wow. what a agujero.

This past weekend we got to go on an excursion again with the whole class to Las Medulas, which are these old mines that were taken over by the Romans a long time ago. The drive was a bit long (four hours) but definitely worth it. We got there and had a bit of a snack before venturing around with our guide…who happened to be pregnant and doing some major hiking action none the less! We were all very impressed. The little village was absolutely precious. We started our tour walking around the woods for awhile and our funny geography professor was off in his own little world picking up dirt and branches and examining tress – all the while writing everything down in his little moleskin notebook…I think everyone got a least one picture of him that day, it was pretty funny.
We got to a part of the mines that look like these huuuge red caves blown out of the mountain – absolutely spectacular and the best part was we got to go inside and climb around. Some were very steep and a little dangerous and I’m pretty sure all of us were covering with bright red dust after just about five minutes. We did some more hiking up a hill for 1 km which was a bit strenuous (I think everyone realized how out of shape they were after three months in Spain) but when we reached the top it was something out of a storybook. We could see the bright red rock against the greenery of everything else and it was absolutely gorgeous. Lucky for us, that was our resting spot for some packed lunches as we sat at the edge of the cliff overlooking what seemed like the entire northern part of Spain. The pictures just don’t do it justice. It was nice to have an excursion out of the city and into some of the nature of northern Spain, it’s a real treasure.
Elise, Ian and I recently went to go see the new Pedro Almodovar film, Abrazos Rotos, that doesn’t come out in the states until December. It’s one of Ian’s favorite directors and I must say the filming was pretty good but as far as the plot goes, I thought it was rather anti-climatic and odd. Going to see movies in Spanish without any subtitles is more of a brain workout than anything but it’s getting easier as our time here continues.
This week has been about getting as much done as we can before our two week vacation starts! We’ve got this huge trabajo (paper) to work on that’s due shortly after spring break ends in addition to our regular schoolwork. After all the things are checked off the “Hacer” list, it will be time to hike across Galicia with a few of my friends for six days. When we reach Santiago de Compostela, we’ll be taking a bus to Finisterre which is where they thought the Earth ended before they figured out it was round. I’m looking forward to this trip a lot, although we all know it’ll be really strenuous. Afterwards, we’ll be recuperating a bit at home for Easter and then off to Lisbon, Portugal for the rest of the week. It’s incredible that between all of our vacations this trimester we’ve only got about 14 days left of school! And no one can believe that it’s April first today – this time is flying.