Friends in High Places

Yes, I do have friends in high places. Yes, literally as well as figuratively speaking.

Situation #1: I made friends. And thus we went (together) to the highest place there is to go in Cádiz. Torre Tavira. Thus, friends + a tower = friends in

high places.

Ok, it is completely necessary that I share just a little history lesson with you all: Torre Tavira is the tallest watchtower in all of Cádiz which was (in the past - clearly) used to monitor all ship trade that came into the harbor.

Okay, moving on...

Naturally, I was

completely enamored over Spain's first and largest camera obscura, which was installed in the tower. The 1st of its kind in all of Europe I'd say. The camera obscura was the créme de la créme of the visit and was mostly the boast of the brochure. But let me say, it's legit. I'd totally be up for taking it back home as my souvenir and installing in my bedroom.

The camera obscura is rather impressive because it gives you an entire panoramic view and moving picture of the city outside. It's a real piece of work any stalker could appreciate. So, how does it work you ask? Well, basically there's a dark room with a white screen and a hole through which outside light enters hitting a mirror and magnifying glass. Something along those lines...

Unfortunately, filming was not allowed, but fortunately, I being the rebel that I am, filmed a little something anyways, until I got in trouble with the nice tour guide. Enjoy, what you can from this:

Situation #2: The other way in which I have friends in

high places, is that my friends and I totally befriended this nice priest from the Parroquia de San Francisco.

So, yet again, breaking the rules, my friends and I walked into a private courtyard of the church, while clearly it was not open to the public. And we went in anyways, taking the side door rather than going through the front gates. It was pretty impossible to go through the front, there was a giant lock on the gate. And I haven't learned how to pick locks yet (that's Life-Goal #46, I'm still working on Life-Goal #13: Tying shoelaces without making bunny ears).

Siesta Time

Just woke up from a 2 hr-siesta. Well-needed and well-wanted. It's the part of the day from 2-7 where I just eat, sleep and do pretty much nothing. It's pretty amazing. I usually never take taps or do nothing, but I have been taking full advantage of this aspect of Spanish life. It's been rough, but I think I've been well acclimated to this lifestyle of just relaxing like 24/7.

So, even though I've been here for only a week or so, it feels like a month. As usual the time seems so fast, but at the same time really slow. It's so different here. Spaniards live in a totally different way than Americans and most of the time I feel they real understand how to enjoy life. The pace of life is slow here - you can really see that man-made possessions don't matter nearly as much compared to good food, family, and an amazing horizon to enjoy. I've realized just how intense people in America really are. Work, work, work. Because of this, life is so much easier and simple. My apartment isn't gaudy at all, in fact very modest, and hold very few personal belongings or space for such things. Just the necessities. It's pretty refreshing here in that way.

The food is pretty intense, I will be sure to post some pics soon. I've come to realize that American food pales in comparison to Spanish food. We eat bread and drink Coca-Cola and fresh fruit for dessert at every single meal. And every dish is fatty, fried and has meat. All of it has been pretty delish, but it's all very intense. I'm used to like fresh salad, with no dressing and like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. But don't get me wrong, I miss my kitchen at home sometimes cause their eating schedule is pretty rigid here. I mean, I kind of miss the freedom of eating whatever you want whenever you want. My family thinks I'm slightly crazy for the fact that it's normal to just yogurt and fruit for dinner or that I sometimes eat pizza for breakfast. Or that I can from day to day eat every single hour.

Here's just a little idea of what the eating schedule is like here or my schedule in general:

8:00 Wake-Up + Eat breakfast [My staple meal: coffee, french bread with peach marmalade]

9:00 Catch bus to school

9:30-1:00 School

1:00-2:00 Shopping downtown (I usually window shop on a daily basis)

2:00-3:00 Walk home

3:00 Lunch [My favorite so far: Squash and Carrot cream soup, french bread, Tortilla con patatas, and melon]

4:00-6:00 Sleep

6:00-10:00 Free time (Beach, reading, sleeping some more, TV, friends, etc...)

10:00-11:00 TV time with mom

11:00 Dinner [Usually a sandwich or sorts, bread and fruit]

11:30 Free time

1:00 AM Bed-time

4:00 AM Bed-time on Weekend

Anyways, that's just a little glimpse of how my days look. But I start college classes next week, so I'm sure I'll more homework to occupy my time with, but then again past students told me they don't get homework in class. So then again, maybe not.