9-23-11

      

It has been a few days since I have written anything, so I guess it is time for a little catch up. Our field trip of the theater and castle was pretty amazing; who'd have thought that there are Arab and Roman ruins within walking distance of the campus? It kind of seems like an oxymoron, doesn't it?

We took the bus to the center of town and walked all the way up the hill to the theater, where we got to look around, and our beloved teacher, Ana, gave us a little history of the theater, and how the Arabs invaded from the south, and the Romans from the north- or was it the Arabs from the north and the Romans from the south? I can't remember now, but the point is that Spain was once controlled by Arabs and Romans, hence the theater and the castle. I thought the theater was especially cool because it was restored, and fully functional, yet there were still plenty of seats and walls that were the originals. My only thought  is, ouch! Some of those original rocks looked kind of uncomfortable to sit on! After we got our brief history, we walked up to the upper levels of the theater and took plenty of pictures. After about 15 minutes of moseying around the theater, we walked up the rest of the hill to the castle. In some of the pictures I have already posted, the castle is very visible; it sits on a hill pretty much smack-dab in the middle of town. What really surprised me is how big the castle really is! We walked around for probably an hour and a half, or two hours, and didn't see even half of it. Well shoot, put a log ride in there from the castle to the bottom of the hill and call it Disneyland!

Next, we walked down the hill; all the way down the hill, and into the market that happens every Wednesday from about 6 am to 1 pm. It was like a market night in the U.S., but way bigger, and much less selection. This market consisted of the exact same things in every shop; women's shoes, women's underwear, men's underwear, women's clothes, fruits and vegetables. Unlike most market nights in the U.S. that take place on one single street, this market took place on about five square blocks; five blocks by five blocks of underwear and vegetables. I walked about two blocks and decided that I had seen all there was to see, and since I had a bunch of time still on my hands, I decided to go try to find the post office so I could finally mail the postcard for my aunt's birthday.

I went to the tourist booth, and asked where 'las officinas correo' were, and of course she started talking at a hundred miles an hour, but she gave me a map and marked on the map where it was, so I just took the map, said a hardy 'muchas gracias', and left. Turns out, when Eric and I were biking a few days ago looking for the post office, we actually past it a couple of times. Of course I was looking for the big blue eagle, when of course the actual logo of the Spanish post office is not a blue eagle. I walked in, and was able to explain to the lady there that I needed to send these to the United States, but I didn't have any stamps. She seemed to understand me, took my postcard, and told me I wrote the address in the wrong place; I switched the return address and where it was supposed to go (this is not the first time I have done that- I have done that in the US before too, silly me). Of course I panicked, thinking I would have to go buy another postcard or something. Luckily, she took care of the problem faster than I had time to think of a solution; she just simply crossed off the return address and wrote 'USA' next to the correct address. I paid, and left. What can I say? I hope my postcard gets to where it needs to go! Even though I screwed up the postcard, it was refreshing to be able to communicate in Spanish without asking them to slow down, or repeat; besides my postcard slip, I could have almost convinced her I was Spanish. The way I see it, if Pau Gasol can be Spanish, as white as he is, then I can be too!

I headed back just before the bus got there, and off we went. For the afternoon, Eric and I went on a little bike ride, but since the bike I used can't even hold a candle to Eric's bike, I could only go about half the speed he could. We were heading up a hill, and I worked really hard to stay with him, and he didn't realize it, so when he looked over and saw me pedaling away, he just smiled and zoomed right past me effortlessly. I went back to the school early; Eric went on a little longer ride- okay fine, a lot longer ride.

As I was pulling up, there was a whole group with their towels in hand and sandals on their feet heading out to the beach. They invited me, and that sounded like the perfect thing for that moment. I quickly put the bike away, grabbed my towel and sandals, and started running after them. When I saw them walking, I assumed they would walk all the way to the beach, but what they didn't tell me is that they were going to take the bus. I kept on running and running, trying to catch up with my friends who I thought were ahead of me on the sidewalk, but were really in the bus station waiting for a bus. When I got about half of the distance to the beach, I realized that I would have caught them by that point, but I decided that I ran too far to just turn back and not go to the beach, so with my sandals strapped on my feet, and my backpack hanging on my back, I kept running. The beach seemed to be a carrot on a string that the farther I ran, the longer it seemed away. What made it even worse is that I didn't know the streets of Sagunto and the Port very well at that point, I just knew the general direction I had to run, and that made it seem even longer. Since there is only one beach that we know of so far in Sagunto, it is pretty much a given that that is the beach we go to. I assumed that I would catch the group after about ten minutes of running, so I was dumb enough to think that I wouldn't need my watch, so I had no way of knowing what time it was, how long it took me to get to the beach, or how much time it would take me to get back. When I finally arrived, my legs felt shot; my calf muscles hurt like they never have before, as well as other muscles I didn't even know I had. I decided to walk along the beach to try to find everyone, but they were nowhere to be found. I knew I needed to head back soon, but my legs needed a break, so I sat on the sand for a while. It was a very peaceful day, and the water was very clear and blue, but I didn't enjoy is as much as I could have because I was worried about getting back in time and dreading the walk back. Finally, I knew I needed to start walking back, so I got up slowly, and walked all the way back to the campus. Remember how I said the beach was like a carrot on a string? The school was the same story, except worse, because I was walking instead of running.

I arrived at the school at about 8:15; I left for the beach around 3:30. Apparently, it was further than I thought. I went on google maps, and it turns out that it is about 10 km from the school to the beach, so I went 20 km in my sandals, plus about another 5 km walking around the castle earlier in the day. I took a shower, and crashed. I slept very well that night, but in the morning, my legs hurt so much that I could barely get off my bed (I am on the top bunk). My legs still hurt a little bit today, but it is getting better pretty quickly. Now, I am off to lunch, shopping, and the beach for the afternoon, except this time I am taking the bus:)

Hasta el proximo vez...