Days 6, 7 and 8

I've officially survived a week in Spain, and I am having a blast! On Saturday, Conchi and Antonio went to a wedding on a beach about two hours from León, so they were gone until Sunday. And you know what that means - party! Agueda, one of Cristina's best friends, came over Saturday morning, and I made them American omelettes, which they thought were ingenious, and baked cookies (there are pictures under the Photos page). Unfortunately, I don't think my extraordinary baking talents travel with me; half of the cookies burned... but we still had fun baking and the few that weren't burned were delicious!

That afternoon I took a looong siesta in preparation for an even longer night. And I am so glad I did! Both Cristina and Diego had tons of friends over at around eleven, and we talked, danced, and ate literally until dawn. I finally went to bed around 7:30 in the morning, and everyone asked why I was turning in so early! I was woken up a couple hours later to find that the party was still going, and most everyone did not, and had no intention to, sleep. Oy gavolt! 

I literally spent the entire rest of the Sunday recovering, and Cristina, who didn't sleep a wink Saturday, was wide awake until midnight that night. How this Spanish people do it, I'll never know! 

So, as you can tell, Sunday was pretty uneventful, aside from cleaning up the house and being woken for the occasional meal. I turned in early (well, one o'clock), and got a much-needed full nights rest last night. 

Today Cristina and I went into León with some of her friends to have coffee, talk, and sit by this gorgeous river that runs right through the center of the city. And finally, along the riverbank, I saw another jogger! Yes, okay, just one, but still a jogger nonetheless (and I don't think he is American)! So glad I'm not the only nutcase running around here. No pun intended. Hopefully someday I can take the bus down to León in the morning and jog by the river, outside, yet far away from any psycho eagles. 

I'm back home now, after having drinks at "La Cafeteria", a pool bar in their neighborhood, and exhausted, so off to bed for now. I also posted more pictures from the last couple days. 

Hasta luego!

Pictures!

The pictures are up! On the right hand side under "Pages", click on "Photos" for pictures with captions :)

Days 4 and 5

Whew. Where to begin. These last couple days have been going very much according to the Spanish schedule- waking up around noon, eating lunch at three, and having dinner around eleven at night. The weather has been a bit chillier, too, which is a nice break from the heat I've been in the last couple weeks. I finally feel completely settled and able to relax a bit (wait, Alyssa relaxes?). Anyways, Cristina and I have been spending time with her friends whom I absolutely love, and I am actually beginning to understand most of what they say, even when they are talking at three hundred kilometers per hour!

Also, it must be noted that I have indeed found an indoor gym with a treadmill, free from any attacking eagles. Now I'm paranoid whenever I see a bird larger than a pigeon in the sky flying above me. Hopefully my eagle friend won't be in such a bad mood if I ever get the courage to run outside again.

Later that day, Conchi took me to the supermarket to buy some quasi-normal foods to keep around the house. Now that Special K and I have been reunited, life is good. We met up with Cristina and Diego a bit later, who were shopping for summer clothes for Diego, as he neglected to do so before returning from college in Madrid. That night, Cristina and I went to a party at a friend's house, and stumbled back home around four. Living la vida loca!

This morning, Conchi, Diego, Cristina and I went into León for breakfast where we had traditional Spanish  hot chocolate and churros. It was absolutely the best breakfast I have had in a looong time! The hot chocolate is much thicker than American hot chocolate, so it is delicious to dip the churros in the chocolate and use them as a spoon/straw. And a quick side note for Rachel- Diego plays with his food too! After we were all finished eating, Diego took the leftover sugar and chocolate and designed a fabulous beach island with a palm tree and sun on his plate. Such a Rachel move.

Now that I have walked around León about fifty times, I am really getting a feel for the city. It is small, but I am always in awe when I stop and take a moment to remember where I am. I go to have an afternoon coffee with Cristina's friends, and I end up in front of a Gaudi house. I step into a store to look at shoes, and realize I am in a building constructed nine hundred years ago. It is such a cool feeling to be going about my life in a place so different than anything I'm used.

Also going on this week is the annual "Running of the Bulls" in Pamplona, Spain. Every morning around eight, six or seven bulls are released on the streets of Pamplona and herded to the bull ring by a mob of crazy young men who try to outrun them. Now as you can imagine, there are few drunk twenty year-olds who can outrun a bull, so the results can be extremely gruesome. And what does my family like to do during dinner? Yep, you guessed it- watch gory re-runs of the unfortunate men who end up trampled on the way to the stadium. I'll admit it is a very interesting tradition, I am just not personally partial to the subject.

I'm off to bed early tonight because Conchi and Antonio are going to a wedding all day and night tomorrow, so Cristina and Diego are having a party! The party doesn't start until twelve tomorrow night, and we have lots to do around the house, but hopefully I can sneak a siesta in there sometime tomorrow afternoon.

And I'm making progress on the pictures- they are on my computer now, which is a huuge first step for me, and hopefully they will be online tomorrow or Sunday!

Buenas noches!

Days 2 and 3

Now that a couple have days have gone by, I'm starting to get settled at my new house and in León in general. I've really gotten to know my family here, and they are all incredible! Cristina, the daughter, and I have so much in common, and we have found plenty to talk about. My spanish is also improving- now when I ask what someone did last weekend, it doesn't sound so much like "Saturday.....pizza.....went.....river......late.....friends.....you?". And hopefully when I speak it is a bit more coherent than that, too!

Yesterday morning I woke up at 10, much earlier than anyone else in the house, and decided to go for a run. What I didn't know, though, was that eagles attack you here. A fully grown, HUGE eagle. I had accidentally run too far down the mountain (they live on a mountain about fifteen minutes outside of León), so I turned around to run back and I felt something tug at my hair. I looked around, and no one was there, so I looked up and saw an eagle flying in circles above my head. I stopped running to watch it, and it dived and tried to attack me again! I swear that was the scariest thing of my entire life- I felt like I was in a Spanish version of a Hitchcock movie. I screamed and flailed my arms and ran for dear life, and finally it flew away. I ran straight home, and when I told my family, they started cracking up! I was petrified and they didn't believe that could actually happen. Apparently there are hardly every eagles in this area. So glad I was the one to find the few that do live here.

After recovering from my traumatic bird attack, Cristina, Conchi and I went into León to do the meat shopping for the week. I have never seen anything like these meat shops, which they call "carnisserias". There is a store for every kind of meat, chicken, steak, pork, fish, etc., so we stopped at three different ones to do the shopping. In every store, the walls and shelves are lined with all different cuts of meat, and pre-made meat dishes of every kind imaginable. It was a bit overwhelming, but at least Conchi knew what she was looking for, so we got in and out pretty quickly. Whew. I wasn't sure how many Pablo's I could see before I never eat again!

Later, after a big lunch and a long nap, Cristina I went into León to have coffee and meet all, or rather, most, of her friends. They are amazing! Everyone was so nice and welcoming, and although kind of crazy, they seem very excited to have me here for the month :) That is such a good feeling, since I wasn't quite sure what I'd be up to these next few weeks. My only complaint is how much everyone smokes cigarrettes, even the teenagers. Its very normal here, but I'm just not used to the smell around me all the time. Oh well, just one more thing to get used to. We stayed and wandered around the gorgeous streets of León until around 10:30 (it stays light out until around 11!), and finally took the bus back to her house.

Once again we had a late but delicious dinner! Conchi literally cooks all day long, so there is always something gourmet and authentic to eat. After dinner we watched The Simpsons in spanish (which is actually hilarious) and went to bed a little earlier than the night before.

Today, all of Cristina's friends came to the pool in her neighborhood to hang out, swim, and have a late, or I guess normal time for them, lunch. I met some more new people, and had so much fun swimming, laying out in the sun, and laughing with her friends. They all left around 9:30, and so now I am home updating my blog!

Off to dinner in a few, so bye bye for now. And sorry, no pictures yet. I'm technologically inept, especially in another language.

Ciao!

Day 1

Happy 4th of July! It's a little weird not having parades and fireworks everywhere, but I have a celebration of my own to attend to: my arrival in León, Spain!

But before I get into that, here's a quick recap of what I've been up to the last two weeks while running around Europe. I  started in Rome with my parents, sister Rachel, grandparents and cousin Charlie and his fiancee, Sarah, where we ate pasta until our faces turned blue, and ran up and down the Spanish Steps thirty gazillion times (my butt really hurt after that one). Then we got on a cruise for the Ofer wedding heading towards Nice. The wedding was like nothing I have ever seen before- six hundred people from around the world on a boat with the best food, dancing, music, and a surprise stop in Portofino! After three days of heavy celebrating and shmoozing, we got off in Nice, France.

Nice was absolutely gorgeous (just ask my Dad watching all the topless women on the beach!) Rachel, and I rollerbladed along the boardwalk, and then enjoyed long walks in the cobblestone alleys, and delicious croissants and fried eggs on the street corners. On our first night there, we drove to Monaco and had dinner right next to the Monte Carlo Casino! I was secretly hoping Daniel Craig was going to bust into dinner in a tuxedo and do some crazy ninja moves. He didn't....

Anyways, after Nice we flew to Barcelona where I was able to brush up on my Spanish a bit before meeting my host family. We toured all around the city, seeing some wacky Gaudi architecture and shopping in some of the most unique stores I have ever seen. We finished off our stay with an early (well, 9:30) dinner in a popular nightclub, and then prepared to head up to León!

Ok, so that wasn't exactly a quick recap, but now we get to the point of this blog: my stay in Spain! I arrived at around two thirty this afternoon, and was greeted by a jumping and waving Conchi (the mom) and her two kids (Diego, 19, y Cristina, 16). Antonio (the dad) was also there waiting to help me with my  three huge bags that clearly contained way too many clothes for four weeks. Conchi and Antonio drove my family and I to the hotel where parents and Rachel would be staying for the night, and then took us out to their favorite restaurante for lunch.

Oh my god, do the Spanish know how to eat! I felt like I had three dinners....and then the main course! And for dessert, Conchi decided it would just be a good idea to order one of everything, and we're talking about fifteen different pastries, chocolates and custards. It took a good eight hours to come out of my food coma and even think about another meal (which, as you might guess, was also very large). This is going to be an interesting month...

So after eating ourselves sick, we were treated to a mini tour of the city of León, which is absolutely beautiful! Mixed in with thousand-year old churches and a few Gaudi buildings were dozens of cafes, restaurants and boutiques that lined the cobblestone streets. We ran into lots of family friends; it seems like everyone knows everyone and their brother in this city! On our walk, which lasted about five hours, I got to know the family better and get more accustomed to the city. My Spanish definitely needs work, but the family is soo nice and welcoming- I am definitely excited to stay here for a month!

We stopped and had coffee at around 8:00, and then headed to their house to get settled. They live in a neighborhood complete with a pool, clubhouse and gym, as well as tennis and paddle-ball courts. We walked around the neighborhood for about an hour, had another drink, and finally came back for dinner around 11:00 (gotta love the Spain schedule!)

Dinner was delicious and consisted of a salad, tortilla Española, fresh bread, cheeses, and dried meats. Oh, and by the way, they have a pig's leg in their kitchen. Yes, a full on pig's leg. You just slice off a piece and voilá! Lunch. I think I should name him....maybe Pablo. Pablo tasted good.

My parents and sister finally left the house after dinner, and I was left to fend for myself in Spanish, oy! Everyone speaks so quickly- I'm not sure my brain even operates in English at that speed. Hopefully as I get settled, my Spanish will improve.

Everyone is gathered around their living room now, drinking warm milk and watching Spanish sitcoms, so that's all for now. In the next couple days I'll try to figure out how to post pictures on here.

¡Hasta Luego!