Today marks a week that I have been in Bezana/Santander staying with our old friends Nisio and Pili. I feels like two days. This was the first time in almost three months that I've seen someone familiar - before now everyone were new acquaintances. It is so relaxing to be here. I loved the farm work, but it has been nice to have a break where I don't have to work every day. For almost this whole week the weather has been incredible (although totally rare for December in Northern Spain) - I went swimming twice in the ocean. The sea was chaotic but I had a blast body-surfing. I went on a 42K bike excursion with Jesus and Ana (those pictures are still on my camera so you'll have to wait) and yesterday we went ... read more

So my day and a half in Barcelona was pretty good considering I spent a sizeable amount of it trying to buy a spanish sim card. But after about 4 hours my hard work paid off and I'm really happy with the plan i got. Thankfully the farm I contacted was okay with my last-minute request, and so in a couple hours I'll be headed to Les Piles, in tarragona for a few weeks. I will have almost no Internet access there, so it will be a while until the next entry. Highlights of barcelona? Parc guell. It wa actually the only place I had time to go during the day, but luckily I've been to Barcelona before, so i wasn't missing out on things I'd never even had the chance to see. And I've found ... read more

Ok, I guess it's time for a longer installment. There isn't actually any Internet here either, but there is an Internet cafe roughly close by. We went last night but I didn't have time to write an entry. I was busy researching flights and hostels for my next planned stops. But that comes later. So last post I explained the situation of Antonio the creeper.  The expected wwoofer, gisela, did end up arriving that nght, to my great relief. She was quite the character. She is a 42-year-old German woman who had been traveling and doing various internships and work exchanges and travels for 5 and a half years. She spoke all the same languages I do: Spanish, English, Italian, and German. She had traveled the Americas from Canada to chile. She was one of ... read more

ciao everybody! It's my last night in Firenze (Florence for all you gringos... Just kidding :) ) and I finally have time to write an entry. Thankfully this hostel has wifi, but only on the first floor. But hey, works for me. Actually, the hostel itself is an interesting story. Ah yes, Interesting story #6 (and yes, I know it's ridiculous to try to keep track because obviously I have more than 6 interesting stories to tell. And I know the first "interesting story #3" got cut off and I don't remember what it was but bear with me): I was originally planning to stay in a hostel from a list mika gave me. But. There are a couple of train stations in firenze, and of course, being me, I got off at the most remote ... read more

I have a little bit of time before lunch today, so I get to write another installment. I just got back from an exhilirating 4K run. The first half is completely uphill, and since it’s an out-and-back type of run, the second half is almost entirely downhill. Interesting story #3 (I think. I've lost count of how many): About 30 seconds into the second half of the run it started to pour. It was amazing. As cliché as it sounds, I felt completely alive. The way rain looks as it falls on nearby mountains is indescribable. Anyway, I got back to Il Granello entirely soaked. The first words Elisa and Romano said to me were “docia calda”, “hot shower”. That kind of exemplifies the mood here. Everyone has so much care and tenderness for each other. ... read more