9-28-11

Well, let's see, where were we last time we spoke? I think it was the day of the field trip, or maybe a few days after, so lets just begin sort of where I remember leaving off. On Sabbath morning, I skipped out on church and took my hammock in my backpack along with a pillow, my Bible, and my Zune, and headed up the hill. My plan was simple; read a little, think a little, and maybe listen to some music somewhere in there. I figured I would spent about three hours and come back, because I had to help with lunch preparation. Turned out, I thought for the first hour, and drifted off to sleep for most of the rest of the time. I woke up about 15 minutes before I had to be at lunch duty, so I raced down the hill and got there a little late, but "no pasa nada".

Monday was my birthday, and on Sunday about noon for me, I got my first birthday wish on Facebook, and then they just started coming...still on Sunday. At one point, I even went back and checked my facebook account to see if it said my birthday was something other than the 26th. No, it was the 26th, so why was everyone sending me messages on the 25th, and on top of being a day early, they are nine hours behind! Monday finally came- I was really looking forward to it, and not only did I get probably about 80 birthday wishes on facebook, but all of my new friends, and old friends, here in Spain all wished me a happy birthday as well. For my birthday, Josh, Eric, and probably a few others will head out to the beach this weekend and buy something special to eat or drink on the way (Adventist approved beverage of course). This weekend is one of two weekends between Josh's and my birthday, so we will celebrate both at the beach, but in November is when the real celebration is. Eric, Josh and I planned a weekend in Milan, Italy, and not only will we be having a blast, but some of my new friends have also planned to come as well, so it will be just one big celebration.

Yesterday, Eric and I finally got a chance to try out Eric's GoPro camera on the bikes. A GoPro camera is a camera with a mount that can be mounted on helmets, bikes, skis, and many other places. The camera is very tiny, and is used for action sports. Eric mounted the camera in many different places on the bike, and I even put it on my helmet. Now we have great HD footage of what biking in Spain is like, but we will be sure to edit out the part when Eric almost got hit by a truck...oops, did I say that out loud?

Yesterday, I made a new running buddy from San Diego named Juan. Juan and I have a lot in common; he lives in San Diego; I like to visit San Diego, we have both worked at summer camps for a few years, we both like to play guitar (and the best part about that is that Juan brought his), we have both been to Peru to the same mission, and most importantly, we both like to get out and enjoy fresh air and exercise. Juan is a great guy, but one oddity about him is that he enjoys running in the heat of the day. I really don't mind running in the heat of the day, but Juan actually prefers to run in the heat of the day. We ran 4 miles yesterday, and 4 miles today. On Sunday, we want to run to the beach, which is just over 6 miles each way.

Tomorrow, we have a field trip to Valencia that I am thoroughly looking forward to, but I have to get a lot of homework done between now and then, so I guess that is it for this update.

Hasta el proximo vez...