Picnic

So I didn't manage to get any good video of the picnic/festival thing yesterday. But I'll tell you all about it.

Took a bus all by my lonesome with a cousin of my host family to meet my host mom at a remote bus station in the middle of nowhere Spain. It felt like quite the adventure, especially when we sat on the curb of a parking lot alongside a highway for ten minutes. This was one of those moments where the thought "I can't believe I'm doing_____ in Spain." This happens quite a lot. For example,  "I can't believe I'm drinking coffee in Spain," "I can't believe I'm swimming laps in a pool in Spain," "I can't believe I'm walking up three flights of stairs in Spain." They key phrase in these thoughts is in Spain. Mundane everyday things still happen here, and it's usually when I'm doing these less-than-unusual things that I'm suddenly overcome with the realization that I am in a different country. I don't quite know how to explain it.

Also, I made paella. Like actually really authentic paella. It was surprisingly easy. I've been learning that all the food here is pretty much super easy to make. I now have no worries about not knowing how to cook. I was, however, surprised however by how many different kinds of protein were in this particular recipe: rabbit, chicken, calamari, and shell fish. Regardless, it was delicious, but that wasn't surprising.

The festival was basically just a bunch of people from three or so pueblos all picnicking in the same park. There were some bouncy castles set up. A few tents housing street vendors and bars. I met any number of people related in some way shape or form to my host family. Don't really remember their names. Oops.

One repeated theme in conversation was that the weather was extremely unusual--cold, windy, threatening rain. Several people told me this was the worst weather they've seen on this day for a good twenty years, scaring away a lot of people from picnicking outside. Like the tough Minnesotan I am, I wasn't too bothered by the temperature. Although it did don a coat when it started raining.

In conclusion, paella's famous for a reason and picnic's are universally enjoyed.