Yesterday I went out shopping with some of my girlfriends and was surprised to get a phone call from an unknown number. Most of the people I call are the people I came to Spain with. It was Jamie, one of the guys I met last night who snow skied. He called to see if I would be interested in taking a walk to the lighthouse in Santander in an hour. The typical me would have said no because I hadn’t done my hair and was not wearing date-worthy clothing. Fortunately, the typical me is back in the U.S. and the exciting and adventurous me decided to go.
I rode the bus to meet Jamie in front of the casino near the beach (picture on the left). He is tall, with dark eyes, styled dark hair, and wore tan tailored jeans with a white jacket. Can’t say I was disappointed. I was surprised when he started speaking to me in English because he only spoke Spanish the night before. He’s from Santander but is living in England to work so he has pretty good English. We walked along the beachfront towards “el faro” or lighthouse as he spoke English and I spoke Spanish. We walked past a group of people surfing in the ocean so we talked about water sports we enjoy. Since he snow skied, I explained water skiing to him and wakeboarding since it’s not popular there. I told him I’d teach him if he ever came to Oregon.
We walked out to the edge of a cliff that overlooked the ocean. It was extremely windy but so pretty. To get out there I tried my best to find the best path across the rocks and would hop from one to the next. He commented on my swiftness. It made me think of going hiking with my dad in the forest when I was younger because I would do the same thing. The sound of the ocean, the fresh air, beautiful view and good company made for an excellent date. I wish I took pictures.
When I told him I like to dance he jokingly asked me to teach him some salsa. I made him stand up and try to learn the basic steps. It didn’t last long because he was too embarrassed with other people passing by watching. My afternoon was simple, spontaneous, and romantic.
A big group of my friends and I went out at midnight, trying to find a place to satisfy everyone in the group. We ended up at a pub and started a dance party. Jamie met up with me there and he got an opportunity to practice the dance moves I taught him. We had so much fun that we stayed out until it closed. We weren’t tired yet so we decided to go to sit by the ocean and talk. We sat by the ocean and watched the sun rise until birds started chirping. I didn’t make it back home until 8 a.m. this morning. Over the course of our time together, Jamie taught me how to say “me he lo pasado muy bien” which means I had a great time (at least I think that’s what it was). None the less, it perfectly described my day. Today I slept from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., did some homework, skyped my mom, skyped Kaley and relaxed before a full week of school. I forget that I’m here for school. I have been learning stuff in class but the value of this trip is really in the everyday adventures and exploring the town. Everything I do is a learning experience and challenges me to step outside my comfort zone. I didn’t do anything too exciting or blog worthy today but I’m having the time of my life! I’m so thankful to have this opportunity and that my friends and family are supporting me in doing so. I owe a lot of thanks to my mom for encouraging me to study abroad. I think this goal was made for me before I was even born, and now I know why.
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