Carnival

So I’ve been here for almost two months now and have little over three left but I still find myself amazed that I’m here. I think mainly because I’ve adapted so well. I mean when you have to you adapt but I just seem to be in a complete routine now in a country I’ve never been before with people I’ve never met! It’s just crazy...lol! I will say that I’m enjoying every minute of it. Ash Wednesday was today and I didn’t go to mass. My excuse is that I don’t know when services are but I think more than anything I’m just intimidated. Especially because I literally live right across the street from a church! So I received a request for things to write about in the blog so here you go, afterwards stayed tuned for my weekend at Carnival in Cadiz!

I would have to say that my favorite foods here so far are the tortillas. Nothing like our tortillas at home. These are more like omelet’s or egg casseroles. Its round and about an inch and a half thick consisting of different things depending on what kind you get. The most famous is the tortilla Espanola which is with potatoes, onions and cheese in it. Although the one I had tonight for dinner was amazing!!! It had chorizo, cheese and onion. As for the rest of the food I have a feeling I’m going to be eating a lot of lentils (sp?) when I get back. Always had a bad stigma to me but actually very good…lol.

For the best thing I’ve seen…hmmm…that’s a tuffy…I guess I would have to say Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. It’s not even completed but it was still so amazing. I can’t really even begin to describe it but it was like abstract but religious with cubist like sculptures and organic forms and amazing use of light and line…..pretty much just awesome. I haven’t been out of the country though yet so I’ll get back to you on that.

Speaking of which, I’m trying my hardest to go to Egypt!!! Like most kids I went through my Egypt phase but I’ve still always wanted to go and it’s a definite possibility. Yes I do know what happened there earlier this week but I actually people living there that I’m staying with and helping me out. The plan is for Cairo and Luxor, where I think I will fulfill another dream of mine which is to take a train and be in a sleeper car! Random I know but still cool to me.





Now for the third largest party in the world!!! So I’ve been to Mardi Gras one time while I was in high school, but it was in Galveston and I didn’t stay long. This was an all night affair which I took a party bus to leaving at 8:30pm and returning sometime around 7am…yea. So you all know I am not a party person but I can now say I have been and more importantly that I’ve been to a bigger party than Tony, hahaha!!!! Lol jp (if you don’t know Tony he is my older brother who has always been disappointed in my inability and utter dislike of partying). WARNING the next little bit isn’t so much graphic as just gross: so we arrive after I and everyone else have been drinking on the bus the whole ride there. My poison this night was Smirnoff and Sunny-D, lol. So obviously we all have to pee. For half of us it was no big deal because guys are lucky bastards that can literally go anywhere! For me and a few others on the other hand… so judgment was a little impaired and we decided to go between cars…AHHH! Although I was the fortunate one because I was able to hold myself up... my friend, who shall remain nameless, wasn’t so fortunate and fell backwards off of the curb and ewwwww!!! (LMAO).

So after that whole ordeal we walk around, talking to random Spaniards and honestly that was about it. Carnival is literally one big costume party (like Halloween) in the streets drunk. No music or clubs or nothing. Although they do have this nice tradition of throwing glass bottles across the plaza…just because, but we had walked off by then thank goodness! Our next adventure came around 3am when we just thought it would be great if we went to the beach! Good in theory, but… so the beach is not a normal beach with sand but a VERY steep hill at the end of which are huge concrete blocks and after that water. One of the guys went down first but ran and instead of falling, rolling, skidding or whatever he picked up speed! I swear it was like a you-tube video he hit the barricade so hard he bounced off! Right afterwards he jumped up and was like “I’m good.” Of course when he climbed back up cuz there was no way in hell we were going down there, we saw his eye brow was split open, it was nasty. Then proceeded the problem of finding an ambulance which we did find but that took him to a hospital where he was going to have to take a cab back to Sevilla, with only 20€… not possible btw. Turns out the bus waited for him, he got stitches and now has a cool story.

After the beach accident we were then left to take care of the most pathetically drunk person I have ever seen dressed in a lobster costume! Needless to say I have no desire to ever go to Carnival again or for that matter Mardi Gras either! Lol but I’m still glad I did it just this once.

I love you all, have a good weekend!

Barcelona

So last weekend I went to Barcelona, and it was awesome! It’s such a beautiful city with all of these amazing Gaudi buildings, and is like the fashion capitol of Spain, and we stayed in the area where all of the high end stores were. Not that I shopped there, but you know it gives a good ambiance. I was curious if I should even go to Barcelona though. It all started when I received an e-mail from the US embassy alerting us about the ETA which is a Spanish terrorist organization recently bombing cars and busses in Madrid. Now I will say that they are supposed to be an anti-government group who does not target foreigner’s, only political figures, but stuff happens. So I forwarded this e-mail to my parents who proceeded to call and e-mail me about how “maybe I shouldn’t go.” But I had already bought my ticket, which was an adventure in itself.

I bought it because it was so cheap but it was so cheap because it was to an airport 100km outside of Barcelona. I wasn’t the only one though. So me and four others had to take a bus from Reus, birthplace of Gaudi, to Barcelona, lol! Then I proceeded to take us to the exact opposite side of the city we needed for our hostel because, of course, I thought I knew where I was going. We had an ongoing joke that karma was just being a bitch that weekend. In my defense I found the hostel, it just wasn’t the one where we were staying, oops.

So after we had our inaugurating ride on the Spanish sub-way system we found out that the hostel booked us wrong so two of us didn’t have beds for the night. It all worked out because they didn’t charge us for two and Caryn and I shared a bed. Never again though because she speaks French in her sleep! And when you wake up to someone yelling at you in French it’s not fun… Jenny got the pullout bed, which was absolutely disgusting cuz we pulled it out and there was a large red stain on it! We flipped it and put on a sheet before she saw….. I might feel bad except she proceeded to embarrass us for the rest of the trip. Jenny is from Oregon (pronounced Ore-gone), and I don’t know if it’s all the people from Oregon or just her but she has absolutely no social etiquette! I mean I know it sucks having to get used to new customs and such but we’re not at home. Ex: we were at a fairly nice restaurant for dinner and she orders a glass of water, that’s not what they do here. If you want water you have to buy a glass bottle for the table, which is like 1.85 €. And she just could not understand why he wouldn’t just give her a glass of water even after he explained it and we translated. So they give us a mug with our silverware and napkins in it as a holder right, she empties it and is like “I’m just going to go to the bathroom and fill this up with water!” all of our jaws dropped and we practically tackled her to say no. the next day we’re at a bar and she pulls out a loaf of bread, literally, from her purse and starts eating it!

Anyways….

We saw the Gaudi houses and toured casa Batillo and Sagrad Familia. They were so awesome because they were so organic and insane for the time-period. Well even now. We also went to this great market, kind of like Farmers Market in Dallas with all of the fresh food but ten times better! It had fresh fish, poultry, candy, nuts, breads; cheese etc. so one day we went there for lunch and just bought all of this random stuff and ate it in the park.
I thought my feet would fall off after walking so much, and almost wish they had so the pain would stop. But my fault I didn’t bring my tennis shoes, (I know Adrian!) but I just don’t like them! I’ve learned my lesson though.

This week has been good, nothing of much consequence except that it went by so fast…13 weeks left in the program. This weekend is Carnival in Cadiz. We’re going on a night bus, kind of like the casino busses to Louisiana where you leave late at night and come back the next morning. It’s supposed to be the third largest party in the world! Why the hell am I of all people going….not sure but at least I can say I went. I found this really cool mask today though so I’m excited. It’s like Halloween though because most people dress up. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Have a good weekend everyone! Love you!

!Espana, Espana!

SO yesterday I went to my first pro-futbol game. It was INSANE!!! But in a good way. I started the night across from Prado (Prado San Sebastion-the us station right near the center of town). Chevy, which i thought was "An American Tradition," was holding a big tailgate sort of thing. Along the same lines as they do for the NFL, with stands and arcades and stuff. Not much there but I did get free sunny-d. Then we went to Nervion Plaza, where the stadium is, and all hell broke loose. It was England vs. Spain and the best part was the atmosphere of all the people. The English were dancing in the street chanting their songs and the Spanish were everywhere else doing the same. I was starving so went into the mall food court to get food, but strangely they only had one fast food restaurant and the rest were bars. Entire bars chanting the same thing and singing the Spanish fight song, waving flags and dancing on tables, lol. All we could get were four beers. Trying to make our way into our gate we saw some younger guys throwing glass bottles at the side of the stadium and out of no where come like ten cops in full riot gear. They took everyone remotely close to them down and just started beating them with batons. That was a little scary. I mean you always see that these things can turn into riots quickly but still it was a little harsh to see it. I did realize why i go to sporting events, 50% the sport and50% the stuff you can do in the stadium, which isn't like that here so i don't know how many games I would go see but it was still a great experience. There is absolutely no checking of bags or throwing drinks out when you walk in the stadium. If you have a ticket that's it. So at half time we're starving when the entire place pulls out bocadillos and the rest of their dinner and starts chowing down lol! David Beckham played the second half and I'm sad to admit I was following him with my camera, and I don't even lie him, lol! Some of the songs the were singing were "Yo soy espanol, espanol, espanol. Yo soy espanol, espanol" so my version was "No soy espanol, espanol, espanol. No soy espanol espanol!" lol. and "Villa, Villa, Villa. Villa para (not sure it was either para Villa or para Sevilla). Next time I'll just bring my own sandwich! lol.

Well I'm off to Barcelona this weekend. I'm pretty excited. I've always wanted to see all of the Gaudi buildings, and I have plans to see the Picasso and Miro museums! Wish me luck, and warmth. It's supposed to be upper 40's there all weekend and 70's in Sevilla! lol

!Hasta Pronto!

London Pictures

I of course have tons of pictures but I'm only going to put up the really cool one's as a general overview. I promise they all look the same after awhile anyways. So if you want to see anymore I'll show you when I get home, promise!











London skyline shot, Big Ben in the back.
















Westminster Abbey. Huge and absolutely awesome on the inside. Although it felt like one big tomb because every other step you took was on a grave!


















Me in front of Big Ben and the Parliament house! Wait I thought that was blown up in "V for Vendetta"......

First Post

Hello Everyone!

So i started this journey of mine almost exactly a month ago on January 5th. I promise I had every intention of writing sooner, but I've had some technical difficulties (that I'm still experiencing), and I've been busy. Which is how it should be right? Anyways I'm settled now in a permanent home-stay and have Internet so hopefully this will become a regular occurrence. This first post is just pretty much the last month.

London
Most of you probably already saw this e-mail I sent but it pretty much sums up my first day for anyone else:

"Well I'm ok and in London, but neither of my phones are working!!! It hasn't been the best trip so far. We (Adrian & I) got to the airport 2.5 hours early and i still barely managed to catch my flight. I was upgraded to club seats on the plane, but now I'm worried some how they charged me, although they said it was free. i didn't think they would let me in the country b/c apparently you need more than your passport and a ticket, but itineraries for hotels and your next ticket etc. My interaction with English people has been limited but for the most part they are all rude, unhelpful and not at all talkative. Arrived at my hotel, after a 70 pound cab ride, to find out that the cab didn't take cc's like the website said so i was charged an extra 10%. My room won't be ready till 1:30pm, it's 11am, and they charge for Internet service even if you're staying here! I'm still glad i came, although now i wish i hadn't taken this side excursion by myself. i just keep thinking what have i gotten myself into. I'm sure part of it is that I'm exhausted, i didn't sleep much on the flight despite the Dramamine, and i need a shower!

So yea that was my first day. London was really cool to look at but ehhh. Maybe when I go back with Keeley I'll like it better.

Stereotypes

Flew from London to Lisbon, Portugal on the morning of the 8th, then from Lisbon to Sevilla on probably the most shady airplane i've seen in my life. Nothing happened obviously but muy ghetto. Arrived in Spain and fulfilled one of my life long goals to walk across the tar-mack. I know corny, but I always thought it was cool for people to walk down the airplane stairs and across the runway. The program had people to meet us there and i went straight through without having to even stop in customs, come to think of it I didn't have to go through customs in London either! Anyways I think it's funny that people have these stereotypes about Texans and the whole state being small town because when we were on the bus to the hotel people were freaking out because they saw palm trees! They were amazed and taking pictures, which describes many people on the program. I thought I was getting away from the sororities and such at Tech, not so much....half are from Penn state, half from UC Boulder...and mostly blond (or act it). I know i've never been Tony's version of fun but why would you pay so much for a program to be drunk every night, sleep all day and refer to every sight as "just another building"! The other things I was gawked at for was of course saying "yall" and not thinking four hours was a long drive. Of course I now know that most people from Penn state are entitled, NW are pott heads and Boulder are laid back partiers lol.

Sevilla
A few things about Sevilla (and maybe all of Europe but not sure yet):

• All pillows are body pillows.
• No spicy foods! Not even my version....
• There are Orange tree's everywhere, although don't eat them they're sour.
• There is no central heat and air, story about that later...
• Most shops are specialty shops, even socks vs. underwear.
• And all girls where skinny jeans/tights tucked into boots. I can't get into it but maybe one day.

The first few days of the program were good. They showed us around the town and we went out a few places. Nothing in particular stands out except everything seemed a little less organized, but that just seem to be Spain.

My home stay was an experience. The lady's name was Molina so I thought that would give me a few minutes of conversation but instead the whole way to the casa she talked to the cab driver about how I had a Spanish name but didn't know Spanish, and didn't think I understood. She was nice or at least cordial but we had our difficulties. I went and talked to my program when she wouldn't let me have a heater, use half of my room or put anything on the floor. I lived with Carmen Molina (something, i don't remember her second last name) for about 10 days. I was gonna deal with it until she got into and argument with the program director about the amenities, apparently part of the contract she signed was to provide a private room (all of which i could use), a heater and a desk, which i didn't have either. I now live with Dalores and her 20 year old daughter Alba. They are both really sweet and I now have my own room and a heater! I know that sounds sarcastic but i'm completely serious.

I go to University (not college b/c that is what primary school is here) at Universidad Pablo de Olavide or UPO. It's about a 20min bus ride and a little bit outside or town. Nothing like the universities at home. I equate it to a crappy community college, but is decent for Spain. Classes are with other international students, mostly US, and aren't really difficult for the most part. Me trying to be an overachiever decided to take an art history class entirely in Spanish! That will be interesting. On the other hand my art history class in English is probably the most useless waste of time ever! She doesn't even know what she's talking about and i've already written my term paper (Rachel don't tell Chua this!!! lol).

So far I've been to Cordoba and Granada for trips. Cordoba was ok I guess, beautiful cathedral but definitely just a day trip. Granada though I loved! It's this really cool modern city mixed in with these ancient churches around ever corner. Home to the Alhambra which is like this acres large 13c (I think) palace on a hill over looking the city and the Sierra Nevada. Would have been better if it wasn't raining all weekend but it was a great trip. also my first experience in a hostel. Which seemed sketch at first cuz the sign was literally a white sheet of paper taped to the door written on in marker, lol. It was really nice actually with private bathrooms and kitchenettes to every four person room. Although note they don't provide towels....

Well I think that should get everyone started on my first month here and i'll keep you posted about my happenings. Love you!