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Wednesday night we met at la gorda at 4 to climb the mountain to the huge statue of Christ at the top! The Spanish tour guides did not prepare us for our climb and many people showed up looking very fashionable. We Iowans however knew better and led the pack in spandex and sweats. The hike was on roads which was a little bit of a disappointment but it didn’t wind at too steep of an incline. We passed two old churches on the mountain and almost got hit by about 700 cars. Finally towards the top our guides, who have been smoking the entire time and are hiking in fancy shoes and jeans, point us in the direction of a shortcut. I have never walked up anything that steep before in my life. And it didn’t seem to end, finally we make it to the top only to realize we have to go down a bit and Jesus is waiting on the other peak. After many groans were sounded by the large group we continued and made it to Jesus. It reminds me of the big statue in Brazil, he is standing arms open overlooking the city. We made it up as the sun was setting and we watched as the sun disappeared behind the beautiful snow covered mountains and watched as all the lights of the city slowly turned on. Oviedo is massive, but everyone here thinks it is so small compared to other places in Spain. It started to get cold so we climbed back down in the dark wondering how much we were going to pay for this in the morning. We parted ways around 8 and got milka chocolate bars for our separate walks home. My madre had a large dinner ready for me when I got home knowing I would be very tired. I attempted my second shower that night. I have my own bathroom next to my bedroom and the shower is a box probably 2X2 with no curtain. I have a hand held nozzle thing and I cannot help but get water everywhere. It bounces off my body or when I lay it down it goes crazy and splashes everywhere. Needless to say showering is an adventure with a large clean up after, I try to cover the floor with my dirty clothes and a towel to absorb the water.
Thursday I had a large break between classes so I went to a local café with a few friends and we ate and used their internet for a while. After class I went home for lunch and met Carrie, Hanna, and Kendra to go shopping down town. In Spain they have these things called Rebajas, which are a nationally mandated sale throughout January and February. Everything is on sale of 50%, 30%, etc. We shopped for about three hours, I bought a cheap pair of black flats and new short black boots, very Spanish. Our last stop was H&M probably the best store I have ever been in, but I decided I needed to pace my purchasing so I resisted and only browsed. That night was our first fiesta night out as a group. I tried on different outfits for my madre and she picked out what I wore. I ate an early dinner, 8:45, then headed out for la gorda at 9:30. We walked to a bar where we met Paula and Luna, our coordinators, and we talked about our experiences so far and if we were adjusting well etc. Some of the tour guides own a bar, so that was our next stop where we attempted to salsa, twas hilarious. After that it was fiesta time and they showed us a whole street of bars. People stand outside and take our large group into their bars by promising free shots and to play American music. My madre was proud of me when I returned at two in the morning but said I should still be out, most Spaniards are out till seven am.
Spain is treating me right. I love how much Spanish I am learning and how much I get to practice. We I am out with my friends from Iowa we generally speak Spanish or at least spanglish, and of course I have class, then talking with my family. Amparo and I can talk for hours about everything, last night we watched the news and she was describing the different stories to me. I also love talking to her grandkids Elena y Marina. They speak so quickly but are adorable and the other day they put on a singing performance for me and we love to watch bob esponja (spongebob) together. Spaniards are really affectionate and the sisters are always touching and kissing, it caught me a little bit off guard.
I hope you are all enjoying the winter; it’s always 50 degrees here!
P.S. I am currently watching Full House in Spanish
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