Weeoo, update central. This was a great trip! I loved the weather, a common sentiment within the group, and was feeling a little SAD to go back. But really, Andalucia is a nice place to visit but I don’t know if I’d like to live there. The cities we visited were Toledo, Granada, Sevilla, and Cordoba. I’m going to plug Valerie’s blog about Andalucia because she has pictures and it is just very good.
Ok, the first city we went to is Toledo. This place feels historic. Because it was the capitol, it’s easy to tell it was important from an architectural standpoint. The heart of the city is encompassed by a large muro that was meant to protect the city from invaders. Spanish history is fascinating, there are so many conquests and invasions that it’s like seeing history like a parfait cup. The first layer is Romanesque/Celtic depending on the region. There’s another layer of Islamic culture, one of Judaism, and of course Catholocism. In Andalucia, this is very obvious in the religious buildings; in Toledo, La Iglesia de Santa Maria la Blanca perfectly exemplifies this. It was originally a mosque, then was converted into a synagogue, and then as a catholic church. Standing in ‘houses of gods’ like this is kind of strange. It really throws me because it’s hard to think of them so entwined, but the power trips religions had/have over others is a no-brainer. Toledo is an absolutely gorgeous city, unquestionably, the views that it provides are breathtaking. The first one was pretty much where El Greco did his “View of Toledo” and the second one was Valerie, Alana, and I going to Heaven. I know!! We went to a church across from the Cathedral of Toledo to see “The view of Toledo from Heaven!” We took a photoshoot here which was a ton of fun. Then we hit up a tex-mex restaurant, this registered a Pavlovian response that pretty much hit the spot. Living far away from North America, there are a few things I’ve started missing: Reese’s peanut butter cups, double stuf Oreos, and Taco Bell. This place, Ye Olde Tex-Mex Shoppe or something, was a little bit of home away from home. The nightlife here wasn’t really that great, the whole city seemed too old to really house modern fun bars. In conclusion, Toledo is a great historical city but a slightly boring city for college students.
Next up was Granada. I thought it would be really funny to pronounce it like Canada, when really it is more like this: gruh-naaaaaah-duh. The most famous part of Granada is the Al-Hambra, which is one of the two most visited sites in Spain with La Sagrada Familia. It is a huge palace that hosted the dynasties of Islamic kings in the region, the last were the Nacines before Charles V took over. Charles V, being very male, Christian, and power-hungry, made his own palace next to Al-Hambra and exploited muslim slaves to build it; it wasn’t finished until the 20th century because ‘the people’ were protesting the construction of his palace. The coolest part of Charles V (or Carlos 1 in España)’s palace is the bull-fighting ring. It just seemed very Coliseum-esque (I’ll be able to do a better comparison after visiting Italy) and just another part of the overwhelming dogmatic religious culture of the good old days. After seeing Charles’ Palace we went to the actual Al-Hambra. This is soo pretty! I think it’s just so impressive how intricate everything is, pictures really don’t do it justice. Afterward we went to El Generalife (garden of the high paradise, or so) and just popped around there for a bit, it made me feel very reminiscent. We bussed around, the roads are really windy and narrow so we feel lucky when we get to use transportation instead of walking, and went to the hotel to relajanos (relax ourselves). It’s a good thing we did because the night was crazy. I’m going to censor myself and just say that we drank a lot of orange juice and fruit punch. We made friends with the ‘waiters’ and they gave us even more free orange juice; Valerie, Alana, and I were surprised that they spoke to us only in Spanish – the trip had been prefaced by Mar telling us that people always try to speak English to practice or because they think they will do better business – so that made it even more fun. Since we arrived in Granada at night after leaving Toledo in the afternoon, it made the night feel even longer. The next day, oy, was when we saw Carlos I’s palace, the Al-Hambra, and El Generalife, which also was a really long day. That night we saw a flamenco spectacular! It started with a tour of the muslim barrio which is super windy and easy to get lost in, and then saw the palace’s from across the town illuminated at night. It was absolutely gorgeous! To toot my own horn, we translated the tour for an English couple and the tour guide was really pleased by Valerie’s and my translating and called me her cariña and gave me besitos. :) The Flamenco show, in an amazing twist of fate, was the EXACT same show Valerie and I saw when we were in Spain! It was crazy! It inspired me even more to learn how to tap dance. As well as served as a marker for how much my Spanish has improved since then: obviously it SHOULD have improved with 5 years, but I’m also going to say that living here and being completely immersed played a big role. Grade for Granada: Good culture, good nightlife, good modern/antique feel.
Our third city is Sevilla. Sevilla is Kansas City’s sister city! Lawrence has two sister cities: Eutin, Germany and Somewhere, Japan. I don’t really know the significance of haivng sister cities, but I think it’s pretty cool. In Sevilla there is an avenue called Kansas City and in KC there is a replica of the Torre Giralda in the plaza, so maybe that’s the exchange? Anyway, our time in Sevilla is very brief and we are here just for the one day and night. We don’t have any group activities but are obligated to visit at least one ‘cultural’ thing (see, this is not a vacation, but a cultural experience and we had homework and requirements) so Alana, Valerie, and I opted for another palace. We went to the Real Alcazar which was SOO gorgeous! It was very similar to La Al-hambra structurally but the garden was INFINITELY better than Generalife. The gardens are meant to represent paradise for the muslims; they sure did it up right here! There was so much to look at here, the fountains, trees, houses, and the sunlight made it absolutely magnificent. After the beautiful garden/s (it was humongous but not empty or crowded, very impressive), we went to La Torre de Giralda. To get to the top of the tower to see a view of the city, are we all seeing a common theme here?, you have to hike up all the ramps within the tower. Before the Christians took over and converted the mosque into a cathedral (the largest cathedral in Spain and the third [or so] largest in Europe), the inside of the tower was completely ramped, which we all loved :). The highest part of the tower is what we have replicated in KC and that’s where the stairs are. After absorbing all the culture and views of the city, we made an immediate stop at an Irish place. They had nachos! We randomly saw Stephanie walking around and finalized our plans for the evening, ‘finalize’ is relative in Spain but in Andalucia I guess they have more structure? Anyway, we start the evening out at another Irish place and the accent here is so thick they must not have understood ‘sandwich club’ so we got something with eggs, but that was all right. After that we went to another bar where the ladies get free sangria until 1 am, so yay! Then after we all sufficiently cleaned the bar out of sangria we head off to a very posh nightclub called Buddha. This was the fanciest club I’ve ever been to, it was like from a movie or something. There were four layers and each one had a different ambience, I think we went to the top level and despite the slightly odd clientele, Stephanie and her friends showed us a really good time. It was so nice to see someone from home so far away, it really makes the world seem small. Cutting the night short because of some sketchy guys, we went back to the hotel so we would be ready to leave in the morning for our last city. To continue with the grading system: Sevilla, historically didn’t seem as profound as some of the others, but the modernity of the city made it a LOT of fun at night.
Finally we were in Cordoba. The grupo de Kansas is kind of sad to leave Andalucia because despite the thick accents where they cut off half of every word, at least there is sun and plenty of it. Most of us even got a little quemadura (sunburn)! The landmark of Cordoba is the mezquita (mosque), but really it’s a functioning cathedral! Just another instance of religious invasions and crusades, it seems. It was really pretty and I actually learned a lot. During the trip I like to think I generally asked intelligent questions and had some good conversations with the profes, despite how stupid I might sound. Deciding that now is the time to take in the cultural food – and they do make it seem very ‘cultural’, particularly to tourists – and tried salmorejo (a creamier gazpacho), rabo del toro (bull rib! It sounds cooler than it is, it was pretty much like really tender beef or briscuit), and arroz con leche. I also tried a ‘flanquin’ which seems to me like ham rolled up and then deep-fat fried, another food surprise. We crashed at the hotel to recharge our batteries knowing that the bus ride home was going to be like 11 hours, uf! I’d try to give Cordoba a grade but I don’t know how fair it would be since we weren’t really there for a long time, but nonetheless: culturally it is pretty impressive. The mezquita is the only one that does NOT face Mecca and actually has a cathedral WITHIN the structure as opposed to completely taken over. And there is a middle-eastern vibe throughout parts of the city and houses but also a Jewish barrio, so who knows how that dynamic works. It seems like Cordoba would be pretty fun at night, but also that it is still stuck in a more historic age.
To conclude, Andalucia is an absolutely gorgeous region of Spain. I was surprised to find out that it is one of the poorest ones, like Galicia, even though it is so touristy. Apparently it’s because the ‘mars de olivas’ (oceans of olives) don’t really provide a lot of income and the popular crime there is to steal kegs of olive oil. We were really pleased with the weather and it was a downer to return to Santiago, the city of rain. If nothing else, this trip has shown how much my Spanish really is improving even though it sometimes feels like I hit a figurative wall. Also, it was really cool to be able to compare cities from five years ago and to see what has changed and hasn’t. I love vacations! Or field trips for school, whatever the case may be. :)
PS- Make sure you read my Barcelona/Carnaval novel too.
PPS- So Valentine’s day in Spain is an ‘americanada’ which essentially means a stupid holiday they imported that everyone makes fun of, which explains the lameness of my Valentine’s day. The Latin lover thing: still holds true. Manu planned a cute picnic for me at a point overlooking the city to watch the sunset, but I was trying to be Spanish and showed up late – oh well – so it was just a picnic at night but it was still very cute.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Barcelona/Carnaval
Back from my extensive hiatus, I have practically written a novel of updates. To begin, my trip to Barcelona (BCN) was a lot of fun. I was kind of concerned because we had 6 people in our group and that makes agreeing on where to go next slightly difficult. Everything all worked out though, like normal, and it was a lot of fun.
The first day we were there was a day of recuperating. Even though I feel as though I don’t need a nap for a long day, it’s good that everyone else gets their naps. :) The day started with a bang very early in the morning to catch the bus to the airport, we ended up taking a cab because we couldn’t find the right bus stop. Valerie masterfully leads us to Las Ramblas via subway but then struggle to find our hostel, Hostal Paris – sounds delightfully luxurious, no? While everyone was napping, I couldn’t fall asleep or really even hear the tv in our room because someone woman across the courtyard was, um, having a good time with her lover. We go out for dinner for some ‘exotic’ food – the size of BCN makes it a good intersection for a variety of ethnicities and people, apparently like London, so there are tons more options for restaurants here than in Santiago (the options here are: bocadillos, tuna, ham, some other type of seafood, pastries, coffee/chocolate). And where do we go? McDonald’s. Which is kind of exotic, except I found out when we were bussed home that we have a McDonald’s here in Santiago even though I don’t think I could find it. We go out that night to a cute little café/bar thing and get a jug of sangria. Yum-my.
The next day we go to the Picasso museum. This museum was organized really well, I was very impressed. It was ordered chronologically and had explanations about his stages and his personal life, what inspired him and so on. One thing I learned that exists in BCN: an Arc du Triomf! I know!! Like in Paris! I was kind of freaking out about how cool it was and so we had a little photo shoot there. After the museum half of our group heads for the ocean and the other half goes to The Erotic Museum, which is the largest of alll erotic museums in Europe – that says something about the European culture as well as something about Spain, I think – anyway, we couldn’t tell if it was meant to be educational or entertaining. Valerie, Alana, and I decided that it is an educational museum about an entertaining topic.
We also went to La Sagrada Familia (The Sacred Family) and Park Guell, two of the most important and famous works of Antoni Gaudi. To describe these structures, I think I would use the words: abstract, imaginative, on acid, pretty. We went into La Sagrada Familia this time and could see the progress of the inside. I think it is very cool to see a modern cathedral being built, because every other cathedral has already been finished 400 years ago, this is a very trapped in history feel. Throughout a lot of Barcelona, especially the parts I saw 4 and a half years ago, felt the same but different. It felt smaller, for some reason, and not as new. I don’t know if it’s a deja-vu thing or being accustomed to more European things or just having grown up, but it made for a very pensive trip.
The premise of our trip to BCN was to experience Carnaval in a big city, but little did we know: Carnaval doesn’t exist in big cities unless you are in Brazil. The pamphlets we get handed out advertising drink specials or whatever never mentioned anything about Carnaval. Either way, I feel as though we were representing the Carnaval attitude in BCN. We went to a very posh club and all bought cocktails, UNFORTUNATELY they cost 7 euros ($10)! So we were on a mission to find cheap drinks. We walked in a different direction and lo and behold, found Temple Bar! I had another freakout moment because I went to the real Temple Bar in Ireland. Well, every girl knows the best way to get cheap drinks is to get free drinks. So, we did. I met this guy Steve, who is a personal trainer trainer from New Zealand and he misconstrued my birthday being in June for being sooner, so he started buying me shots so I could practice to do 21 shots on my 21st. He also convinced the bartender that my birthday was ‘soon’ so I got a few free drinks out of that one. We went back and forth between Temple Bar and My Bar and all the English speakers (who am I kidding, everyone in BCN was an English speaker, if not native) were buying us drinks. This was an amazingly fun evening and my budget was much happier than having to buy expensive cocktails.
The last day Hannah, Mindy, Farashta, and I went to see Montjuic. For a view of the city, we went to the beach and then up to lift over it. Apparently, there is supposed to be a Montjuic castle, but we never found it. It felt very much like the caves adventure revisited. I mean, castles are supposed to be huge and not hidden, so we were a little perplexed. We returned for some delicious Chinese food and to just hang out before leaving for the airport. Our sneaky, economic plan is this: don’t pay an extra night at the hostel (which, by the way, smelled disgusting) even though we kind of got ripped off in that regard, and subway to the airport and stay there for a few hours before our early flight. The problem was the subway. The system shuts down at midnight and the last train out was at 11:58 pm, which meant that it was either this subway or nothing and it was our only shot. Anyway, we got on the wrong one and went to the end of the line, which was supposed to be where the airport was. The 6 of us are the only ones on the subway and the conductor leaves to talk to us, I ask him where the airport is and if we are going there and he says that we are at L’Hospitalet, and please, as if we know where that is. So they turn the subway around and put as at a more populated stop. When we get there, two security guards are there to escort us out of the subway station. They even had a dog there! We are taking bets on if it is a drug-sniffing dog or a bomb-sniffing dog. To continue, they took us completely out of the station and called taxis for us. For as awkward and kind of scary the situation was, it was really fun and the security guards we met were very nice guys. We got to the airport and checked in early to just sleep before the flight. Uy, what a trip!
The Tuesday we returned was Mardi Gras. So after I woke up from my finish sleep from the airport, I heard a latin/mariachi band playing in the street. I followed them around for a while and the day was so gorgeous!! It’s so nice to have sun all the time, it’s hard to deal with bleak, rainy days for long stretches of time. Later in the night was the parade. It was pretty cool, pretty much like a normal parade but with Spanish music and Spanish cultural references – that I only partially understood. I really want to go to Brazil once for a Carnaval because it seems like sooo much fun! And Mila, Valerie’s piso mate, talks so enthusedly and nostalgically about it I can’t help but want to be there some time. In conclusion, BCN was great fun even though the Carnaval aspect wasn’t there. I liked the culture mixture and the numerous things to do and of course seeing the sun :) and it was a nice vacation with my friends.
The first day we were there was a day of recuperating. Even though I feel as though I don’t need a nap for a long day, it’s good that everyone else gets their naps. :) The day started with a bang very early in the morning to catch the bus to the airport, we ended up taking a cab because we couldn’t find the right bus stop. Valerie masterfully leads us to Las Ramblas via subway but then struggle to find our hostel, Hostal Paris – sounds delightfully luxurious, no? While everyone was napping, I couldn’t fall asleep or really even hear the tv in our room because someone woman across the courtyard was, um, having a good time with her lover. We go out for dinner for some ‘exotic’ food – the size of BCN makes it a good intersection for a variety of ethnicities and people, apparently like London, so there are tons more options for restaurants here than in Santiago (the options here are: bocadillos, tuna, ham, some other type of seafood, pastries, coffee/chocolate). And where do we go? McDonald’s. Which is kind of exotic, except I found out when we were bussed home that we have a McDonald’s here in Santiago even though I don’t think I could find it. We go out that night to a cute little café/bar thing and get a jug of sangria. Yum-my.
The next day we go to the Picasso museum. This museum was organized really well, I was very impressed. It was ordered chronologically and had explanations about his stages and his personal life, what inspired him and so on. One thing I learned that exists in BCN: an Arc du Triomf! I know!! Like in Paris! I was kind of freaking out about how cool it was and so we had a little photo shoot there. After the museum half of our group heads for the ocean and the other half goes to The Erotic Museum, which is the largest of alll erotic museums in Europe – that says something about the European culture as well as something about Spain, I think – anyway, we couldn’t tell if it was meant to be educational or entertaining. Valerie, Alana, and I decided that it is an educational museum about an entertaining topic.
We also went to La Sagrada Familia (The Sacred Family) and Park Guell, two of the most important and famous works of Antoni Gaudi. To describe these structures, I think I would use the words: abstract, imaginative, on acid, pretty. We went into La Sagrada Familia this time and could see the progress of the inside. I think it is very cool to see a modern cathedral being built, because every other cathedral has already been finished 400 years ago, this is a very trapped in history feel. Throughout a lot of Barcelona, especially the parts I saw 4 and a half years ago, felt the same but different. It felt smaller, for some reason, and not as new. I don’t know if it’s a deja-vu thing or being accustomed to more European things or just having grown up, but it made for a very pensive trip.
The premise of our trip to BCN was to experience Carnaval in a big city, but little did we know: Carnaval doesn’t exist in big cities unless you are in Brazil. The pamphlets we get handed out advertising drink specials or whatever never mentioned anything about Carnaval. Either way, I feel as though we were representing the Carnaval attitude in BCN. We went to a very posh club and all bought cocktails, UNFORTUNATELY they cost 7 euros ($10)! So we were on a mission to find cheap drinks. We walked in a different direction and lo and behold, found Temple Bar! I had another freakout moment because I went to the real Temple Bar in Ireland. Well, every girl knows the best way to get cheap drinks is to get free drinks. So, we did. I met this guy Steve, who is a personal trainer trainer from New Zealand and he misconstrued my birthday being in June for being sooner, so he started buying me shots so I could practice to do 21 shots on my 21st. He also convinced the bartender that my birthday was ‘soon’ so I got a few free drinks out of that one. We went back and forth between Temple Bar and My Bar and all the English speakers (who am I kidding, everyone in BCN was an English speaker, if not native) were buying us drinks. This was an amazingly fun evening and my budget was much happier than having to buy expensive cocktails.
The last day Hannah, Mindy, Farashta, and I went to see Montjuic. For a view of the city, we went to the beach and then up to lift over it. Apparently, there is supposed to be a Montjuic castle, but we never found it. It felt very much like the caves adventure revisited. I mean, castles are supposed to be huge and not hidden, so we were a little perplexed. We returned for some delicious Chinese food and to just hang out before leaving for the airport. Our sneaky, economic plan is this: don’t pay an extra night at the hostel (which, by the way, smelled disgusting) even though we kind of got ripped off in that regard, and subway to the airport and stay there for a few hours before our early flight. The problem was the subway. The system shuts down at midnight and the last train out was at 11:58 pm, which meant that it was either this subway or nothing and it was our only shot. Anyway, we got on the wrong one and went to the end of the line, which was supposed to be where the airport was. The 6 of us are the only ones on the subway and the conductor leaves to talk to us, I ask him where the airport is and if we are going there and he says that we are at L’Hospitalet, and please, as if we know where that is. So they turn the subway around and put as at a more populated stop. When we get there, two security guards are there to escort us out of the subway station. They even had a dog there! We are taking bets on if it is a drug-sniffing dog or a bomb-sniffing dog. To continue, they took us completely out of the station and called taxis for us. For as awkward and kind of scary the situation was, it was really fun and the security guards we met were very nice guys. We got to the airport and checked in early to just sleep before the flight. Uy, what a trip!
The Tuesday we returned was Mardi Gras. So after I woke up from my finish sleep from the airport, I heard a latin/mariachi band playing in the street. I followed them around for a while and the day was so gorgeous!! It’s so nice to have sun all the time, it’s hard to deal with bleak, rainy days for long stretches of time. Later in the night was the parade. It was pretty cool, pretty much like a normal parade but with Spanish music and Spanish cultural references – that I only partially understood. I really want to go to Brazil once for a Carnaval because it seems like sooo much fun! And Mila, Valerie’s piso mate, talks so enthusedly and nostalgically about it I can’t help but want to be there some time. In conclusion, BCN was great fun even though the Carnaval aspect wasn’t there. I liked the culture mixture and the numerous things to do and of course seeing the sun :) and it was a nice vacation with my friends.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Nueva Entrada
So, if I were to put myself in a box of being on top of this blog or not, I would have to be put in the second one. To remedy this, I intend to write un montón in this one :).
A Coruña, the city of crystal/glass, was gorgeous. We went to la Casa de Ciencias which is essentially a Science City in Spain that uses Castellano and Gallego to describe scientific processes. Fortunately, these processes are pretty elementary so it wasn't a strain to read in a foreign language; also, I'm deciding to be pleased that I could read everything and understand it. In another proud Spanish moment, when we were at the planetarium (!!! I know!!) I DID NOT fall asleep and understood almost everything the guy was saying. One might ask, Kate, why would you be proud of not falling asleep? You couldn't fall asleep during the day if your life depended on it. And I would agree and then say that the night before Valerie and I went out and didn't come home until past 6 and I had to wake up at 8 to get ready for the bus ride. And since I was paranoid about missing the alarm I don't actually know how much I slept.. but enough of that tangent. So, I followed the whole presentation and feel like I learned something, as well as talking with the helpers at the exhibits so I could get the most out of all the buttons you could push.
After the Casa de Ciencias, we went to the Plaza de Maria Pita to hang out for a few hours and explore the city and eat. Valerie, Mindy, Farashta, and I immediately left to find food because some of us were starving. We went to a typical little café place and ordered everything. Less than full with my tortilla española, I told the waiter I wanted boquerones. My bad. Apparently, boquerones are like anchovies. I think my little misunderstandings with the language barrier, despite being borderline dangerous, have all ended well. Caves in Portugal? Don't exist, but there's some nice wine at the end! Boquerones sounded like a sort of sandwich? Not quite, but they were not nearly as bad as they looked. After this meal, we headed for the beach. We were warned ahead of time not to go too far into the ocean because tourists do stupid things and basically get sucked into the current and slammed against the rocks and die. As pleasant as this sounded, Mindy and I went into the ocean just to get our feet wet. Making a point to not go too far in, we were standing there minding out own business when an errant wave splashed into us!! We tried running out but it's really hard to run in water. So, our jeans were wet and the wave started to take away our shoes. This was NOT going to go down because those were my new shoes and I am infatuated with them and have a bizarre attachment to them. So I chased them and grabbed them and then said a few bad words about how my socks and shoes got soaked and now my pants are wet, and everything is going to be sandy and smelling like ocean - read fish poop and other stuff - but really the beach was gorgeous. Another adventure, like always.
After this we went to the aquarium! I looove aquariums! I was the resident scholar on marine animal behavior because of all the hours I've spent watching Animal Planet. When we saw the tiburones I pretty much was very excited. The profesores thought it was funny how obsessed yet knowledgeable I was with sharks, but seriously, I love shark week so it's fine. :) We leave the aquarium to head back home -- it still weirds me out that at the end of all our trips 'home' is Santiago, in SPAIN -- and everyone falls asleep on the bus except Mindy and I, so we talk with Mar and it was a good conversation about really important things. We talked about suede - seriously, why would you make shoes out of suede in a climate where it's always raining? - juice, an important topic for me, and banks.
The next big thing that happened was Valerie's birthday! She turned 21 in Spain, totally pimp, I was reminiscing about how I turned 16 in Spain and then 18 in Vienna and how cool that is, so we celebrated her birthday in the Euro-American style we do best: pre-partying and partying but with international people. We went to Moore's for the English/American trivia night, which is fun as always but I'm feeling kind of over it, and Valerie was treated to a few drinks. It was a lot of fun, within the trivia competition Anna (the girl from France) and I ganked the microphone and sang Happy Birthday to her. I think we should have apologized at first, but I couldn't really hear how we sounded. Hopefully just enough to sufficiently embarrass her! :)
The next significant event, not school-related (we had our first actual paper, none of that asinine page response fluff work): Valentine's Day! Even though Valentine's day has been sufficiently advertised everywhere, oops, I forgot to talk about our excursion to El Corte Inglés [ basically just another time where public transportation sucks, a live and learn experience] and they had signs about the WEEK of San Valentín, the actual day seemed pretty anticlimactic and insignificant. It is apparently only celebrated by novios/amantes, so even if you want to wish a friend/Valerie's resident dictator 'Happy Valentine's Day' they find it awkward and it's kind of an uncomfortable situation because they assume that there is something more, but really it's just another casualty of the language barrier. Anyway, despite the number of stores with Valentine's displays and cards, there were not very many people purchasing these. I saw only a handful of guys with flowers, the firefighters parade was bigger than the V-Day hubbub, which started to debunk the Latin lover stereotype. That night, for my V-Day date with Manu, we went on a cute walk around the city and he gave me a flower that he picked from a tree and a card he made. I didn't get him anything because I haven't known him for that long and figured I could get away with not knowing how things work in Europe (a common strategy, if there's an issue or a difference, chalk it up to being American and not knowing any better. Also, every time I totally whiff on something, I call it learning instead of just being stupid). Then we went to his piso and played Mario Kart. Seriously. The most 'romantic' part was that he had a candle in his room. I guess the Latin lover stereotype is more about the sweet nothings/harassing comments you hear rather than romantic gestures.
The last topic to discuss in this epic of an entry is Barcelona. Um, so I just looked at how much I've written and have decided that I'll make a new entry dedicated solely to Barcelona so that no one is overwhelmed by reading all of this. If you are a student, I hope this is more interesting than whatever reading you may be required to do and if you are not a student, I hope/bet that this is more interesting than your actual work - with that being said, I hope everyone read all the way to this spot!! :)
XOXO, besitos,
Kate
A Coruña, the city of crystal/glass, was gorgeous. We went to la Casa de Ciencias which is essentially a Science City in Spain that uses Castellano and Gallego to describe scientific processes. Fortunately, these processes are pretty elementary so it wasn't a strain to read in a foreign language; also, I'm deciding to be pleased that I could read everything and understand it. In another proud Spanish moment, when we were at the planetarium (!!! I know!!) I DID NOT fall asleep and understood almost everything the guy was saying. One might ask, Kate, why would you be proud of not falling asleep? You couldn't fall asleep during the day if your life depended on it. And I would agree and then say that the night before Valerie and I went out and didn't come home until past 6 and I had to wake up at 8 to get ready for the bus ride. And since I was paranoid about missing the alarm I don't actually know how much I slept.. but enough of that tangent. So, I followed the whole presentation and feel like I learned something, as well as talking with the helpers at the exhibits so I could get the most out of all the buttons you could push.
After the Casa de Ciencias, we went to the Plaza de Maria Pita to hang out for a few hours and explore the city and eat. Valerie, Mindy, Farashta, and I immediately left to find food because some of us were starving. We went to a typical little café place and ordered everything. Less than full with my tortilla española, I told the waiter I wanted boquerones. My bad. Apparently, boquerones are like anchovies. I think my little misunderstandings with the language barrier, despite being borderline dangerous, have all ended well. Caves in Portugal? Don't exist, but there's some nice wine at the end! Boquerones sounded like a sort of sandwich? Not quite, but they were not nearly as bad as they looked. After this meal, we headed for the beach. We were warned ahead of time not to go too far into the ocean because tourists do stupid things and basically get sucked into the current and slammed against the rocks and die. As pleasant as this sounded, Mindy and I went into the ocean just to get our feet wet. Making a point to not go too far in, we were standing there minding out own business when an errant wave splashed into us!! We tried running out but it's really hard to run in water. So, our jeans were wet and the wave started to take away our shoes. This was NOT going to go down because those were my new shoes and I am infatuated with them and have a bizarre attachment to them. So I chased them and grabbed them and then said a few bad words about how my socks and shoes got soaked and now my pants are wet, and everything is going to be sandy and smelling like ocean - read fish poop and other stuff - but really the beach was gorgeous. Another adventure, like always.
After this we went to the aquarium! I looove aquariums! I was the resident scholar on marine animal behavior because of all the hours I've spent watching Animal Planet. When we saw the tiburones I pretty much was very excited. The profesores thought it was funny how obsessed yet knowledgeable I was with sharks, but seriously, I love shark week so it's fine. :) We leave the aquarium to head back home -- it still weirds me out that at the end of all our trips 'home' is Santiago, in SPAIN -- and everyone falls asleep on the bus except Mindy and I, so we talk with Mar and it was a good conversation about really important things. We talked about suede - seriously, why would you make shoes out of suede in a climate where it's always raining? - juice, an important topic for me, and banks.
The next big thing that happened was Valerie's birthday! She turned 21 in Spain, totally pimp, I was reminiscing about how I turned 16 in Spain and then 18 in Vienna and how cool that is, so we celebrated her birthday in the Euro-American style we do best: pre-partying and partying but with international people. We went to Moore's for the English/American trivia night, which is fun as always but I'm feeling kind of over it, and Valerie was treated to a few drinks. It was a lot of fun, within the trivia competition Anna (the girl from France) and I ganked the microphone and sang Happy Birthday to her. I think we should have apologized at first, but I couldn't really hear how we sounded. Hopefully just enough to sufficiently embarrass her! :)
The next significant event, not school-related (we had our first actual paper, none of that asinine page response fluff work): Valentine's Day! Even though Valentine's day has been sufficiently advertised everywhere, oops, I forgot to talk about our excursion to El Corte Inglés [ basically just another time where public transportation sucks, a live and learn experience] and they had signs about the WEEK of San Valentín, the actual day seemed pretty anticlimactic and insignificant. It is apparently only celebrated by novios/amantes, so even if you want to wish a friend/Valerie's resident dictator 'Happy Valentine's Day' they find it awkward and it's kind of an uncomfortable situation because they assume that there is something more, but really it's just another casualty of the language barrier. Anyway, despite the number of stores with Valentine's displays and cards, there were not very many people purchasing these. I saw only a handful of guys with flowers, the firefighters parade was bigger than the V-Day hubbub, which started to debunk the Latin lover stereotype. That night, for my V-Day date with Manu, we went on a cute walk around the city and he gave me a flower that he picked from a tree and a card he made. I didn't get him anything because I haven't known him for that long and figured I could get away with not knowing how things work in Europe (a common strategy, if there's an issue or a difference, chalk it up to being American and not knowing any better. Also, every time I totally whiff on something, I call it learning instead of just being stupid). Then we went to his piso and played Mario Kart. Seriously. The most 'romantic' part was that he had a candle in his room. I guess the Latin lover stereotype is more about the sweet nothings/harassing comments you hear rather than romantic gestures.
The last topic to discuss in this epic of an entry is Barcelona. Um, so I just looked at how much I've written and have decided that I'll make a new entry dedicated solely to Barcelona so that no one is overwhelmed by reading all of this. If you are a student, I hope this is more interesting than whatever reading you may be required to do and if you are not a student, I hope/bet that this is more interesting than your actual work - with that being said, I hope everyone read all the way to this spot!! :)
XOXO, besitos,
Kate
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Flickr!
Voila! I've made a Flickr site and even though it's taken me forever and a day, I have my pictures from Porto up completely and most of my piso. Next up will be a little from Santiago as well as from our day trip to A Coruña. Yay!!
My Flickr website thing!!!
My Flickr website thing!!!
Thursday, February 1, 2007
FINALMENTE!
I realize it has been QUITE some time since I have updated my blog, but I've been busy and/or without internet, so I'm using Valerie's line to stay in contact. Anyway, I'm going to try to put my pictures up now... This first part is of my PISO! Affectionately known as the basement, the cave, or the hallway.
Ok, so, my pictures aren't quite loading yet. But after class... watch out! Anyway, to do a brief update.
Classes have been going well, I've been keeping up with the reading sufficiently and cramming in the grammar homework before class. I've been going out with the same schedule but not drinking because I'm realizing how expensive it is.
On Thursday, Valerie and I had an exciting adventure. We woke up early because I wanted to look for shoes. We searched high and low and finally meandered to a really far away part of town. A homeless guy started talking to us and then kind of left, but then he came back to give us croissants that he just bought. Valerie freaked out, per usual, but I accepted it and then we had a lot of fun feeding all the fat birds in the lake next to where we have class. When I say 'where we have class' I mean, the dorm where they stick us foreign kids so we have a place to learn. Then we bought our tickets (see below), at the end of the day I bought the shoes I really wanted, although for more than I originally wanted to spend.
Last weekend Mindy, Valerie, and I went to Porto, Portugal! It was a lot of fun! It seemed almost like Santiago in that it had a modern and antique feel all at the same time. It was absolutely gorgeous at night even though there were some parts of town that were kind of sketchy. The bus ride there was miserable for me. I got pretty car/bus-sick so, that totally sucked. I adamantly refused to undergo that again, so I bought some anti-motion sickness drugs in a Portuguese pharmacy. yay! I'm pretty sure the most memorable part of this trip was my terrible confusion between Portuguese and English. Really, it's absolutely hilarious.
So, I wanted to see the 'caves' of Portugal. But really, 'caves' is CAVA and not CUEVA en espanol. So, instead of seeing caves, like where Batman lives, we walked for 3 hours in an opposite direction, nearly walked to the ocean, walked all the way back, and then we found out that 'caves' are WINE CELLARS. Which worked out just fine because we wanted to go to a wine tasting event anyway. It's funny how things always seem to fall into place, even if they aren't planned. One of the things Mindy and I are most proud of is Valerie coping without a set itinerary made three weeks in advance with options of what to do should something go wrong and a map that has everything one might need in a rare occasion. Yay Valerie!
When we returned, it was still Santiago. But it was weird to return from a vacation, to a vacation. Everyone always says "Whew, I'm going to need a vacation from this vacation!", but tada! We are actually living it. Except with classes.
I've been hanging out with Manu a lot lately, it's helpful to practice my Spanish and always fun to be with new people. :) Plus, I'd say that Manu and I provide positive stories that are shared before classes start. Haha.
Lastly, on Friday our group went to A Coruna. I really enjoyed this city! It was kind of like Santiago - I'm not sure if this is a size of city thing, that it's in the same part, or the same age or something - so big enough that you could always find something to do but small enough that you would eventually run into someone you know on the street looking for something to do.
Valerie and I were discussing doing something new, and I wittily replied that there's not much TO do. It's possible to change the location of the bar here, but you are still going to be going to a bar. Anyway, Mindy and I stood out in the ocean! It was way fun and then a giant wave came out of no where and attacked us!!! So our jeans and shoes were wet the rest of the day. PS- we went to a planetarium and aquarium!!!! OMG. Love, love, love. I saw some tiburones, so pretty much my day was perfectly complete. In the planetarium, while basically everyone else was sleeping (cough Valerie cough), I was very pleased that I understood most of what the guy was saying. Granted, it's geared toward elementary school kids, but my Spanish is probably equal to a third-grader's.
I've been hanging out at Valerie's piso because mine just depresses me. There is no natural light, the lights we do have are kind of dingy, it's kind of musty/moldy/stank smelling, and I haven't really bonded with any of my Spanish piso mates. Which is fine, my piso is essentially where I shower - every other day, thanks to the freezing water that takes two hours to heat up - and sleep, which is actually amazing because there is no light I can literally sleep until 3 in the afternoon and not know it although I guess if I have class this isn't really so great. Speaking of, the night before we left for A Coruna, I didn't quite get 3 hours of sleep because I was worried I would sleep through it and REALLY did not want to miss out on the aquarium!!
Well, I apologize profusely for not being able to put pictures up. I think I'm going to get a flickr account and then just direct everyone there for the pictures, it will probably be easier and more reliable than anything else.
I love getting everyone's comments!!! It's like a little piece of home on the other side of the planet :)
Ok, so, my pictures aren't quite loading yet. But after class... watch out! Anyway, to do a brief update.
Classes have been going well, I've been keeping up with the reading sufficiently and cramming in the grammar homework before class. I've been going out with the same schedule but not drinking because I'm realizing how expensive it is.
On Thursday, Valerie and I had an exciting adventure. We woke up early because I wanted to look for shoes. We searched high and low and finally meandered to a really far away part of town. A homeless guy started talking to us and then kind of left, but then he came back to give us croissants that he just bought. Valerie freaked out, per usual, but I accepted it and then we had a lot of fun feeding all the fat birds in the lake next to where we have class. When I say 'where we have class' I mean, the dorm where they stick us foreign kids so we have a place to learn. Then we bought our tickets (see below), at the end of the day I bought the shoes I really wanted, although for more than I originally wanted to spend.
Last weekend Mindy, Valerie, and I went to Porto, Portugal! It was a lot of fun! It seemed almost like Santiago in that it had a modern and antique feel all at the same time. It was absolutely gorgeous at night even though there were some parts of town that were kind of sketchy. The bus ride there was miserable for me. I got pretty car/bus-sick so, that totally sucked. I adamantly refused to undergo that again, so I bought some anti-motion sickness drugs in a Portuguese pharmacy. yay! I'm pretty sure the most memorable part of this trip was my terrible confusion between Portuguese and English. Really, it's absolutely hilarious.
So, I wanted to see the 'caves' of Portugal. But really, 'caves' is CAVA and not CUEVA en espanol. So, instead of seeing caves, like where Batman lives, we walked for 3 hours in an opposite direction, nearly walked to the ocean, walked all the way back, and then we found out that 'caves' are WINE CELLARS. Which worked out just fine because we wanted to go to a wine tasting event anyway. It's funny how things always seem to fall into place, even if they aren't planned. One of the things Mindy and I are most proud of is Valerie coping without a set itinerary made three weeks in advance with options of what to do should something go wrong and a map that has everything one might need in a rare occasion. Yay Valerie!
When we returned, it was still Santiago. But it was weird to return from a vacation, to a vacation. Everyone always says "Whew, I'm going to need a vacation from this vacation!", but tada! We are actually living it. Except with classes.
I've been hanging out with Manu a lot lately, it's helpful to practice my Spanish and always fun to be with new people. :) Plus, I'd say that Manu and I provide positive stories that are shared before classes start. Haha.
Lastly, on Friday our group went to A Coruna. I really enjoyed this city! It was kind of like Santiago - I'm not sure if this is a size of city thing, that it's in the same part, or the same age or something - so big enough that you could always find something to do but small enough that you would eventually run into someone you know on the street looking for something to do.
Valerie and I were discussing doing something new, and I wittily replied that there's not much TO do. It's possible to change the location of the bar here, but you are still going to be going to a bar. Anyway, Mindy and I stood out in the ocean! It was way fun and then a giant wave came out of no where and attacked us!!! So our jeans and shoes were wet the rest of the day. PS- we went to a planetarium and aquarium!!!! OMG. Love, love, love. I saw some tiburones, so pretty much my day was perfectly complete. In the planetarium, while basically everyone else was sleeping (cough Valerie cough), I was very pleased that I understood most of what the guy was saying. Granted, it's geared toward elementary school kids, but my Spanish is probably equal to a third-grader's.
I've been hanging out at Valerie's piso because mine just depresses me. There is no natural light, the lights we do have are kind of dingy, it's kind of musty/moldy/stank smelling, and I haven't really bonded with any of my Spanish piso mates. Which is fine, my piso is essentially where I shower - every other day, thanks to the freezing water that takes two hours to heat up - and sleep, which is actually amazing because there is no light I can literally sleep until 3 in the afternoon and not know it although I guess if I have class this isn't really so great. Speaking of, the night before we left for A Coruna, I didn't quite get 3 hours of sleep because I was worried I would sleep through it and REALLY did not want to miss out on the aquarium!!
Well, I apologize profusely for not being able to put pictures up. I think I'm going to get a flickr account and then just direct everyone there for the pictures, it will probably be easier and more reliable than anything else.
I love getting everyone's comments!!! It's like a little piece of home on the other side of the planet :)
Monday, January 22, 2007
Weekend update!
So I'm sitting in Farashta's room waiting awhile before we go out to Moore's. The weekends here are painfully boring; nothing is open on Sundays but the restaurants and I am starting to see how much money I'm spending going to restaurants. So, to conquer this, on Saturday, after I transported my luggage to my piso, we went to the supermercado. OMG. This was one of the most difficult things I've done here. We normally shop for food for two weeks, so now I'm already stuck on what to do; I don't know what everyone else has; and I don't know what food is even good to get. If I'm lucky, I can tell what something is by a picture or by picking out words, but I can't tell one marca from another.
So, pleased that I survived this with a loaf of bread, some tuna, apples, and chips (which, btw, were subpar), I started my piso meals with tuna sandwiches with mayo. For breakfast I have muffin-y things that are very yummy and as far as I'm concerned good enough :).
So, about my piso. It's essentially a hallway and all the rooms are capillaries of the main artery. There is no such thing as a common area or many places to sit. I have no windows in my room, so the only way I can tell time is by my alarm clock. If the stars align - that is, my roommate's blinds are open to the window and the sun is shining enough to get through the vent - I might be able to tell if it's daytime. It can really mess up my sleep schedule. Plus, I think she and I have become particularly close that Saturday night... Fortunately, the next evening when I saw her, which wasn't for the whole day because I felt it would be extremely awkward, she apologized for all the noise of the night before. I'm not really at my piso that much, which is ok, it's not really home-y. Fiona, the Scottish girl, will be moving out at semester, so I don't know what will happen with that.
Sunday is dull as usual. I ate my scrumptious muffins and agua del grife and then we went out for a group dinner at the Chinese restaurant. I got sweet and sour pork and it was MUCH better than whatever I had last time. I meant to wander around town and take pictures, but it was a little chilly during the day. After dinner, the girls went for chocolate con churros, which were delish as usual. I'm getting used to the dark chocolate here! Then, Hannah and I had some good discussions in my cave after dinner until the wee hours of the morning.
Today at school, I ended up being twenty minutes late. I thought I was taking a short cut, but nope. It was all right, I got to see a part of town I'd never seen before, and then after classes I walked around for another hour and a half just kind of meandering. It was nice to see everything, but I don't think all the information will be stored in my head. It was really rainy today! I kept thinking that it couldn't possibly rain as much as they say, but it rains about every other day guaranteed. I think I've walked something like 3 hours today, but can't quantify that any better. Because our piso steals an internet signal, it is very unreliable in my cave, so I keep borrowing other people's computers. I'm sure I will start exploring the cafe/cafes from where we are stealing it. :)
I love getting all the comments, emails, facebook messages from everyone! It makes me feel like I'm more in the loop. :) Photos to come soon... during a siesta time!
So, pleased that I survived this with a loaf of bread, some tuna, apples, and chips (which, btw, were subpar), I started my piso meals with tuna sandwiches with mayo. For breakfast I have muffin-y things that are very yummy and as far as I'm concerned good enough :).
So, about my piso. It's essentially a hallway and all the rooms are capillaries of the main artery. There is no such thing as a common area or many places to sit. I have no windows in my room, so the only way I can tell time is by my alarm clock. If the stars align - that is, my roommate's blinds are open to the window and the sun is shining enough to get through the vent - I might be able to tell if it's daytime. It can really mess up my sleep schedule. Plus, I think she and I have become particularly close that Saturday night... Fortunately, the next evening when I saw her, which wasn't for the whole day because I felt it would be extremely awkward, she apologized for all the noise of the night before. I'm not really at my piso that much, which is ok, it's not really home-y. Fiona, the Scottish girl, will be moving out at semester, so I don't know what will happen with that.
Sunday is dull as usual. I ate my scrumptious muffins and agua del grife and then we went out for a group dinner at the Chinese restaurant. I got sweet and sour pork and it was MUCH better than whatever I had last time. I meant to wander around town and take pictures, but it was a little chilly during the day. After dinner, the girls went for chocolate con churros, which were delish as usual. I'm getting used to the dark chocolate here! Then, Hannah and I had some good discussions in my cave after dinner until the wee hours of the morning.
Today at school, I ended up being twenty minutes late. I thought I was taking a short cut, but nope. It was all right, I got to see a part of town I'd never seen before, and then after classes I walked around for another hour and a half just kind of meandering. It was nice to see everything, but I don't think all the information will be stored in my head. It was really rainy today! I kept thinking that it couldn't possibly rain as much as they say, but it rains about every other day guaranteed. I think I've walked something like 3 hours today, but can't quantify that any better. Because our piso steals an internet signal, it is very unreliable in my cave, so I keep borrowing other people's computers. I'm sure I will start exploring the cafe/cafes from where we are stealing it. :)
I love getting all the comments, emails, facebook messages from everyone! It makes me feel like I'm more in the loop. :) Photos to come soon... during a siesta time!
Friday, January 19, 2007
World Peace
Tonight was SO much fun! I am officially on Spain time, I think, or at least for the nights! After school, I went and bought my SIM card but I don't know which plan to choose, there are so many and I don't know which one outweighs the others. After that, we all got dressed up to go to dinner, we went to the Latino Bar for dinner and then after that met up with a girl from class, Anna (she has the MOST beautiful Spanish accent I've ever heard! It's a combination of French and Spanish and I just wish she would be the one who would read everything in class just so I can listen to her, and BTW I love our class! It is SOOOO much fun! I'm sure we are going to get in trouble for being so talkative!) and her friend Arthur. We went to a little hole in the wall place and had two bottles of some kind of wine that monks make. By we had two bottles, I mean I drank two cups, everyone else had one, and Valerie was a champ. The other bottle needed to be finished because you can't take it inside discotecas, so that was an adventure in itself! The first discoteca we went to was Grimpis, normally there is a cover but because Arthur knew the guy we all got in free. It was too crowded so we left for another, the other one was far too empty - Goldilocks, anyone? :) - and so we went to Apolo, which was a place we all had been wanting to see. Ladies get in free and this clicks that it must be a place like all the clubs in Lawrence when they have Ladies Night -- which it was.
So, we get there at like 2 am, which we all figure is about when everyone starts coming out to the discotecas, but no. Really, no one goes to bars until like 1 am and no one goes to the discotecas until 3 am. Anna, Mindy, and I were dancing all by ourselves in the middle of the floor because it was so empty. Everytime they played a song in English I would freak out because I might know it or what they were saying, but otherwise I had no idea what was going on. Then, all of us were dancing and having a good time and around 3 it started getting busier. I don't know if it was because we were obviously American, I had blonde hair (which I hear is a big, exotic thing here), because of our dancing skills (or lack thereof), or what, but the entire night there was a circle of guys crowded around us trying to break into our circle. There was one guy who followed me everywhere and kept staring at me, it was kind of creepy but now it is really funny. Also, one guy came up behind me and started rubbing his butt all over me and tried to hold my hands, but I was like, puh-lease. It was funny how many guys I had to wave down because I didn't want to dance with them. And then Mindy started getting the guys when I made her change places with me! Anyway, at around 5 or so we are starting to get kind of tired and it's really hot and stuffy inside, so we go to leave.
When we have orientation or meetings about different cultures, we always hear that they drink a lot but they don't get drunk. To that I say, puh-lease. They just don't get drunk until 4 in the morning. And 4 am here is 9 pm in Kansas, so it's almost like everyone is drunk at the same time! Worldwide unity! That might be one of the best points in starting a world peace campaign :).
Today is the moveout day, but since we all slept past the checkout time of noon (I woke up around 3 pm... but I'm making up for the siestas I've been missing) we have the rooms until tomorrow at noon. And most of us are taking this because 1) guaranteed hot shower and 2) free breakfast. I'm going for the breakfast, definitely, but I don't know where that is prioritized for everyone else. I've managed to get everything to fit into my bags again, so I am going to be hesitant in unpacking some things because it's such a pain to unpack, repack, etc. Anyway, we are off for our first meal of the day, lunch because we all missed breakfast, and are going to find this cheap sandwich place. Yay! I think I also missed when the banks are open to cash my check, I am seriously low on Euro cash, and eventually go shopping. I wore Farashta's coat last night and it was soooo great! I love it, want it, and will buy it when I find it! Also, I need better shoes, my feet are killing me from all the walking, and febreze so my clothes smell less like second-hand smoke, haha.
So, we get there at like 2 am, which we all figure is about when everyone starts coming out to the discotecas, but no. Really, no one goes to bars until like 1 am and no one goes to the discotecas until 3 am. Anna, Mindy, and I were dancing all by ourselves in the middle of the floor because it was so empty. Everytime they played a song in English I would freak out because I might know it or what they were saying, but otherwise I had no idea what was going on. Then, all of us were dancing and having a good time and around 3 it started getting busier. I don't know if it was because we were obviously American, I had blonde hair (which I hear is a big, exotic thing here), because of our dancing skills (or lack thereof), or what, but the entire night there was a circle of guys crowded around us trying to break into our circle. There was one guy who followed me everywhere and kept staring at me, it was kind of creepy but now it is really funny. Also, one guy came up behind me and started rubbing his butt all over me and tried to hold my hands, but I was like, puh-lease. It was funny how many guys I had to wave down because I didn't want to dance with them. And then Mindy started getting the guys when I made her change places with me! Anyway, at around 5 or so we are starting to get kind of tired and it's really hot and stuffy inside, so we go to leave.
When we have orientation or meetings about different cultures, we always hear that they drink a lot but they don't get drunk. To that I say, puh-lease. They just don't get drunk until 4 in the morning. And 4 am here is 9 pm in Kansas, so it's almost like everyone is drunk at the same time! Worldwide unity! That might be one of the best points in starting a world peace campaign :).
Today is the moveout day, but since we all slept past the checkout time of noon (I woke up around 3 pm... but I'm making up for the siestas I've been missing) we have the rooms until tomorrow at noon. And most of us are taking this because 1) guaranteed hot shower and 2) free breakfast. I'm going for the breakfast, definitely, but I don't know where that is prioritized for everyone else. I've managed to get everything to fit into my bags again, so I am going to be hesitant in unpacking some things because it's such a pain to unpack, repack, etc. Anyway, we are off for our first meal of the day, lunch because we all missed breakfast, and are going to find this cheap sandwich place. Yay! I think I also missed when the banks are open to cash my check, I am seriously low on Euro cash, and eventually go shopping. I wore Farashta's coat last night and it was soooo great! I love it, want it, and will buy it when I find it! Also, I need better shoes, my feet are killing me from all the walking, and febreze so my clothes smell less like second-hand smoke, haha.
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