Crowded trains and busy streets have become my norm here. I'm so used to people pushing me on the train that it doesn't even seem as annoying as it once did. I know that I'm not tall enough to reach the bar to hold on to, so I'm getting accustomed to flying left and right at every stop along the way. I'm starting to understand that going shopping on a Saturday means fighting my way through crowds of people who refuse to smile and grab the exact object that you want right in front on you. So, you can imagine the feeling on complete contentment as I got into the car on Friday, ready for an excursion outside of the city. With Madrid quickly behind us, I started feeling normal again. It was dark, but along the road I saw tiny little specks of lights, tiny villages where I'm sure the Madrid style of living doesn't exist. It took four hours, and it was dark, but it was the best dark I've experienced so far. Complete blackness, with stars twinkling in the sky. Stars. I had forgotten how much I loved them. I had forgotten what they looked like in general. We arrived, very late at night, to this tiny little place that is called a pension in spanish. It's kind of like a mixture between a hostel and a bed and breakfast. When I awoke Saturday morning, I looked out one window and saw tractors and holsteins and jerseys and was greeted by the smell of countryside. Another aspect I didn't realize how much I missed. Out the other window was a small hillside where animals roamed freely and the beach framed their images. I could hear the water splashing even from our pension, and it was with much enthusiasm that I awoke to greet this day. We met up with some of Abel's friends and went exploring. Everything was beautiful. Driving to the beach felt like an out of body experience. We were up on the hillside, so you could see the little town we were going to and the beach from miles away. It was kind of like a mixture of West Coast ocean and Missouri countryside. I don't think I've ever seen or been anywhere quite like it. I managed to get some amazing pictures of Abel and Sergio surfing--and Zoe! Zoe apparently likes surfing and she kept following them out into the ocean until a big wave would hit and then she'd swim back and wait. It was incredible to watch. I think she needs a surfboard. Imagine a black lab surfing--perfect picture, eh? I spent a lot of time eating, and eating a lot. We found some little bar type place where the menu was in English also (woo hoo!) so I actually knew what I was ordering for lunch. But it didn't matter, because knowledge was the last thing on my mind this weekend. It was all about feeling, about experience, about forgetting what you have to do the next day and just letting the sound of the ocean overtake your body and make you feel whole. We ended up meeting up with another friend Saturday night and eating at this strange restaurant in the middle of nowhere. I swear, it was surrounded by the woods and nothing else. And it was amazing. It was like an old movie where you walk in and it's just the locals with a dusty piano in one corner and a woman behind the counter whose eyes smiled at you when you walked in the door. Perfection. I even managed to play a couple of songs on the piano, which was nice. Wish I had my guitar. Sunday was kind of the same. The three guys went surfing and I stayed on the beach --I hate surfing-- and graded papers. Well, actually, I sort of graded papers and worked on untying the knot of the kite so I could fly it. Unfortunately, I never got the chance as Zoe ran away in the middle of the experience and attacked the trash cans along the beach. Fortunately, no one saw this but me, so I was saved from minor embarassment. I also picked up more Spanish, although I'm not sure that they are words that I should be learning. Surf language of the Spanish. In general, it was one of the most amazing and beautiful places I've ever been, not just in Spain.
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