61 degrees and balmy :)

The current temperature is 61 degrees here in Oviedo, and the people are out and about.  Sorry to those of you who are not enjoying the colder weather of the USA, I am not MEANING to brag (ok, maybe a little), but we have gone through our fair share of cold weather, and now we deserve this.

On my way here to the computer lab I saw: dogs being walked, children skipping down the street, old men sitting on park benches smoking cigars, and couples out on strolls.  The feeling of general happiness is palpable.  Even the sun has made an appearance for a couple of minutes per hour (it is northern Spain afterall, we can´t ask for too much).

Since the death of my computer, I was concerned that I would not have enough to occupy my days, but what it has forced me to do is engage in more Spanish activities.  Where before I would sit at my computer planning future trips, researching my future, or chatting with people, I now watch Spanish TV, read Spanish books, and just try and think in Spanish.  In the long run, I think this will turn out to be a terrific mishap for my Spanish.

I have been getting some requests for pictures of my costume for Carnaval, so I will post some here.  However, neither of them are very good pictures of me, so I am posting them smaller and ask that you please not enlarge them.  The other picture is not very good either, but is a picture of a portion of the crowd at Carnaval in Gijon, to try and give you some sense of the magnitude and variety of people walking around in costumes.

In other news, I have received my very first spanish test grade!  I don´t want to share it with you (cough, 95%, cough), but I was pretty pleased with the result.  While grades are obviously not the most important thing here, it still feels good to know that at least one of my tests has gone well so far.  Another personal test for me was watching two full episodes of ´´Ghost Whisperer´´ en Espanol and understanding almost all of it.  It still thrills me a little when I am able to do stuff like that, even though I should not be surprised at this point. 

That´s all for now! Best to all :)