building and its significance might be thrown in if the architecture wasn't that great. However, Valencia is beautiful and I really enjoyed the craziness of the festival, it reminded me of Summerfest (minus the music)!

That night it was decided that we would have a night in! This does not mean that we forgot the calimotxo or coronitas just means that finally we were able to hangout with friends without having to find a crowded smoky bar. It was very pleasant after we found the space heater because Spain still does not believe in heat and I really enjoyed the chance to have some heart-to-hearts with my girls. The night ended with Krista cleaning her heart away while Andi and I celebrated the awesomeness of the cheatah blanket!

Saturday morning greeted us with a typical Spanish breakfast consisting mostly of café con leche and donuts/churros with sugar! Yeah for caffiene/sugar highs! So not only were our spirits lifted because of the crazy sugar intake, but we were off to the beach and SUNSHINE! I don't think I have ever been more excited to see sunlight in my entire life! Madrid has been awfully rainy lately and to finally feel the warmth of the sun was sooo great. Before the beach, we took a couple hour pitstop at la Cuidad de las Artes y las Letras, or a serious of futuristic buildings that are science and art musuems. Surprisingly Ricardo did not talk about the breathtaking architecture of these buildings, instead we were able to wander and enjoy at our pace!



After this wonderful sight-seeing, we trotted off to explore the beach, write in the sand, splash in the waves, attempts some handstands and cartweels, and eat paella! nom nom nom! I love Spain.

soooo I broke the shower.

Ok, here's the deal, I didn't purposely break the shower, nor could it have entirely been my fault, I was just the lucky person who was there when it broke....

Mercedes, my host mom, has mild OCD and everything in our piso is impeccable, everything down to the shower drain is shiny so when the shower head decided to start leaking I thought I would be kind and twist it on a little bit tighter to avoid unneccsary water spots that Mercedes would have to clean immediately after my shower....well its not a twisty shower head.

This is no ordinary showerhead mind you, this is a BRAND new shiny stainless steel and white showerhead. It's the kind of shower where you can detach it, I don't know if there is a special name for them, but its a tub/shower situation. The tub is bright white and I have to clean it after every bath or shower just so you can understand how much this shower is valued.

So I first push the shower head together and that doesn't stop the leaking so I assumed it was a twist dealio. I twisted...and....WATER EVERYWHERE!!!! Lots and lots of water spots to be cleaned up... you know in the movies when the water pressure on the hose is really high and the hose is flying everywhere? Well it was kind of like that, except less exciting. The bottom half of the shower hose drops and decides that its a good idea to dent the pristine white tub. Great. I'm standing half damp with a shower head in my right hand and shower hose (now under control) in my left hand and I look at the two pieces and they look like they should just twist together. I try to twist them back together again. It didn't work. I have shut off the water by this point so there will be no more ridiculous water spots. I put my towel on...very very meekly walk into the living room to tell Mercedes that we have a problem...

This situation would be very easy to explain in English.. however I have never thought to study shower vocabularly. I'm sure Mercedes thought I had lost my mind because I was standing in the living room, in a towel, half wet, shaking, trying to explain that I broke the shower, so lots of hand motions that involved pushing and twisting and an occassional noise of water gushing and things breaking... She tells me to show her... so we walk to the bathroom...

She see's the 2 pieces and immediately tries to twist them together too! Mercedes has managed to remain calm while I'm sure my heart beat could trigger a ricter machine because I know she hasn't noticed the dent yet. Well she finally realizes that the shower head can't be twisted together and she goes to inspect the rest of the shower... my knees had to have been knocking by this point... and then there is this eruption of Spanish that I can't understand and the only bit i do catch is that the tub is only 4 months old. 5 more minutes of mumbling goes on and she tells me to just take a bath...

All in all the shower head is still broken, Mercedes still loves me and won't let me pay for a new shower piece, and I have to take baths.

Wednesdays!

Wednesdays, or Miercoles as I should say, are the best days ever! There is no reason to wake up early, which means you can start celebrating Wednesday at midnight, take a short nap from 6 am to noon, rise and shine just in time to drink and dine! (that rhymed, fyi) And that is precisely how my yesterday started out! It was a fantastic evening filled with much 1 euro cerveza and more than enough good company just out to celebrate the mere fact that it was Wednesday. To add to the wonderfulness of this day the sun was bright and warm when I awoke mid afternoon. I promptly hopped out of bed and began the phone tree that had one question, what where and when are we doing whatever we are doing today. It was decided that we would grab breakfast/lunch at the BEST sandwich shop ever, 100(cien) Montaditos.

100 Montaditos also has 1 euro Wednesdays! Not sure why everything has to be so perfect on Wednesdays but I'm going to chalk it up as a sign from God that I should truly enjoy this day of the week. Despite the horribly long line, tables littered with flimsy used napkins and empty glasses, air quality that should come with a warning about lung cancer, and the abundant presence of Spanish lovers, we filled our order and waited. and waited. and waited. eventually snagged an open table. and waited. Spaniards are not known for their speedy services nor for their regard to the needs of others, meaning the majority of people occupying the majority of the space were done eating and their primary task was to smoke themselves to death. I should rephrase this to be more fair, I am an American and therefore have no regard to the intricate details it takes to make a 3" sandwich nor do I have any sort of experience in enjoying time with friends. Dear Spain, I apologize for the cultural differences. ANYWAY we finally received our fabulously delicious bocadillos (little sandwiches) and potato chips..

{HOLD ON interruption/side note: I am sitting in the library currently and the 2 people sitting directly to my left are about to make babies. I understand that Franco was suppresive about affection and that its not acceptable to have a boyfriend or girlfriend over at your house, but really I'm beginning to think that making out is like breathing here...everyone does it, everywhere, and they don't care if you witness it. It's so innocent yet so darn intrusive and it has this tendency to remind me that I, contrary to them, am not in love. thank you Spain yet again.}

...back to the greatest of Wednesdays! We more or less inhaled the delicious delectable delights called Montaditos and promptly set off to refresh our lungs, air out our jackets and take in some culture at the Reina Sofia, Madrid's musuem of modern art.

Picasso. What can I say? He's an artistic genius. Guerrnica is huge! And extremely impressive. Also say some stuff by Dalí but all in all I am not art critic so I thought the museum was pretty sweet and enjoyed looking at all the pretty (and some not so pretty) pieces.

After the museum we were having a bizarre craving for ice cream for which there is no better cure than waffles and ice cream! The ice cream was def a little freezer burnt and the waffles may or may not have been half sugar but nonetheless it hit the spot. We also met a man who thought it was important that we know that the US is BEST place in the world to live...we thought he was crazy considering we rarely eat waffles and ice cream in the states. By this time it was dark and Madrid was starting to come to life but it was clearly time for the American kids to hit home for the ever mysterious Spanish family meal.

This Wednesday was also particularly great because I was able to hear from my Grandmother in California, as well as my aunt, uncle and father! I found out that my grandma is doing much better than I thought however I still believe my little brother and I are planning a summer roadtrip to LA!! More tidbits of exciting news - I have a job teaching 2 7 year old girls English, and possibly another teaching job as well which means money in the bank! I also was offered the RA job at Carpenter again and I'm very very very excited to return, its a great building with wonderful staff, I can't wait to return! More news.. I head to Valencia next weekend (not this weekend!), Granada the weekend after that, then its mid-terms and then I head off my 10 day hiking/backpacking adventure through Northern Spain on the Camino de Santiago! Google it so you can be just as excited about it as I am.

Con un beso y abrazo!