One Week.

 

     After quite a few sighs and nearly a week of prodding, I have decided to write my very first blog post.  I will share the next chapter of our story and then turn it over to THE LYSS.  After living in Spain for nearly a week, I have started to grow accustomed to my new lifestyle and surroundings.  One big lifestyle change is the food.  My American diet usually consists of such staples as hamburgers, pasta, and Mexican food.  None of these foods are commonly found in Spain so Alyssa and I have changed it up.  We eat ham and cheese sandwiches on a regular basis which one might label as much too “safe”.  However we have also developed tastes for some foods that are a bit less common in the United States…

In Spain the platters come with a great variety... I get french fries, calamari, chicken and an egg!  Lyss got tortilla Española which consists of eggs and potatoes.

      

Donuts are pretty cheap... 
I've eaten so many that they named a donut after me! ^^^

 Alyssa and I eating ham flavored pringles...with nutella!   We were given complimentary mussels at a restaurant but Alyssa rudely turned hers down.

     

     Villagarcia de Arousa is a perplexing city.  It has a population of only about 34,000 making it roughly the size of Oak Creek WI in terms of population. But when I look out my window at the Hotel Derby, it looks nothing like Oak Creek.  Every building in my sight is at least four stories tall but many are closer to twelve.  When Alyssa and I walk East down a cobblestone street, it feels like a beautiful European city and not like a small town where the only major industry is catching mussels and the unemployment rate matches that of the U.S. during the Great Depression.  The streets are crowded and the cafes and bars a filled with people relaxing on outdoor patios.  It seems like all 34,000 of Villagarcia’s citizens are out and about…  There must not be a soccer game on.  When we walk a bit further (under our umbrellas of course… it is always raining) we may begin to see blighted buildings and a few homeless people.  After maybe a thirty minute walk we would pass some houses covered in moss or ivy, the school where I teach, and probably a few goats grazing on a farm.  Before you know it, we are out of the enormous yet petite city of Villagarcia de Arousa.  If we head West instead of East when leaving our apartment we will see the Atlantic Ocean in a matter of minutes.  However we first pass Moe’s Tavern and the basketball court where Ricky Rubio and I are going to play one on one next week.  Soon we are at the ocean and I tell Alyssa that it looks as beautiful and strange as some craft project she has attempted. 

     There are numerous wooden poles and sticks rising up out of the water and a number of boats a floating out at sea with no passengers.  I recently learned from a local that the poles and boats are not there for aesthetic appeal but are used to catch mussels.  Fishermen leave the poles in the water for weeks at a time and then remove them and all of the mussels attached to them to bring to the market.  That is about the extent of my mussel knowledge to this date but I can keep you updated as we learn more…

    (Mussel Catching Poles)

     One week was about six days too many for Alyssa and I to spend in a hotel so Alyssa and I are saying adios and moving into our own apartment.  It isn’t very expensive and it isn’t really fancy but it’s got a great view.  I think I'm going to like it here.