Weekend Adventures

This has been a fantastic weekend. I'm going to be honest - I haven't been having the greatest time. I tried to cover it up, but Bryan totally called it. Spain is difficult to get used to. The food isn't very good (I was surprised to find out), and it's really inconvenient to do anything. Plus, I was sick for so long, and unable to really function or enjoy things.

But this weekend my outlook has changed. The food is still bland and uninteresting, but I have been having so much fun anyway!

Yesterday (Saturday), we went to the beach around noon. Someone brought a volleyball, and we played for about an hour. Then we went swimming for awhile. The water is cold, but it was so hot it didn't matter. The water seems saltier than the ocean in California, so you float more. There are waves, but not crushing waves, so it's just really relaxing to float.

After sleeping for awhile on the sand, we went inside. Then we decided to rent bikes and go for a ride. We rode up to a nearby lighthouse. Along the way, we found a really great view of the beach we always go to, and we discovered a private beach. (BTW, all the beaches here have signs that say "No Nudismo," but there are topless women all over the place.)

Once we got up by the lighthouse, we decided to get a beverage and enjoy the view. It's on really high ground (as lighthouses are prone to be), and we could see ocean and cliffs all around us. There was also a little field right by the cafe we were at. In the field there were two large bales of hay. Courtney and Tara (two of my classmates at Whittier, and here) decided to run out into the field and jump on the bales of hay. We were taking pictures and video, and then all of the rest of the people in the cafe became interested. They started taking pictures too, and then two Spanish guys ran out and jumped on the hay too. It looked really fun, and just as I was about to run out and join them, a guy with a tracter drove into the field and made a beeline right for the hay bales. He didn't look to happy. Everyone jumped off, and the tractor guy took the hay somewhere else. It was hilarious.

Then we went out dancing last night. The music in the clubs is mostly techno, and almost all the songs are American songs. It's really fun. Last night there must have been a costume party somewhere, because we saw a ton of people dressed really funny - in striped jail outfits, a chicken suit, a guy in a body suit with a female Baywatch bathing suit on and big stuffed boobs... Craziness.

But today was the most fun. We went to a ropes / obstacle course. There were ladders up into the trees, rope and wooden plank bridges, rope swings, and ziplines. It was so much fun. It took us about 3 hours to do all 5 courses, and we had a blast. I was so tired, and I almost didn't go. I'm so glad that I went. There will be a lot of pictures on facebook soon of the weekend's events (and some other Santander pictures), but in the meantime, here's a video of me on the rope swing.