I left early morning Friday, October 25th, and returned late night Monday, October 28th. On Friday my host mom, host sister, and I woke up early and drove to Majadahonda, where we caught the train to Princípe Pío.
From there, we caught the train to the Atocha station.
And then, finally, we were on the real train to Murcia.
The ride was four hours and I spent all of it listening to music and watching Breaking Dawn in Spanish. When we arrived we walked, with our bags, a good mile to the house of my host sister's grandma. There I met my first round of family members, we all had lunch, and then the three of us were taken to the house of my host mom's sister and mom. I met cousins and aunts and grandmas alike. Clara and I hung out with her cousin, Eva, for a while before she left and then we went out to meet Clara's friend. That was actually pretty boring because they didn't talk to me and I didn't make an effort either. After that we went to the birthday party for Quina's (my host mom) sister. It was in the mountains next to Murcia and it was like half restaurant/patio thing and half tennis courts. I'm not really sure it was confusing. Most of the food was stuff that I didn't like so I didn't eat much and ended up paying 15 Euros ($20, Americans) for some bread and Fanta. Hmm. Wasn't super trilled about that, but what is done is done. We did have a cool view of this church up on the hill though.
The next day I saw the beach, por finnnnnn. I had missed the ocean. Thank goodness California is a coast state. We drove to Alicante, where my host mom has another house, and went to the beach. It was a small piece of the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean Sea. It's kind of big deal to me to be able to say I've been there. The water was beautiful, super clear. It had the water of Hawaii but the atmosphere of Cabo San Lucas. I wasn't prepared for swimming so I spent my time taking pictures and walking from rock to rock in the waves. It was great to be at the beach and I have to say the only downside to going was seeing old lady boobs. I forgot that most beaches in Spain are naked beaches. Still having nightmares.
After the beach we had a big meal of paella and as usual, I took a siesta. That night we had dinner at another family member's house and all was good.
The next day I got up early to get ready and we didn't actually leave until like one in the afternoon. We had lunch at the same person's house as the night before and I took a little hike with some of the adults and all the kids.
That night I got to walk around downtown Murcia with my host mom and other assorted family members. The fringes of Murcia aren't eye candy by any means but the main downtown area is beautiful. The streets are typical European but with a southern seaside feel. Instead of talking about it, I'll just post pictures.
this statue cracks me up. no, not because he's not wearing pants, because he has wings on his head!!
I guess the huelga had continued all weekend or something because when we tried to catch the train the next day we found out it had been cancelled until four hours later. So we waited and did what Spaniards do best, had lunch.
Oh by the way, the third night I slept in a different house, more up in the mountains. When I woke up I had a ton of mosquito bites. I stopped counting at 25. They didn't disappear for a week and I was miserable. Next time I'm definitely bringing bug spray.
Well, thanks for reading and there should be a few more posts coming your way soon!
Adios,
Sam
No comments:
Post a Comment