Thanksgiving and Excursion

Thanksgiving was too much fun. First, an expensive dinner of paella with our visiting Guilford professors, which was so nice it made me nervous just sitting in the restuarant. That, and Gabe and I were under a microscope the entire time, having to talk about every aspect of our experience here so they´ll know how they can improve it next time around. Gabe and I came home around 12 a.m., walked into the houses and were pelted by about 20 flying tennis balls. A battle ensued. Most of the house was awake and we ended up moving the party downstairs, sound system and all. At one point the girls felt like dressing up all the guys, so it turned into a costume party (that would be Gabe on the left). It all died down by about 7 a.m.

On Sunday Gabe and I had our last of three excursions, going with Mercedes (the woman who accompanied me during my operation) and her boyfriend. We went north of Madrid to a bunch of tiny towns in the mountains where it was already beginning to snow, amazing rocky landscapes and old roman stone roads. We wanted to reach Ávila be night, an ancient walled city that because of elevation is the coldest in Spain. Halfway there we stopped to tour an underground stalagmite and stalactite cave, which was HUGE and beautiful and eerie. The picture doesn´t do it justice, but you can see the little walkway toward the bottom left and can imagine the dimensions. More or less the size of a cathedral. I got sick as a dog riding in those mountains with a Spaniard driving who didn´t quite understand what it meant to be carsick. At one point on the highway to Ávila we hit 120 mph. And in the curvy, snow-covered mountain roads we weren´t going much slower. We almost hit a goat.

The city of Ávila was my least favorite part of the trip -- it was beautiful and walled, like they said it would be, but also cold and snowy and everything was closed by the time we got there. But the mountains around it were incredible to see and smell. And taste, actually -- there were natural springs all over the place with fresh mountain water. I think it may be one of the most gorgeous places I´ve ever seen.

Going to France on Thursday, coming back to Spain December 11th. I may or may not get a chance to blog there. Then back to N.C. on the 18th!