The First Weekend!

Well, I am actually in decent spirits at this moment (which let me tell you is a moment by moment feeling...) I can be fine one second and then the next have tears welling up in my eyes. This is such a roller coaster of emotions and overall feelings about the entire situation.

At one moment I will be thinking..GOD, I am so lucky to be able to see these places and live in this environment. What an experience! Then I will think about friends, and the Corner Pub, and dinners with friends, and my SWEET mom, and I will get so depressed feeling. I have been reading my devotional my friend Dana gave me every morning and it has been such a saving grace. And Laura has been emailing encouraging scriptures too that at first make me cry but after the second or third time, I think.......I think I can.....I think I can.....If only God could zap me and I could be funny in Spanish. I know I am in English, ya know?

First off, Maria, the 29 year old that I met the other night emailed me...PRAISE GOD. She wants to meet up at a bar this week sometime to do a language exchange because she wants to know English better. So great news!!!! My first Spanish friend!!! :)

So we went to Calella where they have a condo, for Saturday night. Ursula woke me up on Saturday and we all drove an hour to the condo. It was a beautiful drive and so....foreign. No other way to describe it---rice fields, and desolate and then a teeny little town, more rice fields, another little town, and so on and so forth. We unloaded the car and then Joan the dad, made a wonderful meal of paella. This is a very traditional dish of rice, vegetables, and chicken, or sometimes shrimp. We had chicken.

Anyway, he is a great cook and it was fabulous. It is called paella because of the dish it is made in--one pan, and absolutely delicious. We ate and cleaned up and then Ursula and I went on a walk through the town along the shore. It was really cool and reminded me a lot of Cinque Terra for those that have been there--which was my fave place in all of Europe. She knows a lot about the history and it was cool to hear about everything. And nice to be out of the house with such amazing scenery. My camera battery died on the walk so I didn't get to take any pics of it though...next time..


We went back to the condo and headed to a town about 20 minutes away where there is good shopping and Ursula and I walked around and shopped while the boys did their thing. We met back up and then went to get pizza at a really neat pizzeria. SO fresh. It was amazing. Oh, and they drink all the time. At all meals there is a bottle of wine, except at lunch during the week. It is funny..and always GREAT wine.

Sidenote: at the pizza place we were all laughing and having a good time, and Ursula translated from Joan to ask me, "delicate subject, but are you doing better?" I said...yes, currently...haha

So we came home about 12:30--not even kidding...with a 2 year old. It is insane how late they stay up. I don't know how they do it. The day is just so different. Albert goes to school between 9 and 9:30, and I have to be in the office at 9:30. Then we break for lunch (when Gloria says it is ready) around 2 or 2:30. That is the large meal of the day, and then dinner can be anywhere from 9 to 11. Later if you are going out to eat. If you eat at home, then it is around 9.

back to the weekend...so we came home and went to sleep and then Ursula woke me up this morning and said it was beautiful out and we were going to go sailing. They had asked me Saturday if I enjoyed sailing and I said of course, that I had been a few times and I would love to..So I think they wanted to do soemthing that they knew I would enjoy, which was nice and thoughtful.

So we drove to a town about 30 minutes away where they keep their boat, and another couple joined us. They have a 25 year old daughter that JUST left to go back to University...so unfortunately didn't get to meet her, but they were VERY nice. They spoke small sentences to me and slowly---sometimes I could understand, sometimes not, but they were sweet to even try.

So we went sailing all bundled up--it was blue skies, but freezing. We didn't put the sails up because it was so windy, but it was very fun and nice to finally see the sun and envision what it would be like in 2 months...tan, sun, fun. And maybe even be able to communicate at that point. ha!

We went out for a couple hours and then we all headed back to the condo and Joan made mussels, clams, and squid for lunch all sauteed in olive oil and parsley. It was actually pretty good. (however I did have to chew on a few pieces 427 times and then chug wine to get it down..)

There is something SERIOUSLY wrong with my metabolism and thyroid if I don't come back a good size 6. I have eaten more vegetables and good fats in the past 4 days than I have in months. Everything is fresh and so much healthier than American's eating habits. Oh, another interesting thing--they only use olive oil and vinegar on salads. There are no pre-made dressings.

We ate and drank 2 more bottles of wine, and then cleaned up (which is my job) and then drove back to Girona. There is no internet in the condo, which was a bit difficult, but I will say that it made coming back not as depressing, when I knew that my wonderful friends would have emailed me, and I could look forward to them!!!! And I was right!!! :)

So, work tomorrow, which is kind of a drag, but another day, another experience, right? At this point, that is how I HAVE to look at it. Once again, none of this year mentality...one day at a time. Joan and I have a race to see if he can learn English first, or me Spanish..haha...he is so funny. He asked me in the car today---via Ursula--one, two, three, four! Like the rockstars! HAHA---hysterical.

Can't find the cord to my camera....of course, so I will post pics as soon as I can. Please continue with the emails. I enjoy reading each and every one of them. It really does MAKE my day. And one week without me may not seem like long (not even..), but I feel like I have been in Spain and away from EVERYTHING that is normal and near to me, for a very long time. Emails mean the world. It is tough.

love to you all and I hope people are actually reading this...haha