I slept horrible last night. At first I thought it was the calimocho (wine and coke mix drink-party drink of choice here) but Nayla and Kerri also said they didn’t sleep well. Today is the celebration of San Juan and the birthday of the King of Spain. Apparently, there were church bells that went on for hours to signify but I had ear plugs in, oops! Nayla and I woke up around noon and had breakfast. Hot chocolate milk with galletas (cookies) and muffins, toast with butter and jam (really good jam) and torrenos (it’s like thick bacon). Then, a neighbor came by and gave Cesar a fresh head of lettuce; I thought it very random but incredibly charming. Wouldn’t be amazing to wake up and receive fresh produce from your neighbors?
I thought I would tell you some of the differences I’ve noticed; the pillows are long, like the size of two-kind of like that long one I have on my bed, it also has a long pillow case! Another thing different is how late we eat dinner, Spaniards eat dinner around 9:30-10:00pm which is very interesting. After breakfast Nayla and I took a walk-which ended up being a hike to Mirador de los Muros which is a church across the main highway from Abejar. Nayla showed me where her grandparents were buried and Kerri says that because the graveyard is so small they just pack multiple bodies in the same grave-it gave me a gross imagine. Behind the Mirador de los Muros is the where the Abejar soccer team plays-I guess they play very well and have beaten all the other pueblos (towns in Spain). There are also some old train tracks that are now covered with trees and bushes but Kerri said that when she met Cesar (when she was twenty!) it was still running. We ended up walking all the way to the top of the hill which overlooks all of Abejar, Nayla showed me all the important places like the plantano (a giant lake that is formed by a dam). Another cool thing in Abejar is that there are lots of storks! They nest on top of the churches and make a big squawking sound, but they are pretty I think. We were exhausted after the hike and needed water badly! We walked back home and ate lunch; pescado (swordfish) with salad and green olives (they eat lots of green olives here-not pitted), with pan (bread), potatas fritas (French fries) and fruit! I am starting to love olive oil, they put it on everything! I took a shower after the hike and after lunch we took a nap. At first I didn’t think I’d be able to fall asleep but I did and we slept for two hours. After our nap Nayla and I walk to the Molimiento ( its like a tower thing on top of the hill- it almost looks like a lighthouse without a light-like a lookout tower). The temperature was perfect, kind-of windy but warm. Nayla says that when they cut the grass all the kids go sledding down the hill-not on snow but just on the grass. We could see a lot from the tower and after we headed home for Medienda (a mid-afternoon snack around 5-6pm). We had bread with cheese and salami (I love Spanish salami!) and nocilla (a chocolate spread you put on bread). After that Cesar and Kerri took us to the hotel that Cesar’s cousin owns and had drinks. I had a cerveza con fanta (beer with fanta) it was ok but I don’t think I’d have another one. Cesar and Kerri talked with friends and Nayla and I pretty much kept quiet. After that we went back to the house and had dinner-real simple just tortilla francesa (just eggs really) plus bread, cheese, salad and salami. I really enjoy the meals because Kerri, Cesar, Nayla and I all sit down at the table and talk about things that happened, things I learned or just life. After dinner Lowda and Camino came and we walked around Abejar, we went to one of the bars and got drinks, I had vodka with limon but I only drank maybe a third of it because I didn’t like it very much. I didn’t talk much and couldn’t understand much either but acted like I did. Then we left and went to a different bar to get ice cream. We didn’t stay for long because it was like one o clock and they closed. We walked to Camino’s house and just talked outside, I became more comfortable and talked more although I know I made lots of mistakes. Lowda says the bulls this year for the Running of the Bulls are very fierce and that they have broken two of the stall doors. The people that take care of them say they won’t stay together-which is dangerous because the lone bulls are most likely to charge bystanders, ugh! We talked about boys and Lowda was saying how much she wanted a boyfriend who she could laugh and share things with and love her for her brain not her looks (I understood that-with some translation help from Nayla). We talked about a lot of things like socialized medicine, culture, language, las fiestas (the parties) and boys. They are studying English but won’t speak because they’re embarrassed, it makes me mad because it’s like what do you think I am doing? I make lots of mistakes and sound stupid but at least I am trying and getting more comfortable as well as improving. Today we also saw a fruit truck! Its like the icecream man but they sell fresh fruit, he drives all around town with a microphone it says verbatim “Ladies and gentlemen come out of your doors and buy fruit” and then he lists all the fresh fruit he’ll be selling that day! Increible, no?
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