"So no one told you life was going to be this way"

Hello family and friends! Goodness, I honestly do not know where the time goes.  I promise I have good blogging intentions, but this past week was a bit hectic on my end.  Nevertheless, it was a good chaos.  Although I complain quite a bit about my busy schedule in the United States, I try to pack my day with as many Spanish activities as possible.

This past weekend was incredible to say the least! I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to travel with my friend Laura and her host family to Asturias, Spain.  Asturias is one of the most northern provinces of Spain and is known for its lush greenery, breathtaking mountains, and delicious milk (which is one of the things I miss most about Wisconsin).  I have to say that one of my favorite parts of the trip was the ride up to Asturias with the wonderful company of Laura and her two host parents.  Even though I was car-sick the entire six hours since we drove through winding mountains and unending strings of roundabouts, the scenery was beautiful enough to make me forget about my twisting stomach.  Laura’s host parents, Angelita and Luis, are in their sixties; however, you wouldn’t be able to guess this with the amount of energy they have! We cruised through the mountains and pueblos rocking to the theme song from “Friends” as well as older Spanish music.  By now, you are probably aware with my obsession with great songs paired up with great memories.  As cheesy as it is, my favorite experiences in Spain thus far always involve a countryside drive paired up with some classic American tunes sung by host families with heavy Spanish accents.  Moving on…. :) 

After our six-hour journey, we finally made it to Asturias.  Before settling down in our hostal, Luis made a stop at Cabo de Peñas, which he informed us is the highest point of the Iberian Peninsula.  Sorry to use the word “breathtaking” yet another time, but it was truly breathtaking.  At Cabo de Peñas, we were surrounded by mountains, the sea, and unique rock formations in the sea.  As soon as we made it to the sea, I made sure to ask Luis if there were sharks in there.  He told me that there weren’t; however, there was a large statue of a shark behind me. Don’t worry, we all made it out alive! I am a big baby when it comes to sharks.  I was really hoping to spot a whale, but we did not stay for a long time.  Also, we saw many cows during the ride up that reminded me of Wisconsin.  We also saw bulls that are used for bull fights :(

First Hostal Experience:

As much as I love five star fancy vacations (ok I’ve actually never been on one), I think that it’s the two-star make-shift vacations that we really remember.  In high school, I went on a vacation with my cousins to a place called Horse Cave, Kentucky.  In the city(ish) place of Horse Cave, the toilets are not stationery! We had to literally move our toilet a good few inches to close the bathroom door.  Now that’s it’s been a few years, I look back on this memory with much fondness.  I can’t complain about our toilet at our hostal.  Our shower, however, was another story.  Our shower was actually more like a car wash for humans.  It was a standing shower that had about 15 different jets lining the sides.  After our six-hour journey, I was not too sharp.  I proceeded to turn on the faucet and was shocked to feel 15 jets blasting (and when I say blasting I mean BLASTING) cold water from my neck down.  It was quite the task to rinse the shampoo out of my hair since the jets did not extend that high.  After this mild occurrence, we had a fairly pleasant hostal experience.  I was not a big fan of the hostal owner walking in twice without knocking.  Sheesh what if we were on our honeymoon!  All joking aside, we held our own throughout the hostal experience.  We also managed to cover our breakfast, lunch, and dinner for only 2.61 Euros which equals about $3.51.  Gotta love nutella!

MODERN DAY EXPLORERS (on a College Budget):

Laura and I thoroughly explored the city where we stayed which is called Áviles.  One of our best finds was the Ferrerro Park.  Ferrerro Park was an extremely large park that was bustling with activity and serenity at the same time.  I think I loved this park so much since it had my three favorite things.  These include cute dogs, babies, and sweet elderly people.  I was absolutely amazed at just how many babies there were in the park.  It was interesting to observe the different generations of people in the park.  Almost every elderly couple was walking a baby carriage.  In fact, I think I saw more grandparents taking care of children than actual parents.  If I had to estimate how many baby carriages were in the park during our hour stay in the park, I would guess somewhere in the 30s.  It was amazing, but it did make me miss my little siblings at home.  Secondly, for as many babies there were in the park, there were almost as many dogs.  I played with a puffy white puppy.  He was precious.  The park also had a pond with swans swimming in it. 

During our short stay in Asturias I feel like I essentially traveled the entire country of Spain.  Asturias has everything: city life, quiet countryside, industry, and sandy beaches.  Laura and I decided to head to the beach portion of Asturias for our second day in Asturias.  Again, since we're on a college budget we decided to walk back from the beach to our hostal after walking for quite some distance at the beach.  In total, we probably walked over 15 miles that day, but we were able to see many things during our walk including an Asturian wedding.  We treated ourselves to a dinner that did not consist of merely Nutella sandwiches. 

SCHOOL:

With all this talk about travels, you are probably wondering if we still have to do work in Toledo.  Unfortunately, I still dread my Tuesdays since I attend classes from 8am-8pm with few breaks.  I am having a lot of difficulty adjusting to the teaching style here.  At my school, teachers tend to lecture for the entire class using little or no visual aids.  This method makes it difficult to organize notes and follow along.  Also, the courses are not as interactive which makes the time pass by slower.  The good news is that my motivation for course work is steadily increasing.  I received two essays back today, and I received an A on both of them despite being really nervous about the first grades for these two classes.

Also, I just received the news that I have been placed in a local elementary school where I will teach English to immigrant children living in Spain.  I am a bit nervous to see how everything will work out, but I am also very excited to have the opportunity to work with these children.

HOST FAMILY:

They are great as usual.  My host brother went to my school today to play soccer with students from my school, and made new friends.  My sister has been cooking exceptionally well lately. It’s like she knows all of my favorite foods.  She made me carbonara which is an Italian dish that consists of pasta, creamy sauce, and meat (in Spain this means Ham of course).  Tonight, my host dad Manolo broke out the guitar and played traditional Spanish music for me.  I tried to persuade him to play for me every night while I do my homework.  I recorded him with my video camera, and I will try to figure out how to post it to the blog for you all to see!

RANDOM:

I have plans to tour six famous sites in Toledo with friends tomorrow.  I plan on bringing my video camera so I can share my video with all of you.  I will not, however, be bringing my camera since I accidentally just broke it.  I tell ya, I am prone to these types of accidents.  Just my luck! Oh well, I’ll work something out :)

I will be officially meeting with my intercambio (language partner) tomorrow for the first time! 

My Aunt from London is has plans to visit me next weekend and my grandparents are visiting me in November!

Blessings,

Lyssa 

a quick stop in the city of Ávila on the way to Áviles. Ávila also has a walled in city like Toledo

Cabo de Peñas

Our hostal

wedding

swan lake :)

Laura drinking the incredible chocolate drink!

Romantic Spaniards....many couples add their locks to the railing and throw the keys into the sea

Statue build on the side of the rock

College dinner time...Nutella sandwiches! Notice the map that also functions as a plate 

Laura and her host mom

what a wonderful world.