First Days of December

Let’s rewind to after Mika left:

I spent the week limping around because apparently the boots I wore walking around the city with Mika were REALLY small. They didn’t feel small when I bought them, but now I’m thinking they’re at least 2 sizes too small. I could hardly walk all week. I had a huge purple bruise covering my entire left foot. At first I didn’t tell my host parents about it, but after awhile I was seriously considering asking to get a foot X-ray because it wasn’t improving all week. But good news, it’s better now. The bad news is that I can’t wear those boots again, which is too bad because I really loved them.

On Wednesday, I stayed home from school because I wasn’t feeling well. Okay, so I just had a cold and my throat hurt a little. In high school in the U.S., I definitely would not have stayed home. But since this is a gap year, I decided there was no reason to go to school not feeling well when I didn’t have to. When I wasn’t better on Thursday, my host parents told me to stay home again. My host dad even left work for an hour to come home and check on me. It was so cute! He brought me up a tray with orange juice, medicine, warm milk, and bizcocho (Spanish sponge cake). Mmmmmm! He asked me if I wanted him to take me to his mom’s house so I wouldn’t be alone all day. Awww! I said no, I would be fine, but I kept saying thank you over and over again. I don’t think he really knew how much I appreciated being taken care of.


Amparo and I in Peñiscola

There was no school Saturday through Wednesday because of Constitution Day and the Day of the Immaculate Conception so on Monday we drove out to Peñiscola, a seaside town about an hour away. On the way we stopped at the Caves of San Jose, which are these underground caves filled with water. We took a boat ride through the caves, and it was so cool!! I had to keep ducking my head inside the boat since I’m so tall and the ceiling of the cave was really low at some points. Everyone kept yelling “cuidado!” at me, as if I didn’t see that I was about to smack my head against the ceiling…




When we got to Peñiscola, we ate a delicious lunch of fresh mussels, paella, and chocolate tart. Then we toured the famous castle of Peñiscola that was once home to the pope, Papa Luna. The castle was built on a tiny peninsula, so when you looked back to the town, you could see the beach on both sides of you. Gorgeous! The views of the sea were incredible. I must have at least 5,000 photos of the Mediterranean at this point, but it never gets old. It is said that Papa Luna’s bedroom window looks directly to Rome across the sea, so of course, I waved hello to Rome. It was one of those perfect days that you never want to end.


Paula and Papa Luna

Okay, well, I’ll stop now and write another post later, since this one is getting long. Besitos!

Paige