And we're sort of back...

So....I realize I haven't updated in weeks and weeks and I promise I will soon with a real post, but here's something slightly entertaining until then. Recently, the weather here in Santander has been absolutely miserable. It has been raining pretty much constantly since Sunday afternoon. And now it's Wednesday night. We've had wind, lightning, pouring rain, drizzles, and best of all, lots of really awesome waves.

Check out pictures of waves, surfers, and lots of craziness here.

And coming soon: the trip to Madrid I went on weeks and weeks ago!

Mountain Days

The past two weekends I’ve ventured into the Picos de Europa, the mountain range in the south of Cantabria (the province of Spain I’m currently in) that also extends into Asturias (the province to the West of Cantabria.) Although the weather wasn’t so great both times, we had some fun times exploring the Spanish montañas.

Potes

This town in the South of Cantabria is nestled in the foothills of the Picos. To get there, we had to take a very windy trip through a 20 km long gorge (just like Ithaca, except a lot bigger!) The Parque Nacional Picos de Europa was actually our first stop, but I didn’t get to see many Picos…it was a very foggy and rainy day in the mountains. Some people took the gondola up to the top, but I decided not to because of the fog. (There wasn’t much of a view!) Hopefully I’ll be able to go back when the weather is nicer and actually see these mountains, which are supposedly 8,500 ft tall.



The actual town of Potes is a small village subsisting mainly on tourism. There are a lot of shops selling “Productos Típicos”- Orujo (a local liquor), lots of cheese, and Iberian wolf t-shirts. Yes, the Iberian wolf t-shirts are very popular- they have a kind of Spanish Boy Scout flair to them I guess. So although the weather wasn’t too great, Zach, Caitlyn, and I had a good time perusing the kitschy souvenirs (just as bad as any you’d find in the USA) and checking out the old, tiny, cobble-stone streets and twelfth-century tower.



Canoeing the Sella

Yesterday we went on another mountain adventure, this time to Asturias, and again in the rain. This time we were going for a canoeing trip- 15 km down the Sella River. The rain was off and on during the drive there, and we almost thought it would be sunny for about 5 minutes when we arrived. However, by the time we set out in our boats, it was pouring down rain. No matter though- we were wet-suited, life-jacketed, lunch in a watertight canister ready to go. Caitlyn and I got shot into the river via a canoe waterslide (pretty fun) and had an interesting water trek through the rain down the river. We saw lots of trout, ate chorizo sandwiches while rowing, and sang songs to pass the time (I’m pretty sure we entertained everyone- we sang everything from Queen to The Little Mermaid, and we took requests.) We had a chance to bail at 10 km, when we were shivering, tired, very wet, and almost out of songs, but we decided to go big or go home and do all 15 km. It was worth it in the end- the last 5 km turned out to be even more scenic, even with the rain. Overall, a day well spent. And of course, the chicken noodle soup we made when we got home was a perfect way to finish it off.



Oh, and did I mention that the Sella empties out in the charming town of Ribadesella, my favorite town in Spain? And it was only 5 km away from where we finished up! Yay!

The Dolphin

First of all, commercials in Spain are weird. Instead of having a few every 15-20 minutes, there is usually a giant block of about 15-20 minutes of commercials every 30-40 minutes. This makes it really easy to avoid watching them, which kind of negates the whole point of the commercial. However, there are a few that are worth watching. See below!

This one is just random, in a dolphin-speaking-Spanish sort of way...



...and...the Nocilla (Spanish Nutella) commercial that has been stuck in my head for the past week...



Now don't you wish you could watch Spanish TV?

¡Internet!

Good news! I have finally been connected to the internet permanently! Movistar finally showed up today and installed our router, so I can post as much as I want from now on :) Also, a mini-story from this past Tuesday that is classic Spain:

So it's Tuesday early afternoon and I'm riding the bus across town from the university to the Oficina de Extranjeros to see if I can pick up my new, official "I'm a foreigner" card. The bus is taking the long way around the city, making its normal stops, but I'm just enjoying the ride, listening to my iPod. Eventually, it's just me and two older women on the bus. We're driving through a quiet part of town on the edge of the city when the bus stops at a normal stop. But it doesn't just stop. The driver kills the engine, gets up, gets off the bus, leaves the door open, and walks into a café across the street. I watch him sit down at the bar, where he stays for fifteen minutes while he enjoys a coffee. And then he gets back on, and we continue. And from what I could tell, the other two women thought nothing of it. After all, everyone needs a mini-siesta every now and then. And hey, he even left the radio on for us.

Santander Day

Just a few new pictures...one of the ocean view from my room (yay!) and a couple of the fiesta celebrating Santander (the weekend of August 28-30). It was a giant party in the park downtown with everything dressed up in Roman/medieval clothes selling homemade things, spices, teas, etc. Pretty fun.

From Around Santander

Click the album link to see the few fiesta pictures.

Rosa

Mi madre española! Rosa was fantastic from the first day I arrived. Admittedly, the first couple days were a struggle because she spoke quickly and never slowed down, but I adjusted quickly. Her two favorite phrases are "no pasa nada" (it doesn't matter) and "no te preocupes" (don't worry yourself). Like most Spanish women, she is always dressed to the nines and she definitely has the spirit of a younger woman. Through Rosa, I definitely got immersed into the Spanish lifestyle and cuisine pretty quickly. She fed me lots of lentils, fish (I'm pretty sure she ate the skin too), tortilla, and of course, pan. And of course she made me try morcilla (blood sausage). She watched the news every day and loved watching the weather most of all, because she had to decide whether or not she would go to the beach the next day. If it was sunny enough with not too much wind, she would meet her amigas at the beach and stay all afternoon. Sometimes on the weekends she would stay out later than me, and she seemed disappointed if I said I wasn't going out, even on Tuesday. She loved to iron, and she ironed everything. Even t-shirts. She also did her shopping very traditionally. Fish at the fish store on Tuesdays, meet at the butcher on Thursdays, fruit at the fruit store on Mondays, bread every day. And she would only buy fruit and vegetables that were in season. She was absolutely horrified by the idea of spinach in a bag.

However, although she was very traditional in many ways, she was also very anti-machismo. She is a classic example of an older Spanish woman whose life was influenced in a very saddening way by Franco (the very pro-machismo dictator who ruled Spain from 1939-1975). Apparently, she was stuck in a marriage to a less-than-respectable man for longer than she wanted and could only divorce him late in life. And due to the fact that under Franco she couldn't get the education she wanted, she had limited options upon her divorce. So now she is a professional host mam á! And I'm very lucky to have spent the month with her that I did!

More pictures of Rosa's piso...

Temporary Hiatus

Hello to the 5 people who read this!

Due to complications with trying to get internet in the piso, posting will be very sporadic (if it happens at all) over the next two weeks. That is, unless Movistar decides to stop taking a siesta and to come install our line. ¡Lo siento mucho! I promise to be back ASAP.