Traveling With Judi . . . .

Wow!! What an unexpected turn of events last week!! My friend and travel companion for the next month broke her ankle while "walking and talking" (something they encourage during the English Immersion programs because the theory is that it helps keep the conversation flowing more smoothly in English, but it's something I don't usually do because I like a lot of eye contact to best understand the conversation - and I'm afraid of tripping if I'm not watching the ground!! I now feel justified)!! Sorry, I got a bit off-topic!! So ANYWAY.... poor Durdaana stepped into a hole she didn't see and BOOM - fell to the ground!! We thought it was just a sprain, so she hobbled around on it for about 12 hours, but then she wisely went to the hospital to get it checked out (since we had an interpreter and figured the care might be easier to get in Spain than Morocco - which was our next planned destination)! Good thing she did because it was a fractured fibula, and s...

I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone for your wonderful birthday wishes!! I had a very special birthday in Spain and was well-celebrated by the people in the English Immersion program in Barco de Avila! It was our day to explore the village (about a 25-minute walk from our hotel) to look around, see the Castle and "take a coffee" (my favorite Spanish saying) in the town square!! What a surprise when we encountered a sweet (sometimes off-key) band and ladies dancing in the main square! I asked if the celebration was for my birthday (but of course I was just joking)!! It was actually the Festival of Santa Águeda, a festival day when the town belongs to the women of the village for the day (hmmm.... what does that mean for the rest of the year?!?). Santa Águeda is celebrated on February 5 (better known as the Day of the Águedas), when the women in the village are the stars of the Festival alongside the Patron Saint (Saint Agnes). All of the women from town gat...

Wow!! I can’t believe another 10 days have passed since I last posted, and I feel like I need to catch up on posting all that has happened(since every day seems filled with so much)!! So… after a lovely week with Sheryl in northern Spain, visiting San Sebastian/Donostia and Santiago de Compostela, I am now at my first English immersion program (1of 3 that I have scheduled for this trip)!! After experiencing the language and culture of Catalan in Barcelona, it was fascinating to visit northern Spain and experience Basque country (in the northeast) and Galicia (in the northwest) of Spain. All of these areas have their own language (in addition to “traditional” Castilian Spanish), as well as varied cultural histories that influence how they experience and interpret the world! I could really feel the difference in each sub-culture and they are each proud of their heritage! We did a bit of sightseeing in Donostia-San Sebastián (Donostia being the Basque name and San Sebastián being t...