New Things

Living abroad always teaches you things, and so far for me it has been an exploration of something unexpected.. me.  Although a lot of things drive me crazy about Gijon, my favorite part is that no one cares about how they look (well, they all dress up all the time... so they do care, but no one is trying to be a supermodel).  They're actually happy with themselves.  And I'm sure people are battling their own thoughts, etc.  But it's nice to live in a place where beauty magazines don't drive us all to feel imperfect all the time.  Nobody's perfect.  

So... I've always been super insecure about trying new things because I hate to look stupid.  But not anymore.  I go hiking and pee in the woods, and I'm becoming an awesome cook.  And on Wednesday, I went snow-shoeing.  We went to a ski resort, hitched a ride up the lift (for 5 euros of course) and went hiking on the top on a mountain.  Ours were the only footprints.  I would have never pictured myself as a girl who did that, but I'm finding out how much I love it!  Nature is so beautiful!  And I feel like I've cheated myself from God's creation not having admired it much in my lifetime.  The mountains and the valleys, when I start to imagine God's hands shaping them, it makes me super tingly!  It's so beautiful, and he did it for us to enjoy.  So I challenge everybody to go see or do something you've never thought about before!  

crazy mornings

I wrote this last Friday, but I saved it as a draft on accident instead of putting it up! Enjoy =)

Gijon is probably the safest place I've ever been in my life, that said... this morning at 5 Greg and I woke up to someone ringing our doorbell and banging on the door.  Well, we got up and went to check thinking maybe Brian or Jodie was having an emergency and needed us.  I looked out the peephole and couldn't see anything, and someone was speaking in Spanish asking us to open the door, of course I totally freaked out, we asked them to turn the light on but they didn't and neither of us knew what he/she was saying in the hallway.  I eventually threatened to call the police, and she said "please no I'm your neighbor!"  Turns out, it was our next door neighbor, she's about 96 years old and thought she was going to the bathroom but actually walked into the hallway.  Unlike in the States, when a door closes it locks, so this poor woman was locked out of her house and we had no idea who to call or what to do.  Greg finally thought he'd give the old credit card trick a try and it worked, he "broke" into our neighbors house!  Unfortunately, we were both heart broken for our poor neighbor, but it is a pretty funny story!

My swimming update, I swam 62 laps yesterday, up 12 since Tuesday.  And I did 5x100 IMs (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle).  I was pretty impressed, and it felt great!  I loved just being able to think about nothing else except for breathing and counting my laps.  And I was the only person in the whole pool, it was great.

so out of shape

I decided a few weeks ago that I was going to start swimming again. Well today I finally busted out my bathing suit, goggles, towel, cap, flip flops... and took the bus to the pool to check it out. I didn't exactly know where I was going, but I found everything ok...

But I quickly discovered I am WAY out of shape! Last week on our hike, my friend Pam asked me how long I thought it would take to get back into the swing of things, and I thought I'd hop right back in and be fine.. wow was I wrong! I swam 50 laps and had to convince myself that I was saving myself from heart disease and obesity in order to just do that many. So, I'll keep you updated on my progress. The good news-I swam 3 whole laps of butterfly!

winter wonderland

Asturias still surprises me every day.  We have so many different landscapes in a small province.  Greg went skiing last weekend, and was sore for days, but had a great time.  And on Wednesday I went on another hike with my friends in 4 inches of snow.  It was fun to be the first footprints!  And you can't hike through snow without throwing a few snowballs.  I'm always amazed at the way of life here, even in Gijon-the biggest city in Asturias-I have to go to a few different grocery stores to get the things I need and they've never heard of preservatives... chicken goes bad the next day, no pre-made anything.  I'm actually starting to enjoy it.  But out in the mountains where we go on our hikes, I don't know how these people live!  We'll be hiking through what seems the middle of nowhere and come across a little village of 5-7 houses.  My spanish teacher told me that different trucks will travel out to these towns every week or every other week to sell goods (fish, meat, pharmaceuticals, etc).  I'm really glad Greg didn't move me out there... anyway, here are some pictures.

And yesterday (Saturday) we went to a different area to the East where the coasts are met by big cliffs.  This area is known for holes that have been formed because of the water that go from the sides of the cliffs and come out on the surface like these huge geysers.  I had no idea where were actually going and was wearing my nice boots and wool coat, and arrived at this mud/rocky parking lot with water/air streaming out of random holes, luckily my husband had an extra pair of shoes in the back and let me wear his jacket, what a sweetheart!  Here are some pictures from that adventure too.

Our friends daughter running away from the stream of air/water exploding

They went up at least 50ft!

Greg ran to the end of this rainbow..and regretfully informed me that there is no gold. 

A new year!

Sorry I haven't been posting!  A lot has been going on here in Gijon.  The day after Christmas my parents came to visit, and they left New Years day, it was fun to show them around and let them see the town we live in.  We went on a few hikes, toured Oviedo (the oldest city in Asturias) and spent a night in Aviles sampling Spanish wines.  We also spent New Years Eve in the Plaza Mayor (the big square in Gijon).  And getting them out of Gijon was quite an adventure.  Their flight was at 7:30am, and so we woke up nice and early on New Years Day (after staying up nice and late) and were ready to leave for the airport at 6, 5 minutes of 6 the lights went out.  We checked to see if it was just our lights and it was our entire street!  Luckily Greg got me a Harry Potter wand for Christmas, so I used it as a flashlight, and we made our way downstairs with luggage etc, only to discover that our garage doesn't open without electricity (there is a parking garage under our building).  So we ran to the bus station in hopes to get a bus to the airport but because it was a holiday there were no buses until 10.  So we ran back to our apartment hoping maybe the electricity turned back on (remember... it's now about 6:20, they have a flight at 7:30!).  We checked the taxi station near our house and there were no taxis, because all the New Years Eve party-goers were on their way home.  And instead of freaking out, Greg came up with the brilliant idea to go to the hotel we stayed in before we moved into our apartment and ask them to call a taxi.  So off we went on our last hope adventure-and it worked!  A taxi was at the hotel in less than 2 minutes and my mom and dad made it to the airport just in time to get on their plane!  And we went without power for about 2 more hours... what a morning.  But here are some pictures from there visit:

so many verbs

Last night Greg and I went to Aviles (20 km west of Gijon) with Brian and Jodie to meet up with a coworker.  All we really know about Aviles is that the airport is there, even though it's called the Oviedo airport.  Anyway, we took the bus (2 euros a piece, round trip!) and met up with Eloy and Elena.  Aviles is the 2nd oldest city in Asturias, and it's really beautiful!  We loved walking through the cobblestone streets, and seeing the buildings from the 10th century.  They still have a lot of original construction (on the buildings etc) but due to some crumbling issues they are slowing replaces pillars.  

Eloy was an awesome host, we were on a wine tour (he's a big connoisseur) and I had to admit to him that I don't really drink nor do I enjoy a glass of wine, but he convinced me otherwise so Greg and I would split a glass at each of the restaurant/bars we stopped in.  And it turns out, when someone knows what they're talking about-it can change.  We tried some cool wines, from all over Spain of course-no foreigners allowed.  Along the way, Eloy didn't leave out any pieces of history.  He also reminded us that although the Mayflower landed and we now celebrate Thanksgiving, yada yada, Saint Augustine (in Florida) was established about 50 years before, by Pedro Menendez who is actually from Aviles.  Which is cool because it's not a big city or anything, just a guy from a town in Northern Spain.  

We also enjoyed some great tapas... a long time ago some king decided that too many people get drunk off of wine, so he decided that with every glass of wine the customer should also receive a bit of food.  The tradition still goes on, we didn't even eat dinner yesterday, we just ate tapas.  And we've decided that Aviles has better tapas than Gijon.  At one stop we got into this conversation about verbs and nouns.  For anyone who has studied spanish you already know, but there are verbs for EVERYTHING!  Anything you want to say.. there's a verb.  It's incredible.  But they're lacking on the noun side.  There are lots of adjectives, so you can describe a noun to make it a different one.  But often I've run into trying to get some idea across when I discover there is no noun for what I want to describe.  But if you want a verb.. you got it!  

we <3 the beach

Greg and I are so lucky to live near the beach, and it's become routine for us to take long walks with our crazy pups.  Picture perfect right.. holding hands, strolling the beach.  Until your dog finds horse poop and attempts to bathe in it, or perhaps a larger more gross dog drools all over your precious little girl.  It's lovely.  But at the end of the day, it's probably the funniest hour of our day.  They literally just run.. from the moment we get to the top of the stairs that lead to the beach until we drag them away.  And Lola has yet to learn the concept of shaking, so by the time we get home she's covered in sand.  

Goyo is on the left, and Lola on the right.  

Goyo LOVES to dig holes!

They love to play fetch, but fight over the ball too much to bring it back

As I've said before, we go to a super tiny church.  This year all the missionaries were having their big meeting in Gijon.  So we didn't have church today, but our pastor asked us to watch the kids during their meeting today and tomorrow (it's a holiday here).  I was under the impression that we would be babysitting, until earlier this week when I found it all of the kids were teenagers.  Totally different.  But it went really well.. it's amazing what crosses cultures.  We found ourselves singing Miley Cyrus at the top of our lungs and playing Uno.  I love it!  Needless to say.. teenage girls are awesome, and very loud.  Greg was amazed at the amount of noise just a few girls can make.  And boys-they're all the same too.  The boys were younger (7 & 11) and they were happy to make paper airplanes and terrorize everything the girls did.

And... for anyone who's counting.  Greg and I have been married 6 months today!  The majority of which we've spent in Spain.  We miss you all at home!