Anyway, a lot has happened since last time! A lot more class, obviously. We had our first test on Thursday. I don't feel like it was too bad, but sometimes you just have to wait to see how things turned out. But, overall I'd say class is pretty good. There's only two weeks left, so it's hard to say how much I'll actually improve in such a short time from now, but I do believe in miracles!
I've been to three museums in Oviedo. I went to the archaeological museum, and then the art museum, and the religious museum in the cathedral. It's amazing to me how much culture there is in just this little city. All three museums were pretty decent. I mean, not like Madrid or New York, but I'd say impressive. It's so interesting to me to see the history of Asturias and Spain compared to the history I'm used to.
We went on another excursion to Covadonga. It's this cool Asturian village located up in the mountains. The basilica there is a sight in itself, and then you add in the natural landscape. There's this fountain there that brings marriage to those who drink from all seven spouts. Covadonga also has a cave with a church built into it. I'd say it's definitely one of the coolest churches I've ever seen!
We took a pretty windy bus ride up to Los Dos Lagos even further up the mountain. It got so foggy so we could barely even see the path as we walked. The fog pretty much obscured the lakes themselves as well, but I think it made it a very interesting experience, actually. It was nice to just sit and look at the edge of the lake.
After Covadonga we continued on to Ribadesella. I was way excited because they told us about these huge caves in the cities that had stalactites and cave drawings, but of course it was closed. Even if it had been open, it was probably more than I would have been willing to pay anyway. Instead, we walked over to the beach, which was a really huge, cool one. But, the weather and I were both unprepared for beach. After that, we took a hike up to the little church overlooking the city with awesome views.
The day after that I went to the branch in Oviedo with a few other people from the group. It was such an awesome experience to see how it was so similar yet different in so many ways. Even though I had to get up fairly early to make it there, it really was a nice refresher for me. After church I went to the street market to get some of my shopping done, and then later that night went to Mass in the Cathedral. I definitely understood very little from Mass because the echo definitely does not improve my comprehension, but it was definitely an awesome experience too!
So then Tuesday after school we met up to hike up Naranco to see the Cristo statue that looks over the city of Oviedo. It was definitely a harder hike at the start than I am in shape for, but it was good for me. That just means I need to go hiking more at home! But, it was definitely rewarding when I finally made it to the top! I'll have to go again one day before I leave!!
Okay, so now for the good stuff. This weekend was our free weekend with nothing on Friday or Saturday. So a lot of people went to Barcelona or San Sebastian, but I decided it would be most cost-effective to stay here in Oviedo and just take a few day trips. So Friday I went to Llanes with Ryan and Danielle. We were fortunate enough to be able to get tickets for the bus because all of the routes are super limited thanks to the strike (which is thankfully over now). So we get there at around 10:00 and decide to get back to the bus station at 8:15 so we can be like an hour early just in case. As the bus arrives, the driver announces that for anyone continuing on there would be a 20 minute break before the bus left Llanes, which made for a long bathroom line. Anyway, we had like 10 hours to go explore the city. It's pretty small, but we still managed to get lost going up to this church up on a hill that we saw from the beach. It's all part of the adventure. So we continued on to the most beautiful beach we've been to so far. I actually went swimming this time since I found my bathing suit and a towel. After a couple hours there, we went and got some ice cream then walked over to see the other beach, and then got to the bus station almost exactly at 8:15. A bus showed up at around 8:50, and the guy at the restaurant came and asked which one we were waiting for. We told him we were going to Oviedo, and he said it wasn't running. We freaked out a little bit, but when we told him we already had tickets, he went out to check and it was the right route. Since it was over 20 minutes before we were supposed to leave, we figured they were stopping in Llanes for a break again, so Danielle said she wanted to go to the bathroom before getting on. Well, just after she gets in the bathroom, I see a bus drive by outside. Seeing as there was only one bus running, I ran outside and sure enough our bus was gone. I was freaking out. Pulled out the ticket and sure enough it said 8:45. I couldn't believe how stupid we were to not even check the time! We talked to the security guard, then the restaurant guy, then back again. We though we were going to have to pay for a freaking expensive cab. After they saw how much we were stressing, they asked to see our tickets, and were like this is for the morning. Completely forgot that the morning ticket was attached on top, covering the return one. So it was really 9:15, there just happened to be two buses that ended up running that night. So we sat outside and waited. It was almost 20 minutes late, so I got even more frightened, but we got home okay. Definitely gave me a scare, but as long as I'm home, right?
I think I've gone on long enough for this post. I'll try to get another in the next few days and I'll add in today and yesterday. Hasta luego!
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