I went on a hike with the 3rd and 4th grade class on Wednesday to Valldemossa and we were gone all day. It was really fun! I had a great time with one of the English teachers I work with, Marga, the director, Tomeu, and the 4th grade teacher, Tomeu. It was a beautiful day and we were able to see Cabrera from up at the top, which I have never been able to see before!
So I was on my feet all day but decided I needed to go for a run anyways to stay on my schedule of 3 runs a week, every other day. Tomeu (teacher) brought some delicious coffee, which we enjoyed at lunch and was a very welcome pick-me-up. Because I am so sensitive to caffeine, I felt great during the run and pushed myself harder than I have before here and ran around 6 miles. Which is what I will be doing on Sunday in the 10K.
It is great to know that I have it in me to run that far but that was a bad day to test myself because now my left foot is hurting. I have foot problems so it is not that big of a deal but it hasn't hurt in a while. I think I should be fine by Sunday and have learned my lesson.
Showing posts with label Valldemossa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Valldemossa. Show all posts
Friday, March 16, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
On the Verge of Death
So I think my laptop is on its last legs. In the last couple weeks it has begun restarting at random and graphics card is doing funny things... I would love it if it lasted for the rest of 2012 (that would help me finish school) but I think that might be too much to ask. It is almost 5 years old after all. I use it so much right now to communicate with friends here in Spain because we are all too cheap to use our cell phones frequently. I use it to work on my Spanish and botany projects for school when I get back in the fall. I use it to Skype! Ahh! I am not too worried because Evan has his computer here as well, which I could use for all of the above, but his computer is his precious and he can be very possessive of it (think Gollum). Thinking about spending copious amounts of time trying to get him to let me use his computer sounds difficult.
As much as I love my MacBook, I don't want to spend a grand on a computer again, so I will probably end up with a PC laptop that costs about half as much. I have always been scared of them because of the amount of viruses they contract but that is where Evan comes in handy because computers are his specialty.
I am really bummed today because I was all set to go to Valldemossa today and collect some lichens for my project but it is raining! Overall I am happy that it is raining because it doesn't rain very much here and the rain feels cleansing to me. And it helps wash the dog shit off the sidewalks, which is always a plus. I really do need to get outside of the city and see some nature. It has been a while! We haven't been on a hike since before we left for our winter vacation! On Sunday (if the weather is nice) I will be doing some volunteering at a community garden.
Our landlady, Paquita, got us a heater and now it is nice and toasty in our room! Hooray! The moment Evan had it assembled and turned it on it sucked up a piece of lint and shorted out one of the circuits. At that moment I was thinking "Spain, por favor no me jodas asi!" but then Evan took the whole thing apart and was able to fix it. Yay for handymen! The the light burned out in our room and Evan goes to change it and the bulb looks like a strange crack pipe so hopefully someday we will find an equivalent bulb somewhere. Spain, por favor no me jodas asi....
I think now today will consist of watching The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and sending some overdue emails to friends. And then tonight we celebrate our friend Italis' birthday!
Oh yeah, and I am going to run and do some strength training (with water bottles due to limited resources) because I feel horribly out of shape!
As much as I love my MacBook, I don't want to spend a grand on a computer again, so I will probably end up with a PC laptop that costs about half as much. I have always been scared of them because of the amount of viruses they contract but that is where Evan comes in handy because computers are his specialty.
I am really bummed today because I was all set to go to Valldemossa today and collect some lichens for my project but it is raining! Overall I am happy that it is raining because it doesn't rain very much here and the rain feels cleansing to me. And it helps wash the dog shit off the sidewalks, which is always a plus. I really do need to get outside of the city and see some nature. It has been a while! We haven't been on a hike since before we left for our winter vacation! On Sunday (if the weather is nice) I will be doing some volunteering at a community garden.
Our landlady, Paquita, got us a heater and now it is nice and toasty in our room! Hooray! The moment Evan had it assembled and turned it on it sucked up a piece of lint and shorted out one of the circuits. At that moment I was thinking "Spain, por favor no me jodas asi!" but then Evan took the whole thing apart and was able to fix it. Yay for handymen! The the light burned out in our room and Evan goes to change it and the bulb looks like a strange crack pipe so hopefully someday we will find an equivalent bulb somewhere. Spain, por favor no me jodas asi....
I think now today will consist of watching The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and sending some overdue emails to friends. And then tonight we celebrate our friend Italis' birthday!
Oh yeah, and I am going to run and do some strength training (with water bottles due to limited resources) because I feel horribly out of shape!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Rainy Day
It is raining today and will continue to be raining for the rest of the week. I am happy because I like the rain but unhappy because I didn't do laundry before the rain started so now I have to wait until after it is over so my clothes will properly dry.
Last Thursday, Evan and I went to this amazing agricultural fair (largest in Mallorca) and stuffed our faces. You can read about it here. Or, if you don't understand any Spanish, at least look at the amazing pictures that Evan took.
On Friday we went with our friend Lyda to Valldemossa for a spectacularly beautiful hike. If you want to know/see more go for here plants and here for beautiful views. It had rained recently and was absolutely beautiful. That day is also when I found out that there are reruns of Sex and The City on tv here and I am definitely heading to Lyda's one day to hit that up!
Saturday did not see much action, most of my time was spent catching up on blog posts and relaxing. On Sunday I went with Lisa to help with the Es Verger project. The Es Verger project is a small garden outside of Manacor that the volunteer group runs to help pay for some of the costs of the group by selling vegetables. They also have an old run down house that they are trying to fix up to create a nice place to people to work and relax. I don't have any pictures of this place but Lisa took a ton so I am hoping to get them soon. I helped till the soil and pick out rocks and then I worked planting peas, garlic, onions, and leeks. It was a beautiful spot and I hope to go out there the next time they have a work day. The people out there were awesome and it was great talking to them about the environment and gardening techniques. It felt so good to get my hands dirty!
That day was also really successful for me because I was told multiple times how good my Spanish is. I felt like I was able to understand just about everything everybody was saying and I even new some Spanish plant/garden words that other people didn't. That day made me feel like I could definitely be fluent at the end of this program if I keep surrounding myself with Spanish speakers and practicing.
Sunday night we went to a Thanksgiving potluck put on by a couple of the other people in the program. We got to stuff our faces, yet again, on a delicious mix of Spanish and American food. Yay for pumpkin pie and empanadas gallegas.
Today we decided rather spontaneously that we are going to go to Sevilla, in the south of Spain for 6 days for December 5th through 10th. We have that Tuesday and Thursday off for holidays and I requested Wednesday off as well. So we are flying out Monday night with our friends Mary, Naz, and Emily and coming back on Sunday. I don;t work on Fridays so that day wasn't an issue. We don't really have a clearcut plan of what we are doing besides renting a car and driving to Granada at some point during those six days. I am really excited to see another part of Spain and be in a place where they only speak Castellano and not Catalan! This is also an opportunity to scope out places we might want to live if we decide to do the program again. 2 weeks away!
On a sadder note, our awesome roommate Ewa (she's from Polland and speaks excellent Spanish) moved out to go back home for a few months while her airport job is not available. Luckily she will be back in the spring, we just won't be able to live with her again. She also told us (Evan and I) that we could come stay with her in Polland on our winter break if we like! She lives in the very nothern part of Polland on the ocean so it is probably going to be freezing there so we will see what the weather starts looking like come December.
Here is the strange part: in her place a 50 year old woman moved in. This is a house of people under 30. Weird. She is a music teacher and mostly keeps to herself and it very quiet but it has set a rather weird vibe for the apartment. The day before she moved in our roommate Mounir put it perfectly "Mom is coming". Dun dun dun! So far there hasn't been a problem but it has only been 4 days.
So Jordan is coming to live here in Palma for 4 months starting around Febuary! I convinced her to take the spring semester off and come live here and be an English tutor! There is a huge demand and it is a well paid job with flexible hours. She has also been saving up for a while to come visit us anyways. This is going to be really awesome because Jordan is fun to travel with (not to mention that she is my best friend) and we can graduate together from HSU in fall 2012! Our roommate Mounir told us he is moving out in February to go back to Morrocco and finish his PhD so his room will be available! Que buena suerte!
Last Thursday, Evan and I went to this amazing agricultural fair (largest in Mallorca) and stuffed our faces. You can read about it here. Or, if you don't understand any Spanish, at least look at the amazing pictures that Evan took.
On Friday we went with our friend Lyda to Valldemossa for a spectacularly beautiful hike. If you want to know/see more go for here plants and here for beautiful views. It had rained recently and was absolutely beautiful. That day is also when I found out that there are reruns of Sex and The City on tv here and I am definitely heading to Lyda's one day to hit that up!
Saturday did not see much action, most of my time was spent catching up on blog posts and relaxing. On Sunday I went with Lisa to help with the Es Verger project. The Es Verger project is a small garden outside of Manacor that the volunteer group runs to help pay for some of the costs of the group by selling vegetables. They also have an old run down house that they are trying to fix up to create a nice place to people to work and relax. I don't have any pictures of this place but Lisa took a ton so I am hoping to get them soon. I helped till the soil and pick out rocks and then I worked planting peas, garlic, onions, and leeks. It was a beautiful spot and I hope to go out there the next time they have a work day. The people out there were awesome and it was great talking to them about the environment and gardening techniques. It felt so good to get my hands dirty!
That day was also really successful for me because I was told multiple times how good my Spanish is. I felt like I was able to understand just about everything everybody was saying and I even new some Spanish plant/garden words that other people didn't. That day made me feel like I could definitely be fluent at the end of this program if I keep surrounding myself with Spanish speakers and practicing.
Sunday night we went to a Thanksgiving potluck put on by a couple of the other people in the program. We got to stuff our faces, yet again, on a delicious mix of Spanish and American food. Yay for pumpkin pie and empanadas gallegas.
Today we decided rather spontaneously that we are going to go to Sevilla, in the south of Spain for 6 days for December 5th through 10th. We have that Tuesday and Thursday off for holidays and I requested Wednesday off as well. So we are flying out Monday night with our friends Mary, Naz, and Emily and coming back on Sunday. I don;t work on Fridays so that day wasn't an issue. We don't really have a clearcut plan of what we are doing besides renting a car and driving to Granada at some point during those six days. I am really excited to see another part of Spain and be in a place where they only speak Castellano and not Catalan! This is also an opportunity to scope out places we might want to live if we decide to do the program again. 2 weeks away!
On a sadder note, our awesome roommate Ewa (she's from Polland and speaks excellent Spanish) moved out to go back home for a few months while her airport job is not available. Luckily she will be back in the spring, we just won't be able to live with her again. She also told us (Evan and I) that we could come stay with her in Polland on our winter break if we like! She lives in the very nothern part of Polland on the ocean so it is probably going to be freezing there so we will see what the weather starts looking like come December.
Here is the strange part: in her place a 50 year old woman moved in. This is a house of people under 30. Weird. She is a music teacher and mostly keeps to herself and it very quiet but it has set a rather weird vibe for the apartment. The day before she moved in our roommate Mounir put it perfectly "Mom is coming". Dun dun dun! So far there hasn't been a problem but it has only been 4 days.
So Jordan is coming to live here in Palma for 4 months starting around Febuary! I convinced her to take the spring semester off and come live here and be an English tutor! There is a huge demand and it is a well paid job with flexible hours. She has also been saving up for a while to come visit us anyways. This is going to be really awesome because Jordan is fun to travel with (not to mention that she is my best friend) and we can graduate together from HSU in fall 2012! Our roommate Mounir told us he is moving out in February to go back to Morrocco and finish his PhD so his room will be available! Que buena suerte!
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