Fitness

In San Sebastían there are normally three paths for major streets.  One for people who are walking, another for people who are biking or jogging, and of course the road for people insane enough to drive in Europe.  I have been in cars here but I would never drive because the roadways are too wild.  Also I can't drive stick and there are almost zero automatics here, but mostly because of some insane driving tactics I've seen.  A week ago on my bus drive to Madrid we were sitting at a red light and an old man began to cross in front of us.  The light turned green but the old man was slow getting across the road so in order to help him along the bus driver decided it was a good idea to ease onto the gas and give the man a little nudge.  I freaked out along with the rest of the front two rows and the old man started shaking his cane at the bus driver the rest of the way across.  Same bus ride a few hours later we are maneuvering through some smaller streets, there are parked cars on both sides and barely enough room to sneak through.  Our bus driver gets stuck but has another brilliant idea, we can back up, so he does, right into a parked car.  Everyone on the bus hears the crunch of metal and glass, we look to see the damage but we are too close to see anything.  A coffee shop begins to empty as people come to see what caused the noise and from their faces I can tell that it is bad.  So in another moment of rapid thought the bus driver guns it and we pull away hoping that no one caught our liscense plate.  So I've decided to take my chance with pick pockets on the sidewalk, as long as I don't have to worry about bus drivers.
The biking and walking paths are fantastic: spacious, well maintained, and almost everyone is considerate enough to pee onto small patches of grass besides the sidewalk.  I'm told public urination is strictly illegal, but the reality looks like it is illegal if it is noon and you're sober, otherwise go for it.  On Fridays and Saturdays the bushes are packed from midnight to three in the morning, I guess the bathrooms are just to stuffy, real freedom is the feeling you get from looking up at the stars and relieving yourself all over your passed out buddy.  Outside might be a better option for those who have been drinking, I mean they're going to miss their target if it is something as small as a toilet bowl, and that only makes it more difficult for the sober ones.  So I say we get the indoor bathrooms and the drunks can go where ever they want, as long as I don't have to walk through it.  And normally I don't, everyone pretty much obeys the rule of pee away from innoncent bystanders, so the walking and running is fantastic.  I have a 10 km path that goes around a mountain, in front of the city, and past all three beaches.  I have taken this path about four times in three weeks and it feels fantastic, I can't make the full distance at a continuous run but I'm getting closer.  The three beaches are a must for anyone planning to run long distance, the women (and men, for my female runners) on the beaches are gorgeous and help you forget the burning sensation in your legs.  My host mom does the same run I do about twice a week, and she usually does it in less time.  She goes mornings and I do afternoons so we never meet up, but she is faster, but what do I care, I have other ways to stay in shape, I can't just be running all the time.
Another way I've been keeping in shape has been tricking on the beach.  The sand is a little harder to take off from because it isn't as hard as dirt but it's soft to land on so I don't have any complaints.  The only problem I've been having is the lack of privacy on these darn public beaches.  When you are able to do a flip or other tricks it looks amazingly cool, but when learning flips, kicks, and other jumps it looks like you have a severe mental disorder.  I don't know how my failed attempts look but I do know that if I had landed on my feet I would not have so much sand in my bathing suit at the end of my practices.  So when I'm surrounded by people who I have never met, lying on my back, covered in wet sand, a normal person would get a little self concious but I'm not normal.  Instead I love the attention and the people trying to emulate me.  Of course there are other people who are also practicing gymnastics or martial arts or whatever on the beaches but I have a very logical system of dealing with them in an egotistical way that keeps me happy.  If they are better than me then they are jerks showing off and should be practicing some where else, but if they're worse then I have inspired them to try and do what I'm doing because of how good I look.
Another place I've found is a gym with a good work out room, not as exciting as the others, but important none the less.  The only problem is that it is in a martial arts center and is used as their hangout.  This creates trouble for me because first, they are all pumped up, adreneline high, potential agressive individuals, the second problem is, they are all a lot stronger than I am.  The only attention I get in the gym is when the muscle bums make fun of me in Spanish behind my back.  I have never seem them doing it but I know it happens.  I doubt the jokes are very good because these guys' brains can't be working to well in the first place, "This heavy object looks like it needs to be lifted then put back down in the exact same place."  These guys could be down practicing Judo or karate to build their muscle mass if there weren't all these heavy objects to be lifted, plus they have to make fun of me.  I'm not paranoid or anything, but when I walk in I know they change the subject and avert their glances, but they talk I'm telling you, "Look at skinny American boy, he look like he have not to be working out very often, jajajaja".  Their brains get very little blood.  But also in the gym are my host father and brother both do Judo.  They are both black belts and my brother also plays on a soccer team some days after school!  I can't believe how physically fit this family, not to mention the country, is.  I'm used to being one of the most fit people around, but I guess that's all relative, I'll feel better about myself when I move back to the U.S, for now there are heavy objects to be lifted.