Her name was Windy for a reason

Yes, riding horses in Valverde, the countryside of Spain, IS as cool as it sounds.

So the day starts as so:

It's an hour ride to Valverde and the roads are not unforgiving at all. Considering the majority of the group took shots that were named after super heroes last night, I'm surprised the bus made it there in one peice. However, I think the fear of being on top of an animal that could throw you off at any minute cured the hangovers of most of the people on the trip.

As we're waiting to get on the horses, they ask the group which of us are fairly good riders. I immediately raise my hand thinking that others will as well and that if I fall off my horse I can blame it on someone else. I look around and no one else is raising their hand. Woops. I'm one of the last people to get on their horse. mine's name is Windy. As I'm getting on the person in charge looks me up and down and says "you know what you're doing right?" "yes," I answered. "Well, have fun and be careful." I clearly don't remember him saying that to anyone else in the group. Within seconds I learn why he said those two wise words: "ten cuidado" Apparently, my horse likes to be in the front. Always. And once she gets in the front, she likes to run. Right before I'm about to turn to the trainer and tell him to get me a horse that has been sedated in the last hour, Windy gives me a little nip on my knee. I'm still not sure how her head turned that far with such accuracy but I decided Windy and I had a few things to learn about each other. Within 10 minutes we became the best of friends with the same goal: to some how get to the front of the group and "accidentally" speed away. I guess Windy has tried this before because the minute we're about to break free the two people in charge at the front pull right in front of us and give us that look like they know exactly what we're trying to do.

Today, my legs and butt are as sore as ever but it was worth it to finally ride again.

Yeehaw!

So having a fake semester is definitely the bees knees. Especially when that fake semester is in Spain.

Last weekend we all went to Cantabria which was a bit chilly and rainy but absolutly beautiful. We took a sky car thing all the way up to the top of a mountain and climbed around for a bit. Totally choice for meditating i must say. We spent one night in a Paradore. Its similar to a 4/5 star hotel but theres only on in each city if that and it's always somewhere with an excellent view and/or location. Our view was amazing as well as the location even though it took an hour and a half drive up a windy road to get there.

This week was the first week of classes and they were pretty interesting. im enrolled in Latin American lit, Spanish civ, Latin American civ, and a movies and play class (which is actually a lot harder than it sounds!) So far I'm not enjoying the classes as much as our intensivo but then again the teachers don't look like Javier. Next week I (hopefully) start my internship at the elementary school as a teacher's assistant. They can't seem to find a space where they can fit the kid's classes into my schedule and i will be miiiighty unhappy if I'm unable to do this. But there is still a plan B! If they cant figure out a schedule for me i've already found a few places that are looking for english tutors for spanish kids and it pays. Kind of going against the rule given by JMU saying you're not allowed to work in spain but hey, if they can't figure out my schedule then i'll have to do it myself.

My new madre has slowly stopped feeding us as much to our pleasure. I thought I might have died from all that food but either i'm expanding or the food portions are smaller. Either way, my chances of death by food are much smaller now.

Tomorrow we go to Valverde to go horseback riding!! eeeee :)

Recap of this week

The best way I can describe this week is in one word: vino. Very similar to wino because that is what i will soon be with no regrets.

I'll start with the family:
As of Septemmber 1st i had a new mom and a new dad. Having a dad in Spain is like having a Porsche: Very rare and require lots of upkeep by its owner, aka wife. My new dad however, is more like a 4-runner. He's been married to my new mom for 50 years (holy crap!) They are constantly ragging on each other in the most endearing way possible and he's always at her side helping with dinner.

They are both in their 70s so i guess i should call them my new grandparents but considering my own parents aren't too far behind we'll stick with the former.

My new mom told us at dinner one day that if we ever needed help or were being bothered by someone all we have to do is ring the buzzer to their apartment and Ricardo (our new dad) we'll be down immediately "to take care of it." This is even funnier heard in Spanish and even more so when you see who's saying it and who's going to "take care of" the problem.

The food is amazing and thank god because they make us eat for about 4 people each. We joke that its abuse but i may be visiting the hospital to have my stomach pumped and not for the reasons a JMU student would. what a shame.

In our intensive spanish class we learn things that will be useful through out the day such as: smiling at people means you want to have sex with them, stretching and yawning ANYWHERE is a no no, if you dance with someone it means you are going to have sex with them later that night, if you put your head down on the table you might as well have taken a poo on someones doorstep, and everyone likes socialism its just the americans that don't.

Tomorrow the majority of the group is off to Portugal! Ciao till then.