where do i begin??

So much has happened and I honestly don't remember my life.

Let's see..

So last weekend, the whole EAP group (i.e. all the UC kids ~60 of us) spent the weekend in the province of Andalucia, in the south of Spain. One word: gorgeous. The bus picked us up in Madrid at 8 am (I don't want to talk about it) and then we spent 5-6 hours in transit. Got to Córdoba on Friday afternoon and spent a few hours touring the town. EXACTLY how I imagined Spain to be: tiny cobble stone streets, flower pots hanging from walls, orange trees everywhere, sun, Moorish architecture (think key-hole windows and arches), ancient city walls, fountains. 

We toured the Mezquita, a famous Cathedral/Mosque. It was so cool to see the beautiful mixture of Christian and Muslim elements... and made me wonder why can't we all just get along??

Also got a chance to meet up with Jamee Hawn (friend from UCLA since 1st year) who I will also be seeing this weekend AT CARNAVAL IN CADIZ which I'm mildly excited about.

That night we had the most amazing dinner of red wine and a cheese + honey salad, then went to an authentic Flamenco dance show, with live Spanish guitar music. Yes, they use those hand-held clicky-things, the dresses are outrageous and colorful, and it is sort of like tap. Very cool experience.

Woke up Saturday morning to the sound of a real live rooster crowing (I'm telling you, I'm oddly sheltered in Madrid) and had a bomb ass breakfast. Dunno, thought it was worth mentioning.

Then another stint on the bus brought us to Granada, a larger city further north in Andalucia. Not as charming as Córdoba and not as fun-busy-loud as Madrid, so I was kind of indifferent about the city itself. BUT. We went up the hillside to the Alhambra, a famous palace/gardens in Granada. Absolutely beautiful. It was originally home to the Muslim rulers of Spain (back when Spain was called Al-Andalus, hence Andalucia) hence the Islamic architecture, but there are also Christian elements from later history. Anyway, it was great. I could just imagine being part of a harem to some ancient sultan. I'm telling you the place was gorgeous enough it would've been worth it.

By Sunday morning I was pretty burned out, but we spent a few hours touring Granada, going to various cathedrals and visiting the tombs of Isabella and Fernando, the Catholic monarchs of Spain back in the 15th century. Churros con chocolate (delicious), then another lonnngg bus ride home.

So yea, that was my past weekend. Now for the upcoming one... i.e. my BIRTHDAY WEEKEND.

Gonna be spending it in Cadiz, at Carnavale, which is pretty much European marti gras. In other words, life is good and just getting better.

Still, I can't believe I'm turning 20.. quarter life crisis. I bought a leather jacket today. Cheaper than a motorcycle..

"entiendes?" not really...

that was the catch phrase of the day at carlos tercero as i went about my classes. i had teatro and periodismo, though i'm still trying to finalize my schedule. i could take a ton of lit classes that i know will transfer back to ookla, orrr i could take a variety of ones that interest me and work a little harder to get the credit for them... oh decisions decisions. also going to sign up for una clase de fotografía digital, once a week on thursdays. good way to force conversation with spaniards/ no lack of subjects in this city/country/continent, if you will.

i think the biggest breakthrough that i had today was that i am here and i should BE here. i still want all the updates from the states, but i am making the decision to catapult myself head first into this experience. i've already been laughed at. i've already began to accept that pride is a luxury and thus the first thing to go. i've already realized that i'm not the bottom of the barrel and even if i were, the only way to go is--here comes the cliche--up. 

so here's to dinner at 9:30pm. here's to 3-sip coffees and heels and beginning to think in castilian. most importantly, here's to what is the beginning of.. well i'm not really sure. but whatever it is, i think i'm going to like it.

[not to make a break with profundity, but i did think it was worth mentioning that last night i saw a guy get his ass beat by the metro police. they were arguing outside of the metro, something about 'your mom', but anyway the guy spit on the police man and got beat to the ground for it. sorta shakes you up to see that. but, carry on!]

scrambled eggs and episodes of the office

... did i actually leave the states? doesn't feel like it today.

On a different note, i am officially moved in to the new place. My hosts, though it feels more like apartment mates, are Fernando and Paula, 30 year old arteests, specializing in theatre and photography, respectively. He owns his own acting company (I know--The King's Men, exactly what came to mind for me too!) and she travels the world taking photos and participating in exhibitions. Their apartment is cute and close to the center of the city; their friends are equal parts gorgeous, sophisticated, and successful; they are fantastically in love with each other. i know. i hate them too.

Went to the Reina Sofia today. It's one of the 3 major museums in Madrid, boasting works by Picasso, Dalí, Miró, etc. etc. I only got through the first 1.5 floors today, so much to see. Picasso's famous Guernica is there, and I couldn't take my eyes off it. Google image it, you'll know it.

Paula invited me to some sort of an artists gathering tonight, but i was too nervous to go! my spanish is so rudimentary i can barely order food, forget trying to be suave over cocktails. i made the decision right then that i need to really amp up the practice. spanish movies, music, tv, conversations, reading are on the agenda... after this episode of the office, of course.

i have never been this cold

this is the coldest i have ever been. the oregon coast in winter doesn't compare. aspen colorado is a joke. the wind chill is unbearable here today! i know it's annoying to be complaining like this but i seriously can't help it.. i mean, when you can't change your circumstances, all you can do is bitch. right? ugh.

I'm gonna move into my permanent house today. can't wait to unpack and get officially settled. the gang wants to go to kapital tonight, which is this famous club with 7 floors and tons of music. should be fun if i don't die of hypothermia on the walk over.

anyway, went to the retiro today, it was beautiful but a little too manicured for my taste. some guys tried to sell us hash. it's a great park, huge and full of different walking paths and statues and fountains and such. definitely want to go back when it's warmer, it'll be a great evening walk when spring decides to show its face.

which, at this point, couldn't be soon enough.

one-two-three-four, get yo booty on the dance floor

about to head out with friends but antes de eso, i'd throw down some thoughts about today.

(1) returned something to h&m, and what should've been a 5 minute trip became a 40 minute hunt-on-foot for the store. finally found a DIFFERENT h&m and made the return. then, done searching, i of course found the original store within.. yep, 5 minutes.

(2) met up with some girls from the program to window shop, grabbed some tapas for lunch and decided to leave with another girl early so we could make it to school on time.

deja vu-- what should have been a 30 minute trip became an hour and a half of running for trains, missing trains, getting on the wrong trains, ... you get the point. it became so ridiculous that we gave up and got cafe con leche and laughed about it.. until the train pulled up early and we had to run for it! finally got to school late but at least we found the damn place, no?

(3) got home, massaged my feet (not used to heels = blisters/bruises), ate some paella-esque rice and chicken, and now i'm gonna head out to Sol to get some drinks.

Buenas Noches!

"..I like it in the city when the air is so thick and opaque..

today was our first day at the university. arrived to rain and killed time in a cozy, smoky cafe with a cafe con leche. had a tour of campus, met a few more people from the program which was refreshing and definitely timely. still no luck finding other bruins but the search continues...

had trouble understanding the tour guide...and then the presenters...and then the professors... so somewhere along that line of faulty translation i'm pretty sure i missed some important information. but you can either panic or accept that you'll always be a second rate speaker.. haha no, kidding. but seriously.

i think i know which classes im going to take... looking at an art class that takes field trips to all the museums, very cool. also, colloquial spanish, which will be useful once i start making all those native-spaniard friends. then there's literatura hispanoamericana, with the study of authors like isabelle allende, etc. and lastly a spanish cultural studies class. though i may need to take another spanish literature class, since that's what's mostly likely to transfer back to ucla.

got on the metro at 7am and off at 7pm, so long but productive day. 

oh and tomorrow? definitely gonna wear socks. rain + wedges = sad, sad feet.

not a white christmas per say...

but i did wake up to snow. absolutely gorgeous, and a hell of a lot of it. it's been years since i've seen falling snow and it is making me giddy, i feel like a 5 year old right now. :)

last night i went out with danielle and some of her friends, stayed out later with a guy named joe from her program. it was fun, we went to el puerto del sol and bar hopped. drank too much, met some soccer players/mountain climbers who wanted to talk about fascism and obama... my thoughts exactly but hey when in rome... 

anyway, my host aunt is taking me shopping today, she's worried i'll freeze in the snow which is probably definitely true. even though yesterday was hard, and i know tomorrow will be hard (trying to navigate the metro alone for the first time), right now i am very happy to be here, and just trying to enjoy the moment, watching the snow fall right outside my window.