the weather has finally taken a turn for the sunny and warm. yesterday was a beautifully sunny day and i dragged myself out of bed to go on a school field trip to the abadía [abbey] del sacromonte. it was a long walk uphill - very long. along the way, the same teacher/guide from the trip to the albaicín told us about the history of the areas that we passed. so we learned a little about gypsy history in the area and at the abbey, we sat down on benches in the courtyard and it was kind of like a history lecture. it was cool. afterwards, i decided to spend more time outside enjoying the weather. i found el parque de federico garcía lorca, down a few blocks from where i live and spent the afternoon reading and walking around the park. at one end was an area that had playground equipment, but most of the park was carefully manicured plant life. it sort of looks like the rose gardens, except with less rose bushes and there were plenty of shade trees and benches. 'twas quite pretty. sadly, i started to show signs of sunburn and had to go back home. i spent the rest of the evening reading inside and using a lot of aloe vera.

today i slept in late and it was nice, because i've been super tired from the various exploring - plus i think the sun from yesterday is still sapping away my energy. on sundays, pretty much everything is closed, seriously...not even supermarkets are open, only the occasional internet cafe, as demonstrated by my present posting. typically, spanish families go out to parks and hang out and spend time with each other. how great is that? i think the us should adopt this custom of taking a day to spend quality time with one another. i was just walking around outside, after watching the replacements inside and realized that just taking a walk is really nice. the plan is to incorporate this activity into my regular life.

haha...my second weekend in spain and it was spent being mellow and resting. i love it. but next weekend will be busy with a day trip to sevilla and another trip the day after to the tropical coast of almunecar and nerja. and i now that i've spent a week comparison shopping, it's time to buy some shoes, and other fun things. wahoo.