Siesta

In case you thought that the idea of afternoon siestas in Spain was just a myth, here are the cold, hard facts.

There you have it. After lunch people really do take a nap.

Spring Break 2008!

Friday I slept in and went running and dinked around doing who knows what. I always have the best intentions when I don´t have to work to be productive and accomplish a lot that turn into me doing everything except what I was going to do and being late. But thats ok. I took a bus to go meet my teachers at 12:30 for a drink and tapa. About 1 stop later people started looking around and yelling at the bus driver that smoke was coming out of the back of the bus. So we stopped, waited and finally all got off the bus and I had to pick another one, making me even more late. I also didn't get off at the right stop and had to back track. So I finally made it and they thought it was funny I was running on Andalucian Time. So we chatted, mostly about problem children, and drank and snack and after and hour or so the party broke up and we went home. I made some food for lunch and watched Fama until I had to go to class with Pablo. Then after class I don know what I did, probably more dinking around and TV until Victor got there in the evening. We had dinner with his parents and Raul and watched a movie on TV about Cameron de la Isla, a very famous flamenco singer. Pepa had made torrijas, a typical Easter food, which is kind of like fried french toast. Raul gave us the keys to his house in Mojácar and a long list of instructions, do's and don'ts. Then bed.

Saturday morning I slept in, woke up and got ready and packed for our trip. We didn't leave till about 1 after a late breakfast of more torrijas. So we started on our way to Mojácar. Before we stopped there we stopped at a place called Mini Hollywood. It is a place in Almería where they filmed a lot of the old John Wayne Old West films. I had wanted to go for a long time. Unfortunately, it cost 18€ to get in! They have showed and a zoo there too but all I wanted to see was the mini old west town, but we didn't go in. I took some pictures though. I'll go back when I'm richer. Then we continued on to Mojácar and finally there around 4 or so. We were pretty hungry by then but couldn't really find a place to eat so we decided to find the house and then worry about food. Raúl's house is huge and amazing! It has 3 large floors, 2 full bathrooms, 1 half bathroom, 3 bedrooms, a huge kitchen and living room tons of closets and lots more rooms waiting to be finished and furnished. The house also has a fireplace that sticks in the wall, beautiful sea views, a pool, a cactus garden and a yard with 2 palm trees in it. So I explored the house and then we went looking for a grocery store. We finally found one and started to buy groceries for the week. Then we came home and made spaghetti (from my special sauce packets that have been sent to me) which was really good. I like sharing my American food with Victor or people who appreciate it, since my roommies mostly don't. Then we rested and watched Tv and then went out to rent some movies. We got Shrek and The Kingdom of Heaven. Back and home we started Kingdom of Heaven but Victor fell asleep and went to bed so I finished it and then went to bed too.

Sunday we rewatched Kingdom of Heaven (Victor for the first time) and then went to get lunch at El Tropiko, a resturant everyone had reccommended to us. It ended up not being that good. We got a salad, fried baby squids and two plates of fish. First they brought us the salad, then Victor's main dish, then our squid appetizer and then my fish. So Victor's had gotten cold and mine ended up not being very good. So we didn't leave a tip and left. Then we went and explored the town a little bit. It is really cute and small and touristy, so I had a ball looking in all the souvenier shops and buying my magnet. Then we left and drove down to a beach and walked around a bit. Then back home and watched Shrek. Then returned the movies and got 2 more, The Prestige and 300. We got home and ate dinner and instead of watching the movies, ended up watching Camera Cafe and Aída, the usual Sunday night shows, and then bed.

Monday we woke up and drove to a beach called Monsul. First we stopped at a pueblo that Victor thought was a beach he had been to before, but it wasn't exactly what he remembered. It was another little touristy town so I dragged Victor to all the shops so I could buy a magnet, a necklace I really like and earrings. The symbol of Almería is the Indalo, which is this ancient cave drawing that I really like. Then we finally made it to Monsul. It is a very famous beach, out in the middle of no where and parts of The Goonies, Conan the Barbarian, some movie with Jane Fonda and Indiana Jones have been filmed there, and certainly others. Everytime I talk to somebody, they tell me another movie that was filmed there. Then after Monsul, on our way back we stopped at a tiny, tiny pueblo called Agua Amarga, Bitter Water. It was really peaceful and quiet and we hung out on the beach for a bit before continuing on. It was so tiny that it didn´t really have any magnets, so that was a bummer. Then we stopped and got gasoline and a bag of ham flavored Ruffles for lunch. Then finally at home we stopped by the grocery store and bought some more food and went home and made dinner. We had chicken and rice and we were really hungry. Then we watched 300 and then The Prestige. I was the only one who watched The Prestige though as Victor fell asleep. Then we returned the movies came back and fell asleep after a long talk.

Tuesday we hung out at home in the morning and then around lunchtime we went to Vera to visit Nacho and Alicia. They were getting there and invited us over for lunch. They have a cute tiny appartment and we hung out there with them and the kids and had lunch. Then naptime, and then Victor and I drove to Lorca, Murcia. Rafa at my work had told me that they have a really amazing Roman Semana Santa with cool processions, so I was hoping to see something like that. We drove in and up to this big castle, that was closed so we just barely looked around. Then drove down through the city and left again. We didn´t see any processions and it was almost kind of pointless to go there as we drove for an hour and then were there less than 1 and then drove back for an hour. Then on our way home we drove through the town of Vera, which turned out to be another disaster as it was dark and creepy. Then we stopped back by Nacho and Alicia´s place and visited for a bit before going home, eating dinner, watching House and going to bed.



Wednesday we got up and got ready and cleaned the hosue and washed sheets and towels. The washers and dryers here take a loooong time to run so we were waiting for a while to leave. We made some pasta which was kinda gross for lunch and I ruined a new shirt opening a can of tuna. I got oil all over me. Then we finally left and drove to this beach called Cabo de Gata, Cape Cat. It was very beautiful and solitary and we took a nap there. Then we drove to the city of Almería and walked around and looked at things. It was a pretty cute and small city but I was going a little bit crazy because there were no magnet or souvenier stores and I really wanted to find one. We asked around and finally found the only souviener kiosk in the whole town and I bought my magnet. Then we left and drove back to Granada. We made the mistake of driving along the coast, which had horrible traffic. It took us a long time to get back but we finally did. There we showered and ate dinner, Pepa had left us a big pasta salad, before she went down to the beach. Then I watched Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso. We had come back from the beach to see La Procesión de Los Gitanos, or the Gypsy Procession during Semana Santa. But as we went out around 12:30 PM or so, it was raining, which meant that the procession was cancelled. So we went and hung out with Santi, Lucía, María and this other girl in Liberia. It was fun and we were out till about 3 or so. Then home and bed.

Thursday I slept in and then Victor and I did absolutely nothing. We just sat around allllll day, watching TV and being really, really lazy bums. So we watched tv all day till we ate a pizza and pasta salad for lunch and then took a nap and watched more tv. Then around 9 PM I showered, ate a little sandwich, and we went to Lucia's house and hung out with her, Santi, María and her boyfriend Buitre. We were there for a while, just chilling and then we took Santi home and Victor and I went out to see the Procession of Silence. It was pretty cool, its completely silent, no music and they turn off the street lights where it passes. Some people wear chains on their legs and you can just hear the clanking as they walk through the streets. Its the most somber procession as its the one where Christ is crucified. Then we went home, watched House and I went to bed.

Friday was more of the same, tv and no movement all morning. We got lunch from McDonalds and just ate a ton of junk food. It was good but I felt gross as soon as I finished. Then around 4 or 5 I had showered a little earlier and we went and watched the procession that left from Los Escolapios, the church and school next to my house where Victor went to school all his life. It was cool and then at the end my sister called me. Then we came back home and I talked to her on the phone for a long time and then we went back out for a walk. we saw a lot of processions right in teh city center as they all converge there and there is like a traffic jam of them. Then we walked around and down to Plaza Einstein, had a few tapas and then walked home and watched a documentary on killer hippopotami and I went to bed.

Saturday when I woke up I was really dizzy and I fel that way all day long. I tried to eat a little breakfast, watched some Tv but then we had to clean the house because Pepa and Emilio were coming back. So we cleaned, Victor made a rice and tuna dish for lunch which was really good. So I showered and the house was all clean and the dishes done and we watched TV till Pepa and Emilio came back. I was still feeling dizzy and not so good, so when they came home, I went up to my house and watched tv there with Adrian. We talked and he told me that he didn't want me to leave because he liked me so much. Victor was running some errands and getting a hair cut but then stopped by later and I think we went downstairs for dinner. Then he went out with some friends, I used the internet at home till the power went out in the whole building and I went to bed.

Sunday morning I finally felt better and I woke up and got ready for church. As an Easter miracle, Victor went to church with me! We went to the new one close to my house, which Victor seemed to like more than the other one. Its much more calm and laid back. It was a good service and we both sang. I was really happy that he went with me and we had a pretty good time. Then we came home and ate paella with the family and Nacho and Alicia and their family and grandma. I shared some chocolate Easter bunnies and eggs that Carmina had given me with everyone. After lunch everyone fell asleep except for me, Alicia, and Pepa, so I took pictures of them. I also talked to my mom and my dad on the phone. Then I don't think we really did anything in the afternoon because everyone slept so long, but I think Victor and I went to Nacho and Alicia´s for a pizza dinner and then he left for Malaga. Then I probably went home and watched TV and went to bed. And that was my Spring Break 2008! :)

Totally Random

Ok here is a quick update of the last couple of days:

Tuesday I finished off the day with class at the school, then with Carlos and Marta. Marta showed me her Semana Santa ball of wax that she collected off all the dripping candles after years and years of Semana Santas. Then I think just home and bed. Nothing special.

Wednesday was another great day. I was going to get up early and run but nixed that idea when the alarm went off and slept a little longer. Then I talked to Michelle at work. Last week Emilio went to Huesca and brought me back 6 rolls of bread and 12 other pastries. He didn´t seem to think that that was a lot, but I did. I have been bringing Michelle 1 or 2 everyday at work. So we chatted and ate our snacks and then I worked for the first hour, and the second hour with teachers and then an hour with kids. Since it was the week before vacation, and the week after exams, none of the kids came to school. So I taught the 7 or so kids that showed up about Easter American style. Then Michelle and I walked to El Mirador de San Nicolas where she was meeting a freind for lunch and we hung out till he got there. Then I walked home and made lunch and watched Fama. Conchi and Valentina and Victor Perez all cancelled class on me so I had the whole afternoon free. My parents sent me a great Easter Basket package and that got delivered too! Then I practiced guitar for a bit, and Michelle came over to pick up some stuff she needed for her trip to Italy. Then running, talked on the phone with Victor and then class with Nacho and Alicia, and then Sin Tetas, and then home and bed.

Today, Thursday I didn´t have to go to the first hour of class so I slept in, woke up and went running. It was a little difficult as I had gone the night before (I guess) and then I showerd and went to work. I used the internet and then made some copies for the week after break. Then I had 1 hour of work where I repeated the scene of American Easter to about 8 kids. Then I came home and Victor was here. He had a short work week this week in Murcia. Its about 3 hours away, and he had the whole day for travel so leaving first thing in the morning, he got here around noon. Pepa had gone out to eat but left Victor a huge platter of pasta which we brought up to my house and ate as we watched Fama. (Victor is secretly hooked.) Then I went to guitar and came home and hung out with Victor and the family till he left to go to work in Malaga tomorrow. Then I brought the computer up and have been chatting online to Deanna and doing different things. There has been no one home all day long!

Tomorrow I am going to go to lunch with some of the teachers from work and get all ready for Spring Break. Victor and I are going to Mojácar on the beach and staying in his brother Raúl´s amazing house there. I haven´t seen it yet.. We are also planning on traveling around a bit, and going to cities I haven´t been to before.

Now I wanted to share some totally random tidbits that don´t really go anywhere.

There is a bum who lives under a balcony by where I go running. He is pretty nuts and smelly. There are several strange things about this. Who lets a smelly bum live under their window balcony? He really lives there, he leaves his stuff there during the day, including his Santa Claus stuffed toy. Number 2, one time while running by, he pulls out a megaphone and starts yelling at me. Where does a bum get a megaphone? How does he charge it? Do megaphones run on batteries? Are they expensive?

The other day I saw a huge, maybe 3 inch, grasshopper smashed dead on the ground. I was glad it was dead, had I seen it alive, it probably would have sucked my blood. I thought bugs that big only lived in the country, not the city. I hope I never see one alive.

Today I was walking and I saw a pile of dog poop on the ground with a bird poop on top of it. What are the chances of that? Was it coincidence or did the bird plan that?

Lastly, there is nothing I can do to seperate the paragraphs in the last entry. I´m sorry, I´ve tried several times.

Finally All Caught Up

Monday March 3rd, I didn´t clean the house because it was spotless as Zore´s family had just left, I went running, and did who knows what till I ate lunch and went to work in the afternoon. That afternoon I started class with a new student. His name is Víctor Pérez, is 29 yrs old and I´m going to be practicing conversation with him 2 hours a week. So now on Mondays, I have class with the babies, then a shorter amount of time to practice guitar and then class with Victor and then nothing. So then I went home and ate something for dinner and went to bed.

Tuesday, more of the same, running, guitar, and then I had an appointment with Veronica to take me to a school where she had an opening. It was way too far away to actually make money off of so I said no. Then more stuff till lunch and then class with more babies and I tutored Carlos and Marta. I really needed groceries the day before, but I didn´t have any money and now that I did have money it was ridiculously windy. The weather has been so strange. Monday and Tuesday were pretty hot untill Tuesday night when I got out of class and there were horrible winds chilling me to the bones. So even though I had money I went home and invented someting else to eat. Then I watched tv and went to bed.

Wednesday was a good day, I got up early and ran before I went to work and used the internet. Then Fernando called and said he couldn´t have class because he was too busy, so I talked to Michelle for an hour. Then we talked during recess. Then I had my favorite class, with Rafa and Javier plus 3 student teachers, and then 1 more class and then home! I ate something for lunch and then watched Fama and then practiced guitar a bit and then had class again with Victor. Then I was going to class with Nacho and Alicia when Nacho called to tell me there was a problem, the Real Madrid soccer game was on, and henceforth a conflict of interests, he said I could come for dinner anyway, so I did. We ate dinner with another friend, José Rubio, and then watched Sin Tetas. Jose got totally hooked, even though he claimed he wasn´t and stayed till the end and took me home on his scooter/moto which was freezing. When I got home, the usual crowd was there, Manolo, Raquel, and Mari, and we ended up playing Movie title charades, which was pretty fun, but kept me up past my bedtime. I finally broke away from everything around 2 or so.

Thursday, no way I was getting up early, so I slept in, went to work and taught till 1:30 and then got done and hour early. I walked down with Michelle, and we stopped by the bank and a café to get some sandwiches for her lunch date and then I went home. I still hadn´t gone to the grocery store so I invented something else for lunch and watched Fama and went to guitar. It went pretty well and then I came home and went running and then started off to Nacho and Alicia´s to recover our missed class. On the way, Nacho called and said that someone had a little bit of a fever and I turned around before he finished. Then back at home I invented something else for dinner and watched tv till my roommates left to go out and then went to bed.

Friday March 7th I woke up and went to work. It was pretty good, I had 1 more cancelled class and corrected a bunch of papers. Then I finally could go home, ate lunch (also invented. At some point in the week I finally went to a store and bought something but they didn´t have what I wanted so the fridge was still bare) and watched part of Fama and went to class with Pablo. Then I came home, visited Pepa and Emilio because she gave me a toque. Victor when he left for Lisboa, left from Granada but returned to Malaga for his meeting on Saturday, forgetting his car in Granada. Apparently he had asked his dad to come pick him up, but Emilio didn´t like that idea very much. So Pepa, being the grand manipulative pupeteer of the family, told me to suggest that I go with Emilio to pick Victor up, which he would do for me. Spending my only day to sleep in and a chance to get some stuff done in a car with Emilio is probably the last thing on Earth I wanted to do but it is impossible for me to say no to her and so I obeyed. Then I went running, and rushed and showered and went to meet Michelle and Jenna. I had tried to make plans with Jenny, Kristen, and Samar who were all out of town before Michelle let me know they were hanging out at Brad´s place. So I made a quick sandwich and got on a bus. Victor had told me the incorrect bus, but thankfully I saw Paco a friend of Emilio´s and Pepa´s who I had gone on a walk with before and we chatted for a while and he told me how to get to Plaza Einstein and where I should get off the bus I was on. Then I met up with Michelle, Pierre Anne and Jenna and we went to Brad´s and hung out for a bit with him and his roommate from England and his other friend, a girl from England. Then we went to Tantra a bar and hung out there for a while. Michelle and Jenna went home rather early and I hung out with Brad and we made fun of this really tall American who thought he was the coolest as he danced with this other American girl. I know that sounds mean, but this guy was a real imbecil. So then I went home early since I had to get up the next morning and went to bed at 4.

Saturday I woke up at 8:30, dozed till 9 and then showered and cleaned up my room till I met Emilio at 10:15. We went to Los Ogijares, got Victor´s GPS out of his car and headed towards a pueblo, Huetor-Tajar where Emilio stopped and visited a client. Then we continued on to Malaga and only got a little lost. I¨m a pretty good co-pilot and with Tom-Tom I´m amazing but Emilio doesn´t listen very well and I felt a little strange ordering him around. All in all we found the place, picked Victor up and spent 2 more hours driving home. We got back around 2:30 and I was so glad to be out of a car after 4 hours! I wasn´t feeling that great but too bad for me because specifically that Saturday, all the Bullejos-Hita family was going to be together. Raul and Patricia had come up with Adriana and Nacho and Alicia were coming over with their kids, and Victor and I were there. Pepa said it was just like Christmas but better because I was there. We had paella and a ton of other food. It was delicious as always, and then hung out for a long time. By now I was pretty miserable but still hanging on. Then I talked to my dad for a while, Victor fell asleep and we were there haning out till around 7 or so. Then the everyone left and Victor and I finally went to the grocery store. I bought food, and he bought some stuff for his mom and then we came home. A kid in front of us at the grocery store dtopped a big bag of marijuana and we told him. That was a wierd story. We had been trying to decide all night about our plans but couldn´t, go out, stay home, go out, stay home. Finally the plan was go out, and while we were eating dinner after getting all ready Victor said he wanted to stay home, then some friends called to pick us up and we were going out, then Victor said he felt like some man time and that turned into a mini crisis, a long drive and going to bed.

Sunday I went to a new church, closer to my house. It was much smaller in numbers and not as blessed in the music department but the preacher and people there seemed less whack. It reminded me a lot of home, and I liked it. What I didn´t like so much at the end was a bunch of people who were really nice but a little wierd. At least they talked to me and welcomed me, but it was strange. I got invited to coffee because once again I am incapable of lying, and went with these 3 ladies who were friends and talking aobut their relationships and stuff. It was really awkward but I finally got away and came back home. We then went out to lunch in a pueblo in Santa Fe with Nacho and Alicia, the kids and Pepa and Emilio. It was pretty good, good appetizers but a long event. I love family dinners, but sometimes I get lost in the conversation and feel a little out of place. So then we went and washed Victor´s car which was long overdue and then went back to Nacho and Alicia´s watched Fun With Dick and Jane and napped and then played the Wii for a bit. Then we went back home and Victor and I went out for a walk. We walked around which felt really good after not moving for almost the whole weekend and eating a lot. It was also really cool because we stumbled upon people practicing for Semana Santa, or Holy week. They have these big processions where people carry huge statues of Virgins and Christ through the streets so they practice before. It was like a behind the scenes look at it all and in a chruch I had never been in because it is always closed. So that was really neat and we went home. Sunday was election day here in Spain and at home the regular programs weren´t on because they were all talking about the elections. Zapatero won. So we hung out and didn´t eat dinner because we were so full still from lunch and then Victor packed and went to bed.

Monday Victor left early for Murcia, and I slept in till about 9:30 or so. Then I got up and spent a long time cleaning the house. Last week apparently the girls didn´t feel like cleaning so it hadn´t been cleaned since Tuesday when Adrian cleaned. So I cleaned all morning, went running, showered and went downstairs for lunch. We were having stuffed squid, which we were going to have on Sunday, before the impomtu lunch plans developed. Then I used the internet for a bit, came upstairs and got ready for work. Then I went to work which was strange because there were only 3 kids and 1 left really early leaving me with 2. So that disrupted their whole schedule and one started throwing up and the other started crying. It was ok, but I was really glad when 5:00 came around. Then I went to the Academy and prepared for the next day and week and came to the conclusion that Veronica is from another planet. Then I talked to my mom for a long time and went and had class again with Victor. Then I stopped by Corte Inglés and bought tickets for Nacho, Nachete and me to see WrestleMania when it comes to the bull fighting ring here in Granada in April! Then I went home, Rosa, Raquel and Mari were there and I went and used the phone and internet at Pepa and Emilio´s. Then I came home and ate dinner and watched tv with them for a bit. Zore is not here this week and she has to take care of her grandpa and can permit herself and extended spring break. The girls are making a video for her birthday. When I was going to bed, I noticed that my little table was not where it usually is not was my guitar, I asked the girls if they had used it for the video or something and they said no, so I figured I just moved it differently when I cleaned that morning. Then on further examination, I noticed that my guitar was in backwards in the case, something I would never do, (and I hadn´t touched my guitar since class on Thursday) and asked them again. They still said no. I called and asked Adrian if he had touched it but he hadn´t either. So either a ghost played my guitar when no one was here, someone came into our house and played it, or someone is lying straight to my face. I´m going to go with option 3, and I´m pretty upset about it but trying to get over it. Then I went to bed.

Today I woke up, did some guitar homework, went running and went to guitar. It actually went pretty well and then I stopped by the post office, and a store and then came home. I got organizd and ready for class, ate a quick early lunch and then left again to run errands. I stopped by the tourist office to get ready for Semana Santa, and Maria´s office to say hi. She wasn´t there but I borrowed a travel book and came to the good old CLM to use the internet and blog. And now I am happy to report I am all caught up!

The Rest of the Puente

Ok so I have a few minutes at work so I´m going to try and finish the rest of my holiday weekend.

Friday morning I woke up, dinked around, cleaned up and went running completing my 6th week of exercise! Yay for me again! Then I showered and ran a few errands. Then Victor arrived! He had arrived in Malaga around 8 that morning and I talked to him on the phone. He had to do a few things there in Malaga before coming, but I asked him to let me know when he left so I could calculate his arrival. He didn´t either for the suprise effect or because he forgot (I´ll go with suprise factor on this one) and showed up at my place around 11. We chatted for a while, but he was falling asleep so he took a nap and I used the internet because I still had the computer from the night before. That´s when I posted the first part of "You Can Sleep When You Are Dead." Rosa and Dani left that morning, but Zore and her mom were there cleaning. Then 2 hours later, I finally woke him up and we went downstairs for lunch. Victor´s early arrival (he originally wasn´t going to arrive untill Satruday afternoon after his meeting, which got cancelled) was a suprise for his mom. Therefore, she was preparing a normal meal for her and Emilio, or garbanzo stew with really fatty pig meat. One of the few foods I don´t like is garbanzos, and I wasn´t feeling the super fatty pork either. So that was maybe the first meal I ate at Pepa´s that I didn´t like. She knows I don´t care for garbanzos and I think she felt bad that I didn´t like the meal. I told her I did anyway. Then we were resting and watching Fama, and Victor and I were going to the beach that afternoon. I went upstairs to pack but got a little distracted watching Fama with Zore. Finally it was over and I finished packing and we hit the road. We talked and drove the my favorite place in the whole world, their beach house in La Herradura. For me, that pueblo is the closest place to paradise on earth. We got there, stopped by the video rentals, picked out 2 movies, went to the house, unloaded everything and went out for a walk and tapas and salad and talking. Then by the time we got back we were so exhausted, we fell asleep.

Saturday morning, I woke up around 10, since Victor was recovering from a trans-contenintal flight and sleeps a lot anyway, I didn´t go in to wake him up. I practiced guitar, ate breakfast, showered and got all ready watched a short DVD I had brought and then wrote the rest of the "You Can Sleep When You Are Dead" blog and the beginning of the next but didn´t have internet to publish it. Then at 2 after Victor had been sleeping for 14 hours I thought It was a good idea to wake him up so we could go to lunch. He didn´t agree and continued to sleep untill 3, for a full 15 hours of sleep. By now I was really starving, and we finally went to lunch. We went to a resturant called La Parrilla, or The Grill. It is pretty famous and really expensive and was a resturant that we always wanted to go to the last summer we were there, but never went to. Since we were there and Pepa had given us 50€ for the weekend, we decided to splurge and celebrate. We got a menu meal, which included 4 appetizers of partridge paté, a seafood potato salad with shrip, crab and salmon, spanish ham, and a warm green salad with garlic and baby squid. Then Victor got baby lamb chops and I got baked sea bass. For dessert we had flan and a lemon and champagne cream. It was really good. I also got water to drink which came in a beautiful blue glass bottle with a crown and goats on it as the brand´s symbol. We asked if I could keep it and they said yes. Then we walked around a bit, saw Alicia´s parents, chatted with them, kept walking and talked and went back and watched a movie, Carlito´s Way, Rise to Power. It was pretty bad. Then we walked around some more, got some tapas for dinner and came home and watched the second movie, The Illusionist. It was pretty slow and we were tired again so we didn´t finish it.

Sunday morning I woke up and finished the movie, which had and amazing end! Then I showered and got all ready and woke up Victor again around 1 or 2. Then we cleaned up the hosue, packed everything, tried to get into the garage without the key which was difficult but we finally did it. Then we went and ate lunch and an Italian resturant we hadn´t tried before and had delicious shrimp and stuffed avocados as appetizers. Then pizza, pasta and chcolate mousse for dessert. Then we drove home and unpacked and relaxed, watched tv and hung out. That night Victor stayed in Granada because he left early the next morning for Lisbon, Portugal, and I went to bed.

El Día de Andalucía

Monday Februay 25th I woke up and went running, showered, and then Emily and I went on a walk with Emilio. It was a really cool walk because he took us to more things I had never been to, some I had, but also because he was mostly talking to Emily instead of me. We went through Realejo, around the Alhambra, down Cuesta de los Chinos and out to el Avellano. It was also a very naturey walk as Cuesta de los Chinos and el Avellano are kinda woodsy. Then on the way home I ran into Mari Angeles, who I haven´t seen since before Christmas. It was good seeing her and catching up. Then Emily went off to do her thing and I went home with Emilio and he bought me some little orange bread roscos, (bread in the shape of a bagel) from Guadix. Then I ate lunch with them too. I´m getting way to lazy to cook. Then I went to work in the afternoon, came home and practiced guitar. Emily came home too and listened and then I can´t remember what we did that night.

Tuesday we woke up early and went running together. Then I came home, showered and went to guitar. Then I worked on some paperwork and waited for Emily as she had gone back to bed after our run. Then we went and used the internet at the CLM, I bought a guitar tuner and came home and made lunch and then I went to work. I was working all afternoon with the kids and then Carlos and Marta. Then after work I just went home I think and Emily went out to meet up with some people and I watched tv and went to bed.

Wednesday I went to woke up early and went running before work. Then I went to work which was amazing. It was the day before a holiday, El Día de Andalucía which is now one of my favorite holidays. My first teacher cancelled on me, so I used the internet a bit, and talked to Michelle for an hour. I also talked to the principal who gave me a letter about renewing my position there for the next year, which has to be done by March 31st (prayers are appreciated.) Then there was an hour long recess where they were giving out free breakfasts, ham sandwiches and chocolate milk. So that was delicious and free! So Michelle and I ate our breakfasts and talked for another hour with Javier one of the teachers in my class. Then I had 45 minutes of class with Rafa and Javier which is by far my favorite class I have and then my next class was cancelled so I got my check, left, cashed it, headed home, deposited the cash and went home. Then I waited around a bit for Emily and we went to visit the pueblo, Guejar Sierra. It was really tiny mountainy pueblo and really small. We stayed for about an hour, the one store that sold magnets didn´t open back up before we left so I´ll have to go back but I did buy some crayons. It was cute. Then when we got home, we went and visited Soufian, and then went looking for food. We had both eaten on a wierd schedule that day, so we were hungry for dinner before the resturantes we wanted to go to opened up. We finally at a ton of pizza at TelePizza and went home. I talked on the phone to Deanna a bit, and then we went out for tapas with my roommies, Raquel and her sister, Zore´s mom and their friend Dani who had come up to visit from Águilas, and two other of their friends, David and Pablo. We weren´t hungry but then we went to El Granero a bar, and hung out till 2 or so and then went home and went to bed.

On Thursday the actual Andalucía Day, I woke up and went running. Right when I got back to my door I ran into Emilio and Nachete on their way back from buying churros for breakfast. He has been wanting to treat me to churros for a long time and decided that now was his chance. He literally grabbed my arm and pulled me out the door. Apparently no one thought that when you are stinky and sweaty and have just finished your run the last thing you really feel like is eating fried dough and drinking thick chocolate. But they were of course delicious, although probably twice teh calories I just burned in my run. Then I came home and Emily was already showered, had cleaned up and put away her bed and straightened up my room. Then she was going out to run some more errands and to meet with a friend that was arriving that day and said she would call me later. I took a shower, and since I had woken up at 8:30 on a holiday, I went back to bed for a couple of hours. Then I watched TV for a bit, Emily called and I went to meet her and her friends in the Alhambra. I got up there and called them and they were already on their way down. So I walked up there for nothing, except the exercise, and then we went and they ate lunch in a tetería. I had eaten pizza before I left thinking that we would be walking around the Alhambra for a good while before we ate, so I just got a juice. Emily´s friends were all really unique, they were all muslim, an Egyptian girl from New York, a German girl and a half American half British girl married to a Spanish Muslim. Then we were walking around a bit and Emily went to do some more errands and I went with her but she wanted some alone time so I went home and took another nap. Then I watched some more TV and she finally came home around 9:30. She packed up her suitcase and got everything ready and then we went out for tapas. Then 2 of the girls from earlier that day met up with us and we stopped by another one of their friends resturants to say hi and by. Then we were really running late at this point so Emily and I literally ran home. She caught a taxi and went to the bus station to go to Madrid for her flight the next day. I had the computer so I dinked around for a bit and then went to bed.