Last week I was talking to the one of the teachers at my school about how I wanted to find a soccer team to play with. He said he would call his friend who was the daughter of the manager of C.A. Gimnastico Don Benito. He did and the next day I went to train with them. They are in the 5th division of Spain and they play other teams around Extremadura. The first practice was rough, we ran 10 or 12 laps around the field and that was just the warmup. I somehow made it through that, but I was pretty gassed the rest of the practice. I've since been to two other training sessions and my fitness has gotten way better since then. It feels good to be on a team again and knocking the ball around. We practice on the Don Benito stadium grass and also on a lighted field-turf field behind the stadium.

Last Tuesday I participated in a yearly tradition here in Don Benito. It's a pilgrimage with the Virgen de Las Cruces from the church in the center of town to her chapel 8 km outside town. A bunch of people carry her the entire distance on their shoulders. It's called La Vela' and there were maybe five-thousand people walking the distance with friends and family. I left alone, but met up with Aleksis and his girlfriend along the way. When we got to the chapel there was food, and a flea market of sorts. It was pretty fun, but my feet hurt a lot after all that walking. We took the bus back into town at around 12:30 p.m. and then I fell asleep.

I have also started working at the school. It's been two weeks now, and I have just about seen all the classes that I will be with. I have 24 classes that I will see once every two weeks. Needless to say there are a lot of faces and names, too many to remember really. Spanish high schools are set up differently from American ones. They have six grades all together in one school from 11-12 year olds up all the way to maybe 20 year olds who have taken longer to graduate. The first four years are mandatory, but the last two are optional, but necessary to get into college.

The students are all pretty enthusiastic and pretty much ask me the same questions every day. What is your favorite Spanish food? Do you know any famous people? Do you have a girlfriend? So far I've only done introductions, but tomorrow the real lessons will likely begin. I haven't been asked to plan lessons, only assist so it's pretty easy and fun to do.

I also have acquired a bunch of students for private lessons. I have 8 or 9 hours right now, and the extra money helps. It's pretty fun, and I have students of all ages, so I have to custom tailor each lesson for the target group.

Well hasta luego for now!