Thursday, April 15, 2010
Today I left for Paris with a group of friends. Our flight was delayed by about two hours, but we finally arrived at l'Regent hostel. Since the hostel was really close to the Moulin Rouge, we decided to try and find it and get some dinner. We stopped at the corner restaurant and had the most delicious onion soup. Later, instead of searching for the Moulin Rouge, we had our first nutella crepe!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Woke up early this morning to go to the Palace in Versailles and began discussing the chances of our flight being canceled, but I tried to stay optimistic. The Palace was absolutely beautiful and the gardens were incredible. We had lunch in the gardens at La Flottille and again really delicious onion soup. Later that day we visited the Louvre, which was insane. The majority of the pictures I've studied in art history are in this museum and it was so cool to see them in person. Too bad I seem to have forgotten most of the historical context, but at least I recognize the paintings. Occasionally, I would remember something intelligent. Okay, so after the Louvre began the process of freaking out about our flight the next day. After jacking the up the phone bill, it is confirmed that our flight is definitely canceled. So Courtney's dad successfully booked us a ticket for an overnight train from Paris to Madrid for Sunday night. Three hundred dollars later we are still set to leave and decided it was time for a drink. We grabbed some wine, cheese and baguettes and were super cute having dinner under the Eiffel Tower. In the midst of being cute, Courtney gets an e-mail saying that our train reservation was canceled and turns out we thought was a confirmation was really a pending request that was denied. Back to square one.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
John and Kelly woke up early and went to every train station trying to get a train however all trains were suspended until Tuesday. They then went to the bus station and finally got a ticket for a 17 hour bus ride back to Madrid Monday afternoon- should be fun. The rest of us tried to book the same ticket online at the hostel, but the website was in such overload that we had to go there. We waited in line for an hour (the bus station was chaos) and couldn't get a bus to Madrid until Tuesday afternoon. At this point, we had no other alternative so our weekend vacation suddenly became a week-long stay, but what better place to be stranded than Paris! Unfortunately for me, I thought for once in my life I would pack light so I was far from being prepared for a week. Additionally, my camera was dead, US phone was practically dead and my Spanish phone had no minutes. After the hectic morning, we decided it was time for some shopping so we hit up the best street for shopping, _________. Had some coffee and snacks at Starbucks then browsed around in Zara for some extra clothes since everyone was lacking. That night, we got dressed up and went for Italian (at some point during every trip there is always one Italian meal). Then, went to an Irish pub where we learned some key French phrases from the locals.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Because we were unable to get home, unfortunately we missed the group trip to el escorial. Instead, we hopped on a four hour walking tour around the city. The tour guide was really informative and we got to see all the major sites in Paris for free! Later, we had some lunch and then me and three girls went to the movies to see Remember Me. We had no idea what the movie was about- all we knew was that Robert Pattinson was in it. Turns out it was a lot sadder than the cute chick flick we had in mind.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Went to see the Sacré Coeur, a beautiful all white church on the highest point in Paris. The views were amazing! Then, we had to stop at the Long Champ store before leaving. We had lunch at this adorable cafe called Angelina's. I had onion soup (of course) and shared a broccoli quiche- so good! We hurried to try and get inside Notre Dame, but missed it by 5 minutes so we just sat outside and watched some 17 year old boys show off on their roller blades. Had sushi for dinner, but it wasn't the same as in the states. We packed all out stuff and bonded over some wine, cheese and baguette.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
We tried to wake up early in order to have to visit the Impressionist Museum where Manet, Monet and Van Gogh are housed. However, the line was super long and there wouldn't have been enough time to get to the bus station so we just bummed around for a couple hours. The bus station was hectic as expected and we got into a little argument with some woman trying to get to Portugal. Finally, we get on the bus after it arrives late. There was about 20 people on the bus even though all the tickets were sold so I'm getting really annoyed. Apparently, the company was trying to sell the seats again to people that were waiting in line or waiting for the missing people to show up. Hello- you're kidding me?! If you're late, you miss the bus- why are we waiting for people!? So I got off the bus to figure out what was going on- I barely follow the broken English, manage to understand we should be leaving at 3:30, an hour late. It's 3:30 and we are still there so i go find the driver to get some answers and finally we leave. So on top of being 2 hours early for the bus, we left about 2 hours late- at least I had two seats to myself. Oh- forgot to mention- there's no bathroom on the bus. The driver stops after two hours because some Indian guy was complaining- you're joking right? Then, we stop again at 10 for 45 minutes, but the rest stop is closed so we have to walk up the street to a wannabe WaWa kinda thing. Then, we stopped again around 3:30am. It's impossible to sleep on this bus and I pretty much am wearing every piece of clothing I had. At 6:00am, the driver tries to stop at a hotel. Hello?! - what hotel is going to be open for breakfast at 6:00am. this is just dumb. So we have another 45 minute break at a gas station bar- cool. Finally, at 9:00am, two hours late, we made it to Madrid then in another hour we were back in Alcalá. Time for marketing and theology- horray!
Moral of the story- Paris was amazing and I definitely want to go back. Always bring extra clothes and chargers. Never take a 17 hour bus ride.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
A note from Guillermo
Me obligan a escribir y no tengo claro que tengo que poner. Bueno, podemos hablar de los raros gustos alimenticios tuyos, que realmente me han resultado mas que raros curiosos, aunque desde luego no malos. Hacia aNos que no salia a correr con nadie de casa, y aunque no corres mucho fue divertido (y basante frio la verdad :s). Como no entre en detalles a describirte no se que mas poner, y sinceramente siempre me ha costado describir a las personas...y ciertamente me da algo de verguenza.
Y tu eres mala por hacerme seguir escribiendo. Aunque realmente pareces una buena persona, hoy ha sido muy bonito el gesto de traerle flores a mi madre, aunque ahora a mi me toca comprar un ramo mas grande para el dia de la madre XDD pero no me parece tan mal. Por lo que hemos visto estos dias, no entendemos porque os llevabais mal la otra familia y tu, pero no hay mal que por bien no venga y espero que aqui en casa estes contenta y agusto.
Llevamos demasiados pocos dias hablando como para conocernos, pero dudo mucho que descrubra que eres un ogro como para que no me guste convivir contigo... y SI eres un poco caprichosa con la comida...pero eso no es algo necesariamente malo...Dani tambien lo es y no por ello le echamos de casa asique tranquila.
y no voy a describirte fisicamente hoy...asique si te ha gustado que escriba tendras que dejarme ver que me ocultaste antes y entonces quizas escriba otro dia.
Y tu eres mala por hacerme seguir escribiendo. Aunque realmente pareces una buena persona, hoy ha sido muy bonito el gesto de traerle flores a mi madre, aunque ahora a mi me toca comprar un ramo mas grande para el dia de la madre XDD pero no me parece tan mal. Por lo que hemos visto estos dias, no entendemos porque os llevabais mal la otra familia y tu, pero no hay mal que por bien no venga y espero que aqui en casa estes contenta y agusto.
Llevamos demasiados pocos dias hablando como para conocernos, pero dudo mucho que descrubra que eres un ogro como para que no me guste convivir contigo... y SI eres un poco caprichosa con la comida...pero eso no es algo necesariamente malo...Dani tambien lo es y no por ello le echamos de casa asique tranquila.
y no voy a describirte fisicamente hoy...asique si te ha gustado que escriba tendras que dejarme ver que me ocultaste antes y entonces quizas escriba otro dia.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Feliz Cumpleaños A Mi
Monday, April 12th
I'm pretty upset that I'm currently not at the beach celebrating my birthday, but oh well, the day gets a little better... read on...
When I got back to my house last night I wasn't able to shower because it was 11:00pm and that's too late for showering in Spain so I had to sleep in the nastiest the was the hostel I just fled. As a result, I woke up at 9:00am this morning to shower before class and was late meeting Chelsea. Even though I was only late by 4 minutes, I figured she had just left for class so I walked by myself. As a get to the building, a group of friends wished me a happy birthday and told me class was canceled. Sure enough, we walk to the classroom and there's a sign on the door that says "Ivan is sick today." Seems I missed the mass text message. So we decided to get some tea and coffee at Cafe Libreros. Because I didn't have my theology notebook to write my paper, I walked all the way back to my house, to find that Juana had gone into Madrid today to buy a wedding gift and it was just Guillermo and I in the house. Fabulous- quality time! He sat with me at lunch and we decided to go running at 6:00pm. Also, my wonderful family called to sing me happy birthday!
At 6:00, he takes me to the park to run. Running, let alone running outside, is not my thing- I made it all the way to the end of the road with only one stop, but made him walk back. Clearly, I'm not the best running partner when you're training to be a cop. On the way back, we stopped at a park, but he wouldn't play because there were too many children so he said we could go back tomorrow. We also stopped at some circus thing and saw two bears and a tiger. The walk back was super chilly *wink*
After two hours, we got back to the house, showered and ate. When I came downstairs for dinner, there was a little pair of earrings on my plate from Juana. Although my ears are too sensitive to wear them and I'm pretty sure she regifted, I guess it's the thought that counts.
Also, I found out that if Danny didn't hear me trying to get in the house the night before, I would've been sleeping the street since Juana left the keys in the door when she went to sleep. As a result, I now have the house number and Guillermo's cell- just in case ;)
Not exactly the way I would've wanted to celebrate my 21st, but hey, it's one I'll remember.
I'm pretty upset that I'm currently not at the beach celebrating my birthday, but oh well, the day gets a little better... read on...
When I got back to my house last night I wasn't able to shower because it was 11:00pm and that's too late for showering in Spain so I had to sleep in the nastiest the was the hostel I just fled. As a result, I woke up at 9:00am this morning to shower before class and was late meeting Chelsea. Even though I was only late by 4 minutes, I figured she had just left for class so I walked by myself. As a get to the building, a group of friends wished me a happy birthday and told me class was canceled. Sure enough, we walk to the classroom and there's a sign on the door that says "Ivan is sick today." Seems I missed the mass text message. So we decided to get some tea and coffee at Cafe Libreros. Because I didn't have my theology notebook to write my paper, I walked all the way back to my house, to find that Juana had gone into Madrid today to buy a wedding gift and it was just Guillermo and I in the house. Fabulous- quality time! He sat with me at lunch and we decided to go running at 6:00pm. Also, my wonderful family called to sing me happy birthday!
At 6:00, he takes me to the park to run. Running, let alone running outside, is not my thing- I made it all the way to the end of the road with only one stop, but made him walk back. Clearly, I'm not the best running partner when you're training to be a cop. On the way back, we stopped at a park, but he wouldn't play because there were too many children so he said we could go back tomorrow. We also stopped at some circus thing and saw two bears and a tiger. The walk back was super chilly *wink*
After two hours, we got back to the house, showered and ate. When I came downstairs for dinner, there was a little pair of earrings on my plate from Juana. Although my ears are too sensitive to wear them and I'm pretty sure she regifted, I guess it's the thought that counts.
Also, I found out that if Danny didn't hear me trying to get in the house the night before, I would've been sleeping the street since Juana left the keys in the door when she went to sleep. As a result, I now have the house number and Guillermo's cell- just in case ;)
Not exactly the way I would've wanted to celebrate my 21st, but hey, it's one I'll remember.
Pili and the Gang
My 1st host mom picked me up on some street in Alcalá. I had no idea where were- thank God Chelsea lives close to me. She is super short, a little chubby and has straight blonde hair with bangs. She seems sweet so far, but I'm afraid I'm never going to adjust to her cooking- my mom's is just way better. Pili has two daughters, Pili and Laura, which actually remind me a lot of Lisa and Katie. Pili, who's the same age as me, practically stays in her room all day and is really quiet. She studies physical education at the univeristy. Laura, who's nine, is a little more feisty and is not afraid to speak her mind. She's super cute and everyone time she sees me it's, "Hola Jenny." She loves American cartoons and macaroni. Antonio, her husband, seems really nice as well, but is usually either working or watching T.V. so I haven't really talked to him much.
As far as the house goes, from the outside, I think I'm in the ghetto of Spain. The inside is cute, but Pili always makes a point of comparing her house to those in America. I have my own room which is nice, but I clearly have too much crap. First problem- they keep the cat litter in the shower and every time I want to shower, I have to move it- gross! Second problem- they must not understand how to use the heat because I'm freezing! I've been sleeping in 3 pairs of socks, fleece pants, a long-sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt, about 4 blankets and a down comforter, which Pili says they've never used. Oh well, I'll use it.
In addition to being really homesick, I was sick for the two weeks with some stomach virus- it is quite embarrassing to be in the bathroom every five minutes. I think it's the water even though Pili claims Spanish water is the best. I visited two doctors and bought so much medicine, most of which I have no idea what it was. At one point, she wouldn't give me water and has this thing about proving me wrong so when she found a clementine peel in my garbage... blah blah that's bad for your stomach. Well, so is your food.
So I need to have less clothes to wash because I'm only allowed one dark and one light and I'm allotted one shower per day. At first, she wouldn't buy me a new pillow, but rolling a blanket and putting it under the pillow definitely works- not. Finally, I got a new pillow and flannel sheets. Thank God! Save me from the cold. At this point, things were tolerable. She was kind of cooking things I like minus the jarred veggies, but I'm still not allowed to boil water and am pretty much follow wherever I go in the house. Also, the neighbors upstairs are ridiculously loud at all hours of the morning. Oh and I forgot to mention that at some point I came home to a note on my bed saying not to let the cat out of the bathroom. Since they leave the cat in the bathroom every night, I wasn't exactly sure why I had this note until I opened the bathroom door to find a stray cat in the bathroom. You're shitting me right?
Fast forward to the beginning of March- the family goes up north for the weekend for a wedding. She leaves me food in the refrigerator, but I ask to be able to boil water over the weekend so I can have tea. After much resistance, she finally agrees and makes me practice just to make sure I know what I'm doing. Come on- it's not rocket science. Anyway, I wake up the next morning and Pili tells me that she talked to her husband and he said I can't use the stove aka I can't boil water. What is this the 5th century when we are all subservient to our husbands? Needless to say, I was really pissed and showed it. I left for class super annoyed and Pili definitely knew it.
When I met up with Chelsea, I explained to her what happened and said, "What do you want to bet they hide my teapot?" That afternoon, after my Spanish classes, one of the Chinese girls in my class offered to make lunch so I went to her host family's house. Oh hey go figure, she can have people over for lunch, but Steph and Chelsea can't even step inside Pili's house. Anyway, the food was delicious, however, when I returned back to my apartment guess what was MIA- that's right my teapot!
So when they come home on Sunday, the teapot magically reappeared on the counter where it usually is. The next morning, she gives me a huge attitude, saying that I had no reason to be upset. After talking to my director, I found out that my host mom had called her, explained what happened as if she would agree and asked for a different student. However, my director thought her actions were inappropriate and completely understood why I wasn't happy, thus she began to search for another home for me.
The morning before I left I took a little surprise visit to my new potential host family. Though I felt bad leaving, the decision was pretty much a no-brainer. I packed all afternoon and planned to have my director call about an hour before I left to say I was leaving. However, I thought it would be more appropriate if I told her myself. So I explained that it just wasn't working and I thought it would be better for both of us if I moved. I felt really bad because that afternoon she had made me paella for lunch and bought me a box of green tea. She said she already knew I was leaving, asked for the tea back so she could give it to her next student and also said she wished she would've known earlier so she didn't prepare my dinner. I thanked her for everything and proceeded to carry two suitcases and about five bags down the road.
As far as the house goes, from the outside, I think I'm in the ghetto of Spain. The inside is cute, but Pili always makes a point of comparing her house to those in America. I have my own room which is nice, but I clearly have too much crap. First problem- they keep the cat litter in the shower and every time I want to shower, I have to move it- gross! Second problem- they must not understand how to use the heat because I'm freezing! I've been sleeping in 3 pairs of socks, fleece pants, a long-sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt, about 4 blankets and a down comforter, which Pili says they've never used. Oh well, I'll use it.
In addition to being really homesick, I was sick for the two weeks with some stomach virus- it is quite embarrassing to be in the bathroom every five minutes. I think it's the water even though Pili claims Spanish water is the best. I visited two doctors and bought so much medicine, most of which I have no idea what it was. At one point, she wouldn't give me water and has this thing about proving me wrong so when she found a clementine peel in my garbage... blah blah that's bad for your stomach. Well, so is your food.
So I need to have less clothes to wash because I'm only allowed one dark and one light and I'm allotted one shower per day. At first, she wouldn't buy me a new pillow, but rolling a blanket and putting it under the pillow definitely works- not. Finally, I got a new pillow and flannel sheets. Thank God! Save me from the cold. At this point, things were tolerable. She was kind of cooking things I like minus the jarred veggies, but I'm still not allowed to boil water and am pretty much follow wherever I go in the house. Also, the neighbors upstairs are ridiculously loud at all hours of the morning. Oh and I forgot to mention that at some point I came home to a note on my bed saying not to let the cat out of the bathroom. Since they leave the cat in the bathroom every night, I wasn't exactly sure why I had this note until I opened the bathroom door to find a stray cat in the bathroom. You're shitting me right?
Fast forward to the beginning of March- the family goes up north for the weekend for a wedding. She leaves me food in the refrigerator, but I ask to be able to boil water over the weekend so I can have tea. After much resistance, she finally agrees and makes me practice just to make sure I know what I'm doing. Come on- it's not rocket science. Anyway, I wake up the next morning and Pili tells me that she talked to her husband and he said I can't use the stove aka I can't boil water. What is this the 5th century when we are all subservient to our husbands? Needless to say, I was really pissed and showed it. I left for class super annoyed and Pili definitely knew it.
When I met up with Chelsea, I explained to her what happened and said, "What do you want to bet they hide my teapot?" That afternoon, after my Spanish classes, one of the Chinese girls in my class offered to make lunch so I went to her host family's house. Oh hey go figure, she can have people over for lunch, but Steph and Chelsea can't even step inside Pili's house. Anyway, the food was delicious, however, when I returned back to my apartment guess what was MIA- that's right my teapot!
So when they come home on Sunday, the teapot magically reappeared on the counter where it usually is. The next morning, she gives me a huge attitude, saying that I had no reason to be upset. After talking to my director, I found out that my host mom had called her, explained what happened as if she would agree and asked for a different student. However, my director thought her actions were inappropriate and completely understood why I wasn't happy, thus she began to search for another home for me.
The morning before I left I took a little surprise visit to my new potential host family. Though I felt bad leaving, the decision was pretty much a no-brainer. I packed all afternoon and planned to have my director call about an hour before I left to say I was leaving. However, I thought it would be more appropriate if I told her myself. So I explained that it just wasn't working and I thought it would be better for both of us if I moved. I felt really bad because that afternoon she had made me paella for lunch and bought me a box of green tea. She said she already knew I was leaving, asked for the tea back so she could give it to her next student and also said she wished she would've known earlier so she didn't prepare my dinner. I thanked her for everything and proceeded to carry two suitcases and about five bags down the road.
A Series of Unfortunate Events in Málaga
Saturday, April 10th
Woke up at 5:00am this morning to catch an early train to the airport. Destination- Málaga, a town in costa del SOL aka beach! Steph, my friend Chelsea and I were ready to soak up some sun and celebrate my birthday! After landing, we navigated our way to the hostel, "The Melting Pot." It had a great location right on the beach and a cute terrace in the back. Unfortunately, our room was located in the basement so we were stuck with a gross musty smell and couldn't open the window because it would be freezing. Chelsea's friend, Mark, who is studying in Málaga, meet up with us and gave a tour. We walked along the gorgeous beach where there were a bunch of beach cafes. Each cafe had its own mini-boat that was filled with sand and had a small bonfire-type fire on top to cook food- it was so cute and smelled amazing! We also saw the Roman ruins and the Cathedral and walked around the downtown area. Also, there was an International Festival with food and shopping from all different countries. Steph and I split a vegetable crepe from "France" and then I had two delicious smoothies from the "Carribean." Steph and I made friends with two older women, one from the Dominican Republic and the other from Columbia. They taught us some new fruits like "tamarinde" and "tomate de arbol."
On the way back, we stopped for some groceries to cook dinner and sunscreen in preparation for tanning tomorrow. I made a delicious veggie sauté and was so happy to be back in the kitchen. I miss cooking so much! We were going to meet up with Mark and his family to watch the fútbol game between Barcelona and Madrid, but were really tired so decided to stay in and get some work done.
Sunday, April 11th
I woke up early as usual and snagged the three lounge chairs for us to use for the day. I tried to work on my marriage paper while waiting for the girls to wake up. Oh, there were also little bugs crawling around and we were all skeeved in the beds that night with nasty sheets and blankets in a room that smelled like mildew. To make it worse, we had another random person in the room with us, but we let it go and focused on quality sun we were expecting for the day.
Steph and I had a delicious breakfast of Special K with fresh strawberries because the hostel breakfast that was included of course sucked. Then, Steph and I tried to soak up some sun while Chelsea showered. By the way, the sunscreen we bought was basically oily water that provided no protection whatsoever just an oily mess. Finally, Chelsea came out only to tell us that she showered in dirty water that didn't drain and she had to turn off the water between each step in order to not flood the bathroom. Excellent! This hostel is super great and by the way there's no sun... so much for costa del SOL.
At this point, we are miserable and discussing going home so we check the weather for tomorrow because if it were to be sunny, we would've stuck it out, but no, 60s, cloudy and rain- and there was the breaking point. We started checking any possible flights, but they were way too expensive plus losing the money for the flight we already had for Tuesday. Steph suggested looking at trains- there were two for that night (Sunday)- one at 7:10 and the other at 8:00. We decided the 8:00 would be perfect so we could enjoy the smorgasbord of food we had between groceries and host mom meals and then catch the train. Steph booked her ticket first and then when I tried the 8:00 one was full. So Chelsea and I had to book the 7:10 one. After booking, the confirmation e-mail said we had to arrive at the station with printed tickets. Shit- we are on different trains and have no way of printing. On top of that each confirmation e-mail said origin:Madrid and destination:Málaga. You have got to be kidding me and we were all in a PANIC- could all three of us really book the wrong train. We had to get to the station, hoping that someone could straighten everything out, but not before Steph brought her wrath to the front desk and wound up getting our money back for one night at the hostel.
In the AVE train station, we chose to talk to the hot guy instead of the girl and hoped the sympathy card would work in our favor. Turns out, the e-mail was wrong and we were set to go from Málaga to Madrid, however, Steph was still on the 8:00 train. Sergio, our new customer service friend, asked us where we were from and lucky for us, he was heading to the United States (New York & Las Vegas) at the end of the month and wanted helped planning his trip. Perfect exchange- NY 411 for getting all of us on the same train. So he invited us for coffee in a café in the train which was actually like a mini-mall. He bought us drinks and we told him about New York and what we knew about Las Vegas- too bad this trip was with his boyfriend- figures!
We all got on the same train thank God even though Steph had to stand in the cafeteria car. Chelsea and I met her there and we had our smorgasbord on the train. Suddenly, Steph remembered she forgot to register for classes, which should've been done about 4 hours before, but between trying to get out of the hostel and and her alarm not going off, it slipped her mind. She tried to contact her parents, but her iPhone had no service and all three of us had no money on our Spanish ghetto phones. So I texted my dad to tell him to call Steph's mom and have her call Steph, but the connection was so bad because we kept going through tunnels. Umm- problem... I was stressing and they weren't even my classes. Thankfully, she was to text a friend from Chelsea's phone to call her and register for her, but one class was full.
What a disaster! We all made it home, took showers and slept in warm beds. I was never so happy to be back in Alcalá. However, I forgot to mention that while freezing my butt off outside, I managed to meet three girls from the US who are studying in Salamanca (another city outside Madrid). They were really nice and invited us to join them that night for some wine and birthday celebrations, but we fled the scene too soon. My Dad was actually able to get us some money back from the Tuesday flight- way to go Dad! Málaga was such a cute city, but between the horrible weather and gross hostel we just couldn't stay.
Woke up at 5:00am this morning to catch an early train to the airport. Destination- Málaga, a town in costa del SOL aka beach! Steph, my friend Chelsea and I were ready to soak up some sun and celebrate my birthday! After landing, we navigated our way to the hostel, "The Melting Pot." It had a great location right on the beach and a cute terrace in the back. Unfortunately, our room was located in the basement so we were stuck with a gross musty smell and couldn't open the window because it would be freezing. Chelsea's friend, Mark, who is studying in Málaga, meet up with us and gave a tour. We walked along the gorgeous beach where there were a bunch of beach cafes. Each cafe had its own mini-boat that was filled with sand and had a small bonfire-type fire on top to cook food- it was so cute and smelled amazing! We also saw the Roman ruins and the Cathedral and walked around the downtown area. Also, there was an International Festival with food and shopping from all different countries. Steph and I split a vegetable crepe from "France" and then I had two delicious smoothies from the "Carribean." Steph and I made friends with two older women, one from the Dominican Republic and the other from Columbia. They taught us some new fruits like "tamarinde" and "tomate de arbol."
On the way back, we stopped for some groceries to cook dinner and sunscreen in preparation for tanning tomorrow. I made a delicious veggie sauté and was so happy to be back in the kitchen. I miss cooking so much! We were going to meet up with Mark and his family to watch the fútbol game between Barcelona and Madrid, but were really tired so decided to stay in and get some work done.
Sunday, April 11th
I woke up early as usual and snagged the three lounge chairs for us to use for the day. I tried to work on my marriage paper while waiting for the girls to wake up. Oh, there were also little bugs crawling around and we were all skeeved in the beds that night with nasty sheets and blankets in a room that smelled like mildew. To make it worse, we had another random person in the room with us, but we let it go and focused on quality sun we were expecting for the day.
Steph and I had a delicious breakfast of Special K with fresh strawberries because the hostel breakfast that was included of course sucked. Then, Steph and I tried to soak up some sun while Chelsea showered. By the way, the sunscreen we bought was basically oily water that provided no protection whatsoever just an oily mess. Finally, Chelsea came out only to tell us that she showered in dirty water that didn't drain and she had to turn off the water between each step in order to not flood the bathroom. Excellent! This hostel is super great and by the way there's no sun... so much for costa del SOL.
At this point, we are miserable and discussing going home so we check the weather for tomorrow because if it were to be sunny, we would've stuck it out, but no, 60s, cloudy and rain- and there was the breaking point. We started checking any possible flights, but they were way too expensive plus losing the money for the flight we already had for Tuesday. Steph suggested looking at trains- there were two for that night (Sunday)- one at 7:10 and the other at 8:00. We decided the 8:00 would be perfect so we could enjoy the smorgasbord of food we had between groceries and host mom meals and then catch the train. Steph booked her ticket first and then when I tried the 8:00 one was full. So Chelsea and I had to book the 7:10 one. After booking, the confirmation e-mail said we had to arrive at the station with printed tickets. Shit- we are on different trains and have no way of printing. On top of that each confirmation e-mail said origin:Madrid and destination:Málaga. You have got to be kidding me and we were all in a PANIC- could all three of us really book the wrong train. We had to get to the station, hoping that someone could straighten everything out, but not before Steph brought her wrath to the front desk and wound up getting our money back for one night at the hostel.
In the AVE train station, we chose to talk to the hot guy instead of the girl and hoped the sympathy card would work in our favor. Turns out, the e-mail was wrong and we were set to go from Málaga to Madrid, however, Steph was still on the 8:00 train. Sergio, our new customer service friend, asked us where we were from and lucky for us, he was heading to the United States (New York & Las Vegas) at the end of the month and wanted helped planning his trip. Perfect exchange- NY 411 for getting all of us on the same train. So he invited us for coffee in a café in the train which was actually like a mini-mall. He bought us drinks and we told him about New York and what we knew about Las Vegas- too bad this trip was with his boyfriend- figures!
We all got on the same train thank God even though Steph had to stand in the cafeteria car. Chelsea and I met her there and we had our smorgasbord on the train. Suddenly, Steph remembered she forgot to register for classes, which should've been done about 4 hours before, but between trying to get out of the hostel and and her alarm not going off, it slipped her mind. She tried to contact her parents, but her iPhone had no service and all three of us had no money on our Spanish ghetto phones. So I texted my dad to tell him to call Steph's mom and have her call Steph, but the connection was so bad because we kept going through tunnels. Umm- problem... I was stressing and they weren't even my classes. Thankfully, she was to text a friend from Chelsea's phone to call her and register for her, but one class was full.
What a disaster! We all made it home, took showers and slept in warm beds. I was never so happy to be back in Alcalá. However, I forgot to mention that while freezing my butt off outside, I managed to meet three girls from the US who are studying in Salamanca (another city outside Madrid). They were really nice and invited us to join them that night for some wine and birthday celebrations, but we fled the scene too soon. My Dad was actually able to get us some money back from the Tuesday flight- way to go Dad! Málaga was such a cute city, but between the horrible weather and gross hostel we just couldn't stay.
The Mustillo's in Madrid
Sunday, April 4th: Feliz Pascua!
So begins the train of sickness with Mom. After finally getting out of the hotel, I took Dad, Lisa and Katie to see el palacio real and la catedral de la almundena. The palace was obviously gorgeous, but didn't have that homey feeling if you know what I mean. While in one of the rooms, dad says, "Can you imagine being in your pajamas, saying good night and having to walk a mile to get from the living room to your bedroom?" While they were in the Cathedral, I made my way to the hotel to grab Mom and we all met at café de oriente for a light lunch. After we walked around Sol and did some shopping until Steph joined us for Easter dinner at La Finca de Susana. Great food, but not the friendliest staff in the world.
Monday, April 5th
Steph and the family came to visit Alcalá. When the family finally showed up at 2:00, we tried to see la casa de Cervantes. Unfortunately, it's closed on Mondays and therefore leaving little to see except more churches. Everyone came to meet by new host family. Thank God Steph was there because translating is a crazy job. Seems Lisa should be studying Spanish though. After chatting it up with the family, we got stuck in siesta time and thus had to stop at Telepizza for lunch, thus causing the second round of sickness with Lisa that night. Later, they relaxed in the plaza making fun of people until it was time for dinner. I called a taxi because I had luggage for them to take back to the states and the driver started charging me from where he was when the cab company contacted him! I hate taxis!
Tuesday, April 6th
Lisa is sick so Mom, Dad, Katie and I headed to the Prado Museum. Though the most confusing museum map, we were able to find all the paintings we wanted. We stopped in the little cafe for a snack and there was a soft chocolate chip cookie! it was like a gold mine- I hadn't seen once of those since January! We went to el Parque de Retiro where Dad where we took a little rest to have a coca-cola light by the estanque. After dilly dallying in the park, we ate dinner at my vegetarian restaurant, Yerbabuena. Mom and Dad split paella and Katie and I got onion soup that should have come with bread, cheese and almonds, but the cook "forgot to add them." After pestering this lady trying to find someone to talk to in English because she initially told me that even though that stuff was included in the menu I had to specify that I wanted it- you've got to be kidding me. So she gave us the cash for the two meals- very odd.
Wednesday, April 7th: Segovia
Steph joined us again for a day trip to Segovia and Dad was in picture heaven. First, we saw the Roman Aqueduct, built in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. We took some cool pictures, stay tuned you may see them next Christmas. Then we found an American restaurant and Lisa and Katie were in their glory since Segovia is known for roast suckling pig. We saw the Cathedral here Katie tried to snap some illegal pictures of Monks and then almost lost Dad on the way to the Alcázar, another castle, but very cool. We weren't as restricted in this one as we were in the Madrid. Cutting it close as always, we make it to the train station, but not before stopping for some chocolate covered almonds. In order to avoid leaving Spain without having paella, we wet to Paella de la Reina. Delicious as usual, but Dad's sickness set in.
Thursday, April 8th
Again Lisa, Katie and I had to share two beds the night before, but I wanted to stay in order to help with the escapades of carrying 7 pieces of luggage between 3 metro switches to the airport- that definitely would've made America's funniest home videos. Anyway, I waited in line with them for a while and then said goodbye. I was super close to emptying one of the suitcases and jumping inside, but I resisted. On the metro I was sitting next to this guy with a cast around his hand and in a sling. While on the escalator switching from the metro to the commuter train, I felt something kind of tugging behind me. I moved, but didn't think anything of it. After feeling it again, I realized someone behind me was trying to open my purse. I moved my purse to the front of me and saw one of the section's was unzipped! Good thing I always keep the front of my purse to my chest and the back zipper, which only had post its and cough drops, facing the outside. The cast guy tried to pick-pocket me! I gave a dirty look, but was too much in shock to say anything- pendejo!
So begins the train of sickness with Mom. After finally getting out of the hotel, I took Dad, Lisa and Katie to see el palacio real and la catedral de la almundena. The palace was obviously gorgeous, but didn't have that homey feeling if you know what I mean. While in one of the rooms, dad says, "Can you imagine being in your pajamas, saying good night and having to walk a mile to get from the living room to your bedroom?" While they were in the Cathedral, I made my way to the hotel to grab Mom and we all met at café de oriente for a light lunch. After we walked around Sol and did some shopping until Steph joined us for Easter dinner at La Finca de Susana. Great food, but not the friendliest staff in the world.
Monday, April 5th
Steph and the family came to visit Alcalá. When the family finally showed up at 2:00, we tried to see la casa de Cervantes. Unfortunately, it's closed on Mondays and therefore leaving little to see except more churches. Everyone came to meet by new host family. Thank God Steph was there because translating is a crazy job. Seems Lisa should be studying Spanish though. After chatting it up with the family, we got stuck in siesta time and thus had to stop at Telepizza for lunch, thus causing the second round of sickness with Lisa that night. Later, they relaxed in the plaza making fun of people until it was time for dinner. I called a taxi because I had luggage for them to take back to the states and the driver started charging me from where he was when the cab company contacted him! I hate taxis!
Tuesday, April 6th
Lisa is sick so Mom, Dad, Katie and I headed to the Prado Museum. Though the most confusing museum map, we were able to find all the paintings we wanted. We stopped in the little cafe for a snack and there was a soft chocolate chip cookie! it was like a gold mine- I hadn't seen once of those since January! We went to el Parque de Retiro where Dad where we took a little rest to have a coca-cola light by the estanque. After dilly dallying in the park, we ate dinner at my vegetarian restaurant, Yerbabuena. Mom and Dad split paella and Katie and I got onion soup that should have come with bread, cheese and almonds, but the cook "forgot to add them." After pestering this lady trying to find someone to talk to in English because she initially told me that even though that stuff was included in the menu I had to specify that I wanted it- you've got to be kidding me. So she gave us the cash for the two meals- very odd.
Wednesday, April 7th: Segovia
Steph joined us again for a day trip to Segovia and Dad was in picture heaven. First, we saw the Roman Aqueduct, built in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. We took some cool pictures, stay tuned you may see them next Christmas. Then we found an American restaurant and Lisa and Katie were in their glory since Segovia is known for roast suckling pig. We saw the Cathedral here Katie tried to snap some illegal pictures of Monks and then almost lost Dad on the way to the Alcázar, another castle, but very cool. We weren't as restricted in this one as we were in the Madrid. Cutting it close as always, we make it to the train station, but not before stopping for some chocolate covered almonds. In order to avoid leaving Spain without having paella, we wet to Paella de la Reina. Delicious as usual, but Dad's sickness set in.
Thursday, April 8th
Again Lisa, Katie and I had to share two beds the night before, but I wanted to stay in order to help with the escapades of carrying 7 pieces of luggage between 3 metro switches to the airport- that definitely would've made America's funniest home videos. Anyway, I waited in line with them for a while and then said goodbye. I was super close to emptying one of the suitcases and jumping inside, but I resisted. On the metro I was sitting next to this guy with a cast around his hand and in a sling. While on the escalator switching from the metro to the commuter train, I felt something kind of tugging behind me. I moved, but didn't think anything of it. After feeling it again, I realized someone behind me was trying to open my purse. I moved my purse to the front of me and saw one of the section's was unzipped! Good thing I always keep the front of my purse to my chest and the back zipper, which only had post its and cough drops, facing the outside. The cast guy tried to pick-pocket me! I gave a dirty look, but was too much in shock to say anything- pendejo!
Barcelona
Thursday, April 1st
Took the Ave speed train to Barcelona and arrived around 2:30pm then proceeded to wander around the streets of Barcelona looking for my family because they couldn't be waiting for me at the hotel like every other family. By wandering around by myself, I got a full tour of Les Rambles (the main road with an abundance of shops, restaurants and street entertainment) and the port before they could even figure out where they were. After finally finding them, we stopped for lunch and were watched like a movie by "creepy guy in the green shirt sitting at the bar." That's the thing about the Spanish- they have absolutely no problem with blatantly staring at you. After lunch, we walked to see the Cathedral, a prime example of Gothic influences in Barcelona. That night we ate dinner at Citrus, where they had eaten the night before. Thanks to my excellent Spanish translation, we discovered that Lisa's delicious steak dinner was actually "buey" better know as bull. Haha- gross!
Friday, April 2nd
Prepare for a day of walking and boy, did we walk- Barcelona is full of many modernist sites and I only had a day to see them. After the delicious hotel breakfast, we headed to the first stop of the day- Park Güell, one of Antoni Gaudí's works. This project was first intended to be a large elite residential estate, but there were only two buyers. As a result, Gaudí turned the area into a magical park marked by the use of trencadís or broken pottery, similar to a mosaic design. The entrance to the park has two unique gatehouses with roofs covered in trencadís. They had a fairytale appeal and looked almost like gingerbread houses. These house represent good and evil and the cross on one house is higher as to symbolize good rising above evil. The park's icon is a salamander decorated in the same mosaic style- it is practically impossible to get a picture with this guy. The main square has a wavy bench again covered with the broken pottery.
Next, we went to see la Sagrada Família, a church by Gaudí that can be seen from all over Barcelona. This church was originally destined to be a traditional Gothic church, but when Gaudí took over the project, he implemented his modernist styles. There are two main façades- one depicted the passion of Christ and the other, the birth. It was interesting to see the two different styles in both façades. We also waited on line for 45 minutes to climb the tower, which was not all it was cracked up to be. This church continues to be construction and will hopefully be finished in time for the centennial anniversary of Gaudí. After wandering around the church, we had lunch at a delicious pizza place. Took a quick pit stop at the hotel and headed out again to take the cable cars to Monjüic and see the castle. It was really cool, but really windy. Got some good pics of course. On the way back, I took the family to Maoz, a falafel vegetarian restaurant. It was well-liked except by Katie so she got churros and chocolate.
Saturday, April 3rd
The family left early in the morning so I joined the group. We visited the Picasso Museum. It was really interesting to see the progression of Picasso's works and how his like influenced his painting at different time periods. His version of Las Meninas, a painting originally by Velasquez, was most impressive and really showed his style while maintaining the natural composition. After the museum, we had free time until catching the train again. Chelsea and I did some shopping and found whole wheat pasta in a Chinese restaurant called Wok to Walk- so delicious!
Took the Ave speed train to Barcelona and arrived around 2:30pm then proceeded to wander around the streets of Barcelona looking for my family because they couldn't be waiting for me at the hotel like every other family. By wandering around by myself, I got a full tour of Les Rambles (the main road with an abundance of shops, restaurants and street entertainment) and the port before they could even figure out where they were. After finally finding them, we stopped for lunch and were watched like a movie by "creepy guy in the green shirt sitting at the bar." That's the thing about the Spanish- they have absolutely no problem with blatantly staring at you. After lunch, we walked to see the Cathedral, a prime example of Gothic influences in Barcelona. That night we ate dinner at Citrus, where they had eaten the night before. Thanks to my excellent Spanish translation, we discovered that Lisa's delicious steak dinner was actually "buey" better know as bull. Haha- gross!
Friday, April 2nd
Prepare for a day of walking and boy, did we walk- Barcelona is full of many modernist sites and I only had a day to see them. After the delicious hotel breakfast, we headed to the first stop of the day- Park Güell, one of Antoni Gaudí's works. This project was first intended to be a large elite residential estate, but there were only two buyers. As a result, Gaudí turned the area into a magical park marked by the use of trencadís or broken pottery, similar to a mosaic design. The entrance to the park has two unique gatehouses with roofs covered in trencadís. They had a fairytale appeal and looked almost like gingerbread houses. These house represent good and evil and the cross on one house is higher as to symbolize good rising above evil. The park's icon is a salamander decorated in the same mosaic style- it is practically impossible to get a picture with this guy. The main square has a wavy bench again covered with the broken pottery.
Next, we went to see la Sagrada Família, a church by Gaudí that can be seen from all over Barcelona. This church was originally destined to be a traditional Gothic church, but when Gaudí took over the project, he implemented his modernist styles. There are two main façades- one depicted the passion of Christ and the other, the birth. It was interesting to see the two different styles in both façades. We also waited on line for 45 minutes to climb the tower, which was not all it was cracked up to be. This church continues to be construction and will hopefully be finished in time for the centennial anniversary of Gaudí. After wandering around the church, we had lunch at a delicious pizza place. Took a quick pit stop at the hotel and headed out again to take the cable cars to Monjüic and see the castle. It was really cool, but really windy. Got some good pics of course. On the way back, I took the family to Maoz, a falafel vegetarian restaurant. It was well-liked except by Katie so she got churros and chocolate.
Saturday, April 3rd
The family left early in the morning so I joined the group. We visited the Picasso Museum. It was really interesting to see the progression of Picasso's works and how his like influenced his painting at different time periods. His version of Las Meninas, a painting originally by Velasquez, was most impressive and really showed his style while maintaining the natural composition. After the museum, we had free time until catching the train again. Chelsea and I did some shopping and found whole wheat pasta in a Chinese restaurant called Wok to Walk- so delicious!
Semana Santa in the Pent House
Friday, March 26th
Before leaving for Madrid to meet up with Steph, her mom and Linda, my new señora, Juana, gave me a personal tour of all the sites in Alcalá. According to Juana, it's horrible that I had yet to see these wonderful churches and convents. I know all of them are beautiful in their own way, but it was a tad overload. Anyway, she bought me some delicious almonds from an order of nuns through a revolving window because the nuns can’t be seen. How sweet!
Okay- I have about 18 bags to take to Madrid and it was quite the challenge to walk to the train station, but I made it to the gorgeous apartment in Sol, also known as the Pent House. Its only fault was slanted ceilings that caused a lot of head injuries. Also, the back room dubbed " The Alice in Wonderland" room was where we were sent when we were punished. This room was way to small for a human person to function- it looked like all the furniture shrunk and we were way too big. That night we had dinner at Paella de la Reina. Yummy vegetable paella, but please hold the full crustaceans with eyes still attached. We took a pit stop at Starbucks and went to visit Steph’s señora.
Saturday, March 27th – Sunday, March 28th
This morning we flew to Bilbao, a city in el País Basco (an autonomous community in northern Spain). Since we are only there for a short time, we were only able to visit the Guggenheim Museum. The art was a little too modern for my taste, but some of the exhibits were interesting. After Bilbao, we hopped on a bus to San Sebastian, a northern port city and checked out the lovely Leku Eder hotel. That night we walked around the downtown area and saw la playa de la concha (the most populat beach), Il porto (the port), and this huge statue of Jesus on top of a mountain. The next morning we ate breakfast in a room overlooking the city. After breakfast, we walked down the mountain in search of the mini-train or Funicular, but since it wasn’t up and running until 11:00am, we headed to the Palace to take some gorgeous pictures. By this time, the train was open so we took a ride up the mountain. The views were beautiful and there was a wanna be Jersey Shore Boardwalk, however, really removed from the water. Deli and I also took a cruise in a log flume that is really meant to entertain kids.
Monday, March 29th
Monday was a pretty low-key day in Madrid especially considering we didn’t get started until about 3:00pm. Oops! We walked around Retiro Park and saw the Estanque, El Angel Caído (The Fallen Angel) and el Bosque del Recuerdo, (The Forrest of Remembrance), which commemorates the terrorist attacks of May 11. After a little wine break, we went to the Reina Sofia - a very large modernist museum chock full of Picasso. I only really wanted to see one of Picasso’s most famous paintings, Guernica. This work represents the anguish of the Spanish civil war from 1936-1939 through unnatural and forced positions. That night, we caught a portion of a procession for Semana Santa (Holy Week). At first, we were a little unsure as to what was going on since the attire didn’t strike us as holy (more like the KKK or witchcraft). The people leading the parade were wearing tall, black cone hats and the women were covered from head to toe in black, but we were reassured by the priests and the image of the Virgin that was being carried on a float surrounded by flowers. It was very impressive and such a traditional and important part of Semana Santa. That night, however, I had a crazy dream in which these scary KKK looking guys cam to my house and were trying to kill me.
Tuesday, March 30th: Granada in Fast Forward
We headed to the airport at 4:30am to catch a ridiculously early (and cheap) flight to Granada, a city in Analucía (an autonomous community in southern Spain). Since nothing was even open when we landed, we enjoyed the rather gourmet breakfast in the airport. Even after killing some time, it was still too early to go into the Cathedral, so we walked to the Alabcín, Granada’s old Jewish quarter known for whitewashed house and the Sacramonte, a network of caves carved out of the clay rock where the gypsies still live today. Holy crap- talk about a hike up a hill, but it was worth it. The views were beautiful as usual and the caves were so cool. Steph and I actually walked through one- I don’t think I could ever live there. We also saw la Iglesia de Santa Ana, which had two statues that are used in the processions for Semana Santa in Granada. Since there was actually sun, we grabbed lunch at an outside restaurant. After lunch, Steph and I headed to the park to see the summer home of Federico García Lorca, a famous Spanish literary figure to kill some time again waiting for the Cathedral to be open. However, instead of going into the Cathedral, Steph and I went into capilla real to see the tombs of Ferdinand, Isabella, Felipe & Juana la Loca (Spanish royal figures) and we may or may not have snapped some illegal pics. Next on the agenda was the Alhambra, a fortress, palace and city all rolled into one and whose name comes from the Arabic root meaning “red or crimson castle.” We only got to see the Palacios de los Nazaríes because we had to catch a bus back to Madrid. We slept in really late the next day (seems these days trips really wore us out) and then I headed back to Alcalá to prepare for my weekend trip to Barcelona.
Thanks for a great week Deli, Steph & Linda!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
My New Journal
Since motivating myself to write in a journal is impossible and I'm about two months behind, I figured I would try to document life in Spain on the computer. Hopefully this last month will be full of exciting adventures and funny stories. Enjoy :)
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