Oops, we did it again

If you know me, you know my name is synonymous with stupidity or if you're one of those people who look at the glass half full maybe you’d say naiveté. It's really a miracle I haven't gotten myself killed in the year I've spent abroad. I certainly put myself in more than enough dangerous situations than was ever necessary when I studied abroad in 2006, from wandering down the tiny, windy alleyways of Tetuan, Morocco alone (not exactly Island Crest Way) to sleeping on the beach in Malaga (in theory this seemed like a great idea until I felt a mans hand in my purse trying to steal my passport). This year has been no different. Our travels never fail to create worthy lifelong stories.

This past weekend our friend and honoree third roommate, Nia, came over to go to the beach with us. Summer has arrived in Huelva and the thermostats read in the high 80's sometimes even into the 90s. Luckily we are only a quick bus ride away from the coast. After spending most my free time, that is, all week at Punta Umbria (nearby beach) we decided to try a different beach a little further away. The gods were clearly not in our favor because the wind blew constantly the entire time we were there. As beautiful as the beach was I just couldn't stand the sand shower the wind was creating. Whoever says sex on the beach is good is clearly lying and or has never done it. After spending a few hours at the local beachside bar we decided to take an earlier bus back home. After waiting for an hour or so we realized the bus wasn’t coming. Nia and Ngoc didn't have saldo (money) on their phones to call anyone and I refused to call any of the men who pester me with coffee date invitations and ask for a ride. It was either being stuck in Mazagon for who knows how long or hitchhike home.


I don't even think in the danger involved in most of the things I do now. I wish I could say I'm fearless but we all know that’s not the case. The way I look at it, we're all gonna die sometime, so might as well go down in an adventure. I sat shivering under the covered bus stop while Nia and Ngoc each took one side of the street with thumb in air. With every passing car our hope of getting a ride back to Huelva looked worse and worse. Finally, after thirty minutes of nothing but the standard rude, quizzical, Spanish stare we decided to just start walking. Ngoc thought making a sign would help whereas I was more of the mindset that taking off some layers of clothes might get a little more attention. Who knows what one worked but a handsome man driving an Audi pulled over and we screamed with joy that we wouldn't be stuck in Mazagon for the night. He was sporting none other than Ngoc's favorite outfit and was looking sharp in his suit. He told us he was late for a wedding in Seville. Please note, we needed to go to Huelva (the OPPOSITE direction). He said, "no pasa nada," and agreed to drive us home. As soon as he picked us up he did a U-turn and told us he needed to go back home to get something. The gun, I thought. Great. As he ran into his house Ngoc got out to snap a picture of me outside the car, I thought it would be a good idea to leave some clues for the police investigation that would follow as they were searching for our missing bodies in the Mediterranean. I remember seeing him come running down his front porch stairs with gym bag in tow. Too many movie scenes flashed in my head of killers with a gym bag slung over their shoulder with ropes, guns, knives, etc....as I wondered what his weapon of choice was I got a glimpse of his face for the first time and thought "you're good looking." Maybe death wouldn't be so bad, after all. I was quickly relieved of any stress because someone so good looking couldn't possibly be a bad guy. Right?

He turned out to be very nice and no harm was done. We arrived safely in Roque Barcia after his front door service and thanked him for his help. Hitchhiking might not be the safest thing around town but life’s too short to always be concerned about safety, just kidding Mom.... we will be taking the loser-cruiser (aka, the bus) from now on.

Besos,
Ally

Life's a Beach

If you have the tendency to sport the little green monster on your shoulder and/or he easily appears after discovering someone else’s good fortune, I caution you now not to continue reading as your jealously will only heightened after hearing about my leisurely lifestyle with jet setting European weekend adventures sprinkled in every so often. Mind you, my weekend is a bit longer than most, as I only work 2 or 3 days a week. Tough first job. I like to ease myself into the real world. I'm thinking of taking a job next year, which requires me to work 20 hours a week. I gasped too when I saw how many hours it was. When I'm not teaching English, which is the majority of the time, I'm working on my tan under the Spanish sun. Some say I get paid to live in paradise. I call it my life. Anyway you look at it; there isn't much to complain about. That is if lack of mental stimulation isn't a problem for you. Max, this job is calling your name.

After spending many a days on some of the most beautiful beaches Mother Nature has to offer, I felt it necessary to share the beauty of my backyard with my faithful followers. Also, it's just a little fun to get back at all those annoying business majors in college who bragged about their jobs out of college with, won't name any names, but big financial firms that are now bankrupt and or firing faster than you can say crisis. So I guess my year abroad on a post-grad scholarship wasn't such a bad idea after all. How's unemployment and living at home with your parents working out for you? Because Rome, Paris and London were great! Also, there is no feeling I like more than walking barefoot along the beach and feeling the sand between your toes as the waves gently crash against your feet. I have never felt sand so soft in my life. I don't know what you're doing in Seattle still reading...see what you're missing out on!

As I've said many times, before coming to Huelva I had no idea what to expect. Rather than be rational or realistic and think of all the challenges and obstacles that would soon face me in a foreign country, I could only picture myself laying on the beach, soaking up the rays of the Costa Del Luz and enjoying a slight breeze from my Latin Lover fan boy with Margarita in hand (Virgin, of course, because such a sweet soul would never dip into the world of alcohol). Let's be more honest, my max limit for a drink is a euro so poolside margaritas are just slightly out of my schoolteacher stipend. If I had known that money stopped growing on trees when I left home I wouldn't have been nearly as anxious to move out. When I arrived to Huelva, there was no beach in sight, no tall, dark, handsome men and worse yet, people didn't even speak Spanish, they spoke Andaluz! What have I gotten myself into I thought? Such simple tasks as grocery shopping were like mini adventures as my rose tinted glasses started to slide down my nose. Let's just say that the naiveté of life abroad is long gone and I no longer have any stereotypes about life in Spain or Spanish culture. Before I just thought they were lazy now I know they're lazy. I'm no longer sporting those rose tinted sunglasses, reality has set in...work is no fun and while money might not buy happiness, poverty certainly doesn't buy it either! Despite the lack of 0's in my Spanish bank account I am truly enjoying this experience for what it is. Paradise. (can you hear me laughing from Huelva?)

While meeting guys didn't prove to be very hard, making true, genuine friendships with, can I say normal people?, proved to be a whole different story. I never could have imagined how lonely living in a foreign country can be at times while enjoying the comforts and comraderity of my friends and life back home in Seattle. I guess you never know what you have until it's gone. I have traveled extensively through the United States of America and seen more than enough Red States to be able to appreciate the beauty of Mercer Island, where I grew up. I already knew that life on Mercer Island was not normal. When the cofounder of Microsoft is your neighbor and million dollar homes line the street, they are just slight clues that maybe you grew up in a skewed version of reality that most the world never experiences. Despite my culture awareness that I thought I had, upon arrival of Huelva, I didn’t know just how much I should appreciate my fortunate upbringing. The world perspective I have gained from traveling through small Spanish pueblos to some of the biggest European cities has changed the way I look at things. Excuse the cliqueness but it's the truth. Things I use to think were life or death, I am going to save myself some embarrassment by not stating such petty issues, now seem like nothing, knowing there are more people on this earth than those that I think about on a daily basis in my little bubble. There have been so many times where I've been sitting in a plaza (so Spanish, I know) doing nothing but just enjoying the company of whomever I'm with and I think to myself "this is such a different world." No one sits in a plaza in America mainly because we don't have them, but that is beside the point because even if we did, people wouldn't "waste" the time to sit down and just enjoy some rest and relaxation time. After living in a small Spanish town I've just now realized how rushed, hurried and frantic most Americans are. I hope to bring the "Spanish stroll" as I call it back home and not be in such a rush.

At first, I didn’t like Huelva at all. No, that's not true. I hated Huelva and thought it had to win first prize for ugliest city in Spain (which it still might) although my impression has improved considerably since our arrival in the end of September. I would even go out on a limb, on a positive day, and say I have a favorable impression of my new home. Although, not so much can be said for my job, or lack there of. I am on a postgraduate scholarship as a cultural assistant in a bi-lingual high school. My only work requirements are to show up 3 days a week for a grand total of 12 hours....I work from 10-2 Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Strenuous schedule, right? While I can't complain from being a workhorse there are times I wish I had more mental stimulation in my day-to-day life. I kid you not, there have been times I have pulled out my GRE or LSAT book (because they're both just SO intriguing that I just can't seem to choose between one or the other) out at a beach side bar and started studying. Best part is, I'm not even going to grad school next year but I still study out of sheer boredom. For all the exaggeration I due this is the frightening truth about the state of my mental boredom. Despite my fortune to have Ms. Math Major Ngoc to help me brush up on my rusty math, its so basic that even she has forgot what y=mx means. Ok, only joking, although we did struggle to answer a question that ay given freshman math student could do in a matter of seconds.

This brings me to the point of this post. Sorry for the Spanish explanation beforehand. What can I say, after living here for 7 months and talking to Spaniards day in and day out I just can't get to the point before going off on every possible tangent beforehand. After having an excessive (too much if you ask me) amount of time with no responsibilities or obligations I have had plenty of time to think and reflect. I realized that I am, like most Americans, very guilty of valuing material possessions over memories. That is to say, in America, or on least Mercer Island, so much emphasis is put on what you look like, what you drive, whom you hang out, what you own, etc and so little on what really matters in your life. Your happiness. It’s all about appearances. After really emerging myself in this pueblo lifestyle where I haven't seen one person toting a ridiculously overpriced handbag or sporting jewelry that is only bought to show off wealth, and the latest designer clothes I really believe the expression is true that "Spaniards live better." Maybe my neighbors in Huelva aren't as rich in terms of money than my neighbors on Mercer Island but there is no doubt in my mind that their life is richer. For example, Spaniards spend hours rather than minutes at lunch enjoying conversation and laughs while American lawyers eat a sandwich on the go and stop for a business lunch wondering how many hours they can bill for it. In Andalucia, it's not abnormal for children to live with their parents into their 30's whereas in America teenagers count the days to their 18 birthday and "freedom." One cannote even compare the difference of value that is put upon family life between the two cultures. I'm embarassed to say I don't even know my nextdoor neighbors names. In Huelva, the neigborhood is like your neighbor. There have been times this year I have sat watching the sunset at Punta Umbria or have been up on the Pier overlooking the ocean without a care in the world and felt ridiculous for sucumbing to the materialistic mindset that is American culture. Their isn't a handbag out their that is worth the memories created on a trip. After living for a year with very little material possessions and no access to dinero to buy anything I’ve truly realized that things don't bring you happiness....it’s moments in life, that can't be bought, which really put a smile on my face. The intangible memories I have from traveling and living here are priceless.


I use to walk by plaza's and see people just sitting and I would think "what are those people doing?" What a waste of time. Plazas are always full of people in Huelva ranging from toddlers to grandparents. While I was always in a hurry to get to my next class or run an errand I never took the time to just sit down a bench and enjoy a conversation. Now that the weather is beautiful, let me repeat BEAUTIFUL, you can't help but spend all day out in the sun. I couldn't be more grateful for this year abroad and all it has taught me. Of course, I feel more independent and confident after fully supporting myself in a foreign country but I also feel like I've gained a different perspective, which will enrich my life. Because in the end, when you die, all you have to take to the grave is your memories. Don't get me wrong, despite my new appreciate for Huelva, I won't be returning, ever again, but I will look back on this year abroad with very, very fond memories.

Besos,
Ally


PS. These are some of my favorite photos from nearby beaches. It's where I spend the majority of my time. Your next thought should be....do I want to look for tickets on expedia or cheaptickets? We always love to have visitors! :)

Nothing to Complain About

As I sit here in this tiny little plaza, that has now become my own park although there isn't much grass... and I think the age limit here is about 4, and everyone else here has brought a kid... maybe I should just borrow someone's kid to make it look like I'm not such a loser sitting here, using my computer (somehow there's internet). However, with the great weather lately, I had to get outside of the piso and so this is where I'm at. There isn't much going on except for children running around, I really hope I don't get pegged by any balls... either way, as I sit here on this BEAUTIFUL day, I thought I should blog about something unrelated to travels.
As we are heading into the homestretch of our Spanish stay, I'm starting to reflect on this experience, think a little of my future, and a lot about home. My life here in Huelva has become quite routine, and pretty much uneventful at times... but then is that any different than my life in Seattle? In college I spent all my time at the library or in E-504 of the Health Science Buildings... my weekends were spent watching movies with my sister or doing something at home. Here many of my weekends are spent traveling to different countries and cities. This is the life... however, obviously I'm missing my family and friends. I'm also missing all the comforts that I took for granted when I was in Seattle. But, it has given me the opportunity to live on my own, discover myself and realize that I am capable of feeding myself, even if my mom is no where in site. Although there have been difficult times, where i asked myself when is June going to come... I don't ever regret coming here. Spain is a great country... and being here has given me the opportunity to travel, surround myself in a language that I love and just be on my own. Who knows when I'll ever have this opportunity again???
Therefore, although we sometimes give Huelva a hard time and make it sound like the worst place in Spain, it's not. Now that the sun has come out, it is very pleasant. Don't get me wrong, I can't see myself turning into a Huelvian or anything like that, but there are nice things about being in this city... the muelle, the small size -- it's easier for me to get around without a car, it's sooo cheap to live here. Although there are many things that could be added to the city... I'm sure many of the people here wouldn't want it to change. They like their city the way it is sooo I guess... whatever floats your boat right???
I guess my point for this blog is to say that with only a few weeks left here in Huelva, I'm attempting to enjoy it although it might just mean going to the park and doing a whole lot of nothing, because once I return back to my real life... there won't be moments to hang out at a plaza and do nothing.... and I'll be begging for a moment like this.
Sending hugs and kisses and some of the sunshine home. Miss you guys!!!!!

Besitos,
Ngoc :)

Where's everyone going?

As the last leg of our trip neared, I began to get tired of driving, and wished the car would just drive itself. From Leon to Santiago was about 4 hours, and that was 4 hours too long in the car. The drive was long a tedious and there the views were not as beautiful. There were no snowy mountains or green hills, and that made the drive seem longer than it really was.
However, as we were driver we noticed backpackers with walking sticks and they looked to be walking. When we saw the first group of walkers, I thought well it's not that bad of a day for a little hike, but then there were more of them down the road. It was a little confusing, I wasn't sure where they were going. The sign "Camino de Santiago" didn't give me any clues because I just assumed that's what the highway was called. So yeah, rather than seeing the beautiful mountains or nice ocean views that we were getting used to... our new views were of groups of travelers either on bikes or walking... to who knows where?
We arrived in Santiago, and lets say that parking was once again an issue... we drove around and around not really knowing where to go. I was forced into doing an illegal move, but that lead us to a nice parking spot. Tiago our host met us in the center and gave us a tour of the city. He is from Brazil (I guess we just have a thing for Brazilian couchsurfers) and studying tourism. He showed us the sites of the town... the beautiful cathedral, the main plaza area and another church. From the outside the cathedral is breathtaking and once again we were not able to capture it on photo. The inside was "regular" sorry to sound uncultured... but I've seen so many cathedrals and I'll tell it like it is... if it's spectacular I'll call it like I see it, but if it's "regular" it's regular, it doesn't take away from the work that was put into it... i guess I just need to stop going to see cathedrals, basilicas or churches.
The park that we walked around in was pretty interesting, it was very serene and green like a park should be unlike those found here in Huelva. It had a great view of the cathedral. However, my favorite part of the city was the plaza were 4 of the most important buildings are found, the cathedral, the government bldg, the university bldg and something else I forgot... sorry Tiago I really was listening. I was just distracted by the group of men in suits singing and playing instruments in the middle of the plaza. He told us they are alumnis and they normally gather around this time to play in the plaza. They were singing, dancing with the people it was really cool. Then we found out they are from a Portugese University and so it was very weird... they must have done the Camino de Santiago also.
Talking about that... Tiago finally enlightened us on why so many people were walking to Santiago. Once again, it showed how very little we knew of the cities in the north. It turns out that the city survives on the people that make pilgrimages to the city every year. I'll spare the history, only because I'm sure I'll get it wrong, however the amazing part is people WALK from other parts of Europe to arrive at this city... let me repeat WALK, and here I am complaining about driving from Leon. People come from all over the world to do this pilgrimage and he himself plans on doing the route from France to Santiago... that's 1 month of walking. That is just incredible. I myself can't imagine doing something like that... but I guess people had to walk before their were cars. Ally and I thought about how we like to just do things because they seem cool... and thought for a split sec maybe we could suck it up and get one of the routes done before we left for Seattle... does arriving by a motorized scooter count?????
Either way, Santiago is a very beautiful city, with lots of culture and history. Unfortunately we didn't have that much time to enjoy it, however, it was nice to be able to see it and learn something new. It was a great city to end our trip. Our last morning we drove to the airport, and it was a rollo to drop off the car, however we managed and went to take our flight back to Madrid and finally the long, LOOOOOONG bus ride back to home sweet Huelva.
All in all, this has been one of my favorite trips, because it was something we have never done before. i still don't see how we managed to not get killed, damage the car, get lost in France... it is truly a miracle. Enjoy the photos.
I promise to attempt to blog more... but don't hold it against me if I don't, my Spanish life is pretty exhausting :) Sending hugs and kisses to everyone back home.

Un abrazo fuerte!
Ngoc :)

convergence and divergence

This year has been full of life lessons learned but none as important as those learned in our stop in Leon. It took two forty-year-old gay guys to tell us what I already knew all along. During a very interesting late night chat with Javier, our couch surfer host, he confirmed all my thoughts about men with his infamous quote...keep reading to find out this novel piece of advice.

Our drive from Santander to Leon was the prettiest stretch of land I've seen in Spain. We enjoyed breathtaking views while winding our way up the mountain-lined road. To our right was the beautiful Bay of Biscay and to our left were snow-capped mountains. Ngoc was embracing the Spanish culture and driving at a leisurely pace of 40 km an hour, this wasn't a problem for me, as I was enjoying taking in the magical surroundings, it only bothered every single person behind us. Lets just say a few fingers were given as Ngoc was tailgated for a continuous hour. I can't imagine why people were passing us, the speed limit was only 80 km/hour. Don't they know Andalucía’s no tienen prisa?? (Aren’t in a hurry)

It was in Leon I made my first fatal mistake in Spain, I trusted a Spaniard, and not just with anything, but also my long blonde hair, which is now a thing of the past. After polishing off a few boxes of Kleenex from the floor of tears I cried I have now accepted the fact I might be considered as a boy with my new short hair. (Ok, slight exaggeration but point is, homegirl cut way too much hair). I don't know what I was smoking (I almost wish I was on something so I would have an excuse for my stupidity) when I decided to walk into a random hairdresser and trust them to cut my hair. What part of a simple trim was not understood, clearly something was lost in translation? Apparently the woman understood, "please chop all my hair off," because that's what happened. But, no pasa nada...it will grow back, by 2015....no big deal. Ngoc wasn't as fortunate with her new style either. However, at least for her she got some new cute bangs. Lesson learned, you just can't trust a Spaniard. You think I would've learned by now but the naiveté prevails.

Apart from the disaster hair ordeal, Leon is another beautiful Spanish city. I don't know what you are still doing sitting in Seattle reading our blog because if you haven't already visited Spain, you are missing out on a country full of beauty. As always, we saw the usual Western European agenda, that is; the cathedral, palace and of course, old historical buildings with importance. However, we made it to Leon without one Mercadona stop, which is beyond impressive and we were determined to find our cheese sandwiches. After an endless search (I won't embarrass myself and say how long we spent walking) we finally found Mercadona hiding behind a gas station. After a weekend without our coke, the sandwiches tasted better than ever. What would a trip be without our 1-euro friends? If only our readers could appreciate the comedy behind this story, because we really do live off of these sandwiches. Try supporting yourself in Spain on 700 euro a month and let me know what your diet consists of. I wonder if living below the poverty line is a resume builder, something unique, no? We watched a nighttime procession in which the klu kluk clan, I mean, a secret brotherhood of Spaniards, marched in front of the church with their patron saint or virgin above them on a float. I'm not even going to attempt to explain this holiday because it's just.....not for me, lets put it that way to avoid the sacrilegious comments I'm itching to make. As Ngoc pointedly said "She wasn't even a virgin," if only she would make that comment to a Spaniard I think a mini war might start.

Now for the infamous Javier quote. After dinner we were having a nice chat with our hosts and apparently they were bored with the theme of the conversation. Chema piped up and said, "let's talk about sex," maybe he just liked Salt n Pepper. Who knows? Any who like every other person in Spain, they asked if we had boyfriends. Obviously not, I replied. I'm in Spain, who am I going to date? A Spaniard? Please! Celibacy sounds like more fun. I explained what all my readers already know, Spanish men just aren't my thing. Of course, this perked their curiosity. It's easy I said, every guy I've been on a date with this year (mind you, too many) has made no attempt to hide his desire to sleep with me right away. Whatever happened to playing hard to get? I said "every guy just wants to sleep with me," which immediately prompted them both to say, "obviously." Men. What can you do with them. Anywho, conversation continued and Ngoc asked for a male opinion about her MIA “boyfriend.” She needed the opinion of males to help with her confusion. Javier cleared up any doubts by stating, “it’s simple, the difference between men and women is, women want to converge and our content to be with just one man whereas men want to diverge and our happier with multiple women." Personally, I’m of a differing opinion. I blame male behavior, aka, repeated acts of stupidity on the y chromosome. Due to the PG-13 rating of this blog I'm unable to post some of the funnier parts of the conversation but trust me when I say it was an animated and informative conversation.

With our newly discovered knowledge we said good-bye to Leon and our hair and set off for our stop in Santiago.

Besos
Ally

Why Doesn't Huelva have one of these?

After getting rested in San Sebastian we headed to our next stop Santander, however we just wanted to make one pit stop at a place called Bilbao. I don't remember much of the driving, all I know is that on the way Ally became sick... it wasn't good. One of the bad things about being together all the time is we pass back and forth the same germs. Two weeks ago I suffered from a bad sinus infection when we were headed to Las Fallas, I felt I was seriously going to die... I almost didn't make it to Valencia. However, we still needed to see Bilbao... because there was something there supposedly really famous called the Guggeheim Museum.
When I think of Guggeheim, I think of the building that is to the left as you're walking towards Drumheller fountain on the UW campus... the building where I spent an awful lot of time for organic chem with the boring professor who used colored pens... grrr the memories. As many people are aware, Ally and I are just not art people or museum people in fact... called us uncultured Americans... but we just don't get art. I guess I can see that something looks nice, but I wouldn't die if I didn't see every museum in a city. Either way we had to see the Guggeheim because supposedly it's sooooo cool... and after seeing it my theory still stands... Ally and I are just not museum people. It didn't change my life, I can't even really remember anything that was in it. The outside was okay, but it didn't make me fall in love or anything... in other words it was a little over rated... if that makes me uncultured... I guess I'll take that.
We didn't get to see any other part of Bilbao because sicky over there looked like she was about to die.. I was worried I'd have to get on the phone to call her mom and tell Marcia that I failed in the whole keeping Ally alive and safe in Spain task. So we quickly went back to the car and continued on our way to Santander. Normally Ally was forced to stay up with me so I didn't fall asleep, but because she wasn't feeling well I didn't hold it against her.
Finally we arrived in Santander, and once again, we knew nothing of this city... although our bank here has the same name... is there a correlation???? We met up with our hosts... a group of Brailizians, who were all really nice. We decided to take a little tour of the city, our hosts told us there were only three main things in Santander: the light house, the palace and the beach... unfortunately they were really far apart from each other. To make things worse, the weather was not the best. However, being the great sight seers that we are we sucked it up and went on our way. As we were walking along the beach we spotted some bikes... which turned out to be FREE to use, so we saw Santander by bike.
This was my favorite city because of the view that we had from the lighthouse... it was incredible... when I was there I felt as if I had no problems, I could sit there forever and just look over at the rocks and the water and I would be content.. it was unbelievable. By far the most serene and beautiful place I've seen in Spain. I wished that was my backyard, so I could always go up to it. Although getting up there was a pain in the neck, but once you were there, you couldn't help but smile and just sit and enjoy the view. Once again the photos can't describe the beautiful of the place, but trust me it was amazing. Of course in such places you will see many couples holding hands, kissing... you know the stuff that makes us gag. Chica and I go to all these beautiful places, and they are sooo romantic and when we turn to look at the person that's next to us... we're like "oh, it's you" as if el Duque or Enrique Iglesias would magically appear next to us... I guess a girl can dream right????
The lighthouse was amazing, we then started the descent to go over to the other side to see the palace... we made a pit stop to get some ice cream... a very necessary food item for us. After this I learned, that Chica isn't a multi-tasker... riding a bike and eating ice cream isn't her thing... we're going to have to work on that... but in that moment I thought to myself... I have no complaints about my life.. becuase how many people are traveling Spain and eating ice cream??? (Ignoring the thousands of other tourists around us).
We didn't spend that much time with our hosts because we were both really tired and they were busy with their own schedule, however they seemed very, very nice. But all in all I would recommend people to go see Santander if only to sit at the top of the hill and look at the lighthouse and for one moment be free of all life's problems... la vida es hermosa everyone!!!!

Besitos,
Ngoc :)

Pamplona...San Sebastian

First off Ngoc, they don't teach you how to read a map in public school so don't hold it against me....and I resent that comment "thinking is hard for me," you know I only have problems with reading the time....get your insults right :) Plus, when you look this good who needs brains...you know you only get one or the other....guess beauty won, can't have it all....god, your gonna miss spending way too much time with me next year!

After Zaragoza we were off to the beautiful San Sebastian but not before stopping in world famous, Pamplona. Even if you don't know a lot about Spain I am sure you have heard of the event "Running with the Bulls," which takes place every July in Pamplona, Spain....but after visiting the city during Semana Santa I think that is the only thing going on in that city all year. The most eventful thing that happened was probably Ngoc's attempt at parallel parking the car in a space big enough for a couple of hummers. No exxaggeration. After a 15 point turn she managed to squeeze our tiny car into the spot. It was a tight squeeze with about six feet of space in the front and back. Despite the frusteration it caused her, I was enjoying the show, laughing on the sidewalk watching her back into the spot at a 90 degree angle. (Ngoc, this is all in good humor). We wondered through the city center for a little and quickly decided there is only one time to visit Pamplona and thats when bulls are running through the streets because not a lot was going on....off to San Sebastian, but not before a verbal lashing from a ninety year old fogie telling Ngoc off for wearing sunglasses....apparently he woke up on the wrong side of the bed...or maybe the wifey lost her mojo a few years back but anyhow he was a mean old man...I left Pamplona just like I entered....laughing out loud.


San Sebastian lived up to its reputation of beauty. Not only were there 2 beaches in the heart of the city center but it was also home to a big, beautiful cathedral. We saw our first Semana Santa procession and excuse the sacreligious comment but after seeing more processions than I ever cared to see, I'm a firm believer that once you have seen one procession you have seen them all. I actually got stuck in the middle of a church servive but after fifteen minutes of Spanish babble I decided to be "that American" and climb over the people for an exit. I loved San Sebastian for the obvious beauty of the city but I think Ngoc loved it because she found an Asian food store. Anyone who knows Ngoc knows how serious she takes her rice noodles so needless to stay that city was a huge success with her. On our first night we took a walk through the city and came across a nice park along the beach. Sitting under the stars with the beach to our right, a lighted palace infront and flower beds surrounding us we both commented on how we are currently "living the life." I never could of imagined I would spend my first year out of college working in Spain and traveling Europe every weekend, but it has turned out to be a great experience--a year of fun, adventure and spontanaety. We didn't know it at the time but our time in San Sebastian was some of our final days with our hair...if we only knew what Leon held in store for us...maybe we wouldn't have stopped there!

Besos
Ally

Oh... this is also a part of Spain??????

So, let's just say that Ally and I didn't quite plan this trip out that well, and to be completely honest, we didn't know anything about the northern part of Spain. We've only heard about beautiful cities, and that it's a lot different from the south, but if asked to name a few cities I don't think we could have passed that test.
We left Barcelona very early in the morning with our car. After getting on the road, Ally and I began to see something we've never seen before in Spain... trees, but these trees had leaves and were GREEN, it was just breathtaking. Then I caught a sight of some mountain things and because we didn't have anything really planned we decided to pull over and it turned out what we had spotted was something quite famous, we knew this due to all the tour buses and people there. It was called Monserrat and a mountain range in Cataluna. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in Spain. These were just regular mountain formations, they were different. We spent a good 4 hours there, hiking and taking in the sights... I'm not going to attempt to describe what I saw because words can not do justice to what we saw... so maybe a photo... but I'm sure you can only enjoy this place if you go there yourself.
After visiting the park area, we headed off to our official first stop of the trip... a city called Zaragoza... have you heard of it???? Well it's only the 5th largest city in Spain and it's the capitol of the Aragon region and if that name sounds familiar... it's because there was some guy named Fernando of Aragon, that's just a little bit about the city. Either way, we arrived into the city... and had no clue what was in they city... attractions we should see...
After driving on the highway my confidence was up and I wasn't that scared to be driving in Spain, however, once I entered Zaragoza... I feared for my life. Let's just say driving in a Spanish city is ridiculous. First off... Zaragozans love their traffic lights, they are a little obsessed... I mean it is necesarry to have one every 5 feet... I mean if it's green, shouldn't it be green for atleast a car's length? Also what is up with Spain putting the street signs on the side of buildings???? Who's idea was that anyways? Some of us can't afford GPS okay, and so we have to rely on the poor's man GPS... a regular paper map. Of course, because I'm the luckiest person in the world... my partner in crime didn't ever have the chance to take a map reading course, so it's not one of her strong points...But Ally's lack of map reading skills aside, how the heck is a person suppose to find a street and turn when they have to take their eyes off the road to look for the road signs???? Spain it's time to move to putting the street signs in the street rather on buildings, it's for the sake of all drivers...
Either way, we managed to survive. We saw something really big and old, and we assumed that it was something of importance. One of the bad things about a car is... parking... yeah we had to find a place to park... and if you think its a pain to park at the UW, think again.... Spain it's almost impossible. But I do have to give props to the Spanish, they are parking machines... I bow down to them in that aspect. Anyways, we found a pretty nice spot in a park... the only problem... i had to parallel. I'm going to say, I'm allergic to parallel parking, after trying really hard, and having people honking at me... I gave up and let Ally take the wheel... she managed to get the car parked. Let's say Ally can't read a map and at times thinking may be a little hard for her, but she can park a car, so that's why i keep her around... (besitos guapa!!!!).
Oh about parking, this fancy car has this system for parking, with sensors and it tells you if your close to something... but it's sooooo annoying.... beep, beep, beep even when I wasn't even close to anything. I'm blaming that horrible display of parking skills on the stupid system because it was making me sooo nervous.
The city of Zaragoza is actually very pretty. The most famous thing there is el Pilar, which was a pretty cool place looked old, and inside it was pretty cool. We saw a Spanish wedding, which was also pretty cool. Their plaza was also a lot bigger than anything in Huelva, but I guess that's not a fair comparasion. Our host was Jorge, a nice and fluent in English Spaniard. He had traveled the world for a year... and let's say our traveling adventures were not on his level. He was very nice to introduce us to his friends, and in the morning we all went for a lighting speed tour of the city. We saw a little fortress thing that reminded me of the Alhambra in Granada... but of course it was definitely not on Alhambra level. We got to walk through their market, saw lots of churches, trees and beautiful flowers. Jorge filled us in on a lot of history about Zaragoza... but unfortunately I can't be asked to recite anything from memory... I was listening at the time.. just it didn't quite stick. However, it was very interesting!!!
All in all, the city was a great way to begin the trip because we actually saw some things and it showed us there are other things outside of Andalucia. We nexted headed off to our next destination San Sebastian.

Ngoc :)

Where's a Personal Driver When You Need One?

Hello everyone... I know I've been MIA for the last month or so... my excuse is... I've been extremely busy with my Spanish life... you know waking up late, having movie marathons, taking 3 walks a day because there's no enough room to talk a walk in our piso. I'm sure you guys understand. However, I'd like to thank Ally for giving me the "honors" of recounting our adventures... maldita... but we all know she's just too lazy to write the blog. But, I will take one for the team, so here it goes.... the adventures of Chica and Ngoc Por el Norte!

To start off... for all those who know me, they know that I'm not a fan of driving, cars and I probably should be the last person to be driving a car. I remember my driver's ed teacher Mr. White telling me, "who the heck would give you a driver's license?" when i told him i passed my driving test... but guess what Mr. White... I have one, and the Spaniards let me rent a car and I drove it across the north of Spain, only managed to hit one garbage can, almost have a head on collision while trying to pass one time, and only did a few illegal manevuors. In my defense that was because Spanish street signs are in a foreign language... that's not my fault I can't read Spanish road signs, that was not in the curiculum at the UW.
Anyways, continuing on, let's start off with the car... let's just say it's not my Honda CRV. It was something called a Citroen Picasso... i should have known we wouldn't get along, I got yelled at in the Picasso museum in Malaga. When the lady said the color was blue.. i was like, cool one of my favorite colors... we walk out to the car and it's not blue... its GLITTERY BLUE, just to draw more attention because we don't do that well enough on our own. It was NOT a small car. Everyone knows I have a thing for bigger cars, with the CRV and everything, but they said that we would get a small car, and this thing was not what I was expecting, either way we get in and I have never been so confused in my life. Nothing was where it was supposed to be... it did not look good when I couldn't figure out how to start the car. Of course the Spanish have to make it difficult for me and make things soooooo fancy I can't comprehend... everyone knows I don't know anything about cars... I only can drive them... barely. Where was Coi when I needed him to walk me through the tough task of getting the car out of park and putting it into drive???? After trying really hard... and using my brain... i couldn't figure it out (cut the brain some slack, it's been on the DL list since I arrived in Spain) Ally called for help and the lady came out to help us. I could see in her eyes, second guessing whether we should have the car or not, but we managed to leave the lot before she could call us back.... and so we were off.
Anyone that has ever driven with me knows.... I'm not a fan of speed and I don't drive fast, and I kinda have a fear for changing lanes on the highway... don't ask me why, I just do... I'm still trying to figure out how to do it correctly... I've been working on it for 6 years, what can I say I'm a slow learner. Either way, when I'm driving in Seattle, on the freeway it's usually 70 mph... when I look at my dashboard and it says 100, I'm freaking out because that's going REALLY fast, I've never gone that fast in my life... there are people behind me tailgating me and looking kinda mad... and then it finally clicks that it's kmph...jaja... i'm not in Seattle, and they drive at 120 kmph on the freeway here... my bad, sorry all spanish drivers I may have flicked off because you were tailgating me... minor misunderstanding.
One good thing about the Spanish roads were that it was easy to understand and we didn't ever get lost... thank Buddha!!! however, I am not down with the roundabout thingies... why there are soooooo many and how they expect us to change our speed from 120 to 80 with only like 10 m between these two speed limits... that I don't understand and there were a few moments where I was not happen with the people that constructed those roads.
Lastly, I have NEVER gotten a speeding ticket in my life and I was sooo concerned about it while driving. I always see these signs that they are controling the area with radars. I spent the whole time trying to figure out where the heck the cameras where, it's usually easy to see in America, but the Spanish are sneaky with their radars... I finally learned where they are today, after my someone pointed it out. I thought maybe they were just scaring people, but yeah can you get a ticket for going to slow??? If so I hope they didn't get me.
Bueno people, this is the first entry of many recounting our trip to the north. The following ones will be more informative about the cities we've visited. Hasta pronto!

Besitos,
ngoc :)

Roadtrip....El Norte!

If you thought we were crazy before, after hearing about our latest adventure your idea of us will not only be cemented but also verified. Ngoc and I have traveled extensively through the south of Spain and pretty much felt like Andalucía natives. We were ready for a change of scenery and had muchas ganas de (aka we really wanted to) see the north of Spain, or commonly referred to as that "other" country in the south. Luckily for us, Spain takes a week off for Easter and since we only work 3 days a week normally, we had a good chunk of time to travel up north. What better way to see it than to rent a car and drive from one side of the country to the other? Sounded like a great idea to us. Of course, we overlooked any problems with renting a car before buying a plane ticket to Barcelona. I would we possible take the time to think of any potential problems that might arise.... such as, how are we going to get access to a rental car? Almost all rental cars in Spain are stick and we don't know how to drive stick, despite the fact my father bought me an old beamer to learn on, I just never got around to it! As if that wasn't a big enough problem. I am sure it would've been easier for us to locate Osama than an automatic car. To make matters more difficult you have to be at least 23 years old. I look 23, right? We all know age is nothing but a number; unfortunately that expression doesn't exactly translate to the woman sitting behind the rental car counter. We decided to take our chances in the Barcelona airport, plead our case and hope they would rent us a car.... and believe it or not, someone was stupid enough to rent us a car. With falsified birthdates and other erroraneous information Ngoc and found ourselves sitting in the front of the car, staring at our rental contract, laughing at the fact that we were about to drive from Barcelona to Santiago (that’s the distance of the ENTIRE country) for those of you less than proficient in world geography. I was a little nervous, not because I doubted our driving skills, but rather those of crazy Spaniards driving. Although we paid a pretty penny for insurance, I don't know if that would’ve help as soon as the insurance company saw we were not of legal age to rent a car...and lied about our birthdates...again, only in Spain would this have worked!



Just so you don't get lost, let me start with a little road map of our travels.... the route was as follows: Barcelona, Zaragoza, National Park, Pamplona, San Sebastian, Bilbao, Santander, Leon, Santiago.... that’s over 1,500 km of driving...surprised Ngoc didn't try and kill me in a car crash after being stuck in the car with me for the that long...she won't admit it but I know she loved every minute of it.... I think I even saw some teardrops when she knew separation was coming on the last leg of our trip. Not before an eight hour bus ride home from Madrid...never again!



Barcelona was just as beautiful this time as our trip there in 2006. We walked up and down "La Rambla" and reminisced about our amazing summer in Spain. Time is flying. Only yesterday I was a sophomore studying abroad and now I'm a college graduate. Still working on that high school diploma. (That’s another story for another time, I was just that good at tennis, still working on that thing people call modesty). I loved wondering through their open-air market, which put Huelva's market to shame...along with everything else in the city. It was a feast for the eyes.... I wanted to buy everything, but then again, I have that sensation every time I walk into any store...guess it comes with the territory of being a shopaholic, blame it on my mom.... wasn’t even six hours old and she had me in out of the hospital bed and in the shopping cart, "buyer in training," sign waving above my little head. Not even joking. Couldn't decide between the name Zipora or Samantha because she was too concerned about if red or pink matched my skin tone better. Now I know why it took them 6 months to come up with a name, my wardrobe clearly had priority. Maybe that’s when my great sense of style was born. (If you're not laughing, clearly you don't know me). While walking down La Rambla it was hard to believe that I was still in Spain. I was reminded that big, cosmopolitan cities do exists in Spain, they just lie outside the borders of pueblo filled Andalucía. Barcelona is such a metropolitan city, kind of like Huelva, the streets are alive with people, shops are full of bustling shoppers and businessman can be seen rushing through downtown. Again, if you failed to see the sarcasm this is a red flag that you have been missing out and not reading our blog, because you would know I live in a city the size of a shoebox with about as much city life as Pullman, Washington. I frequently wonder, what happened to Huelva? It’s like the ugly stepsister that no one wants to claim as his or her own. I swear even the crosswalks our better in Barcelona. Barcelona was our only night we slept in a hostel, thank goodness, because I really didn't fancy sleeping in the car, we weren't about to waste our money on beds every night. Have I ever blogged about how much I love traveling on a budget? Nothing tastes better than bread and cheese for 1 euro, breakfast, lunch and dinner for under 5 euro. If we are in the splurging mood maybe we can buy bottled water for 37 cents rather than searching desperately for a water fountain. Once in a blue moon, maybe stop by a frutereira and pick up some fresh fruit, this of course, only happens when I can't reach the oranges from the trees...let me tell you...5 star hotels and fancy restaurants have nothing on the adventures of Ally and Ngoc. We didn't want to spend too much time in Barcelona since we had already seen the city so we rented our car and off we went....

Have you ever traveled on a whim? By whim, I mean, one day you decide, "Hey, I wana see the North of Spain...lets rent a car and couchsuf..." and that’s the extent of your plan? Well, that’s exactly what Ngoc and I just did. I was literally searching for couches less than 24 hours before the car was calling our name to sleep in. We had no idea how to navigate between cities, much less what there was to see or do, but we had a great time and I spent my best spring break driving along the Spanish coast, admiring the beauty of the ocean and mountains that lined our drive from one end of the country to the other.



Due to the fact that I'm incapable of telling the truth which correlates into gross exaggerations during storytelling, I'm going to give the honors to Ngoc of recounting our travels...you know how our plan came to be and after this latest trip I'm pretty sure we will get hired soon to start writing travel books...Rick Steve’s you better watch out! I have sprinkled some of my favorite photos throughout the blog.

Besos
Ally