I haven´t written a blog for a while...
So it´s late in the semester, what do you expect from me?
EVERYONE loses motivation about this time of year, ESPECIALLY me (see previous blogs about my lack of any sort of motivation).
My lack of motivation these days, though, is not any sort of the blues or foul weather but excitement and raring-to-go-ness. I knew I would quickly get over those blues and I have... they are officially kicked to the curb.
I always said I wanted to live somewhere where it rained a lot, but now I am sure that I would be sad all the time. I didn´t think I was that kind of person but I have discovered that I am. Ya he descubrido que soy el tipo de persona que necesita buen tiempo y gente amable.
And in case it wasn´t obvious, I have fallen in love with Spanish. I really want to write it right now, actually. I am composing these sentences in Spanish in my head.
Si no fuera obvio, ya he enamorado de español. Lo quiero escribir ahora misma en realidad. Estoy escribiendo estas frases en español en mi mente (y ahora en la pantalla también).
There, out of the system for the next five minutes.
As I do often when I write this, I am waiting for Lauren to get out of whatever class she has right now to head down to the Reina Sofía for a museum visit, our last, with our class. This semester is almost over, it´s strange. It was one of those semesters for me that seemed like it flashed by like lightening but now that I am in it my life before I came seems like a million years away, like it was another lifetime.
So, felicidades to Whits because she is a genius and wowed a super important visiting bug professor (he STUDIES bigs but is, in fact, a human) with her intelligence and charisma. I am very proud of her and excited that she has a bug up her ass now (pun intended) to pursue her PhD instead of going to med school. Oh, to be scientifically compatible... I would even settle for mathematically compatible. But unfortunately I am neither. I can write a mean character analysis, though, so I guess that´s something.
I also have planned out my costume for this Halloween. Some of you are undoubtedly suprised that I have started so early for this seemingly minor holiday, but you will be the ones with the crappy last-minute costumes while yours truly wows everyone.
That´s right, lady and gentleman who read this blog, I have it all planned out. I even discovered that I have my theme song on my iTunes last night (which is actually what got me stoked on the planning in the first place).
Plus, it´s my favorite holiday so "too early to plan for Halloween" does not compute.
We have our field trip deal to Salamanca tomorrow and I´m pretty excited about it. I have been itching to travel more since my return from Lisboa so it will be a nice day. The weather, which has been improving with every passing day, is supposed to be pretty good as well.
We also have our big Hard Rock Café Madrid night on Saturday that we planned over a month ago. Ever since we saw it in Plaza de Colón on our first trip to the Prado in January we have wanted to go and have a big fancy blowout dinner so I am really excited that the big night is finally here. It will just be a big group of kids (6-10 pero no estoy segura) havin a kick ass time at dinner together.
I also get to go to Valencia next weekend AND IT´S BIRTHDAY TIME AGAIN!!! Yay! I am super excited for my birthday, the best day of the year, but I am a little internally shocked at how the last year has just disappeared on me. It seems like only yesterday I was in the casinos turning the big 21. It´s funny to think that then I had no idea I would be spending my next birthday in Valencia, Spain.
Oh, how life takes us places!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Dancing and doughnuts
So with the help of some good books, the Beatles and a little sunshine, my physical condition is much improved from my last blog post. I was never that worried anyway, though, because nobody I know has ever died from any diseases from the where-the-hell-is-summer bacterial family, although a cousin of a friend of this kid I know was hospitalized a couple years ago in Storm Lake, Iowa. True story.
So another weekend filled with slow, lazy days and fast, crazy fun nights. We were supposed to go to Ávila on Saturday but it was bad weather and so we nixed it. I hope I can make it this weekend, though. I am itching to get out of this city bigtime. The concrete jungle is closing in on me and I don´t know how much longer I can take it.
All I can say is that I am going to need one hell of a backpacking trip when all this is over. I need to flush out all of the smog and concrete that has wiggled its way into my being.
I have loved being here, but this experience has taught me that I am NOT a city girl. I am a mountain girl, for sure.
Also, I thought I would be heartbroken to leave the Metro behind, but now I´m not so sure. I will get up in the morning, shower, put on wonderfully smelling clean clothes and deodorant (unlike Spaniards, mind you) and by the time I reach my classroom 45 minutes later, I reek of the same scent that absolutely clings to everyone in the entire city. This is a terrible combination of sweat, cigarettes and jamón. It´s gagging, this scent. I am NOT looking forward to the weather getting warmer and warmer, either. It will go from being an annoying nuisance to pure torture.
So this weekend I went out dancing 2 nights in a row, which is something I never usually do. One night is usually enough to tear my knees up so that I can barely walk the next morning when I get out of bed. Not this weekend.
With the help of vodka tonics and the Advil mom sent from California (not at the same time, don´t worry parents!) I was able to haul my hot ass out there on the dance floor again to boogie.
I had to go out dancing that second night because Owen´s girlfriend, Heather, who is studying in Nottingham and has been here for 3 weeks left today. Every night we went out before this they were too tired or whatever to end the night at the discos and they always bailed. Well, being the lovely hostess that I am I simply couldn´t stand for her to leave without seeing some of the clubs Madrid has to offer.
So we went and we saw.
It was a good time, completely lovely girl that Heather.
On Saturday night, Iowa Lauren and I went over to Amy´s house (hostmom out for the night with the bf) to have girls´ movie night with a half-dozen caja of doughnuts from Dunkin´ Coffee (yes, it is Dunkin´ Donuts except they have changed only the name for reasons I don´t know).
The doughnuts were delicious (very American doughnutty tasting), the company was exquisite, and the pajamas comfy. Altogether a wonderful night. Garrett, you contributed to this night by providing the entertainment... we watched Across the Universe :) the homies said to say good work!
So now I am going to head home to dig into cleaning my room (but probably not) and a new book that Amy lent me that is the funniest novel I have ever read in my entire life, barring perhaps Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Peace out, ladies and gentlemen... until next time.
So another weekend filled with slow, lazy days and fast, crazy fun nights. We were supposed to go to Ávila on Saturday but it was bad weather and so we nixed it. I hope I can make it this weekend, though. I am itching to get out of this city bigtime. The concrete jungle is closing in on me and I don´t know how much longer I can take it.
All I can say is that I am going to need one hell of a backpacking trip when all this is over. I need to flush out all of the smog and concrete that has wiggled its way into my being.
I have loved being here, but this experience has taught me that I am NOT a city girl. I am a mountain girl, for sure.
Also, I thought I would be heartbroken to leave the Metro behind, but now I´m not so sure. I will get up in the morning, shower, put on wonderfully smelling clean clothes and deodorant (unlike Spaniards, mind you) and by the time I reach my classroom 45 minutes later, I reek of the same scent that absolutely clings to everyone in the entire city. This is a terrible combination of sweat, cigarettes and jamón. It´s gagging, this scent. I am NOT looking forward to the weather getting warmer and warmer, either. It will go from being an annoying nuisance to pure torture.
So this weekend I went out dancing 2 nights in a row, which is something I never usually do. One night is usually enough to tear my knees up so that I can barely walk the next morning when I get out of bed. Not this weekend.
With the help of vodka tonics and the Advil mom sent from California (not at the same time, don´t worry parents!) I was able to haul my hot ass out there on the dance floor again to boogie.
I had to go out dancing that second night because Owen´s girlfriend, Heather, who is studying in Nottingham and has been here for 3 weeks left today. Every night we went out before this they were too tired or whatever to end the night at the discos and they always bailed. Well, being the lovely hostess that I am I simply couldn´t stand for her to leave without seeing some of the clubs Madrid has to offer.
So we went and we saw.
It was a good time, completely lovely girl that Heather.
On Saturday night, Iowa Lauren and I went over to Amy´s house (hostmom out for the night with the bf) to have girls´ movie night with a half-dozen caja of doughnuts from Dunkin´ Coffee (yes, it is Dunkin´ Donuts except they have changed only the name for reasons I don´t know).
The doughnuts were delicious (very American doughnutty tasting), the company was exquisite, and the pajamas comfy. Altogether a wonderful night. Garrett, you contributed to this night by providing the entertainment... we watched Across the Universe :) the homies said to say good work!
So now I am going to head home to dig into cleaning my room (but probably not) and a new book that Amy lent me that is the funniest novel I have ever read in my entire life, barring perhaps Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Peace out, ladies and gentlemen... until next time.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
112... the Spanish 911
I am seriously ill.
I have diagnosed myself with a severe case of spring-semester-is-almost-over blues with a slight infection of yearning-for-summeritis with occasional stabbing why-does-April-have-to-be-so-dreary pains in my stomach.
Symptoms include but are not limited to: complete lack of motivation or energy, loss of words in all languages both previously studied and currently studying, unintentional wetblanketting of general enthusiasm and enjoyment of others, amplified bitterness toward strangers (side warning: avoid crowded places underground, places such as metro trains and stations where old people walk slowly in front of you), and extreme thirst.
As you can see, I am a very ill human.
They tried to talk me out of coming to class to avoid infecting others, but I refused. I am paying enough for these classes and so I have to come no matter how sniffly I may be or no matter how many times we go over the pretérito perfecto de indicativo tense because somehow people still don´t get it.
These illnesses are like scarlet fever, you can rid yourself of the symptoms but they never leave you. They always sit crouched somewhere around your intestinal region ready to come at you like a spider monkey and infect every cell and tissue of your physical self at the drop of a hat.
It´s also like the flu because you don´t notice you have it until one day you wake up and feel like you´ve been hit by a bus. Unlike the flu, however, there is no shot to be had that will prevent it (except sometimes tequila).
It is very sneaky, this spring-semester-is-almost-over blues, and can strike anyone at any time. No one is immune to it and college students are especially prone.
Possible prescriptions?
Although well versed in medical knowledge, I have yet to find anything that knocks this thing out of my system in less than 2 weeks. I have tried many cures, some more successful than others.
Take for example the aforementioned tequila shot. It´s like taking a cough drop when you can´t stop coughing; it numbs the pain briefly but you just want another when it´s gone. That is no successful way to beat this disease and certainly no way to do life successfully either.
I ventured into the world of natural medicine by spending the weekend in Retiro in the 75º perfect sunshine. My condition was rapidly improving, barring a slight sunburn to my shoulders through my crappy Spanish sunscreen, but all my progress departed along with the sun on Sunday afternoon.
This week is rain, rain, rain, lightening, thunder, rain, pretérito perfecto de indicativo. All week. The sun will NOT come out tomorrow.
I suppose I will have to settle for riding this thing out until it passes naturally. My mother always says that when we don´t use medicine for whatever ails us we get stronger. Hopefully in this most dire case her words will prove correct and I will feel refreshed and rejuvenated by the time the b-day rolls around in a couple weeks and we scoot off to Valencia. Nothing makes me happier than my birthday so I´m thinking that May will find me much improved.
So for now I will just have to wait, although patience has never been my best quality. I do have things to occupy me while I am laid up like this, though, which is nice.
Kristin and I have bonded over fantasy novels and she loaned me a good one that I dug into yesterday while the storm raged outside. And I am not being dramatic, that storm was pissed off at us yesterday. By reading His Dark Materials and this new novel, I have also been inspired with a new direction for my own fantasy novel that I began to write before I left home.
Yes, I am aware that this makes me the lamest person on the planet, but I am who I am and who I am is apparently a wannabe fantasy author.
So, there you go. That is the current news of my general health and sanity at present.
I have diagnosed myself with a severe case of spring-semester-is-almost-over blues with a slight infection of yearning-for-summeritis with occasional stabbing why-does-April-have-to-be-so-dreary pains in my stomach.
Symptoms include but are not limited to: complete lack of motivation or energy, loss of words in all languages both previously studied and currently studying, unintentional wetblanketting of general enthusiasm and enjoyment of others, amplified bitterness toward strangers (side warning: avoid crowded places underground, places such as metro trains and stations where old people walk slowly in front of you), and extreme thirst.
As you can see, I am a very ill human.
They tried to talk me out of coming to class to avoid infecting others, but I refused. I am paying enough for these classes and so I have to come no matter how sniffly I may be or no matter how many times we go over the pretérito perfecto de indicativo tense because somehow people still don´t get it.
These illnesses are like scarlet fever, you can rid yourself of the symptoms but they never leave you. They always sit crouched somewhere around your intestinal region ready to come at you like a spider monkey and infect every cell and tissue of your physical self at the drop of a hat.
It´s also like the flu because you don´t notice you have it until one day you wake up and feel like you´ve been hit by a bus. Unlike the flu, however, there is no shot to be had that will prevent it (except sometimes tequila).
It is very sneaky, this spring-semester-is-almost-over blues, and can strike anyone at any time. No one is immune to it and college students are especially prone.
Possible prescriptions?
Although well versed in medical knowledge, I have yet to find anything that knocks this thing out of my system in less than 2 weeks. I have tried many cures, some more successful than others.
Take for example the aforementioned tequila shot. It´s like taking a cough drop when you can´t stop coughing; it numbs the pain briefly but you just want another when it´s gone. That is no successful way to beat this disease and certainly no way to do life successfully either.
I ventured into the world of natural medicine by spending the weekend in Retiro in the 75º perfect sunshine. My condition was rapidly improving, barring a slight sunburn to my shoulders through my crappy Spanish sunscreen, but all my progress departed along with the sun on Sunday afternoon.
This week is rain, rain, rain, lightening, thunder, rain, pretérito perfecto de indicativo. All week. The sun will NOT come out tomorrow.
I suppose I will have to settle for riding this thing out until it passes naturally. My mother always says that when we don´t use medicine for whatever ails us we get stronger. Hopefully in this most dire case her words will prove correct and I will feel refreshed and rejuvenated by the time the b-day rolls around in a couple weeks and we scoot off to Valencia. Nothing makes me happier than my birthday so I´m thinking that May will find me much improved.
So for now I will just have to wait, although patience has never been my best quality. I do have things to occupy me while I am laid up like this, though, which is nice.
Kristin and I have bonded over fantasy novels and she loaned me a good one that I dug into yesterday while the storm raged outside. And I am not being dramatic, that storm was pissed off at us yesterday. By reading His Dark Materials and this new novel, I have also been inspired with a new direction for my own fantasy novel that I began to write before I left home.
Yes, I am aware that this makes me the lamest person on the planet, but I am who I am and who I am is apparently a wannabe fantasy author.
So, there you go. That is the current news of my general health and sanity at present.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
After class
(This entry is directly continued from the last...)
So as we were strolling we encountered a lookout tower that looked out over the old city of Lisbon. We checked on the price of the elevator (2€) and decided to nix it. I thought we would just put it off and do it later, no big deal.
About an hour and a half later as we were walking around more up on the hill, we discovered the entrance to the catwalk type of deal that led to more or less the top of this tower. This is fantastic because all the tourists who were loading and unloading from their 2€ trip up the maybe ten stories in the elevator were pissed that they got all ripped off. This is another perfect example of my really good luck with finding things/always (except in Barcelona) walking in the right direction. Seriously, I am really good at this.
So we climbed the two more spiral staircases to the lookout tower and to the unexpected but not unappreciated bar there. We sat and listened to the live accordian jams and drank glasses of white wine overlooking Lisboa as the sun set. This was calm and simply lovely.
This turned into an even better decision than I had initially thought, too.
The waiters and bartenders were all Brazilian guys in their young 20s and they started talking to us (English) and refilling our glasses so we couldn´t leave. That makes it sound though like we wanted to, which is untrue. We had a fantastic time just sitting there and chatting/enjoying the city.
When the bar was going to close at about 9, a bunch of other kids (dudes and girls) showed to meet up with them. They proceeded to invite us to their house because they were going to hang out, drink and make a typical Brazilian dinner.
Of course, I immediately jumped on this. I don´t think Lauren was so convinced, but it wasn´t sketchy and sounded like the best time of my life so I was in.
We went with them to this tiny groundfloor apartment in an old building where they had all sorts of beer and wine and immediately began cooking. I went to a house party in Lisboa. This, to me, is very cool. All the house parties I have attended in California/Nevada and now I get to see what they´re like in Portugal.
They are almost exactly the same, except with more olives.
For some reason, folks in the Iberian Peninsula (and presumably other parts of Europe as well like Italia) can´t eat enough olives. I don´t particularly care for them, although there are some that are more edible to me than others.
People here eat everything, they´ve never heard of someone picking toppings off pizza or refusing fish. This is really weird to them when Americans do it. And we do this all the freaking time. Especially Lauren :)
She didn´t want to eat the olives, and to tell you the truth, neither did I, but when they offered them to us we both sacked up and popped them in our mouths. Not the disgusting ones like they always give me with a wink in the Museo del Jamón that I have to choke down with beer because I feel completely obligated. These ones weren´t too bad, so that was nice.
The food they made us was very simple in flavor, very rich, thick and meaty. Not really Lauren´s deal, but she was able to choke some down.
Meanwhile, I completely loved it. I thought it was delicious and enjoyed it very much. The first thing was this grits corn meal stuff. I had one of the guys serve me because I didn´t know how it was supposed to go. He spooned this goop into my bowl. Then he took scoops of a meaty beef broth from a stockpot and poured them into the bowl. Also from this same bowl came the thick chunks of steak that went right in with everything else.
Eating this mixture altogether was glorious, just delicious. About halfway through, the same guy who served me (who reminded me SO MUCH of an actor that I can´t place but who is most definitely good looking) told me that I needed more of the broth and meat to eat the rest of the corn meal. I didn´t object (me refuse food?? yeah right!) and found myself with another heaping bowl of this stuff. Fantastic.
I also chatted lit with the guy who belonged to the apartment. He spoke the best English out of them all (except this one really pretty chick who was the only Portuguese person present who studied for a year and a half in Minnesota) and it was a good time. He had shelves of books, about a quarter of them in English. I am always up for a little literature conversation and I oddly enough always find someone to join me.
So in Spain it is pretty much unheard of for guys to buy ladies drinks. At home this is very common. This is a tough change to get accostumed to, let me tell ya. In Lisboa hanging out with all these Brazilians, I definitely got a taste of this American custom again with those great Brazilian guys. I would be half-finished with a beer when they would hand me another and say, "your drink is almost empty." I couldn´t help but wonder if they knew the meaning of this phrase because at times my drink was nowhere close to empty.
After this apartment, they took us through the winding night streets of Lisboa and to this underground acoustic guitar (yeah, and I still don´t like it even when it´s in Portugal and in Portuguese) bar. They knew the guy who was playing and he sang to us! It was super cool. I felt pretty badass, not gonna lie. Very Euro.
We ended up hitting the road after this place, though, because Lauren didn´t feel well.
They were heading off to a club though, and it was probably about 2:30 in the am. This is how Europeans roll. Man, oh man, I was born to be European I suppose. I don´t sleep at night either!
OK, bed time. I have to write 3 papers for Jorge, too. One is actually due tomorrow morning and the other two are ones that I just didn´t do before. Story of my life, eh? Again... at least I am still me in España, yeah?
OH, and my mother got my flight changed to May 28! Good work, mom. This means I will be coming home right when I return to Spain from Egypt. Lots of flying, but I can´t wait.
Also, Carmen won´t stop giving me crap about not traveling enough. I don´t appreciate this because I AM traveling but just not every weekend like Vanessa. She´s making me look bad :)
Later alligators
So as we were strolling we encountered a lookout tower that looked out over the old city of Lisbon. We checked on the price of the elevator (2€) and decided to nix it. I thought we would just put it off and do it later, no big deal.
About an hour and a half later as we were walking around more up on the hill, we discovered the entrance to the catwalk type of deal that led to more or less the top of this tower. This is fantastic because all the tourists who were loading and unloading from their 2€ trip up the maybe ten stories in the elevator were pissed that they got all ripped off. This is another perfect example of my really good luck with finding things/always (except in Barcelona) walking in the right direction. Seriously, I am really good at this.
So we climbed the two more spiral staircases to the lookout tower and to the unexpected but not unappreciated bar there. We sat and listened to the live accordian jams and drank glasses of white wine overlooking Lisboa as the sun set. This was calm and simply lovely.
This turned into an even better decision than I had initially thought, too.
The waiters and bartenders were all Brazilian guys in their young 20s and they started talking to us (English) and refilling our glasses so we couldn´t leave. That makes it sound though like we wanted to, which is untrue. We had a fantastic time just sitting there and chatting/enjoying the city.
When the bar was going to close at about 9, a bunch of other kids (dudes and girls) showed to meet up with them. They proceeded to invite us to their house because they were going to hang out, drink and make a typical Brazilian dinner.
Of course, I immediately jumped on this. I don´t think Lauren was so convinced, but it wasn´t sketchy and sounded like the best time of my life so I was in.
We went with them to this tiny groundfloor apartment in an old building where they had all sorts of beer and wine and immediately began cooking. I went to a house party in Lisboa. This, to me, is very cool. All the house parties I have attended in California/Nevada and now I get to see what they´re like in Portugal.
They are almost exactly the same, except with more olives.
For some reason, folks in the Iberian Peninsula (and presumably other parts of Europe as well like Italia) can´t eat enough olives. I don´t particularly care for them, although there are some that are more edible to me than others.
People here eat everything, they´ve never heard of someone picking toppings off pizza or refusing fish. This is really weird to them when Americans do it. And we do this all the freaking time. Especially Lauren :)
She didn´t want to eat the olives, and to tell you the truth, neither did I, but when they offered them to us we both sacked up and popped them in our mouths. Not the disgusting ones like they always give me with a wink in the Museo del Jamón that I have to choke down with beer because I feel completely obligated. These ones weren´t too bad, so that was nice.
The food they made us was very simple in flavor, very rich, thick and meaty. Not really Lauren´s deal, but she was able to choke some down.
Meanwhile, I completely loved it. I thought it was delicious and enjoyed it very much. The first thing was this grits corn meal stuff. I had one of the guys serve me because I didn´t know how it was supposed to go. He spooned this goop into my bowl. Then he took scoops of a meaty beef broth from a stockpot and poured them into the bowl. Also from this same bowl came the thick chunks of steak that went right in with everything else.
Eating this mixture altogether was glorious, just delicious. About halfway through, the same guy who served me (who reminded me SO MUCH of an actor that I can´t place but who is most definitely good looking) told me that I needed more of the broth and meat to eat the rest of the corn meal. I didn´t object (me refuse food?? yeah right!) and found myself with another heaping bowl of this stuff. Fantastic.
I also chatted lit with the guy who belonged to the apartment. He spoke the best English out of them all (except this one really pretty chick who was the only Portuguese person present who studied for a year and a half in Minnesota) and it was a good time. He had shelves of books, about a quarter of them in English. I am always up for a little literature conversation and I oddly enough always find someone to join me.
So in Spain it is pretty much unheard of for guys to buy ladies drinks. At home this is very common. This is a tough change to get accostumed to, let me tell ya. In Lisboa hanging out with all these Brazilians, I definitely got a taste of this American custom again with those great Brazilian guys. I would be half-finished with a beer when they would hand me another and say, "your drink is almost empty." I couldn´t help but wonder if they knew the meaning of this phrase because at times my drink was nowhere close to empty.
After this apartment, they took us through the winding night streets of Lisboa and to this underground acoustic guitar (yeah, and I still don´t like it even when it´s in Portugal and in Portuguese) bar. They knew the guy who was playing and he sang to us! It was super cool. I felt pretty badass, not gonna lie. Very Euro.
We ended up hitting the road after this place, though, because Lauren didn´t feel well.
They were heading off to a club though, and it was probably about 2:30 in the am. This is how Europeans roll. Man, oh man, I was born to be European I suppose. I don´t sleep at night either!
OK, bed time. I have to write 3 papers for Jorge, too. One is actually due tomorrow morning and the other two are ones that I just didn´t do before. Story of my life, eh? Again... at least I am still me in España, yeah?
OH, and my mother got my flight changed to May 28! Good work, mom. This means I will be coming home right when I return to Spain from Egypt. Lots of flying, but I can´t wait.
Also, Carmen won´t stop giving me crap about not traveling enough. I don´t appreciate this because I AM traveling but just not every weekend like Vanessa. She´s making me look bad :)
Later alligators
Before art history class
I realize that my last entry was very poorly written. For this I apologize. I was excited and in a hurry to get everything down. Plus, while I was writing I was also chatting with my mother, father, and then Garrett on Skype so I was a little distracted. Considering all this, the entry wasn´t too bad, right?
I am trying to get this entire past week recorded because like an idiot I have forgotten my journal on every single viaje out of Madrid that I have taken. I get home and have pocketfuls of museum entry, bus, cathedral tickets and restaurant reciepts. I save all these and glue them all in my journal along with explanations and day-by-day accounts. I am only caught up to my Semana Santa, though.
This means that I have a full days worth of gluesticking and writing to catch up through Barcelona and Lisbon.
It does make me feel better about not keeping up with my European journal when I consider that I have been keeping up with my blog a little bit more consistantly (whatever Garrett thinks). After our Andalucía trip with USAC, I remember thinking how well documented my life here was. I had my blog, my personal journal, and my journal for our trip that we had to turn in because it was a field studies course.
Before I break down Lisboa, I have to write that I have been completely loving having movies again. You may be thinking that I am a complete idiot for needing DVDs while I am living in Europe, but keep in mind that you can´t go out every night. I live in this city currently and when I am not doing my hw (which is never because I can do it in class while we go over it because it´s that easy) and I´m home from my day out, there is nothing to do besides the occasional Rome episode in Spanish (which is crap because nothing is ever as good when it´s dubbed).
I read for a while, both books in Spanish and English (currently El Hobbit and the His Dark Materials series which made its way over the big blue ocean with Lauren in the blessed extra bag) but sometimes I need a good movie.
Last night I watched "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar." This is not a super popular film. Although obscure, it may be one of my favorites ever. Picture in your mind (if you´re the creative type) Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo and Wesley Snipes (yes, Blade and that bad guy from Demolition Man himself) as drag queens. And, the best part is, they are all really really good. You forget who they really are even. If you haven´t seen this movie, then let me know and we will watch it together when I return stateside. It´s definitely worth the hour and twenty minutes it takes to watch it. The plot isn´t astounding, but it really doesn´t need to be. The acting is so good and the characters so memorable that it´s funny every time. I enjoy it a great deal.
OK, ten minutes before art history to begin explaining Lisboa. This entry may yet turn into rapid fire typing like yesterday´s :)
Quickly, though, let me just say that Europeans have no concept of personal space. Every time someone walks by me as I sit in my chair right here they knock the chair or knock my ponytail. They have plenty of space (some dude just did it again!!!) to pass without hitting me but they just choose to do it. This is so angering! It´s such a cultural difference. I think this is due to the fact that we just have so much space in the US and they have far less historically in Europe. There is an Italian girl in our program who mows people over like a bowling ball when she walks past you through an empty hallway. Seriously, we joke and laugh about this all the time.
Lisboa...
When we first arrived I felt so out of place. I don´t speak any Portuguese. The people in Portugal do. I was kinda worried this would be a problem.
Getting to the hostel was the smoothest experience of my entire life, though. We found our bus right away, got on and paid, rode through the city, randomly asked an old lady for our plaza and discovered it was the next stop, walked straight to our hostel (which was incredible) and settled in without any sort of problem whatsoever. This was a little bit different than our experience in Barcelona, otherwise known as the first time I have ever been disoriented and lost in my life. I have an excellent sense of direction, but Barcelona had it out for me. Lisboa went according to plan, though. Lisboa me cayó bien inmediatemente.
AND it wasn´t pissing rain in Lisboa like in Barcelona. I already knew it was going to be a great weekend.
We left our crap and wandered around the city center for a couple of hours.
Lisboa is absolutely incredible. I can´t really explain why I fell completely in love with it from the very beginning because it wasn´t just one thing. It is nestled in between two hills with and right on the bay. If you walk up into the nice neighborhood on one hill, which we did that night, you can see the entire old city.
It is much more intimate. It has more of the tiny streets and local feel that Madrid and Barcelona have lost a little I think. Plus, since there are so many Brazilians there, it has this South American spice to it that Spain lacks completely. There are many South Americans in Spain, but they all have conformed to Spanish culture. The Brazilians in Lisboa have retained theirs and mixed it into the city culture. This made everything a little dirtier, but more interesting and passionate.
Gotta go to class, write more later. We have a test on Thursday so I gotta go and study up!
I am trying to get this entire past week recorded because like an idiot I have forgotten my journal on every single viaje out of Madrid that I have taken. I get home and have pocketfuls of museum entry, bus, cathedral tickets and restaurant reciepts. I save all these and glue them all in my journal along with explanations and day-by-day accounts. I am only caught up to my Semana Santa, though.
This means that I have a full days worth of gluesticking and writing to catch up through Barcelona and Lisbon.
It does make me feel better about not keeping up with my European journal when I consider that I have been keeping up with my blog a little bit more consistantly (whatever Garrett thinks). After our Andalucía trip with USAC, I remember thinking how well documented my life here was. I had my blog, my personal journal, and my journal for our trip that we had to turn in because it was a field studies course.
Before I break down Lisboa, I have to write that I have been completely loving having movies again. You may be thinking that I am a complete idiot for needing DVDs while I am living in Europe, but keep in mind that you can´t go out every night. I live in this city currently and when I am not doing my hw (which is never because I can do it in class while we go over it because it´s that easy) and I´m home from my day out, there is nothing to do besides the occasional Rome episode in Spanish (which is crap because nothing is ever as good when it´s dubbed).
I read for a while, both books in Spanish and English (currently El Hobbit and the His Dark Materials series which made its way over the big blue ocean with Lauren in the blessed extra bag) but sometimes I need a good movie.
Last night I watched "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar." This is not a super popular film. Although obscure, it may be one of my favorites ever. Picture in your mind (if you´re the creative type) Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo and Wesley Snipes (yes, Blade and that bad guy from Demolition Man himself) as drag queens. And, the best part is, they are all really really good. You forget who they really are even. If you haven´t seen this movie, then let me know and we will watch it together when I return stateside. It´s definitely worth the hour and twenty minutes it takes to watch it. The plot isn´t astounding, but it really doesn´t need to be. The acting is so good and the characters so memorable that it´s funny every time. I enjoy it a great deal.
OK, ten minutes before art history to begin explaining Lisboa. This entry may yet turn into rapid fire typing like yesterday´s :)
Quickly, though, let me just say that Europeans have no concept of personal space. Every time someone walks by me as I sit in my chair right here they knock the chair or knock my ponytail. They have plenty of space (some dude just did it again!!!) to pass without hitting me but they just choose to do it. This is so angering! It´s such a cultural difference. I think this is due to the fact that we just have so much space in the US and they have far less historically in Europe. There is an Italian girl in our program who mows people over like a bowling ball when she walks past you through an empty hallway. Seriously, we joke and laugh about this all the time.
Lisboa...
When we first arrived I felt so out of place. I don´t speak any Portuguese. The people in Portugal do. I was kinda worried this would be a problem.
Getting to the hostel was the smoothest experience of my entire life, though. We found our bus right away, got on and paid, rode through the city, randomly asked an old lady for our plaza and discovered it was the next stop, walked straight to our hostel (which was incredible) and settled in without any sort of problem whatsoever. This was a little bit different than our experience in Barcelona, otherwise known as the first time I have ever been disoriented and lost in my life. I have an excellent sense of direction, but Barcelona had it out for me. Lisboa went according to plan, though. Lisboa me cayó bien inmediatemente.
AND it wasn´t pissing rain in Lisboa like in Barcelona. I already knew it was going to be a great weekend.
We left our crap and wandered around the city center for a couple of hours.
Lisboa is absolutely incredible. I can´t really explain why I fell completely in love with it from the very beginning because it wasn´t just one thing. It is nestled in between two hills with and right on the bay. If you walk up into the nice neighborhood on one hill, which we did that night, you can see the entire old city.
It is much more intimate. It has more of the tiny streets and local feel that Madrid and Barcelona have lost a little I think. Plus, since there are so many Brazilians there, it has this South American spice to it that Spain lacks completely. There are many South Americans in Spain, but they all have conformed to Spanish culture. The Brazilians in Lisboa have retained theirs and mixed it into the city culture. This made everything a little dirtier, but more interesting and passionate.
Gotta go to class, write more later. We have a test on Thursday so I gotta go and study up!
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