June 18, 2011

June 18, 2011

Today was a VERY fun day! We started off early: waking up at 5:30. We met up with the group at 6:45 and walked to the train station. At 7:55, we were off to Cadíz! The train ride was only an hour and a half, but it was MUCH more comfortable than any of the buses have been! 

When we arrived in Cadíz, we walked around the city a little bit and saw the major sites: a couple cathedrals, a beach, and a park. I also had my first Napolitana, which was wonderful! Everyone has told me that they are so good, and now I can agree! 

While we were in one of the cathedrals, I started missing Heritage Tours so much!! I'm so glad that I went on Heritage Tours. It strengthened my testimony so much. Also, there was a man in the cathedral that was just sitting and staring at Christ on the cross. It doesn't make sense to me that the Catholic church focuses so much on the crucifixion. I feel like it makes all of their buildings dark. I don't understand why they don't focus on the resurrection. It feel like church should be a place where you go to feel uplifted and comforted, but when I go into cathedrals, they never give me that feeling. I feel like they are trying to pry money out of you or chastise you into repentance. I'm just so glad that I am a member of the LDS church. I have been so blessed in my life and I am so grateful that I can have a positive spirit with me always. 

Anyway, after site-seeing, we got on a bus to take us to the other side of Cadíz. Once there, we ate at a Mexican restaurant and then changed into our swimsuits! 

We walked down onto the beach, and boy was it wonderful to walk barefoot in hot sand! It had been too long since I had been to the beach! 
We laid out, played Hearts, made a sand castle, and, of course, went swimming. One funny thing about the beach: It follows all the rules of a typical European beach. This means that all of the boys are either in super short swimsuits or in speedos. Short-shorts are common for clothes, too, so I wasn't surprised when I saw their swimsuits. What did surprise me is how many women go topless at the beach! We were surrounded by them! I was stunned! Then of course they have their little girls running around topless, too! It was ridiculous! On a better note, there were LOTS of attractive boys on the beach. I was so tempted to start taking paparazzi pictures of some of them, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. It's so hard to be discreet with my camera! 

At 6:15, we packed up our stuff and started walking to the train station. Kristen and I were a little behind everyone else, but we thought we were following them. Well eventually, we realized that we couldn't see them. We were running around frantically because we did not want to miss the train! Eventually, we asked someone for directions and they pointed us in the right direction and we ran the whole way to the bus station in swimsuits with backpacks on! But we made it!! It was stressful, though! 

We rode the hour and a half home, then took a tram to Plaza Nueva, and then we walked home. I could feel that I was sunburned, but when I got home and looked in the mirror, I realized that I had gotten a lot more than I thought, but that's alright! It'll fade fast :) 

I showered off and loaded on some lotion to all of my red skin because I do not want to peel!! Then we ate dinner with Mercedes! Now I'm tired and I want to go to bed! ¡Buenas noches!