¿yoga en espanol = yoga¿

Today was a pretty grand day. I woke up, had a bowl of cereal, and all was well. Then, Primi woke up... & she made Tortitas for breakfast (little did she know i had already eaten cereal.. hehe...). Tortitas are pretty much like a pancake, but it tastes a tad different. They're so good! She probably makes them once a week. And the best part is i get to put a lil bit of whip cream on top... mom never lets me put whip cream on my breakfast at home. wooh! hahaha

Spanish Tortita:

At about 10:00 I started walking to class, it takes about 25 minutes, and it's quite a lovely stroll in the mornings. Everyone is hustlin' and bustlin' around going to work/school or just walkin their dogs... there's always people on the streets so i get to do some major people watching haha. I usually just put my ipod in one ear and observe the city while I walk. Even though I walk pretty much the same route everyday, I can always find something new and different than the day before.

I had Spanish Culture/Civilization & Los Grandes Maestros de la Pintura (great spanish artists) today, both of which are very interesting. In my Culture/Civ class, we talked about the Mediterranean diet and how it differs from the American (or western) diet. Basically... mediterranean diet rocks. American diet sucks. People are not obese here like they are in the U.S. Some people may be pleasantly plump or big boned, but I have yet to see anyone that I would consider "obese" (you know like the "Holy guacamole I fear for your life my dear fellow human" kind of obese). Ya know why?

Here's why:

Well, most healthy diets include fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains, and limit unhealthy fats, and this describes the Mediterranean diet. The majority of their 'healthy fat' comes from olive oil, and not butter, sugar, salt, & other greasy stuff. In fact, I learned that Spain produces more olive oil than any other country in the world. And apparently there are tons of olive tree farms in southern Spain. Cooool!

Key components of the Mediterranean diet include:

-Getting plenty of exercise and eating your meals with family and friends

Spanish people walk everywhere. They also sit down with their families and actually eat lunch together at the table and take their time eating. Lunch time (called "la comida") is from 2-3:30/4:00. Everything in town shuts down (except some restaurants of course) and everyone goes home for lunch. They have plenty of time to eat, converse, and relax before hurrying back to work or school.

-Eating a generous amount of fruits and vegetables

Mmmm my favorite! Sometimes for dessert we'll have fruit. Sometimes for a snack we'll have fruit. Sometimes for dinner we'll have fruit. Hahhaa I have a new found love for oranges... mainly cuz i have learned how to peel them with excellent speed. hahaha:)

-Consuming healthy fats such as olive oil and canola oil

Olive oil is healthy fat (moderation)

-Using herbs and spices instead of salt to flavor foods

-Eating small portions of nuts

-Drinking red wine, in moderation

Ah hex yeah! A glass a day keeps the heart disease away

-Consuming very little red meat

REPEAT: VERY LITTLE RED MEAT. Some people i know would be pooping their pants if they couldn't have red meat every day... but then again their heart is probably poopin its pants (yeah okay that doesnt make any sense) cuz that person is killing him/herself by eating so much dadgum red meat. 2 words my friends: veggie. burger. tastes similar. but oh so much better.

-Eating fish or shellfish at least twice a week
[Mmmmm sea fooood :) ]

Anyways... enough about food!

Tonight I decided to take a yoga class here in Alcala, and it was a lot of fun. I am so proud of my lil knee for healing so quickly.. I could do child's pose and all the warrior poses without crying (i mean, uh, not that i've ever cried... psh. i'm super tough. duh.) Woopity woop woop!

The whole class was taught Espanol (ya know, cuz i'm in Spain and all) which was really interesting. I understood the just of it all, and when I really had no idea what he was saying I just looked around the room to see what everyone was doing. Monkey see, monkey do, right? More like American can't understand rapid fire spanish can you please slow down mr yoga man sir?, American see, American do.

I understood "relajen" or "relajando" (relax), "exhalacion" "exhalando" (exhalation/exhaling), "inhalacion" "inhalando" (inhalation/inhaling), "subimos arriba" (rising up), and "Yoga".... because it's the same in both languages. Let me just say that trying to balance, relax, & listen/actually understand what he's saying all at the same time was a pretty difficult task!

Nonetheless, it was a wonderful experience and I'm planning on returning next week!

Tomorrow I start my Flamenco classes with the University. I'm super dooper dooper pumped.

This is so gonna be me by the end of the semester:

Real flamenco dancers... they're good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIG0r0CCBBw&feature=related

Pues, es todo para hoy. Estoy cansada, voy a dormir.

*buenos noches*

Kaaaaaaaaaaahteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :)