There she was just a walkin' down the street...

Finally pictures have arrived! I know you all have been waiting soooo patiently. This was my first weekend to go to the beach [technically my second weekend in Spain]. I am with my host mom, Albi. The waves were pretty wicked this day. This was a fun visit because we drove 20 minutes to walk along the peer/take pictures for about 20 minutes and then hopped back in their French car. I should take a picture of that too! I got to see lots of little towns "pueblos" in the mountains. This was not a day for swimming 1) It was still 50 degrees 2) the waves were huge!!!! Surf's up ;-)


So here behind my apartment building it was snowing like crazy! For those of you who have been wanting to see what my place looks like, its just like this. The snow actually stayed on the ground in slush form, and for some reason I thought I should walk to school in my tennis shoes=bad idea. By the time classes were over, there was no snow to be found. However, seeing my host mom's face and my Lit professor's face: Priceless. They were so excited to have snow because it's so rare here and couldn't get enough of it. I was glad to have 1 snow day.



Here I am in Barcelona on my Fat Tire Bike! These are great tours that are really cheap. I was excited to have a red bike. I could have had yellow but got the color that suits me well. This day was sunny but as you can see I still needed my winter coat.





Ahh yes the Mediterranean Sea. I did take off my left shoe and sock to dip my toes into it and of coures felt it with my hands. For those of you who don't know I'm a "South paw" so I favor the left. Oh my goodness, this is just the beginning of beauty. I have several more trips planned one of which will be spent on an island. Those stories will come later. Here I discovered for lunch that I do not like blue cheese. I did have a sweet dessert though and my favorite European drink Fanta limon or Lemon Fanta as we would say in the States.

Yay! This is my lovely room. I hope you'll all notice how clean it is, and I make my bed everyday! Typically, I have the philosophy that the bed is way more comfortable when I don't make it, but I'm only here for a few months right. Notice: my favorite purse on my bed and another handmade gift which is hung on the back of my chair from someone I like to call, "MOM". I enjoy keeping my window open most days. This week has been 'colder' for them, but gorgeous for me. I keep asking myself each morning, "Am I really living in Spain and this is winter? Bring on spring!"

This weekend most of the UNI students are going hiking in the mountains on Saturday with Paula and Luna who are natives of Oviedo who we meet with each week. We'll all be staying in a hostel, and then that night we'll be dressing up 80's style for a fun filled night of dancing like it's 1999...well the 1980's you know. I can't wait to assemble my outfit and am looking forward to having some fun. Carnival/Carnaval is coming up next week on Tuesday which means class on Monday but no class Tuesday. They give us the days of like Tuesday or Wednesday, yeah I'm going to talk to them about this.

Funny thing I've noticed: When I'm waiting at cross walks people don't mind invading your personal space, especially when there is no one else waiting! I just laugh thinking, "Whew, I'm sure glad you moved an inch in front of me so you can get across the street that much quicker!" However, most people here are really laid back, and everyday is a Sunday walk for most people. I had a blast on Valentine's day hanging out with my friends from church in Gijon, which is where I'm at in the picture with my host mom. After service, they wanted to hang out at...dare I say it...Burger King. There goes my vow to not eat American food here, but don't plan on going there again since it cost about $10 for a whopper meal, and my drink was a small size! I am loving speaking Spanish more and more. My friends and I often interrupt each other saying in Spanish, "What I'm sorry I don't understand English..."It's great! ;-)

Hasta Luego...