la montaña

I hiked a mountain! Cross that baby off my bucket list =)

Yesterday (real yesterday, I'm actually all caught up!) I got up and went with my host mom to climb la sierra de Huelon I believe it was called. They're the mountains to the north of Granada, not to the south which is where Las Sierra Nevadas sit. Those mountains are much bigger and much colder, so I was definitely okay with the mountain we were on since it was my first time actually hiking a mountain (now I've skied and snowmobiled them just fine, but never me hiking). Also, we ended up picking the coldest day I've been here to climb it--it was snowing too! Granted I love when it snows and it signals a good time, but still, it was quite unexpected to the 50 degree and sun shining weather I've been experiencing here.

This hike was beautiful (I feel like I have been using that word a lot lately, but its what it is!). The snow lightly laying on the ground and sprinkling the trees. The view from the top of all the trees, all the cracks, all the rivers,  and all the snow was spectacular. Even the red/brown rocks I was looking at most of the time in order not to trip and make a fool of myself were pretty. I love nature and was happy to spend my Sunday morning outside glorifying God through all He had created. (I wish I had had my camera with me, but it decided today of all days to have issues)

Not only had God provided me snow to ease my nerves, I am also led to believe He provided me with a friend for the hike. While there was a total of 9 of us, one of the 9 was the daughter of one of my host mom's friends. Her name was Patri and she was 13 years old. She and I talked and walked together almost the entire time. It was great! She would talk slower or use different words so that I could understand better and then she understood my choppy (at times) Spanish so we actually held conversation (momma you should be proud, I'm moving on from questions to a couple of sentences responding. Monologues are next!) She was filled with information about the mountain, about her school, and about her likes. She was also filled with questions ranging from what the United States thought of Obama to what was my favorite animal. It was a funny and relaxing conversation. Even after the hike while we were at lunch, she and I continued to talk and then laugh a lot as we tried to do tongue twisters. It was fabulous!