More pics!!!!

I have so many pictures that I took this weekend, and I can't decide which ones to put up. I hope this gives you a glimpse into the beauty that I experienced this weekend . . .

San Vicente de la Barquera (Santander)

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.

Ok ok! I'm posting!!

After fifty emails telling me that I needed to make a new post, I'm finally getting around to it. Life has been busy lately! After my mom left, I had exactly one week to plan three new books for my classes and the homework that went with them. I spent hours every day working on it, and then came back to school, grudgingly. Right now I'm fighting with the Spanish mail system since they've stopped a package at customs and are making me go through ridiculous hoops in order to have them tell me whether I'm allowed to keep it or not. And if they let me keep it then I have to pay taxes on it. Fun. All for some damn chocolate and toothpaste (I don't like the Spanish toothpaste).

My apartment building has FINALLY ended the construction and now I'm able to walk to my door without scaffolding everywhere and weird Spanish guys saying things that I don't understand. I also can hang my clothes outside, which is nice, but considering that it's freezing here, I haven't been doing that much. And I have a secadora now!

Hmm, what else? I'm tutoring like crazy trying to save money and transferring Euros into dollars. I opened my first CD the other day which made me feel kind of odd. Grown up in a weird sort of way. It's funny how money can do that to you. Instantly change you from a child to an adult. I guess that's capitalism for you. I tried to go out to a movie last night and made it as far as my door before I realized that all I really wanted to do was curl up in bed and go to sleep. I've been taking pictures like crazy with my new camera and really enjoying the results. I'll post some later.

Right now I'm at school, typing while my students are reading, since I never seem to have time to do this updating at home. I love silent reading days!

Oh, and Zoe is doing well to all who asked. Yesterday I came home to a trash heap as she has now discovered how to open up the top of the trashcan and pull everything out. That was fun. However, she was quite proud of herself and sat there sort of smiling at me. I swear she was saying something like, "See Mom! I can open a trashcan! And look at all these treasures!!" I did not have her same excitement.

I think that's it for the moment. Mail problems, and male problems. But that's another story =)

More pics of our day!!!

I hope that these prove the distance covered today, and also the very camera shy mother.

A Day of Walking

Well, we left this morning on a mission to find the lamp that mom broke and replace my futon cover for the living room. Instead, we ended up walking all over Madrid for about six hours and enjoying the city life. We walked from Delicias up to Embajadores, then on to La Latina, Tirso de Molina, across to Retiro where I managed to get us lost for about fifteen minutes, then back up Gran Via to Sol, Plaza Mayor, and the Palacio Real. So, she basically got to see most of the important Madrid sites in one day. We were going to also try to hit the Reina Sofia for a bit (a museum) but we got too tired and had to come home to walk Zoe. I think we walked about ten miles in all. It was a long trip.

Mom refused to perform for the camera, but I managed to get some shots of her when she wasn't looking. I'll post those also. She seemed to really enjoy herself, except for telling me I was going too fast and that she needed to sit down more often. Who would have known? She swears to me she walks all the time, but I think she's lying. You guys in Waynesville have to tell me the truth! But in all seriousness, she really did have a great time seeing all the sights. She kept asking me to take pictures of the most random things, so she's coming home with pics of painted buildings and police officers. Moms! Right now she's napping. =)

We're up to Thursday!

Ok, only today and tomorrow and I'm officially on break. Thank God. It's time!!!

As I type right now, mom is lying in bed with Zoe talking to her and telling her that "grandma is better than mom." And, "your mom doesn't love you as much as I do." Fantastic. I can just imagine what it's going to be like if I ever have kids. Last night we took a long walk in Madrid and I showed her the three main museums and Retiro, the huge park. Tonight we're going to IKEA after work because I received an email at work from her yesterday telling me that my lamp next to my bed was broken. Hmm, it wasn't before I left for work! Then I got another email telling me she had locked herself out of the house for an hour and that it was quite cold outside. Age??? She's scared to really go anywhere on her own, so my drawers are reorganized and things are very clean all the time. I must admit that this has been very nice.

She's starting to notice the aspects of Madrid I told her about before. Trash all over the street, dog poop on your shoes if you don't pay close attention, and the fact that no one smiles at you when you smile at them. However, she seems to have made friends with a dog and its owner in the park next to my house, so at least that's nice. Every day I'm caught up to speed on the tricks this dog does in the park. I've never met him (or her) but it sounds like a pretty cool dog. Apparently, Zoe doesn't care much for it though.

Tomorrow she's coming to school with me, so she'll get to check out the psychotic kids here on their last day before vacation. Fun! Saturday is our museum day, so I'll repost about all the pretty artwork we see then!

Until the next time, Happy Holidays from me and my mother!

Tumultuous Tuesday

So it was an interesting day already, and it's not even 10:30 yet. Mom and I got up this morning to the sound of a text message from Iberia saying that her bags were coming to the house. However, it's now four hours later and they haven't arrived. We rushed around the house making sure that one of us was always next to the phone just in case they called to say they were there. I quickly jumped in the shower while she waited to walk Zoe, just to be met with a psychotic shower that had apparently gone crazy after mom used it. (She swears she did nothing to it, yet it worked yesterday before she took a shower =) I had to hold it in my hand to take the shower, which was not a pleasant experience. However, I finally finished and got ready for school and was out the door in about fifteen minutes. Record time since I was running late. However, I managed to get to the train station right as the train was coming, so I was thinking that my morning was turning around and it was going to be a really nice day. The train was almost empty, which is a rarity in Spain in the mornings, and I got my own seat and was able to read the entire ride without being interrupted. Things were definitely looking up. Then I got off the train and it was pouring in the town where I work. I put my scarf over my head and took off running, hoping I wouldn't be soaked for my first class. On the way to school I ran into one of my students and she and I ended up running together. During this period she somehow caught her sweater on a pole and ripped the arm of it open. I laughed at her, thinking it was quite funny. However, karma is a powerful thing and five seconds later we were trying to get up the muddy hill to get to school and I slipped and fell and took her out with me. My whole outfit is now covered in mud and I have to teach today in muddy jeans. I won't even go into what my coat looks like, but I will say that I'm going to the dry cleaner immediately after school. Fun times. Then I tried to make copies of a test for my next period class and the copy machine went crazy and started eating my originals. I had to convince a secretary to take me to the other machine and make the copies, since I'm giving the quiz next period! Oh, and I almost forgot. This morning the school had a Christmas breakfast for teachers and I ran quickly down there to grab a cup of coffee, and on my way back to class managed to spill it all over myself also. So my coat smells like a mixture of mud and coffee. It's really quite pleasant.

Long story short, my Tuesday seems to hate me.