bombs are bad

They're pretty destructive. And then sometimes they do this other bad thing, in which they don't explode upon landing, and leave the large surrounding area unapproachable. Deadly. Or, if their presence is unknown, they can detonate by the disturbance of someone or something that passes by. Bad, bad, bad. My life is pretty bomb-free these days. But I've just read/looked at a fantastic photo-essay about bomb clean-up in Uganda. The photos are spectacular, and the story chilling, but not hopeless. I invite you to check it out: http://glimpse.org/stories/view/the-clean-up-crew-bomb-disposal-in-the-wake-of-war/

It makes me ask myself... what am I doing here? Spoiled little me, enjoying the evening breeze coming in my window in my safe, clean, warm (er, during the summer anyway) flat. Spending weekends on the beach playing ultimate.

...

Granada, te quiero

So, I've been here for about eight months, now. Every time I travel somewhere else, I come back to Granada and give a little contented sigh. *oh, the Sierra Nevadas...* I like that Granada is small enough that I see people I know on the streets, in the park, in a bar, at the library... I like that Granada is big enough that I can go salsa dancing, see Flamenco shows, meet people from all over the world. I don't like that Granada does not have very many green spaces. But I love that I can go 20 minutes out of the city and be climbing on limestone, high above the olive groves, watching mountain goats elegantly sprinting down rock faces, and the ever-present Sierra Nevadas as the backdrop, still snow-covered and ski-able in early May. (Though the temperature today in the city was about eighty degrees farenheit.)

The thought of leaving, picking up somewhere new, finding a job, finding a house, making new friends again was exhausting to me. And sad. I've loved my time here. I'm not done here... So I applied to do my same job again. And got it! So its off to home (New Mexico) for the summer, to do lots of projects with dad, translate a book, do odd jobs for a rancher friend, take an EMT course (???), visit friends and family in CO, and do the same in Ohio and IN. Then I'll come back to my dear Granada, find a new flat (one with a balcony, please!) and head back to my little school to see if a second year can get any of those kids past the present simple and "hhwut eees juur nayme?" Oh and I'll probably climb more and go to more ultimate tournaments. And maybe with the team from Granada we are finally getting together. :) And if I can possibly work out the scheduling problem I will apply for the Masters program here in either translating or Spanish. And go into yet more debt, woohoo! But a masters from the University of Granada would be pretty handy to have, I would say.

So thats the news from Iberia, friends. Enjoy your Sunday and hug your mother if she's anywhere near.

un par de fotos

Girona. cathedral. beautiful sky.

Girona. River. Cloudier sky, but nice lighting in general.

Venice. Leaning tower framed in bridge railings.

Venice. Fruit, anyone?

I am spoiled

So I haven't updated in a while. The last three weekends have been spent in ultimate tourneys and a "convention/practise." First Madrid, mostly Spanish teams. Then a weekend in Santander to meet with my team and practise together once before our tournament. We are all United Statesians living in Spain (various parts) put together by an ulitmate player who has been living in Madrid for the past couple of years and met us all at various tournaments throughout the last year or so. Then this past weekend was the tournament: Bibione, Italy. I took off early (no problems with work, tehe.) and flew to Girona for a connecting flight to Venice. It was going to be a long layover before Ryan air pushed my flight back 2.5 hours, so I took a bus into the city and explored all day. Beautiful place, I kind of want to live there... Its not far from Barcelona but I'd never been. Cool old fortified city wall which you can walk along on top. And awesome cathedral.

Took the night flight to Venice and arrived to an absolute downpour. More water coming out of the sky than I'd seen for a while. Waited in the bus stop for about 20 minutes before venturing out to find my hotel. Met up with a friend and her sister. Next day we explored Venice, ate lovely Italian food, and walked around all day. Later some of the boys from my team showed up and we walked around more and ate gelato mmm. Then off to Bibione where the tournament took place. Our team stayed in two trailers together and embraced lots of typical "American" traditions/manners of speaking. It would have been painful had it not been so fun. It was a great team and I hope to play with them/see them all again later.

Next 3 days were spent on a lovely Italian beach wearing tiny red shorts with white "wife beater" shirts, winning all our games, and goofing around a lot. We ended winning the whole tournament which was a first for me. And so fun. I love beach ultimate so much more than grass. And its so much fun to play with/meet so many people from all of the world! There were 33 teams in total--we played teams from Germany, Austria, Italy, Croatia, etc. I am terrible at picture-taking at tournaments but I hope to rob some of my teammates' soon.

Now I have less than one-month here, unless I change my return flight...which probably depends on whether or not I'm coming back next year or not. (Hurry up! Tell me if I have the job or not!) :) I've loved my time here, and can't really picture it ending. I think I'll stop writing about it for now... Hope to see you all this summer when I'm back. besos.

*** pictures refuse to load currently. will add a few later.