The most useless week of my trip

I’ve been in Murcia for like… A week. I don’t even remember how long I’ve been here because I’ve stayed in the house essentially 90% of the time. I started applying to grad school this week and I had to write three essays since I had down time, and all my… Actually. It doesn’t matter. TAKING CARE O’ BUSINESS.

I do want to mention that I was in contact with my grandma and it turns out my great grandma was in a car and was hit by a semi truck. Then, when she was in the hospital getting bone scans and stuff, they found out she has metastasized cancer and probably only has a few months. I was able to talk to her for a while on the phone; she sounds happy enough, but she’s still recovering from being hit by a truck and will probably start getting worse soon as the cancer takes hold. I’m really hoping she pulls through so I can see her when I get back. Keep her in your thoughts for me, everyone. 
Also I forgot to post about Cartagena. The day before I started writing out all my personal statements and crap, we decided to take a day trip to Cartagena, the nearest city to Murcia with beaches and stuff. Teresa lived there with a host family during part of last year, and knew exactly where to take us. We walked from the bus station for about 45 minutes to reach this beautiful, tiny, amazing beach:
LOOK AT THAT COLOR. 

The water is starting to get a bit cold so I’m glad I’m going to the Canaries soon. Either way, the water was quite calm, and clear enough that we could see several meters brought the water with Teresa’s scuba mask. It was incredible. Once you swim farther than the beach, you hit a rocky area where y ou can follow huge schools of tiny fish around, watch the larger fish feeding on the moss on the rocks, and explore some of the bigger rocks that play home to various types of fish, anemones, and urchins! It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done; it’s a weird feeling to be surrounded by hundreds of little fish swimming in a big circle around you. And then there’s an area where the rocks stop and it goes back to sand on the bottom, and the depth is somewhere between 20-30 feet. That’s where you can follow the bigger fish around and watch them gather together to attack rocks. Guys. It was incredible. And it was just a tiny beach. I literally cannot wait to (hopefully) try diving in Las Canarias. 

Anyway, back to Murcia. Things to know: 
There’s this guy who plays his accordion literally all day every day on a bridge in Barrio del Carmen.
He just keeps smiling at you no matter what. It’s a little creepy… Also, he only knows two songs. The chicken dance song, and some other thing I don’t recognize. 

This is Teresa’s roommate explaining the difference she sees between British English and American English. She mimics what both sound like to her and it’s HILARIOUS. 

Murcia is full of fountains and pretty things. 
What’s this guy doing? He was just standing there, looking down, with his cowboy hat on… 

Gofres are cheap and are thus abundant both inside and outside my body.
I’m usually a really healthy eater so all this sugar is starting to give me love handles. I promise, I’ll stop when I leave Spain! I’m sorry, body! Or maybe I could just not stop and try to become the first documented case of mega-diabetes? 
Halloween isn’t as popular here as it is in the states, unless you count Halloween parties for college students. So to make up for it, we watched Hocus Pocus (Retorno de las brujas in Spanish) and instead of candy (which you can’t just buy in bags here like you can in the states) I bought a bunch of doughnuts and pastries for us. 
The. We went out with some of Teresa’s friends and I got to hear people speaking Spanish with German, Romanian, and French accents. German accents are hilarious. 
20cl bottles of beer are only €0,50 so you just get a lot of them for everyone and count them up at the end and pay. Mine was easy because I only did three (I got to make fun of myself for being quite tipsy after only half a liter of beer). 
Gyros here are more commonly in the form of kebabs, which are either a meat stick or wrapped in a tortilla and they’re better than anything you’ll have in Kirksville. And cheap! 
Unfortunately my time has ended in Murcia, and now I’m on my way to Sevilla. At this point I have a feeling my adventures will pick back up enough to be marginally interesting, so I’ll put a lot more effort into the next post. I’m staying one night in Sevilla before moving on to Las Canarias and still waiting for a reply from my potential host in Fuerteventura and another in Tenerife. Maybe I’ll end up camping in one of the caves on the island. Who knows?! You know what time it is? 
ADVENTURE TIME 

acorn