TODAY IS GUY FOX DAY!

Remember, remember, the 5th of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot!

Happy Guy Fox Day, friends!

I think this is in the Alhambra in Granada...

Warning: This is one of the longer-ish ones. So be prepared.

Oh and a note: I wrote this a few days ago in the airport, but I'm barely posting today.

Technically I guess my vacation hasn’t ended because I’m currently sitting in the airport in Sevilla. I have about an hour until my flight boards and then it leaves like a half hour after that. I really hope that I’m not sitting next to anyone because after a week of traveling and living in hostels… I’m neither the prettiest looking nor smelling thing in the world… lol.

Awe man, I just discovered that my elbows are entirely too dry. I dislike this and need lotion ASAP.

Back to the story: So the security people here at the Savilla airport are mean. It’s probably because I didn’t really understand what they were telling me to do, so they thought that just saying the same thing over but faster and louder would someone magically translate their words into something I can understand. Clearly that didn’t work. Nice job Sevilla Airport Security, gold star for the day.

Turns out that Euros set off the alarm when walking through a metal detector. Or at least I think that’s what did it because there is no other explanation. These Euros are dangerous items. The coins, I mean. I found out the other day that two AA batteries with a pocket full of Euro change does not mix well. I went to grab something out of my pocket and had to quickly pull my hand back out. The coins and the batteries were so hot I’m surprised that my pants did not catch on fire. You think I’m kidding, but I assure you that I am not. Go ahead, try it.

So recap of my week: long and too much walking. I did enjoy it, but honestly I saw so many cathedrals that they all just kind of blur together and I feel like my entire vacation was a church—big Gothic church. Well, and a mosque… that was turned into a Catholic church… haha. No escaping the Catholic Church in Spain! But speaking of which, I thought there would be a huge overcastting sentiment of Catholicism that would guide the every day lives of the majority of Spaniards. I was wrong. The Catholic Church is big here, but I don’t feel that it’s any more present out here than it is in the States. Other than the fact that the Cathedrals are monstrous and you have to pay to see them. A lot of adults have openly and willingly (without being asked or provoked) expressed their distaste with the Catholic Church. It seems a lot of people out here like the Catholic Church for it’s aesthetic contributions to art, (specifically in the Gothic era) but other than that, they don’t like it very much. I guess what I’m trying to get at is that I did not expect this attitude out here… so close to Rome. Lol.

At the end of this blog I’ll add a top-ten list of my favorite things that I experienced during this passed week, but here I’d like to elaborate on a few:

The Alcazar Real in Sevilla is AMAZING. It was my favorite place out of the whole week. Sevilla itself wasn’t my favorite place… it was probably my least favorite of all the cities I visited… but the Alcazar was magnificent! At first I walked in and was like, oh ok, this is cool, a big square. But then I entered of the doors in the square and got lost in a maze of a palace! And by palace, I don’t mean just the building, but both the buildings and gardens! I felt like Alice in Wonderland, but without some weird drugged cat. Lol. I felt the same in the Alhanbra in Granada, but here at the Alcazar in Sevilla there was a maze garden! It was a dream come true! I had always wanted to be in a maze garden. It was actually difficult to make my way out! So cool. I really really liked that place. Super amazing.

I would say besides the places I visited, my favorite thing was the people I met. On the bus ride from Cordoba to Granada I sat next to a girl who I didn’t talk to until like we were almost there and it was because she noticed I was cold so she gave me her jacket. Haha. She is like a toothpick and clearly I am not, but it was still a nice gesture! So we ended up talking and she is studying tourism something or other. She wants to work in a hotel. Then the next day I saw her walking on the street, but I didn’t say hi! Then on my way from Granada to Sevilla I sat next to the most colorful person I have ever met. She’s from the Ukraine and is ridiculous. Honestly, I can’t write how ridiculous this girl was, I would have to tell you in person so you get the feel for it. But some of the highlights: “You know why Americans and Russians get a long?” (me: “uhh… no.”) “Because we are always wanting be higher than everyone else. Who went to cosmos? WHO went to cosmos?!” lol. Then she went on to say that Spain is a bad country and will soon crumble under it’s political structure. She said this in Spanish on a bus full of Spanish people. Brave girl! She then scolded me for reading a book in Spanish that is 388 pages long. Apparently the only way to read a text that is not in your primary language is if it is more than 1,400 pages. This is what she told me. Repeatedly. She even snatched my book from me and shut it. I was laughing, but then remembered she was like virally sick and coughing all over her hands. I didn’t touch my book anymore and she thought it was because I took her advice… Then she decided to talk about nutrition. Apparently all of the produce in the Ukraine is gigantic. “Not even comparable to the rest of the world.” And then she was like, “all the Spaniards are fat because they eat too much grass.” I was like, wait a minute, what?! First of all, Spaniards are the skinniest people I have seen and second of all, I’ve been served an entire plate of spinach here, but never GRASS! I was a bit confused. So I asked, “grass?” and she said “YES! And the Spaniards aren’t even as bad as Americans! Americans eat so much grass!”

I was confused.

Then I realized she meant grease. Haha. Makes sense now. She also solved the world’s economic crisis. The way we need to make money is by opening cemeteries. “Weddings used to be good money, but these days people are living together without getting married, so there’s no money in that anymore. But people always die. So we should open cemeteries. That’s where the money is at.” She went on and on about all of these things for the whole ride. I have so many stories about this girl, too many to write!

I met other interesting people along the way, but again I’d have to tell you in person. My last hostel situation, though, sounds like the opening of a joke: “Soo… you have four Americans, two Australians, and an Argentinean…” hahaha. That group was… well, Idk what it was. HA!

Dang, I don’t remember what else I was going to say. But I sure am tired. My plane is still not here. I’ll be in Barcelona in approximately 3 hours, in my room in approximately 4 hours, and I have homework due and class in approximately 12 hours. I didn’t have a siesta today. You do the math, but clearly this is not a good mix.

Sorry to end so abruptly, but my brain literally just shut off. K bye.

1) Alcazar Real—Sevilla

2) Alhambra—Granada

3) The people I met along the way

4) The streets of Cordoba—Cordoba

5) Bull Ring—Granada

6) Cathedral of Sevilla—Sevilla

7) Mosque/Cathedral (two-in-one special! Lol)—Cordoba

8) TGI Fridays—Sevilla (minus the price, but the workers were SOOO dressed up for Halloween! Full body costumes. Head to toe. I’d like to see an American TGI Fridays outdo this one… and to boot Spain doesn’t even really celebrate Halloween!)

9) The tower and bells that are attached to the Sevilla Cathedral—Sevilla

1 Not gonna lie, I think Barcelona’s hotness factor was outdone a few times throughout my trip. Probably because youth live in these other cities whereas Barcelona is where the older crowd parties… ugh.

PS Just in case you were wondering. I broke my pair of tennis shoes. I literally walked in them until they ripped. And now the soul of my Converse fell out so I have a feeling I’m gonna need a new pair of shoes when I get back to the States! Too much walking over here!

¡Estoy viajando por España!

I mean... I can't really complain about studying in paradise...

(and no, this is not a postcard. It's legit where I'm studying... This part of Spain was settled by the Greeks in 600 BC.)

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Hey y'all,

So I've been meaning to add an update for like ever now, but I've been really busy and haven't gotten around to it until now. When actually I shouldn't be blogging right now... I should be out on the town--I'm in Cordoba!! But I'm soooo tired. I need to take a morning siesta. Ayer, I was in Madrid, and then I went to Toledo and walked around EVERYWHERE. And by everywhere, I mean, I know the cross streets and plazas of Toledo... lol. You think I'm joking...

Toledo was small, but really pretty. It was on a mountain though, so I felt like I was hiking for seven hours straight! Finally I had enough of Toledo and had to change my train ticket so I could catch an earlier train back to Madrid.

Speaking of Madrid, I was there for like two-ish days. We stayed at the Opera Hotel which was friggin sweet! It's a four-star hotel and we all had suites! I really enjoyed the hotel, but I left my hoodie there, so I'm currently without a warm article of clothing... I hope that it doesn't get cold while I'm traveling!! So Madrid is pretty cool. I think I like Barcelona more, but I suppose if I spent more time in Madrid I would have liked it more. But when we went out at night there really wasn't anything to do. A couple bars with dance floors, but the "club" was wack and we had to show our IDs. hahaha. Oh how we are spoiled in Barca. But the day-life is pretty cool. The city is pretty. All the big buildings and whatnot. We went to a couple museums, one being the Prado or whatever. I think it's famous... but like I said, museums aren't necessarily my thing. It was cool to be there though. Then we went to this really pretty park that had a pond in it and we got a little paddle boat and just hung out on the pond!! That was way fun. We had five peeps though and only four to a boat, so we had to split up 2 and 3. I was on the 2 and the 3 was all girls so guys kept running into their boat life crazy. It's funny to listen to guys try to holler at girls in English when they don't really understand the language... hahahahaha.

Ummm.... oh, so after I got back to Madrid from Toledo I had about 8 hours to kill until my 1am bus to Cordoba. I decided to take a late bus so I could just sleep on the bus and not pay for a hostal. Pretty nifty, huh. Sike. I did sleep all the way here though, so the five our ride felt like fifteen minutes. But then when I got to Cordoba at 6am... nothing was open!! So I decided to walk around and find a place to watch the sunrise. Unfortch, the buildings are too tall and I couldn't see the sunrise. But I had a good 2 n a half hour morning walk around Cordoba! Then I just sat in the bus station playing sudoku until the tourist center opened and I could ask them for hostal information. Cordoba has one youth hostal and I decided to stay here. IT'S GREAT!! Very clean and modern. There are three beds in my room, but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one in here unless others arrive later today! It's nice. Plus I have wifi "por gratis!" (inside joke... hahaha). Oh and btw, "wifi" is pronounced "weefee" here, so it's really fun to ask, "tienes weefee?" lol.

My vacation is just rolling along! I did Madrid in two-ish days, Toledo in one, I think I'll finish Cordoba between today and tomorrow. Then tomo night I'll take another night bus and go to Granada and find a hostal there and then after that I'll spend the rest of my time in Sevilla until it's time to go back to Barcelona on Sunday!

So I meant for this to be a short blog, but you know how I talk a lot anyway, so imagine me talking without being interrupted! Ahh... I could go forever! But I just wanted to say that I think my Spanish is getting better! I don't think my goal of fluency will happen... but I can definitely get around using only Spanish. I've also been doing pretty well academically, but I don't wanna count my chickens and jinx my grades! haha. I just need to keep doing work and studying! I can't believe that despues de los vacaciones I'll only have four weeks left of classes!! That's loco!

Awe man, I just realized that I left my bag in the locker at the train station. It's safe, but I wanted to just carry around my backpack in Cordoba... but my soap, towel, and clothes are in my duffel bag... hmmm.... lol. Eh. I'll figure something out! Oh, and I meant to post pics with this blog, but I left my adaptor in the duffle, too, so I can't post pics yet. Anyway, I hope that y'all are doing well and everyone is happy!

Now... off to siesta. Then I'm gonna be a lil tourist! Woot woot!

Adios,

David.

PS. Check out my lil IP Address thing... it shows you where I'm at! So if you see this today, you'll see that I'm in Cordoba!!

In front of the Mediterranean Sea at Sitges

Hola a Todos!
So I'm almost into the middle of the third week in Barcelona and everything is still going pretty well! I just did a money check today and realized how expensive everything is and now I need to take better care of all that nonsense! But it's all good, it's just really expensive to do things in Barcelona, especially because of the sucky exchange rate. Dang it, US dollar, can't you be worth more?!?! Other than that, I also thought I was getting sick last night. I brought random medicines with me and was happy to find some Tylenol PM Cold & Flu, so I took it, fell asleep, and now I feel better today! Yay!
I'm in the little study room at UB just trying to "do homework," but really I'm not doing any work at all. I have an essay to write that is due tomorrow, but I'm not too worried about it because it is pretty short. Although... it is in a different language, so maybe I should get to work on it! Ok... right after this blog entry!
In a couple hours I'm also going to the Art Museum of Barcelona. That should be pretty cool. I'm hoping so anyway. We've been to a few museums and while I think they are cool... it just takes too much time and energy to go to museums. I'd rather be outside playing and site seeing. Like last Saturday for instance, we went to Montsarret, which is a holy place in Catalonia with a monastery and cathedral. There was a wedding taking place and the church was really pretty. But the museum and place was not worth the price of the trip. I'm definitely going to do research on places before I go to them! Though we did get to take the gondola to the top of the mountain where the monastery is located and that was a fun and pretty ride. Other than that, unless you're really into Catalonia and love Virgin Montserrat, I don't recommend visiting this place. But ya know, still pretty cool to say I've been there.
The next day was way better though! On Sunday we went to Sitges, which is a small artsy town about a half hour outside of Barcelona. There are ten beaches there and the water is great! I had soooo much fun. We all took a two hour nap on the beach after swimming with the Mediterranean fish! We also got tapas (which my favorite tapas is now Patatas Breves--cubed potatoes with hot sauce and some kind of garlic-mayo sauce) and we people watched. We also met this guy who wanted us to only speak in Spanish even though he knows English because he believes it is important to maintain culture and whatnot. I agreed, but he kept telling me that I should have learned Spanish a long time ago and then would not stop talking to us. But he did explain that in Europe it's common to have long convos with randos. So whatever. He was really rich though, or so I assume. He is like a movie producer and owns houses in LA, Sitges, Barcelona, and Israel. He was there attending the horror film festival at Sitges that weekend. Pretty nice guy. oh but it was funny because he kept telling me that I knew Spanish better than the people I was with and then whenever they would try to say something he would tell me and then tell me to translate for them... but we are all at the same level of Spanish so we all knew what was going on. haha. Funny stuff.
Other than that, classes are picking up. I actually had to do homework the other night, and like I said, I have a paper due tomorrow. I'm writing about "Te Doy Mis Ojos." a film reflecting domestic violence in Spanish culture. I think I should do pretty well on the essay. Well, hopefully. We will see!!
OMG! In this room there is an older woman with like salt and peppered hair and it sounds like she is chanting! She is speaking very softly, but it's like a loud whisper and is really fast. I'm not sure which language she is speaking in, but it's kind of spooky! Though, I think she is just trying to memorize a speech for class. haha.
Oh, I also started making plans with my friends for after the LSA program ends. I think I'll be traveling with my friends Dee, Juan, Sarah, and Korey. I think Korey, Sarah, and I will eventually split from Dee and Juan, but our travels should be fun! If everything goes right, then I think I'll be traveling outside of spain to Italy, Greece, and France! So hopefully that all works out. Originally I didn't want to leave Spain, but I will be traveling through Spain at the end of this month and visiting various places like Madrid, Cordoba, Toledo, and Sevilla. At some point I would really like to visit Valencia and Granada, but I'm not sure if I'm gonna have the time or dinero to do so. It doesn't really matter where I travel because I'm having so much fun as it is! Woot woot! But I did already book my return ticket home for Dec. 15th and my program ends on the 4th, so I have to do something for ten days. Might as well travel through Europe!
(But seriously, I love life here in Barcelona.)
Hasta la próxima vez!!
David.

Sorry for posting nonsense. But we just finished our longest day of classes. Mondays suck... for real.

Adios,

David.

¡Mis clases han empezado!

La Universitat de Barcelona

Hola a todos,

My classes have started! So far so good—everything is great! I’ll get to my classes in a little bit…

As for now, I’m just gonna blab. There are twelve Dartmouth students in my program and we all get along well! Everyone is really nice and we all like hanging out together! Like tonight, we are all going out because tomorrow is La Mercé, it’s a Catalonia holiday with a huge celebration. The official holiday is tomorrow, September 24, but the partying starts tonight and lasts through Sunday evening. I’m so very excited for this. Plus, like four of us have other friends who are here in Barcelona who have their own apartments so we can visit lots of people!

OMG, ok, so right now I’m listening to my Barcelona Playlist. It’s really international electro/house music, but I love it and it’s played 24/7 on my fav Spanish radio station. It’s way cool and I was able to download most of the songs right to my iTunes, so I’m just preppin for las fiestas tonight because we are going to do it big. Really big.

Some of the gang is at the beach right now, but I’ve already been twice this week, so I felt like coming back to my casa and taking a siesta. My bed is really loud though so it sucks. Well, the frame is like an old wooden one and it creaks literally every time I move. I feel badly for Francois, my brother here en la casa. His bed is right next to my wall and I’m sure he can hear my bed at night. Ay de mi!

Speaking of Francois, have I told you about him? I don’t remember everything I’ve already said… haha. Anyway, Francois is from Lyon, France and is a super chill guy. He’s awesome! He is here studying, too, but not a la misma Universidad. I’m not sure where he is studying. It’s funny because every time my host mother, Margarita, talks about him ella dice, “Francois es muy muy simpático”,,, y lo es la verdad. Quisiera ir a la playa y jugar volibol con él porque ambos nos gusta jugar volibol. We have a running joke in our little group because all the girls here want to meet Francois so they always stalk him through me. Not really, but it’s way funny! But really, he’s a cool guy.

We also have two girls from Switzerland living in the apartment with us. I don’t remember both of their names, but one is Jasmine. When Margarita told me they were going to come I thought she said girls who were “sucios” were going to come… so I was like, what? Are they like homeless dirty girls? But it turns out she said “Suizas” and I didn’t know that was the word for Swiss. Lol. So dinners are great because we have Margarita who only speaks Spanish, Francois who speaks French, and the Swiss girls who speak every friggin language of the world. It’s a very diverse house! (Margarita’s son, Miguel, also lives here and her other son Roberto has been here often, but he has his own apartment, so I don’t know why he is always here…)

So I live in a really upscale barrio. The street I walk down everyday has stores like Rolex, Giorgio Armani, etc. and they are super awesome! Today I went into a few and was surprised at the “low” prices. I mean they are still pretty expensive tiendas, pero not as expensive as, say, the Cherry Creek Mall. I went into the Armani store because I wanted to check out some cologne (Agua di Gio… which is on my wish list beeteedub if you wanna buy me some…☺) and was proud of myself because I talked to the sales clerk and was able to hold a conversation with fluency! She told me that this particular store doesn’t sell cologne but there was an Armani store near by that sells only colognes and perfumes. So that was cool. Then I went into another store that is awesome. I don’t remember the name of it, but I didn’t think the prices were too bad considering the posh-ness, chic-ness, and quality of the clothes. I’m definitely gonna do some major shopping soon! (And by major, I mean, buy like one item. Lol).

OMG, the littler girl outside my window who screams all the time is screaming again. She really needs to shut up. Like, now.

I’m supposed to be siesta-ing right now so I can charge up my energy for las discotheques esta noche, but I’m writing. So I’ll wrap this up soon. Speaking of clubs, omg, I’ll never be able to enjoy the Denver nightlife again. I don’t know why they call Miami the world’s playground when clearly Barcelona (sans Ibiza) is the place to be for nightlife. Ay dios mio, es una lastima! Even raves have nothing on the typical club in Barcelona. They’re great!

Ok, so I guess I can talk about my classes now. Well, the university is GORGEOUS. And by gorgeous, I mean, I’ve never seen a prettier place to study. The part of the building que es antigua is very beautiful and I will def take some pics soon. The part that is moderno is alright, but nothing special. Pretty boring, actually, but there are gardens in the old building that are just beautiful! And LOTS of stray cats. Hay muchos gatos alla. They all just roam the gardens, play around, and beg for food. I like ‘em.

I’m taking four classes; la historia y cultura de España, conversación, gramática y literatura. All the profs are pretty cool! The hardest prof for me to understand is the one from Dartmouth! My conversation prof is awesome! His name is Joan, which is the Catalan version of Juan, but pronounced differently. He doesn’t use vosotros and is a pretty chill guy, too. I am very pleased at how much I can understand in the classes. Granted today was just a lecturing day and we don’t have a lot of work yet, but I understand a lot more than I thought I would! The Spanish history is so amazing. It’s really great and interesting. I think I’ll enjoy that class. It’s fun taking classes in a completely different language—and yes, the classes are taught entirely in Spanish. In fact, some of my profs don’t even know English, so it’s impossible for them to communicate with us otherwise. I hope the term goes well.

Well, I really do need to tomar una siesta ahora porque I don’t want to be tired tonight. We are heading out as a group around 10:30 (but I don’t know why because that is so early) and we plan to shut down the clubs a las seis de la mañana. Pues, que tengas un buen día!

Hasta la próxima vez,

David.

Video Entry 1!

Hola Todos!

I don't remember what I wrote previously... I had a message, but it got erased. Anyway, here is a video update. Enjoy! lol.

Oh and I just met my host family! I was relocated because Roberto was too busy (I think) so I'm staying with his mother, Margarita. She is a very nice lady and lives in a great neighborhood!

Hasta la próxima vez,

David.

Jetting in T-58 Minutes (My plane just docked!)

Hola Todos!

I’m sitting here at Gate C36 in Denver International Airport waiting for my plane to arrive. As always, I got through security super quick. I always do (but when my bags went through the x-ray machine, they stopped the belt and the TSA officer had a puzzled expression on his face… that always happens too. I wonder what I always pack that looks suspicious!)! I got to the airport around 9:25 and am now blogging at 10:00. So much for needing two hours on an international flight! But hey, I guess it’s better safe than sorry!

I’m looking forward to arriving in Barcelona… but the amount of time it takes to get there daunts me! In 20 more hours my plane will be touching down in España. For everyone in Colorado, I will be arriving right before you wake up tomorrow! I’m not sure how the Northwest airplanes are, but I don’t think they have the same space and entertainment amenities, as does JetBlue., my favorite airline.

No one ever stamped my passport, so I don’t know when that will happen, but I did use it instead of my drivers license as an ID so at least it has had some use. Oh wait! OMG!! Haha, ok, so get this; I’m at the Northwest/Delta check-in counter and the guy is all, “oh, so you are going to Italy?” and I was like, “No, Amsterdam.” I thought he was talking about my layover flight… but he wasn’t! He thought Barcelona was in Italy! Now, that’s not that big of a deal because I definitely can’t fill out a world map with accuracy, but I did figure that since he works in an Airport, he would be familiar with some of the larger cities in the world… Imagine if he sent me or my luggage to Italy! That would totally suck. Oh well, everything is all good now. Except my backpack is super heavy and I don’t remember if I put the little back of shaving cream and toothpaste back in my suitcase after I brushed my teeth and shaved this morning… I guess I’ll find out when I arrive!

Ok, I guess I’ll let you go about your day now, thanks for reading!

Hasta la próxima vez,

David.