Bocadillos!

THIS DAY JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER!@!@ I got my sandwiches from the kitchen so I don't have to buy dinner tonight or at the game...usually they pack jamon serrano, which I really don't care too much for. 2 sandwiches: tortilla espanola and chorizo!! YES!!!! How awesome. I leave in about an hour. Getting more and more excited!

Good Morning

What a GREAT morning! I woke up by myself...2.5 hours of sleep yes! and went to breakfast. By breakfast I mean coffee. Chatted with Natalia and Manuel a bit before heading back to sleep for 45 minutes. Woke up and went downstairs to do some homework before I leave this afternoon.

Best surprise Ever...well maybe not ever, but it made me very happy. Salvador came over! He is a friend of Marta's who I met last weekend and we got along really well. He is carpooling with Victor and Antonio to go home today so he came to the resi to meet up with them. Spent about an hour chatting with him about life, school, futbol, etc. It felt so nice to have a friend who saw me, was excited, gave me the two cheek kisses and sit down to chat like we knew each other so well. I am super psyched. ha. Victor came out later and talked with us before they left.

I am starting to really love it here now that I am getting good enough at understanding Spanish to have conversations with people and make friends and go out. I can't believe I only have a month left...it's just getting really good!

Also, I was watching Cris's keys while she went for a run this morning and when she came back she says "Outside there was a guy with a liter of beer and a dog and he started to chase me!" and Salvador says, "the man or the dog?" I think it would have been funnier if it was the man, but the dog is still a great story!

Tengo Una Resaca

Yesterday, somehow, I made it through all my classes. Was very very distracted because TODAY I GOT TO VALENCIA! Passed the day by doing random things and nothing...

After dinner sat around and talked with everyone outside for a while then went in to watch the Atleti vs Liverpool game. Then went out with Silvia, Natalia, Antonio, Victor, Andres, and Dario. Got Calimocho and then went to Deli. Good time. I really enjoy going out with this group. At around 4:00 am headed home, but first stopped at this area that has a bunch of vending machines, including one for hot food. You can guy burgers, chorizo, sandwiches, individual pizzas, etc. And the get cooked IN the machine! Craziest thing. Headed back to the resi and taught Victor some crude phrases in English. His English is so broken that he ends up shouting some syllables and his voice goes really high at the end of words so it was entertaining for all. Good night.

American Comedy

There is a guy in my language class that I did an oral presentation with and he told me that he liked comedy television shows, so I recommended my favorites: 30 Rock and Modern Family. He told me the next day that while he enjoyed them, he was confused by the lack of a laugh track and he didn't get Tracy Jordan's jokes...ha.

IS there even a soccer God?

So Barca is out. OUT! Can you believe it? I Cannot. When the ref called that goal back I almost cried. I had to sit back down and receive consoling pats on my back. Worst.

I had a feeling that a goal was necessary in the first half...can't believe it took Pique to score...Now people in the resi either poke fun at me or give me little pats on the back and words of comfort...or, like Javier, sales pitches for Atletico Madrid. haha. Skipped dinner so I wouldn't miss any minute of the game and ate some "cookies" which are more like crackers for dinner and a cup of chocolate mousse for comfort.

HORRIBLE! This better mean that Villarreal is going to DIE when I go to watch Barca this Saturday.

Pasame la Mayonnaise

Today was sooo nice! The weather was RIDICULOUS! I walked around most of the day (that includes until 8:30) in shorts and a tank top. Had class this morning where I found out I will be giving a presentation for my culture class on La Liga, focusing on Barca. yeaya! In language we spent the whole time working on an oral presentation which I was ready to do with my partner at the end of the class so tomorrow I will get to sit around while everyone else does theirs...and I only had two corrections from Asun on what I said...although I'm pretty sure one of them I said correctly. O well.

Came back for lunch, did some homework, went for a long run that felt amazing, showered, and then went to meet Raquel and Camilia at the uni. We went out for ice cream because it was so hot! I got truffle and hazlenut. Delicious! We walked around for a bit and sat in the grass next to the walls and talked for a while. Came back to the resi so Raquel could say hi to Courtney who was catching up on work because her friend had been here this weekend. Showed her my room as well and she told me that Eric is "muy guapo".

Went afterwords to the train station and finally bought my train ticket to and from Valencia, I had also booked my hostels today so I felt good to have everything done. Not quite sure how Villarreal is going to work out...I guess we will see. There is only one hostel posted online and I booked it. The guy on the phone was nice and the comments about the place are good and it's close to the stadium so...good hopes.

Have I ever mentioned that Spaniards LOVE mayonnaise? I do NOT understand how the USA is labeled the unhealthy nation/IS fat...Spain involves larger meals throughout the day, more snacking, lots of fried things, and mayonnaise on almost everything (like the fish tonight...) I will never get it.

Nervous for tomorrow!

"It's the difference between the life and death"

Today was surprisingly fun. Started off the day withOUT class and instead Serafin took us to the ancient archives to find hella-old documents in castellano antiguo. We saw the document from the king and queen of 1492 ordering the expulsion. crazy.

Got back in time for lunch and I talked with Victor and Antonio a bit...they love commenting on how white I am...could not figure out when Victor was trying to say "after sun" in english. It sounded like "Akerson" or something...Antonio speaks pretty well though so he could translate. lol...spanish-enlish to spanish-english to enlglish...interesting...

Went for a walk and couldn't buy my train ticket because i timed it poorly, but whatever.

Got back and went for a quick run before going off to class at the Mysticism University. It was kinda our last class today...next week we have off for a holiday and then the week after it's a conference and we have to attend one lecture and then we have a wrap-up/final presentations...crazy.

Got out early too so we were on time to dinner. Gave up my "salchicas" (hot dogs) to eat JUST pasta...that's right: past is the first course. crazy. Sat and talked with Pablo, Andres, and another guy that I really should know his name because he is really nice to me and I talk to him a lot...enough that I would find it rude to ask him his name now. lol. o well. Good dinner conversation about Spain, drugs, hiking, etc. lol. After dinner we went to Andres's room and watched some videos of this Spanish comedian doing Bear Grylls impressions. English accents on spanish is very hard to understand. lol. Really funny though.

So Much to Do

ugh! This week will be hectic. Actually 5 days of class...blah. I have to buy train tickets, reserve hostels, do most of my research for my paper, run, go to Madrid Friday, Valencia Friday, etc. etc.

To top it off I am antsy about the game on Wednesday...really. And then also antsy about the game THAT I WILL BE AT!!!!!!!! on Saturday...only 1 point up on Madrid...uhhh. Common!

Time to go to the archives to look at century-old documents with Serafin. whoo hoo.

BUGS!

I have 8 bug bites. I keep getting more suddenly. I woke up with a bunch. I need to start closing my window. I like it open though because I prefer it to be cold when I sleep and it keep the room from getting stuffy...ugh! I, as of now, have two on my wrist, two on my leg, two on my hip, two on my neck, and one of my arm. gross. And they itch!

Today was slow. After lunch I sat outside for a bit and talked with Antonio and Victor and read a chapter of my book in the sun. It was so nice out. Did some research for my mysticism paper that I am writing on Rumi and looked into some summer housing...

Watched the Barca, RM, and Valencia games and that was my night. Dinner was funny because yesterday we were served Sopa Castellana (which a lot of people don't like) and a little tiny piece of fish with artichoke. Needless to say a lot of the guys went out for more food afterwords and some of the newer guys in the police academy were a little turned off from our food here...then tonight we got a simple soup and a plate of cold cuts. It was funny to watch their reactions with the second night in a row of bad food. I liked it because the soup had seafood...o well.

bosthka

Spaniards pronounce Vodka as Bosthka...it is all very confusing.

Can men center themselves better?

Tonight was a great night. Started with a botellon. After I finished my bottle of cheap wine I went upstairs to meet up with Patricia and Cris and we went down to the "library" and eventually more and more and more and more people came. We left as a group of me, Patricia, Cris, Juana, Ana, y Antonio. We went to the same bar we always go first: good spanish music and eventually everyone from the resi met up with us there. Good time. Victor has asked me to tutor him in English. I told him i didn't know how good I would be but I would always talk to him in English...

Moved on to Dolce for a bit where I had a lot of people compliment my hair and call me "guapa" and I made two new friends! Good stuff. Split off into our group again and went to another bar for a bit. Eventually left with Marta and met up with the group of police officers and Marta went off with Victor...but came home a few minutes after us, and I came back with Antonio, Jose, Jose, and two other guys who I don't know their names. One guy asked me tonight why I always smile when he comes to talk to me...I don't think he knows that I just smile when people talk to me here! lol. Someone else was looking at me at one point and I asked "what" and he told me he just likes to look at me...uhhhhh

Talked with Antonio a bit (also he accidentally branded me with a cigarette tonight...nice scar on my arm) but at one point he told me that men are better at centering themselves and I disagreed and he tried to make up for it by telling me that women are better at multi-tasking. Then I told him where we were and how we were going to get home...we followed my directions and look at me on my computer...home. I like him a lot though. All the guys are really nice.

Also, I wore my heels all night tonight and made it through! 7 hours of heels...believe it? I can hardly! GREAT NIGHT! Good drinks, good dancing, good bars, good people, good conversation!!!!! My favorite times in Avila are when I go out with a bunch of people. You get to know the people that you live with so much better.

:(

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! How could this happen? Damn Iceland and it's grounding-planes doings. That third goal was offsides and 2-1 away is a lot easier to overcome than 3-1...WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

Chinese Food

Last Saturday (?) Casandra (Chinese girl who used to live here but moved to an apartment) came to visit us with a big pot full of chinese deliciousness. Vegetables and chicken in a spicy sauce. Spicy! It was awesome. Casandra told me that she liked me because I liked food and didn't worry about getting fat like most girls...thank you? She told me she preferred my way. lol.

Went for a run this afternoon and felt good. I don't know what it is about running outside that kills my shin muscle thing. Used the treadmill today and was much much better. Class today was really interesting. We had a guest lecturer in Misticism and he told us about Juan de la Cruz. Interesting dude. I think I might go all mistic in my religious ways...no matter what religion you associate yourself with all mistics are related...cool...and it's personal and just about your relationship with yourself and the higher power...hmmmm

Now I am just doing my work and enjoying a nice glass of wine. That's a lie. It's shitty shitty wine that I bought for a little over a euro. My first grocery-store alcohol buy. I mixed it with soda to make it drinkable...and because I'm Spanish now and don't drink wine without soda.

Also helped out Patricia and Cris with their English homework tonight. Basically just helped translate a "play" type thing that they are putting on. Funny. Only 3 more day s in this week!!!!!!!!! Every week goes by faster. We only have like a month left...

RM 2-1 Val

Yesterday was pretty amazing. I am pretty good with the Madrid metro now. Fit everything into my larger purse for the weekend so when I arrived I took the metro into the city center and walked around a little bit until 2:00 and then I went to an indian restaurant I had found online and had chicken samosas and daal makhani. I had been craving that daal especially so I was very content. Felt a bit silly being alone, but wasn't weird enough to keep me away from the papad and bollywood music playing over the stereo system. lol.

It was raining when I was done so I decided to be weird and because it was a day of doing things that I like I went to starbucks and got coffee that comes in larger than 1/4 c. serving and read some of my spanish novel in a big chair.

Afterwords I found my hostel and checked in, put some stuff in a locker and then took the metro back to the Bernabeu. Sat around for an hour and a half...saw the Valencia bus come in (SILVA!!!!!!! yea. Saw him in the window). Bought some almonds, I guess eating nuts (sunflower seeds especially) is really big during the games. Everyone brings their own little plastic bag with dinner in it to the stadium, but I had my almonds and an apple. Found my seat and waited for the teams to come out to warm up and then the game started.

It was pretty awesome. Lots of jeering at the Valencia fans...2-0...wished RM had dropped some points seeing Barcelona decided to tie Espanol. gross. Also, Silva played like shit until he hit the post...disappointing. Although he was playing up top and staying very central...different and I didn't like it.

Back to the hostel and to sleep. Woke up and got a train at 8:30 am back to Avila and went straight to class for my midterm. Nice.


If you didn't notice that last picture is the reason why I was at that god-forsaken game where RM DIDN'T drop points and Silva DIDN'T own...Casillas(portero), Villa(7) and Silva(21)

Indian Food and Futbol

Well, yesterday was boring...I studied and did a bunch of work because today I am occupied! Leave for Madrid in a couple hours where I will hopefully find some indian food that I have been craaaaaaaaaving and take in an excellent match.

Bollywood

Serafin told me that my Spanish has greatly improved after reading my three essays from the past week. yes....3. Good news though.

Watched Dilwale Dulhaiya Le Jayenge with Camilia and Courtney today...first Bollywood experiences. YES! Put me in a great mood and now I can't sleep and all I want to do is go run because I have too much energy.

Sevillana

I am very tired today. I don't know why....o wait...

So woke up this morning to sit through 4 hours of class in a row before lunch. Had a break to do some homework before I went back to the school to take a lesson in Sevillana Flamenco from Cristina. It was pretty cool. It is really hard to coordinate everything, but I got my feet down and can do arms in some parts, but hands so and head no and most of the time arms no.

Back at the residencia I watched the latest episode of Modern Family and uploaded a video of Flamenco that I had taken in Granada. Helped Silvia find some statistics on tourism in the US and then left with Ruth and Natalia to go to a bar to watch the first half of the Real Madrid game before returning for dinner. It was 1-1 when we left and they only won 2-1...after Saturday I thought they would kill Almeria, but nope...tsk tsk.

There is a giant botellon tonight and I think basically everyone from the university will be out and about but I am exhausted....conflicted...

NOOOOOOOOO

The washing machine is not fixed yet! Going to be wearing bathing suit bottoms tomorrow...if it's not fixed tomorrow I will have to wash some things in my bathtub...uck. I need to get some clean clothes though because I got my own personal key to the gym so I can start a more regular running regiment even if that means running at midnight like I had been doing at home...I just feel more like running then...dunno.

Went out and bought a novel today in a bookstore. Bookstores here though are very different. You go in and stand at a desk and tell the person working there which book you came for...problem was I had no idea what book I wanted. I just wanted some teenage novel with a lot of dialogue to learn some new phrases. The guy working though was very nice and I talked with him a while, that's right...a conversation and it was easy! So I told him what I wanted and he started showing me all these different books, one was short stories about vampires haha, and then I chose one about two people looking for love in Rome that is a best seller and he recommended it to me. It is good so far...

Broken Washing Machine

The washing machine in the residencia is broken...uhhhh all my clothes are dirty after spring break....uncomfortable situation. Hand wash in the tub???

Someone told me at lunch that I look tan. Ha. I got sun over spring break for sure, my first burn of the year just a little bit on my chest, but tan? good one.

I bought my plane tickets to visit Proma! 26th-29th. yay! only 60 USD. score. Just working on things lately...papers to write, presentations to make, exams to study for. When did we start having work?

I will leave you with this:

Granada

Two days in Granada...better amount of time for sure. We arrived in the afternoon and had some free time to wander and get dinner before we had to be back at 10:00 for a flamenco show. We went to the city center and found a nice park, a plaza with a market, and an AMAZING bar/restaurant.

The restaurant was called Um Kalsum (like the singer) and I got a pastela there. I had been craving one since Morocco so I was very happy. Courtney and Camilia got this platter of, like, every tapa for 12 euros. Great deal. Lots of delicious food.

Afterwords we went on a excursion-type thing with people from the hotel to go for a short walk through Albaicin, the old Arab neighborhood and to a flamenco bar for a show. We got pictures of the Alhambra at night which were very pretty as well. The dancing was AMAZING! Two of the girls danced with such passion. It was beautiful to watch. The guys were just ridiculous. Amador says that he prefers the flamenco in Granada over that in Sevilla because it is more pure. I understand this now. They always look like they want to cry when they dance they emote so much energy and feeling. Great experience.





The next day we woke up to go to the Alhambra and Generalife. Beautiful gardens. Cool place, but I guess I was a little underwhelmed after everyone tells you how amazing it is. It was cool, don't get me wrong, but I don't need to go back to Granada to visit the Alhambra. Our guide was really good though...and handsome. haha.

In the afternoon we met up with Amador and went out for some Andalucian cuisine. I got gazpacho and paella. Both delicious. We then took a little walk through the city. We went along this one road that follows a river and is really small and lined with shops selling Arab goods. Fun stuff.

Later we had some time to ourselves and we went to the market area to do some shopping. I got a ring and some bangles and some gifts. We got some ice cream as well: chocolate negro and ferrero roche...amazing!

Met up with Amador at 9:00 to go find a bar to watch Barcelona play Real Madrid. Free tapas with drinks was dinner. yum. As I have previously mentioned. BARCA MADE FOOLS OF RM!!!!!!!!!!!! It was awesome. Also learned that Vino con gaseoso is called tinto verano. good to know seeing I LOVE to drink it.

Next day we had free to do as we pleased. We all broke off and I walked around through some places I hadn't seen and some places I had. Bought candied almonds from the market which were DELICIOUS and a little empanada of bacon and dates. Very tasty and I thought of my mom when she made dates with bacon once. So delicious. Getting a little homesick. Camilia and I met up to have lunch at an Arab restaurant...rice with vegetables in a sauce. The drive home was 5 hours and I was ready to be back. Traveling to 7 cities in a week and a half is very tiring.

Half way done with the semester now. Lots of work this week with midterms and having to get work turned in. ay ay ay.

Cornerstone: GREAT VIDEO

How did he not laugh through this whole thing? I will never know. Amazing video. When he says "so close that the walls were wet" I almost died.

Sevilla

SEVILLA! Why did I not study there? I will never forgive Grace King for not insisting that I follow her and spend a semester there. It truly is just a beautiful city. As far as cities go it is my favorite that I have seen.

The first night, when we arrived we went for a walk to the Parque Maria Luisa. It is a gorgeous park and there were a lot of people running and there were fountains and flowers and lots of pathways...gorgeous. It had been someone's personal garden and they donated it to the city. Crazy huge for a personal garden.





We then proceeded to walk through the city center by the Giralda and lots of restaurants on cute little streets and then to the river to see the Torre del Oro and the plaza del torros. Very pretty city. Back at the hotel we finished our sandwiches from lunch and went to sleep.

The next day we woke up and went back to the cathedral and climbed the Giralda, which was a minaret, but now just a tower I guess...great views of the city from up there. We then met up with a guide who showed us around the cathedral and the surrounding city. We saw the alcazar of Sevilla which had some very pretty gardens and went through the Juderia. Very pretty. Then we took a break for lunch. We found a cute little place on the street where I ate pista, an Andalucian ratatouille type dish, and paella. After lunch we got back in the car and drove to Granada. NOT SUFFICIENT TIME IN SEVILLA! I want to go back there badly. After this trip and I seriously upset that I am not studying in Andalucia in Sevilla, or even Granada. So beautiful. SOOOOOO beautiful!

Cordoba

Ok. Let's do this.

After one night at home and a quick intake of Man U vs Bayern with Manuel and Jose I left for Cordoba with Camilia and Courtney and our driver from when we went to Morocco: Amador. We drove to Cordoba and took a break for lunch. We sat in the plaza/garden type place of the mezquita and ate our sandwiches. It was really warm out and I had to roll my pants up and take off my sweater.

After lunch we walked around the area of the mezquita a bit and then met back up to tour the building. The water from the fountain is filtered too so I filled my water bottle with fountain water. It was delicious.

Our guide was really good and we had him speak in Spanish and he was easy to understand. The mezquita was beautiful! It was built in stages and in the 16th century (I believe) the Christians put a damn church right in the middle of it. Our guide told us something that I thought was the most interesting thing I heard about the history of Andalucia: when the king came to Cordoba and visited the mezquita/church he scolded the bishop and said something like "if I had known what you were doing here, I would never have allowed you to change something so beautiful and unique to create something that you can find all over Spain." Thought that was pretty interesting.

We then proceeded to walk around the old city in the area which is called the Juderia, but I guess was an Arab neighborhood. The roads are all very small and windy and the houses are beautiful and there are flowers everywhere. Very pretty walk.

After the tour we got back in the car and drove 1.5 hours to Sevilla.

VISCA BARCA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Before I talk about Andalucia, First thing is first: REAL MADRID CAN SUCK IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Xavi is seriously too amazing. Pique: brilliant! Ronaldo got NOTHING on him! Messi: beautiful. Team: WHOA! RM looked lost and BAD! Best night! Sitting in a bar watching it with Real Madrid fans who were getting soooooooo mad! Some guy started kicking the board outside and tipping chairs. AWESOME! Pep is a genius! Alves up top? He is just too good.

VISCA BARCA!!!!!!!!!

ROMA!

Christine had class at 9:00 am so we got up and she got me a map and we set a time and place to meet up at 12:00. I ate breakfast and headed out to see what I fancied. I hit up the area that is more ancient Rome so I saw a lot of ruins and the Colosseum. Worked my way around along the river and saw a lot of things. Ran into a market at one point so I bought some grapes and an apple and went to a large plaza where I sat by a fountain and ate my fruit. It was nice. The sun was so hot as well! It was in the 70s for sure and I walked around in short sleeves all day - and didn't get burnt! ha.

Met Christine at noon at the Pantheon so we could grab some lunch. She took me to a little restaurant that she likes and we got two plates to share: noodles with goat cheese and pepper (Yum!) and gnocchi with Gorgonzola and spinach (YUMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!) GREAT lunch! The service was kinda crazy though and Christine had to leave me there to pay the check because she had another class and they were taking forever. The waiter started to hit on me after she left which was awkward. I asked him for the check and he started to pout and said "you want to leave me?" and then when he would say something to me he get really close and look me straight in the eye...kinda creepy. Funny though.

Spent the afternoon at the Trevi fountain. I just sat there...and I guess it was for a long time. People watched, ate some tiramisu gelato and made a wish! There were a lot of people there. To make it to Christine and my next meeting point I went up the Spanish Steps and walked along this park that is on a higher level than the city so the road is really pretty and looks over Roma. It was very beautiful.

Heard some woman during the afternoon (guessing definitely American) saying "pair-may-so" instead of "permiso"...little embarrassed.

Sat by the fountain in Piazza del Popolo and waited for Christine. We into the above-mentioned park and sat by a fountain/lake in the grass in the sun and listened to music and fell asleep. Very relaxing.

When we woke up we went to St. Peter's because it was pretty much the only thing I hadn't seen. We walked along the river and saw some market. Good atmosphere. I really liked the look and feel of Rome. Seems like a great city.

After this we went to the hotel to grab our things and went back to Christine's place.
She showered and changed and at 7:30 Bob and Theresa came over so we could go out to dinner. And thus began one of the best nights of my life. We went to this adorable and delicious restaurant. They had messed up our reservation so we had to wait a while for our table, but they sat us by the door for free drinks and an appetizer of mozzarella cheese that was somehow special and needed to be consumed within a certain amount of hours after being made...it was awesome.

When our table was ready we got some more wine and ordered scrumptious pasta. We went through 3 bottles of wine and were in very good spirits. Had some interesting talks and a lot of fun. It was nice to spend some time with the Sorensens. I haven't seen them too much in recent years.

After dinner Christine wanted to show her parents the bar that she usually goes to so we went there for a drink before finally heading home. Theresa and I ate canolis and then Christine and I went back to her place to sleep in her tiny bed.

Woke up at 7:00 to get packed and ready and then Christine walked me to the metro where I had to find my way to the train station, buy a ticket, go to the airport...find the terminal (had a little trouble) and check in. I was under an hour early...kinda freaked out a little bit. Everything worked out though and I made it to Madrid, found my way through the metro to the train station and got back to Avila. Successful trip.

Found that I like being in a strange city alone. It was very enjoyable to walk around Rome solo. Although I really loved being with EJ, Jenny, and Emily too. Maybe I just like traveling...hmmmm. Tomorrow off to Sevilla. ugh.

Also, my camera battery died before Trevi fountain so there aren't as many picture of Rome as there should be. I would shake the battery and get a couple more if I really thought I should document it, but regrettably, don't have pictures of everything I should.

To Christine!!!

Long long long long train ride to Rome. Over 6 hours...blah! Anyways, I got into Rome eventually and Christine was there to meet me. It was soooooooo nice to see her! It is so strange living away from everybody. I have gotten to feel comfortable in Avila, but when I spend time iwth EJ I feel so relieved to be with a friend. When I was with Christine though it was a whole new level of relief and comfort. It was amazing to spend some time with her.

We took the metro to Spagna and came out right by the Spanish Steps to walk to her apartment that she shares with 6 other girls. We dropped our stuff and went to meet her friend Sarah and an Italian guy named Uberto? for apertivo. Who knows if I spelled that right. Anyways, it's "appetizer" but it is just an extended drink and little snack during dinner hours so we stayed there for over an hour having a drink and other girls from her program came so I got to meet a lot of people and we just socialized for a long time. Eventually we got really hungry so Uberto recommended this pizza place with is "the best in Rome" called Monte Cristo. He took us there where I got a sausage, onion, and mushroom pizza. It was delicious. Probably true that it was the best pizza I had in Rome. Christine got hers with Zucchini and Eggplant. It was even better than mine. Soooo good.

After dinner we went to grab our things and went to stay in the hotel that Bob and Theresa were staying at. They were also visiting Christine, but were in Florence my first night in Rome so we used their large bed and free breakfast. It was fun.

Venice: Day #2

This day we woke up to have a typical Italian breakfast: toast with Nutella. They love that stuff in Italy. It is EVERYWHERE! EJ didn't want to wake up so I went out with Jenny and Emily for a walk towards the train station and across a big bridge etc. before we headed back to meet up with EJ.

Jenny and I didn't really want to pay for a gondola ride, especially after already riding in the "ghetto gondola". So EJ and Emily went with the south africans to take a gondola with "Alessandro, Alessandro, Ale-Ale-ssandro." Jenny and I walked across the grand canal to wander around the less-touristy area. Ended up at an Easter mass for a few minutes. We found some very pretty things and somehow ended up at the bus station so we could find our way back. We found the best pizza place on our way back to the hostel where we got spinach and goat cheese pizza (HUGE slices) for 1.5 euro. Delicious.

In the afternoon we took a water taxi (for free as Ahtik advised us not to pay because they never check the tickets - they didn't) to a Island of...Morona? I forgot. It is where they do all the glass work. We saw a demonstration where a guy made a vase and a horse and we ambled through the shops.

Back at the hostel EJ and I watched soccer highlights with Ahtik in the computer and we came to know that he was an Arsenal fan and I am a Barca fan...lots of jabs the rest of the time we knew each other. I believe my last words to him were "When you lose tomorrow, think of me." haha.

It was EJs birthday so we went out for dinner to a cute little Italian place (obviously). We got a bottle of wine and I ordered gnocchi in a salmon cream sauce. It was sooo good. The portions were a little small though so we went and got EJ some pizza and I got some gelato.

Another exhausting day. Passed out when we got back only to be awoken in the middle of the night by EJ's snoring! Emily and I started yelling at him which was kinda funny and then some girls came home from the bars around 5 and someone had taken one of their beds so she started cursing and it was a little uncomfortable, but then we were all awake in our room at 5:00 am so we just started talking, but we were still tired so we were a little giddy and just laughed a lot about dumb stuff. Jenny sang us some good songs. haha. Then at 5:30 someone came home without a key and kept ringing the doorbell, but we didn't want to answer it without access to a window so we just laid in bed laughing about it. Good night.

Next morning we ate breakfast and went out to look at a church quick before we had to grab our bags and buy a slice of pizza on the way to the train station. We were parting ways and the other three went to Florence while I went to Rome to see Christine!!! We ended up being on the same train, but different cars. Sad a little to leave Venice. It was so nice. And WAYYYYYYYY better than Milan.

Venice: Night #1

VENICE IS BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!

When you exit the train station you are on the grand canal. It is crazy. This is tourist season and there are SOOOOOOOOOOO many people. It's pretty fun though. Our hostel is right off of the main "road"? and it is the craziest place I have ever stayed.

It is run by a Hungarian girl and a guy who is Afghani, but has lived in Venice for a long time. We don't want to pay for linen so we don't and we get put in a side room that seems to have been a closet-type space because there are 50 people staying our first night. It is extremely overbooked and a lot of people don't have pillows or blankets (me), but everyone is just very chill and cool and the main room has this long table in it that everyone just hangs around and talks at and the two who run the place made us dinner and we made sangria together and then the guy went out drinking with people at night. It was such a weird situation. I was freezing at night, but I got over it. haha.

The canals are so beautiful. Our first day there we just wandered around, got a piece of pizza for lunch, saw the Rialto, San Marco, took a ghetto gondola across the grand canal to see some statue of a naked boy holding a frog. There were so many people everywhere and masks too. I guess carnaval is a big thing in Venice and they just sell masks year round.

At night we bought a bottle of wine on our way back to the hostel to make sangria and ate pasta that Laura, the Hungarian, had made. It was DELICIOUS! rigatoni with mozzarella chopped up and zucchini. Delicious. We hung around and talked with some other students from the US, Australia, England, South Africa, etc. who are studying in Great Britain and thus have 3 weeks off for spring break! Crazy. The girls went to bed later...it was an exhausting day, but it was EJs birthday at midnight so he went out with Ahtik (I think that's who you spell his name - the guy who runs the place)and some other people from the hostel.

Milan: Take Two

So....wrote that last post late after going out with some people...sorry. Let's try this again.

Met up with EJ and two girls from his program - Jenny and Emily - at the airport. They seem very cool and we all seem to get along from the start.

So we arrive in Milan LATE because our flight was delayed and then we had to take a shuttle to the train station. We get there at about 1:20 and we have to figure out the public buses to get to our hostal. Great thing about Milan is that the buses are super easy to navigate and you don't really have to pay if you don't want to. We get on our bus to find it inhabited by a homeless man and some drunk Italians. The homeless guy in the back has literally shit and pissed his pants and the whole bus smells disgusting. Two drunk guys are running back and forth yelling at the homeless man (who seems to just be passed out in the back seat) and telling everyone that he has pissed himself. Then there is another guy sitting down a couple rows ahead of the homeless guy and every time that the bus stops people get on, turn to the left, smells the guy, and turn to the right to find a place to stand far away. This sends the dude into hysterics EVERY time! He has the craziest laugh to so I start laughing ever time. Definitely one of the most memorable bus rides of my life.

We find our hostal easily though and although the owner is a little mad at how late we are we get our room with our chocolate Easter eggs and go to sleep.

The next morning there is a nice little breakfast of yogurt and croissants and we gear up to head out for the day. Like I said before there is not too much to do in Milan. We saw the Cathedral and after that we pretty much wondered around, saw some shops, got lunch (pizza - like every day), sat in the sun, and took a semi-tour by getting on a bus and just ridding it until we felt like getting off. Interesting day.

We decided to save money and get sandwich supplies for dinner so we went to the supermarket on our way home and there we met two people from Miami who we living in the same building as us. We invited them to come down and drink with us and go out later after dinner. They did and two other guys who were in the hostal joined us as well. We went to some bar down the street, but didn't do too much.

I wasn't a huge fan of Milan. I would have spent more time in any other city...

The next morning we took a bus to a different train station then the one we had been at before and while on it some Italian guys were sitting behind us freestyle rapping...it was interesting.

Milan

So we got in last night at about 1:30 am. Our room is nice. We got giant chocolate easter eggs on our pillows. lol.

Today we wondered around...there is not much to do in Milan besides shop which we did. I cannot spend money because I am on a tight budged for this week, but I wondered around and ate gelato and looked at the cathedral with is Ridiculous. It was a nice time.

We bought foodstuffs for sandwhiches for dinner and met up with a bunch of other people from the hostal to do a bollaton and then people decided that they did not want to go to bar street because they were too drunk. I was kinda mad. I wanted to party in Milan. Will have to wait until tomorrow I guess for EJs birthday.

uhhhh.

I miss Eric.

Silent Procession

Last night was nice...first I FOUND OUT THAT I AM GOING TO BE INTERNING WITH SENATOR CARL LEVIN ON CAPITAL HILL THIS SUMMER! Then I went to meet Courtney and Alex in the center of town to watch the silent procession at 11:30. We followed it until we found Camilia and Raquel and Juan. I was supposed to go out to eat with them, but bailed to watched Barcelona tie Arsenal (???) I think that's a good excuse.

Seriously though, I don't thing Puyol's was a red card and I feel bad for Cesc being out next game, but whatta-ya-gonna-do? It's over. Barca is going to the semi's.

Anyways...there was a procession at 2:00 am that I wanted to see so Camilia, Courtney, and Alex left, but I hung out with Raquel and Juan. First, I bought a sandwich because I missed dinner to watch the game, then we met up with some friends of theirs - Maria, Ana, Jose, and another guy that I don't think I heard talk all night. We went to a bar and got a drink and talked a bit and then we went to a different bar and got drinks and played darts. They are very nice people and it was a lot of fun. It's AMAZING how much easier it is to talk with people from this area than the people who live in the residencia and have accents from the south or the north...weird.

At 2:15 we left and went to the walls to watch the procession...it was silent so there were only drums and no cheering or anything like at the one on Monday. It was freezing, but there were still people walking barefoot. Crazy! When it had passed I walked to Raquel's house with her and Juan and they drove me back to the residencia. Now it's off to Italy in 2 hours!