This weekend a group of us visited Baños, a town I had heard was the “adventure capital” of Ecuador even before arriving in the country. Between everyone, we covered a range of activites – biking, hiking, ATV-ing, ziplining, white water rafting…

Over the past few days, I keep thinking about the idea of “home”…about not only making Siena my home for the next few months, but also bringing small parts of my own home in Arkansas (and partially South Carolina) with me to Italy. I think I’m a little surprised by the fact that Siena is already beginning to feel comfortable. Aside from the fact that I can (somewhat) navigate around the city, I’m beginning to have a set routine. A few things in my routine…

Kasha in London- January’s 2nd video Kasha in London- January’s 2nd video

My first week in Spain has been a whirlwind of sun, siestas, and sore feet. I arrived in Málaga this past Monday, and have been in Granada since Wednesday. Orientation is in full swing, and I have class from 9-2 each day to brush up on common phrases, safety in the city, and Spanish culture. I’ve found Granada to be a very open city, with friendly people and a common phrase of “no pasa nada,” or “no worries.”  Life here is much slower and more calm than life in the United States, and I think this is the biggest culture shock I’ve had thus far.

It’s hard to think it’s already been an entire year since I started my journey to live and study in Rome. Looking back, it was an experience that I never fully appreciated until returning to the U.S.  Being able to walk through a city of vast art and history everyday as I walked to and from a school right in the heart of Rome wasn’t something at the time that I could fully comprehend. However, once you leave a place like that, it all seems to be put into perspective.

Ciao!

I’m happy to say that I’ve been successfully fighting the temptation to say  ”Well, I can just go see this later.  I just got here anyway…” because before I knew it, three weeks have gone by.  Three wonderful weeks that have been filled with adventure (both good and bad- I had some bank troubles but all is well now).

Of the very little research on Spain I did before coming here, a great majority focused on Spanish food. I read that a key principle of Spanish cooking is to use the freshest and finest ingredients and interfere with them as little as possible. My observations so far have confirmed this.

Today my host mother took me to the monthly morning market near her tofu factory outside Nagoya. There were rice, vegetables, and various types of tofu on sale. I learned about tsumihoudais for the first time – you pay a fixed amount of money and stack as much food on top of one another as possible, and leave with the amount you manage to stack without the whole thing falling over at the end.