Mexi-GoGo

Okay, so as promised I will keep this blog as travel blog... so it was my intention to blog while in Mexico this Christmas, Cancun to be exact, however do to the lack of accessible Internet and my inherent laziness... I am forced to do this update after the fact...

So, without much cultural insight or sharpened palaver... here is a basic breakdown of our trip...

Eight almost sunny days, in the somewhat culturally devoid "island" of Cancun, Mexico. Typically thought of as a haven for drunken Spring Break-ers this area was a beautiful escape from work and stress. While there were no real "party-ers" there considering our stay ran through Christmas day, the nightlife was still hoppin' and the people ready to sell you anything you could fathom.

My sister did not enjoy being pestered by the locals, my dad was the watchdog as always, while my mom and I pointed at pretty things and skipped along without worrying about much (we usually leave that up to the other two, and throw in our opinion when the time comes)

I didn't realize how devastated Cancun was from Hurricane Wilma (the big one right after Katrina) I am sure American Media was much more concerned about New Orleans at the time, but I was totally unaware of the fact that much of Cancun was straight-up DESTROYED. In addition, most of the sand was washed away from the storm and they had to dredge some up from the middle of the ocean... one hotel actually had the beach in the lobby of their hotel after the storm.

I guess the Mexican Caribbean hadn't seen a Hurricane like that in 80 years, so they really weren't prepared for it.

Anyway hope you enjoy the photos, we kayaked, motor-boated through mangroves, played on the beach and utilized the all-inclusive bar at the hotel. It was a nice and warm Merry Christmas for us... the cherry on top being the para-sailing Santa Claus on Christmas day.

AAAAAAAAAAAAmerica

Well, I have been back in the states for a month now and Madrid seems like a dream. "Home" is such a natural state that you forget what a different world you were in for the last five months of your life.

When I was in Madrid I kept imagining what it would be like to be home, and now its flipped. I can still see my street and all the other places I wandered daily, but it still isn't the same. I am happy to be around the people I love, but I just can't help but miss Europe. It was so different that it was scary and I definitely love the comforts of home, but it was still adventurous. Now my biggest adventure will be to put my old room back together and get a job... woohoo. Definitely not as exciting as flying to Paris for a weekend or getting lost in Barcelona.

So the life of this blog will come to an end. It was a fun few months and I hope you all enjoyed my stories. I wish I could have been more creative with my language, however, when you are immersed in another language you lose the ability to speak both. Sounds strange, but it's true.

I think I will now use this blog for the other adventures I happen to find myself in, whether it be in the states or abroad, it will always keep the theme of "American Girl In Madrid" because when you travel, no matter how hard you try, you will always be a foreigner. But whether I am in Madrid or Milan, Thailand or Japan I will always be that American girl... which is why this blog's title still stands.

So until the next adventure.... au revoir, adieu, adios, arrivederci, auf wiedersehen, cheerio, sayonara, so long


"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -- Mark Twain

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." -- Helen Keller

"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." -- Lin Yutang

"I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them." -- Mark Twain

5.4.3.2.1. take off...

Alright I have two full days left in Madrid. ? I have no idea. It is so strange I cannot believe it. It so overwhelming that I kinda just wanna lay in my bed until it's over.
But don't worry I have been living it up, much to my discomfort because I believe that I am coming down with a cold, although that will come in quite handy when I have sit on a plane from Munich to LA for 12 hours and 30 minutes. Maybe I can scare off the people sitting near me and have a whole row to myself? Ah the power of snot.
Well, In other news I have one whole bag packed! It's very exciting and I don't think I will have a problem fitting the last four and a half months of my life into the other bag because it is quite large.
Lidia is taking Tara and I around Madrid and then out to dinner tonight so I should go get ready. <3 peace out

My First and LAST Bullfight

Well, I should really have known better, but I mean if someone tells you an event is gonna be bloody, yeah you are grossed out... but also intrigued...come on admit it! SO I went to the bullfight and I managed to put out of my mind the fact that they actualy kill a bull.
WELL as I found out after I watched them poke and stab the bull I realized that they did't just kill one but SIX! Needless to say we didn't stay the whole time. It was hard to watch, we got desensitized a little after the first bull was killed, but we still just didn't find any real entertainment factor in men in tight, bright, silly little outfits with capes making a bull bleed to death. So yeah, thats my story, I am home in less than a week and I don't really rember what it is like to live in America.

<3 pics if you have the stomach...
"Do You Think They Have a Problem with Streakers at Bullfights?"

From Paris with Love.

Well Paris was pretty much amazing. I was excited to go, but I didn't realize how much I would love the city. Everyone always says a city has its own style, but that was never more apparent than it was in Paris. Oh my, I love the random stuff there. I only spent two days, which is a horrible shame, I really needed like a week there. Speaking French would have been helpful but everyone was nice to us, mostly because we at least made an attempt at French, even if it was just "merci." We saw most of the hot spots, including the Mona Lisa.. which my friend illegally took a pic of! I will try and get that from her and post it. Sorry I have behind on the posting but next week is finals and I have been so busy! My astronomy class especially is so much work! AH. Oh well, soon I will be back in the states back to the daily grind and I won't be able to whine about being in Europe (I know, I am a brat, I just miss mis padres y mi hermanita)

Pictures from Paris!

Chapter one
Chapter two
Chapter three

View from the top

I am currently hanging out at the Teide observatory in the Canary Islands, its cold, we are all tired, but we still have a few more hours until the sun rises. So I have to keep doing my work, but so far we have photographed the moon, Jupiter and Saturn quite well, and I will see if I can convert them to .jpg so you all can see them.

Yesterday I climbed the third largest volcano in the world (well I didn't climb the whole way, its 10,000 feet high) BUt here is the video, I look ridiculous at the end but that is because I am screaming about how cold and windy it was (11 degrees btw)

Which one of these does not belong?

A Question that was on my Spanish Test.... please, tell me what you thing the answer is.

Which one of the following does not belong?

A) Leche (milk)
B)Huevos (eggs)
C)Yogur (yogurt)
D)Queso (cheese)

Hello Everyone!

I have been such a bad bad blogger recently, but as it nears the end of the school year my time available to blog has dwindled. I am currently sinking into a goopy puddle of astronomy homework that no one seems to be able to complete unless you have a "Fuente" by your side. Dr. Carlos and Raul Fuente that is. Carlos is our astronomy professor and Raul is the lab instructor, and the one accompanying up to the Canary Islands on Sunday. They used to assign us pretty easy astronomy homework that involved some research, but was pretty well solved by using some critical thinking (although not many people at my school have this)

So this lovely Friday afternoon I am going to go to school (ew) 45 minutes away (ew) solely to use the computer programs needed to complete my homework assignment, with the hope that if I run into any problems... which seem to stalk me... that I will be able to grab a Fuente, and after about 30 minutes of them talking to me, hopefully be able to dig up a viable answer.


However, even though I am looking at even more work, and insanely less sleep while I am in the Canaries, it should be quite interesting. We get to use professional astronomer’s facilities and take pictures of the moon, stars, galaxies and such. I leave Sunday morning and come back to Madrid at 10pm Wednesday. I am excused from all my missed class and therefore I only have 2 days of class left before finals!

My time is almost up, I leave here May 15th at like 7am or something and I arrive in LA that same afternoon, making it seem like it only took me 8 hours to get home instead 17. I am excited to come home, I miss my parents and my sister and my friends. However I know after a few weeks in the states I’ll be begging you to send me back, so either way it’s gonna suck a little.

Anyway I still can’t wait to have some Wood Ranch and In-n-out. Not to mention come back and turn 21 in 9 days! My 21st birthday officially makes me old, and marks the LAST big birthday celebration that will not involve a decade… the only big birthdays after 21 involve 0’s… 30, 40, 50 ect. GREAT.

Oh well. I am gonna go do astronomy and continue my plot to take over the world on the bus ride there.

Amsterdam

So this past week I headed to Holland for my friend Sandy's 21st birthday weekend. Despite what you may think of Amsterdam it was really a clean and nice place. I really have to say I never really understood what the Red Light District was, but now... um.. I know. It was pretty crazy, girls basically sell themselves through windows. We saw tons of cool stuff, the Ann Frank House, the Picasso Museum, the big I AMsterdam sign, unfortunaly my camera ran out of batteries so I don't have all the pics I would like, but oh well. Anyway it was a gorgeous place... once again I will just give you the pics from Facebook because it is so much easier... enjoy!

Amsterdam

Holland flea market

Spring Break!

Okay so every time I start typing out my spring break something happens and it all gets erased... blogger has stopped recognizing my photos ect ect. SOO I am just giving you the links to my Facebook albums... However, please note, that these are all of my "friend" pics, so I wouldn't normally post all of these because you all wouldn't really care. So just view them as thumbnails and if one looks interesting click on it and you can see it full size.

Just know that Italy is my favorite place in the world, the best food, the best wine, the best everything I have ever had. It was so gorgeous, all the people were hospitable and I almost wished I studied abroad there. Having Carl here was great, it was like having a little piece of America, which I have started to miss quite a lot these days. My friend Konrad who is in the US Army in Germany right now also flew in and joined us for the last weekend in Madrid.

It was an amazing 12 days of break and I really cannot belive how strange it felt to be on vacation with my friends, I kind of felt a little too grown up planning out my day and spending my own money to go places.

But now it is back to school... and good news is that I have less than a month before I return! I can't belive how fast the time has passed.

Spring Break One - Madrid-Italy

Firenze

Gigantic Concert in Madrid

Spring Break!

Hey, I'm back, Italy was amazing and Spain w/Carl and Konrad was cool. I will update soon <3

Oh Lammi

Here is the breakdown.

Carl has arrived. Alison has survived.

I leave on Monday for Italia, I come back to Madrid on Friday for a huge electro concert in Casa De Campo.

Carl peaces out back to LA on Easter

I come home in a month.

I love and miss you all, and really, I freaking miss the States right now.

Besos y Embrazos,

Peace, Love, Stop the War in Vietnam,

<3 Sarah

Semana Santa

This coming week is "Holy Week" here in Espa~a. I am so happy my break started today because my brain shut down about two weeks ago, therefore school has been slightly difficult, but not unmanageable.

SO, I haven't been up to too much lately, my friends all left for the Canary Islands today, and Carl arrives tomorrow at about 14:30. I have been slightly jealous of my friends who get to "tomar el sol" (sunbathe), for 8 straight days, however after a quick check of the weather I discovered it will be almost as hot in Italy as the Canaries (70ish) so I am not too bothered, besides I get to see Carl. It is going to be so great to see someone from home over here, and I am especially excited to take him around Madrid.

Also, I received a lovely basket of candy hearts from my mummy for Easter, and as soon as I opened it, it occurred to me that I wouldn't be having Easter with my family. I have no idea why the thought hadn't struck me sooner, but it was kind of sad. I am especially going to miss beating Alison at the Easter egg hunt, as I do every year, because I have a superior strategy, even though she would like to claim otherwise. Also good 'ol family dinner, with Uncle Frank asking me if I know any new jokes, and even though I used to prepare some, I don't think I have actually had a joke for him in like 4 years, but we usually come up with some anyway. Also the usually family banter is always cherished. And, my favorite, on the occasions when it is warm, hanging out in the backyard around Easter time is also lovely.

Oh well, I think Sandy is going to have some people over to her apartment and we shall celebrate together, I am sure Jackie, her roommate will cook, and that girl makes the best chicken, fried plantains(not like they are hard to fry, but still)and corn ever. So we it will be more of a Dominican style Easter, but whatever, I freaking love plantains.

Finally, after Spring Break is over, even though I don't want it to ever end, I head over to Amsterdam, which should be good times as well. So chau, I will try and post when I am in Italy, but no promises. <3

Cheers Dublin!

Things I learned in Dublin...
1.The stereotype about them being drunk all the time... is true.
2.They drive on the "wrong" side of the road.
3.They are usually drunk by 10... in Spain that doesn't happen until 1-2am.
4.The people are SUPER friendly, even when not intoxicated.
5.How NOT to hold up my two fingers (when I signal I want two of something)because, to the British, this is offensive (similar to our middle finger). Two very nice British
brothers shared this w/ Sandy and I.
6.That the names of Guinness the beer and the Guinness Book of World Records are not just coincidence.
7.That Dublin is the most expensive city I have ever been to in my life.

Dublin was a jolly good time...

So, Sandy and I arrived late on Friday, dropped our bags at the hostel and went out to explore the city. It was quite pretty at night, we had no idea where to go but our hostel was located right next to O'Connell Street, which is the main road, and it was across the river from Temple Bar, which is the night life area of Dublin. We wandered around, and bar hopped. It was funny, we were carded every place we went, which was new for us, but being over 18, there was no problem. Later we stopped in the actual Temple Bar in Temple Bar, which was pretty much the best time ever.

They were playing sweet music and everyone was dancing. It was like 11 or 12 and everyone in there had quite a few drinks in them already, and these two guys started dancing crazy. The music was just about the perfect combination of classics and rock favorites, so that no matter what song came on, it just seemed to be that everyone knew the words!

So these two were dancing and being really silly and Sandy and I were just watching them, but then this one song,"Hey Mickey" came on. They wanted us to dance with them, and I was like... well, why not and basically I lip-synced while like pushing this tubby guy around based on the lyrics and I got the whole area around us laughing like crazy. There was this one guy who had been dancing a little early taking a break at the table with Sandy, and he was laughing so hard that he took out his wallet, put a 10€ bill on the table and said to Sandy, "Give this to her."

Now, please don't think this was a raunchy dance, because trust me, it was in NO WAY raunchy, literally I was busting out crazy 80's dance moves and looking like a total fool. And I hadn't even been drinking... which once everyone sees the video Sandy took, really won't believe, but it is TRUE!

Anyway, we walked around and ran into tons of drunk Irishmen and women. I really couldn't understand how tossed they all got. I mean it was like 1am, you don't even go out in Madrid until 1am. But alas, they must have started early. Sandy and I were the last people back into our room both nights, and it was only 2am.


The second day we took a bus tour and walked around, it was so freaking cold, I wrapped my head up in my scarf! The highlight of the day was the Guinness Factory, we were shown the step by step process of brewing, and I understand now why it tastes like coffee. We were also given a free pint at the "Gravity Bar" on the very top of the factory looking out over the whole city. However, Sandy and I failed to finish them because, as we discovered, Guinness really isn't our taste. But oh well, it was really interesting, and I got my touristy pic in front of the Guinness sign. The rest of the day we walked round town, I bought a pair of shoes that are adorable, and that were on sale, a bracelet to add to my collection and a pair of matching rings for Alison and I.





We went out again that night, we had dinner at "The Bad Ass Cafe," which was good times, but it was SOOOOOOOOO expensive. We wanted to go eat at an authentic Irish restaurant, but the first ones we went into we discovered that authenticity was even more expensive in an expensive city. It would have been like 40€ for Sandy and I to eat anything decent. So we had fajitas, but it was good times.

We went to a few more bars and met some cool people, we spent the majority of the second night talking to two British brothers from London, who told us about a whole bunch of cool places to go to if we get a chance. We lied and said we were going to London, bc we were pretty sure they would be pissed if we told the truth! But, they didn't seem to hate us, which was a plus, the fact that we are studying in a foreign country that's native language is NOT English, usually scores back the points we lose when they find out we are American. But we have been told that our movies and tv shows are awesome. Funny eh.

But yeah the guys in Dublin were substantially less creepy than those in Madrid. Everyone was just nice, nobody was really creepy, however the city was much dirtier than Madrid and there were many more people, haciendo un pis en la calle, (taking a pee in the street) One guy just did his business right in the street, not even in a corner or against a wall... I am assuming this has to do with their BAC, but whatever, still gross. The five second rule definitely did not apply here.

Voy a Dublin!

Going to Dublin tomorrow, well, technically, today. We are staying until Sunday afternoon and it should be a jolly good time.

Had a good week, I went to Las Fallas, I went to the gym and swam some laps and I only have three weeks of school left!!!! And only 7 days until Carl comes and hangs out with me in Madrid! So yeah, good times.. I will post when I return from Dublin, hopefully sooner than I did with the last post (sorry again) <3 Peace out

Las Fallas

Sorry for the delay the server (my brain) has been down for a few days, but with a few updates and the end of the school week, everything is in working order.

So, Monday, I went to Valencia (say it Ballenthia, and yeah that "th" is a lisp) to see the Las Falles (say it like your saying fires, but ghetto, 'Las Fayas'), in Valencian, that means... the torches/fires. Basically, every area of Spain throws a huge party every year in honor of a saint, they occur at different times, and the Fallas (that’s how you spell it in Spanish) in Valencia is one of the most famous. This festival celebrates St. Joseph's Day.


It was probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen. As soon as we got off the bus I felt like I was in a war zone, well, at least it sure sounded like one. Every 5 seconds something would explode, rocket, burst, crackle, or pop. No joke. It took us a few hours to not jump every time someone threw an explosive device.

Not only did every one have possession of some type of explosive, but there was no age discrimination in the matter. If you were a toddler who could barely stand, or a grandma on a respirator, you were throwin’ fireworks! It was madness. Also, please note that these aren’t just sparklers or those little pop things you throw on the ground… we were watching kids shoot rockets off. It was kinda funny/scary.

So, what we came to see were the Fallas, which are huge papier-mâché creations. For some background… During the week leading up to St. Joseph's Day, each group takes its ninot out for a grand parade, and then mounts it, each on its own elaborate firecracker-filled cardboard then there is a papier-mâché artistic monument in a street of the given neighborhood. This whole assembly is a falla.

These creations are developed according to an agreed upon theme that seems to center around satire. These fallas were ridiculous, they were so elaborate, some were 5 stories all and were so elaborate and gravity defying, I really don’t know how they didn’t blow over in the wind.

So the tradition is, around midnight, these falles are burnt as huge bonfires. This is known as the cremada or cremà, i.e. "the burning", and this is of course the climax and it was one of the most exciting things I think I have ever seen.

Before they were burnt, we walked around and tried to see as many as possible. We stubled upon the main cathedral with a huge Virgin Mary made out of carnations (oh how the Catholics LOVE Mary). There were throngs of people crowding the streets and the occasional marching band or parade would pass through. Oh I should also mention that I had some of the best coconut EVER. I bought it off a street car which was also selling tons of fruit, but I knew Valencia was a beachy town, so I embraced the sketchy coconut and it was so sweet! Here are a couple pics...



So, we didn't totally know what to expect but we the one we were closest too, and that I have video of, was adorned with fireworks which are lit first. Then, the construction itself is lit either after or during these fireworks. Note that this falla was in the middle of a tiny intersection, so when the firsworks shot off, they started hitting the surrounding buildings!! After a couple minutes of raging fireworks the bottom of the Falla started crackling and several explosions were set off. It was so loud it felt like we were witnessing some horrible disaster. Our falla got quite hot and there were firemen dousing the façades of the near by buildings in order to stop them from catching fire or melting.


We saw three fallas burnt, we wanted to see more, unfortunately there were so many people around it was impossible to see many. So we just stuck with a couple so we could be close enough to see them explode. But around the fallas people were going crazy through the streets. It was like an open-air nightclub, except that instead of music there was the deafening sound of the hooligans, young, old and disabled throwing fireworks and rockets around randomly. It was a great atmosphere. I bought a cute bracelet to add to my collection of “bracelets around the world.” We had some crepes, and there were tons of stalls selling porras, churros and buñuelos, as well as roast chestnuts and other random stuff.


It was a short trip, we were only there for 7 hours, and although I wish I could have seen more, it was definitely an experience.

VIDEOS

This video is of the fireworks... note how they hit peoples balcony's (sorry for the bad orientation too)


This is the coolest one.. this is the huge explosions after the fireworks.


This was after it was almost over, we were COVERED not in just ash, but WET ash bc the firemen had been spraying down the buildings surrounding it so nothing else would catch fire.


This is the video of it burning burning burning....


here is a video that runs the whole length...

For more pictures... http://chapman.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2030808&l=ffadd&id=35800101

Weather Pains?

So all the joints in the top half of my body have been hurting for the past 4-5 days, strange, I know. I went to the Dr. and he thought I was crazy because the pain was really my only symptom. SO, he gave me some pain killers (in powder form, every medicine here is in freaking powder form!) and told me it might be the weather.

And for the past few days I have been thinking... THE WEATHER?! What? That makes no sense. Then a friend of mine here noted that whenever the weather changes she gets extreme pain in her right, problematic, knee. I started thinking about how I have heard other people complain of the same thing, then I realized... I have never been through any kind of temperature change! I mean it has been pretty mild here the whole time but it has just started getting hot during the day. So am I that spoiled by So-Cal that I am having pains because the weather is rapidly changing??? I guess so

Well it has gotten better today, and the weather is also less drastic today, so I hope this is just some freak thing.

In other news I am joining a gym so that I can swim, its pretty cheap, I'm excited.

So it goes...

Ya, this is my last real (non spring break) weekend in Madrid for about a month, and I am pretty excited really. Kinda ready to travel around some more. It's going to be quite the smorgasbord of events...Next weekend Sandy and I head to Dublin. Then it is Spring break and Carl and I go to Florence, maybe Pisa, maybe Bologna. Then it's off to Amsterdam for Sandy's B-day, then the Canary Islands for Astronomy, then it is off to Paris. Then finals week, a few more days and then I fly back to the City of Angels!

Actually I might slide in a trip to Prague or Budapest because the travel agency that booked most of my trips is having a deal to those places for about 200 euro. Which includes airfare and a hotel! And I wanna go to eastern Europe before I leave, so that would be good. But I have to book it before Saturday if I want to really do it. So I will keep you posted.

Other than that this weekend has no definite plan but Sunday my friends and I are hitting Retiro packing some snacks, some sandwiches and a big bottle of Fanta Naranja! I'll let ya know how it goes...

Peace out hommies

Lidia

I finally have a pic of Lidia, my host mother. I had to steal it from the girl who lived with her last semester but whatever!

I am productive

I actually accomplished quite a bit today. I went to see the Roy Lichtenstein exhibit, and I rode the bus there. I had lunch at Pizza Jardin, where I have wanted to go forever because they are supposed to have amazing salads, however it was disappointing. I picked up me and Carl's tickets for Florence and I returned a dress to H&M. It may not sound like too much, but all the places I had to go were sooo far away, so it took a while.


Also, I forgot to mention that Sunday I took a stroll in Parque Buen Retiro w/Sandy and her boyfriend, Kevin. And, wow, now that it is getting warmer there are so many more people there. Literally, the park was packed. I took a bunch of candid photos..
here are my favs....

American Kids Love Electro

Me: "What kind of music do you like?"
Them: "Oh, I like everything, except for Country and Techno"
Me: "Go away, we cannot be friends"

I HATE PEOPLE WHO SAY THAT! I mean, I don't voluntarily listen to Country, but I don't mind it, I by no means "hate" it. So WHY!? Why make the generalization. As soon as I got to Madrid, everyone said, "Oh, I am going to hate the music here, I hate electro." But based upon what I have seen in every nightclub in Madrid contradicts that. Even at this club, Pacha, that I went to last night, people said, "Hey, I really like this music, what is it?" Usually I can identify it, and then they download/buy it.

Carl, DJing

So Yeah, Stop Hating Electro/Dance music, because you know you love it.

I just had to get that off my back.
<3 Chau

You know you have lived in Spain when....

Found this online.... most of it is startlingly true

You Know You're in Spain When...

1. The mullet, made for men and women alike.
2. You know what a croqueta is.
3. You've eaten more fish and veal in one week than in your whole US life.
4. You write on graph paper and not lined paper.
5. You´ve been suprised to see a ¨big¨car.
6. Personal space = <1 cm
7. You have seen porn on TV under news.
8. You have seen people in 50 degree weather in winter coats and scarves.
9. You have been stopped at the plaza and asked if you speak english.
10. You have seen old people out at 2 am
11. You have heard P.I.M.P. as a ring tone.
12. You watch a dog take a crap on the side walk and the owner doesn't clean it up.
13. You have encountered tiny children wandering the streets.
14. You have seen a cigarette box that says ¨smoking can cause a slow and painful death¨
15. When you know how to the use the metro when the map is in Spanish.
16. You know where the closest TGI Fridays is.
17. You have stolen internet.
18. You have seen a vending mashine with thongs.
19. You have a lisp…
20. You have had a staring contest with a stranger in the streets.
21. You´ve watched Simpsons, multiple multiple times.
22. You have trouble speaking both English and Spanish.
23. You´ve left the house to go out at 1am.
24. You have never been to a store between 1430 and 1730.
25. You have learned that deodorant is obviously not necessary.
26. You know what a doner is.
27. You got drunk off wine.
28. You are a huge fan of the Menú del Día.
29. You stayed in out until til 6am because the Metro doesn´t start.
30. Your dinner time is about 2130.
31. You know what Corte Inglés is.
32. You know what the Chinos are, and when they are open...24-7
33. You have seen buildings that are older than our country.
34. You know who Velázquez is, and how to say it.
35. You know where to find cheap tickets.
36. You have encountered numerous people haciando un pis in the streets.
37. You know what a ferret store is.
38. You know you can have a chipmunk as a pet.
39. You´re life span has been shortened 5 years because of the second hand smoke.
40. You know what a true dulce is.
41. You have fought with the lock on the door and have only won half the time.
42. You have gorged on scrambled eggs at the hotels.
43. You´ve had bread everday for every meal.
44. You know what Joder means.
45. You can take showers in a 2 ft box called a shower.
46. You jump when you hear the words Vamos A Comer
47. You have seen rainbow hair.
48. Fútbol is amazing.
49. You root on Barcelona or Madrid...
50. You know what Turron is.
51. You know Tortilla Francesa.
52. You have gotten Flan in a pudding Cup.
53. You have seen Pizza boys on Mopeds.
54. Gazpacho, you know what it is...and ya like it.
55. You know the differnce because tengo calor y estoy caliente.
56. You have walked an hour to school
57. Vale, pues, venga
58. It´s not hasta luego, it´s hadalugo
59. You have found the horrible truth that double spacing is not normal.
60. You have learned the true meaning of a cell phone bill.

Regular Life...

I just re-vamped the last post, so if you checked it out earlier you might wanna take another glance at it.

But anyway just thought I would write a random update on life. Today I finally made it to the Museo del Prado and checked out the awesome Tintoretto exhibit.


But before I made it over to the museum I met Sandy for lunch at CEO, which is the real Spanish university that our school is surrounded by. We eat lunch there because it is soooo delicious and cheap. But anyway, before I got to school I ran into my Spanish teacher on the metro and we were chatting about where I live, ect. I told her how long it takes to get to school and she informed me that there is a bus line that goes straight from my house to school. It takes about the same amount of time but you can actually see the city and you don't have to change lines (I change lines twice in the metro)

So, after lunch when I decided to go to the Prado, I found bus 45 and took it all the way to the Prado (which is basically across the street from my house) So I am so excited now because I plan on taking the bus way more!

Also, I have commented latley that I don't really feel like I am learning Spanish as well as I had hoped, but I think I am actually better than I think. For example today I rode on the bus with these three little old Spanish ladies and after we got off at the Prado stop she came up to me and started talking. She said I had pretty eyes and I didn't freak out that someone was speaking Spanish to me (usually I freeze). I thanked her for the compliment and then she started asking me questions like where I was from and how long I had been here, then her friends started talking to me, and although I didn't catch all of it, I still managed to respond and have a converstation! I was so stoked!

Also, later on when I was in the Prado this woman came up next to me and asked the security guard if she could get back into the exhibit because she forgot to go into the gift shop, but she was speaking English, and I could tell he understood her, but that he didn't speak English. SO, in Spanish, he told her to go downstairs because there was another gift shop. But she didn't understand him, but I did, so I told her in English what to do! It was cool, but later I realized that there is no giftshop downstairs, and maybe that guard really had no idea what she was saying. Oh well, I hope she got her Tintoretto coffee mug, or whatever she wanted from the gift shop.

After dinner tonight, at about 10, I went to Flamenco night, which was sponsored by Suffolk, my school here in Madrid, and it was pretty good times. They were AMAZING flamenco dancers, but our seats weren't too good so we couldn't see thier feet, which is the coolest part. Then I hung out with my friends for a while, we walked around, grabbed some late night food and now I am home, in my bed. I have a Spanish test tomorrow, so I should get to bed. But yeah, good times today...

Nightie.

Here is a different video from the Flamenco Dancers in Granada....

Adventures in Lisbon

Well... where to begin for Lisbon
We arrived by train on Monday and after about 30 minutes we finally figured out how to get to our hotels. Luckily Sandy and I had a hotel near the other four girls we were with... However, as we came to discover, it was quite the hotel. While our friends had the cozy Comfort Inn, we were stuck with the Excelsior. As grand as it may sound, do not be fooled. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, but it was pretty gross. Lets just say it felt a little worn out, and my comforter smelled like dead skin.





But anyway, Noel, one of the girls we were with, was meeting her mom and sister in Lisbon, they had just flown in from Boston and they were going to hang out with us in Portugal, take the train back with us, and then stay in Madrid for a week. So we had a total of 8 people, including myself.

The first day we realized that we sounded kinda weird speaking Spanish to the Portuguese, because they all speak English. It was awkward because we were all so used to ordering or buying things using our Spanish, but really English is very prevalent over there. After lunch we watched a bit of a protest in the middle of the main street (it was apparently over unemployment, see video) headed over to the botanical gardens (or as I called it the secret garden, because it took a while to find), then worked our way down to the center of town and did some shopping/sightseeing along the way.







Our friends who had gone to Lisbon last week said they had amazing cheap seafood somewhere downtown and we managed to find the same place that night. I had the salmon, and it was the best salmon I think I have ever had! Notably we were on the Atlantic, so the seafood should be good, but this was phenomenal!





After that we were pretty tired so we walked back to the hotel and called it a night

The second day we took a bus tour, which I am glad we did because we got to see parts of the city we wouldn't have traveled to otherwise. During the bus tour is when I realized that Lisbon must be a sister city to San Francisco because they looked so similar, the same dock looking areas, with the train tracks by the sea, and the Golden Gate Bridge!




We walked all over town and had lunch outside. We had the pastery that Portugal is known for, they are called Natas. They are these custard/egg filled pasteries that weren't bad. We also watched some street perfomers who had little dogs that sang along with thier music!(see video) Later that night we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. We had to wait an hour for our table because we had 11 people because our other friends came into town that day, Rick, Chante, and her friend from Rome. On the way to the Hard Rock Chante lost her wallet, but at the time she wasn't too concerned about it.





Dinner was awesome and very filling. I commented at dinner that I had never been to the Hard Rock before and I will never go back, just so I can say that, "I have only been to the Hard Rock in Lisbon." People went out that night but Sandy and I just went back to the hotel and chilled.

Sunday was interesting, we usually NEVER have three full days in a place, so Sunday we were like.. oh what do we do? And although there were plenty of things, it was POURING rain. So most of our plans got shot down because of that. Also, nothing is open on Sunday, except for this huge mall, so we went there to get food and be out of the rain and just window shopped until it was over.

It was pretty weird actually because it was the first mall I have ever been in in Europe, but it was cool. Luckily it stopped raining so we didn't have to be sooo lame. We went and chilled downtown, sat and drank coffee in the main square and watched all the street people, and got harassed by a few.


The best way I can describe Lisbon is that it is very similar to Spain, but it is a little more run down. It is how I imagine Spain must have looked before it joined the European Union. Anyway it is an amazing country and I really can't wait until I can go back one day. I really want to check out Porto and Lagos I would just love to explore that whole country.


I had an awesome time, I totally recommend Portugal to everyone, it's pretty cheap too!!


Chau