Hola from Salobrena, Spain!

Greetings! We have finally arrived in Spain, on our much anticipated vacation. Yesterday, we were joined by Jason's very jet lagged parents who some how managed to soldier through the entire day and say awake until 10PM last night, despite getting no sleep on their overnight flight. Impressive, those east-bound trans-Atlantic flights do a serious number on me. Later this week, Jason's brother, Jarod, and his girlfriend Lisa will also join us. Then, later in the month, our good friends the Fico's will be coming out for a week. What lucky people we are!!

So far the trip has been amazing. There were a few small hiccups in getting here and getting settled, but I prefer not to dwell on those. It's hard to even remember the few challenges we faced to get to this amazing house with it's relaxing patio and stunning views.

We were all a bit to tired from traveling yesterday to do much sight-seeing. We tried to head into the village to pick up some groceries, etc, but quickly learned that everything but the gas stations close down on Sundays. So, we ended up doing a little "grocery shopping" at the local gas station. That means that thus far, Jason's meals in Spain have included a Big Mac, french fries, and a coke on our first night here and pasta with olive oil and salt on our second night here. Today, we're determined to find some tapas and some fresh fish!

Also on the agenda for today, finding out about where we can do some horseback riding in the Sierra Nevadas and looking into going sailing once Jarod and Lisa arrive. We're also planning on hitting the beach for a bit. Life is rough...

We've discovered that very few of the locals speak English which has seriously challenged me and my limited Spanish. Yesterday in the cafeteria at the bus station, I was forced to order a "bottle" of Pringles for lack of the vocab necessary to more accurately describe what I wanted. Luckily the man was very friendly (if not somewhat amused) and knew exactly what I meant. All in all, I've found it pretty easy to express what I want to say (except for when John wanted to know how to tell the neighbor to "Shut that dog up!"); the problem arises when people then assume that my Spanish is much better than it is. The rapid fire responses that I have gotten definitely stop me in my tracks! "Hable mas despacio, por favor" (Speak more slowly, please), has been uttered more than a few times. For the most part this helps, except for the case of the old woman I met at the taxi stand yesterday who talked, and talked, and talked to me about where she was going, how she was getting there, etc, etc, etc. She didn't seem to require a response from me though, so a 'si, si' every now and then was enough to keep her happy!

Well, enough for now. It's time for me to go wake up all these lazy sleeper-iners. There is much to see and do and another beautiful day awaits us!