Misadventure...and a diner!

As I told Nighthawk, this would look really cool if you had a professional camera.
It was some sort of old canal that had been filled with grain.

Our adventures yesterday were kind of a big fail. Nighthawk and I were supposed to meet up with some friends of mine at Monteagudo, a small pueblo with a big Jesus statue, like a tinier version of the one in Rio. We took the bus line 50B that my friend Andrew had recommended. The bus driver seemed a little confused when I told him that we wanted to get off at "El Curro", the name of the stop, but we agreed after he said something like, 'Ah, el monte'.

I'm so wee!

"aAaa,"
how I felt when I finally got to sit down.

After a while, we spotted the Jesus Statue, but it was far off in the distance. Eventually the driver told us that this was the last stop and that we had to get off. Keep in mind that most bus stops in Murcia have no schedule or any markers posted near them,so we had NO idea whatsoever where we were. The ride was about twenty minutes from the bus stop in Murcia (about ten minutes from my apartment). My friends had decided to run there so none of them had their phones.

We were dropped off in a small pueblo and the buses don't run often on Sundays. So, we just decided to walk. Unfortunately, absolutely nothing was open for our entire walk. We walked for two and a half hours through rural Murcia, but it really felt like Mexico half of the time.

I ate a lemon from off of a tree!

Totally burned out, we actually made it home! I recognized these two pointy tower-buildings that are semi-near my apartment. Since they are tall enough to stand out in the Murcian skyline, we just headed toward them and kept on walking.

It turned out that my friends got there an hour later, and we were actually going to climb the mountains instead of go to the statue. I misunderstood the information being transmitted through facebook, but it worked out because we got to see the mountains and Murcian countryside up close. We also probably never would have explored such a rural area in Murcia, had this mistake not have happened!

Where...the crap...are we? If you squint really hard, you can see the Jesus statue.

The homestretch, walking along the highway

Creepy, wilted cacti

At night, we watched the second Harry Potter. It was a little more difficult to understand, but it's my favorite one in the series, so I was definitely pleased to watch it. It's been way too long! Jenn brought over instacoffee so we all made insta-mochas by adding in hot chocolate powder. It's yummy and beats the cold (yes, even inside).

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Today I only had one class, Turismo Sostenible, and I am really starting to like it a lot. It's very helpful that I actually have a friend in the class (Maria), but I really like it because of the subject material. Because I had already taken a sustainability to course at NCSU, I recognized many of the terms and understood many of the concepts. I love how stuff like that sort of falls in to place for you! Again, the teacher is super friendly and jokes with the students often.

After class, I met with Pablo Ros, my academic advisor at the Escuela Universitaria de Turismo. He is also very helpful and friendly; he told me that my Spanish is supergood and very fluid! He approved my "Plan de Estudios" and directed me to the Secretaria of the Escuela. This man also approved my courses and set me up with all I needed to matriculate. I finally have access to the "aula virtual" or virtual classroom, where professors post notes, assignments, resources, etc. I ended up having to pay 6 euros in order to matriculate here (not entirely sure why).

Spain has an interesting difference in the way that it deals with financial interactions. Many times when you have to make a payment to an organization or person, instead of writing them a check or just handing them the cash, they provide you with their bank account number. You have to go take the money and deposit into that person's bank account. Luckily, there are banks on almost every street corner, so you don't have to wander too far to find one. I wonder if banking is more secure here? In the US, you would usually be afraid to hand out your bank account to a stranger.

I came home, made lunch, and hung out with Nighthawk. We chatted about classes and our experiences in Spain thus far. We already plan to annoy all of our friends at home with "But, in Spain....!" when we come back.

Later, we met up with Suzie at the Mercadona to buy ingredients for homemade sangria: 2 bottles red wine, 2 lemons, 2 limes, 2 oranges, orange juice, a can of peaches, cinnamon, sugar, and rum. I ended up forgeting my keys (wow, of course I would). I had to call my landlady because she wasn't home (of course) and we ended up waiting like 40 minutes for her to come home. Oh well, at least we got to have some more interesting convos about religion and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Happy Nighthawk!

At the language exchange last night, Bobby learned that many Spaniards don't like Americans because they hold the opposite stance about the conflict (e.g. they believe Palestinians deserve Israel). Interesting. Bobby and I thought it was kind of weird that that was the reason for Spaniards not liking Americans (according that guy). We don't really even think about the conflict, so it's weird to us that that forms such a large part of their opinion of us. As I was saying, citizens don't always completely agree with the choices that their government makes...and there are often more important issues to us (War in Iraq, border issues, economy, etc.).


Waiting gave us time to gather an appetite, so we headed to an American, 50s-style diner that we had spotted the other day. It's called Peggy Sue's and it's right next to the Cathedral. As Bobby noted when we walked out, it was pretty strange to exit the bright and bustling diner, into the dark and ancient-looking Cathedral plaza. The food, however, was delicious.

Wow, can't believe I have never tried this before.

PS. Thanks for all of the lovely comments (especially Kat Holcomb). I appreciate knowing that some people are reading about my adventures! :)