Úbeda- My new home :)

I am currently visiting friends in the capital and using their internet so I thought I would make a quick update blog post. I do not know when I will have my own internet but hopefully in the next three weeks.

 I am living in the next town over from where I am working. It is quite a bit larger and I will be carpooling on my work days. The picture above is the street that I am living on. I am living with two Spanish roommates. I have only met one in person but they are both sooo nice and I am very excited for the year to come. My Spanish is going to greatly improve.

 We have two bathrooms. One has a bathtub and the other a shower.

 Here is one shot of our kitchen. To the side you can see our laundry room. The washing machine is brand new!! I am going to try it out tomorrow.

 We have a stove!!! This makes me so excited. Everything is pretty new in my place and the owners are really helpful and kind.

 Here is our salon or living room. We do have cable and yesterday I watched the Spanish version of The Voice. 

 My room is at the end of the hallway. It was quite messy so I didn't take a picture but I will someday in the near future.

 It has been raining a lot the past few days so I have not spent as much time as I would like outside. I did though make some delicious vegetable and chorizo soup to enjoy with my red wine the first night in my new home!

One of the days I did venture out I took a few pictures. I cannot tell you what everything is right now but I will more knowledgeable soon! 

Bienvenido a Baeza

 Well after spending a few days in Sevilla, it was time to head to my new home. This year I will be working in a small town called Baeza in the province of Jáen. It is right next door to another beautiful town called Úbeda. I would now type Baeza and Úbeda into google. Yes, it is that gorgeous. In the first moment I was already in love. I have yet to visit Úbeda but tomorrow I will. I took the train to the Linares-Baeza stop. I could barely understand the garbled intercom and grumpy renfe man. He almost wouldn't let me on with all my luggage and then refused to help me carry my luggage up the stairs! In the end it all worked out and I took a taxi 20 minutes into town. After the taxi ride I was out of cash but it was well worth it. The taxi driver was very kind and had to stop for directions more than once. I arrived at the TRH Hotel which which was much nicer than I had anticipated. Above is a picture of my room.

 Here is the view from my window. It doesn't look like much but it is nice to even have a window. The hotel is centrally located downtown. There is also wifi which is a bonus. After a short nap, I decided to go on a walk and explore. I ended up walking for over two hours. During this time I was amazed by the beauty of this small town. Here are some snap shots of what I saw. Of course I asked the front desk for a map.

 So many great looking bars and restaurants to try out over the next several months!

 Ayuntamiento- City Hall

 Arches in Plaza del Pópulo

 Iglesia el Salvador- Church of Salvador

 Plaza del Pópulo

 The view walking towards the catedral.

 Catedral- Cathedral

 Palacio de Jabalquinto

 Plaza de Santa Cruz

 Puerta de Úbeda- Door of Ubeda

I am hoping to secure a place to live tomorrow!

Summer Excursions

This summer I have been busy working two jobs and have not kept up much at all with the blog. I leave in a short few days for my return to Spain and plan on keeping up much better and hope that everyone will enjoy following the second year of my journey. Along with working at the YMCA and teaching Math, I have reflected upon my experience thus far in Spain and feel so excited for this next step. Here are some pictures of this beautiful summer in Seattle and more.

My mother was able to visit twice over the summer. It was nice to spend some quality time with her.

 I heard about the scenic Mt. Rainier railroad and Dad said he would love to take the trip with me. It was quite the trek to get to the railroad but it was well worth the journey!

 This old fashioned steam engine is like every little boy's dream! 

 The inside of the train was really neat with the park bench seats. We packed our own lunch and enjoyed it during the ride.

 Here is the view of Mt. Rainier from the train.

 There were different types of cars. We decided to go with a closed top but open windows.

 Dad also took me for a ride on the steam powered paddle wheel on Lake Union. It is the largest west of the Mississippi! It was the most beautiful sunny day!

 On the boat we sat on the top deck outdoors. They provided a lot of interesting information as well as entertainment!

 I loved looking at all the different house boats and learning more Seattle history.

 Finally, I was able to visit my favorite little ladies in which I used to spend much more time. I only was able to have a short visit but it was great to see them and how much they have grown.

 I cannot believe these beautiful ladies in this wonderful family were only one and three years old when we first met!

 I went camping in Oregon to see my little sister for the first time in TWO YEARS!! I got to meet her boyfriend as well which was great!! It was sooooo wonderful to spend time with them. We only went on a short two night camping trip but it really nice.

 These were my sleeping quarters for the two nights haha just enough to keep our the bugs.

 Here was there sleeping quarters.

 Although I brought plenty of wood, we needed more for all of our fires. It took some practice to build the right one!

 FINALLY

 I missed her and hope we can keep in better contact.

 This summer I met with many friends to catch up. I also was able to go to the magnificent Puyallup Fair!! AHHHH I loved it! Of course I had to see the giant pumpkins. The one on the right holds the new record. Something like 1248 pounds.

And lastly, I attended a Husky football game!! Go Dawgs!