Relaxation.

So, this is what it is like to sit around with nothing to do? I have experienced this before but it has been several months. Ever since I went down to Honduras I have felt like I had things to do. Although Honduras really cut me off and I was able to slow down my pace of life, there was still grading and planning to do. Not only that, but I also had things to take care of for Spain, as well as my TEFL class. Yes, I took an awesome vacation with Rachel at the end of the school year to Guatamala and Roatan, Honduras but we were traveling a lot, trying to pack as much in as possible over the course of 12 days. I arrived home to the United States at the end of June and within two days I was in a car on my way to Chicago to apply for my student visa for Spain. Now, there were several days while home in the US where I was able to relax and enjoy downtime, but I always had something I had to do or look into later down the road.

Since I arrived in Spain on Monday I've had nothing to do. And its been awesome. My orientation starts Monday night, with my Spanish classes starting the week after that. So life will get busy again. But for now, I've been able to enjoy the fact that one, I am in Spain, and two, I really don't have anything I have to do right now. It feels great.

With that said I imagine it comes to no surprise to you that I haven't done a whole lot the last few days. My body is still getting used to going to bed at what feels like 6 PM (midnight here) and getting up at what feels like 4 AM (10 AM here) so thats taking some getting used to. Along with that the meal schedule--2 o'clock lunch and 9 o'clock dinner--has taken some time, but its been a lot of fun hanging out with my uncle and his wife, and most notably my little cousin, Daniel.

I finally meant Daniel last month when my uncle and his family came to the US for 3-weeks. Being as busy as I was I really didn't get the chance to hang out with him. Now that I am here, in his domain (which is filled with so many toys), I have played with him the majority of my time. From playing Hungry Hungry Hippos, to cards, to Legos to watching cartoons, he is always looking for something to do--he is one curious kid (which is ironic because one of his favorite cartoons is Curious George). And what is awesome is that he speaks almost perfect English. The kid is 5 and completely bilingual. I am jealous. If I can learn enough Spanish and become mostly fluent over the next year I will get my kid speaking Spanish at the earliest possible time. Bilingualism is the future (it is actually the present in Europe, but not the case in the US) and I want to make sure my kids are part of that.

Anyway, its been a blast hanging out with him and his parents. We have made it down to Sotogrande, which is where Valderrama, arguably the best golf course in all of Europe, is located. That was an incredibly wealthy area and we made it down to the yacht club which had some of the largest yachts I've ever seen. I also made it to the beach yesterday and swam in the Mediteranean for the first time. It was basically Lake Michigan with salt (only a midwest boy would say that....)

As the weekend approaches though, I am beginning to think about the large task ahead--learning Spanish...