Torro!

Written July 16th, 2006

Hola mi amigos! I am in San Sebastian, Spain right now, ready to depart for Nice and Italy in about 4 hours. I would say this is one of the most beautiful and lively places we´ve visited yet. Of course, it is spain, so liveliness is to be expected. The beaches here are amazing, and the surfing just a bit too difficult to catch a wave. We did try, though. And failed. And got kicked around by some pretty narly waves. And then traded our surf boards in for body boards. It was fun, though, and if my lip didnt still hurt and my knee werent all scraped up, I´d probably do it again if we had time. Nights so far have consisted of following a drum group down the street and dancing along side with the funny old men, and looking for seemingly non-existant salsa clubs that the guys wouldnt have to pay for. Oh yes, and a game of truth or dare (aka dare) on the boardwalk with strangers. Example dare: run up to a strange man and sing "I will always love you". Fortunately the girl on that guys arm didnt pummle anybody.

We have been traveling with a girl named Kristen (from Florida) for the past few days, who we met at the subway station in Barcelona (while lost and looking for the train station). She was on her way to San Sebastian, but was easily persuaded to hop of the train early for Pamplona and running of the bulls. Even though I told you, Dad, that I wasnt going to run - and wasnt planning on running - having two other girls to run with made it a quick decision. I didnt prepare for it, seeing as how I wasnt planning on running, so I didnt quite have the propper attire for the running (white pants, white shirt, and a red scarf and saché). Surprise, surprise! I improvised in quite a novel way according to tradition. My outfit consisted of a white skirt (practically unheard of for this run), a white tank top, and running shoes. If your wondering about the actual run, the closest we got to the bulls was about 3 feet, and we were probably the safest you could be for actually being within the fence with the bulls. But thats all Im telling you unless you ask. Oh- and nobody we knew got hurt, so you can relax and exhale now (not that you were holding your breath to start with). I would say that it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life thus far. Experience of a lifetime, hands down.

Thats all I have for you right now, but please email me if you want to know more! I would love to hear about what youve been doing!