Ole! (I LOVE my camera)

the flamenco show we saw in Cordoba. <3 <3 <3

My 21st Abroad

Even though I wasn't really looking forward to turning 21so far away from all the people I love, I have to say it was a pretty epic night. I have to admit, it was pretty cool celebrating here (even though drinking age is 18 and they serve beer at school and at McDonalds..)

Anyway, started off the day with a long day of class and a Spanish test, but it was still a good day.. esp because i finally got some indian food. =) my friends took me out for lunch in the ethnic (semi-sketchy) area of LAVAPIES. when we asked for spicy.. it was actually spicy. heaveeeeen. the funny part was after lunch, the waiter came to our table with complimentary alcohol..? it was green.. and he said there were HERBS in it. anywayyyy, my first shot as a 21-year old!

Lunch was only the beginning of the day. We decided to finally enjoy the night as madrilenos. Left the house around 11pm. Went to a bar. Headed to the 7-story club, el Kapital, at 1am. It was really cooooooool. but, 7 stories means 7 lounges w/ diff types of music and not 7 levels of dance floors. Danced for the entire night. Left the club around 5:30am to stuff our faces with chocolate con churros at a random cart in front of the train station. Got on metro when it opened at 6am and was in bed by 6:30am.

The BEST part of the story.. was I had to be on a bus at 8am.... but my alarm wasn't set...so my senora comes to the rescue at 8am. (My friend, Antoinette, left her stuff here the night before so she wouldn't have to go all the way home.) So I jump out of bad, grab my stuff, and run out of the house. No time to change, grab my lunch, or contracts... but we make it to the bus by 8:15am..oh, btw, i ran there in my mini-skirt i was wearing the night before.. and vans.

=) thanks guys. [pic credits to Vanita and Ashley]

The longest day of my life.

So my trip to Segovia was..... interesting. I thought we were going to spend most of our day admiring the aqueduct and the alcazar.. I was wrong. I saw a whole different side of Spain (that I don´t need to see again, mostly bc it was such bad weather).

Our teacher warned us that it would be cold and he told us we should pack extra socks and wear decent shoes, but I didn´t think that we were going to FREEZE. my feet were so cold, i couldn't feel my toes...

Anyway, our itinerary ended up being (9am to 9pm):
MOUNTAIN-Y LANDSCAPE
SKI RESORT
"PICNIC LUNCH" + HIKE through the forest
NARNIA
and finally, SEGOVIA

so, we thought we had it bad at our first stop when we pulled up to a "look-out point..." the bus pulled over on the side of the road, we got out and walked onto some rocks. it was so cold that the puddles of water had thin sheets of ice floating in them... out teachers ended up talking for 30 minutes about the flora y fauna, blah, blah..

so we get back on the bus and continue to drive uphill. i start ignoring what my teachers are saying bc there is gradually more and more snow... and then, all i see is WHITE. fml. then, we stopped to get food (another cafe con leche for me)... at DOS CASTILLAS, a SKI RESORT. we walked in the snow for about 10 minutes, stopped at the bottom of a SKI LIFT, they talked for another 20 minutes (as we listened to kids laugh and play in the snow), and finally we all walked back to the bus. i looked like a fool, but that beanie saved my life.

of course, it doesn't end there... we drove back down the mountain about 10 minutes and our professors tell us that we are going to have a picnic. we look outside and the benches are covered in SNOW. AND we're not allowed to eat on the bus. sooooo we get off... and the bus drives away. x___x

anyway, we explore a little. aka. we take a THIRTY minute hike through the woods... and at the end of our adventure, our bus was waiting for us. THANK GOD. we continue to the PROVINCE of Segovia. and end up at LOS JARDINES DE LA GRANJA, or better known as Narnia, or, if you prefer, the Secret Garden. It was a summer home for LOS REYES CATOLICOS, and probably other famous royalty. Its design is based on the gardens and fountains in Versailles.

Then, we finally made it to Segovia! At first I wasn't too impressed by the aqueduct (mostly bc i was already exhausted). However, since it was built by the Romans and has been there for centuries, so I've changed my mind and decided it's actually pretty awesome. There's nothing holding it together (no cement) and it was made using some sort of cranes (you can see the little holes they used to pick each block up). The cathedral was pretty (from the outside) and the ALCAZAR, or Disneyland was also amazing (from the outside).

I'm still deciding whether I want to go back to Segovia. I'll probably be too lazy..

Tomorrow is my one month anniversary.

I've been here for about a month and looking back I'm already amazed by how much stuff I've seen/done. My 21st is next week and I feel like it's weird to celebrate it here since you're allowed to drink at 18.. in fact, at school, they sell beer during lunch.

A few things I've noticed/miss (aside from my FRIENDS and FAMILY):
1. People only eat at restaurants, cafeterias, or outside.. I never see people eating on bus, metro, and NEVER in school. We're not even allowed to eat in the hallways. aka, i still haven't figured out when/where I can eat. Hence, I think I gained 2 lbs and already lost it.
2. SPICY FOOD. i would kill for some thai/korean/mexican food right about now. She makes spaghetti.. and I put hot sauce in it. I feel sorta guilty... like it seems like I don't like her food or something, but I just want some spice. I think on Thursday I'm gonna treat myself to some Indian food. chicken tikka masala. drool.
3. noodles and sushi. too bad phomenow and nudesushi can't deliver halfway across the world.

however, i am LOVING:
1. class from 4-6 on wednesdays and no class on friday.
2. my senora! she always serves a variety of food (i thought i would be eating meat a lot like in Argentina. i'm so spoiled, i get fruit and DESSERT everyday) and she puts up with my broken spanish..
3. hearing spanish everywhere. sometimes i just like to listen to other people
4. getting tapas with your drinks. free food!
5. traveling every weekend (even though i eat crackers for lunch to save money)

and it just got better! there's this program called Intercambio and basically you pair up with a spanish student and they practice english with me and i practice spanish with them. my friend hooked it up with a pretty good-looking guy. hopefully he has friends =) as my cuento teacher said, "The best way to learn the language is to fall in love."


Wish me luck!

In just 3 easy steps..

lots of posts today bc i'm procrastinating... i have to read two spanish plays: FUENTEOVEJUNA and LA VIDA ES SUENO. anyway, since it's hard to understand and focus, i've been reading summaries and this advertisement was NEXT to my summary. 

CLIPS PRIVADOS (no vulgar pictures, don't worry)

Basically, it says in 3 easy steps you can make money by making porn videos. 

1. make the video (they suggest you can use a webcam x____x).

2. upload it on this website. 

3. make money every time someone watches it. EASY, RIGHT? 

WTF. oh, spain. 

these would never fly in the US either.

Everything is possible in a hotel room..... Click on the picture if you want to make it bigger. 

"Room-mate Hotel" 

.......

Semana Santa (Spring Break!)

So, my Spring Break is March 26-April 5... and if you didn't know, I'm going to ITALY!

3/26 Milan

3/27 Venice

3/28-3/31 Florence (day trips to Piza, Siena, Orvieto, Volterra - yes, its supposed to look like the scenes in Twlight)

4/1 Pompeii

4/2 Naples (ferry to Capri)

4/3-4/5 Rome

I could really use a break from the rainy/dreary/miserable weather right now...I'm looking forward to CAPRI!

(hope you're not too jealous.. hehe) i'm gonna be so broke it's not even funny. we're taking a train overnight and sleeping in the airport one night so we can save money. oh, and veronica is bringing me peanut butter bc that's all i'm going to eat. maybe some granola?

A Bailar. A Bailar. A Bailar.

FLAMENCO PART 1
the super intense, passionate flamenco

FLAMENCO PART 2
sevillanas (like what we learned in high school!)

Sevilla

SEVILLA is my new favorite city in Spain. There was something about the old-town feel and architecture that made the visit pretty amazing. It was a short walk into the main part of town, but we were located right next to a HUGE cathedral (which are starting to all look the same to me) and REAL ALCAZAR. We didn't get to do much bc we came in from Cadiz around 3pm, but instead we went to a flamenco show. I left my camera  in Madrid (for security reasons), so I didn't get any pictures.. but I have some videos that I will try to post tomorrow. They put our high school sevillanas to shame.

Anyway, we didn't get to go inside la CATEDRAL DE SANTA LUISA bc Sunday was a religious holiday and the worse thing is I came home, re-read my guidebook, and learned that Christopher Columbus' tomb is inside. FAIL. but, at least we got into REAL ALCAZAR for free bc we're students. I think it was the prettiest castle I've seen so far. We stood in the chapel were Ferdinand and Isabel were married. pretty awesome. 

I didn't really feel like walking (after exploring Cadiz a little too much), but I'm glad we hit up the big landmarks. PLAZA ESPANA was beautiful. I expected a bronze statue or something, but it was really cool. There are ceramic tiles paintings of all the major cities/areas of Spain. I gave in and bought myself a flamenco fan.. and almost bought the castanuelas too... 

Last, but not least, we went to PLAZA DE TOROS A LA MAESTRANZA. Basically, the 2nd oldest bullring in Spain. The tour was in Spanish and then she repeated herself in English. I tried to understand her in Spanish first and then reconfirm what she said when she said it in English. The only time it didn't work when she was explaining how bull fights are judged. 

It's a pretty cruel sport. Each fight takes about 25 minutes. There's a bunch of different things they do to mess with and tease the bull for the first 20 and then the matador comes out to kill it. Depending on his style and precision, the crowd and president? decides what level of award he will receive. So, the matador can receive up the 3 TROFEOS (trophies). THREE, means a perfect show and the chance to walk out the "Puerta del Principe." It's so hard to win 3 that nobody received it last year. Anyway, it's a huge sign of honor and respect. 

The crazy part is the TROFEOS are:

1 trofeo - the matador will receive 1 ear

2 trofeos - the matador will recieve both ears

3 trofeos - the matador gets both ears and the tail

fun fact: the bull's tail (RABO DE TORO) is a delicacy and they serve it as a tapa!

Now you can see why i had no idea what she was saying in Spanish bc the whole sport literally doesn't make sense.

Me encantais.

The best part about traveling is picking up new words from the locals. the phrase of this weekend was, "me encantais." It's funny/creepy when you hear it from strangers, pues, vale. me encantais. =)

Our first stop was CADIZ. We should have been crazy college students and stayed up all night to party FOR CARNAVAL without anywhere to sleep, but instead, we arrived on Friday (a day early) and missed most of the festivities bc we didn't want to pay outrageous prices for a hotel on Saturday. It's okay though, probably would have passed out on a street somewhere anyway. Better safe then sorry.. We still dressed up as gypsies though and plan on reusing the costume for this weekend (close of carnaval) and halloween, maybe?

Anyway, we arrived in CADIZ around 7am and pretty much toured the entire city. We got lost a few times, but learned our landmarks quickly. As in, "there's that cool door we saw," "i remember that tanning salon," "OH, the church!" but hey, whatever works. Most fascinating thing was el CENTRO MERCADO. tons of fresh fruit, meat, seafood, and snails.... Our vacations seems to always revolve around food, but we've learned to eat on a budget, so we just bought bread, SALCHICA, y cheese. We were pretty much deprived of hot meals for the entire weekend (except for our weakness for CAFE CON LECHE, of course).

not really sure what the stuff on the right is.. but, it was moving

sea urchins!

everything is so FRESH.....

look at the GIANT green beans.

EW. i would never try another snail.

and all i could afford was my 1.30 cafe con leche

tips for when you go to CADIZ:

1. avoid rainy days, so you can enjoy the beach =/

2. no need to see the castles, they're sort of disappointing (unless you like sitting and watching a strange light show in the art gallery for 20 minutes, which we did bc we were so tired)

3. the TORRE (tower w scenic view) is hard to find and not that tall.. didn't want to pay to see the view so who knows if it's worthwhile

Out&About

It's Thursday again and I'm packed for CADIZ y SEVILLA! We're taking another overnight bus, so wish me luck. I hope I sleep like a baby.

Anyway, classes are going well also. We have a substitute for one of my lit classes and she KILLS me. I'm so bored and she talks to fast I can barely understand her. Today, we did the strangest thing. She made us all get up and stand around the room while one student read a monologue and walked around the classroom. She told us that every 5-10 seconds we have to turn around and not pay attention to anything the student said... WEIRD. the funny part was the teacher was soooooo into it (like calculating exactly when she would turn around), but we were just standing. AND at first she told us we needed to move the desks out of the way to do this.... so my friends broke a desk.

she's crazy, i swear.

Reasons to have Spanish babies.

another cutie in Sevilla.. (photo quality not as good, didn't want to bring my better camera)

Parents better beware, bc i might kidnap your kids....
THEY'RE SO CUTE!!

BUT, not all of them... (just thought these pictures were really funny.... i love my stalker camera)

so so so entertaining. i'm pretty sure he was throwing around a toy car, picking it up, and balancing it on his head. most importantly, i think he has a mullet. i think he was neglected as a toddler.

notice the girl on the left. HAHAHA "are you talking to me?" 

VU&CAREN, that was for you.

San Sebastian (capital of amazing food)

spent forever in SAN SEBASTIAN, but it was really relaxing.. the beach was beautiful (i was tempted to try surfing again) and the food was to die for. i wish i could bring it back for you guys. anyway, all trips have their ups&downs. so i'll start with the worst.

not so great:
1. we decided to overnight it to save money/time. so we got to San Sebastian at 6am...and i didn't sleep really well on the bus..however, we were awake to see the sunrise (even though we were at the wrong beach..) still a cool view though.

2. my first hostel experience. overall, okay. the negative is we had noisy roommates that checked in at 4am the first night. good thing, i sleep like a rock.

so-so:
1. BILBAO - a rainy day.. =/ The Guggenheim Museum was pretty cool from the outside, but it was currently about FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT.. from the US..so not so special. It did have this really cool iron artwork that we walked through called LA MATERIA DEL TIEMPO.

For lunch, this pizza place had some BOMB nachos. it was chips baked in mozzarella cheese, fresh out of the oven. At the end of the day, we walked across town to see the bull-fighting ring, which was closed, so i only saw it through the window... We decided to practically run back to catch the bus back to San Sebastian.. but we missed it by a few minutes. Hence, we found another PASTELERIA. I tried a dessert made with rice.. It looked like a Chinese egg custard and it wasn't too bad. I'm not sure i would go back to Bilbao. I think once is enough for me.

AMAZING:
1. the food, food, food!! i had the best tapas so far in San Sebastian. They call them PINXTOS (pin-chos) instead. I had fried fish and calamari, goat cheese in a pastry, a king crab tart, artichoke sandwich... i tried la OREJA de CERDO. (look it up lol) it was crispy, but sorta fatty.. don't think i'll order it again, but it wasn't bad. and we had the BEST TORTILLA ever! it's only made at 1pm and 8pm at NESTORS BAR. we were talking to the guy and the bar was featured in a lonely planet magazine for a 3 page spread.

2. took the tram to the top of a mountain. they called it a FUNICULAR. lol fun word. anyway, view was worth the pay and sketchy ride.

3. hiked up a different mountain.. the view was breathtakingggggg. loved it. my pictures are so awesome. LOVE LOVE LOVE the camera btw. =)

4. even though the weather was overcast. we came on the weekend of two festivals. saturday night, everyone was dressed up as gypsies and they had performances and everything. sunday afternoon, they were dressed up in country clothing.. if you want to see what i'm talking about.. check out the youtube: CALDEREROS

Mi Casa

it´s been about 3 weeks since i´ve been here.. and i feel like i have a new home

had fun in san sebastian and got some amaaaaaazing photos of my trip. but, i couldn´t wait to get back to madrid and sleep in my bed.

home is alameda, berkeley, and now, madrid.

Oh, spanish boys.

as I was on the way home from school on the train, i had a good laugh with Vanita about an encounter from last night.

So first of all, I wore my new boots, and i pretty much can't walk quickly in heels. aka there was no escape.

anyway, as we were walking to the metro and out of a bar, these guys start smiling/trying to talk to us and we try to walk away fast.. but, as i mentioned, i couldn't really walk any faster. lol so we get inside and we're on the escalator to get onto the right train and one of them stops in front of me, turns around to face me:

him: what's your name? (smiling, of course)
me: uhhh.. no. (FAIL)
him: do you speak english?
me: yeah... do you speak english?
*end of escalator ride*
him: you are very beautiful, ciao!
me: ciao...

HAHAHAHA *awkward* now that i look back. that was a pretty dumb response. i was pretty flustered and didn't want to meet a guy in a metro station... at first i was wondering why he asked me if i spoke english, but looking back. it all makes sense...

and he was pretty cute too, SIGH.

The weekend has started!

Thursday is the new Friday. 

anyway, i'm just trying to get all my homework done before i leave. just gotta write about some poems. here's a a few things before i depart to san sebastian this weekend (hoping there's no rain!!!)

so i'm starting to actually really like my classes. well, i mean... the content is pretty interesting. my teachers are all fairly animated. and the work load is fair. it varies from class to class.. i either have a lot of reading or nothing due for 2 weeks.

in my spanish class, to review how to say things like, "do you want to go to the movies?" we've been practicing with real places in Madrid. so i learned that CHUECA is the gay district and LAVAPIES is the multicultural district. aka where i can get my fix for spicy food.

for my cuento class, even though i don't really understand the stories, our first assignment is to write a short story using the first-person. sounds lame, but the scenario is.. i'm a 70 year-old, middle-class man who is justifying the murder of my wife because she makes too much noise while i'm trying to sleep. hahah should be kinda fun..

journalism is super chill. we're making a blog about food (go figure) and it's worth 1/2 my grade. if you want to see it (there's not much right now), click here: LOSCALIS

not gonna lie, haven't done much in my environment class. just learned about mountains and different kinds of rocks... thrilling, i know. but i actually did learn that on one of the canary islands, there is a volcano.

finally, we're doing poetry in my other lit class. not into the whole syllable counting things, but the theme of love is fun. so romantic... guess i have to find a lover in Spain, move here, and live in a mansion. well, you know, that's the plan. =)


hasta luego, leaving at 11pm. won't be back til late, late, late sunday night.

Escorial and Toledo

anyway, on friday, we went to see REAL MONASTERIO DE EL ESCORIAL. (wonder why it's not "del"). i totally wasn't ready for the weather and it was suuuuuuuuuuper cold. we were all freezing bc the wind was so persistent. the train stop was by a small town. so small that we walked around in a circle about 3 times deciding what we wanted to eat. we settled on sandwiches at a cafe. apparently it's pretty common for them to put an egg in the middle.. so it gets messy, but still pretty good. tip: if your sandwich comes on a plate, you're probably supposed to eat it with a fork and a knife. also we had this appetizer with mini-pickles and olives. not a big fan of olives, but the combination was really good!

tuna, vegetables, and egg sandwich

pickles and olives

eventually, after grubbing we walked up towards the monastery, which looks like a castle to me.. (when we asked donde esta el castillo, the park ranger was adamant about the fact that that it is NOT a castle..) anyway, the inside was pretty cool (again, not allowed to take pictures) but, they had an awesome library with texts from the 15th-16th centuries, a huge church, Felipe II's old wheelchair-thing, etc. the craziest part was entering the pantheon. anyway, it's where the kings and queens of the Bourbon dynasty are buried.. in these HUGE marble caskets. it was pretty chilling. there were also a bunch of tombs for the royal family, esp. children, that have died. the place was massive, but we couldn't really tell bc we were too close to it and only walked around 1/4 of it. on the way home, this crazy/drunk guy (who also touched my hair. GROSS.) got arrested for running across the train track while the train was coming... interesting way to end the day..

the big dome was where the church was

here's a view from the top that i found on-line

the next day we went to TOLEDO. an amazing city of cobblestone and history. at one point it was the capital of Madrid and probably housed the most diverse group of people (jews, muslims, and christians). we walked around the town and almost got run over a few times. the streets are so narrow, you wouldn't think a car would drive through.. but then you hear an engine and have to either run to an "open" area or flatten yourself along the wall. we took a train around to see the outside of the city and spent the day walking up and down the hills. it was like i was back in berkeley. lol we had a field day taking pictures by the fortress walls, tiny streets, and especially el PUENTE DE SAN MARTIN. another exhausting day, but at least it was finished with a cup of coffee. maybe sangria next time?

i wasn't kidding about cars..

the bridge =)

Spaniards likes Asians

so i have some funny stories from last week, but you should probably just ask me if you want to hear the juicy details. anyway, i've learned that guys here are pretty aggressive and i don't think they see asian americans very often. i went clubbing last week and it was an entertaining night... one guy came up to me and bowed. another just walked by, played with my hair, and smiled. i'm not sure if i should be offended....lolll but, i've decided it's pretty harmless as long as they're good-looking and there's a lot of people around so they can't kidnap or drug me. so no worries.

sidenote, i'm really into graffiti and this picture is perfect for this post. =)

Mi Horario

so i´ve realized i have a bunch of random readers and bc my mom was getting mad at me yesterday, i´m going to write about my classes. (so you can skip this if you´re not into reading about more school)

so, surprisingly i got placed in the top half of the students here studying spanish. i´m sure my grammar-writing pushed me up a level bc i still can´t speak very fluently, but i´m working on it. in fact, everyday i spend about an hour talking to my senora about anything. she knows a lot about history and what things to see around spain. she´s been housing people for 6 years and every morning she tells me, ¨buenos dias, carino¨ =)

anyway, mi horario (schedule) es:

LIT DEL SIGLO DE ORO - lit from the golden era (15-16 century)
teacher is pretty cool, really animated, but my reader is suppppeeer thick. so i´m going to have tons of reading with a lot of words i won´t understand.
CUENTO - short story
just switched teachers, but the stories i´m reading are super random.. very.. uh fantasty-like. today we read a story called el rio, by julio cortazar. it was about a married couple. the wife wants to commit suicide and the husband doesnt think she will. then he misses her and wants her and they have sex and she dies in the river. WEIRD.
ESPANOL avn. alto b - spanish..
funn so far. our intro was a spanish song from motorcycle diaries. it's really soothing, actually.
LISTEN. (not really sure what the video is all about...) but the song is talking about where his entire family is from.
PERIODISMO - journalism-media
will be writing another blog. probably about food. worth 50% of my grade. pretty awesome. we also watched man on wire. in english... but it was a really interesting documentary..
MEDIOAMBIENTE - environmental studies
so far i just learned some geography.. and i´m going to SEGOVIA with my class

overall, i´m a nerd and actually pretty excited for my classes. minus the reading.

the only thing that is unfortunate is that i have to commute to school, which takes about 45 minutes (walking, metro, train) so once i get on campus, i don't leave. the nice thing is on mondays i have a gap from  11-4 so i can actually leave and go do something, wednesdays i only have class from 4 to 6 (aka free afternoon) and thursday i finish by 2:30. and friday no school! (better for traveling. also, art was the only friday class. no thanks)