My favorite things this weekend:
1. The views out the bus window in the regions of Leon and Asturias. Yellow aspens, high mountains, tunnels to hold your breath in (family tradition), terraced plots of land, and general greenness everywhere, definitely different from dry, mostly flat Cáceres. Breathtaking and glorious, even though it was cloudy if not overcast most of the time.
2. Seeing my friend Andrew. There´s something to be said for companionship of old friends, especially when you both live in a foreign country. I think we both really appreciated just hanging out with someone who knows us. We had fun biking around Gijon, even when it was pouring outside! We also caught a half-hour mass
3. Sights in Gijon: El Elogio de Horizonte, in Cimadevilla (highest neighborhood in Gijon, with a park that´s got a great view of the beach, cove and the ocean to the north of Spain), AND San Lorenzo Beach. We visited Oviedo for a few hours too, but Gijon was cooler.
El Elogio is a structure that amplifies the sound of the waves crashing against the cliffs far below, so that when you stand in the center, you hear it more than at any other place. Some study in a acoustic science, and so cool. Peaceful, too.
We walked along the beach barefoot, even though the water´s freezing and it was an overcast day. Old people in swimcaps were swimming, and young people in wetsuits were surfing! Men played full-out soccer on the water´s edge. It´s cool to say I touched Spain´s northern coast!
4. And the people I met, both on the bus rides and those at the night parties Andrew and I attended. I had some fear about traveling on my own so far, and I believe God knew that, so he gave me three wonderful seatmates on the trips there and back. One Spanish girl who was just super friendly, an Italian Erasmus girl from Salamance who was going to Oviedo to visit a friend, and on the way back, an older man named Augustin who recommended authors from Leon to me and told me about the kinds of trees in the northern regions, just so kind and interesting to talk to. I understood all these people quite well, too, so I felt proud about my Spanish. I spoke a lot of Spanish this weekend, and I appreciate that.
Met Erasmus kids from all over Europe at one apartment party. Later, in the Plaza Mayor, I met Andrew´s friend Inéz and her Colombian friend. We four talked a long time, and I don´t think I´ve ever spoken such fluid Spanish as with the Colombian guy! He and I got to talking about deep subjects yet I had no problem. What a good feeling that is! Praise God!
Random notes:
--Sidra, hard apple cider sold in green wine-like bottles, is the popular drink in Asturias, and unheard of in Extremadura. It´s poured in a particular way. (You´ll have to see a picture.) I didn´t really care for it, but it was fun to try to "echar la sidra."
--Apparently Spain has a love of Woody Allen, and Oviedo has a statue of him. Inéz told me she loves his work, and I just can´t agree. It´s not funny to me at all, but I have heard that Europeans, for some reason, tend to get his humor more than Americans!
--The division one soccer team of Gijon, named Sporting, played Real Madrid, on Saturday night, so when Andrew and I tried to go out for supper, all the cafe-bars were filled with Gijoneses watching the game on the bar TVs. Fútbol is already a big deal here, but even more when Real Madrid plays your home team at home! (Final score was an agonizing 0-0.)
-Time change on Sunday, which I didn´t know about until that morning! It was "fall back" so Andrew and I had extra time while waiting downtown, so we ate breakfast at a cafe-bar and then went to a short Catholic church service. I didn´t understand much, but the Holy Spirit still used the time to speak love to my heart. :-)
To end this entry, strange as it may sound, I feel I should dedicate this entry to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He has been so faithful to take care of me, anticipating my needs and speaking to my heart. This weekend was like an unexpected retreat, away from my "home" of Cáceres, which is funny, because when I returned at suppertime on Sunday night, I felt like I´d been home this weekend. That´s probably due to seeing a friend from my home state and because I had some great time with Jesus. Church on Sunday wouldn´t have been possible if not for the hour time change, and it was wonderful. So, thanks.
"For your Father knows what you need before you ask him."
(Matthew 6:8) Amén.
(Matthew 6:8) Amén.
I remain, your faithful observant foreign correspondent,
Ellen.
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