Back to the daily grind

And now for a more complete version. Christmast was Texan, that's to say I spent it with Joanna (the other American at my school) and her family who were visiting from Texas. We ate fried chicken and mashed potatoes which it turns out are a different kind of potatoe- great for Spanish tortilla, terrible for mashing; it turned into a type of glue. Joanna was sick with the stomach flu and our gifts were all wrapped in garbage bags, but we managed to have a decent time of it. After Joanna's family headed back to the Lone Star State, Joanna and I headed North to Oviedo. It was a bit strange seeing friends I hadn't seen in five years. Alex, the little boy of the host family I was staying with was two when I last saw him; now the baby fat is gone and he's a spoild rotten seven year old; a bit dissapointing actually. I must say I agree with Woody Allen in that Oviedo remains the most beautiful and charming city in the world (I wonder if they'll erect a sculpture of me now). Although I never realized before just how wealthy (and a bit pretencious) the city is; we were happy to escape all the old ladies in fur coats to spend a day in Cudillero the picturesque fishing town.
On New Year's eve we watched the fiesta on tv that takes place in the Plaza del Sol, Madrid's main plaza and Spain's equivalent to Times Square. As the bells tolled midnight, we tried to stuff our faces with a grape for each chime. If one succeeds, it's supposed to mean good luck for the new year; I started laughing and failed misserably. After choaking on grapes and washing it down with cider wine (a regional must) Joanna and I headed to my old watering hole the "Asturianu". I don't recall paying for a single drink, but I sure had a January 1st sized hangover the nest day.
We had planned to go to Segovia to visit my other host family, but they had all come down with the flu so we decided to for go that stop and instead broke up the 11 hour drive by spending the night in Toledo. This was my fourth trip there, but I never feel like I get to see everything. It's one of the only cities where you can find evidence of the Christians, Muslims and Jews living in one place. Oh darn, I'm getting kicked off the computer. To be continued...