I arrived at the school for my lesson Monday and aw a package slip for me in the “M” mailbox! I went to the front desk, and they handed me a massive, though fortunately light, package. It was from a dear family friend, Jen, who I’ve known forever through dramatics at NHS. She had sent this poor package weeks ago, but it got stuck in Aduana, Spanish customs. It took some doing to get it unstuck, but here it was! I was so excited. Stinking customs. I walked to choir and then home with this huge package.
I jumped on my bed to open it with my keys, and inside I found perfection. She sent barbecue chips, gum, chapstick (which is great, because I could use some and it is terribly expensive here), Hershey’s minis, really amazing granola bars, my favorite kind of Poptarts, my favorite candy – the York Peppermint Patty, and best of all, 2 boxes of macaroni and cheese! I couldn’t have been more excited and grateful for this box. It was such a kind gesture, and I was truly touched. I broke into the chips, did homework, had dinner, and went to bed.
Tuesday was a full day of class and practicing piano. For Anthropology, we met at the Museum de la Macarena, which is all about the Semana Santa and the material things used in it. Everything was beautiful and striking, and I love the history behind it all. Of course, the whole time I was thinking of how these riches should have been used to feed the poor, but I try to appreciate it for what it is. We had to write a short essay about something we observed in the museum, and I argued the contradiction of so many virgins and saints taking away from the monotheisticity (is that a word?), of Catholicism. I’m such a product of the Reformation.
Afterwards, I walked with Corrie, Carrie, and Janette, and we hung out by the river and had deep life chats. It was really nice to be with some different types of people and not just go right home. That night, we had dinner at the neighbor’s again. We had soup and fish. The fish still had the bones for us to take out, which Brittany has never done before. The neighbor helped her; Gretchen and I knew what we were doing. With it we had red beets with celery and onion. It was supposed to be like a salad, I guess.
When we finished, who came to the door but Carmen! We were so happy to see her and after thanking the neighbors, the 3 of us returned home. Carmen told us about what was going on, and when she told us that Antonio was running a bad fever today, she started to cry. Not knowing what else to do, we hugged her and said that everything would be okay. She is worried because it seems like every day, he has a new problem. We sat at the table and talked for a while to cheer her up before pajama time.
When I got up in the morning, Carmen was busy cooking and cleaning the bathroom. I ate breakfast and she told me instructions for the fridge full of meals for us to heat up and said she’d be home Saturday. I worked on some school stuff and took a shower. After Brittany came home for lunch, I went to school for my piano lesson. However, this time my professor had made an error with the time. We rescheduled for Thursday, and I gratefully accepted the extra practice time. Choir was alright. The rest of the sopranos have started referring to me as “La Cantante,” or, The Singer. I think they’re funny. During rehearsal, though, sometimes the lack of pitch precision drives me so crazy that I write Roman numeral analyses in the pieces to distract myself. I hate Theory, but it is less painful in this case. It’s not that the choir is bad, it’s just very different than what I’m used to. The concept of pitch is different.
I walked home quickly, because that night was mac and cheese night! I was super pumped to cook, and it tasted SO good! We even found the salt and had hotdog tortillas that Carmen had made, for our side dish. We were very silly and had such fun doing simple things like using a strainer and taking first bites. It was definitely a night to remember!
Thursday I had a huge lit exam after my speaking module. I studied very little for it, but I’m fairly certain that it went quite well. Afterwards, I went to eat my bocadillo like always, and there was another package slip in my mailbox! Reception handed me a small Barnes and Noble package. I took it to the study to open. In it was a book entitled, Jesus Calling. It’s a devotional for every day of the year and, according to the message, was from my wonderful friend Katie McCoy. She has the same book and hoped I would get as much out of it as she had. What a wonderful, wonderful surprise! She is such a sweetheart, and I was looking forward to reading the devotions.
I had my piano lesson, dance, and Anthro. Afterwards, I checked my email and found out that my credit card hadn’t worked, and so I still didn’t have a plane ticket for London. Wonderful. After registering for classes and writing a scholarship thank-you letter, I played a little piano, and a lot of girls came over to watch me. It was extremely nerve-wracking, but probably very good for my performance anxiety. Everyone has a little. I walked back to Triana with Carrie, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite people here. She invited me to go out that night, but instead I spent the evening buying my London ticket once and for all, reading, and planning Friday’s spontaneous adventure!
I woke up at 8 this morning, got ready, and packed bread, a tiny can of tuna, an orange, and 2 granola bars. I walked to the San Sebastian Prado bus station to meet Caitlin. Eventually we found the right building and managed to snag the last 2 seats for the 10 o’clock bus to Ronda! We bought the tickets for 24 Euros and found our bus in the nick of time. WE talked the entire 2 hour trip there. Caitlin had no idea what Ronda was, but she is always up for an adventure, and I don’t think I let her down!
When we arrived in the white town of Ronda, which is situated on top of a mountain, we followed the signs to the tourism office where we procured a map of attractions and a museum promotion paper for students. We walked out to the nearest lookout point and enjoyed the unbroken view of Spanish countryside from up high. It was quite incredible. We followed the map to the main attraction and the reason I had wanted to come in the first place. The Puente Nueva (New Bridge), connected our side of the mountain across the drop-off chasm, to the historic side of the city. Looking down, it seemed so unreal, as though it was straight out of a Lord of the Rings film. It was so gorgeous and so cool, but I have to admit, I was a little disappointed in the view. The pictures I’d seen had been from further away. From here, you just really couldn’t get the full effect. That’s when I saw a tiny patch of path out in the gorge on the other side of the mountain. And that, I decided, was where I needed to be.
So we set out across the bridge to find the beginnings of the pathway. We walked down a few beautiful streets and through a small park, which served as another lookout. Eventually we saw stairs going down, and so we went. The path was windy, but the danger signs seemed a bit much. It didn’t take long to get to the spot I had seen from the other side. The bridge opened up before us, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. The bridge is legitimately unreal. It is massive and perfectly crafted. I think I have at least 150 pictures of it. WE were about ready to hike back out to check out some museums, when we saw a continuation of the path. Needless to say, we never did get to the museums. We carefully made our way down the narrow paths. It was slightly terrifying, as bad footing could have literally had us falling to our deaths. Even so, we frolicked, took pictures, and took in the majestic views all around us. It was so far up and so far down.
Finally, we arrived at the bottom of the 400-ft deep gorge and got to touch the base of the bridge. We thought that was the peak of our adventure, but each time we thought that, we discovered a new branch in the network of dangerous walkways. We went down a sketchy staircase, and across a half-collapsed trail underneath the bridge. WE were next to the small waterfall, and there were tunnels of water that ran through the side of the bridge. It was so epic! We came to the other side into the gorge where the side of the mountain has rounded parts and looks like Pandora in the movie Avatar. Looking up from this side, we saw a ladder bolded into the mountain. It didn’t really lead anywhere, but we took turns climbing it anyway. Then we took pictures by a small stone springhouse type thing that has a sketchy ladder straight down into the dark with lots of cobwebs. Then we climbed down the rocks and touched the water. It was so cold! We sat on a flat, dry spot to split my packed lunch.
It was amazing to sit and think of the tunnel in the bridge being used as a torture chamber by both sides during WWII. I read that sometimes, they would toss prisoners out the windows to fall to the rocks below. It’s so morbid and tragic, but also so intriguing. Construction began on the bridge in 1751, and it took 42 years to complete. Over 50 people died while in the process of building it. Isn’t that insane?! I’m sure it won’t help my parents’ nerves knowing that we were climbing around these areas where people had fallen… but… nothing happened!
We started to hike back up, hoping it would take less time than our 2-hour descent. But we took a few pit stops to check out other paths that led to places like a dilapidated stone house on the edge of the cliff, a circular stone bench, and the Arc of Jesus, where we sunbathed on a rocky overhang. We checked out beautiful flowers and avoided bees on our way out to a small tower that appears to be more recent. I wanted to freeze every moment. The sky was clear, and it was sunny, but not hot. Such a perfect day to be alive!
Breathing heavily after finally reaching the mountain top, we decided to return to the modern side of the city to find a nice café with a bathroom. We walked for quite a while trying to avoid the tourist zones so that we could try more traditional Rodenian food. We settled on a restaurant where we ordered Café con Leche and fried shrimp to share. We enjoyed the free bread with olive oil, and were very satisfied with the fluffy-battered shrimp and French fries. I wanted ketchup, but the vinegar served well enough. It wasn’t a very expensive place, and we sat there chatting for quite a while.
Unsure of our actual return tickets, we walked back to the bus station to make sure we didn’t need to do anything else, which apparently we did. The 6 o’clock we had wanted to take was full, so we walked around and played cards on a bench until it was time to board the 7. We went through our pictures and talked the whole way home. At one point, the girl across the aisle interrupted to ask where we were from. We talked to her about our studies, Spain, and all sorts of things. She has studied English for 10 years and spent last summer traveling alone in England. It blew our minds when she told us she was only 17 years old. She seemed so much older! She is certainly one brave girl, and her stories kind of inspired me to try to stop being such a wimp.
We got off and walked home. It was a good walk, even though I felt dead tired. I had worn my boots today, and when I went to cross one of the intersections on the main road in the center, my boot slid, (as the rubber traction had come off during dance class), and I went flying toward the pavement. Nobody else was walking near me, and somehow I managed to swing my leg and arms in a way that threw my weight back upward, and I didn’t fall. I have no idea how that actually happened, and I would love to see a video of it. I think I scared a few people, including myself. Spain has made me into a ninja.
After I showered, I heard a different voice in the living room. It was Carmen! She was in good spirits and made my favorite soup and chicken for dinner. Antonio is to have surgery to remove the blood frokm around his lung on Monday, and if everything goes well, he will do rehab and be home in a week or so! I sure hope his operation is flawless and that he can come home soon. Please send up a few prayers and have a relaxing weekend!
For more pictures, visit my facebook account. There are TONS, and they are GORGEOUS.