Prepped and Pampered

The weather has been pretty great the past week, I even had a beach day! It's perfect in the sun but as soon as you go in the shade its too cold for shorts (unless your a Viking like Evan). We celebrated valentines day last Saturday instead of Tuesday. Evan had his connections get me a deal on a spa package. It was green tea themed, I got a body scrub, (I thought I wasn't going to have any skin left by the time they were done with me) a relaxing massage and a green tea-infused bath. I have never felt so pampered in my life! Then that night we had supper at the restaurant. It was the kind of fancy meal that you see in the movies but rarely get to experience. It was complete with a confusing number of forks and spoons, many courses but all of them small, and a new aquatic creature that I don't plan on eating again. On a more serious note, in was a really good meal, and they even brought Evan some French fries. He didn't ask for them and it didn't fit with the facy meal at all but they know he loves them :).

In other news, we finally made it to Portugal! One of the teachers that Blae works with took us and showed us some great sites.... including but not limited to a large market where you could buy anything from a carpet to pots and pans, to a puppy. I got a belt that they added holes to right there at the stall. It's still a bit big though... (a problem I would like to remedy with chocolate). A lot of things were similar to galicia, like the streets and an old walled town but the food was more like Canadian food. We had steak for lunch and it was glorious! (It's easy to get steak in Galicia but they use different spices). It was a really fun day, going to lots of different touristy places.

I am plowing through Harry Potter! I forgot how ridiculous the book is... Maybe that's why I love it so much...  Now on to more important things!.... Pictures!

I don't know if any of you have heard of 'Carnival' but its basically a week of holidays where there are parties all over the place (different towns  have things happening different days) and people dress up, kind of like Halloween... except Carnival is way more important than Halloween to these people.  One day we heard music coming from outside and this is what i found:  (a bunch of kids on a stage, in costumes, dancing around to music.  It was pretty cute!)

The rest of the pictures are from Portugal.  The next three are of the fort with a little (Portuguese version of modern) town inside.

The view here is looking across the river into Spain.  It was absolutely beautiful.

Fairly self-explanatory...

This was a really cool catholic (church/cathedral?) at the top of a big hill, you could see it from really far away.  We drove up and looked inside.  The inside was beautiful but we didn't take pictures because a mass was going on.

Keepin' On

So, the biggest thing that has happened since my last post is that two weeks ago I strained my shoulder surfing.  It was an overall bad day of surfing for me, a combination of very cold weather, a different and much smaller board, and large waves.  (well, large for us, but small for our teacher).  It was all worth it though, because afterwards, we went to a local board maker's shop!  Gerardo was getting a couple of new boards made for him and he wanted to stop by.  The board maker was super nice and showed us the different steps of making a surf board.  First, he starts with a really big piece of rough material (a very light wood usually) that is board-shaped. (he buys them like that)  Then he has a huge variety of planes and sanders to make it the exact shape he wants.  After that, he covers it in a cloth coated in resin to make it stronger.  Next, he adds the decals or designs that he wants (using special paper or cloth) then he coats it in more of the resin, lets it dry and then adds the fins!  I'm sure I am missing steps but that is the gist of it.  His shop was really cool, with half finished boards everywhere.  Some of the boards were so pretty!!  It's probably a good thing I didn't have 800 euros lying around!  I really wish we had a camera to take pictures so I could show you guys.

So anyway... I took some time off of sports and added all of it (and then some) to video games.  I think I'm getting addicted...  but, we went back surfing yesterday!  My shoulder isn't perfect yet, but its fine if I'm careful and it feels so good to be exercising again!  There were no waves so we practiced some technique and did some surfing related cardio.  It was actually really challenging and quite fun!

In other news, I bought Harry Potter in spanish!  I haven't even finished the first chapter yet because it takes me forever to read one page.  My goal is to finish it before we come home, but I might have bitten off more than I can chew... (five pages down, two hundred forty-four more to go).  Spanish is coming along slowly, my vocab is getting OK, but I need more confidence while talking.  Its strange... I can listen to a conversation and catch most of what is going on, but as soon as someone directs a question to me, my brain tuns off immediately. Even if I would normally know what they said and how to answer, I just freeze.  Its very frustrating!

Time is going by so fast, we are more then half done our stay!  It makes me sad but at the same time I am looking forward to coming back.  I don't ever want to leave the paradise that we have settled into, but I miss my family and friends and I kinda feel like my life is on hold right now.  Plus, I have a long list of restaurants that I can't wait to go to.... oh, Red Robin....

Anyway guys, keep me posted, don't make me beg!

Evan's Valentines Day Present to me!  It was sooo yummy...

The fountain show at Barcelona:

Back in the Saddle

I know I have complained about laundry before, and although I have come to terms with my situation I must make my displeasure of new developments known!  For almost four months I have done the laundry and hung it up to dry outside.  For four months I have not had any incidents, unless you count occasionally dropping something and having to run down three flights of stairs to get it.  Apparently, I was lulled into a false sense of security, for lately seagulls have felt the need to soil my clean laundry.  Not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES in the past two weeks!  As we all know, bad things come in threes, so I hope and pray that this is the end because I just put a fresh load out to dry a few minutes ago.

In other news, Evan has been very busy since we got back teaching private english lessons.  He know has 7 students (I'm pretty sure) and teaches 11 extra hours per week.  This has reduced our stress over money a bit and given us hope that we actually might be able to backpacking northern Europe before we come home in the summer.  Teaching also has its perks!  (for Evan at least) one of his students who sees him four times a week manages a four star hotel here in Sanxenxo.  Evan had a complimentary hour long massage today!  (don't worry, I'm jealous too) plus the other night he was offered food, he asked for fries and was brought a large plate of steak.  (seriously!)   So, yeah...

The other night, the Music teacher at the school Evan works at took us up north sight-seeing.  We saw a bunch of ruins and more beautiful scenery.  He showed us the remains of a series of towers that were used as warning beacons when the Vikings would attack.  For those of you who have seen the Lord of the Rings movies, it is just like when Gondor needs help from Rohan and they light the beacons!  The Vikings wanted to pillage Santiago de Compostela because the Catholic church had a lot of wealth there.  We also saw more castros (the little circular huts that celtic people lived in).  The scenery at the castros was amazing because it was right on the edge of a rocky out-crop over the ocean.  Unfortunately, we didn't get very good pictures because it was dusk when we got there and pitch black when we left.

It looks strangely tropical for winter... this is a little chapel.

Evan wanted to know how I got up there... 

We have been surfing a couple of times since we got back.  I can actually follow a wave sideways now! (if it breaks slowly)  Last time, when I thought I was surfing alone, Gerardo followed me and tried to push me over!  You can imagine my surprise!  He says he does that to everyone but that most people loose there balance and whip out.  I told him it was because I live with Evan who forces me to stay on my toes.

So, life has pretty much gotten back to normal... some days are chilly, some are warm.  Evan wears shorts through it all.  Representing Canada I suppose...