Good Things Come in Threes

To start of with.... I have internet! Yay!!!  I don't think that it is possible for you to understand how much I missed the internet.  You would probably have to know how much I used the internet before I came here, and then you would have to experience the isolation that is felt by every immigrant who doesn't know the language and culture of their new country.  Having the internet finally come is like finding an electric blanket on a cold day, after looking and looking, being told it was one place and then another, finding out it was all lies! Then just when you thought you were going to freeze to death... Tu-da!  Well... maybe that's a little extreme... Anyway, as you can tell I am very happy to have it.

I apologize for not adding to this blog in over a week but my life has been pretty uneventful the past couple of weeks.  I finally found something active to join though; an aerobics class three days a week in the mornings.  The only issue is that it is in Portonovo and it is a half hour walk away, which really isn't the worst thing in the world because the walk is very nice as long as the weather is good.  (For those interested, Portonovo is the next town over, but it is impossable to tell when Sanxenxo ends and Portonovo starts).  I tried a Yoga class first but it was the biggest let down ever!  For those who may think "of course it is a let down, its yoga" I will inform you that in past yoga classes I have been pushed to my physical limit, I have stretched muscles that i didn't know existed and (unless I go regularly), I am always sore the next day.  This class let me down on all above criteria.  Aerobics is great, and it isn't super important that I understand spanish. (most of the time)

Also, Evan and I started surf lessons and had our first one yesterday.  It was awesome!  But also very difficult.  I only managed to stand up on my board a couple of times by the end of the two hours we were out which was better than Evan :).  Our teacher is a really cool guy who is a really good surfer.  I am under the impression that he used to surf competitively.  He is a Phys-ed teacher at Evan's school and he is giving us free lessons so he can practice his english.  He runs a surf club with friends which teaches lessons to all ages on saturdays for cheep.  The money only goes to pay for the insurance and the equipment; he just wants other people to love it as much as he does!  I think that is pretty awesome.

This is Lanzada beach where most of the surfing around here is done.  No pictures of us surfing... yet.

A Perfect Day

Things are going well for the most part.  I have a few things to complain about, all of which circle around the fact that for the past while we have been waiting for someone to come and connect the internet.  Since we have no phones and it is our primary source of communication this is pretty important to us.  Unfortunately the company told us that they would come any time in the next 10 days.  (This was over two weeks ago by the way)  Because they refuse to make an appointment and we want internet very badly this means that someone needs to be home at all times.  Because Evan has a job, this role falls to me and I am SICK of sitting at home, doing nothing.  Waisting all of this uncharacteristically beautiful weather, sitting at home instead of at the beach is depressing.  Needless to say any chance I have to get out is well received by myself and my husband to whom I complain.  I believed I talked about the Serrano's and how they invited us over after church on Sunday.  Well they invited us to a picnic with some other people on Wednesday, which was really fun, and a great opportunity for me to practice a bit of Spanish.  It was on a 'mountain' (a hill) where the view was really nice.  We played twister and relaxed and chatted.

They also took us on a drive yesterday to see some of the most picturesque places in all of Spain.


I want to remember yesterday (Saturday) as the day I saw some of the most beautiful scenery Heavenly Father has ever created.  I only wish that my pictures could do it justice.  The point where ocean meets land is a dangerous and magnificent place.  Words cannot describe the priceless beauty of the sweeping hills littered with majestic rocks only to be cut off by jagged cliffs into a turmoil of white waves.  In certain places, the water is crystal clear and you can see metres down into the blue-green ocean teeming with fish and containing as much beauty as above.  Even though man has been to this place it does not take away from the experience like is so often the case.  An aged lighthouse sitting atop its majestic throne crowns an ancient outcrop of lichen covered stone.  A winding path picks its way through the bush and rocks to reach it's base, while sailboats seam to wave good-afternoon in the hot afternoon sun.  A refreshing breeze ensures that the day could not be more perfect.  Delicious traditional spanish food, excellent, uplifting conversation, and breathtaking scenery. The Serrano family could not have given us a more perfect day.

A tour of our 'Flat'

By popular request I am dedicating a post to our apartment.  Enjoy!

The entrance:

Go up those stairs and you see our dining room:

Our Bedroom and Queen sized bed:

I am pretty sure our on-suite bathroom is bigger than our kitchen....

I tried to make our place feel a little more like home:

Our Living Room with big windows:

Overlooking...... This!

(This is when the tide is in)

When the tide is out:

At night you can see the lights across the 'ria':

Yummy....

Everyone who knows me should be proud.  I have eaten multiple things that I have had no intension of eating.  Ever.  Most notable being an octopus.  Well, a little baby one, but the legs were each an inch long and it was so hard to get the courage to eat it.  Our landlord/Evan’s boss brought us some of her left-over rice dish because we were talking about how we haven’t had any ‘Galician’ food.  I will admit that it tasted good, but the idea of it is really hard to come to terms with.  Also in this rice dish were another creature that evan thinks were scallops.  Oh and i just checked with Evan.... the octopi were actually squid; aka calamari.  Anyway, yesterday, I we were invited to lunch by some people at church and they had a soup that had muscles and shrimp.  If you do not know me well, you may be shocked to know that I avoid seafood if at all possible.  Even though I have been given the opportunity to have shrimp on a number of occasions I avoid seafood in all of its forms.  Mussels look horrible.  And their texture is a cross between chicken and mushrooms and next to them the shrimp were a piece of cake.  But I am so proud of myself because I finished that shockingly huge bowl of soup and I actually, shockingly, enjoyed it.  Not to the point that I would choose it at a restaurant because I have a feeling that one reason I liked it was that I was super hungry, but... I feel like a new, braver person.

It is really strange here because meal times are very different.  My stomach tells me it is lunch time at around 12 so you can imagine my disappointment that lunch doesn’t happen until 2 or 3 here (yes breakfast is at a comparable time to ours).  And supper?  Let’s just say its past my bedtime.  I don’t think its healthy...

Church is great!  There are only 25ish people who come regularly but everyone is really nice.  The family that fed us lunch is fantastic and they can even speak English pretty well!  Finally!  I am getting used to the double kiss thing but it was really weird at first.  Im still not sure who you kiss and who you don’t so I never make the first move.  When Evan told them that we don’t do that at home they were shocked! lol!

Anyway... We found a new beach!  We have to take a bus there, but it is a longer beach and the waves are bigger.  There are fewer people yet somehow there are more topless women. Go figure.  The bus goes around the peninsula we live on to get to lanzada beach and the costal view the entire way there is BEAUTIFUL! Evan got me into the water the first time we went but it is colder then our beach and I didn’t last too long.  The second time... we came prepaired. With toys.  Evan good a boogie board but apparently it is made for kids.  Not just people who act like kids lol.  It broke.  Luckily the plastic case is somehow holding together so he can still enjoy it.  It was really windy that time so we saw lots of wind surfers.  It looks like so much fun!
So I figured I could invite some comments by starting a conversation about rules for when you go to the beach (or pool).  There are a couple that I have learned since we have got here so I will start this thing off... Rule #1: Do not do your hair before you go to the beach.  If you do, I will get wrecked.  Even if you had no intention of getting wet.  Rule #2:  DO NOT bring food to the beach!   But if you like seagulls digging through your stuff when you go swimming and you want everyone within a 50 foot radius of you to hate you, then by all means... eat away.  Obviously I learned this the hard way.  It’s creepy how they sit and stare.  For hours.

Lanzada Beach

Evan's Sunburn

Santiago de Compostela

Before I start, I need to correct a previous post, I said that Pontevedra was the biggest city in Galicia which was most definitely wrong.  It is actually fifth biggest or something like that.  Also I apologize for not posting earlier, I tried to write and post this yesterday but the cafe closed so I didn't get to finish.
Anyway... Getting to the good stuff... Tuesday Evan and I went to the Capital of Galicia, "Santiago de Compostela".  It was very, very cool and very, very old!  Evan made the comment that the roads were definitely not made with cars in mind which is kind of cool to think about but not cool when a car decides to drive down the windy road you are walking down.  It wasn't the first city that has had really skinny roads but it was probably the most extreme case.  Luckily most of the really skinny roads require a pass to drive on so traffic is at a minimum.  Not only did we see old, beautiful buildings, we saw one of the most amazing buildings I have ever seen! (I say 'one of' because I have seen some of the best china has to offer, and I highly recommend a trip). I can see why people go on pilgrimages to visit the Cathedral in Santiago (besides the fact that it is generally accepted that the apostle James is buried underneath the cathedral).  It is sooooo huge and intricately carved and there is a huge pipe organ inside and lots of gold statues and it is just overall really awesome.  I would love to hear the organ one day...  Anyway, apparently it is a very unique cathedral and I can't imagine how they built it because it is around 800 years old. Give or take a lot of years.  We got to go inside which isn't always the case because it is in use still and if you pay a little you can see the crypt that James is buried in.  We didn't have time for that but we want to go back.


The Cathedral from the outside and the inside.  This is the only inside picture that looks ok because i was trying to take pictures without a flash since people were trying to worship there.

 This is inside a hallway of a university building.  The classrooms look the same as ours.

At a fountain outside of the Cathedral

A typical street in Santiago

The reason were were in the city with the long, hard-to-spell name was because Evan was being introduced to Galicia by the government along with three hundred other language assistants.  It was very 'aborrido' (which in Spanish means boring and uneventful) because I had no clue what was going on most of the time.  Touring after made up for it though.  Reyes is one of the teachers Evan works with us and she is the one who took us.  She is awesome!  Not only did she give us a mini tour of the city but she took us to a restaurant and introduced us to some traditional Galician food, (not just the bar food which is what we usually eat when we go out). It was very good but different from our food.  They eat a lot of fried meat here but they don't add flavours to things.  For example, salad dressing consists of olive oil, vinegar and maybe a little salt if your lucky.  I kinda miss drenching my lettuce in italian dressing.  I mean here, you actually have to taste the vegetables. ;)  And butter and salt are things you usually have to ask for even though your meal ALWAYS comes with bread.  Also, a popular dish is pickled asparagus with mayo to dip it in.  Sounds appetizing eh?  It's probably not so bad but I don't plan on finding out.  
Im going to end this post but if I have time I will add another post tonight.

Lazy Day

Hey all,

Today was a lazy day.  Evan and I got sunburns but his is worse.  It was the most beautiful day that we have seen here.  I think it got up to 30 degrees Celsius without a cloud in the sky and a nice gentle breeze.  Unfortunately for us, but fortunately for everyone who lives and works here, it is Saturday which means the beach was very crowded.
I finally got a camera which means I have some pictures to put up and we are going to get internet in around ten days :) it is frustrating though because to get internet out here it is very expensive.  Only one company does it which I don't understand because this country is sooo populated compared to Canada.  My verdict?  The companies are whiny because they don't want to provide service to a town that is 30 minutes away from the largest city in Galicia.  Also, when driving here, there were constant buildings.  I mean it was like we never left a town.  It isn't like we are in the middle of nowhere!  Anyway....
So far, beds here (if they are for two people) don't use two pillows, they use one big long one.  I just have to say that this sucks!... because for those who don't know me very well, I am picky.  Not only do I need my feather pillow to sleep but I need one in between my knees as well.  Usually when I am traveling it works out great because I bring my feather pillow everywhere and then I use the pillow they provide for the knees.  Problem #1: Evan did not listen to my experienced advise and he did not bring his own pillow.  Problem #2 he insists on having a pillow.  Therefor I have to use the not-feather-pillow for my head and the too-squishy-feather-pillow for between the knees.  Lame.
So Evan went to scout out his school yesterday (Friday) and he left me before I woke up.  I had a lazy day and didn't get dressed.  At around noon the doorbell rang, which i assumed was him coming home since nobody has tried to visit us before.  Luckily I thought ahead and only peaked my head around the door when I answered it because it was NOT Evan.  It was the good old J-Dubs.  Let me tell you that trying to hide behind a door and explain to people who don't take no for an answer that you don't speak spanish is not the most ideal situation.
Anyway, I have some pictures! Here you go:

This is our street

The fruit store by our place

This is the big beach from the pier at night :) My camera can't really do the view justice

Me on the pier