La Casona Del Arco Baeza

... Ubeda before too late.<br><br>We made the run up the Mediterranean coast to Malaga. The weather was hot, but not humid or uncomfortable. We rode mostly on the two lane highway that hugged the coast and followed the Autoroute, although both combined in some parts. In one small city in particular we noticed that there was an abundance of pharmacies. And when I mean abundant, I mean every block had one.<br><br>Once we reached Malaga, we ...

... everything a city has to offer. The city is literally built into the mountains so it is quite the workout making it up and down the streets. The hills surrounding the city are covered in olive trees and the view is beautiful. Jaen produces what has said to be the worlds best olive oil and so far it has tasted very good to me!  I went to visit the school where I will be teaching to introduce myself and I was greeted with open arms. They were all very excited to have me there and for me ...

... back down to Granada, spend one night in a Hostel, and then catch an overnight train to Barcelona, where we plan to spent a good bit of time. By the way... sorry about the lack of photos lately... we've still been taking quite a few pictures, the problem is that... well the problem is that I don't feel like going through the whole process of transfering them, picking out the good ones, re-sizing and then uploading them. Maybe tomorrow :-)

... shucks).  We took a bus to Cazorla in the morning, then had to wait a long time for the mini bus that takes people out into the park itself.  The mini bus dropped us off a couple kilometers from our campsite, so we hiked in and set up camp. We were a little bored, and things got a little silly.  (Those are my knees.  Really Really, just my knees).  I think I ...

... to practice and we've even learned a couple of good idioms and a few dirty words, which is always handy. They manage to work a tiny lesson into almost every topic we discuss, without disrupting the flow of conversation. Since there is not a whole lot to "see and do" in Ubeda, we've also had some extra free time to lounge out on their gorgeous patio and improve our tans. We've also taken some day trips outside of Ubeda. More to come soon...

Well we are having a great time with Mercedes and Paco. We learn tons of Spanish just sitting around doing everyday things, like cooking, or watching a soccer game. :) We have been re-named, Fredrico and Juani, which are apparently easier for our hosts to say and remember. On Saturday night we went for a walk to the Mirador, or view point, looking out over the olive orchards to the south. As we walked we ran into several people that Mercedes and Paco ...

... Mercedes and Paco. Apparently they have a big house and usually host up to six students at any given time. Hoping Mercedes and Paco might let us stay with them for a few weeks, we wrote them a letter back in February. Unfortunately, we never heard back from them. Shortly after that, we also got word that the school in Ubeda had closed, so we had no other way of getting in touch. It was a little dis-heartening. We knew that ...

... to go wrong and for me not to freak out!! Luckily Ali and Meg didnt trust us much and so got a couple of lads studying ecotourism in from the nearby town who knew how to do things properly and weren`t scared of things like the jungle, the dark and mammoth sized moths. Feeling alittle bit more relaxed we slipped into our week at the Roundabout very easily. Cards on the balcony, beers, game of pool, a real live washing machine, walks to the waterfall, scimming ...

... down the hill. If you go into town the produce markets are on in a dirty carpark once a week, depending on if the locals got paid or not and you carry everything in a costello (big sack). To get around you hitch in the back of cattle and vegie trucks and if it rains the roads slip away and you have to wait a few days for them to get restored before you can go into town again. I dont really need anything else than this. Am living with two Canadians, Brad and Vincenzo (from Quebec) the 3 ...

... to ward off termites) and being woken up by the neighbors cows which are mooing as if they are being tortured, i spent an afternoon down by the river (also known as a bug/fly hiway) chasing butterflies with my camera, and just coming to terms with the fact that this is ecuador i am in...a surreal moment.... time to move on to the next village, and meet up with my amiga i met on the bus from tena... and this concludes this chapter of the gospel according to stuart...