LAUREN The Deafinator

hey! sorry I haven´t written in awhile I´ve just been so busy doing cool things all the time. Last Saturday was Carnaval and that was really fun. We went to this place in Toledo to do botellon and there was seriously like a million people there with all kinds of costumes including Duffman, Bender and Zoiberg, Sevillanas, giant hands, anime characters, ninjas, little red riding hood, african tribal women, pirates with a boat, minnies and mickeys, gypsies, vikings, football players, penises, etc. etc. I also met a nice girl who showed me where all the girls go to pee out there.

Then Sunday we ate paella yummy! and started to watch big fish and then I fell asleep. We got back in Madrid around 9 and then i skyped with my mom which was nice. My dad has decided to take the job in Atlanta and will be starting there April 6th I think my mom said, but he is still coming here next weekend to visit. (It´s my birthday I hope your presents are already in the mail). She also told me that for my birthday they were thinking about paying for me to go to my cousin´s wedding in Mexico on May 5th (cinco de mayo) if they can find an affordable flight.

Then Monday i went to class and discovered I had to read an entire 400 page book by the following Monday so I bought that along with 12 other books for my classes that I have to read at some point throughout the semester. I really like going to school everyday it´s a relaxing routine and there´s no pressure, you just sit and listen and some of the stuff I´m learning is really interesting. Sometimes I do get down though because I´m too shy with people here and I really need to start talking to people in my classes more, but it´s definitely a challenge to overcome. Then Monday Jano has his night class at 6 but I went to his campus when i got out of class and we ate at a chinese restaurant together (pretty similar, they have sweet and sour pork everywhere instead of sweet and sour chicken and almond chicken instead of cashew chicken and there spring rolls are like the size of a hot pocket) and i went home and took a fat siesta. Then he came over to emi´s for dinner and we had quesadillas again and just whatever else was lying around. Then Tuesday pretty much the same. I went to class in the morning got out at 1 and then I went to Jano´s house and he studied and I read about 100 pages of my book. Then we ate panini, croquetas and green beans. That day Jano´s parents also decided that I couldn´t spend the night there any more during the week because he needed to study (PS hes gotten 3 of 4 grades back and has passed all three so far!)

Then Wednesday I dont have class so I got up and showered and wanted to eat lunch but there was literally nothing in the house to eat and as much as I tried to open the stupid jar of salsa I couldnt do it and I sat on the kitchen floor and cried. Then Jano came over when he got home from class and made everything better. We studied for a little bit, I made a cake, we went to the grocery store and then we ordered chinese food for dinner and went to see Milk in original version with subtitles. (I liked it but I think Jano and his aunt fell asleep at a few parts)

Thursday I had my deaf teacher first thing in the morning and that was good. We talked about history of spain during the 18th century. then in my second class we had to bring some traditional song in our first language...which one should I bring?! Then for lunch I had soup and salad (Lobster Bisque yum yum). Then I walked to Jano´s house and I took a nap then we went to see the hotel where my dad is going to stay when he comes and we booked his room. (this time we didnt get lost).

Then today was a good day. I bought myself a cappuccino before my first class with deafy mcdeafdeaf which was rediculously boring, then in my second class we just like sang lullabies, tongue twisters, jump rope songs, etc. My one that i presented and translated and stuff was Take Me out to the Ballgame. Then after class I met with Mr. Deaferson to decide what I was going to do my semester paper about. Im doing it about Las Cartas Marruecas, so I should probably buy that soon. Then I ate lunch with Jano and his aunt (soup that was kind of like chicken noodle, some kind of breaded meat and a fried egg). Then I tried to read more and fell asleep after like 15 pages. Then we went to Emis house to make Jano´s sister a cake for her birthday and I read the other 85 pages that I had planned to read today. Then we ate salad for dinner and crepes for dessert (almost a whole week with no crepes). Now we´re going to watch P.S. I love you. Tomorrow to Toledo for Alba´s birthday!

(Next week magic shows comedy clubs and Bruce!)

Cara- Broken Camera

So last monday at Michael's birthday party my camera got dropped and now it is quite broken! I've seen a digital camera shop on my way to school so I'll probably drop by and try to get it fixed today or tomorrow. In the mean time I have a disposable Kodak camera that I brought just in case and my polaroid.
I was planning on this post being about Jamòn, but all my pictures are stuck on the camera and can't get out. So, instead, I'll just update you about my class situation. So far, I've been to class like every other day. To be fair, my throat really really hurt today so I stayed home and ate soup. I'm also out of credit on my bus card so that was just more motivation to stay home.
Yesterday, however, I went to all my classes, then took a long nap and read a little, and then our land lord brought us a new fridge! Finally! The old one had been broken for about 2 weeks so I mainly ate Donner Kebabs and plain pasta during that catastrophe. I am going to get so fat unless I find the gym soon.
So far my classes are Spanish History: Franco-Present, Colonial Hispanic Literature, and Current Art. I've emailed my OU advisor for word on if these classes will transfer credits but no word back, so I may send another today. My alternative options I've found are Spanish Grammar I and Theory of Art. Also, I might be able to take Italian I.
This weekend I'm driving to San Sebastien with 3 French kids and my American roommate. San Sebastien is a coastal town in basque country and to get there we'll be driving through the edge of France. It will be my first time in France! However it will only last about 15 minutes and I probably won't get out of the car. I also probably won't have any pictures to show you unless this camera gets fixed ASAP.
Well, here's a little preview to my upcoming post about grocery shopping in Spain:
That's right, the little basket has wheels on the bottom and long handles so you can push it along like one of those toy lawnmowers!

settling into a routine

hey!

Wednesday night Jano and i went to VIPS. It looks pretty much just like a normal chain restaurant but the food was really good. We had chips and queso for an appetizer then shared a salad and sandwich. yummy.

Then Thursday I had my first day of my other 2 classes. The first one Literatura Espanola from the 18th and 19th centuy was okay. The teacher is like kind of deaf so his voice is really weird and hes kind of hard to understand, but there's a girl from Indiana University there so i talked to her a little bit and the professor said that Erasmus students get an easier exam. haha

Then my second class, the teacher is just insane. It's spanish as a foreign language, but its not teaching you spanish, it's teaching you how to teach spanish as a foreign language and this poor australian girl got picked on so bad by the teacher because she didn't speak Spanish that well.

Then I went to Jano's house and he made spaghetti carbonara for lunch and then we went to a bar to celebrate feria de abril. I dont know why its called that since it happens in february, but supposedly its like this sevillian festival where the bars are open all day and they play flamenco and give the girls roses to put in their hair and everyone gets drunk right after class, so we did that with some of Jano's friends which was really fun. Then we came home and went to Jano's aunt Gloria's house because it was his cousin Paula's 23rd birthday. They ordered pizza hut for everyone and we partied! That night I spent the night at janos.

Then yesterday I had the same two classes. The first one we basically talked about Spanish history during the 18th century the whole class, so it was kind of boring but I feel more like I'm in a routine now with going to class and actually covering material. Then in my second class we made groups that we are going to have for the rest of the semester and I'm with three spanish girls: Elena, Maria and Maria and a czech girl named Natasha and they are so nice! They make me feel a lot better in that class. Then that teacher was going on about how just because you know a language doesn't mean you can teach it and telling us that we had to fight against the intruders who think they can teach a language without studying how to teach it. Power to the teachers!

Then we ate calamari at Jano's for lunch and I took a nap and Jano did homework. Then at like 630 I woke up and we tried to go see the hotel where my dad is going to stay when he comes for my birthday but eventually we just gave up and we went to the mall. We wanted to buy a board game but they didn't have any good ones. We put more minutes on my cell phone, bought candy bars and then went to dinner at Gino's an Italian restaurant in Principe Pio and apparently we saw some famous Spanish rapper at the mall, but I had no idea who it was. Jano kept pointing at this guy who like had paralysis or something where he walked weird and saying look look and I was like Jano stop! and he was like no thats Elangi hes a famous rapper and he just made a movie. I was like wow. Not what I was expecting you to say. Then we went to Starbucks after and back to Emi's house where we just hung out for awhile. Then I slept over there.

This morning I walked home because it was so nice outside, even though I got a little bit lost. Then I took a shower at breakfast and went to go shopping with Emi. Apparently everyone does there grocery shopping on Saturday mornings because there was like 10 million people in every store we went in. First we went to the post office, then the fruteria, and then the pescaderia (fish market). This was my first time in a fish market and I have to admit it kind of grosses me out seeing them cut up fish and then thinking about eating it.. Oh by the way all of these stores are in walking distance and Emi knows everyone who works in all the stores. We just got back and after we eat lunch I'm going to Toledo with Jano to celebrate Carnaval. Here it's a really big deal and everyone dresses up in costume like Halloween in the US. We are going as Cuban soldiers (I dont think from our costumes youll be able to differentiate between cuban and any other soldier but whatever) Really all I have to wear is camo pants that Janos sister is letting me borrow and then on top Ill just put the warmest thing I possibly can on.

Emi is so funny sometimes. She always tells me that I have to wear a coat when I go outside and that I need to eat more fruit!

School and Such

I think the last time i posted was Sunday before lunch...We had barbecue like I said, pancetta (big bacon/really good), chorizo (also really good), chicken (I looked retarted because I didn't know how to cut chicken off of a bone), morcilla (like a black sausage that wasnt really good but you can put anything with a piece of bread and your mouth and it will taste good). Then we had salad and straweberries for dessert!

After that Jano and I watched some documentary called Capturing the Friedmans about some pedophiles in New York in the 80's. It was really reallly weird. You could tell these people were really messed up. And I don't know if I already put this, but we watched our home videos from our trip to Mexico too. Then Jano argued with his mom for awhile about I don't know what and we left at like 730 to come back to Madrid. He came to Emi's house and we had leftover pasta for dinner and then I slept there on Sunday night.

Then Monday morning! class! I got up at 7 and was at the bus stop by 730. (my class starts at 830-Literatura Hispanoamericana II). Then I took the 160 bus to Moncola got on the G bus and went to Ciudad Universitaria (like University City). I found the classroom and everything at like 815. There was one other boy there at that time. The doors werent even unlocked to the classrooms until like 825. Then I went in and sat there until like 845 when the teacher showed up. People continued straggling in throughout the class. She basically just gave us the syllabus and talked about it a little. Im with Cara on being kind of confused about where to buy the readings and stuff like that but I talked to the teacher after and she said I didn't need to buy anything for a little while, that at the beginning it would just be copies. Then she asked who had never taken Literatura Hispanoamericana I. One other foreign girl raised my hand but I was too nervous so I didn't. Then she gave us a quick review (like 15 min) of that class talking about humanism and how logic and reason were valued in the 18th century, but in our class were going to stuy romanticism. I could follow her pretty well but her accent was definitely not spanish. She doesn't say any of the s's in any word. EX. Mas o menos is ma o meno. literally. She also told us we were going to have to do a presentation about one of the authors later in the semester, either in partners or alone, and I dont really see anyone wanting to be partners with me plus everyone already knows everybody so woooo. that should be super fun

So I got out of that class at like 930. and my next one Literatura Hispanoamericana III didnt start until 1130. I browsed through the bookstore a little bit and was really impressed! They had all kinds of books that I had read or would want to read and though I didn't see any of my required texts I wasn't realy looking since she said I didn't need to worry about it yet. Then I went to the cafeteria and bought a croissant napoleteana, like a chocolate pastry thing. yumm and orange juice. Then right outside the cafeteria, like inside the building right in a main area there is a smoking section (weird i know). Then I just read my book (Uncle Tom's Cabin) until like 1105. Then I found the classroom for my next class and saw a girl with a Vera Bradley bag and figured she was american. Turns out shes from Oklahoma State and she has that class with me. She was pretty nice. Then we went in that class but our professor wasnt there, a sub came and gave us the syllabi and then proceeded to talk for an hour about each of the author's listed. I seriously wanted to stab her.

Then I took the bus home at like 1 and made lunch for me and jano, mashed potatoes vegetables and shrimp, then later grapes. He has a night class on Monday's at 6 so he left after that. Then he called me during a break in his 3 hour class and said that they had put up his grades and that he had passed physics!

That night I slept at Emi's and tuesday morning I got up at 645 so I could go to starbucks before class. When the guy asked me for my name, I decided I would try and I just said Lauren how I pronounce it in English and he said okay Lauren, very well! but he spelled it Lauron. then in my first class we jumped right into material. She broke down the 19th century into periods of literary movements as well as phases of revolutions in hispanoamerica. She also talked about the state of South America at that time and how it would affect the literature we studied. and I answered a question! She said what does the date 1776 signify. I was all over that shit...Oh also I noticed the Spanish students take notes like in paragraphs, they just write down almost every single word she says in their notebook. It's really weird. I hope there tests arent like insanely specific. She assigned us our first homework, to read La Carta de Jamaica by Simon Bolivar.

Then we got out at 10 and I went to the library to get a library card. That took 10 years because the girl in front of me was from Romania and didn't know her address or phone number or anything. but now I have a library card!! ohhh back up! before I got to te library, I wasnt exactly sure where it was, so I was looking at like the directory in the main entrance to the building and this Spanish girl asks me what Im looking for and I show her my paper and she tells me that she can't read and I said the library for the college of filologia and she said, oh its right down that hall. Do you want me to tell you where the other libraries are? and I was like no. and she asked me where I was from and i told her the United States and she said wow there are so many Erasmus students here (exchange students) and i was like yea Im gonna go..and she was like do you want some of my sandwich? and I just said no thanks. It was a really awkward conversation. Then I went to the cafeteria again and got my napoleteana. and bought a hiliter at the bookstore. I read a little bit more then went to my next class. The teacher wasn't there again so we left pretty much right after class started.

I went home and bought some milk and strawberries at the grocery store and then Jano came and picked me up to go eat lunch at his house. We had salad, fries and menestra or something like that which is like meat with vegetables, It was pretty good. Then I took a nap while he did some homework and at 630 we went out. First we went to buy me a cell phone. I have like the original Nokia phone for 20 euros. Then we bought a chocolate thing in a bakery. Then I went to a Barclay's ATM to get money out. Then we went to Corte Ingles because we needed to buy chicken for the curry I was going to make for dinner. Then we went to the corte inges electronics which is like across the street to buy a microphone so I can skype with my mom on Sundays.

After that we came home and I made green curry and rice for dinner. We also had chips salsa and queso...haha. At the beginning we had a setback though because when I tried to open the rice the bag burst and I spilled rice all over the kitchen..But thankfully we had more rice and everything turned out just wonderful...It reminded me of getting thai food with you guys in Norman..then I had to hang up the clothes that were in the washer in random places around the house (They dont have dryers and its really cold outside at night). Then I started the dishwasher and went to bad. Jano spent the night here because Emi stayed at her sisters house because it was her brother-in-law's birthday yesterday.

Then today is Wednesday and I don't have any classes on Wednesday so I woke up at like 1030 and had some cereal took a shower and thats pretty much it. I think tonight Jano and i are going to go to dinner at VIP's which is a restaurant he really likes to celebrate our Valentine's Day since we were in Toledo with his parents on Saturday.

My First Day of Escuela

Hi all, I haven't written in a while so I just wanted to say Hi!

Today was my first day of school, and so far it's been a little confusing and a bit bewildering. My first class of the day was Current Spanish History, Franco to Present. It looks like it's going to be very hard and there are a lot of readings, none of which I really know how to obtain, like if I'm supposed to find them myself or if the professor provides copies. The professor seems acommodating, but this is a fifth year course, and obviously my background knowledge of Spanish Government and Politics comes from Pan's Labyrinth. I don't even know if they have a legislature.
The next class I went to was Hispanoamerican Colonial Literature. Luckily I've already read two of the texts, Naufragios by Cabeza de Vaca and Poems by Sor Juana in High School, but I think this class will also be hard to keep up with, and this professor was much more difficult to understand.
After going to my first two classes I decided that taking ANOTHER Spanish Literature course would be too much! So, I just went back to the Apartment and looked online for easier classes that would fit my schedule. I'm thinking Theory of Art, Current Art, or Spanish Grammar I.

Ways My Classes are Different from Classes at OU:
1. The buildings are not well cared for at all! They're dirty, the tiles are all broken up, and everything is old.
2. Instead of assignments, attendance, quizzes, and tests all being averaged for your final grade, the whole grade comes from one exam.
3. Instead of having classes Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Tuesday, Thursday, the classes are Monday, Teusday, Wednesday and Thursday, Friday. Needless to say, I will be arranging my classes so that they will only be Monday, Teusday, Wednsday.
4. Attendance is pretty much never monitored
5. Registering and Enrolling is pretty darn confusing.

Upcoming Column Ideas:
1. All about Jamòn
2. Spaniards are Tacky
3. French People
4. My Shopping Routine
5. Need to Know Phrases

Weekends are for the Warriors

hello all.
So Friday I went to the complutense to an informational meeting for Erasmus students. I got a student ID and everything...I´m pretty legit..I also decided what classes Im going to take.

Literatura Española de los siglos XIII y XIX
Literatura Hispanoamericana II
Literatura Hispanoamericana III and
El Español como lengua extranjera (Spanish as a Foreign Language)

Each class is 4 hours a week Monday and Tuesday I have clase from (8:30 to 10, then 11:30 to 1) Wednesday I don´t have class and Thursday and Friday from 10 to 1

Then after my meeting I went to Jano´s university to meet him after his last exam. He thinks he did really well on that one, so that was good news and I got to meet most of his friends from class there. Then we bought a chocolate pastry thing, went to buy alocohol and then went to Emi´s house to make dinner. We had a frozen pizza and then we took a nap before we went out. We were supposed to meet at 11pm at Moncloa but Jano was feeling super cool so we got there at 1030 and waited. When everyone got there we walked to a park where we had botellon (drinking outside) We had brugal with fanta limon. The botellon was fun because there was a lot of people there that I knew, but jesus christ I really dont understand it. It is like freezing outside literally and they CHOOSE to be outside for like 5 hours. It´s like that freezing cold when you walk to class but you NEVER go inside. You just keep freezing. But other than that...I talked to Oscar for like half an hour (him trying to speak english) and pretty much all I got out of the conversation was
1. Everyone beats Juan at Ping Pong
2. If you have any problems I will hit someone for you and
3. Say good things about me to Cara

After that at like 3 we were going to go to a discoteca (like a club) but people couldnt decide on where they wanted to go and it costs 10 euros just to get in and then like 7 or 8 every drink, so we decided to take the night bus home which supposedly comes at 3 but at 330 it still hadnt come so we took a taxi home. I spent the night at Jano´s house and then the next morning we ate breakfast and went to Emi´s house so I could shower and clean up before we went to Toledo. Jano made pasta with red sauce and then smoked salmon as an appetizer and emi made some thing that is supposed to taste like some fish that is illegal to eat. It was all really goood. Then after lunch we watched master and commander for a little bit while I tried to sleep but Jano didn´t let me.

Then we went to pick up Jano´s sister Alba and her friend at his tia Sole´s house and went to Toledo. It was less than an hour drive. When we got here we went around to papeleria´s looking for notebooks for me for class on monday and lead for jano´s drawing class, but they were all closed and at the last one we went to, he like scraped this lady´s car who just happened to be standing right there, so that sucks but oh well. Then we came home and his parents made like a stir fry thing with chicken shrimp and vegetables and jamon iberico (iberian ham) on the side. The ham was really good. Then we went to botellon again on Saturday night and I froze my ass off again.

Then this morning we woke up at 11 had breakfast and went to buy the notebooks and all that stuff. For lunch were going to have barbecue chicken, pancetta and chorizo. well that´s about it!

Good Eats

Hey all!

Living in my new flat has been great so far but I feel bad for my roommate because I was apparently snoring last night. Anyways, on Wednesday morning, Claire, Claire, and Maelle made us a really great breakfast with American pancakes and toast and scrambled eggs with bacon and onions. I didn't take any pictures but it was tres mignon.

That night, because I'd been talking about Mexican food so much, I made tortilla soup with queso and guacamole. I wanted to make enchiladas but they don't sell corn tortillas in Spain, only super nasty flour tortillas from Old El Paso, the worst mexican grocery brand ever. They also sell guacamole here that comes in a jar and looks like thin green gruel. Gross.

At first, I was scared I wouldn't be able to find tortilla chips, but never fear. Doritos makes naked corn chips! Called Dippas

They were really good actually but pretty salty. They tasted a lot like Tostitos.

This is my mexican feast. I thought it turned out pretty good.

Not to be outdone, Michael made hamburgers for us on Thursday night. We had potato chips too and Maelle thought she was supposed to put them on the hamburger. I think that would actually taste pretty good but it's not really traditional.

Andrej is planning some special meal for tonight but he's being really secretive about it so we'll see. I hope it's slovenian food.
We have two guests staying in the apartment this weekend. One is Maelle's friend Dauphine who's studying in Berlin and Claire's friend Fabien who's erasmus in Granada. I think by the end of this semester I am going to be able to understand and at least speak a little french. I am surrounded by french people. I will try to pepper in some french phrases so you guys can get some french learnin too. Here's me reading French Elle. I'd like everyone to notice that the girl on the cover is wearing black high-pants and has fat arms. Basically, it's me.Well, maybe not. But anyways, I heard postcards arrived in America and I hope everyone is ready for Round Two! I gotta find some new postcard stores though, the other one didn't have a super seleccion, as some of you may have noticed.
Ciao!

cooking

yesterday i got up at like 11 and then i went to corte ingles again because jano wanted me to cook dinner so I had to buy things that I know how to cook..jeje He had his topografia exam that morning. He called me at like 130 when he got out of the exam and he picked me up at the bus stop which is like down the street from the corte ingles, but i never realized how much having a car helps when you want to go grocery shopping. I was like walking through downtown Madrid carrying 5 shopping bags and looking like a fool.

Then we went to Emi's house. She was at work so we made quesadillas (Jano had never had a quesadilla) and chips salsa and queso. The tortilla chips they sold at corte ingles are nowhere near as good as the ones we have, but it was fine. Then we watched Simpsons, Family Guy and Se lo que hicisteis. Then he went home to study for his next test on wednesday (math) and i took a nap. I woke up at like 7 and he called. Emi had apparently tried to call while I was sleepig and since I didnt answer she called Jano and said that she was going to sleep at Vane and Luis's house (Vane is Jano's cousin) because she recently hurt her knee in a skiing accident and has to have surgery, so she went over there to help Vane and help with Lucia, so it was just me and jano for dinner. He got here at like 9 and I made pasta pesto with shrimp, snap peas, mushrooms and red and green pepper. He had never had pesto sauce before either. I think he almost asked me to marry him right then (just kidding dont worry ;)) I also cut up grapes but he mostly just ignored those. Then for dessert he made crepes ( he got a hot plate thing to make crepes for christmas and I think we've had them everyday since I've been here). Then we watched Madagascar 2 on my computer because he had downloaded it.

Then we went to sleep and he woke up early this morning because he had to go home to study and I continued sleeping until around 1. Then i woke up, took a shower and did a little cleaning around the house. I want to go walk around Aravaca a little bit, but since its lunch time everything will be closed until around 5pm. I charged my camera so I will be taking pictures soon I promise! Then for lunch I had estrellitas (cereal) and chips and salsa. Later I'm going to go to Jano's for dinner and spend the night there then go to the complutense tomorrow to see whats up. (My university is right by the president's house, so that's pretty cool)

family time

hey chico/as
lets think...i've had A LOT of family time..thursday night i slept at janos, then friday night we went to his tia emi's house which is wear im staying so i could meet her and jano, emi, sole and
I all ate dinner together (pizza hut)..jejeje..after that I unpacked all my bags, plenty of room in the closet thankfully! ;) and Emi is so nice she always makes me feel like I can ask for anything I need and we decided to each put money in this jar every once in awhile to buy food. She seems really fun, when I woke up Saturday morning she had "girls just wanna have fun" on and she really has the attitude of like having sleepovers all the time, two girls living together, i dont know shes fun. On Friday I went to Moncola and Calle Princesa to get an abono which is your ticket for the metro and buses for one month and I had to have a picture so I went to like one of those little photo booths in a metro station jejej. Then I went to Corte Ingles (the gigantic department store that literally sells everything) On the planta baja I bought shampoo, deoderant, hairspray, pretty much everything. Then I went to the bottom floor which is a supermarket and bought some things for myself that I didn't think emi would have or want to buy, powerade, dan'up, seedless grapes, etc..

Then Saturday I went aroud to little shops with Emi so she could show me Aravaca (the part of Madrid she lives in). We went to the fruteria (fruit store), and a chino (chinese people all own little convenience stores in Spain that sell random shit) where we bought wrapping paper because Saturday was Jano's tio Raul's birthday. So after all the shopping, we got on the bus, so I could see which one I had to take to go to jano's house, and we went to eat lunch at tia gloria and tio raul's. I got there with Emi like 2 hours before Jano so that was kind of awkward, but his family is all really nice. he has four girl cousins, 3 of which have boyfriends, and one of them has like a one-year-old baby Lucia who is soooooooooooooooo cute, seriously, she has the biggest cutest eyes ever. He opened presents and we sang happy birthday, i wasn't quite ready for that because in Spanish class we sang a different version..they sang...

cumpleanos feliz
cumpeanos feliz
deseamos todos
cumpleanos feliz

It's cool and weird being with that many people at one time because whenver someone asks me a questions everyone gets quiet to hear my answer and everyonen always asks me if I like EVERYTHING..im like yes yes we have pickles in the United States...

then I went to janos house were I slept the siesta and he studied.. then we woke up had a sandwich and went to the coolest movie theater ever the kinepolis, I don't know how to explain it, but instead of just having like concessions, they had like a candy store! (I was like a kid in a candy store) I was smiling so much..but there were soooo many people there so we couldn't see 7 pounds, so instead we saw Frost vs. nixon. then I spent the night with him at sole's.

I woke up this morning at like 1230 and sole made me eat breakfast. She said, I'm not surprised you sleep so much you have to eat so youre not weak.. so i had some toast, then we watched Simpsons and made french fries(from real potatoes ;)) fish and salad for lunch, Jano had to go to the corner store to buy tomatoes and he bought me kit kat bites, so I had that for dessert, then we just hung out until Emi came and picked me up on her way back from Gloria's house and we came home. At first, we could not get internet to work here, but she called telefonica and we got it all figured out! right now were both in the living room on our computers and we're getting ready to watch Failure to Launch, jejeje..hasta luego un beso!

THINGS DIFFERENT IN SPANISH HOMES
showers all have the adjustable shower had and many have like jets
closets are like armoires set in the wall with drawers and shelves and that, or they dont have closets.
lightswitches :up is off, down is off
toilet flushers are on the top!
diswashers are like 1 ft by 1 ft.
no dryers

The Spanish Apartment

Today I moved into my new home, a small flat with 3 french girls from Tours (Claire, Claire and Maelle) and a boy from Slovenia (aren't they precious?). We're still looking for one more male roommate. My address is Calle San Lorenzo 7, primer derecha 50001 Zaragoza, Spain. Google that shiz. I expect lots of postcards from Norman. This flat was the first that I looked at and I originally dismissed it as being too far from campus and too crowded because I would be sharing a room with Claire, one of the french girls. Instead of being in the University area it's in the middle of downtown, about a 40 minute walk from the main Campus which means I'd have to take the bus everyday. However, my roommates are the nicest people I've met so far and it's cheap! I'm only paying 150 Euros a month, plus expenses, about 30 Euros.

Even though its very far from campus, it's located in the casco viejo, the old part of the city where most of the nightlife is. As Andre explained, it's much safer to walk or take a bus to class in the daylight than it is to walk long distances in the dark late at night in a strange city or take one of the unreliable night buses. And as I've learned from Deanna's latest post, walking aroung in the dark in a strange place is a bad bad idea. (Chin up Deanna, that really sucks.)
And the neighborhood is gorgeous! I live a block from the ruins of a roman theatre, two blocks from the posh shopping district, a few steps away from another old market, and down the block from a Doner Kebab. Here are a couple pictures of my new territory:

There are two of my roomies, the Claires. Claire on the left is who I'm sharing my room with. She lived in Connecticut for two years so her English is really good. Aren't they so French? (Check out their cute christmas tree)


This is the local Pharmacy, I am in love with the tiling!


This is the old Roman theater. How cool?? I haven't been inside yet because it's closed on Sundays but wow, I can't believe this is my next door neighbor. That thing above it is like a giant glass ceiling to protect it from rain.

The number of Catholic churches here is ridiculous. And they're all like a zillion years old. Consolidate you guys.

This is my puerta bonita! Today I could not figure out how to get the door open with the little key but its all under control now.

I don't need the buzzer anymore! Except when I can't figure out how to use my key and have to have the landlord come help me out.

So I had my first bought of homesickness or something today. It wasn't for anything in particular, I just felt like panic-y-crying all of a sudden after Michael dropped of my luggage at the new flat and left. It's probably just latent stuff I didn't have time to think about while I was busy at the hostel running around the city trying to find a place to live. I think part of it was doubt about whether I made the right choice for my flat but I love it and my roommates are so fun. Being settled again is paradise. So anyways, I got out, went shopping for new linens and had a nice phone chat and felt better. I ate lunch with my roommates who are pretty scarce right now since it's their exam time and that renewed my confidence in my choice. Also, there's a plastic flowers only florist across the street. How could this not be the right choice?


Spaniards are a little tacky. I think they take kitsch too seriously, which is saying something coming from me.

Also, I found out I could withdrawl from my Bank of America account for no interest or charge from Barclays bank, conveniently located in the nearby plaza Espana. Anyways, stay tuned on the b-log for our search for a new roomie! And maybe I'll talk about classes or the University. Or something.

Check the mail...

Postcards are on the way!

first day

yo yo yo..
mmmm i made it. wellll yesterday I went St. Louis to Chicago and then in Chicago Michael found me and I was with him the rest of the trip so that was nice. Our flight to London was fine, I was sitting next to two girls my age who were going to study in Winchester, England. Stupid Michael had two empty seats next to him. I really couldn´t sleep much on the plane, only about two hours. Then we got to London and we didn´t really know how to get to our connecting flight and we had to take a bus to another terminal so we were like running around and that was kind of stressful and when we got there, they asked us for our baggage tickets and everything to make sure to get them...well the flight from London to Madrid was about 2 hours and was almost completely empty. It was on Iberia and that was the first time in a looong time i was faced with the reality of actually having to speak Spanish. Well we got to Madrid and neither Michael´s nor my bags had arrived. They were supposedly still in London and would be back around 7 pm this evening, Since Michael didn´t have an address to have his bag sent to, he just chilled at the airport for like ´3.5 hours but he did get to meet jano :) who came with his dad to pick me up. After that, Jano´s dad drove us back to his tia sole´s house and it was so nice a drive. I realized that I´m here again. I recognize things and it makes me feel at home and happy. Well we got home and I started to just feel like shit, and Jano tried to give me soup but I didnt really like it, so he made me a crepe with nocilla which is like nutella, he put a little too much in and i got it all over my face, hands, arms etc. then i took a little naparoo and i realllllly wanted to sleep more but if I do I wont be able to sleep tonight. Next week Jano has exams on monday, wednesday, and friday so his study time will give me time to get out to explore, go talk to people at the complutense and buy all my shampoo and shiz! cara I hope you find a fabulous place and once you get a Spanish cell phone put your number on here and I will too! I can´t wait to see youuuuuuu!

First Days in Zaragoza

Hola!!
I finally got to Zaragoza at noon yesterday after two flights, two taxi trips, one train ride and about 18 hours of travel. I barely slept on the flight from Miami to Madrid, and so I was extremely tired. All I did yesterday was talk to my exchange advisor and walk around campus and the city for a few hours. Then I slept till 7 am.
While I felt really lame, going to bed early and rising early too, it was probably a good plan because it meant I got to see the city before 10 am, which will probably be a rare occurrence this semester. I went to the bakery to get some bread and then to the market for jamon and cheese. I also picked up a little produce and my favorite drink ever Fanta Naranja. The mercado is SO beautiful and the vendors were all very nice. My taxi driver explained the architecture to me last night but I was too tired to pay much attention.
Another interesting factoid from my taxista, Zaragoza was originally founded by Ceasar Augusta, check out the lovely statue, and the city was named after him. Once the city was in Arab control, the name changed to Saragusta, the Arab bastardization of the original name. When the city came into control of the Catholics, the Arab name was heard by Christian ears as Zaragoza, and that name still stands.
After I wandered around a little more, bought a new phone, and ate my lunch from the market, I decided to hit the streets again. I went to the Basilica de Pilar, built on the site where the virgin Mary is said to have appeared miraculously on top of a pillar. It was huge and the outside was surrounded by various modern sculptures. My favorite was the big globe. Inside, there were a number of Goya paintings and a place where you can kiss the pillar. I also went to a more modern supermarket that had cool wheeling baskets and a counter of ham legs. In case you didn't know, Spaniards love cured ham. It's in pizza, eggs, sanwiches, even McDonalds sells these ham sandwiches and I got a lasagna once with strips of this ham instead of beef or vegetables.
Besides groceries and a phone, I also bought a bus card and went to the Corte Ingles, which is like the biggest department store ever just to browse. I probably walked for about 5 or 6 hourse today and never needed the bus. Yesterday I only walked about 2 or 3 and took taxis and buses when I got lost. I'm pretty well oriented now, and I've looked at 2 apartments so far. I'm scheduled to see one more tomorrow and have emailed about 6 people who put out ads on the city website. I'm really anxious to find a place. Everyone in the hostel is middle aged and Spanish. Also, one lady in my room smells like she hasn't bathed in a few days. But I guess it's part of the experience. Hopefully I'll also meet with my academic advisor and get the ball rolling on classes. I found out yesterday that they don't start for two weeks! Oh well, more time to explore. I'm thinking about maybe heading to Rome on a Ryanair flight for a few days but all that depends on how fast I settle on a place.
Stay tuned for (hopefully soon) pictures of my new room!