Now I'm back in Austin.
The usual Christmas Eve/Christmas/birthday celebration has passed. This year was similar to all the others except my dad cooked a new dish as part of his annual Christmas Eve "Seven Kinds of Fish Italian Dinner". Red peppers stuffed with rice and sardines and bits of their bones and some other stuff. Another first...this year my sister woke up Christmas morning throwing up all over the place. We all sat downstairs opening presents while she repeatedly swallowed to keep it down. (Food poisoning likely, but not from my dad's food.) My parents' divorce changed the holidays only slightly. My dad was still around on Christmas morning. My mom's boyfriend came over for Christmas dinner and my dad ate with some friends. My sister stayed upstairs in bed.
Now I'm 22. But I don't really feel like I have an age anyway. Physically I'm sure I look different than I did when I was 8, 14, 17, whatever; mentally I feel like the way I think and process things is mostly the same. Since I got to college I matured in a particular way, just by dealing with and experiencing different things. My maturation is also manifesting itself in the form of white and gray hairs. I am becoming increasingly worried about the silvery veins poking out every time I part my hair. For my birthday dinner I chose to eat at Nit Noi, a Thai restaurant my family's been going to before we even moved to Houston. We eat there for birthdays almost every year. We drove to Rice Village and right where Nit Noi was, there was a giant blank piece of land. We thought maybe we were in the wrong place, but they totally tore down the whole building the restaurant was in. I couldn't believe it. Luckily Thai Spice was close so we decided to be adventurous and try something new. Thai Spice was excellent also. Later that night I went out with friends to a couple of bars and then to dance.
A few days ago I moved back to Austin. I'm now living in a house north of campus. It's so huge. I've never lived anywhere with so much space to myself. I chose to live in the attic so I have very oddly shaped bedroom that overlooks both the front and backyard. There are six windows. I'm so excited to get all my stuff in here and make it look like more than a wooden room. It's hard for me to integrate into the rest of the house though. When I'm at home I usually just hang around upstairs since my room is so big and since there's another even bigger attic room across the stairway. I'm a little anxious about living with other people just since I've never really done it.
Tonight is New Year's. After so many nights of partying I want to see if I have anything left in me. I'm feeling really lazy and run down during the day. I'm not really getting much done. I've been worried about certain stuff and it's distracting me a lot. My room being in disarray is causing me to allow the rest of my life to get more out of control. My state of mind has been weird since I got back from Spain.
I don't have any resolutions for 2008. I'm just hoping for an exciting and somewhat successful year. I don't really know what to expect since a lot will depend on my summer plans. To think that this year I will probably get my first job...is crazy. However, after the past year of moving around and traveling and being pushed into new experiences at any time, I feel more prepared. I guess, if anything, I want to keep the generally optimistic and satisfied feeling I had for most of 2007. I think this past year was one of my better ones. A lot of really good things happened and even some bads, but the bad things I learned from. I felt like I found my place this year, at UT and in Spain. I met so many new people in 2007. I feel like I grew up a little more this year. I'm still waiting to see exactly how/if I was changed by my time in Spain.
Right now I just don't know about many things. I'm not sure that I want to.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
It's Saturday night in Houston and I'm home before 2AM.
Juno.
I just saw that movie and I approve. It was a happy story without being lame and there was a type of humor that I could appreciate. Ellen Page was believable. I never once thought about her as Ellen Page, rather as Juno. It seems weird she'd be a different character in another movie. The beginning reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite for a few minutes. I didn't like that and got worried. I don't usually like Jennifer Garner (maybe it's the dimples) and her character in this movie was irritating, but she also did a good job with the part. I think the characters are what made this movie worth seeing. Usually movies about pregnancy are completely unappealing to me. I never saw "Knocked Up"--a movie about accidental pregnancy doesn't seem to fit into the comedy genre, at least not to me. But this one was okay.
I painted my nails red. Finally. I don't know how or why I was in Spain for four months without any red polish. Red's always been my favorite. I remember my grandma asking me what color she should paint my nails when I was about seven and I asked for bright red. She told me it was "too much" for me. I guess she wanted me to pick pink or something. Her's were always red or clear. And really long. I was jealous.
Time to sleep, I think. Ever since getting back my sleep schedule has annoyingly normalized. I get tired around 1AM and can't sleep past 9:30AM. I hate it. I don't know if I should fight it or hold onto it for the upcoming semester.
And my room is SO MESSY. I feel like I can't function. It's like my suitcases blew up in my room and then I gave up and threw everything around some more. It's unmanageable clutter to the point I can't figure out how to fix it. I decided I would just move a bunch of stuff to Austin in a week and try to clean when I come back for another load. Right now there is just too much to know. I'm going to live like a disorganized person for a week. I'm guessing it'll either drive me totally crazy or make me a better person. Maybe both.
I just saw that movie and I approve. It was a happy story without being lame and there was a type of humor that I could appreciate. Ellen Page was believable. I never once thought about her as Ellen Page, rather as Juno. It seems weird she'd be a different character in another movie. The beginning reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite for a few minutes. I didn't like that and got worried. I don't usually like Jennifer Garner (maybe it's the dimples) and her character in this movie was irritating, but she also did a good job with the part. I think the characters are what made this movie worth seeing. Usually movies about pregnancy are completely unappealing to me. I never saw "Knocked Up"--a movie about accidental pregnancy doesn't seem to fit into the comedy genre, at least not to me. But this one was okay.
I painted my nails red. Finally. I don't know how or why I was in Spain for four months without any red polish. Red's always been my favorite. I remember my grandma asking me what color she should paint my nails when I was about seven and I asked for bright red. She told me it was "too much" for me. I guess she wanted me to pick pink or something. Her's were always red or clear. And really long. I was jealous.
Time to sleep, I think. Ever since getting back my sleep schedule has annoyingly normalized. I get tired around 1AM and can't sleep past 9:30AM. I hate it. I don't know if I should fight it or hold onto it for the upcoming semester.
And my room is SO MESSY. I feel like I can't function. It's like my suitcases blew up in my room and then I gave up and threw everything around some more. It's unmanageable clutter to the point I can't figure out how to fix it. I decided I would just move a bunch of stuff to Austin in a week and try to clean when I come back for another load. Right now there is just too much to know. I'm going to live like a disorganized person for a week. I'm guessing it'll either drive me totally crazy or make me a better person. Maybe both.
Back in Houston
Everything is familiarly different. I can't stop comparing it to Spain. I'm even starting to annoy my own self. I wonder how long this is going to continue before I force myself to stop. Right off the plane I was greeted by the muggy weather. Later that day I went to pick up my car from the mechanic. In the dirt and pine needles I noticed bottle caps of American beers. I notice the people here look so different; they dress so different. Driving feels like a video game. I know I should be scared but it's fun to go so fast. I hadn't really been in a car for four months.
Houston is boring me. I want to go out and walk around but there doesn't seem to be anywhere to go. Everything requires too much driving and money. I've resorted to sitting around on the computer half dressed. Taking too many showers because there's nothing better to do. Today I watched a melodramatic telenovela to see if I could understand anything. Actually, I can, and it's even trashier than I imagined. I'm going to try to get hooked on one to cling to my Spanish listening skills.
I want to go to the theater and watch movies in English.
I'm wondering what I should do with this blog. If I should re-title it or start a different, more permanent blog. I have no desire to return to the LiveJournal world.
In news related to my life in Texas, I found out that I was accepted for an internship at KXAN in Austin this spring. It will be my last internship in Austin and my last chance to gather material for my resume tape. Definitely no blogging this time. As my dad says, "Cut the blogging, start the reporting." Haha, good advice probably. I also found out I got to the second round for the internship program I am applying for in the New York City this summer. I came really close to getting it last summer, but got cut after phone interviews. Hopefully this year I have better luck. Though it'll mean quitting my Spanish major and probably having to live in Houston with my mom for a little bit while I look for a job this fall. Whatever...it's all too much in the future. I need to do what I want to do right now.
Houston is boring me. I want to go out and walk around but there doesn't seem to be anywhere to go. Everything requires too much driving and money. I've resorted to sitting around on the computer half dressed. Taking too many showers because there's nothing better to do. Today I watched a melodramatic telenovela to see if I could understand anything. Actually, I can, and it's even trashier than I imagined. I'm going to try to get hooked on one to cling to my Spanish listening skills.
I want to go to the theater and watch movies in English.
I'm wondering what I should do with this blog. If I should re-title it or start a different, more permanent blog. I have no desire to return to the LiveJournal world.
In news related to my life in Texas, I found out that I was accepted for an internship at KXAN in Austin this spring. It will be my last internship in Austin and my last chance to gather material for my resume tape. Definitely no blogging this time. As my dad says, "Cut the blogging, start the reporting." Haha, good advice probably. I also found out I got to the second round for the internship program I am applying for in the New York City this summer. I came really close to getting it last summer, but got cut after phone interviews. Hopefully this year I have better luck. Though it'll mean quitting my Spanish major and probably having to live in Houston with my mom for a little bit while I look for a job this fall. Whatever...it's all too much in the future. I need to do what I want to do right now.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Final Daze
My last week was characterized by trying to study for finals, trying to shop for Christmas and trying to absorb as much as I could before I had to leave.
School is different in Spain because until finals, there isn't any sort of evaluation of your progress. Your final exam is essentially your grade for the class. The professors don't explain much. Luckily, they seem to cut foreign students a bit of a break. Notes were sometimes allowed to be used, they were lax about how well you write and it is rumored that they actually don't fail anyone. After taking six essay tests I was pretty worn out and tired of writing in Spanish. My best accomplishment of the semester was getting a 9/10 on a paper for my hardest class. It was the paper I wrote about in this blog, about the "Bella Durmiente" on the airplane. My teacher told me I did so well and I actually felt proud because I worked really hard.
At the end of the week Andrew came to Barcelona. The first night he was overtaken by sickness and some readjustment, but by the second night things had improved. We walked forever. In the cold. Through the Gothic Quarter, to the beach, along a big road. For some reason everything seemed mistimed that night. By the time we wanted to go to some bars, they were all closed. Then there were only clubs, but my level of inebriation was insufficient. The cold got colder. I think it was the coldest European night I'd experienced and it took almost until the next morning for my ten frozen fingers to thaw.
Saturday was when I introduced Andrew to Carrefour, my favorite supermarket ever. In a way, it's nothing too special, they have them all over Europe, but I think it's fabulous. We walked along Passieg de Gracia past Gaudi's famous buildings and then finally up Diagonal to his masterpiece Sagrada Familia. For some reason I didn't feel like I appreciated it as much as I should have. On the walk home we saw a drunk man with a bottle of booze rummaging through trash cans on Passieg de Gracia. I can appreciate that--he looked like he was having a good time.
Later that night I met Megumi's parents and her best friend who were also in town visiting. We had tapas with them. Megumi's parents were really nice people...with lovable eccentricities. It was interesting to meet the people I'd heard so much about all semester. Then we went to L'Ovella Negra for sangria...minus parents. Finally Andrew and I headed to Razzmatazz for what I hoped would be a noche loca. Razzmatazz was mostly what it was cracked up to be. I'd been there once before, but only for the Air concert. This time it was crowds of dancers and loud music. Five rooms of it. I tried to find my friends there but it was impossible. It's probably one of the more hazy nights of my time in Barcelona, but I'm absolutely sure I had fun. I remember sitting on the balcony looking over one of the bigger rooms with so many lights and smoke and people. Then I had to become a part of it. I didn't feel particularly tired when we left that morning but I think I started to lose the battle on the way home in the Metro. I don't actually remember exactly how and when I fell asleep that night.
Sunday was lazy obviously. I had to say goodbye to Megumi that night. It was sad but I didn't cry. Monday we went to Parc Güell. I'd been there before right after I got to Barcelona, but somehow had missed a lot of it. The time I entered in the correct place and saw all the sights. We walked up to one of the highest points to get a view of the city and encountered a half knocked down graffitied wall. There was a ledge where we sat and ate my very last bocadillo de Ana. The moment was especially tasty. One of my fondest memories of the semester. Then a stupid growling child came up out of the brush. What a little beast. :) We walked around until it got cold and dark that night. I bought a chocolate bar at Carrefour. I was totally out of money. Luckily that night was API's goodbye dinner. I was treated to small portions of delicious food with my friends. We took pictures, talked, recounted memories and tried to be warm. We all went to L'Ovella Negra together afterwards. I ran through the rain trying to meet phoneless Andrew and my red boots stained my feet to look like they were diseased. I discovered the red blotches later that night.
Tuesday was my final day. I almost wanted it to end faster so I could get the sadness over with. I finished my Christmas shopping and went to La Boqueria with Andrew. My final time I started wishing I'd gone there more often. It was ridiculously close to my house but I spent too much time in Carrefour instead, I suppose. I ate lunch with Ana and presented her with a gift...a picture of the three of us in a wood frame. We washed the dishes together. It was beginning to end. I packed all my things after lunch until everything was sealed up into four bags. That night Andrew and I ate gelato and watched his ugly flavor slide down the street after he dumped it so I could eat the cone. I chose winning flavors: Nutella and Dulce de Leche. We went to Antiquari and sat in the empty underground and finally made it to a jazz club where some of my friends were waiting. It's the weirdest thing hearing Spanish men sing like American men. Most people ended up at Ovella again (ugh) including us but only because I needed to say goodbye. I cried a little. Oh! I hoped it wouldn't happen and I'm not sure why it had to, but they were real tears of sadness. Thinking back over how amazing the whole semester was still makes my eyes well. Even while unpacking my bags, it seems like some kind of weird dream that happened. I returned home to get my bags and said bye to Ana. It was such a rush I don't think I allowed myself to be sad again.
The way home was fine, but annoying. Being on a plane for 9.5 hours is never pleasant. The plane was full of Texas people. I was hoping to hold onto Europe at least until I stepped on American soil, but it wasn't happening. The men behind me at the gate in Amsterdam were so Texas businessmen. When I got to Houston I found out that my luggage was still in Amsterdam. I finally got it last night.
School is different in Spain because until finals, there isn't any sort of evaluation of your progress. Your final exam is essentially your grade for the class. The professors don't explain much. Luckily, they seem to cut foreign students a bit of a break. Notes were sometimes allowed to be used, they were lax about how well you write and it is rumored that they actually don't fail anyone. After taking six essay tests I was pretty worn out and tired of writing in Spanish. My best accomplishment of the semester was getting a 9/10 on a paper for my hardest class. It was the paper I wrote about in this blog, about the "Bella Durmiente" on the airplane. My teacher told me I did so well and I actually felt proud because I worked really hard.
At the end of the week Andrew came to Barcelona. The first night he was overtaken by sickness and some readjustment, but by the second night things had improved. We walked forever. In the cold. Through the Gothic Quarter, to the beach, along a big road. For some reason everything seemed mistimed that night. By the time we wanted to go to some bars, they were all closed. Then there were only clubs, but my level of inebriation was insufficient. The cold got colder. I think it was the coldest European night I'd experienced and it took almost until the next morning for my ten frozen fingers to thaw.
Saturday was when I introduced Andrew to Carrefour, my favorite supermarket ever. In a way, it's nothing too special, they have them all over Europe, but I think it's fabulous. We walked along Passieg de Gracia past Gaudi's famous buildings and then finally up Diagonal to his masterpiece Sagrada Familia. For some reason I didn't feel like I appreciated it as much as I should have. On the walk home we saw a drunk man with a bottle of booze rummaging through trash cans on Passieg de Gracia. I can appreciate that--he looked like he was having a good time.
Later that night I met Megumi's parents and her best friend who were also in town visiting. We had tapas with them. Megumi's parents were really nice people...with lovable eccentricities. It was interesting to meet the people I'd heard so much about all semester. Then we went to L'Ovella Negra for sangria...minus parents. Finally Andrew and I headed to Razzmatazz for what I hoped would be a noche loca. Razzmatazz was mostly what it was cracked up to be. I'd been there once before, but only for the Air concert. This time it was crowds of dancers and loud music. Five rooms of it. I tried to find my friends there but it was impossible. It's probably one of the more hazy nights of my time in Barcelona, but I'm absolutely sure I had fun. I remember sitting on the balcony looking over one of the bigger rooms with so many lights and smoke and people. Then I had to become a part of it. I didn't feel particularly tired when we left that morning but I think I started to lose the battle on the way home in the Metro. I don't actually remember exactly how and when I fell asleep that night.
Sunday was lazy obviously. I had to say goodbye to Megumi that night. It was sad but I didn't cry. Monday we went to Parc Güell. I'd been there before right after I got to Barcelona, but somehow had missed a lot of it. The time I entered in the correct place and saw all the sights. We walked up to one of the highest points to get a view of the city and encountered a half knocked down graffitied wall. There was a ledge where we sat and ate my very last bocadillo de Ana. The moment was especially tasty. One of my fondest memories of the semester. Then a stupid growling child came up out of the brush. What a little beast. :) We walked around until it got cold and dark that night. I bought a chocolate bar at Carrefour. I was totally out of money. Luckily that night was API's goodbye dinner. I was treated to small portions of delicious food with my friends. We took pictures, talked, recounted memories and tried to be warm. We all went to L'Ovella Negra together afterwards. I ran through the rain trying to meet phoneless Andrew and my red boots stained my feet to look like they were diseased. I discovered the red blotches later that night.
Tuesday was my final day. I almost wanted it to end faster so I could get the sadness over with. I finished my Christmas shopping and went to La Boqueria with Andrew. My final time I started wishing I'd gone there more often. It was ridiculously close to my house but I spent too much time in Carrefour instead, I suppose. I ate lunch with Ana and presented her with a gift...a picture of the three of us in a wood frame. We washed the dishes together. It was beginning to end. I packed all my things after lunch until everything was sealed up into four bags. That night Andrew and I ate gelato and watched his ugly flavor slide down the street after he dumped it so I could eat the cone. I chose winning flavors: Nutella and Dulce de Leche. We went to Antiquari and sat in the empty underground and finally made it to a jazz club where some of my friends were waiting. It's the weirdest thing hearing Spanish men sing like American men. Most people ended up at Ovella again (ugh) including us but only because I needed to say goodbye. I cried a little. Oh! I hoped it wouldn't happen and I'm not sure why it had to, but they were real tears of sadness. Thinking back over how amazing the whole semester was still makes my eyes well. Even while unpacking my bags, it seems like some kind of weird dream that happened. I returned home to get my bags and said bye to Ana. It was such a rush I don't think I allowed myself to be sad again.
The way home was fine, but annoying. Being on a plane for 9.5 hours is never pleasant. The plane was full of Texas people. I was hoping to hold onto Europe at least until I stepped on American soil, but it wasn't happening. The men behind me at the gate in Amsterdam were so Texas businessmen. When I got to Houston I found out that my luggage was still in Amsterdam. I finally got it last night.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Should be studying.
Really, I should be. However, two years of mostly journalism classes have ruined me in that way. I got too used to turning in projects and stories instead of taking tests.
I have one week left here.
I think I'm going to "miss" my flight. Though that's probably a bad idea...my dad would kill me. I do want to stay in Barcelona but right now I need to go back home, graduate, get my life in order and figure out a feasible way to get myself back over here. Before I'm too old to enjoy this city.
This past weekend I went to Berlin and Prague with Megumi. The cities were a lot different than many of the other places I've visited. There was a certain austerity to them. Remnants of their communist past perhaps.
Thoughts:
*Brno, Czech Republic is hardcore. And they have an Interspar train. Probably the scariest form of transportation I've ever encountered.
*Prague is beautiful, just as everyone says. However. The city seems polished for tourists. I'm sure if you were to venture out past the popular part of the city it would be much different. Even within the city center there were parts that just looked...so gray and concrete.
*Megumi and I have decided guys from the U.S. are highly undesirable. (For me...I can make exceptions sometimes.) We met these guys staying in our hostel and all they talked about was going out at night and getting wasted and buying overpriced absinthe. They lack a certain sense of class. They have a way with words and a tone of voice that seems like they're trying too hard to be apathetic. The second night a Brazilian guy joined the mix. We instantly liked him more. He seemed genuine and interesting. He could talk to us about things other than alcohol. There are always exceptions, true, but many American guys need to get it together a little more.
*The Prague castle is hard to figure out. We were never sure we were there. I think we were.
*My Europe guidebook says that "40 years of culinary isolation and centralization under the Communists allowed few innovations in Czech cuisine." Megumi and I beg to differ. Maybe the food isn't innovative, but it was delicious enough for us! Right after we got to Prague we tried these things called trdlo. It's a pastry that's baked around a giant rod. They pull it off the rod (with a big hole in the middle) and it's coated with a glaze of sugar, almonds and cinnamon. It's so warm and yummzzzz. There is also goulash..it's like a beef stew with dumplings. The food is so cheap and it's all warm. I'm sure also very unhealthy.
*It gets too dark too early in that part of the world. The sun shouldn't set at 4:30PM.
*Our second day in Prague we had an adventure at the train station because we were trying to acquire tickets to Berlin. I had already looked up the train we wanted to take. I was trying to explain to the ticket counter man that we needed to go to Berlin through the company Eurocity. He told me that Eurocity wasn't a city. Ugh! Yeah, obviously. "One ticket to Eurocity, please." Luckily we figured it out.
*The train ride to Berlin was gorgeous. The landscape in Czech Republic looks more run down than Germany. I'm just saying. They're both way prettier than Texas' landscape though. I'm such a geographical snob.
*Berlin was tough. It's the toughest city I've ever been to. The language, the people, the food, the history, the buildings, the nightlife, the weather. Everything about that place is SO intense. Megumi and I had a motto for the trip: Prague es suerte y Berlin es fuerte. (Prague is lucky and Berlin is strong.) ((We did have good luck in Prague.))
*Our main problem in Berlin was that we were supposed to CouchSurf with this guy Udi, from Brooklyn. Udi told us we could stay with him. We texted and called him once we got there. No response. Then I got online to send him a message through the web site. He was coming back from a trip in NYC so I thought maybe he'd run into delays. That night we never heard back from him. My friend's Europe guidebook which I am borrowing saved our life! We found a hostel in there, walked with our luggage in the freezing cold and they gave us a room. The next day we checked to see if Udi wrote back. Nothing! Then we saw that he'd last logged in from Berlin, so he was back and just ignoring us! Ugh UDI! From that point on, every time we toasted we toasted to Udi's demise. I wished that he'd get punched in his glasses and that his bike (if he has one) would get in a crash and then his girlfriend (if he has one) would dump him. All in the same day. I don't wish anything too terrible upon him, but he really screwed up our time in Berlin. The second night we arranged a plan to stay out all night. Everything was fine until Megumi got too tired after dinner. We went to the airport in the middle of the night and slept there. The best part was when we got off the S-Bahn at the airport stop. Megumi chased down the conductor because it was so dark and scary she thought we were at the wrong stop. He yelled to us that it was right as the train was pulling away. We walked underground and then along this long sidewalk to the airport entrance. We saw a fox! WTF? Megumi likes to recall that we went on that "scary airport walk where we almost got eaten by a fox." It wasn't quite that bad, but close.
*I want to return to Berlin when the weather is nicer. I am fascinated by Berlin's history. I want to read more about it before I go back.
*Prenzlauerburg is cute.
*I had the strongest drink of my life in Berlin. I also had absinthe. The strongest drink was actually a White Russian that I could barely sip without making a face. The absinthe had no effect. I think I am immune somehow.
*German people are very much how I imagined them to be.
*Sunday I was in three cities in one day. Woke up in Berlin, ate dinner in Nice, France and went to bed in Barcelona.
*Nice was nice, but I think it's too posh. I developed the worst headache of my existence while I was there and I think it ruined the experience a little.
*We saw the craziest man ever while we were waiting for the bus back to the Nice Airport. He was dancing to Justice vs. Simian "Never Be Alone" on the edge of the promenade while wearing leather pants and a vest. He had long hair. His dancing was totally spastic. Everyone would quietly walk by him in fear. It was cold outside. There wasn't a shirt under his vest. Crazy...dancerz.
So that's my trip. Those were my trips. I think it'll be awhile before I get to do much more traveling because I'm so broke. Worth every penny.
I'm only spending money on "fun" and presents while I'm here for the next week.
Tomorrow Andrew is coming. A part of my Texas life is crossing with my Barcelona life. I'm really excited. It'll be nice to share what I've known here with someone from home. :)
I hope my last week is happy, fun, wild and full of smiles. I am going to try not to cry on Monday night when API has the goodbye dinner and I have to say bye to everyone. I'm going to try not to cry when I have to say bye to Megumi when she leaves with her parents to tour the rest of Spain. I'm going to try not to cry when I have to leave Ana. I'm going to try not to cry when I pack my stuff up and leave my room. I'm going to try not to cry when I walk through the Gothic Quarter streets on the way to the bus. I'm going to try not to cry when I see Barcelona from my plane window and know that this experience is over.
This semester has shown me that life is beautiful.
I have one week left here.
I think I'm going to "miss" my flight. Though that's probably a bad idea...my dad would kill me. I do want to stay in Barcelona but right now I need to go back home, graduate, get my life in order and figure out a feasible way to get myself back over here. Before I'm too old to enjoy this city.
This past weekend I went to Berlin and Prague with Megumi. The cities were a lot different than many of the other places I've visited. There was a certain austerity to them. Remnants of their communist past perhaps.
Thoughts:
*Brno, Czech Republic is hardcore. And they have an Interspar train. Probably the scariest form of transportation I've ever encountered.
*Prague is beautiful, just as everyone says. However. The city seems polished for tourists. I'm sure if you were to venture out past the popular part of the city it would be much different. Even within the city center there were parts that just looked...so gray and concrete.
*Megumi and I have decided guys from the U.S. are highly undesirable. (For me...I can make exceptions sometimes.) We met these guys staying in our hostel and all they talked about was going out at night and getting wasted and buying overpriced absinthe. They lack a certain sense of class. They have a way with words and a tone of voice that seems like they're trying too hard to be apathetic. The second night a Brazilian guy joined the mix. We instantly liked him more. He seemed genuine and interesting. He could talk to us about things other than alcohol. There are always exceptions, true, but many American guys need to get it together a little more.
*The Prague castle is hard to figure out. We were never sure we were there. I think we were.
*My Europe guidebook says that "40 years of culinary isolation and centralization under the Communists allowed few innovations in Czech cuisine." Megumi and I beg to differ. Maybe the food isn't innovative, but it was delicious enough for us! Right after we got to Prague we tried these things called trdlo. It's a pastry that's baked around a giant rod. They pull it off the rod (with a big hole in the middle) and it's coated with a glaze of sugar, almonds and cinnamon. It's so warm and yummzzzz. There is also goulash..it's like a beef stew with dumplings. The food is so cheap and it's all warm. I'm sure also very unhealthy.
*It gets too dark too early in that part of the world. The sun shouldn't set at 4:30PM.
*Our second day in Prague we had an adventure at the train station because we were trying to acquire tickets to Berlin. I had already looked up the train we wanted to take. I was trying to explain to the ticket counter man that we needed to go to Berlin through the company Eurocity. He told me that Eurocity wasn't a city. Ugh! Yeah, obviously. "One ticket to Eurocity, please." Luckily we figured it out.
*The train ride to Berlin was gorgeous. The landscape in Czech Republic looks more run down than Germany. I'm just saying. They're both way prettier than Texas' landscape though. I'm such a geographical snob.
*Berlin was tough. It's the toughest city I've ever been to. The language, the people, the food, the history, the buildings, the nightlife, the weather. Everything about that place is SO intense. Megumi and I had a motto for the trip: Prague es suerte y Berlin es fuerte. (Prague is lucky and Berlin is strong.) ((We did have good luck in Prague.))
*Our main problem in Berlin was that we were supposed to CouchSurf with this guy Udi, from Brooklyn. Udi told us we could stay with him. We texted and called him once we got there. No response. Then I got online to send him a message through the web site. He was coming back from a trip in NYC so I thought maybe he'd run into delays. That night we never heard back from him. My friend's Europe guidebook which I am borrowing saved our life! We found a hostel in there, walked with our luggage in the freezing cold and they gave us a room. The next day we checked to see if Udi wrote back. Nothing! Then we saw that he'd last logged in from Berlin, so he was back and just ignoring us! Ugh UDI! From that point on, every time we toasted we toasted to Udi's demise. I wished that he'd get punched in his glasses and that his bike (if he has one) would get in a crash and then his girlfriend (if he has one) would dump him. All in the same day. I don't wish anything too terrible upon him, but he really screwed up our time in Berlin. The second night we arranged a plan to stay out all night. Everything was fine until Megumi got too tired after dinner. We went to the airport in the middle of the night and slept there. The best part was when we got off the S-Bahn at the airport stop. Megumi chased down the conductor because it was so dark and scary she thought we were at the wrong stop. He yelled to us that it was right as the train was pulling away. We walked underground and then along this long sidewalk to the airport entrance. We saw a fox! WTF? Megumi likes to recall that we went on that "scary airport walk where we almost got eaten by a fox." It wasn't quite that bad, but close.
*I want to return to Berlin when the weather is nicer. I am fascinated by Berlin's history. I want to read more about it before I go back.
*Prenzlauerburg is cute.
*I had the strongest drink of my life in Berlin. I also had absinthe. The strongest drink was actually a White Russian that I could barely sip without making a face. The absinthe had no effect. I think I am immune somehow.
*German people are very much how I imagined them to be.
*Sunday I was in three cities in one day. Woke up in Berlin, ate dinner in Nice, France and went to bed in Barcelona.
*Nice was nice, but I think it's too posh. I developed the worst headache of my existence while I was there and I think it ruined the experience a little.
*We saw the craziest man ever while we were waiting for the bus back to the Nice Airport. He was dancing to Justice vs. Simian "Never Be Alone" on the edge of the promenade while wearing leather pants and a vest. He had long hair. His dancing was totally spastic. Everyone would quietly walk by him in fear. It was cold outside. There wasn't a shirt under his vest. Crazy...dancerz.
So that's my trip. Those were my trips. I think it'll be awhile before I get to do much more traveling because I'm so broke. Worth every penny.
I'm only spending money on "fun" and presents while I'm here for the next week.
Tomorrow Andrew is coming. A part of my Texas life is crossing with my Barcelona life. I'm really excited. It'll be nice to share what I've known here with someone from home. :)
I hope my last week is happy, fun, wild and full of smiles. I am going to try not to cry on Monday night when API has the goodbye dinner and I have to say bye to everyone. I'm going to try not to cry when I have to say bye to Megumi when she leaves with her parents to tour the rest of Spain. I'm going to try not to cry when I have to leave Ana. I'm going to try not to cry when I pack my stuff up and leave my room. I'm going to try not to cry when I walk through the Gothic Quarter streets on the way to the bus. I'm going to try not to cry when I see Barcelona from my plane window and know that this experience is over.
This semester has shown me that life is beautiful.
Monday, December 3, 2007
OMGzzzzz... (a combination of being excited and tired)
I think I'm fluent enough in Spanish. I can speak. Más o menos. I'm far from being perfect or having any sort of accent but I can talk to people in Spanish without having a huge problem. Necesito gente para practicar conmigo en los EEUU.
Megumi y yo vamos a Praga y Berlin mañana...er, muy temprano por la mañana de miercoles. No puedo creer que voy al este de Europa. Deseo que busquemos algunos castillos en nuestra viaje, pero pienso que es casi imposible. No pasa nada. ¡Estoy emocionante!
Nada más ahora...estoy MUY MUY MUY cansada. Es un poco mal para salir en los lunes. Demasiado bebidas, pero bueno para dormir. Buenas noches.
Megumi y yo vamos a Praga y Berlin mañana...er, muy temprano por la mañana de miercoles. No puedo creer que voy al este de Europa. Deseo que busquemos algunos castillos en nuestra viaje, pero pienso que es casi imposible. No pasa nada. ¡Estoy emocionante!
Nada más ahora...estoy MUY MUY MUY cansada. Es un poco mal para salir en los lunes. Demasiado bebidas, pero bueno para dormir. Buenas noches.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Gritting my teeth. Loving Air.
I'm feeling sidetracked by preocupaciones right now. I could say I did something stupid, but rather I feel like I'm having bad luck. It's Saturday night and I should be out but everyone is gone this weekend to other countries. Since I'm not out I should be writing a critical essay of Almodovar's "Volver" or finishing the application for the NYC internship that's due tomorrow night. Stupid school and internships seem completely insignificant right now anyway. Megumi and I are leaving for Prague on Wednesday morning and we still haven't figured out how we're getting from Prague to Berlin. This could be a problem. I guess it'll be the adventure of travel.
Last night I went to see Air. Another amazing concert. I almost missed it. I hate getting to concerts too early, so I left our flat at about 9PM and got to Razzmatazz at about 9:30. Only 5-10 minutes after I got there Air came on stage and started their set. I had a pretty crappy view, but it was sufficient. I really liked the lights they used. There was a sparkly star background with twinkling lights and then a big light box thing in the back that would change colors. Then the lights hanging from above changed colors a lot and spread out in rays. It sounded much different live...not really in a bad way, just in a different way. I think I appreciate more how they make their music after seeing them live. They played all of the favorites and surprisingly few from Pocket Symphony. Nicolas Godin was cool. He seems like the kind of guy you'd want to hang out with. Or at least I would. For some reason I thought they wouldn't play La Femme D'argent because it's so long, but they make it their last and it was WONDERFUL. The ending to that song was so almost orgasmic. I have always said that some of Air's music is probably the sexist I've ever heard. I feel like if a band could represent me I'd pick Air, but not because I think I'm sexy, haha. It's something about the sound and the variety of upbeat versus more mellow sounds. Their music always sounds so flowy and nicely put together, but it's a little off kilter in a way. A good fusion of melodies and harsher beats.
Megumi's back from Amsterdam so perhaps we'll go out for some fun.
It's the dull ache in my stomach, my clammy hands and the tormenta en mi mente. Ugh.
Last night I went to see Air. Another amazing concert. I almost missed it. I hate getting to concerts too early, so I left our flat at about 9PM and got to Razzmatazz at about 9:30. Only 5-10 minutes after I got there Air came on stage and started their set. I had a pretty crappy view, but it was sufficient. I really liked the lights they used. There was a sparkly star background with twinkling lights and then a big light box thing in the back that would change colors. Then the lights hanging from above changed colors a lot and spread out in rays. It sounded much different live...not really in a bad way, just in a different way. I think I appreciate more how they make their music after seeing them live. They played all of the favorites and surprisingly few from Pocket Symphony. Nicolas Godin was cool. He seems like the kind of guy you'd want to hang out with. Or at least I would. For some reason I thought they wouldn't play La Femme D'argent because it's so long, but they make it their last and it was WONDERFUL. The ending to that song was so almost orgasmic. I have always said that some of Air's music is probably the sexist I've ever heard. I feel like if a band could represent me I'd pick Air, but not because I think I'm sexy, haha. It's something about the sound and the variety of upbeat versus more mellow sounds. Their music always sounds so flowy and nicely put together, but it's a little off kilter in a way. A good fusion of melodies and harsher beats.
Megumi's back from Amsterdam so perhaps we'll go out for some fun.
It's the dull ache in my stomach, my clammy hands and the tormenta en mi mente. Ugh.
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