Only Santa Could Package Productivity

Hello there! Long time no update. I know. I had almost finished writing one a week ago, but the words that have sat for seven short days are now expired. Luckily for you all who have been wondering what has been going on, Santa visited a few days ago and made me feel awfully guilty I´ve written nothing for more than a month.  I´ve been absent from my blog and more than slightly unproductive in every project I´ve got goin´. Call it a childlike faith, heart, logic, whatever you´d like, but having been “floating along” lately, I feel undeserving of the package—signed by the Santa man himself—that was delivered to my door by a man who could have passed for an elf. (No political incorrectness intended here.  If you hadn´t noticed I´m quite small in stature myself, and have always thought it might be quite nice to be an elf! )

SAAAANTA! :) 

I doubt that Santa knew he´d be giving more than just a gift, snowflakes to cut out and hang on the wall, and the best Christmas card I´ve ever received. However, thanks to the love that was sent in two little packages I feel like my Megan energy is back. My mindset has been renewed, and I recognize in order to maintain this glee it´s time my millions of Megan projects be re-pursued. 

My blog, of course, is no exception to this new verve running through my skin and this need for efficiency. The problem, as a few of my excessively efficient friends have told me (a good example of “excessively efficienct”: anonymous friend writes book during undergrad, because she is “bored”) that I´m just not cut out to be (efficient).  I´m scatterbrained. My curious capacity is off the charts. I´m energetic and have troubles sitting still. Decisions are difficult for me. I´m a dreamer, idealist, visionary and optimist—whichever adjective suits the context best. And if it weren´t enough, I´m usually a perfectionist. I see what something can be… and can´t stop until it is. 

Today, my goal is to adapt to a realistic and efficient approach.  Obviously, it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me go in great detail about my life´s adventure and happenings for this past month, so keeping my previous goal in mind I´ll give a brief recap: 

  

•      I´ve visited Calatayud (a city in Zaragoza), home to one of my flat mates, María. While it´s not a top tourist spot, near close—I truly enjoyed my visit. The walk up the endless slopes and old part of town was surreal. The streets are so narrow that you´ve got to QUICK find a doorway in which you can hide when a car comes past. The doors were so short that even me, miss I like to pretend I´m 5´2”, would need to duck to enter without smacking my forehead. Now the typical tiiiiny abuela figure makes TOTAL sense. All barrios (neighborhoods) maintain the one little tile on the façade of a building indicating the name of the barrio and who lived there: moon-Muslims, cross-Christians, star of David- Jews.  Lastly, but certainly not least, María and I climbed up to what is left of El Castillo de Ayub, and it´s murallas “walls”, whose construction can be dated back to the IX century. In other words, during the Muslim Conquest of the Peninsula.  In short, AWESOME VISIT.

Walls left sourounding el Ayub

Castillo de Ayub

Puesta del sol

•    I´ve run my first half marathon! In Valencia. In under 2 hours’ time! What´s been learned through my training and race: It is not only easier to train with someone else, but also easier to run the race WITH SOMEONE ELSE! : )(Awaiting pictures. I´m talented, but not so much that I can take my own pictures while running 21 km / 13.1 miles).

•    I´ve turned 23. Yikes. I´m getting old. The positive: I was bombarded with cards from the U.S.A., and my friends here planned a fun Birthday evening, followed by Esteban´s planned birthday weekend.

•    I´ve gone to the pool here in Huesca. ONCE. I don´t plan to go back. Not only is it EXTREMLY expensive for a pass and even one visit… but they have NO hot tub, and NO awesome swimsuit dryer machine-thing.

•     I´ve eaten LOTS of tapas. One week ago, Huesca had a tapa contest. At over 80 participating bars the price for one tapa and one drink of your choice for 2.50. Since most places offered two novel choices, María and I went for “one of each” approach, and split. Then, it was back to the map and menu´s to stake out the next joint. In total, we visited eight—I believe. Some of my friends visited an outrageous number: thirty-two.  Luckily, they assured us that María and I had chosen the best ones. And when I say best ones, I´m talking some of the best tapas I have ever eaten. 

•    I´ve been slowly converting to the Spanish way of life. I can barely stomach breakfast beyond coffee these days. At most, a few cookies (not the heavy sort from home) or a few tostadas (tiny little pieces of bread that don´t really ever go bad).  I think eating lunch before 2:30 PM is incredibly early. With a short notice, I can stay up out dancing with friends til´ 7 AM. And, on good Spanish days it takes people a little to figure out that I´m not from Madrid.

•       I´ve enjoyed another PUENTE and one evening in Madrid, one and a half days in Córdoba, and three in Granada. A great trip I´d like to elaborate on in a near future post…

           And there you have it. Highlights from the past month and a few days.  Not exactly a thrilling or detailed account, but today the objective was simply to finish the blog. Needed to be efficient. My hope is that this new attitude and drive to be productive gifted by Santa will last me more than a little while! I have a feeling it just might… I mean, if a man can do something as absurd as package such a grand feeling in such a little box, there´s got to be some magic there…