Camera-less in Burela

---

So much is happening here... and now that I have unlimited WIFI (weefee) access, and my own bed, I can keep you up to speed. Tranquila. That is the speed here. Although the last few weeks have had their moments of relaxation, our brains have been unsettled while we looked for places to live, prepared introductory slideshows for our new students, sought out new cell phone numbers, became accustomed to the lifestyle and schedules of stores and restaurants, train/bus schedules, etc. Now we have our homes and are mostly unpacked. Now we can breathe.

Brian and I left Santiago de Compostela on Sept. 28th. 17€ and 3 hours later we arrived to Cervo where I started work on Oct. 3rd; Brian started on Oct. 5th. We had an orientation in Santiago on the 4th and Brian and I said our good-byes, with plans to see each other on the weekend for the Festival de los Mariscos in O Grove. (Brian wrote about this, but there aren't enough pages to describe what an awesome time we had. The bodega, I call it the Garden of Eden/Eatin', was the highlight for sure.)

School has been great. All the children in the primary levels knew my name before I stepped foot in the door. The school has 101 students, from 3-12 years old. I work primarily with the 6th graders, but have 1 hour/week with each of the primary grades, starting with 1st grade (age 5-6?). For the first 2 weeks I lived with a woman named Carmen, a very charming older woman, who rents rooms for 10€/night. She makes your bed and does your laundry every day. She only speaks Spanish and Gallego, but she speaks Spanish for us. She always has a smile on her face. Cervo is in the sticks. The rooster crows often after 7ish in the morning and the dogs bark in the evening. There is a goat across the road and I've heard a horse pass by my bedroom, but I've never seen it. I could walk to school which was nice, but there isn't much else to do. You can follow a narrow cobblestone road to the bar/cafeteria for food, drinks and WIFI at any time of day, but due to the humidity it is swarming with pesky flies. UGH! It's probably due to the weather transitioning into fall. (Late summer here too this year.)

Now I am in Burela, a larger town (10k) that many of my teachers live in. It's 5km away - walking distance if I needed to, but I'll be sharing a ride. The town has a port and many beaches. The transportation is better in Burela, compared to Cervo, but no transportation exists to return to Burela on a Sunday. Luckily I've met some people who live towards Brian, so I can have the chance to visit him once in awhile. There is a lot to see here. We've already had a paid holiday/day off at work too. Oct 12 = Dia de la Hispanidad = Columbus Day (in the U.S.). So, I took a fieldtrip with a girl from Pennsylvania, that is an auxiliar (assistant) like me. We took a quick and cheap train ride to a coastal destination called Playa de Las Catedrales. Beautiful! We spent the whole day their taking pictures under the arches; exploring the sea creatures, water pools and rock formations; walking the coastline; and paying way to much for lunch and bottled water. Next time we are packing a lunch and setting up camp on one of the many stone picnic tables overlooking the water. There is a 16km trail along the coast that we want to walk. When it was time to go, we followed the route in which we came, passing a couple of bulls, over a bridge, and through a field to the train stop. As we waiting we made pleasant conversation with an elderly woman while we curiously watched the cows in the field across the tracks. One had just given birth a few moments prior. We missed it! We watched as the calf tried to feed from the bull and momma was getting angry and protective. Then a man had to come help direct the calf to the momma. An interesting to our trip for sure!

---