Since the beach I have done quite a bit. For all of you who have facebook I have a ton of pictures up from my current travels... You should check them all out. I'll throw a couple on here too though :)
First off, my friend Caity and I went to this old town called Soller in which you have to take this old train to get to. Im pretty sure they said it was one of the oldest trains still running too... it was rickety but fun. We went there to go hiking, but unfortunately after the hour and a half train ride there and back and our failure to look at the return times, not to mention we had existing dinner plans back in Palma, we had to cut the hike short. But this town was BEAUTIFUL. It is mainly an agricultural town known for its lemons, oranges, and caquis (a fruit that looks kinda like a tomato). We saw lemons that were the size of my head (and thats big:).. they were insane! So we spent a good hour and a half two hours hiking through the town and sight-seeing. It was really fun... then we can home to an organized potluck in which the people in our program joined with many other Europeans to share our "native" dishes. I made honey soy peanut chicken wings... sounds like Washington huh? Heehee. But they were good and everyone loved them.
Things in school have been great too. It was awesome because I was not informed until the day before that I would be going on an excursion with the kids in on e of my fifth grade classes to Son Real, one of the oldest pueblos in Mallorca. I got to accompany them on a 2 hour bus ride singing songs in English and watcing Looney Tunes... couldnt ask for more huh? Son Real was originally known as el Rafael d'en Rubert (Robert's Farm), a Moorish town, but after they were kicked out it was colonized in the 15th Century by Lord Real Móger i des Colombers and was made into an agricultural society. We got to visit the museum and see all the old artifacts they found and to learn about where some Spanish customs have come from. It was really cool, although the tour was given in Catalán which made it a little more difficult. Although you will all be proud to know that I am starting to at least understand it! I know a couple phrases too..
I also found out recently that the teachers I work with were going to be gone for about a week... which meant that I didnt have to be there either :). Needless to say, I decided it was the perfect time to fly to the mainland and visit my friend Sara. She lives in really quaint little town called Calatayud, which is close to Zaragoza in the "northern central" part of Spain. Sara and I studied together when we were in Granada and we traveled together too, so I was really excited to see her again. We visited the school she works at, the cathedral there, and made dinners together with her roommates. We made the most delicious paella there... mmm tasty. I think the most exciting thing I saw in Calatayud though was the ancient castle on the mountain there. It was made in the 7th Century! We climbed up to the top and had the most gorgeous view of the entire city. Unfortunately, it is common for some sketchy people to hang out in the castle so we made sure not to stay for long. There was this creepy man whispering things to us from the top tower so we decided not to venture that way. Too bad he had to ruin that for us... I felt like we were in medieval times and there was a troll that wouldn't let us pass. Kinda funny... but oh well. It was still fun to see though, and we took lots of pictures there.
While Sara had to work during the day while I was there, we decided to travel only on the weekend. We bought train tickets to go see Pamplona on Friday and it only took a few hours to get there. We booked a double hostel room at Hostal Hemmingway and were off to explore the town. The owners of the hostal were our age too, and they offered to show us a night on the town. So we hung out with them in the hostal and watched some spanish concerts on dvd until it was an "acceptable" hour to go out (2 in the morning!!! OMG).... Im telling you life is very different here. Needless to say that by the time we came back to the hostal I could hardly still stand I was sooooo tired.
In the morning (afternoon for us), we went exploring. We saw the Cathedral and the main plaza, the fortress there and the old look out point where people loved to paint murals. By far the most exciting part (and the reason we went to Pamplona) was our visit to Estafeta Street. That is were they do the running of the bulls every year. Unfortunately we couldnt see the real deal as it happens in June, but it was still cool to see where it all takes place. The bulls run all along this street and end up at the Bull Ring there, which isn't a shabby sight either. The picture below is of me standing where the bulls finally end up. I was expecting Pamplona to be a much bigger city... It really didnt take that long to see all the "main" sites, so the last day we spent just wandering and exploring the many windy narrow streets. It was a blast. And I found a bakery there that made gluten-free products too! Pretty awesome.
I got back from my trip on Tuesday and now Im getting settled again. Yesterday was actually my first day back at class (Thursday), and so today is the beginning of another weekend for me. Im excited because I get to teach the art classes today... we are making Halloween crafts. Its cute how excited they get about a holiday they dont really even celebrate much. And it turns out some of the people in my program still want to have a Halloween party, so dont worry guys, Ill still get to celebrate with you. I didnt want to buy a costume so my rooomate Encarna and I are going to add things to the one she made last year. Im going to be a lady bug... or mariquita in Castellano. Should be fun....
Sorry this message is packed with so much info guys, but I wanted to let you know about all that has been happening there... Feel free to comment on the wall and let me know how you are all doing! Miss you....
Lindsey
No comments:
Post a Comment