More pictures than you even want to see...

If you're one to be daunted by many words, this is going to be a good post for you.  I'm going to try and let my pictures do most of the talking.

My host mom, Conchi, and myself.  This was a yummy meal: Cauliflower in bechamel, which is like a creamy, almost cheesy mixture.  I never noticed how tiny Conchi is before... her big personality certainly makes up for her lack in stature.

A few weeks ago, we this huge storm system came through and caused HUGE waves.  This whole area was blocked off from the public, and, as you can see, with good reason!  Kelsey, Jesika and I braved the pouring rain and the cold to see the waves first-hand.  Conchi thought we were out of our minds.

The weekend of the 12th, we took an excursion with the whole group... so of course we had to go out Thursday night in Santander before we left.  I put this picture for two reasons:  First of all, the one on the right was so cute! And second of all, the kiss on the cheek...  The Spanish boys sure do love their kisses!

The night before, on Wednesday, we went to Beerway Station to watch a Real Madrid game on TV.  The guy is a friend that Jesika had made when she went to Beerway Station the first time to watch Real Madrid, Manuel.

Like I said, we went out the Thursday night before the excursion.  We went to "El Local" to hang out before going to the bars.  This is Juan, Manuel, and Rafael. 

Happy Ashley!  There is nothing she loves more than soft bread and a good bottle of wine!

  (Side note: House wine is the typical drink served in restaurants... and you don't pay by the bottle.  If you don't finish it, that's okay... if you need more, that's okay too.)

Segovia.  Me loving the aqueduct!

Segovia.  The aqueduct again, which was built by the Romans two thousand years ago!

Segovia.  Yes, these pigs were real.  Some of the girls were not having it.

Segovia.  Jesika and I taking pictures with a statue of a famous poet in the Main Plaza.

Countryside, northern Spain.

Holy Toledo!  Our witty guide took us to a viewpoint outside of the city before the city tour.  From left to right: me, Jesika, Marissa, Christine, Kelsey, Lilia, Mollie, Genesis, Ashley

 A funny side story about our guide in Toledo:  Ashley had been chatting it up with our guide, who had agreed to give our tours in "Spanglish," most of the morning.  While we were meandering around a cloister, she approached him and asked him, "Te gusta el seso?" which means "Do you like brain?"  (Because yes, brain is eaten here.)  The guide's face fell deathly serious.  The question he had heard was "Te gusta sexo?" which means "Do you like sex?"  Whoops.  After the confusion was aired out, we all had a good laugh.

Toledo.  The wide panorama shot shows how the river circles the city.

Toledo.  I thought this was a beautiful cloister, with the arquitecture and the greenery.  Plus, look at the blue spruce! =)

Toledo.  The Cathedral.  Some of the girls and I paid the entrance fee to see the inside of this building - it was magnificent.  Unfortunately, no photography was allowed.

Lunch in Toledo.  This pisto, or ratatouille, was delicious.  For those of you who are Tri Delts - it tasted almost exactly like the inside of John's vegetarian lasagna... which you know I love!  This was the first plate of the meal - I chose salmon as my second, but should have gotten the quail, which I sampled off of Christine's plate.

Typical Toledo shop.  Lots of armour, LOTS of swords.

Toledo.  The beautiful city decided to give us a beautiful sundown.

Leaving Toledo.

Sunday, we stopped in Burgos for three things: Lunch, the monastery, and the magnificent Cathedral of Burgos.  This is the outside of the monastery, using my wonderful panoramic mode.  Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside.

A beautiful little autumn scene in Burgos.  I had to take a picture, because this is about as much autumn as I've gotten here in Spain.

At last!  La Catedral de Burgos.

La Catedral de Burgos: La Puerta de Sarmental.  Beautiful sculptures including Jesus in the center, ruling, and angels along the arcs, adoring him.

The interior of la Catedral de Burgos.  A sight to behold.  The cimborrio in the heightened circular area shown, which is undoubtedly the most impressive feature of the whole cathedral.  Our guide told us that the height of the cimborrio itself was the same height of the rest of the church, so it basically doubles the height of the catedral overall.

This stained-glass window is the only one that survived the destruction by Napoleon and his armies.

Again, the cimborrio.  It is full of windows, to let light in.  Also, it has over 100 statues carved into it, on both in interior and exterior of the building.

The Golden Staircase.

This is the main retablo, or altar-piece, in the cathedral.

The choir.  Our guide told us (several times) that in Burgos, black walnut is the wood of choice.  The backs of the chairs each had different images sculpted into them, which we were told depicted the life of Jesus.

This is the ceiling of a beautiful chapel - Capilla de los Condestables. (capilla=chapel)  A little background:  In these days (15th, 16th century), people were buried in the churches, not in cemeteries.  While peasants were buried under the church and near the foot of the church, rich and powerful people would build chapels and then have their bodies laid to rest there.  The Cathdral of Burgos has 20 chapels.  This particular chapel is located at the head of the church, and was one of the biggest and most beautiful chapels I've ever seen.

Catedral de Burgos.  Pretty stained-glass windows.

Burgos.  Again with the funky trees.

I told you the Spanish men like to kiss.  This one took me by surprise.  Oh, and his name is Fabio. =)

The fattest pigeon I've ever seen.  He could hardly walk.  Haha!

Plaza de Cañadíos during the day.  I'll miss this place.

Last Tuesday was my friend Christine's 21st birthday, so to celebrate, we went to the best Mexican restaurant in town!  Although it was still a far cry from true Mexican food, we really enjoyed it!

The "Mexican Menu" came with about 8 different courses, which were brought out one by one.

This was the last course, which was chiles rillenos, beans, and rice.  If the beans and rice look different than normal, it's because they were.

The dinner party! (Loving the panorama, again...) Christine, Ashley, Marissa, Lilia, Kelsey, Mollie, Jesika

Happy birthday Christine!

This past weekend, Kelsey and I stumbled upon a bachlor party.  The husband-to-be is the man in the priest costume, and on the right is his future brother-in-law.  They were both really nice guys.  The rest of their party included a few of their peers, and a few men that were surely a generation above them as well.  Did I mention we met them at about 1am on a Saturday night?

So Spanish.  Note the sweater.

At the end of the night, we ran into some guys that said they'd seen us at "El Local," their hangout, although we hadn't gotten to know them.  They were really nice.  We chatted it up for a while and then the one in the middle walked Kelsey home.

This has gotta be one of my favorite pictures yet.  These two bald men are the doormen at El Divino, our favorite dance club.  They're always playing the tough man act, carding people (which happens almost nowhere else in Santander) and intimidating people with their huge muscles.  Kelsey and I decided that as our last night in Santander, it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up.  Since it was past closing time, they were getting done with work, and they were more than happy to pose for a picture with us.  And check out the expression on the one on the left!

I had to include this picture, because I don't think I've met a stranger man in my life.  This guy gave me the willies.  He kept dancing all over us, and didn't listen when we said to stop.  At first, we didn't know how to react, as you can see by Kelsey's uncomfortable laughter... we eventually had to leave the club.

We ran into Edu and Adrian, guys we met our first nights out in Santander, at Indian.

Although cute, this guy was a pain in the butt.  We should have known, since we met him at Cambalache.

Whew, are you still with me?

Next week is our last week of classes.  And although I'm anxious to see everyone at home, I don't want to leave yet.  I'd take an extra month in a heartbeat, if it didn't mean missing Christmas.  Fortunately, the girls and I have one more adventure planned for this weekend - we're going to Sevilla and Granada in southern Spain - and we're quite excited.  Our last day of classes is the 2nd, and the 3rd I will say goodbye to Spain and fly to Germany, where I will spend 10 days with my German cousins.

It's starting to look like Christmas here in Conchi's apartment - the tree has been brought out of its box and decorated, and she's been working ceaselessly on figuring out this waterfall/stream she sets up every year on this table in the foray of the house.  Also, Laura helped bring out the nativity scene last weekend, and showed me some of the more interesting characters that I've never seen before, including el cagado, which literally means "the shitter."  And yes, he's squatting, and if you turn him around, well... you can see that he is actually doing his business.  Also, there's a Herodes (King Herod), who is holding a baby upside down (I'm not positive if it's suppoesd to be baby Jesus or not) by the ankle and has a knife in his hand, which symbolizes the he ordered a massacre of all the infants in Bethlehem to try and rid of the Newborn King.  Yikes.

I was telling my mom on the phone that Conchi was decorating for Christmas, and she said, "Haven't you told her that it's not even Thanksgiving yet?"  Hmmm, Mom, let's think about the basis of Thanksgiving again...

I think it has rained at least a little bit every day for the past two or three weeks.  I can hear it coming down outside right now.  If I'm lucky, the rain lets up while I walk to or from school, but sometimes I have to hide out under ledges to let the worst parts pass.  My biological family is in Hawaii right now, and although I'm not supposed to be, I'm definitely jealous!  I have to admit that a few minutes in a tanning bed would feel really good right about now...

Alright, I hope I haven't completely bored you.  I miss you all, hugs and kisses to everyone.  I'm excited to come home and spend the holidays with you!  Oh, and everyone promise to eat an extra serving of turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and berry pie for me this Thursday!

Un besito... ¡Hasta luego!