Playing Uno—on top of a mountain

Sometimes goodbyes are tough things, aren’t they? They remind us that nothing in this life is forever and that eventually we all have to part in some way or another. Whether we’re parting from dear loved ones from this life into the next, friends as one moves into their next stage of life and it takes them far away, or short goodbyes that will be embellished with warm hellos sooner or later, we’ve all got to say goodbye.

(Friday)
There was no class today and it was wonderful. The three bulls got up around 9:30 and we headed toward the bus station to go to a small town outside of Segovia called Granja. Granja isn’t too small, but in comparison to Segovia, quite a bit smaller. We arrived and took a quick tour through the massive gardens and passed by the Royal Palace in which the King stays at during the summer. In fact, I think he’ll be coming out there soon because an elderly man informed us that tomorrow they’ll be turning the fountains on and I could tell that they were making last minute preparations and cleaning for some special occasion. It was a beautiful and sunny day and we all enjoyed passing by the elaborate fountains and intricate designs in the flowers and bushes. Afterward we sought out a place to dine and after some debate we decided on a small little restaurant that served American style hamburgers and cheeseburgers. You might think that a little tacky to eat American food while in Spain but try going without a burger for a long time—there’s nothing better than some grilled beef patty slapped with a couple pieces of bacon, cheese, tomato, and onion. To top it off, they cut a hole in the top of my bun and put a fried egg in there as well. It was all just so delicious and reasonably priced that we decided to return before the trip ends just to do it again. After we left I realized that they sold Guinness, which is my beer of choice any day, but instead of ordering one, we headed off toward our original destination—a beautiful park that has long trails through the woods. Walking out of Granja, we headed up the road. I thought that the park wouldn’t be too far down the road and the whole time we trekked, I was enjoying every minute. The smell of pine was ubiquitous and permeated the air like strong perfume. The birds and other sounds of animals off in the forest off of the bike path we were walking on filled our ears and it was probably one of the most beautiful adventures we’ve taken yet. Trekking up a small mountain about a mile and a half outside of Granja we stopped for water and played a couple rounds of Uno. It was silly, but I thought to myself that no one plays Uno on top of a mountain, so we should. After playing a few rounds, we decided that the park was too far, headed back into Granja, and caught a bus back into Segovia. We showered and passed the time with a little bit of The Tenth Kingdom. Around 6:20 we escorted our toro, Alex Miller, to the bus station and waited with him until his bus arrived.

Now as lame as this sounds, it really sucked to see him go. We three have done everything together since the beginning of this trip and without one bull we just weren’t complete. He left us with hugs and smiles and boarded onto the bus. Alex Clary and I then headed off to Oso Blanco for a beer and croquet, chatting and reading some newspaper articles. Later, we returned home, met Carmela and her husband, the daughter of our señora, Maricarmen. The three are attending a boda (wedding) tomorrow and won’t be in the house all day. I can say that I’m quite relieved to see her go for a bit. She’s rather overbearing and has issues with control that every older woman has. So I have to say that tomorrow I’ll be hardwiring into her Internet to download my homework for Sociology, write some papers, and just relax in the peace and quiet. After dinner, Alex and I planted ourselves in my room and watched Repo Man and Repo! The Genetic Opera. Both are of course amazing movies in one manner or another. Now it’s around midnight and I’m thinking to myself that this blog entry feels weird without Alex Miller to share his blog and music with me. On the brightside, we will be reuniting with him on Sunday to meet his parents and have lunch. Now it is time for sleep though, the 5+ miles of walking we did today really made me tired but it’s a good tired. Rest and homework tomorrow—woohoo for Spain.