Marzo loco

Well, as Recah pointed out to me, it has been basically two weeks since I last posted.  Shame on me!  I think I also promised pics from Barcelona "as soon as I return from Santander."  Oops...  The week after my return passed breathtakingly fast.  I was back in late Sunday night, exhausted.  I woke up Monday feeling miserable- a product of three days spent in a hostel with 10-12 others and not to mention generally going non-stop in Barcelona.  A few days of school, and then I was off to Berlin midday Thursday.  

I have a friend named Frank who lives there, and I had a blast hanging with him.  On Friday, Frank had to work so I wandered Berlin alone.  I managed to stuff in a visit to almost every major site in the city.  Then on Saturday I accompanied Frank and 7 of his "friends" (aged 11-16) that he works with as a social worker to the beach.  Yes, Germany has beach, but it is pretty cold.  Frank and I walked into the water (the Baltic Sea) and it was literally painful.  Our legs numbed almost instantly.   On Sunday, I had to say goodbye to my friends in Berlin and flew off to Bergamo, Italy, which is very close to Milan.  While I was there, I sampled some real italian pizza.  However, I must have enjoyed it too much, because I couldn't get back in time to catch my flight!  In the end, I paid for another flight to Madrid from where I took a bus back to Santander, arriving 5:30 am on Monday.  I rested for two hours and then went to class.  

So that was last week.  This week the weather has been gorgeous, just gorgeous.  We all have been doing all we can to stay outside and soak up the sun.  Yesterday we spent a while on the beach.  When there are days like this, it's like going to school in Hawaii.  You go to class, put on your bathing suit and head to the beach.  

So I am not suffering.  In fact, I feel like I am really getting into the swing of things.  My spanish is really improving- praise the Lord!- and I am now completly adjusted to the spanish daily life.  When I was in Berlin, where they operate under a schedule similar to us, I thought I could still try to go to a musuem after 6:00.  In spain, everything is open until 9:00 (which is nice)- but in Berlin, I was greeted with a resolute "closed" sign.  It was a suprise, because 6:00 is not late at all in Spain.  

This weekend, I am staying home, which is good considering that I have a couple projects to work on.  But I am glad that you have missed receiving more posts from me.  I will try to post more often!

On Sunday, I will post more about my adventures in Berlin and Italy.

In Christ,

Charlie