So, Ive been very very busy. Granada was TERRIFIC, on Wednesday we not only went to the Mediterranean Sea at Almunecar, but that night me, Kathryn, Tony, and Ashlee (all from my program) bought bottles of wine for 2 euros a piece and drank them in the local park before heading out to a local bar, la dolce vita, and a club called Granada Diez (except Kathryn, who went home). It was AWESOME! An on Thursday, we went to a Turkish bath, where we sipped Turkish tea in pools of varying temperatures waiting to receive massages. I got credit for this? :D We also toured the Albacin [old Arabic district], Alhambra [Arab fortress and palace from the 11th century as well as the partly constructed palace for Holy Roman Emporer Charles V] and the Cathedral that Ferdinand and Isabel ordered to be constructed after the reclamation of Granada in 1492 [yeah, we saw their coffins]. We all got to know each other better in Granada, everyone is really nice and I generally like everyone. The guys on our trip created their own joke about themselves: a gay guy, a blind guy, and a jewish boyscout walk into a bar ...
We left Granada on Saturday, and Alex and I, by complete chance, live together with Sofia Paniagua and her daughter Ana in Marques de Vadillo/Urgell metro stops. I actually went running by the football (US soccer) field of Atletico Madrid and over the bridge close to Puerta de Toledo yesterday, in the SW part of the city. Tomorrow we are going to Toledo this week. Next week we go to Greece, cruise, Turkey, etc, for about 10 days. My schedule is as follows:
sept 13 - toledo
sept 17 - 18 athens
sept 18 - 21 cruise
sept 22 - 25 istanbul
sept 26 -depart for athens
sept 27 depart for madrid
oct 17 - 19 barcelona
fall break - oct 31 - nov 3, may go to paris or london, no se, our coordinator is going to talk to our professors about this, try to get us more time off....
nov 13 - 15 rome
nov 16 - 18 florence
dec 5 - farewell dinner for students
so, basically, i had trial - classes this week, and don't start til october! yay! .it's immersion learning!
I spend most of my money on snacks, coffee, and wine .... coffee being the most expensive of the 3, up to 4 times more expensive then wine! (1 euro for a glass of tinto verano at a tapas bar the other day, compared to 4 for a medium coffee yesterday morning at starbucks. i know, i know, but alex and i were DYING! we have about an hour commute to school every day, and have luckily found a place to get coffee for only 1.20 euros, or a buck eighty in dollars). alex and i did have la comida in la plaza mayor on sunday, after spending the early afternoon at el rastro. it was absolutely overwhelming! like eastern market times a billion!!
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So, I've decided that I am too young to do anything useful (aka go out socialize and drink) in the US but that I am too effing old here. Why do I say that? They have these things called abonos, where you can travel as many times on the metro that you want for a set price. You can get 10 trips for 7 euros, but a youth abono is unlimited trips for 20 euro, which is good. you must be under 21 to qualify for one. but, oh wait, i have to be under 21 until april 30, 2009. CAN YOU EFFING BELIEVE IT? oh, the best ist the cost .... a regular "adult" abono is 45 euro. RUEIJAKDFJA DKAJFKJDERUOA;SDJKLFJ now i have to do stupid math and see if it's effing worth it. god damn, i am pissed.
ive just been very stressed. i don't speak spanish much, so when i do have to speak spanish, i feel like an idiot because i do not know what to say or how to say it. when i was arguing with this woman about the abono, she did not understand what i was saying, so i wrote it down. the minute i wrote it down she understood my question, but wouldn't tell me what the cutoff date was, only that i was "no joven." i found the date online. well, there are 2 dates online - april 30 and june 1, depending on the source.
i went out last night and had lots of fun. and i did not buy even one drink! .... our appearance screamed american so we got drinks for free. it's like promoters come up to you, say, "want a free drink?", take you to the bar, get you your drink, and then 5 minutes later you leave. our first drink? in an irish pub, serving mexican alcohol (aka Corona and Tequila), with a romanian bartender, playing american music in spain. some of the places are really old though. One bar, which was pointed out to us in a tour on tuesday, has been established since the 1500s!
oh man, i want peanut butter! and pumpkin - flavored things! i am trying spanish food though. they really like bread here, and there are a lot of vespas, smart cars, and people on the metro. oh, and a lot of pda tambien.
hasta luego!
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