DAY 2 SPAIN

     Today we were up at 11:30. Carlota and Pablo, her 17 yr. old brother ( who Sam loves) came to get us to go to the pool. I made sandwiches so that we wouldn't spend too much money there. We walked about 2 miles and my kids were dying! They are so not used to that much walking! Sam required a time out on the way which proved fortunate because I told the others to continue without us and it forced us to find our way around a little and ask for directions. Any opportunity I have to speak Spanish is a good thing! 

 We got to the pool and the kids got right down to the business of fun! Bella was a little grumpy, but I think she was still sleepy. We charged the devices in the sala de social (wifi room) where others were using iPads and texting friends. I got to connect with Jay and send word that we are all well and miss him. 

 After a little time, Carlotas parents joined us at the pool and we spent lots of time talking about which specialization Carlotas should consider in medical school.  She attends the University of Navarra, a private college that is the best in the area for medicine.  Carlota is very studious and had to take and pass several exams, including english proficiancy exams in order to get into college.  She scored so high that she really could have gone to any college she chose, but this one is the best for medicine and walking distance from her house.  She spends hours there eachday after classes studying.  Her parents admit that she truly spends all of her free time studying during the school year.  Carlota comes from a long line of medical professionals.  Her parents are dentists with medical degrees, her grandparents were surgeons and her Uncles also practice medicine.

I talked a lot about working on the psych unit at Children's Hospital in Boston and I noted that all of my conversations with Paquita seem to show our similarities rather than cultural differences. She explained in greater detail about the economic crisis in Spain. Apparently, it has been many years that government officials have been misusing (stealing) funds, even the ones without much power such as the local mayor, but it's been the past five years that it has been so noticeable. 

 We spent some time playing cards outside and afterwards left the pool to explore more of the city.

The kids were not thrilled with more walking, but we went to see the citadel and took some fun pictures. 

We also went through the old part of he city again to trace the route of el encierro to the Plaza de Toros. There we snapped more photos of things like the statue of Ernest Hemingway who wrote The Sun Also Rises (which I am currently reading). There are stores with his name, a street names for him and many more things. 

 In the old section of he city, we stopped for pinchos. We had croquetas which were so yummy, but of course Bella didn't even try. The rest loved them.  We had a wine and moved onto other sites. We saw ancient churches, schools and plazas and at one we saw a pug! Callie was so excited! When I asked in Spanish how to say "pug", the owners didn't know. The child of the owners knew though that it was "carlino"...I think that is an Italian word. We did some more walking and we went home, but despite all the walking, the kids weren't tired! They are watching the book thief on my iPad. And hopefully will be asleep soon because tomorrow we are up and out at 9am for an excursion to a small amusement park and zoo called Sedaviva. ¡Que divertida!