Espana 2007

Okay, so the Festival of San Juan is in celebration of the Summer Solstice and something about Saint Juan...not to sure what because I don´t understand Spainsh that well Anyways, our Satuday began with an excursion just like every other Saturday. Our first stop was a town called Santillana del Mar. There was a Midevial festival going on there and we visited the Museum of Torture. The town was so cute and the outdoor market was amazing. After that town we went to Comillias where Gaudi has a summer house and a palace that he designed. He also did the Cathdral in Barcelona. Next we visited Llanes where we had a picnic on the beach and walked around the city. It was a very long day and it was only about to get longer. A large group of us took the bus to Gijon where there was a huge bonfire and about a million people. Fire works went off as they lit the bonfire and everyone had small fires going all around the beach. We wrote three wishes and one sin on a piece of paper and threw it in our fire. According to the tradition one of the three wishes will come true and the sin will be forgiven. We hung out on the beach all night with all the people and met some really interesting people. Overall it was a very long and very wonderful day. My finals are this week so I will let you know how those turn out. Love you and miss you all!!!

Oh my, I have gotten so behind at this lately! Well I guess I should start with last saturday and the excursion that we went on! We took a very long bus ride to Covadonga where the Virgin Mary helped the Spanish to conquer the Moors. There is a chapel that is built in the mountain above a waterfall and it is so beautiful. There is a cathedral there also and the seven springs fountain. Legend has it that if you drink from all seven fountains you will be married within the year. So we drank from them all to prove it wrong HAHA all the mormon girls were serious and we thought it was funny. Lets hope that doesn´t jinx me right... Anyways we left there and went to where we began our kyaking adventure. The river was so beautiful and peaceful. It was amazing to be traveling down a river in Spain. It was warm, until the end, and we had a nice 4 hour journey. We got caught in yet another rain storm at the end of the river but we made it home okay.
Classes have been going really well but having a day break to go on a weekend vacation was wonderful. This weekend we went to San Sebastián to lay on the beach and visit Olivia. It was so great to be able to see her! The people she is there with seem really fun too. I am so jealous that she has a beach for the whole time though, that is were I would be right now if I was living there. Our hostel was so cute. It was a little bed and breakfast on the top floor of an apartment building. We had a balcony and we were in the perfect location. We ate some tapas and explored the city on bikes one day. the bus ride was a long one but it was worth it and we got to see a lot of the country side and the coast...they call it the green coast for a reason.
Well I will try to get better at this I promise. There is a huge festival this weekend so I will for sure let you know everything about that! Love you all and write to me when you get the chance!
xoxoxo Julia

Well, here is another entry for you all!!! Saturday is the day to be telling you about! First off, I was so late to the bus and everyone had to wait for me becuase my phone had turned off the night before and the time was set wrong. But I made it and we went to go see a 1200 year old monestary in the country It was adorable. Then we went to the beach after that and oh my can I even begin to describe how beautiful it was. And I realized that I had never been to the Atlantic before It was kind of cold but we still managed to get a little sun. Later that night we all met again and took a bus to a resturant a little ways from the city. At this "espicha" we started with some cider (they drink this everywhere) and then they brought out a lot of different appitizer-like items that were so delicious. We had a really great time there listening to Asturias music (bagpipes....ummm) and eating the food. We walked around the town for the rest of the night and met a lot of local people.
Yesterday was the beginning of classes for the second week and we will see how that goes! We are going on a river trip this weekend so I will keep you posted. Threre are some more pictures in my photo gallery!!! Love you all!