May

sooo.. it's been awhile since my last update, and that's mainly because i've been incredibly busy with the end of school. anyway, here are some highlights.

- chelsea left at the beginning of may, very sad. before she left we, and some friends, took the funicular over the huge park next to madrid and hiked down to the amusement park for some rollercoaster fun. good think i'll still see my girl back in san diego!!

Bo, me, Kelly, Che, and Nick, after a raucus day at the theme park

- cena de despedida: EAP had a farewell dinner for all of us year and spring semester students. it was pretty good, despite the fact that i got the only piece of well done steak (seriously, WTF) at my table, and there was no trivia to round out the night.

Sarah Blair, me, Alex, Tina, and Negeen

- took a trip to granada to visit my friend jenna and explore the beautiful city and the alhambra.

- had a bunch of papers to write, which is why i couldnt update this thing, but finally finished classes on the 26th. already down with one exam and 2 papers, still have 1 paper and one exam to go.

- storm left on wednesday and i miss her!

- now more friends/people are leaving and its really starting to freak me out. it just makes me realize that i, too, have to leave soon, and i really dont want to.

- on the other hand, i am looking forward to my sister getting here and for our travel adventure.

- i love madrid!!!

A crazy few weeks, a few crazy people

So last i left off i was supposed to be on my way to Granada. Well, my friend Jenna pulled the biggest blonde move ever and booked her flight from Ireland to Granada for the following week, so i ended up staying home and doing homework. Not the most fun ending to a spring break, but somewhat necessary.

(+) 2 tapas: cousin Jen visits Madrid
Tuesday following spring break, my cousin Jennifer came from Paris to visit me. While i worked on wed and thurs, she gave herself a tour of the city via the MadridVision tourbus and spent some time in and out of the big museums. On thursday night we went and saw "Carmen", a flamenco show choreographed by Sara Baras, one of the most famous flamenco dancers in Spain. The show was amazing and beautiful, and nothing like the flamenco show i saw before which was much more intimate and less glamourous. The rest of the weekend we basically spent walking around the city and doing our fair-share of shopping. Jen got to meet a bunch of my school friends at one's birthday party, and was able to practice her french with a few of the French guys there! Sunday i exposed her up to true madrileño lifestyle by taking her to the massive flea-market, eating some cheap but hardy tapas, and drinking in the sun with the rest of the city. It was great to see cousin Jen in Madrid and actually get to show a family member what i've been up to for the past 7 months.

(+/-) 3 tapas: Jenna's visit, Sebastian's return, Nicole's unexpected departure
This past weekend was a BUSY and INSANE one. Thursday night i went out with my friend Negeen and her ucDavis friends to this bar on top of the MElia hotel. It was beautiful and you could see a lot of Madrid from the top. Fun, but a little too swanky for my posh-lacking life. My friend Sebastian was supposed to come back from Germany (he studied here last semester then went home to finish uni), but i couldnt get a hold of him until Friday, which happened to be the day of all chaos converging in my life. Friday, Jenna (the friend living in Granada) was supposed to come with her friend Cambria around 2pm, but then found out they were coming at 6pm. Then, at 6pm i got a call from my good friend Nicole saying she's being deported. WHAT?!?! So i spent most of Friday night trying to coordinate with Jenna and Cambria, as well as back and forth between Nicole's apartment and mine, with Storm in tow, trying to figure out what to do. Eventually Jenna and Cambria left without me, I was able to figure some things out with Nicole, and still found the energy to meet up with Sebastian. I had good old fashioned tired fun with Sebastian, and our friends Ken and Ville who i hadn't seen in awhile. Unfortunately i was so tired that i had to leave them right when we were getting to the club (altho it was already 3am, still an early night). Saturday morning i woke up at 9 and went with Storm to Nicole's apartment to pack up EVERYTHING. Nicole had been held in a holding-cell at the airport in Madrid over night, and we were waiting to hear from her to see what was happening. From what it sounded like, it was way less glamourous than Tom Hanks's stunt in The Terminal. Basic rundown is that Nicole left the EU and came back, but she had overstayed her tourist visa so they made her leave :( So we finally heard from her and she was to make her way back to Tangier (Morocco) and then to fly to Macedonia, where Storm would bring her suitcase at the end of May. After packing up everything, and Storm going home, I let Jenna and Cambria study the city on their own because i was so tired already, but then met up with them for lunch with Jenna's older brother. I took them to my favorite haunt, the Chinese place under Plaza de España... it received mixed reviews from them. After I showed them Templo de Debod, then left them again for a nap so that we could go out later. That night Jenna, Cambria, Dylan (j's brother) and i went out in Malasaña for some quality bar-hoping and late night discoing. We had tons of fun, but i woke up with a big scrape on my back, and Jenna with an enourmous scrape on her elbow/forearm.. i think my fault, whoopsies. Sunday the four of us spent the day laughing and drinking and being jolly in La Latina. Great visit, hectic weekend, i miss nicole.

(-) 1 tapa: school
worst day of school EVER today. I have a discussion every tuesday for my Latin American Econ class based on a few readings we have to do weekly. Well the last 3 or 4 discussions i haven't made a peep, due to my immense fear of speaking in front of large groups or when being evaluated, made worse by it being in spanish. Well today was the day, and it was probably the most embarassing class OF MY LIFE, no joke. I started to put in my two cents, but then i forgot how to say a word, so i got embarassed, then nervous, then couldnt think, then couldnt speak, then couldnt form coherent sentences and ended up with a hardcore gringo accent. For the rest of class i was basically distracted bc i was so embarassed, trying to hold myself together. Now who knows if i'll ever speak in that class again, all i wanted to do was disappear.

Semana Santa in Ireland!

Semana Santa in Ireland!

Semana Santa = Easter week = Spring break!
I chose (last minute) to go with Nicole and Storm to Ireland for the beginning of spring break, and it was awesome! Here are the highlights:

(-) 1 tapa: arriving to the airport and finding out Nicole and Storm were on the 10 AM flight, not the 10 PM flight that I was on. Fortunately, they were able to get on my flight and we all made it to Dublin as planned.

(+) 1 tapa: Dublin
We spent Friday giving ourselves a small tour of the city, stopping at a lot of bookstores and book markets, and shopping in Temple Bar. The highlights were definitely bagels in the morning (!! Hadn’t had one since August!!!) and Guinness in the afternoon. I also had a quick reunion with my Irish friend David who studied at UCSD last year.

Nicole, Storm, and me at Temple Bar in the temple bar district of Dublin

(+) 1 tapa: Ballykelly
Friday night we took a four hour bus up to Northern Ireland, to a tiny village where Storm is from. The place only has 2 bars, a couple restaurants, and a string of houses. Luckily, it has a “chipie” aka a fish-and-chips shop!!! We spent Sunday night getting to know the locals at the bar Storm works at when she is home. It was entertaining because one of the guys thought I was Spanish and told me that he had put two Spanish songs on the jukebox for me. At the time I had no idea why he was telling me that until I later found out that they didn’t all know I was American.

(+) 1 tapa: Giant’s Causeway
On Saturday afternoon Storm, Nicole, and I drove over to the Giant’s Causeway which is basically this big, natural rock formation. We were so lucky because the sun came with us and afforded us a beautiful day at the Causeway! Everything was green and blue and absolutely amazing.

Me, on the Causeway!!
Looking out, towards the causeway

(+) 1 tapa: Partying in Derry
That night we went out for Storm’s cousin’s 21st birthday. We spent the night experiencing the nightlife in Derry, which is actually not so different than that in Spain, except that it starts and ends a few hours earlier, and no one smokes!!

Storm, me, Nicole, out in Derry :)

(+) 1 tapa: Sunday Funday
Sunday we woke up (albeit a little bit hung-over) and drove up the mountain in Binevenagh to the viewpoint, which is basically an unguarded cliff off of which you can see far into Ireland. It wasn’t sunny like at the Causeway, and it was super windy, but it was still beautiful and Ireland looked exactly like I imagined it would.
After, we drove to Storm’s grandparents’ house for family dinner (aka lunch) where we met most of Storm’s family and ate a proper home-cooked meal! Mmm
Post-dinner with the family we drove into Derry and went shopping. Apparently there’s not much else to do once you’ve been to the causeway, Binevenagh, and the local pubs.

(-) 1 tapa: Belfast
LAME city. AWFUL bus tour. As it turns out, Belfast is not known for much beyond its industry and manufacturing. On the tour we learned about IKEA, the millennium concert center, the Hilton hotel where Bill Clinton used to stay, and the Holiday Inn. The tour guide spent minimal time telling us about the murals that are all over the city and an unsatisfactory amount of time telling us about the period of conflict and violence. After the disappointing tour we just found ourselves shopping, again.

Tuesday we spent the day travelling from Derry back to Dublin back to Madrid. The trip was so much fun, and it was sad we had to leave Ireland so soon. That night Storm and Nicole left to go to Barcelona, and I prepared for my trip to Granada… which ended up not happening. So now I’m sitting here in Madrid, sheltered from the crap weather (rain), wondering if blog conclusions are even necessary, and focusing my efforts on homework, getting excited for my cousin to come visit me on Tuesday!

Oh and I’m stuck inside with nothing to eat because ALL the stores are closed for Good Friday :(

Accomplishments... and other musings

(+) 3 tapas: Internship
On thursday I finished part of my project at my internship, and I got an immense sense of accomplishment from it. For the past month I've been working on a project for Honduras, all the beginning stage of implementing a micro-lending bank there, and every time I've finished something my over-seer just looks it over then says "ok" then gives me the follow-up assignment. This time, when I finished what I had to do (figure out the size of the loans and the right interest rate to be competative in Honduras and to be sustainable in 5 years) I was told that I would be presenting this information to the director of the NGO next week. Once I present my work to him, it will then be decided whether or not Honduras is a feasible place to work. Basically, it is the point of no return, at which we either continue, or stop everything. I'm really excited to see if we will continue with the project. If so, in a year I'll be able to say that I layed down the foundation for this microcredit agency in Honduras.

(+) 1 tapa (depending on your view of the world, and mine revolves around food):
Across the street from my apartment is a great falafel and kebab place. They recently put up a sign with "ofertas anti-crisis", aka deals to cope with the economic crisis.

(-) 1 tapa: Sick looking old people
I think there are a lot of old people in Madrid, and an odd proportion of them is unhealthy. Or maybe thats just the Spanish (white?) way of growing old? Looking sick and wrinkly? Or maybe it's because I pass a geriatric day center everyday on my way to school and work? Anyway, the old women always wear long fur coats, even if it's warm out.

(-) 1 tapa:
My phone broke. It just turned off suddenly and refused to both turn back on and to charge.

(+) 1 tapa: After 4 weeks of being sick, I'm about 80% healthy again.

PJD in Madrid

Peter Denny came to Madrid for a few days! He´s on his spring break so he and a few of his friends decided to come to Spain. They arrived on Saturday and i was lucky enough to host him and his friend Emily for the night. During the day I basically walked them through Madrid, then we made our way back via a few stops at different bars for the sangria they craved. That night I took them to a few bars in Chueca, including one at which Peter was able to score us free drinks! Unfortunately i´ve been sick for the past 3.5 weeks, so i had to leave them early because i wasn´t feeling well. The next day they left me to meet up with their other friend and i didn´t see them again until monday night. Monday night we went to a flamenco show at Casa Patas. It was one of the most amazing things i´ve ever seen. It was pretty intimate (our table was right up next to the stage), with a small stage crowded with the five musicians and the 2 dancers. The dancing was so intense and passionate, i´d never seen anything like it! For anyone visiting madrid and interested in a flamenco show, this is it. Ahh, to be living in Spain...

Imminent Return

As i said in my last post, plane tickets are extremely expensive for getting home in the middle of july. Well nicole showed me this site called student universe where they sell cheaper tickets to students. I was able to find a more reasonably priced ticket on my sister's flight, and jumped at the opportunity bc there were only 5 seats left (i hope i don´t get stuck next to the engines). Well the final purchase of the ticket gave me a big lump in my stomach and made my heart drop. I don't even want to think about leaving this wonderful country, but now i know i have to and the date is coming up far too fast. Ya, ok, still a few months away, but still, much too soon. Thinking about leaving, and knowing i have to, makes me want to cry :(

Jen Gets Mad

Apparently i don't write in my blog enough, so here are some tidbits to fill space.

- My friends saw sergio ramos at a club back in mid-February. I just about died with jealousy. Nicole, Storm, and I tried going to this very club on Saturday, but we got turned away because we weren't on the list. What a damn shame.

- I've been sick for about 2.5 weeks now. My spanish roommates think i should go see a doctor, but i think that's silly because there's not much a doctor can do for a cold. Instead i've been going to the pharmacy and picking up a medley of medicines. My cocktail generally consists of a vitamic c supplement, cough syrup, a mixture of paracetamol and pseudoephedrine, and some all natural "sedative". I don't think anything is working besides blowing my nose and coughing.

- My classes are pretty lame. I'm taking economy of latin america, which will count towards my major. Collective action and pop culture in modern and contemporary europe, which will not count towards my major, is pretty boring, and just gives me more time to daydream about sergio ramos. And finally, Anthropology of food, yessss.

- I've been pretty bored with my usual routine lately, so i started reading other people's books. So far in the last two months i've done Chelsea Handler's My Horizontal Life, which is an hilarious account of her sex life, the whole twilight series, and fear and loathing in las vegas, which was so hilarious i laughed out loud and someone asked if i was reading a book of jokes. I'm now starting on a heartbreaking work of staggering genius.

- This past sunday was absolutely beautiful, so i took my hungover butt out for chinese food with Storm and Nicole to a park just a few minutes away from my house. Then we walked over to Retiro park because every sunday there are a few drum circles right by the lake. We had an awesome time listening to the drums and relaxing for a couple hours.

- I just watched the movie Taken, and Liam Neeson kicks ass. More ass than usual.

- I have no idea how i'm getting home this summer, flights are beyond ridiculously expensive. grrreat.

- Peter J. Denny is coming to Madrid next weekend and I'm soooooo excited to see him!!

- oh ya, our hot water has been out since sunday so we can't take showers or wash dishes here. the grossness is escalating.

- there's something like a student strike going on at school right now. Since all my classes are in the faculty of political science, it's pretty obvious because it's the epicenter of the chaos. From what i gathered they aren't happy about the academic program of europe. Anyway, this morning i went to class and all we did was talk about the strike and how the other students feel about it. Off-and-on throughout the class we could hear the students yelling and chanting, and hitting their drums, then near the end of class it escalated and got even louder and they came by our classroom and took the door off the hinges. When i left class i saw that a door had been taken off of every classroom in the hall. Madness! and in my personal opinion, not the best way to win over the minds of the administrators.