PAN FAIL

I will try again tomorrow. I just felt like I should be honest with you.

22 February: A Day in the Life

Hola!

Yesterday, after a long day of classes and our characteristically long lunch (of stew-it was super yummy) I met up with a random assortment of 6 of my compañeros and we officially decided to go to Budapest, Hungary. Plane tickets and three nights in a hostel have been purchased and we're leaving a week from tomorrow! I'm not going to lie, I was real stressed about the whole thing, but it should be fun! If nothing else, it'll be an adventure.

Afterward, I spent the afternoon with two girls I don't normally spend time with and it was lovely! We went to two cute little bookshops and then to a cafe (of course). Additionally, I went to Manómetro (my fav cafe) twice yesterday--and the same waiter is always there! When I walked in the second time, he exclaimed, "¡Mi niña!" and when he came to our table to take our orders later (I got a mini sandwich of shrimp and ali-oli for 1€!) he said, "Esta es tu segunda casa." This is your second home. Yes, sir, it is :)

The reason I was there the second time was that a few of us decided to start a mini connection group in Spain. It was so great to sit and chat about how we've been seeing God here in Cáceres and our spiritual goals for this semester, and more specifically, Lent, which starts today. What a blessing to have that fellowship here. One of the things we talked about was how many things seem to work out due to a very specific chain of events and how incredible it is to look back and see how if one thing was different, the outcome would have been completely different.

Afterward, I walked Christina home (because she doesn't like to walk to her house alone), but when we got there we stood outside her building for about 10 minutes and she was telling me about some stuff that had happened to her that afternoon. We were talking in English (about 60% of our conversations are) because of the nature of the conversation and all of a sudden this lady whips around in her tracks and gives us the strangest look, and then bursts out laughing and cries, "Oh my gosh ENGLISH!" In between spasms of laughter she chokes out, "I'm so sorry, I'm just so happy to hear English!" Turns out, she's from New York, and is living here, working at an English language school that her sister founded. Christina and I had JUST been talking about how we were looking for opportunities to volunteer in the community, so Christina tells the lady we'd love to help if they need anything at the school. Long story short, we now have all of her contact information and will hopefully be able to do something with that soon!

Here's the chain of events that leads to that: 1. Connection group goes much longer than planned, ends after 10 pm. 2. I know Christina doesn't like to walk home alone, so I offer to walk her, and she accepts since we're chatting. 3. Christina had a drama filled afternoon and so had lots to share. 4. We didn't spend the afternoon together like we normally do, so I hadn't already heard about her day. 5. It's not cold out, so we aren't bothered by standing outside at night. 6. We were talking in English. 7. That lady (her name is Niambi) walked home from a dance class down the street exactly in the ten minutes we were standing there.

SO many little things could have gone differently so that meeting didn't happen- but it did. We were giddy with amazement.

When I got home, Teresa made me a silver platter of pizza (I think there was goat cheese on it..), tomato salad, and bread and water with a special surprise- popcorn! I ended the night writing an essay on the couch in the living room where Teresa and Leondro were watching some Nazi movie. What a lovely day.

Today is El Miércoles de Ceniza, Ash Wednesday, so after another looooong day of classes, I was dreading more bacalao (my Catholic fam won't be doing much meat for the next 40 days, and cod is a popular substitute) but! Instead we had some white fish (I think some kind of perch?) that Leondro had caught that Teresa made with a yummy garlic sauce [side note: if when I say garlic sauce, you're thinking a cream sauce, think again and picture just olive oil and garlic and onions and stuff like that]. It was actually super good.

You'll be happy to know that I'm doing fairly well with my pan reduction diet (note: reduction, not elimination). Oh, and today I signed up for a Flamenco class. Yes, you read that right.

Today, I might pay for a trip to Las Fallas (a Valencia event in March-I'll tell you more about it later-specifically, if I go) and then head to misa (mass) with Teresa and a bunch of my compañeros tonight. Wooooo! A day in the life.

Praises to God for:
-fellowship
-His Word of Truth
-His planning and timing
-food
-health
-good weatherrr-- seriously, all the time
-beautiful beautiful Cáceres!

I love you! Hablamos pronto!

20 February: Chaos, Chistos, y Fuertes Abrazos

Hola!

Today was a rather chaotic day, but there were little jewels spread throughout!

After class, I decided I wanted to walk (I'm totally gaining weight from all this delicious Spanish food), and my friend Christina offered to walk with me. We went by way of the old part of Cáceres and got a little bit lost and ended up walking up the steepest hill ever. Upon reaching the top, we walked into a gorgeous plaza where there was a 4 piece Celtic band playing live music! It was absolutely magical.

When I got home, "todo el mundo" was in our house! It was so crazy! Both of our parents' daughters had brought one of their children over-without telling Teresa. She was a wreck when I got home and the next hour was really chaotic. Also, I started a Pan Log- I decided it's time I cut down on my bread eating.

In the afternoon, I did homework, spent time working on travel plans, and hung out with my compañeros. It looks like I'm not going to be able to make it to Italy this semester, but I might go to Budapest? That would be sweet.

This evening, my parents were being hilarious, intermittently, of course. Some funny comments:

Leondro, telling us about how all the different regions of Spain have different foods and that's what you should get when you're there: "In Valencia, get paella. In Andalucia, get fish. In Asturias, get bacalao. In Barcelona...don't ask. It's gross."

Teresa, about the cake that Leondro refused to eat and gave her: "What do you want with me? You want me to get fat? Are you fattening me up like a cow?" Leondro: "It's all the same to me."

Teresa, about the realllllly heavy mysterious item that sits near the front door: "Feel this. It's what I'll use for protection if anyone breaks in." Me: "But, what is it for?" Teresa: "My protection!"

Good times.

THEN. I got an email in response to something I had sent one of my professors. My email was extremely formal (I didn't want to offend or anything). The closing of his response email was:
Un fuerte abrazo, José Julio. In case you speak zero words of Spanish, that translates to: A strong hug, José Julio. Lol España.

Praises to God for:
-another beautiful day
-the freedom of travel
-delicious food
-the uncountable blessings of living with a family
-the beauty of Cáceres-it never gets old!

Hablamos pronto!

19 February: Toledo and The Big Compliment

Hola! I feel like my title could be the title of a children's book. I like it.

So it's 11 pm but it feels like 2 am, I'm so exhausted! Today was spent in Toledo- a 3.5 hr trip each way in an "autocar" (like a cross between a van and a bus?) driven by a maniac. For realzies. Toledo was the #1 Spanish city on my list to visit and I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed.

We (meaning myself and the other 3 girls from ISU who went- along with 11 Erasmus [Europeans studying abroad] students) had no idea what to expect and were pleasantly, if a little bemusedly, surprised to discover that we were completely let loose upon arrival and told to return to the bus stop 5 hours later. Rather dazed (and a little queasy) from the trip, we grabbed a map from the tourist office and randomly started walking. The four of us had a delightful day stopping in cafes, wandering and getting lost in the streets, and taking photos like it was our job. I'm sure we didn't see any of The Things to See in Toledo, but nevertheless it was a delightful day. Enjoy just a couple of photos so I don't need to wait an hour for them to upload (see Facebook for more):

 doesn't this look like a postcard?

Lovely, right?

So, onto part 2 before I head to bed: so we were accompanied on the trip by a mysterious woman named Carmen. We have no idea where she was from or why she was there or anything, but we were told she was in charge so we just went with it. I small talked with her a few times, but not much. So after we had gotten back, my roommate and I were walking home from the bus stop and stopped at one of the stoplights. We were chatting in Spanish about how we're going to start slowly easing bread out of our diets (we eat way too much) when suddenly the lady in front of us turns around, and it's Carmen. We strike up a conversation and are chatting a little when she asks us where we're from.

Side note: If you ever had speech with a Wycoff or a Voss, you know that the ultimate compliment you can receive in speech is : I Believe You.

Today, Carmen gave me the study abroad equivalent of this compliment. 

When we told her we were from Iowa (generic response), she asked, "Both of you are from Iowa?" We said yes and she responded, "Oh! You [pointing to Hannah] seem American but you [pointing to me] didn't seem so American." 

You could have knocked me over with a feather. So, moral of the story, I've been on cloud 9 this evening, because a Spaniard- after talking to me 3 times- told me I didn't seem very American. BEST DAY.

Later she offered to do intercambios with us, so that's super exciting, and I look forward to it!

Finally, on our bus ride home, the post-sunset sky-for the second night in a row-was all the colors of the rainbow in order, starting with red on the bottom and moving ROY G BIV up. It was beyond gorgeous.

Praises to God for:

-the glory of His creation

-the opportunity to go to Toledo

-beautiful, beautiful weather

-a sweet host mom who packs us yummy food whenever we go anywhere

-frozen yogurt (oh my gosh)

-safety

-good health

-that even after visiting an amazing city like Toledo (my high school Spanish teacher calls it "the jewel of Spain"), returning to Cáceres is a sight for sore eyes :)

Hablamos pronto!

17 February: Holy Bacalao!

Hola! Yes, Daddy, you read that right- bacalao. Because that's what we had for lunch today woooooo! Trust me, way more fun said than eaten.

So I know it's been awhile since I've been on here but I really don't have that much to add. Life has been...good! Cáceres is slowly and steadily becoming "home," my compañeros more like friends, my classes more like real school-- kind of :)

For Valentine's Day I got a very special package in the mail! All things pink and random  and words of love from my sweet mama at home. Nothing could have made the day more perfect! That evening, I went to Manómetro (my fav café here bc it's cheap and has wifi-which I know you're reading as "why-fye" but in Spain they say "wee-fee") with three other girls where we split a "brownie" (some divine chocolate cake with almonds? covered in ice cream, whipped cream, and fudge) and a plate of patatas con ali-oli (french fries covered in cheese, some rich garlic dip, anddddd I think bacon?). WOW. Can you say Valentine's Day of champions? yes. It was.

Also, the other day I took a three hour nap. That was some big news. AND I slept through the night that night! I think I determined the cause of the problem: the different eating schedule here. Eating huge meals at 10pm was not doing me well. So I've been eating less, and earlier, at night, and I think that's helping.

Last night we finally met Toñi, our program coordinator who has some serious family emergency going on so we barely have any contact with her. She was super sweet though, and took all of us out for dinner on her! It was great fun to spend the evening with everyone all together before this weekend when we're all splitting up, becauseeeeeee...

This weekend is Carnaval in Spain! A big deal in some places. So, some people are going to Cádiz (in the south) to celebrate and others to Badajos (in Extremadura)-two of the biggest Carnavals in the country! This weekend also happens to be the trip to Toledo, so I am doing that instead. More of my kind of thing anyway, but also I wouldn't miss Toledo for the world!

This evening, a few of us went to a "filmoteca" in old Cáceres where we paid 1€ for a movie! It was an animated movie called The Illusionist (but in French). There was hardly any words, but the music and the artistry was gorgeous. It was a beautiful, if melancholy story. I really enjoyed it. Oh, and I finished my book this morning! If you haven't read it, you absolutely must. So beautiful.

Also: today I bought my Eurorail pass for spring break! So I will officially be going to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany! Exciting and scary all at once.

Tomorrow, I think a few of us may be renting bikes and taking the trails around and outside of Cáceres. We shall see!

Praises to God for:
-good health
-good weather
-good friends
-sweet family, here and at home
-pets (I got to meet someone's host dog and cat yesterday!- and they had a piano!!)
-the freedom and blessings of travel
-good sense
-patience with me
-YOU
-Cáceres

Hablamos pronto!

13 February: Florence + the Machine

Hola! Sometimes, when I'm feeling down, all I need is a little bit of my own music to cheer me right up and so right now I'm listening to Florence + the Machine belt it out and let me tell you, she is working her magic. :)

If you want to listen to her too, click here! 


So wanna hear about yesterday? It was the perfect Sunday. I rose when I felt like it, had coffee and bizcocho (coffee cake) for breakfast, had a lazy morning until my roommate and I joined Teresa for mass at her church which was impossible to understand but whatevaaa.

For lunch we had delicious chicken with some yummy garlic sauce. I ate waaaaaay too much because it was so yummy yummy yummy! So it balanced out the nasty worms from the night before.

Afterwards, we met some of our friends at the park where we read our books in the sun until it got too chilly and we went to the library. After dinner- tortilla de espárragos (asparagus omelette) and the tomatoes with garlic- I went over to my friend's house (it's HUGE compared to ours!) with a couple of people where we watched Piratas del Caribe- Pirates of the Caribbean in Spanish! It was super fun, but we got done late and I was sleepy today :)

Anyways, yesterday was perfect.

Today for lunch we had the classic Spanish dish of paella: rice and spices, peas, chicken, mussels, shrimp, and some vegetable we couldn't translate and then we squeezed lemon over it. I kind of have to shut my eyes and shove the mussels down with lots of bread but I LOVE her shrimp! Paella was delicious and I felt verrry Española :)

This afternoon, I'm meeting up with a few people to start planning my spring break-- it looks like I'm heading to Germany! A bunch of the girls are going to Italy, but the guys' trip to Germany seems easier (and possibly cheaper, and less stressful) to jump into in the middle since I'll be spending the first few days of break with my real family visiting me here in Spain!

Before coming here, I had a list of places that I wanted to see, but now I just enjoy traveling with other people and I feel lucky to be able to go everywhere that I get to go! Everywhere will be cool in its own way- I learned that through my random trip to Lisbon, which was amazing.

Praises to God for:
-beautiful (if chilly) weather...and it should be getting better soon!
-good friends
-music
-chocolate
-skype
-the ability to travel
-always being there
-paella
-Cacacacácereesssssssss

<3 Hablamos pronto!

11 February: Today for the First Time...

...I wished I understood less.

Hola! Today was the BEST day! Except for one thing and I'll start with that. Why do I wish I understood less, you ask? Because I ate worms for dinner.

Okay, technically not worms, angulas:

And okay, they didn't look quite like that, more like this:

But still. eeeeeeek. They are a traditional Basque meal ("From the land of your abuelos!" exclaimed my host dad as I looked skeptically at my meal). I ate the whole thing though.

I kept trying to convince myself that they were just strange noodles, but they kept telling me more and more about them. Hence, the wishing that I understood less. I could feel them crawling around in there all night. My friend assured me that "the wine will kill them" so that's what I'm telling myself, even though obviously they were already dead.

Otherwise, today was divine. I rose late, had hot toast for breakfast with my cafe con leche, showered, and then read my book in the sun on the porch with their birds happily chirping away next to me! In the afternoon, some of us went to a dance show at the fancy-schmancy theater between the old and new parts of town. It was free and featured dancers of all ages doing everything from ballet to hip hop to modern dance. It was forever and a half long, so we left early, but we stayed long enough to watch our host parents' granddaughter dance, which was really fun.

Around dinner I was able to skype with people from home, which was the icing on the cake! After dinner, some of us went out for a leisurely night at a gorgeous outdoor place where I split a glass of wine with a friend and comfortably chatted the night away.

Today was a perfectly lovely day!

Praises to God for:
-good weather
-good friends
-courage
-safety
-warm beds to come home to
-modern technology
-the love of my real family in MN
-the ability to live in the tranquil city of Cáceres

Hablamos pronto!

10 Febrero: Mérida and Home Cooked Meals

Hola! So, supongo que quereís oír de Mérida. <--ha! see what I did there? If you speak Spanish, probably, if not- I used an informal plural tense ("ya'll") that is ONLY used in Spain. I'm getting better at it! :)

Today we excursioned (I know that's not a word, but I'm using it anyway) to Mérida, the capital of Extremadura and an old Roman city. What I mean by old Roman city is, picture Rome, then downsize by about a hundred: bam. Mérida.

Before the Iberian Peninsula was Spain and Portugal it was Lusitania, Gallaecia, Celtiberia, Baetica, and Cantabria. Lusitania was what is now Portugal, Extremadura, and part of Andalucia. When the Romans took over shortly after the birth of Christ, they created a city that was intended for veterans of a recent war (forgive my vagueness, it's hard to catch the details sometimes). It became the capital of Lusitania and was called Emerita Augusta, after, of course, the emperor of the time, Caesar Augustus. The word Emerita later evolved into Mérida.

Enough with the history! So we went and saw the three major attractions: the coliseum, the Roman style theater, and the chariot race track. It was quite incredible to know that we were standing where the Romans once stood! What amazing history. Ojo: My camera was almost dead when I got there, so I didn't get as many/the best pics but still... mira--

 Inside the coliseum

 between the coliseum and the theater

 the theater "stage" area

 An original of Augustus' head

 The temple

 The ORIGINAL bridge. Can you believe this? It was breathtaking, and incredible to think about.

The chariot race track

Our whole program in the theater!

It was beautiful, but smaller than we had anticipated, so half a day was quite enough there. Teresa packed us TONS of food!

In the afternoon,  I bought myself a book on my kindle called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I cannot remember the last time I was so taken, so enchanted by a book! It was a lovely way to pass a day.

Dinner was divine tonight. Teresa made some kind of fish covered in salsa rubia, "blonde sauce" that was composed of lots of garlic, onions, parsley, chopped almonds, and some leaf that I got which means good luck. It also contained something inside clamshells (mussels?) which I also ate because they too were covered in that sauce of the gods. My good gracious me, it was SO GOOD. So good. Additionally we had bread, as always, and the best salad yet: lettuce, tomatoes, onions (oh the onions here!), avacado, and carrots covered in, as usual, salt, olive oil, and vinegar. A banana for dessert complemented the meal perfectly. Oh goodness me it was so yummy.

I'm tired! So I'm going to go to bed.

Praises to God for:

-warm beds

-home cooked meals

-conserved and restored history

-books

-words

-the internet

-siestas

-our sweet family here

-my sweet family at home

-His generosity

-Cáceres: I just can't get enough of it :)

Hablamos pronto!

9 Febrero: I ate a mushroom today

Hola! So, I don't have much to say because life has been pretty normal lately. We're beginning to settle into a rhythm and the newness has begun to wear off. I realized that this whole thing has felt like a vacation so far, and it's been about two weeks, so the reality that this isn't just a "trip" has started to sink in.

The only big news from today is that..... I ate a mushroom. Yup. The whole thing. I know you are really proud of me. Here's how it came about:

So, I told Teresa and Leondro that I pretty much like all vegetables except mushrooms, and apparently Leondro took it as a challenge. He told me that I'd never eaten his mushrooms and that some day he would make them for us. Soooo today, after we walked home from school, we downed some vegetable puree (delicious) and then came the sketchy stuff: first, some straaaaange looking meat and then a plate of mushrooms. I was very nervous, but they told us to try everything and if we didn't like it, we didn't have to eat it. Luckily, they also brought out potatoes (fried, mashed, covered in olive oil and garlic) and lots of pan (bread) per usual, so I knew I'd be full.

Anyways. The meat was disgusting and I could barely even swallow the bite that I took but! I tried the mushroom! Its little hole thingy on the bottom (haha) was full of garlic and perejil (parsley) and olive oil. Leondro told me to eat it with the potatoes [thank goodness] and por eso (so), I did! And I ate the whole thing. Good job, self.

Then, he gave us cherries that had been soaking in brandy for 3 years. They were really strong. Then, he asked us if we were planning on napping, which we totally were, and he took out these really old beautiful shot glasses that belonged to Teresa's great-grandpa (or something like that) and some small bottle of liquor that was made out of something that starts with an "m" (Yeah, I should really bring a notebook to meals to take notes). It was actually really sweet and delicious.

Then I napped for two hours haha. It was glorious.

In the evening, she made us poleo (her cure-all tea) and talked to us for hours, started to teach us how to knit and let us help with dinner- which was delicious today! All things we've had before. It was an awesome evening. I look forward to spending large parts of the weekend in with Teresa. She is going to continue to teach us to knit and we're going to do mud masks!

Tomorrow our group is going to Mérida: the capital of Extremadura and an old Roman city! We learned all about it in class yesterday and I am excited to see it tomorrow... I'll try to take lots of pictures!

Thanks to God for:
-good weather
-beautiful parks
-good friends at home and
-new friends here who I can go to when I have problems
-beautiful views and fresh air to alleviate stress
-chocolate and coffee and
-lots of pan
-our sweet family
-how comfortable I feel here in Cáceres

Hablamos pronto!

7 Febrero: Lisboa y El Lingüísta

Hola! I know it's been awhile, but I'm back and I have lots to share!

So first things first: Lisbon. I wish I had been taking notes the whole time so that I had it all documented (for my future self, and ya'll as well).

The 15 of us who were going met at the train station around 11:30 Thursday night to hang out before the trip all together.

It was great fun. At 5 minutes to 2 am, we boarded the train to Lisbon and were off! I slept on and off until we arrived in Lisbon just after 7am local time. Upon arrival, we paid 50centimos to use the bathroom  (it wasn't even nice) and then walked around until we found a cafe to have coffee and the breakfasts that our host family had packed for us. Then, we walked through the city to find the hostel. The city was beautiful and the hostel was amazing. Below is the room I shared with 5 other girls.

A little about the hostel: I would HIGHLY recommend Yes! Hostel in Lisbon to anyone! It was 15€/night, which included walking tours all days, free use of the kitchen at all times, a continental breakfast, very friendly and helpful staff, a community atmosphere, wifi and computers, a nice community room, and free storage of our stuff even after we had to check out. The only downside was the ice-cold showers. Following show a little bit of the community room.

Enough about that. Lisbon was gorgeous. It's a coastal city that has lots of history and unique architecture. Lots of the city was destroyed in an earthquake quite some time ago, so there is a distinct mix of architecture muy antigua and more recent buildings, but all of which are beautiful. One of the most distinguishing details was the tiled outsides of buildings. It takes forever to load pics on here and I really need to get to bed, but I'll give you a couple, because it was magical. See facebook for more :)

 A tribute to the man who rebuilt the city after the earthquake

 The sidewalks, I kid you not

 A church that lost its roof in the earthquake

Gorgeous right? Portugal is known for its poets, explorers, small cups of strong espresso, and natas. We went to the famous cafe where the small espresso had its origins AND to the cafe where the original nata was made!

 The origins of Portuguese espresso at the Brasileira

 A Poet

 Natas are like a cross between warm flan/rice pudding inside the most delicious flaky pastry you'll ever eat, served with cinnamon and powdered sugar. Absolutely divine.

We even attended a Portuguese mass!

Además, there's the beach! Funny but very long story extremely short about the beach: It started out as everyone wanting to go to a different town to rent bikes along the coast, but after much confusion and many adventures, about 7 of us arbitrarily ended up at the most beautiful beach in San Amoro.

After which we had went to an incredible McDonalds where I had the most delicious blizzard ever created with some Portuguese candy. For real. That evening, we adventured around town and ran into some random guy who brought us to an authentic Portuguese restaurant with live Fado music (typical Portuguese music). It was something for the memory books.

Before we headed home, we went to Belém, where we saw monuments, went to a modern art museum, had a picnic, and ate our natas. Another adventure and much frustration later, we went to the beach one last time, where Tasia fell in! But it was absolutely gorgeous and completely vale la pena.

We even found some graffiti that we found applicable :)

Overall, it was a beautiful, memorable trip, and I feel so blessed to have been able to spend a weekend there! We got home at 5 am and Teresa was literally waiting for us at the door. We left for class just 3 hours later, but we made it! Hence the lack of recent blog posts.

Before I end, because I need to sleep, I want to share with you the poem we read in my Literature class today. If you speak Spanish, enjoy, if not, translate it or just read it for the beauty of the words. It's titled "El Lingüísta"- "The Linguist"- and talks entirely about the beauty and importance of the work of linguists. It spoke to me, it made me feel so excited about my future!

El Lingüista 

Es ambición hermosa someter las palabras. 
Reclamaba el lingüista 
la precisión del tiempo para nombrar las cosas. 

Conocer los arroyos, las escondidas sendas de los sabios, y las noches 
abrasadas de flores; dónde el lenguaje abre sus palabras más justas. 

Juan de Valdés sabía 
que las palabras pueden penetrar la materia 
y, con su luz más diáfana, establecer un orden en su universo helado. 

Trabajó con las sombras, vivió oculto en la niebla 
de su taller obscuro; en fríos alambiques de vidrio, acontecieron 
los más bellos vocablos. Destilaba la razón en matraces, calentaba sus pétalos 
en busca del aroma que las palabras dejan en el aire al nombrarlas. 

Atravesó la noche donde el silencio habita 
los perfumes más cálidos. Ese resol perdido 
incendiando la tarde por las hoces de Cuenca 
iluminó su frente. Y acaso viera al cielo, con su escritura pálida en las aguas, 
transcribir la belleza, la exactitud de toda su penumbra infinita. 

Que la palabra nombre con su sabiduría, llene de sonidos exactos y de luces precisas 
nuestro conocimiento. Si es en los ríos donde se detiene 
sea fría su música, transparentes y frescas sus dormidas imágenes; 
transcurran las palabras reflejando el silencio 
o queden derrotadas recorriendo sus bóvedas, entre polvo, a la sombra 
de sus casas en ruinas, si acuden a las plazas vacías de la Historia. 

Someter la palabra, Juan de Valdés, es ambición hermosa, 
pues que así se da nombre y destino a la vida, la materia ilumina 
su corazón cerrado. 

Praises to God for:

-safe travels

-good friends

-good food

-a nice hostel

-His beautiful creations

-the power of the ocean

-a sweet family to live with

-finally sleeping through the night

-classes that interest me

-good health

-and the ability to be able to "come home" to the amazing city of Cáceres!

Hablamos pronto!

1 Febrero

Hola amigos! I'm feeling a little under the weather today (I haven't slept through the night since we've gotten to Cáceres, and I think it's catching up with me), so this is going to be more brief than usual. Feeling worse makes me miss you all more!

This morning we had our tour of the old part of Cáceres and it was completely magical, I'm telling you. So pretty, like nothing I've ever seen. Cáceres is the 3rd most important monumental city in Europe (1st is Florence, I didn't catch the 2nd).  Afterwards, a few of us had café con leche at a cafe in the plaza.

 A view of the Plaza Mayor

 The mountain we climbed yesterday from a museum we went to today

A really good street singer

After lunch, we took our siesta and then went on a walk with Teresa and Leondro to visit their daughter, Teresa, and her children Elena (10) and Fernando (8). They were all so sweet! Teresa is an English teacher and Fernando walked in and said "Hello!" to us! Elena is a little sweetheart as well, and a wonderful painter. I hope we get to spend more time with them.

Then, we bought our train tickets to Portugal for tomorrow! Woohoo. Despues, some of us went to a cafe and I finally had churros con chocolate. Que rico! 

I really haven't been feeling well though, and I started crying in the middle of dinner- very embarrassing. I realized that I haven't spoken with my mom in a week, and nobody here knows how much I need hugs--so I haven't had one in a week! While I was crying, Teresa held me and then made me poleo, her cure-all tea. Both made me feel much better, but I wish I could hug my parents and my brother.

Tomorrow, más clases and then Portugal!

Praises to God for:

-an awesome host family who truly loves us

-drugs (medicinal, of course)

-chocolate

-coffee

-a beautiful city to live in

Hablamos pronto!