ULTIMO DIA

:( Super sad day.

Spent the afternoon with Tano. Went out to a bar he knows for some refreshing summery drinks and chatted and then went for a nice glass of wine at the bodegita before going back to the resi. GREAT way to spend the last afternoon. Although it was a bit depressing because there are so many people I would like to have a one-on-one afternoon with! Tano is a great guy though and I am glad it was him. Tried the vinegar-sardine tapa thing that is so famous. CHECK!

After our last dinner we opened up a bottle of wine in the sala to celebrate (Me, Angela, Pablo, Yago, Dario, Antonio, Andres, etc). Finished the one bottle easily so Tano and some other dude who is new and loves to show us magic tricks (they are amazing) went to get more. They come back with vodka and 6 (ish) bottles of wine. Every time I drank some they'd fill me up and say "to your return to Spain". Needless to say I got way more drunk than intended. Teary goodbyes. When Antonio and Dario and Andres and Javi went to bed I though that I would never see them again and it made me cry...it got worse later. Good last night, but sad.


Woke up the next morning to go to the airport to see my PROMA!

Torres Hair

Praise the lord...so much better!

HA!

Good conversation with the cleaning lady and the porter.

Me: Hello, good morning.
Her: Good morning. How are you?
Me: Bad.
Her: Why?
Me: I leave tomorrow.
Her: You're not excited to go home?
Me: No. I'm not looking forward to leaving.
Her: Well then, you can stay here with us.
Me: Ok.
Antonio: But you get to go see your family and your boyfriend.
Me: Yea. I know.
Her: And your boyfriend is very handsome. I have seen.
Antonio: How have you seen him?
Her: She has photos in her room.
Me: Ha! Yes, I do.
Antonio: Watch out Martha, she's going through your things!
Her: No, they're out and I see them.

I just laughed. It was cute and funny. I am going to miss everyone!

Birthday Celebrations

Crazy busy day. Wrote my WHOLE paper. Very happy about that so that I can hang out tomorrow with everyone. Also, went out and bought my birthday shoes from my mom. They are adorable! White asics with coral detail. love them.

After dinner sat outside with Silvia and talked a bit and then came back in to finish my paper up. Almost to the end people start knocking on my door and it's Pablo, Yago, and Angela with cake and "fino" which is a Sevillan wine/tea thing that is super gross, but Pablo, being from Sevilla loves it. It was Angela's birthday so we went down and had cake and fino with a bunch of people. Pablo eventually bought us sprite to mix with the fino because it actually tastes good that way.

Sat around the rest of the night chatting. Omeed and Nima are trying to get out here to see me, but they are coming tomorrow night and I am not spending my last night here before Netherlands in Madrid. I need to stay with these people as long as possible. I don't know how I am going to leave. Next Saturday though I have a hostel in Madrid the night before my flight to the US and Angela is coming down to meet me there so we can party it up in Madrid and Yago said if we give him a call he'll be home in Madrid and will take us out. fun fun fun.

Excited to see Proma.

Dario loves the show cops...weird. Antonio is like an old man. He always goes to bed so early. Random dude came down at like 1:00 and did some magic tricks with cards for us. lol.
Dario told us that he is big everywhere after Angela told him his calves were big. We started laughing and he was so confused and kept saying "it's not funny" which made it funnier.

Family Dinner

Today was filled with a lot of work on my paper. Research phase in completed and I am now in the outlining stage which is quite tedious but makes writing sooooo much easier that I am trying to push through it. Last sunday lunch in the resi and they DID NOT make paella. How sad.

Went over to Alex's flat today for a little English-speaking family dinner. We had wine, artichokes in garlic and lemon, macarrones ragu, and strawberries. Yum. Delicious meal and good conversation afterwords. By the time I started yawning looked at the clock and saw it was 1:00 am. Now I am back in my room and trying to work a bit more before bed.

Do not want to pack. ugh.

Baptisms and Discotecas

Interesting Day...

Sent an e-mail to Zac last night to meet me at Atocha at 1:30. My train got into Madrid at 1:09 and I figured 20 minutes was suitable to get to the south part of the city...wrong. It was Champions League day of course so the city was FILLED with people. Thus, the metro was a little slow and I got to our meeting place 1/2 hour late. Oops. Zac was not there. Waited around another 1/2 hour in case, but no sign of Zac. He had come to Avila yesterday (and eaten whiskey ice cream) so I had seen him, but was still bummed. Got a little sandwich for lunch of chicken and feta cheese and decided to go hang out at the Bernabeu for a bit and see all the soccer fans.

First: my train ride to Madrid I sat by this group of people who were enjoying themselves. They were passing around liters of beer (11:30 am). One guy offered me some a couple times and I declined. Eventually he asked me why I was going to Madrid.

Me: I have a friend there
Him: Well, now you know me so you have two friends there. Are you Spanish?
Me: No, I'm from the US
Him: Oooo
Me: But I live in Avila
Him: What are you doing there?
Me: Studying
Him: ooo...We are going to a Baptism, you should come with us.
Me: O no, that's ok. Thanks, but no
Him: O common! It will be a big party with lots of food - chorizo, lomo, tortilla con patatas...
Me: Uhhh...I already have plans
Him: You can see you friend tomorrow, come with us. It will be fun.
Me: uh..no.
Him: Well, you live in Avila, we should get together and get some food sometime.
Me: Well I leave this Wednesday to go back to the US
Him: Well we'll get together beforehand, can I get your number?
Me: (laugh) uuhhhh
Him: Do you like to go out?
Me: Yea. I go out with my friends...
Him: Well we will get together and have a couple drinks and some good food.
Me: Well, I leave Wednesday, Monday and Tuesday aren't really good days to fiesta...
Him: Can I get your number?
Me: uhh...(laugh)

We get to his stop

Him: Ok...well maybe I'll see you around guapa.

Train people are the best. Tale of my Metro encounter for the day:

On the metro with a TON of inter fans...they are bad mouthing Barca

Him: Are you a fan of Inter
Me: Not really?
Him: You happen to like Barca?
Me: Actually, yes...
Him: Seriously?
Me: Yes.
Him (to his friends): Hey! She likes Barca!
Everyone in our car starts chanting "Puta Barca Puta Barca" and yelling that Barca can suck it.
Him: Are you Spanish?
Me: No
Him: Where are you from?
Me: The US
Him: O...Joaquim (2 cheek kisses)
Me: Martha
Him: Encantada...if you are around tonight we should go out together
Me: I am actually heading back to Avila, where I live, tonight
Him: You should come with us.
Me: I can't
Him: I will give you my jersey if you come with us...
Me: ha, sorry.

Metro stops at Bernabeu and everyone gets off and we are parted...funny.

Madrid seemed to have more Inter Fans than Bayern...maybe just because the Italians were a lot louder, which was surprising to me. All the Germans were wearing their jerseys with leiderhosen (spelling?). Great look.

Inter won. Watched the game with Javi while an older guy staying here the weekend told us how he was rooting for Bayern because his wife was German. Then this older woman got really mad because the game was on both TVs and she yelled at us and made us move to the other room. Later another woman came in and apologized to Javi and I and started rubbing our backs as she said that we were there first and if we wanted we could use the tv. She was so cute.

Now it's go time. Only a couple days left and I have to write this god-forsaken paper.

Also, Villa has passed his physical, signed his contract and was presented as a Barca player today! YAY!

Morcilla

Yesterday we went on the 2nd part of our tour of Avila with Chabe. Nice way to start the day, but then I was really tired in Serafin's class. In the beginning of his lecture he was basically repeating things he had said before or things I had already read in the reading he gave us and it was so boring that I was having lots of trouble keep my eyes open. He noticed and asked me what I had done the night before that I was so tired. Oops. That perked me up out of embarrassment. Courtney told me later that she had actually closed her eyes and was surprised he didn't say anything to her. I'm serious Serafin just likes to pick on me. I don't know if he likes me. O well...I'm done with his classes.

Tutoring with Gabriela was an exchange of recipes. I gave her nestle's chocolate chip cookies. haha. I am supposed to send her some indian dishes when I get home.

After class Raquel and Eva picked us up from the school and we went out to lunch to say bye because they are going to be really busy with exams next week and we leave on Wednesday. :(
Anyways, we went out for an AMAZING Spanish-style lunch. They took us to a little bar in the old mororia and we sat outside in the sun and ordered raciones of Morcilla (maybe I have a little obsession with this now - Spanish blood sausage), Tortilla Espanyola, croquettes, cheese, and some sort of dish that I forget the name of, but it's like little pieces of a pig that is mostly bone, but there is a little meat on it, a little fat, and they fry it. I don't like it so much, but Eva was loving those. Good time. I will miss them, they are so sweet.

Slow day of homework and...I have no idea where the day went. I don't think I did that much. Went to sleep a little early because I am still tired and even though someone came knocking on my door at 11:30 to go out I ignored it and slept. Woke up today still tired with a little bit of a headache. Definitely a siesta day.

A Del Medio de Los Chichos

Today was fun...for art class we walked around Avila and looked at architecture. Chabe also had a contact in the justice palace place so we climbed the tower and looked at the city. Didn't go to language bc Sonsoles stole our professors so now language is from 9-12 so there was no point in going for a half hour...o well.

Tried to get some work done this afternoon. Ended up watching a lot of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Went out tonight to celebrate Courtney/Manuel y Jose Manuel's leaving. Went to Deli with Angela, Jose, Salvador, Javi, Joni, Tano, Tonyo, and Jonathan. Had a good time, waited for Courtney. Eventually decided to go back home because it was late and we had class in the morning. Ran into Courtney outside the bar, but we were decided on going back. Good chats. LOVE Salvador and Javi. Enjoyable night for sure! ugh. I don't want to leave. Hopefully I'll go out this weekend with EVERYONE seeing Antonio wussed out tonight.

Villa-Barca

Take a good look at this photo. Good one right? Don't you think David would look better in blaugrana colors though? You don't know? You'd have to see it first? Well good thing that YOU WILL!!!!! VILLA SIGNED WITH BARCA!!!!!!!!!!!! How much joy do I have? A LOT A LOT A LOT! The only downside is that now I seriously doubt Silva would come to us and we all know that David Silva wins between the two Valencia boys with me personally. I am still however ecstatic with this transfer!!!!!

Sadness

Today was a day mixed of sad and happy...things are coming to an end :(

Woke up and then went back to bed. Skipped breakfast to sleep in a bit and then went to school at 10:30 for a tour of Avila's Jewish and Muslim neighborhoods of old with Serafin. We walked around for two hours while he talked about a lot of stuff and showed off how many people he knows in Avila. Then we had a little ponche segoviana for a "we are almost done" treat before going back to school where he dropped 100 pages of reading and an essay on us...due next week the day of our exam. Bitch. After Camilia complained a bit about how unreasonable that was he got rid of our exam and all we have to do is write the essay. yay. It is 3000 words though and I don't really want to do it. ugh.

I spent the afternoon writing my final paper for mysticism which I had prepared a presentation for only to find out I needed to write something out. 3 hours and 8 pages! WHOOO. Good thing I did it too because Camilia and I went to class only to find out that Javier was in Costa Rica and we were done with class...don't know how he expected us to turn in our work. We left it with a priest from the university who we know cause he had guest-lectured with us once. Awesome guy. Anyways, he took our papers and said he'd take care of it.

Returned to the resi to find Angela, Courtney, and Antonio sitting out in the sun so I joined them and we chatted for a bit. Had to leave eventually due to the fact that because we didn't have class we had to go to a concert that Gabriela was requiring of baroque music. It turned out to be amazing. The soprano sang sooo beautifully. Mozart was a genius. When the concert finished we stopped at the bodeguita for a glass of wine and tapas because we had missed dinner. 2 euros for a meal. Sounds good to me. They served us jamon serrano with olive oil and parmasean on bread with mushrooms in a cream sauce. yum.

Everyone keeps talking now about leaving and it is seriously bumming me out.

VISCA BARCA (2)!!!!!!!!!!!

So wanna hear something funny? It was really warm and sunny here today. haha. sorry mom and grandma.

Now wanna hear something AWESOME!??? BARCA WON LA LIGA TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!! RM tied Malaga. haha. suck it. 4-0. Afterwords I went back to my room and Pablo and Yago were in the hall waiting with an airsoft gun threatening to shoot if I didn't take off my jersey. haha. I just went in to my room yelling VISCA BARCA and CAMPEONES! haha. Went down to dinner a few minutes later and Yago was the last person sitting there. He tried to block me off first from sitting, but we sat by each other and joked a bit about the games. Then Javier joined in saying that I needed to take off my shirt so that they could burn it! haha. Well, we won! ha.

AWESOME!!!!

Arevalo

Today I slept in for the first time in a loooong time! It felt so good. Had some gross food and then did homework and watched ASIP all afternoon. At 7:00 met up with Raquel and we went to Arevalo which is a town about a 1/2 hour to 45 minutes away where Eva lives. Eva had reserved us tickets to a musical she was performing in called "Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar". It is based around the songs of a band and had a lot of similar themes to rent. She was amazing in it and sings really well! The play finished around midnight and I am tired!

American Student Teachers

Rosalina and Meghan left today. :(. However, Angela came last Sunday so I have a new bubbly American friend. The great thing about student teachers coming through here is that they are very energetic open people so they are easy to befriend. Angela is adorable and we already get along quite well.

Today went to my LAST day of Cultura y lengua. I can't believe I don't have class with Cristina anymore. She gave me articles today from her newspaper on Xavi and Guardiola. I love her. Asun today told me that my Spanish was perfect. haha. Maybe written. I can't believe things are coming to a close!

This afternoon I just worked on my mysticism presentation on Rumi. By working I mean I went through my notes and organized one section in phases that were separated by watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. As I write this I am having trouble because I keep writing words that are similar in Spanish in English in their Spanish form and the computer keeps marking everything red...good thing?

Dinner today was gross: pineapple and melted cheese on a piece of bread...however chatted with Antonio for the first time in a while which was nice because I love talking to him. He talked about his exam, which all the police officers had to take today I guess. Suppose it didn't go as planned however as he is studying to retake it...he kept saying though that he needed to study the law, but when he said "the law" he would say it in English, put on a really good American accent, and drop his voice lower. It was pretty funny. Especially because he was so pleased that he could say the word "law". Spaniards say it like "la-wa" usually.

Went out for tapas as a result of the gross meal with Jonathan, Angela, and a new student, Mao, that we decided to befriend because he is adorably nice. Went to Casa de Postas which was FILLED with people and had a couple glasses of wine and tapas ranging from Potatas bravas, sardinas, chorizo, y pimientos. Good way to spend the evening. Wish I could go out, but Fridays tend not to be too hot anyways and everyone is studying. blurg.

Mao told us that in a region in China they take newborn mice (because they are hairless) dip them in some sauce and eat them as a delicacy. ALIVE! Not for this thank you.

Blah blah blah

Today: class...lunch...homework....get grandma's bag from the hotel which she forgot...homework...tv...dinner...OUT.

Went out with the other group of American's and Jose, Manuel, y Dario. Good time. We went to Marisa's flat and had some wine to celebrate Rosalina's and Meghan's last night here. My last night better be crazier, but it was nice to spend some time with people. Love Dario. Him speaking English is impressive and fun.

I DON'T EVER WANT TO LEAVE THESE PEOPLE. Curse my split lives.

Atleti

Last night Atletico Madrid won the European Cup. Everyone was watching the game in the sala and when it was over people in the streets were going CRAZY! Horns of cars and people with those weird horns for a couple hours.

Last Day of Family Time

Last day with mom and grandma yesterday. Met up with them after class. They had toured the museum and I brought them some of my winter clothing to take home as a...gift. We went out for lunch at a little place by the wall which was tasty and had a very bubbly waiter and an old man sitting at the neighboring table that mom fell in love with for some reason...he had to be 90.

Went back to the hotel for them to pack a bit before we headed down to Santo Tomas. They toured the monastery while I caught up on some stuff in my room. When they had finished we went to a sweet shop that I like because the owners are the ones who run it and they are very nice. We got chocolate caliente and some little tea cookie type things. Yum.

Also, at some point in the day mom and I had gone out for her to buy some wine to bring home...I have lost my sense of time. It weird when your schedule is all crazy even though you are living in the same place and have the same responsibilities. I am exhausted.

Went to the bar in the hotel for a drink at 8...they guy closed up at 8:30...what? Very strange times. So we went across the street to another bar for a second glass and by the time we were done it was past 9 and we were ready for dinner.

We had planned to go to the place we went to the first night because they had a "suckling pig" on the menu. When we got there however they told us that the dish had to be ordered a day in advance. Damn. We got other things and they were delicious. Mom and I ran out quickly after dinner to get some pictures of the walls before the lights turned off and then we parted ways.

So tired now. Need to sleep, study, work, clean...ugh. Every time I think about the little time that I have left here I want to cry. I have no idea how I am going to go back to the US. There are people that I miss there, but I don't want to also miss people here...and lose the European atmosphere (Spain in particular I LOVE)...stressing.

AH! MOUNTAINS!

Today was the busiest day EVER.

Woke up and skipped class today to go to the train station. We rented a car (manual) and grandma drove. We first went to Segovia and saw the aqueduct, cathedral, and fortress. Mom thought she lost her wallet (gypsies!) and then I made her climb the tower of the fortress to distract her (so proud). She found it in the backseat of the car so we could eat and buy a sweet from limon y menta.

Next stop was La Granja where there is a palace that is like the mini Versailles. It is very very beautiful and the gardens are amazing!

Then we drove through the mountains (18000 meters) to get to El Escorial where mom and I made it through the whole place in about an hour. Museums, basilica, patios, living quarters, library, mausoleums, etc. All the catholic kings (save 2 I think?) Crazy.

Made our way back to Avila and went to a bar for a drink and had some tapas or morcilla, I want to say, the Spanish blood sausage served with eggplant. Delicious.

Then we went to dinner and had a good time as mom was served a mini pitcher of wine for her table (by the glass) order. ha.

Walked back to the resi to find a tour bus in our driveway. Natalia was sitting on the ledge so I sat and talked with her a second. She said the bus was full of Italians. Before I could get too excited she told me they were like 16. too bad. jk. She asked where I had been and I told her about my mom being here and she said, "how cool" ha and then asked me when I leaved. I told her I leave the 26th and was really sad about it because I love Spain so much. She said it made her happy that I liked Spain, especially in a tranquil city like Avila. I told her I loved the city, but more the people. She got a kick out of that. I will miss Natalia. I like her a lot.

Went inside to go to bed and ran into Antonio, Andres, and Tonyo taking the elevator up so I rode up with them and chatted a sec. Tonyo of course cracked a joke about Inter and then when I went to get our of the elevator Andres and Antonio stepped out first and bowed down to lead the way for me...it was funny. I said goodnight and continued on.

THEN in the doorway of Jesus's room Pau and him where talking (I swear it is SO weird how much nicer Pau is to me when Cris isn't around...maybe it's not that weird...but anyways he is). Pau asked me where I was coming from and I explained. I asked him where he was going or where he was coming from as he had a bag with him and he had just returned from Bilbao. He then asked me about EJ.

-"Who was that boy who was with you here last weekend?"
"EJ? He is my friend from the US, we go to school together"
-"Only your friend?"
"Yes"
-"You sure about that....just friends?"
"Yes, Pau, I am sure. I promise you, only friends...no!"
-"ok."

Chatted a minute or so more and then I excused myself to go to bed. Exhausted. Can't believe it's wednesday. Haven't had a legitimate class yet this week.

LOVE the people I live with and I don't want to leave. I can't believe that I have to leave all these people and have a strong possibility of never seeing them again. It's too depressing to think about.

Empanadas and Clark Kent

Today woke up and went to a different archive with Serafin...interesting? Maybe for the first 1/2 hour...

Met up with Mom and g-ma for lunch of empanadas (dates with bacon and one with tuna and pimiento) delicious! Went for a walk with mom to cuatro postes and to the train station to rent a car for our excursion tomorrow. Wandered a bit.

Met back up with grandma to go out for a treat at 5:00ish. We went to Flor de Castilla and got a drink and a snack. I got a Palmera and assam tea. Mom got a chocolate tort and hot chocolate with mint. Grandma got some delicious cream nut tort and tea. Afterwords we walked around a bit and I bought a world cup guide including a large photo of Torres and one of Xavi...perfect?

Went to a lecture at the university of mysticism at 7:30 on St. Teresa and then met up with Grandma and mom around 9:00 at bodeguita de san segundo for wine and tapas. Little later we went for some dinner. Shared roast vegetables and some roast veal with mom. yum yum yum. Lots of wine drinking this week. Lots of fun.

After dinner I headed home and found a bunch of people sitting at a table in the sala talking so I sat down with Pablo, Javi, Silvia, Natalia, Camilia, Meghan, and a new girl. Meghan and I spoke with Javi about his Clark Kent appearance. Nice talk and great way to pass an hour before bed. Ran into Antonio, Tonyo, and Dario in the hall on my way to bed and chatted with Antonio for a bit. Haven't seen much of anyone lately due to spending all my time out and about. Miss them.

Las Murallas

Today I woke up at went to meet mom and grandma for church. We attended mass in the cathedral where a choir from Budapest was visiting. They sounded beautiful and there was more singing than speaking.

Went to change for the day, then we climbed the walls of the city. Very pretty views and free! Afterwords we went in search for a restaurant for lunch. Walking through El Chico we ran into a procession for Nuestra Senora de las Vacas. There were LOUD fireworks going off all day, but a LOT right now. A figure of the lady was being carried around and a band was playing. Cool thing to run into. We found a restaurant close by and had some tasty food. Half way through the meal a band of guys dressed up like they were from the middle ages came in to play.

Walked around a bit afterwords trying to find other free places, but in Spanish style, nothing opened on time and we got bored and just headed back to the hotel after a half hour. I went back for a siesta/to work on my paper. Failed at the paper working at slept for 2.5 hours. Felt awesome. Woke up at 8:00 and got ready to meet mom and grandma. We went out for a drink at a bodega and then went for dinner. yummy.

Now I am home and talking to Proma. yay!

Mom and Grandma

Most stressful airport pick up EVER!

So because of my surprise morning visit I didn't have time/forgot to check the flight info of my mom and grandma so I just went to the airport (which has 4 terminals). The first 3 are the same metro stop so I went there first. Terminal 2 is labeled "llegadas" or arrivals so I went there and didn't find them. Stopped at an info desk which told me that US planes arriving around 7:30 were probably in terminal 4 so I went there (another metro ride) and DID NOT find them. Panicked a bit and called Courtney with my phone with was almost out of money/almost dead who went into my e-mail and found the flight info. I went to another desk and asked the guy in Spanish where there flight came into. He looked at me and told me he didn't understand me. I tried to explain again what I wanted and he just shrugged his shoulders and looked at me. Then he said "I'm just kidding" in English and told me my Spanish was fine, but "you need to do some things to keep yourself entertained here". I was so stressed I just said, ok whatever, give me my info. ha.

Found out they had come into terminal 1 so I took the airport shuttle there where I finally found them! A little under 3 hours after they had landed. ugh. felt bad.

We took the metro to Chamartin and stashed their luggage and then went into the city. We saw the Prado and a little of Parque de Buen Retiro before going back to the train station and heading to Avila.

Checked into the hotel and then went to the bar for a drink. Got some wine and talked before going to a restaurant for dinner. We went to a place that my professor, Serafin, had recommended. It was delicious! They went to bed and I headed home.

Sat in the sala when I got back, wet from the rain, and exhausted. Watched Valencia vs Villarreal with Joni. Valencia lost 2-0...what? I guess they are pretty safe for making Champions League next year and are not going to win the league so they rested their 4 players who play for the national team as well...still.

Salvador came over a little later and we watched the reviews of the Barcelona and Real Madrid games. He likes RM so that's a bit of a problem, but both sides won. Barca however, being ahead of Madrid, pretty much ensured the league title with this win. Sevilla is very dangerous and their only game left is against Valladolid who is getting relegated next season...Visca Barca! Sorry Salvador...RM sucks.

Morning Wake Up Call

Random last night with EJ. After I got out of class I called him up and he was climbing the walls of the city so we set a time to meet up. By the time I got to the center plaza it was thunder-storming full force and lluviendo cantaros. After it let up a little bit we walked back to the resi to find our sandwiches were being made for dinner, not lunch so EJ did some work to get ready for his trip and then we watched some TV.

Left in the afternoon to print him some stuff (train tickets etc) and then went to get some food at Doner Kebab. My first time there...AMAZING! They put goat cheese on their pita sandwiches...AMAZING! Walked around a little bit and went back for dinner. Ate our sandwiches and went out that night to go see the Murallas from Cuatro Postes. Lights of the walls went off, but still a good view. There were so many kids by the river. Crazy.

On our walk back we bought a lighter to smoke our cigars we had bought earlier. We heard this really loud music and it seemed to be coming from an apartment complex...we explored, but found nothing. Kept walking and found out the music was coming from a different place. We followed it and found an outdoor concert! Good band too. We walked one group play for a bit and got a drink from a bar right there. Eventually it was pretty late and we wanted to smoke so went back to the resi, lit up delicious cuban cigars, and watched Sherlock Holmes. Good night.

Finished in time to sleep for 2.5 hours before having to catch the train in the morning. At 6:15 when we were about to head out there was a forceful knock on my door. We had no idea what was going on or who it could be. I opened to the door to find Tano, Anjoni, Salvador, and Javi in my hallway. Tano shoves a bottle of wine in my hand and they all start saying hi and talking pretty loudly. It was super funny and I talked with them a bit. Anjoni/Anthony or however you spell/say his name I guess is leaving so he kept bugging me for a kiss, but that was not going to happen. Drank some of their wine and headed out, almost late for the train. Great surprise though. Randomness.

EJ

EJ is here. We had a quiet night. Bocadillos, a walk around the DEAD city and then back to watch some Spanish tv before bed...I had class this morning where I gave a presentation on Barca/La Liga/La Furia Roja. Cristina loved it because I didn't read the from paper. haha...chinese...

Cristina also told me today that her neighbor is Iker Casillas's aunt and she gets free tickets to RM games...wtf.

Mas

So I thought the night was done...but it wasn't. I went out of my room to go get my laundry and I ran into Salvador, Jose, and the new Argentine guy in the hall. Talked for a little bit and they were going to find Jose Manuel and Manuel. Asked me where my room was, it's so dirty I wouldn't tell them. Anyways, got my laundry and then met them in my neighbors room where a LOT of people were. Everyone was taking a shot and just hanging out...a Wednesday night...little strange. Now I am tired. But it was nice to be with everyone for a bit. The university ends classes this Friday...is this my last weekend with everyone? I need to find out so I can start taking pictures of everyone. Lots of people I will miss.

Vivir Bien

Today = boring. I don't even remember what I did in class. Gabriela made us go to a lecture today about the last of the Catholic Kings of Spain and literary reactions to his death or something...i'm not too sure because I slept through half of it and didn't really understand the second half. oops.

I cut my leg open today when I was working out, but I didn't even notice it until I went to stretch and my face went into an open wound and I saw that there was blood streaming down my leg and pooling in my sock...weird.

Watched the Real Madrid game tonight...f***ing Ronaldo...Tonyo says to me "I don't understand how you can support Barca. Americans live their colors and you support those separatists?!?"

Waiting for my laundry to finish so I can go to sleep. Erik comes tomorrow and mom and grandma come Saturday!

Strange Man

I almost forgot to share this odd story.

So I am on the train to Vila-Real. There is a guy whose seat is facing the other way and while just looking around the train our eyes meet for a second and he raises his eyebrows. I turn to look out my window.

Later he gets up and moves his bags so they are across the aisle from me and then he looks at me and asks me if he can sit in the seat next to me...there are like 4 other people in our train car so there is no need to sit near me. I just look at him like you can, but please don't. He does.

I just look out the window. Eventually I kinda look over half way and he is just staring and smiling at me. I have my headphones in, but he says something to me. I take one out and say "what"
Him: "Are you sad?"
Me: "No"
Him: "Are you sure, do you have a problem, can I help you?"
Me: "No. I do not have a problem."
Him: "Am I bothering you?"
Me: "A little. Yes."

I turn back out to the window. It was just a very weird thing and I didn't really want to deal with him. I hear him talking still so I take out a headphone again.

Him: "Where are you from?"
Me: "US"
Him: "ah, American..."
Me: "Yes."
Him: "That is close to Canada right?"
Me: "Yes."
Him: "I have a brother there. He has been there for 6 years."
Me: "In Canada?"
Him: "Yes. It's kinda far from Morocco"
Me: "Oh, so you are from Morocco"
Him: "Yes. What are you doing in Spain?"
Me: "I live in Avila and go to school there."
Him: "And you are traveling alone."
Me: "Just for right now"
Him: "Are you going to Barcelona"
Me: "Vila-Real"
Him: "Oh, I bet you have never been to Morocco"
Me: Actually I was there in February."

Now the train is at my stop and he moves so I can get my back and leave. He waves and smiles at me as I exit...super odd experience. Maybe it isn't that strange, but as a girl traveling alone to an unknown place, I was kinda bothered. What has become of this world? haha.

Back to Valencia and Back to Avila

Not too much to report after Villarreal experience. Came back to Valencia, spent the day enjoying the sun and walking around a bit. Tried two more paellas.

Lunch: Paella Valenciana.
4 stars: delicious, the best I had, but "Valenciana" means chicken, not seafood, so not
as good as it could possibly be.
Dinner: Paella de Moriscos
2 stars: really buttery. Not very good, but lots of seafood pieces so that was
enjoyable.

At dinner I ordered Sangria and it was made with more vodka than wine I swear. I was drunk by the end of the goblet that it was served in and I just walked home and went to sleep. Weird experience. Also, I asked for the cheapest room so I was sleeping with two other guys in a room...interesting. whatever.

In the morning I woke up earlier than planned and went to the Valencia CF store that had been closed Saturday and Sunday. It opened at 10:00 so I waited around 10 minutes and then went in and got me a Silva jersey. yay! Cheaper than normal too at the "official store". I was happy.

For breakfast I went to this cafe and they had waffles so I ordered one. Waffles in Spain: chocolate chips in the waffle and it is SMOTHERED with chocolate sauce...surprise! Interesting breakfast...would love a real waffle right now.

Easy trip back to Avila and now here I am...

Vila-Real: Poor Choices=GREAT experiences!

Poor Choice #1: Travel alone to Vila-Real.

This is a tiny pueblito. Smaller than Avila, why it has such a big futbol team I will never know. Arrived and had to find my way to my "hostel" which is a bar with some rooms that people can rent. It is the only place to rent rooms in the town. It is that small.

I had gotten directions off line, but when it came time to follow them I couldn't find one street so I ended up walking a lot longer than I had to and it was a little scary, but not THAT scary...anyways, with the help of one man walking his dog I found my way to Hostel La Masia. Got my key and paid and went to my room. There were a couple people wearing jerseys drinking at the bar when I arrived to I decided to change and join them. Put on my Xavi jersey and went to get a drink.

I ordered "tinto de verano" which is just table wine with soda. The guy who owns the place just game me a bottle of soda and a bottle of wine and a glass and told me to do as I pleased with it. haha. There was a group of 4 guys next to me ordering shots. One of the guys asked if I wanted one. I declined. As the bartender started cutting up limes and game them some salt I asked, "tequila?" and they said yea, and asked if I wanted one again. I declined again, but started talking to them. They knew some guys who were in the police academy in Avila and were from Alicante. Talked about the game and Barca (they were all wearing jerseys, or in one case, a flag). I asked when they were heading out and they said "now" and offered to drive me to the stadium. I knew that I didn't know these guys at all, but the stadium was like a 1/2 hour walk so I said ok.


Poor Choice #2: Get in car with 4 strange men

On the car ride there one guy says to me, "so you travel to Valencia alone, then you travel from Valencia to Vila-Real alone, and now you are in a car with 4 strangers...As we say, you have some balls." Sorry to my mother, I promise I usually am much safer than this.

We parked and went to a bar that was FILLED with Barca fans. Everyone was singing Barca songs and chanting and the guys bought me a beer. I am not a huge beer person so I drank it very slowly, but they were going much faster than me. Every time they were ready for another round they would say, "you need a fresh one" and buy me a new beer so I drank three 1/2 beers. haha.

Went outside to greet the Barca bus as it came in and then we went to take our seats. When the team came out of the field I almost cried I was so excited. I had seen them before of course, but the obsession was a lot more mild than it is now. This was just a CRAZY experience. Xavi was questionable to play because he got hurt last game, but he played AND HE SCORED! First Messi, than Xavi, then Bojan, then Messi. 4-1 killing and Xavi played amazing (for me?). The stadium had so many Barca fans, I felt a little bad for Villa. Pep looked good in his suit.













After the game we got back in the car after hanging around outside the stadium a bit and singing some songs...we got stopped at a traffic light on our way back to the hostel by a police officer BECAUSE THE BARCA BUS WAS COMING THROUGH! We got out of the car and started waving our flags and scarves as the bus passed and then jumped back in the car quickly and one of the guys started screaming "SIGUE SIGUE!" which means follow...so we followed the bus for a while before we got stopped by a police officer again at a different light so we went home. It was sooo crazy. I was just dieing of happiness. I am pretty sure all my serotonin emptied. The guys wanted to go out to a club, but I was so exhausted to I said good night.

I did have to deal with a drunk phone call at 5:00 however. I pick up my phone and start talking in Spanish (I am sure this was my first spanish only phone call that I was fully able to understand and partake in - it was amazing) anyways...it's one of the guys. He sat by me in the car on the way back and started talking to me about his radio show, his new wife of 4 months and the differences between weddings in the US and Spain (haha)...he says to me on the phone: "What are you doing?" I say "sleeping" He says "We are coming to visit." I say "No, I am going to sleep, good night". I hear them come in, but they don't knock or anything so I felt better.

The next morning I get a text saying sorry for waking me up. I text back that it was ok and it was nice to meet them and I hoped he got his voice back soon (he had lost it within the first hour of singing and shouting in the bar). He texted back that it was nice to meet me and he hoped my travels finished well and I stayed safe.

Around noon I head to the train station, determined to find a shorter route I get kinda lost. I do, however, find my way eventually and get on a train back to Valencia. GREAT EXPERIENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! De Barca HASTA LA MUERTE!!!!!

Tot el camp
es un clam
som la gent blaugrana.

Tant se val d'on venim
si del sud o del nord
ara estem d'acord, estem d'acord,
una bandera ens agermana

Blaugrana al vent
un crit valent
tenim un nom el sap tothom:
BARCA BARCA BARCA!!!

Valencia: Paella and Silva Crazy

Where to start? I don't even know!!!! AMAZING weekend! If I had had someone to share it with would be the ONLY way to make it better. This was a series of (as I look upon it) probably poor choices and crazy occurrences. Simply amazing...have a mentioned that I saw XAVI!!! It's been what, 1.5 years? He is too amazing. And he gifted my visit with a goal...but I am getting ahead of myself. From the beginning I think is best:

Arrived around 10:30 pm in Valencia. Ate a sandwich on the train made in our lovely comedor and watched a super lame movie about something...jason statham or whatever his name is was some farmer who became king after some wizard dude killed his son and he went crazy on his ass.

Found my hostel and moved in for the night. Nice place and the lady at the desk was really nice and I chatted with her a bit in Spanish. In the morning I woke up pretty early to go an experience the city, but Valencia refuses to wake up until 10:30-11:00ish so I was just kinda wandering around and decided to walk through the large park.

















Valencia has this old dried-up river bed and it has been transformed into a GIANT park. Some parts are soccer field, dirt and grass, some are trails through trees, some parts are gardens, fountains, and at the end is the Parque de Ciencias where Santiago Calatrava went crazy. One of the coolest places I have ever visited.

Went back to the city center and sat in the Plaza de Ayudamiento for a while and took in the sun and read some of my book. For lunch I went to a little place and got Paella de Moriscos and Sangria. The only part I don't like about traveling alone is eating alone...not that I wouldn't prefer to have someone with me in all aspects of traveling...but I can enjoy myself. However, I always feel awkward eating alone. But I can take it. Made friends with my waiter who was from Argentina and enjoyed bonding over the fact that we were both Americans. haha. Good food though.

Got some hazelnut ice cream in the afternoon...now my FAVORITE flavor ever of ice cream...Europe has made my realize that this is the superior flavor of all flavors in most foods. Walked through the streets and found a little market that I looked through before heading back to check out of the hostel and catch my train to Vila-real.