Beach Day

Today I woke up bored out of my mind.  My chores were done,  I had no books to read and the weather was perfect.  What a perfect day to explore a new beach.  I coaxed Tad into taking the car to find a new beach my teacher had recommended for me called  Playa Rioja.....or something like that.  We found it and even found some naked hippies on the beach as well.

This interesting beach was a small cove dipped between two cliffs.  The mountain backed straight to it and to even reach it you had to walk under a long tunnel that had a stream of fresh water running down the middle.  I guess the good beaches required a little difficulty to get to.  It was well worth it as we got at least 4 hours of sun tanning in and a little swimming in the cold Mediterranean.  Here are some pictures I'm sure you will enjoy, since my escapades of tanning include only sunscreen application techniques along with a body flipping time schedule.

Dog poop on sidewalks.

Every day I walk to school I look for poop.  Dog poop on the sidewalk here in Spain is as common as an oil stain in a parking lot.  It is so insanely common that it has become a ritual for me to dodge as many poop piles as possible on my daily walks to work and back. You're probably thinking why is there so much crap on the sidewalk?  Good question, I have three theories for this one.

Number one, the lack of grass.  There are so many dogs in this little town of Motril, some with owners some wondering the streets, sniffing and doing their business like all dogs do.  Except here there are  not enough grassy spots for these little scoundrels to relieve themselves on.  Ok, maybe there are a few places, but the important word here is -few. 

Number two, they love there dogs here.   The Spaniards have a leash in one hand and their newspaper in the other. They take their dogs everywhere including the tapa bars if the owners allows it.  Since backyards don't exist, walking their dogs in the city streets is the next best thing.  Living in small apartments without backyards doesn't stop these dog lovers from having a mans best friend.

Number three, it is totally acceptable to let your dog poop on a busy sidewalk and not pick it up. Not kidding! And it's not just on the sidewalks.  It's true, I have found dog poop and pee inside the apartment corridor and even in the elevator.  How do you let your dog do its business in an elevator and not pick it up?  Come on people!  What the hell is wrong with you?  I have seen only one pet waste station here in Motril and every time I pass it, it's empty, no baggies just some gum and cigarette butts inside the little bin. Picking up the poop here is not a priority I suppose.

This poop problem must not bother them.  I can count on both hands how many times I have stepped in a pile of shit here in Spain. Sometimes I get lucky and sometimes the poo is so fresh I wish a power washer would fall out of the sky for me.

I even thought about making a spray paint stencil saying "Clean la Caca!" to tag some walls here and there since tagging is so popular in Spain.  But I didn't.  Should have though!  Clean la Caca campaign might have looked good on my resume, right?

Poop begone doesn't exist but I have lived here long enough to learn how to jump over the multitude of brown sidewalk paint a.k.a. POOP!!!!!!

Time for a change.

Decided to change my blog up a little. Instead of writing long pieces that come every few weeks (sometimes months oops) I will write small passages of everyday life here in Spain.  Don’t worry my longwinded interesting adventures will still be around when they happen.  To many complaints about me not updating this blog has got me into some trouble.  So be prepared for some day-to-day mundane boring stuff, mixed in with some random thoughts and small complaints.  Maybe my writing block has finally passed or maybe I just don’t give a crap anymore as to what I write.  You either like it or you don’t.  But you have to admit my normal mundane stuff is someone else’s crazy.

For example:

1.Went to Sevilla last weekend and almost got myself kicked out of a Discoteca by arguing in Spanglish with the bouncer about not getting my free drink.  Later I find myself stuck in the bathroom of that same Discoteca for 10 minutes until one of the other bouncers had to kick down the door to free me.  Yes I was screaming “ayudame” and my friend heard and went to find help. Not to mention I was standing in urine and avoiding not getting hit by the door when it was kicked in.

2. Went to the beach yesterday and swam in the coldest water ever.  The Mediterranean!!!!!!! Yeah baby!  Ok nothing crazy happened at the beach; I told you this might be a little boring.  Though the last time my friends and I went to the beach we saw this massive jellyfish the size of a small table. We watched from the top of a small cliff looking down into the water.  Of course seeing a white plastic bag in the sea and feeling the seaweed tickle my legs didn’t scare me!  I’m so lying, I was psyching myself out every two minutes. But I managed to pull myself together and do some swimming and boy did I miss the water!

3. Ok so I don’t have a number three.  But I was able to have a lazy Saturday and update my blog for all my friends!  Love you guys!!!

Ireland oh how I love you!!!

Ireland, green as a leprechaun’s ass if a leprechaun’s skin was the shade of emerald moss, yes it really was that green.  Ireland was the closest thing to home since I left Texas.  So that said, Ireland is the Texas of Europe and Cork would be its Austin (live music everywhere). If only I had more than just three days there I might have missed my plane on purpose and found me a shabby little place to stay in just so I wouldn’t have to leave.

Oh yes, I was suckered into loving the accents.  The first night I went out on a pub-crawl with some Americans I met in my hostel.  I sat down and talked to this nice boy who was five years my junior, but I let him talk away just so I could here the lovely Ireland accent.  Sadly my night ended early as I left the pub-crawl to get some rest for the next day’s adventures. 

My short days were filled with meeting people from all over the world and trying my best to stay safe after the whole Paris ordeal.  One night waiting on my new friends to arrive I was sitting on a cold wet bench when out of nowhere a man in a bright green thong device resembling the one Borat is known for came and sat down next to me.  Not knowing if I should be scared, laugh or run away I greeted him with a “hi” that sounded more like a question.  I should have taken a picture but still apprehensive to trust anyone and being alone on a dark street I stood up and started to walk slowly away.  I kept thinking to myself this guy has to be cold, he’s practically naked and here I am in my winter duds with my umbrella on my wrist.  He started laughing and asked me what the matter was as I noticed his friends a few feet away dressed similar in strange costumes laughing at my reaction.  I politely said I don’t feel comfortable sitting next to half naked strangers.  We both laughed as he ran to catch up with his friends.  Again I should have gotten a picture, as this story would be ten times better with some proof.  That or I should have asked him and his friends what party they were attending, that would have been an interesting night.  I guess my bravery had shed a few pounds that night.

My new friends who I was meeting up with were these two lovely English girls I had met on a tour to the Blarney Castle earlier that day.  They were the sweetest things and had really great taste in music, can’t beat that!  On our trip to the Blarney castle we had a little prank pulled on us by the driver of the “Paddy Wagon” the small tour bus we were on.  This really was a wagon of sorts as it was the bumpiest and rickety vehicle I have ever sat in.  I’m not someone to get motion sickness but there was a few times on the (wagon) bus that I found myself getting green in the face.  

It was the end of the day and our tour was almost over.  The girls and me went in the small café to grab some hot chocolate to warm us up.  We saw some of our fellow Paddy Wagon tourists in the café and looked at our clock to see how much time we had left to grab and go, we had only a few minutes.  It didn’t help that the girls couldn’t make up their minds of what they wanted, coffee-tea-cocoa and even worse our waiter was as slow as glaciers melting.  We watched as the other tourists left to get back on the bumpy ride as we waited for our drinks.  Finally we had warm beverages in our hands and looking at the clock we were only five minutes late as we headed outside to get on the bus.  But wait, it wasn’t there where we had just saw it a few minutes ago.  I looked at the time to double check our lateness, again only five minutes.  There is no way they would have left without us, plus we were the loudest on the bus they would eventually realize the quietness and turn around and come to find us, right?  Panic started to slowly creep in as we searched the parking lot frantically going over and over in our head that the possibility of them leaving us behind after only five minutes was ridiculous.   After maybe two minutes of panicking we finally see the Paddy Wagon driving our way as we all let out a huge sigh of relief.

What happened was some of the tourists that saw us in the café told the bus driver we were getting drinks to go.  As we were running a few minutes behind the driver thought it would be a fun joke to hide the bus from us to make it look like they had left us.  Well it worked, it was a small cruel joke but in the end it made our tour that much better. We got on the bus and everyone burst out into laughter and the bus driver mumbled something in his deep Irish accent about running late.   

Oh the Irish!  Jokes, laughs and great, I mean damn good beer. Don’t get me started on the Guiness in Ireland.  Never will Guiness anywhere else taste as good. Ireland was a breath of fresh air.  A place where I could finally speak some English, take in some good food and relax and enjoy the friendly atmosphere.  Will I go back?  You mean when will I go back, not sure but hopefully soon. I had beyond any doubt found a country that I fit in. Thanks Ireland!!!!

Scroll for some pics!!!