Juan Incredible Weekend

Holy hoguera, Batman.

So you know that beautiful beach I've shown you one hundred pictures of? Okay, well now imagine it at night, with a nearly black sky, dark water, and receded shoreline. Then, put thousands of people from all over Spain and in fact all over the world on the beach, gathering around bright yellow and orange bonfires of all sizes. The wind was chilly, but the endless waves of heat from the fires was warm. Finally, scatter colorful fireworks and floating lanterns all through the sky, and combine the smell of smoke and salt water. Welcome to the Fiesta de San Juan.

This celebration was unlike any I've ever experienced. I'm barely exaggerating when I say the entire city was on the beach. There were huge piles of the wood, actually provided by the city, for people to build their fires and keep them alive. There was one massive bonfire, which featured some significant figures from the past and present. The most notable to us was U.S. President Trump, riding a mechanical bull, with a Mexican and a half built wall to his side. It's safe to say Spaniards are not exactly fans of our current leader.

People began arriving at the beach Friday morning to mark their spots for the fiesta that night. Nicole and Soraida, our amazing program directors, snagged us a spot at around 11AM and held it with the help of some of Nicole's friends until we began to arrive around 5PM. Their dedication is incredible. Once there, we hung out on the beach for a while, talking, eating, and having fun in the sun. Then, as night began to fall around 10:30PM or so (it's crazy late), little fires began to pop up in the distance and the beat-heavy music from the nearby concert began to flood the beach. Finally, at the stroke of midnight, the coolest part of it all began. Unfortunately for me, I was in a porta potty when the first firework exploded, so I thought a bomb had gone off or something and when the ground vibrated I feared the porta potty was going to tip over while I was still inside. I've never hopped out of one of those things so quickly. We then ran back to our spot on the beach and watched the beauty unfold. As the fireworks continued to light up the sky, golden lanterns began to rise from the shore until they looked like stars up above. Then, with a dramatic bang, the stack with the Trump figurine burst into flames, letting off a stream of black smoke as the fire shredded the statue in a matter of minutes.When we looked back down the beach again, everyone had lit their own huge fires and were cheering in approval. It was in that moment that our dear, dear Soraida walked up behind me and whispered, "I made you something," which is no doubt one of the most exciting phrases that can ever be said. Then, she whips out a dairy-free, nut-free, completely La-safe chocolate cake and a box of fresh strawberries. I am so spoiled, both at home and here. If I seem teary eyed in the picture below, it was just the smoke, okay? Anyway, it was so delicious, and it's a good thing she cut it or I would've eaten the whole thing. No matter how many times you experience it, the effects of unexpected kindness never weaken. Some people are just remarkable because that's who they are, and I seem to have more of those people in my life than any one person could possibly deserve. I am so blessed.

And at last I see the light!

It was the smoke.

Our bonfire!

After a little while, once the fires had died down a little bit, people began to run and jump over them, to fulfill the timeless ritual for good luck. By about 2:30 or so, we were all exhausted and headed home for the rest of the night, no doubt taking the smell of the bonfires home with us. Even now our backpacks still smell of that night, but all it does is remind us of how much fun it was and how special it was to be a part of it!

The next day was quite slow, we all met up on the beach in the afternoon after sleeping all morning and continued to sleep on the beach (with sunscreen this time). It was a good thing we got enough rest, too, because the next day we had another adventure ahead of us. On Sunday morning, around 11AM, we all met at the bus station to head to a nearby beach for surfing lessons!

We took a bus to a beach about 20 minutes outside of La Coruna. Before we got to the beach we stopped at a nearby castle (yeah, they just have those around here) and took some really beautiful photos of the water. Then, we got some lunch at the only restaurant nearby (literally just the one) and hung out on the beach for a bit. Afterward we set out for the nearby surf shop, where we struggled for a long time to wriggle into our wetsuits and pull on sopping wet matching red shirts. By the end of it, though, we looked ready to star in an upcoming Baywatch spin-off. After making our way back to the water, we had a short technique lesson on the beach before heading out into the waves. At first we were all pretty terrible, but one by one we started getting the hang of it! Two hours really flew by, and when we finally emerged from the water we were all covered head to toe in a combination of kelp, sand, and seashells. Mine may have been a little worse than it probably should have been, which was entirely my own fault - I sort of caught the last wave, not all the way but more than my other attempts, and to celebrate I was sitting on the beach where I fell off my board with my hands in the air yelling with Victoria. Well, what I didn't think about was the riptide that soon started to pull me in just enough to get hit in the face with the next wave and my own personal bush of seaweed to get stuck in my hair. Nobody likes a bragger, the ocean included.

Once we got cleaned up and caught our bus home, we enjoyed some more late-night burritos from that one American restaurant in town. They were equally delicious the second time around. From there we parted ways for some well-deserved sleep. Week Three in La Coruna, here we come!

Quote of the weekend: *Helicopter passes by* "Yup, I thought that was a shark. Wait, rephrase. No, I thought it was dressed as a shark." -Addy, on the beach during San Juan, no alcohol consumed.

More goofiness from this weekend:

Vic forgot her swim suit.

Soraida is the coolest on so many levels.

Sophie and I really didn't want to get sunburned. 

And by we I mean mostly I.

Second Week Down!

Things I've learned about La Coruna (and Spain in general) in the past two weeks:

1. Bumpers on cars are actually for bumping. There is no possible way to get in and out of most of the spots on the road without knocking your way though.
2. Apparently everyone is a professional dog trainer, as I have rarely seen a dog on a leash as they stroll by on the street. That or my dog is just a monster. But she's my monster so it's okay.
3. Smoking is much more common overseas. Like, much, much more common. Crazy common.
4. If you don't step on the gas pedal as soon as the light turns green, the entire line behind you will serenade you with honks of all tones all at the same time. On that note, mopeds have the most adorable honk I've ever heard.
5. These people know how to have a good time. If you stop partying before 7AM, you may as well not even go out night before. You are also expected to do the same thing the next night.
6. Of course, my beloved siestas, are the unsung heroes that seem to keep this town rolling.
7. The beach is a place to let everything loose. And when I say everything, I mean everything. Don't think too hard about that.
8. Like Golden, somehow you are always walking uphill.
9. Man purses are in and working.
10. Oreos are equally delicious on this side of the planet, if not more so :)

Things I appreciate about the place I call home that I didn't appreciate as much as I do now:

1. Our appliances - dryers, dish washers, ovens, automatic gas/electric stoves, large refrigerators, etc.
2. American hamburgers. Oh Bob's how I miss you.
3. Dinner before 10PM.
4. The ability to zone out during class and still have a general understanding of what's happening. I zone out for a second here and unfortunately have no idea what we're talking about.
5. My car and parking lots. I could never drive here, it's crazy.
6. Being able to make phone calls without Wi-Fi.
7. Dry air. 
8. The Coloradoan casual look. I mean we still wear our t-shirts, athletic shorts, and sandals anyway, but it would be nice if we didn't get so many weird looks for doing so.
9. The ability to eavesdrop. Actually, to just simply understand conversations in general.
10. "Human interaction in the home" - Victoria. She is yet to encounter all of her roommates and they seem to do their best to time their days so they never see each other.

Two weeks down! This week was pretty calm with some fun adventures mixed in. It was weird because a few times we found ourselves with "free time" - nothing to do, nowhere we had to be, no one we had to please - and we really didn't know what to do. We felt guilty for not filling the time, but it felt so good that we didn't want to! It's probably not something we should get used to, but a fun feeling nonetheless!

Addy, Nicki, and I's classes are going well - we are little better every day and are talking a little faster now. While it's overall a little intimidating because there are so many words and rules and such that we don't know, every time we do know what someone is saying, it's so exciting that we can't help but want to learn more! So that's pretty neat. As for Victoria, while her bosses are almost never at work, she seems to be enjoying her job, though her current project is pretty daunting. She is creating a 30 slide presentation about a greenhouse. I didn't know one could even write 30 pages about a greenhouse, but she has, and it's pretty impressive. Those guys don't even realize how lucky they are that she is their intern.

On Monday after class, Nora, Victoria, Sophie, Addy, Nicki, and I went to what Nicole initially described as a "dance martial arts" class, called capoiera. At the start of class, the Brazilian capoiera master gave us all instruments of various types, from a drum to a tambourine to this wooden instrument that looked like a bow and arrow, and I began to question how I could've confused "dance martial arts" with "band," but just rolled with it. We jammed out (and by jam I mean slowly try to stay on beat together) for a while, but then we moved to the center of the floor and began to rock back and forth. Slowly but surely he started to show us things to do (or try to do) and soon we were all sweating pretty hard. Up, down, handstand, push up-like position, back up, kick, down again, for a long time. Eventually he had us start moving across the floor, and that was my favorite part of the whole class. Not because it was easier or we were good at it, but because I got to witness some of the most incredible visions of coordination to have ever existed. For example, when Victoria was told to do cartwheels all the way across the room. Honestly she did really good for being somewhat afraid of them, but the face she made at the start was priceless. My favorite one though was when Addy and Victoria had to roll all the way across the room at the same time without loosing eye contact with each other. It's safe to say they were laughing long before they started, but at some point they really started losing it and the eye contact was just making it worse. Not something I will easily forget, or let them forget either!

The class was really fun and I think we all want to go back, but we were all so sore that we needed some time to recover. Maybe we will go again next week!

In our Tuesday afternoon class this week our teacher, Maria, took us all on a field trip to the nearby opera house, waterfall, and park (if you've forgotten, I am very passionate about the park, so this was pretty exciting). It was very beautiful and tucked into the park there just so happened to be a Science Center. Inside, the center housed nerd heaven and I think every child from the west side of La Coruna. That's okay though, we felt right at home. There was a super cool double pendulum swing set, lots of circular motion toys, a little glass box with little hatching chicks that was its own level of adorable, and so much more. At every stop Addy, Vic, and I found ourselves explaining (or at least trying) the physics behind it, and while it made us seem even more dorky than before (if that's possible) it was so fun that none of us really cared. Maybe we did choose the right major at school after all. After Maria was able to collect us all, we strolled through the park, got some ice cream, and talked until our usual end time. Best. Class. Ever.

One afternoon Addy, Vic, Nicki, and I went to a Churreria downtown. Nicki hadn't tried the infamous hot chocolate n' churros combination, and we all felt pretty good about experiencing it with her. They were very delicious, and they even had dairy-free hot chocolate, which made it even more yummy (for me, at least)! 

On Thursday night we all went to a bar in town and had drinks and tapas with some Spanish people who are currently learning English. Overall we were speaking Spanglish and from the outside it probably resembled something like group speed dating (if that's a thing), but it was really, really fun! They were all so nice and it was actually really cool to perhaps maybe, just maybe, be speaking enough Spanish for someone to understand. One girl said she thought I was 25 and really couldn't figure out how we are 19. She also said that for her last birthday, she and her friend partied for 4 days. 4. Entire. DAYS. I tried to play it cool, but I didn't have anything to say in any language but "wow!" We talked for about 2 hours before we parted ways, but it flew by and was a very fun experience!

My roommate just came in and said a lot of things really fast and I didn't get any of it so then all he repeated was "bano" (bathroom) and then made this air sweeping gesture with his hands. Though I finally understood that he wanted me to clean the bathroom, I was tempted not to tell him that so he'd either continue air sweeping or perhaps come up with some other great dance moves to show the dumb American what she needed to do, but instead I just headed for the bathroom, cleaning supplies in hand. I got so used to living with the angel that is Melissa that I forgot what it's like to live with boys. Let's just say, it's clean now. Oy, muchachos.

What else, what else...Oh Sophie and Nora went and got haircuts, but though they showed pictures and gave what they thought were clear instructions, they walked out with completely different styles than what they asked for. To us, they both looked very cute, but they knew the truth of the story. They handled it like champs and laughed about it even just after it happened. You only live once!

Another random thing - one of my roommates, Alvaro, is a very jolly guy. I haven't really seen him do anything but smile and laugh, most likely at my inability to speak. Anyway, he works a lot, but when he gets home and hears me in my room, he yells, "Ah Lorenaaaaa! Que taaaaal?" to which I respond, "bien, y tu?" and he says, "bien!" Though that's about the extent of it, it's so fun when he belts the "a" that isn't actually on the end of my name. I wouldn't be surprised if Santa is a distant relative of his and his spirit animal is a panda bear. What a guy. 

Well I think that's all for this week! On Friday night there is a big celebration for San Juan, with food, bonfires, fireworks, the whole nine yards. Then, on Sunday, we are all going to a nearby beach to learn to surf! We're all very excited, I'll let you know how it goes!

Quote of the Week: "I thought I just translated it wrong." - Lauren to Victoria while listening to Spanish music in class one day and realizing not all lyrics are G rated.

Post Capoeira Glamour

Nerds getting their picture with the Isaac Newton apple tree

Spanglish students unite!

El Primer Fin de Semana

This weekend was full of sunshine, exploring, and (of course) delicious food! Early Saturday morning, basically the crack of dawn, around about 10AM, we took a train to the nearby historic city of Santiago de Compostela. When we first arrived the first thing we noticed was the heat - it was at least 10 degrees hotter than La Coruna, mostly due to the lack of an ocean breeze. However, as we made our way deeper into the city, the streets became more and more lively, with people who this time looked just like us, with bulky backpacks, hats, and walking shoes. At first we thought they were other tourists, which some were, but many had a seashell on their backpack - the mark of someone completing the spiritual pilgrimage to Santiago, called the Camino de Santiago. People come from all over the world to travel from hundreds of different places in Europe on foot, bike, or sometimes even horse, to the Cathedral of Santiago. It was very neat to see so many people look so happy and rocking some really great tan lines.

While we were there, we explored a museum filled with items from long, long ago as the community developed, ate some very delicious lunch at a local restaurant, and finally toured the incredible cathedral. Unfortunately, the tour was entirely in Spanish, and while I'm a little better than last week, I'm not quite good enough yet. All I was able to get from her was that there was a religious conflict of some kind with the Romans. Imagine that. Anyway, we were all able to catch some pretty neat pictures, and thank goodness that means there's no translation necessary!

Our Crew!

Not 1 spiraling staircase, but 3! Even Dumbledore would be jealous.

Where art thou, Romeo?

The start of my modeling career.

Told her to look at Victoria like she liked her. Nailed it. 

Face Face-Off

Shade was in short supply, but Soraida found her own little oasis!

If you look closely, you'll see Addy's head jumping above her newest outfit.

The Gardens

Which is clearer: 1...

or 2?

The stones were cold. They were not.

Featuring our new Coloradoan friend Bret

Bret likes to be included.

The Squad

After our time at the cathedral, we'd decided we'd had enough of the heat and headed for the train station to catch our train back to La Coruna. Luckily, that meant there was a moving vehicle, and that meant I was asleep almost instantly. Once we got back I think everyone else had a pretty similar idea. Later night we tried to be cool and hip and experience the Spanish night life, but all we figured out is that we are all actually 80 years old on the inside and that this country literally never sleeps. It was fun to hang out together and talk, but I'm afraid we were all tired from a long day of walking and beyond that I think it would take special training to be able to keep up with these folks. It's very impressive. No wonder they have siestas.

The kids were fighting.

Coolest ceiling ever.

Bret got a high five for rocking the ratio.

"Addy are you taking a picture of me?" "No..."

Sunday was a pretty slow day - we woke up late, Addy and Vic hit the beach (I was in hiding from the sun, didn't want to sunburn my sunburn), and cleaned up a little bit. At around 7:45, we all met up with our classmates and made our way to Monte de San Pedro. What we were worried might be a mountain turned out to be more of a rocky hill (Colorado changes your expectations) and as we walked to the steepest edge we saw the coolest elevator I've ever seen. You've seen the Incredibles, right? Well if you haven't I need you to stop reading and go watch it immediately because it's iconic. "Where is my super suit?" Anyway, if you have, then hopefully you remember the little white ball car things on the secret island. Well, that's what we were about to ride up to the top, and that's when Addy, Vic, and I couldn't control it anymore and started geeking out about the trusses and gears and overall super cool design. That moment gave us all hope that perhaps we are in fact studying the right major and the concerned looks on the faces of our fellow classmates backed that up, too. We climbed into the bubble and were soon gliding up the cliff side. Once we reached the top, we were let out to a view of the whole peninsula and miles and miles of ocean. Amazing.

The Spaceball (just one)

Trust the Trusses.

Our little Urkel

Once we took in as much of that spot as we could, we moved on to the other side on the mountain, which took us through a very green park and past an observatory-like building with balconies with even more beautiful views. From the balconies we also spotted an ice cream stand, which Addy and Vic wasted no time running to even though it was on the other side of the park. At least they had to work for it. We then made our way to some old bunkers with huge guns that were installed (but never used) just before WWII. It was there that we relaxed and waited for the sun to set over the deep blue ocean horizon. Wow. Wow wow wow.

Only the most confident sailors look where there ship isn't going.

They call us the Three Musketeers. I kind of love it.

What a cutie.

My Jack is travel size.

If you don't have a cruise ship, an artillery gun will do.

About two minutes after the sun had set, we all realized just how hungry we were. By then it was about 10:15 and we still had to get back to civilization before we could eat dinner. We took a bus back to the center plaza and found a place that happened to have "American food" and nearly all of us ate burritos the size of Addy's forearm. For me, "ate" might be a bit of an understatement - inhaled is more like it. I don't know if it was the taste or my hunger that made it so delicious, but it really hit the spot. From there we called it a night and walked our full bellies home in the warm evening air. What a weekend.

I realize that was a lot of photos, but I hope you liked them! Thanks for keeping up with us!

Quote of the Weekend: "Can we, Mom, can we, pleaaaase?" -Addy and Vic, in sync, asking to go get ice cream while already running there.