Thursday

Another sunny day in Segovia; in the sun it feels like 65-70 decrees and cools down to upper 40s at night. Today I went for a run/walk (there’s a long park along the river, probably the only flat place in Segovia because it’s located in a valley). Then on my way back after chatting with Marita for a bit (she was running as well), I saw a guy kicking the soccer ball around by himself. I started kicking it around with him and later one of his friends came. We had a good time juggling and firing shots at the goalie (one of them had gloves). They didn’t try to slow down the Spanish for me, but I was able to talk with them when they slowed down. It’s not as if they are speaking that fast, but their words are just mumbled. It was a fun though and it’s entertaining to get to know the people here.

Last night I stopped by Francisco’s house on my way home from school (he’s Ted’s tandem partner to practice Spanish/English). He lives pretty close to me and he also goes to IE Universidad (although most people refer to it by its former name Universidad SEK). I had my computer with me and we traded music, I’m starting to get a little sick of techno because it’s mostly what’s on my Ipod shuffle. I met one of his roommates and we hung out and talked. I guess it just makes me glad to finally start to break the Segovia shell; not that Segovians are cold, but they aren’t quite as open to talk to a stranger which makes meeting people tough.

I guess it’s been a while since my last post. Last weekend we went to El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen. El Escorial was a palace crafted in a perfect square built a long time ago that had a lot of history, yada yada, and we got to stand among a bunch of dead kings. The Valley of the Fallen is a monument for the people who died in the civil war and Franco’s (dictator until 1975) is buried there. It’s a bit controversial, but it remains because it’s a piece of their history. It had a very eerie feel inside with angel statues that looked like the dementors from Harry Potter.
This weekend we are going to Toledo (the old capital of Spain) and the weekend after I am planning on going to las Faellas, an annual celebration on Thursday in Valencia and for Friday and Saturday staying on the beach in Gandia (just south of Valencia).

Here’s a picture of my boxers for Segovia to see. Nothing like fresh Segovia breeze dry clothes. It the background you can see the aqueduct. I can also faintly see the castle from my window.
I also release I haven’t put many pictures of myself up so today I thought I’d give you all a special treat and rock the Mohawk. My mom said it was cool and modern looking. You can be the judge. Hasta Luego.