I feel like a lot usually happens in between my blog posts, but a some particularly remarkable things happened in these past few days. Including, but not limited to, me voluntarily going for a run...but I'll get to that later.
I had a pretty relaxed Saturday because we didn't end up going to the ranch in the mountains (but we will most likely be going in October and if I understood correctly it's also a tomato farm... so we are going to learn how to can tomatoes for the winter, Gloria (my host mom) said this is a very traditional thing to do). But also on Saturday was the celebration of Granada's patron saint the Virgen Angustias. To celebrate they have this huge flower market open and a big mass service and then at the end of the day put up a bunch of flowers all over the church to celebrate. I went and observed a lot of the ceremony and it was pretty cool! Since there were only two of us eating lunch my host mom made cheese fondu so we had that with bread out on the balcony and I'm pretty sure we were both feeling very spanish.
Then Sunday two very unusual things happened. As aforementioned, I decided I didn't want all the ice cream to start building up so went for a run. According to this book with stuff to do/see in Andalusia, there is a giant rastro (flea market) in Granada, so I decided I would run there and back since the supposed location was a decent distance and in an area across the river that I hadn't really explored yet. I used google maps to find a really easy route and was all set and ready to go. Keep in mind that I honestly don't remember the last time I went for a run... and I kind of felt like I had forgotten how to, stemmed by the fact that I almost grabbed a snack for part way through but then remembered that is not something you do. Anyway, it was really good for like the first 10 minutes and then I hit a roundabout and realized that I had no idea which part of the circle to get off on and didn't remember the name of the plaza I was headed too or any of the surrounding street names. I searched on for a bit but then gave when I felt like I was dying and went back. Now on the way back, I chose a slightly different route, that I had previously avoided because there were more people around but this time jumped at the chance because more people translates to more chances to walk without feeling guilty. And where should I end up but right in the middle of the rastro. I think anyway...it was definitely not where it was supposed to be though and also not very exciting, so maybe there are two sunday flea markets in Granada.
Anyway, the next odd Sunday event occurred later that night. It was about 9:30 and Liz and I were kind of wondering where Gloria and Rafael were and when we would be eating, when they enter the house with two 16 and 17 year old Italian guys who are staying in the extra room here for a week. They definitely didn't tell us this was going to happen, but hey, we aren't complaining.
Monday I had another flute lesson with the same teacher as before, and she was really funny so that was enjoyable. When she walked in she asked for a glass of water so I gave her one but apologized because there were only small glasses clean, and in the whole hour she drank less than half of it. Not that this would normally be of note, but I found it funny anyway.
Then today I went on the mountain biking excursion that I signed up for and it was awesome! This was without a doubt the best possible day it could have been because it has been slightly overcast today and the coolest in temperature! There were only 4 of us going and then the guide, which actually worked out nicely. One of the girls runs marathons, so needless to say she lead the group. The guide said he was really surprised by how fast we were going, but what he meant was how fast she was going... Anyway, the first 1.5 hours was entirely going up. Not going to lie, I felt like I was going to die pretty much the entire time. I ate an embarrassingly large amount of milano type chocolate cookies yesterday (too much to even say here... that's how bad) and I was really feeling/regretting that. Halfway up the mountain I'm pretty sure I had a wake up call and realized I really need to get back into shape... We reached the top and had a beautiful view (despite it being overcast) and then partway down had an arial view of the Alhambra! After we got past the rocky/rooty mountain part of the descent, we were flying down the roads, and got back in probably a quarter of the time the climb took. At the end, our guide was like "okay, now I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, you guys get a CLM-Deportes (sports) t-shirt!" I'm still pretty stoked about the t-shirt. "And the bad news is, you are not going to have much fun sitting down tomorrow." So I decided to write this post now while I'm still in that "yeah I feel awesome" mode.
Now for a brief Luna/Donna Flor update. I think it was Saturday, but regardless, I have never seen anything like this. Luna was at the table begging as usual, so Gloria gave her some of the cheese fondu but she then decided she was too good/didn't want it. Meanwhile, the turtle comes over to see what's going on. What occurred next reminded me so much of the tortoise and the hare, except that Tortuga was booking it. I have never seen or heard of a turtle running so fast... and chasing a cat nonetheless! They spent a good five minutes running around and then chasing each other in circles. Immediately after, Donna Flor went to sleep and Luna resumed her futile begging. It was like in one of those stories where as soon as the animals realize they are being watched by humans, they go back to acting like animals and stop whatever crazy unrealistic thing they were doing before.
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