Hiyah! It’s like Kung Fu Panda only better, right? No, I don’t think I could top that movie. But. That title isn’t a joke, I really am going to take a Kung Fu class. There’s got to be something wrong with me. Honestly, who takes martial arts is Spain? So it finally came time to sign up for activities through school and we got a packet with a list of everything offered. Our program pays for one class per student so I was excited to see what my options were though I was already planning on taking the salsa class. Sadly, out of the whole list of things the only three classes that worked with my schedule are aerobics, some meditation crap class, and Kung Fu. I realized the other night that I need to know at least some self defense so…Kung Fu it is! I’ll be ninja when I get back, just wait. I have a feeling this might be a slight disaster though. On a better note, I do get to take a cooking class!!!!!!!! It’s going to be taught by Spanish women and be an introduction to Mediterranean/Spanish cooking. SO STOKED. After all of this delicious, unpronounceable food my mom has stuffed me with I’m excited to be able to make it for myself when I get back. I’ll share the wealth when I see you all again, that’s a promise!
This week has been pretty uneventful though. Both Meli and I have been sick so it’s involved a lot of sleeping and resting around the house. Kind of boring, but at this point I’m completely over jetlag which is amazingly appreciated. By Wednesday I was able to go out again so what’s a girl to do in Spain except for go dancing? Ya, maybe not the smartest idea for a Wednesday night but hey, you’re only young once. I’m embracing the culture, yes, that’s it. Honestly though, Spanish timetables are the oddest thing to get used to. Day starts around nine, work til one-ish. Come back and eat lunch with the family, take a nap, be ready to go again around three or four and then you’re back to work! Get back home around eight or nine for a small dinner together, another rest, and then you’re off again to go out around eleven. It is completely normal, expected even, to be out between the hours of eleven thirty and two in the morning. Fun, but it screws with your sleep schedule. I’m not too big of a fan of the stop/go/stop/go tempo of it all either, feels like a lot of wasted time just getting from one stage to the next. Hmm, that’s one thing I should work on while I’m here—sitting back and enjoying the culture for what it is, meaning accepting and imitating the more relaxed way of life. In America we’re used to working ourselves to no end. Here, emphasis is put outside of work and time moves more slowly. I haven’t had so much consistent relaxation/kick back time since I was a book nerd back in high school. Book nerd me is making a comeback, siestas are now being spent reading instead of sleeping and I just spent my hour before heading home for lunch today in the small literary section of the Corteingles(think Nordstrom/Target mash-up). It’s unexpected but enjoyable.
Today, I discovered Spanish pastries! Bad news, very bad news. I laughed when people told me they gained upwards of ten pounds while they were here. Now, I can definitely see how it happens. With our moms stuffing us like it’s their personal mission in life and now adding in fresh bread and baked goods, things aren’t looking up. Maybe I’ll be able to roll my way around Europe like that blueberry girl in Willy Wonka, would that mean I could forgo the train pass? That’d be nice for sure, save me a few hundred dollars. Not sure if I could fit in a hostel though :/
Desta, the picture is for you. Recognize something in there? Yup, those are our earrings! I made sure to take a picture with them before I left to go dancing so I could send it to you and show that they're still getting put to good use accompanying one of us at a time on our respective adventures.