Saturday we headed off to Turetanueva again- that is where
Antonio's parents have an apartment right next to the beach.
Sunday Adam and I went to church at the little branch in
Montril.
The theme of Sacrament meeting was seminary and institute.
After a sister talked the branch president stood and spoke. He then asked ME "Did you go to seminary/institute?"
Uhhhh.... Me, yes, yes I did.
He then asked me if I would bear my testimony and share my
experience about seminary and institute for 3 minutes.
The invitation caught me off guard- but I happily accepted.
Adam came up with me and interpreted for me.
After church we went to a friends house in the mountains for
a barbecue. The rest of Antonio's family joined us. There was a group of about
13 adults 2 kids and 4 dogs.
They had a pool by the house too! We are and played in the
water and enjoyed the company.
As soon as the kids: candela (10 yrs old) and Jesús (12 yrs
old) found out I was American and that I didn't know very much Spanish they
were fascinated by me! Candela kept staring at me and they both really really
wanted me to play in the pool with them and they were so happy when I changed
into my swimming suit!
Later we all sat around the table and munched on sunflower
seeds. Little Jesús was singing along to the American pop music that was playing on
the radio. But he didn't know the words- so he faked it and sang along anyway!
He asked me if I like music. I told him I do! He loves music! It was obvious!
Olser Jesús (Antonio's brother) asked me to get out my
ukulele and play for them.
Candela and younger Jusús were inthralled! They kept saying
"que chulo!" Which means "how cool!"
And after I would play and sing a song they would say
"Ultra vez! Ultra vez!" Which means Again! Again!"
And adam told me later that while I was playing any time
that someone in the group would talk Candela would shush them... Haha
These kids! I love them!
Plus Abuela was So happy! She was loving the music! I am
really glad I brought my ukulele along with me!
We all headed down the mountain and back home. We convinced
Anto's brother Jesús to stay with us instead of going home to Armilla.
On the way to the apartment we saw that there was a fair
happening! We thought it would be fun to go. We got home and had some dinner
and sat around the living room trying to decide if we actually wanted to go
out- we were all pretty tired.
I stood up and said "ok! Let's go!" And that put
everyone else into motion. We walked over to the fair and were welcomed by a
barrage of colorful bright lights and blaring music.
SO MUCH STIMULATION coming from all sides!
We walked past rides and stopped dead in front of
Tren-Disney
Adam and I stared on- captivated by what we were witnessing.
These are our what-the-heck-is-happening faces:
This ride consisted of a train that went around in a circle,
backdropped by all sorts of cartoon characters, and not only Disney: Peter Pan, some witches, sponge bob, Donald
Duck, Micky mouse, the evil witch from Snow White, etc.
Then there was the crazy bullfighter and the clown.
2 men dressed up in very silly colorful costumes - held in
their hands what appeared to be small brooms - sticks which had large tassels
of straw at the end. (Just in case you don't know what a broom is Haha) They
would use these to whack the train riders on the head as they passed by.
They would also dance around to the music and do done crazy
stunts. Riding on tip of the train and falling down right before they would get
close lined. Standing in front of the train and then spinning out of the way
just before they were run over. All the while
WACK....SMACK....THWACK...BAM!
Hitting the riders as much as they could.
Around and around and around the train went. With crazy loud
music playing. The riders were also pretty crazy. Standing up and trying to
steal the brooms they were getting
Hit with. Some were successful.
At one point the train slowed and the crazy bullfighter
handed out long balloons to all of the riders (the kind you make balloon
animals out of)
Not for anything... Just for them to have a balloon I guess.
Antonio came up to me and said, "What you don't have
this ride in the US?!"
HA! Not a chance! It had law suites written all over it!
Antonio told me that this is a very very popular ride here
and that he LOVED it when he was younger!
Adam and I could have stood there all night! Watching the
train go in circles, the train workers act crazy and the riders and the
audience.
At one point Antonio came up to me and took my chin in his
hand to physically turn my head so I could see fireworks that were very
randomly shooting off in the background of the rides.
I love fireworks!
Even still I had a hard time watching them instead of the
Tren-Disney ride in front of me. I was completely fascinated and enthralled by
it all.
Adam and I had a hard time pulling ourselves away - but I
honk we both figured that we could stop again and watch it more on our way back
out.
2 rides over there was another ride that we had to stop and
stare at for a while.
A circle that was lined with teenagers and it would spins
around and thrash up and down, angle and throw the rides out of their seats and
onto one another's laps and into the middle.
The ride conductor was screaming in Spanish. Loud and
obnoxious. I could not understand a word he was saying but was told that he was
making fun of the riders.
Again liability and lawsuits PLASTERED all over this!
There is NO WAY that it would be allowed in the US.
Adam loves fair rides - so do I! Adam and Jesús on the other
hand do not. Adam asked if I would like to go on a ride with him- the others
were perfectly content to watch.
We got our tickets and got on! The worker came around and
strapped us in... Then we sat there....
And waited....
And waited...
And waited a little longer.
Apparently there needed to be more riders before we went.
After about 10 minutes and more riders that came on the
worker came in and un-strapped us and then made us move to a different chair.
...more adjustments...more waiting... Let's get this ride
goin!
When we finally did move...it was a blast!
The ride went around in a circle and bounced up and down in
random spurts.
My favorite part of the ride was hearing Adam gleefully
laughing next to me... Which made me laugh and enjoy the ride all the more!
It was a good time!
Or course these 2 chickens didn't want to join us...
But Antonio and Jusús found ways to entertain themselves
while Adam and I were on the ride...
sooooooo Many Selfies! for me to love and cherish!
We stopped again and watched the Tren-Disney ride some more
on our way out. HAHA!!
I am really glad we went!
MONDAY
We slept in, hung around the apartment, read our books, and
then later in the afternoon met up with some friends at a beach where we could
bring the dogs!
Buddy was LOVING it! We would throw a frisbee and he would
swim out to get it... He would even dive for rocks. He loves the water!
The only problem with this water is it is sea water... Which
means it is full of salt! Which resulted in some pretty explosive diareah for
buddy. Luckily he got it all out of his system before we got into the car and
went home for the night.
TUESDAY
We went to a new beach that is a little hike away from our
apartment.
Yes we have a beach just down the block from us- but it is
more fun to go beach hopping!
We walked up the road a little further than we needed to
because the sign to the beach trail was missing. But that's ok cause we ended
up walking up to the lighthouse...
I love lighthouses! I saw the light from this one a couple
of nights ago... I thought it was a search light from a party or a festival.
Antonio told me there was a light house on that side of he hill so I was
excited to see it.
We made it to the beach! And had a good time!
WEDNESDAY
The beach hopping continues! I liked this one!
Adam finally decided to swim with us today!
Adam is from Florida and so he has been spoiled with warm
water beaches growing up... And so he has refused to get into the water to
swim. Until today!!
Growing up the beaches that I knew were in northern
California. And usually not in the warmest of months. My dad would challenge the kids to play chicken and see who
would go out the furthest before chickening out and running back to the sand
out of the cold water.
I was reminded of that as Adam got into the water, he was making all kinds of hilarious faces and sounds and I laughed really hard!
When we got home Adam and I took the dogs for a walk and
hiked up a little mountain. There were some pretty spectacular views!
THURSDAY
We went to Almuñecr which is a beach town (very touristy)
that is about 20 minutes drive.
Beautiful beaches, a tower that we climbed to see the views,
a park with ancient roman ruins
We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant and then decided to go
to put our toes into the water. At this point the sun was already setting and
the weather was the perfect temperature.
The water was surprisingly warmer
than we thought it would be. This past week there have been
days where I just just got a little wet and other days that I went all in and
swam in the sea.
The water has not been unbearable - a little chilly on some
days yes, but not bad.
We decides that we wanted to come back the next day so that
we could enjoy this beach and the warmer water.
FRIDAY
We returned to Almuñecr! Got a nice spot on the beach. There
were less people than I had expected, but I think it is cause we arrived to the
beach around prime lunch hour. We had packed our lunch with us in the cooler.
Sadly the water today was colder than it was yesterday. So I
didn’t expect we would be swimming. After being on the beach for a few hours
Adam and I decided to try out the water. Once again it was VERY cold for Adam
and I laughed and laughed at the faces and sounds he was making as he slowly
waded deeper into the sea.
We ended up swimming out to this floating pad in the water.
While we were out there we even saw a Manta-ray in the water! That was really
cool! I have never seen one in the wild like that before.
After the beach we wandered around town for a while. Almuñecr is really pretty! I like it a lot!
SATURDAY
After Spending a week in the sun I guess I got a little complacent
with the sun screen – I got a little bit of a splotchy sun burn on the back of
my legs. Because of this I had a hard time sleeping Friday night and didn’t
feel like doing much Saturday.
We mostly hung out at home. I read a lot. We took the
doggies for a walk and sat on a bench ad watched the waves roll in.
Adams little brother Evan got his mission call and we were
able to skype his family and see when he opened it! He is going to Santa Rosa
California Spanish speaking.
SUNDAY
Adam and I went to church. The members in Montril are so
happy every Sunday to see us and are so very sweet!
After church our friends Sara and Antonio (and another
friend of theirs) came to visit. We went to the beach and there were big waves
today! We stood for a long watching the waves as the waves rolled in.
We had to rush to get their friend to the ferry by 7:30- she
was going to Morocco… after we went home, has dinner, cleaned the apartment and
drove back home to Armilla. We made it home around 1 am ish.
It was a good week at many beaches.
