Day 33 - Deciding to make a change. Why not? #45daysofsummer

When I heard last night that we were going to the beach today, I was well excited! When I heard that it was just Mihaela, Bianca, Betsy and me, I was even more excited. Girls day out at the beach?! Wooo!

Then I heard it was a two and a half hour drive away.
Less excited at that point.

However, today has been a truly wonderful day!
Admittedly, I slept a lot of the way for the journey there (hey, what's new?! Everyone knows I sleep in the car all the time! And I did warn them beforehand..) But we stopped on the way there, part way up a mountain, almost 2000m above sea level on the winding roads that took us to Gijón, to marvel at the breathtaking views.

It was freezing. But it was gorgeous.

We continued the journey (I went back to sleep) and before I knew it, we were in Gijón. Ready to party.
Well, we were certainly ready for a day on the beach at least, but the sky was rather cloudy and it looked like a storm was brewing in the distance. We braved it anyway!

Waves!

Waves enough for surfing!

And other people with the same idea as us - who cares about the storm?! We're at the beach!

And something occurred to me today, that I hadn't thought of up until now on my travels. There are some definite challenges about coming to new places on you're own and trying to make friends when you can't fully function in their language.. But there are some really great opportunities too.
I realised today, that even though I have spent almost 10 days with these girls, they still don't know all that much about me (herein lies both the challenge and the opportunity). I wasn't about to spoil the party and tell them how much I liked the look and idea of the beach, but that actually I really don't like sand or sea pretty much at all... So I didn't tell them. And therefore had to pretend at first (or persuade myself) that I did actually like it. They knew no different. And rather than it feeling like lying, it occurred to me that I had a chance here to start something new, to change something, to try something that I had previously not liked, amongst people who were getting to know me and find out for myself that I don't altogether hate it. In fact, I loved it!
We only spent about an hour, maybe a little longer, on the beach. And a lot of that time, Betsy, Bianca and I were in the sea. First paddling, then running into the waves! And the waves were big! Huge, crashing, salt-in-your-mouth-nose-eyes-and-everywhere kind of waves. I tried to keep my hands and face out of the water initially, but it was impossible so I gave up and in that letting go, ended up having so much fun, getting drenched and finding out that I can enjoy something that I have previously dreaded! Such an amazing feeling!

We got dry (freezing whilst doing so!) And went in search of other bonitas vistas (beautiful views)...

Salty hair!

Getting dry before lunch.

Ideal spot for viewing the coast.

 

Selfie necessary.

Another, more smiley selfie, necessary.

Host-mom, Mihaela! She drove us all the way, and around the city, and looked after our stuff while we swam. Superstar. 

Oh and then we got chocolate con churros. Oh yes. 

Something else that's new today. I also decided to be brave try and start speaking my thoughts out loud. As yet, I haven't really been quick enough to translate a passing thought in to Spanish and speak it out loud in time for it to still be relevant so I've just not bothered.. I have managed a couple of witty responses and sarcastic comments, but today tried to forget about making mistakes and put in to words some ideas and thoughts I had at different points in the day - about how funny it is hearing little kids speaking Spanish, asking more about where we are and verbalising geneal observations.. And its amazing how much new conversation and vocabulary it opened up! Today felt a lot richer in so many ways. :)

I only slept for a short amount of time on the journey back. Mostly, I watched out the window as we passed yet more stunning scenery. We drove through various mountainous regions, and I kept thinking of Moses and wondering if these were anything like Mount Sanai.. Probably not, but I liked the thought and felt close to nature and to God! Particularly with all that is in the news if late, I just feel so thankful and so very blessed. Trying not to take these experiences for granted.