I just ate this....

Arroz Negro (translation: Black Rice)
It is rice with calamari. What makes it black you ask? It is cooked in the squid's ink. This dish would be among those that I like.

Here on the northern coast of Spain I eat a lot of seafood. Some of it is good, some tolerable and some un-swallowable...I hate to be that picky girl, so I have eaten a lot of food I wasn't really into: anchovies, weird pickled asparagus with mayonnaise, all types of mollusks and cephalopods, blood sausage, cooked red pepper drenched in oil, duck, cow, pig....I am turning more and more vegetarian.

It could be that I just miss vegetables. I only ever eat potatoes, carrots (cooked), hard cooked peas (Aaron remember these from Uruguay) and the typical salad that they have with every meal which consists of lettuce, tomato and onion drenched in oil and vinegar.

Or it could be that I tire from the incessant cutting, blood, chewing, fat, blood, cutting, chewing and chewing, blood, fat, chewing &c. gross.

Anyway. I miss good food. Truth be told, I end up eating a lot of ice cream. You can't go wrong with ice cream.

Oh, this letter!!! Oh, this book!!!----sigh-----I love them both

Miss A.E.
I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own, than when you almost broke it eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone I think and plan--Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes?--I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feeling, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice, when they would be lost on others. --Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be fervent, most undeviating in F.W.

Do you know where this is from? Who else is in love with this book? I thought I had read it already, but while reading realized maybe I had just seen the movie a lot! I can't remember. But anyhow, now it stays in my mind as a wonderful study and commentary on relationships and personalities. The characters are developed so perfectly, the plot so entertaining and the theme so personally engaging!
I must share this quote from the back cover, "the poet Tennyson, visiting historic Lyme Regis, where a pivotal scene occurs, exclaimed: "Don't talk to me of the Duke of Monmouth. Show me the exact spot where Louisa Musgrove fell!"

Last week I started to read said book on the metro. My previous book I tossed in the trash because that is exactly what it was. I kept thinking it would get better but being half-way through with no desire to continue I threw it out. I was very overcome with the author's immoral, selfish,worthless and hopeless outlook on life. I was charmed by the movie "Everything Is Illuminated" (it is not as vulgar and crude as the book) but would admonish anyone with principles to not read that book. Tangents aside..."Persuasion" by Jane Austen made me trust authors again. Life is about so much more than was "illuminated" in that other book. And I am so happy to love again.

next spanish excursion...

Yesterday as Maite and I were walking home from playing at the beach, this guy started to talk to us. He was nice and walked with us for a while. He is probably about my age and in the course of the conversation he found out that I have the afternoons free and go around the Gorliz area hiking and exploring by myself. We were talking about all the beautiful towns and wonderful nature in northern Spain and he offered to accompany me next week to this town called Barrika where you can hike down around these amazing cliffs to a beach. So I got his number and am going to call him and meet him at the bus station on Tuesday to go to Barrika. In the meantime, I have found my next destination. This is Bermeo, Spain.
It is only 18 miles away, so I can easily take the bus there one afternoon and take some pictures of my own. This picture is surreal. Anyway, maybe Juan Carlos will want to come with me there too. I love having a friend. Cross your fingers!

saint malo, france, august 15th...

Bowerbirds are playing here:
I really want to go!!! sooooooo hard!!!

I feel like watching a Harry Potter movie...

or ALL of them for that matter.

sin fotos...

Today I had the chance to go around Bilbao shopping and to museums. Finally! It was so fun!!! The first thing I did this morning was go to the Guggenheim. I have been wanting to go through. Unfortunately, when I got there and pulled out my camera to start the photo magic, I noticed the red battery light flashing and then, it gave up and said I had to change my battery pack....so, no pictures. Today.
After going through the Gugg, I came to the conclusion that the best art there is the building itself. Truthfully I didn't like most of the art in there. I found myself just passing by everything....
The heart of Bilbao--Casco Viejo
Then I headed over to the 'Old Quarter' or 'Casco Viejo' as it is called here. The streets are narrow, no cars allowed.
I stood right there today, luckily someone else already took this picture for me!
I was looking for this store called Union Recycling that is a 2nd hand shop. But, I found out that during the summer, stores close early on Saturday afternoon, so I will head back there some other day. Also I found out that by that store, if I wanted I could also become a hippie/Bob Marley follower. It was the funniest street, I kind of felt out of place because I wasn't wearing tye-dye and I didn't have dreads.
In Casco Viejo I went to the Basque Museum. That was very interesting to learn about the culture that is so prominent here in Northern Spain. It is such an old and intriguing history....that dates back to the Neanderthals!!!
All in all, 6 hours of walking and I am tired. Time to charge up. my ipod, my camara and my body.

oh, metro signs...

TOP: Don't pry open the doors.
MIDDLE: Don't walk through the door if the alarm is going off
BOTTOM: You are not allowed to sit in a seat if there is a triple Siamese twin who comes in.

the sabbath.

Directions: open This Page in another window and press play, then read my post.
I went to church in Bilbao today and this has been my theme song for my Spanish adventure so far. Every time I walk through the cities and countryside I turn on this for my soundtrack. It's just too bad I didn't have my ipod when I got lost trying to find the ward in Bilbao and was 'walking the old eroded streets'
Luckily, I made it just in time for sacrament meeting. I met the Branch President. He is this wonderful man from Colombia. They have a class for single adults and I already made some friends. After church, I took a little walk around the Guggenheim.
That thing is amazing. Bilbao is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been in. I contemplate never leaving...
Then I found out the Metro/subway was closed to get back to Gorliz. I still don't know why. It is a 45 min Metro ride, so walking was out of the question. Then I saw two girls from church by the Metro station and they helped me find a bus that would take me half way and then I would have to change buses to make it the rest of the way.
Many nice people helped me out along the way. This older lady that sat next to me on the first bus even called one of her friends on her cell phone to see when the buses to Gorliz pass by and where I should get off.
Now, at home finally, I will rest, like the sabbath requires.

Aaron, Guess what this smelled like????

if you guessed Uruguay, you are right!

yo vivo aqui!

a bridge in Plentzia, Spain. This river runs in from the bay of Gorliz



Gorliz, Spain. taken from a hill in Plentzia, Spain


Jone was tired of riding her scooter, so I took a turn and she took a picture


Josu and Maite walked a little slower than Jone and I


this is Jone and I. She is the older of the two girls that I tend. This is the best vacation ever!

not having a cell phone is weird....

Attention everyone: I am in Gorliz, Spain. Luckily we were able to set up wireless in the house of the family where I am staying, so I will be able to blog a lot! I am an au pair, if you did not know. I just met the family when I arrived here yesterday. They are very nice and this area is sooooo beautiful. I wasn't nervous at all to go across the world and stay with people I did not know, until a few seconds before exiting the plane, when I realized I could not remember what the dad looked like who was coming to pick me up....AH. When I walked out of the salida, I saw a man and woman and waved, thinking it was them, but they just ignored me, so I looked around and saw another man with a little girl who looked very familiar and that was them and they recognized me right away.

We had a 3.5 hour car ride back to Gorliz from Madrid and it was fun to conocer the country side to Basque country. In Basque country, the capital being Bilbao, they speak two languages, Spanish (Castellano) and Basque. Basque sounds really similar, but is written so differently. Quite a few times, I hear people speaking, think it is Spanish, can't understand AT ALL what they are saying, and finally realize that they are speaking Basque.

The weather is a lot like San Francisco and other coastal parts of Northern California. We live really close to the beach and go down to a plaza right near the beach a lot. It is humid, but not too hot, so it's ok!
Their house is so beautiful! I have my own bedroom and bathroom. There are no closets here, just big built-in cupboards/armoires. I think I love that. Also, did I mention that I love bidets? and also Spain. I love it.

ps: pictures coming soon.