not too shabby

Guess I´m starting to blend in =)

one woman just asked me where the bathrooms were, which i didn´t know. so i just said sorry..lol
(which is probably better bc i´m not sure how i would have explained it)

AND

i just helped a girl print her hw. and before she left she said thank you and bye.

yeeeee.

ITALY SOON!!!! (after finishing up all my work. gah)

Spanglish

When I get home.... I´m not going to be able to speak English correctly. I´ve realized that this blog is the most I ever write in English and I don´t even update it very often. Sometimes when I´m writing, my sentences come out backwards. It´s not good.

It takes me a few paragraphs to realize that I´m reading in English.. and sometimes the documentaries in English don´t even make sense to me. Also, not good.

Yesterday, we were talking about transportation..and in my head I was thinking about ¨viajes del tren,¨ which is translated to train trips. fml. it sounds weird, but it took me a few minutes to realize i meant train RIDES...and the other day, I was telling my friend that the restaurant is ¨cerca¨ to...(aka it´s close to)

Practicad (vos command) tu castellaño para hablar conmigo.

Also, I´m up early (at school at 10:45am), bc I was supposed to have a 2 hr class from 10-12. It got cancelled.. so today, I only have class from 1-230 and 5-6. Pretty awesome, but it also means I could have slept in. a lot.

Barcelona Nightlife

It's a good thing I'm not studying in Barcelona.. bc then, I would never be studying. The nightlife is ridiculous!

Highlights of the trip:

LAS EXTRANJERAS: (nice way of saying foreigners)

thanks to Veronica&Tiff for coming to visit me!!

EL GATO NEGRO: CHUPITOS BAR

Coolest place I've ever been. The menu of shots is ridiculous.. and the funniest part is you don't know what you're ordering until you get your drinks. I would avoid things like black widow and titty twister, but that's your call.

A few of my favorites were:

#1 Harry Potter: has some patron (patronus.. haha..) etc. etc. and the bartender lit in on fire! 

WATCH IT LIGHT ON FIREEE seriously, it's only 16 seconds.

#2 the "stupid shot"

connect three straws, put the chupito over your head.. and drink it (as she demonstrated).

#3 Willy Wonka

 some chocolate heaven.. that came with whipped cream and a piece of chocolate

SAMOSAS!!

Smartest businessmen ever. Samosas are the best late night food.

 

Pictures are worth a thousand words. Thanks for taking us around Louis

As much as I loved Barcelona, and want to go back, I'm still glad I chose to study in Madrid. I think I'd be overwhelmed by the Catalan pride and language. Everything is written in Catalan instead of Spanish, which is still hard for me to believe and understand. It's an amazing place to vacation, but not so much if you wanna practice Spanish. I also heard a lot of English on my trip to BCN - more than I normally hear in Madrid. It's just a totally different culture. Through EAP, it has its pros/cons.. The university is right in the middle of the city and everything is in walking distance, but you have to find your own apartment, which means I wouldn't have a senora! =( Anyway, these past two weekends (that I've stayed in Madrid), have made me realize how much I love Madrid. ME ENCANTA. 

Now, I'm feeling sort of bittersweet about my study abroad time.. bc I'll be home in exactly TWO MONTHS. Mostly, I can't decide if I'm excited to go home or sad to leave Spain. I could make a list of things I miss about the states.. and I'm getting a little homesick (which is why i keep myself so busy). I also wonder if anything will be different when I get back. We shall see.

Barcelona (Part II)

BCN wouldn't be as cool without Antoni Gaudi.

that's pretty much all i have to say. we all saved up our money to see his famous architecture (the first house we went into was 14 euros!). so all i'm going to do is post pictures... 

Casa Batllo

supposed to look like a tornado.. he did a good job.

beautiful and functional (they're chimneys)

rooftop

Casa Mila (La Pedrera)

i'm not really sure what that is.. or where veronica went..

the most photographed chimneys in the world

La Sagrada Familia (still being built)

Park Guell

isn't it pretty?!

we were sitting on top of this.. that's why it's all curvy

one of the decorated tiles on the roof

the end of a successful day =)

Barcelona (Part I)

was an adventure (to say the least)

it all started when we thought staying at the airport overnight was a good idea. we saved 10euros each, but i'm pretty sure we only got 3 hours of sleep, maybe? (including the 1 hour flight) but, it's okay.. bc we're troopers. and at least we found out there's a McDonalds with comfy chairs that we can sleep in next time (aka for our 6am flight to Milan)..

our first day was our adventure down LAS RAMBLAS, which is a famous street in Barcelona known for it's street vendors/performers and LA BOQUERIA. La Boqueria is amaaaaazing. I've never seen so much fresh fruit in one market in my lifeee! There were fresh fruit smoothies for 1 euro.. yum yum yummm.

I've realized that a lot of things they do in Spain, would never fly in the US. Right now, I'm referring to the street vendors with CAGES of animals.. There were like 20 hamsters in one cage.. and tanks with turtles.. We saw a ferret! I'm pretty sure it's just all kinds of illegal.

During the day we explored the older part of the city and ended up at the beach! Being in Madrid for so long makes me miss the coast.. However, the most memorable part of the view of the Mediterranean Sea would have to be the two naked guys we saw. Once they started walking in our direction... it was time to go.. not a pretty sight.

But our day immediately got better when we met up with Louis! We ate at la CHAMPAGNERIA which is famous for it's CAVA (pink champaign) and the hamburgers were soooooo good. I never thought I'd miss hamburgers.. but omg. I think the pickles, ketchup, and mustard made it taste like heaven. The place was so packed.. that I didn't even take pictures. It was ridiculous. I love hole-in-the-wall restaurants...

Last, but not least, we saw the water/light show at FONT MAGICA. and solved the mystery of where Veronica and Tiffany were located...

Taste of Spain

when this song comes on at the clubs.. everyone gets excited: Wiki Wiki

i'm starting to like techno.. i could totally be a stage dancer here. @duom

i also heard things song in a candle shop and thought it was really catchy: El Profe Miranda

btw, i have OCD.. so i´m going to re-organize my blog after i get back from semana santa.. so the order will change soon

Granada

since i've been slacking... and i'm leaving for italy in a few days.. i'm trying to update about all my little viajes in the next few days...

so on the same weekend we went to Cordoba, we also went to Granada.

Granada was another beaauuuuutiful city. The most striking thing was the ALHAMBRA, which i've finally learned is the arabic word for castle. In their culture, the architecture is way different because they put all the artwork and structural detail on the inside. Our guide told us it's bc it's more special for those who actually get to see it (royalty& aristocracy). The details on the walls are amaaaazing. There's also tons of water/fountains inside bc in the Southern Spain (Andalucia), there wasn't much water. If you ever wondered why an oasis is considered paradise, it's bc water represents luxury.

SQUARE not-so-fancy outside

round inside! here's all the UC kids =)

The walls inside. It means, "God is the only winner."

me&anto

If you're not into history, I'd stop reading here. But, one of the really cool things about the Alhambra is that it's at the very top of the hill. Perfect for a castle, right? Anyway, the king could always look down into the city and see what was going on. He even had windows that he could look out, that nobody could see into. Granada was a medieval city, so in the city below the castle the streets are arranged like a maze. When intruders tried to attack, the citizens had a huge advantage bc they could easily navigate the streets. Here's the view:

Another interesting fact.. the reason why Spaniards drink in the streets and eat so much jamon is because during the Inquisition everyone wanted to prove they were Christian. and in certain other religions (i forgot which..) they aren't allowed to drink alcohol or eat pork. so everyone would celebrate and openly "prove" they were Christian. aka i'm going to have to BOTELLON (drink in the streets) - FYI. tall plastic cups are the new red cups...

also, since i'm low on money.. i didn't exactly get to see the tombs of FERDINAND II and ISABELLA I (the king and queen that sent Columbus on his journey to find America), but i took a picture of the outside.. lol

hopefully, it wasn't too impressive....

Cordoba

A few weeks ago, I went to Cordoba and Granda and both cities were beautiful and packed with history. (I look really sloppy in my pictures...bc i barely made it to the bus on time...)

Anyway, in Cordoba, we stayed in the old part of town near the MEZQUITA. The history behind the city is the transformation from religion, to religion, to religion. (I sorta got lost between the specific groups..) After the inquisition, the Catholics/Christians? came in and instead of tearing the mosque down, they decided to build the cathedral inside. It's pretty amazing. I sorta forgot what the arches symbolize.. but they look really cool! If you look closely.. some of them are painted (bc they got lazy).

(can you see how the ones in the back are painted?)

(the ceiling of the church that was built inside the mosque)

As we took a tour of the city, we walked down the famous CALLE DE LAS FLORES (which will probably look a lot cooler in the spring/summer), but it was perfect when we walked down because one of the stores was playing flamenco music and it really felt like Spain.

We tried some of the typical food there.. and I can say it was alright. We tried SALMOREJO, which is a reddish-cold soup. It was thicker than gazpacho and has mostly tomatoes and olive oil. We also had FLAMENQUINES, which is some type of meat and ham rolled up and deep fried. Usually it's served with mayonnaise and can be served at 40cm long! We also had BERENJENAS con MIEL. They deep fry pieces of eggplant and give you thick honey to dip them in. yummmmm.

salmorejo

flamenquines

berenjenas con miel

Epiphany

Today, I just had one of those moments where I realize how much I love it here. I know I've been meaning to update about my other weekend travels.. but, just thought I'd share my other experiences. i realized how coool it is to be in SPAIN as i was watching the sunset from the 9th floor of Cortes Ingles drinking a cafe con leche. =)

Last night, I went to a random performance. It was at COLEGIO MAYOR SAN JUAN EVANGELISTA and it was this small intimate theater. The stage was filled with pinwheels and I should have known it was going be strange from the beginning.

Anyway, the play was called LA MALA HIERBA and I can't really tell you what it was about bc i had no idea what was going on.... I think what happened was there was one crazy lady.... who hired this man to kill her husband... then poisoned that man (buried them both in her garden of pinwheels aka the hierbas) and then accidentally poisoned her neighbor (who was an annoying old woman in a wheel chair).. and then poisoned herself.. (after trying to marry her fake husband that was made of vegetables).... hahahah clearly, i need to practice my spanish more..

I did, however, start an intercambio with this girl at school. So I only talked to her in Spanish for 30 minutes... and she understood most of what i was saying =) This other guy emailed me about meeting up to practice english/spanish.. but I'm sorta sketched out bc he already graduated from my school.. and is doing grad school and is 27! sooo i'm only chatting with him.. and don't plan on actually meeting up... (probably safer)

the funny story of the week is..... my senora has a neighbor that's my age that knows a little bit of english and he wants to practice speaking too. he injured his leg (or something, not really sure if understood) and can't leave his house...but, i'm supposed to meet up with him soon. anyway, she leaves one day and tells me to answer the phone just in case it's him. soooooo i do.

me: hola
lady: maytae (short for Maria Teresa) esta alli?
me: no, ella no esta aqui. pero, si quieras, puedo sacar un mensaje.
lady: oh something something. doy una vuelta.. hasta luego..

i think i said.. "if you want, i can throw away a message".. i meant tomar (to take).. =/ and i figured out that i should have said, "puedes dejar un mensaje." and with my luck, he didn't even end up calling bc there was a Real Madrid vs. France soccer game. fail fail fail.

Clubbing in Spain

Still to come (Cordoba/Granada and Barcelona)...

but until then, i thought this was hilarious. and reminds me of the party-scene in Madrid bc I always hear techno/house (if it's not american music)

Resolved Question on Yahoo:

VERY POPULAR Techno Song?? HELP!!! They play it in clubs?!
"I ALWAYS hear this song on the radio or when I'm up in the club but I can't find what it's called...its all beats one part of the song is like this


k well it will get real low then slowly start picking back up and it will go faster as it does


dun dun dun dun
dun dun dun dun
err
dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun 
dundundundundundundundundundun
er er er er er er er ER ER ER ER ER ER ER der der der der derrr


i'm sorry if this is really bad information but i'm sure if you think of REALLY popular techno/rave songs you could help!! thanks!!"

......... are you serious?

bonus points if you know what song it is.. there's actually an answer.

Tarea

went to Cordoba and Granada this weekend. (i took almost 400 photos....)

but other than that, don't be expecting a blog from me anytime soon. too much hw to do before i go to Barcelona this weekend and finally get to see VERONICA&TIFFANY!

i have a 4 page paper about my "excursion" to Segovia, a brainstorm for my story, and a brochure of what to do in madrid.....

hasta luego

(PS, i had an amazingggggg birthday)