Tengo una problema pequena :)

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Well, we made it to Oviedo yesterday by way of a SEAT LEON...a rental car. Yeah we decided to give the rental car option a whirl and forthe most part it was great...We took a coastal route from San Sebastian to Oviedo driving on roads where we had the mountains of Picosde Europa (one of Europe´sbiggest national Parks) on oneside and the Cantabrian Sea on the other. We stopped in Guernica, the site of massive German Bombings in 1937and got to see the famous Picasso painting and the Museum de la PAZ. We drove through Bilbao and into a small town called Columbres where we played soccer in the countryside with a couple of young boys who pretended to be players from REal Madrid, their favorite futbol team. We pulled into Oviedo around 9 pm and found a hostel, and were pulling out of a parking space to go return LEON and well we had a small choque con una columna...QUE TRISTE...So anyways let´s just say our rental car ended up being a tad more expensive than we planned on...but cést la vie...we´re still alive and kicking, although we have sworn off of anything besides public transportation from here on out...Oviedo is a small college town...(Rana, we´ve been thinking of you like crazy)! My favorite part of the city so far are the random statues thata re on almost every corner...mostly of naked people and then one of Woody ALlen...tomorrow we are on to Salamanca, then Toledo, Granada and Sevilla.

I´ve been keeping track of somethe smaller pleasures I´ve enjoyedin Spain in my journal...partoft he list includes...Old women walking arm in arm, thewomen´s crazy tights, old men onp ark benches, principes---a cookie they sell in grocery stores, the word Vale (okay in english), funny miscommunications and translations as we attempt t o speak spanish...

Melissa and I sat on some park benches and journaled for a while today and I wrote about one question Ih ave on my mind a lot lately...How do I retain this relaxed, free feeling and this ability to delight inthe most ordinary everyday occurences when I get backtothestates...anyone have any suggestions? Love to hear them!

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Photos

One of the MANY statues in Oviedo
Represents motherhood...the kids complete it :)

Comments

[Christina Moore]

Great Story!
Hi Sarah!!! I don't think anything can ever compare to the feeling you have in Europe... it's so relaxing and the people are much more carefree compared to us, the type A's for Anal Americanos. Even the $700 car bill was something almost worth it just because you can laugh about it. Europeans do have a much different lifestyle and some things that we Americanos can learn a lot from. Not to be negative, but you'll probably come back and have reverse culture shock and then start reverting back (or close to) type A, trying to find a job and a place to live and figure out what you are doing next. I wonder if we vacationed in our home towns with the same budget and "care free perspective" we have on regular vacations, if it would feel the same? There's something else to ponder.

[Suzy]

April Fool's Baby
Farbs-Mel- Baby boy April 1st, Saturday around 5:00am. Allison, Ryan and Rohan are all doing very well. Allison was amazing! Baby K., is cut as a button but the kids got a set of lungs on him---WOW loud cry---I think he got that from his momma yelling at the Loggers. Sorry don't know details of height and weight---I was a bit out of it---waiting for the birth of my first child from one of my MANY daughters!!