So relaxed...

Last night was simply a fabulous night. Karen, her friend Chessy, and I all went to los baños arabes arabes (arab baths) for a fun hour of sitting in hot water. There were two baths, one cold and one hot. We basically spent the whole time in the hot one but took a few trips to the cold one just to cool down a bit. To make the whole experience even better, we all got a 15 minute massage. There were two masseuses; one male and the other female. I was partnered with Chessy so I let her pick which one she wanted because she doesn´t speak Spanish. She obviously picked the women so I had the guy give me the massage. I hope Travis doesn´t get too jealous. It was awkward at first but then I got over it. All in all, it was just lovely and I don´t know how to describe it any more. I want to go back (hint to mom and dad). After the baths, we went out and got tapas which were good and filling. I had a good night sleep and I am ready to finish out the school year. For other news, two weekends ago, I participated in a photo contest along with Jenny, Maria, and Ashley for our program. Today we got the results and we found out that we won! Hooray for us! Now I think that the prize money is 75 euros to a restaraunt of our choice so that is pretty snazzy. I don´t know where we are going to go yet but it should be fun either way. Later on I will try to post the winning picture along with the other ones from the contest. I don´t know when I will be able to do it though because when I woke up this morning, there was no internet connection in my room. I hope that I haven´t lost it forever but it won´t be too awful because I only have 2 weeks left in the apartment. I should count how many days I have left living with Maribel. Yeah, definitely only 14 more days because on weekend I am going to Morocco and another weekend I will be in Madrid with Meg!

Word of the day: Relajarse - to relax

Blogged out

If you have not noticed already, I have been writing less and less and it is because I am simply tired of writing. I know you must be incredibly disappointed but I felt it my duty to let you know why I have not posted in over a week. There has not been much to write about either because Granada is finally just a normal city that I live in, not a crazy new environment like it was before. The only thing really worth noting is Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. Yes, we did have a dinner but it obviously was not like what we have in the states. For starters, there were plates of appetizers with an odd assortment of things. It had cold corn, beets, lettuce, bamboo shoots or at least that is what Karen thought they were, kiwi, and maybe something else but I don't remember. On other plates were just some little slices of ham...how typical. Spain is crazy about their ham and I never knew that there were so many types of it until I came here. Aside from the appetizers, we also got a roll of bread. I think I would have been shocked if bread was not already waiting for us when we got there. Bread is also a big thing here, they have it with every meal and I think everyone's señora is shocked when we turn it down. Surprisingly, I have even turned down bread. I know what you are thinking Meg so try not to die of a heart attack. You might see what I am talking about when you get here which is in less than 3 weeks! Anyway, our next dish was this tasty soup. I absolutely love soup now. I think it is my favorite thing here but it makes sense seeing as I get a different soup almost everyday for lunch. I am not sure what kind of soup it was but I think I heard people saying that it was calabazas which translates to pumpkin or squash but I am not sure if they got the correct information or really where they got it from. It was green and creamy and it had croûtons in it that I originally thought was going to be meat before I ate it so I was shocked when it turned out to be crunchy. Now on to the main dish: a heaping pile of stuffing with some turkey on the side, peas, mashed potatoes that were a little too much on the creamy side, and I think the last thing was a slice of sweet potato, either way I didn't eat it. Along with the sweet potato that I did not eat, I also did not eat the stuffing because I was deterred by the crunchyness of it. I think they put nuts in it. Is that how stuffing is usually made? I am not too sure. The turkey was good considering that the chef has probably never made it before and the mashed potatoes and peas were good as well. I wish I got more peas though. For dessert, they gave us some pumpkin flan which I was not fond of at all. I had a few nibbles and I was done. We did, however, get another dessert because it was this girls birthday that day and one of her friends had brought a cake. Yummy! It wasn't really a cake but it was chocolate and good. We all only got a little slice because there were so many people but it was better than nothing. I think that is all to report for now. I will try to write more so you guys will have something to do while you are procrastinating at work or whatever you all do. Hasta luego!

Word of the day: Día de acción de gracias

No more deportivos

Last night we lost our soccer game. It is sad that there are no more organized sports games and it makes me want to join a team when I get back. The game was ridiculous though because the other team consisted only of chicos and they were such chauvinistic pigs. Before the game started, one of them asked one of the guys on the AIFS team if we wanted to borrow some players seeming to indicate that we would need help seeing as our team was mostly chicas. I could have lived with just that but throughout the game, they treated us like delicate flowers that would surely break. Every time someone fell down, they would go out of their way to help us up to the point where it was annoying. They made comments about how they are not used to playing with girls and that it was just plain weird for us to be playing. At one point towards the end, I was standing on the sidelines because I was subbed out and the ball came my way so I gently tapped it. As I did so, I slipped about 2 inches on the gravel and one of the guys came up to me and asked me if I was all right in an overly concerned manner. I mean really, was that necessary?! I barely did anything and he made such a big deal about it. Another thing that made me mad and everyone else on the AIFS team was that from 5 feet away from the goal, they would kick the ball as hard as they could. This was completely unnecessary and it never worked to their advantage. I feel like they were compensating for something. Well we lost to them so no more soccer :-(.

After the game was when the real fun began though. As we were walking back, we came across some monkey bars so I decided that it would be fun to hold on to one of the bars and swing myself back and forth. It was a good idea at the time, well not really because I was wearing my mittens and that doesn't really work out too well when you are trying to hold onto something. Needless to say, after I got enough momentum, I lost my grip and landed hard on my stomach. It hurt but I was laughing because it must have looked incredibly funny. My right wrist kind of hurts now and I somehow got a cut on my left elbow even though I was wearing my sweatshirt. I am so smart aren't I? That is all the news for now except that the elevator in my apartment is not working so it is difficult to navigate the dark stair case. I hope I don't walk into any walls after coming back from tapas tonight. I will keep you posted.

I've got mail

Indeed I have. I went to the AIFS office today an lo and behold, there was a package for me! Woot! I have been waiting for this package very anxiously for a whole week and it has finally come. It was pretty weighty and when I opened it, there was a box inside the box. I open the second box to find the Sunday comics from 2 weeks ago. Oh how I miss the Sunday paper. The next thing that I encountered was an envelope with a picture of my dad drinking a liter of beer at TKD testing. What?! I know. Apparently when my mom was packing the box, that picture was just lying on the table so she decided to just throw it in with the rest of the stuff. A little odd, but ok. The next object that I grabbed was wrapped in paper towels and when I unwrapped it, I was completely confused because it was a can opener. Who on earth mails someone a can opener? Oh that is right, someone who knows how much their daughter loves cranberry sauce and realizes that she is missing Thanksgiving so sends her a can on it along with the utensil needed to open it. Good thinking mom! Now I will not miss Thanksgiving because I have my own supply of cranberry sauce. It won't be the same as the homemade stuff but it is better than nothing. Also included in the box was 4 boxes of my favorite candy and 2 boxes of Junior Mints. If you don't know what my favorite candy is, looks like you will never know what those 4 boxes were. Too bad! Anyway, the last thing that I got was wrapped in a Wilber's General Store bag. My first thought went to cheese but then I immediately ruled that out because the cheese would have probably gone bad and that would just be gross. It turned out to be a navy blue long sleeve t-shirt that says Little Compton, Rhode Island on it and also has a sailboat on it. It smells like the store too. Good old LC! I am going to go munch on some candy now.

Word of the day: Arándano - cranberry
Salsa de arándanos - cranberry sauce

Feel the rhythm of the beat

I went salsa dancing again last night but it was at a different place than the first one. Unlike the other one, this was more like a lesson where we would stand in a line and just follow what the instructor did. It was really fun even though I can't really dance salsa. You see, for salsa, you need to be able to move your hips and also shimmy from time to time and seeing as I can't do either of these, my dancing is not up to par with everyone else. I suppose it doesn't really matter how well I can dance but as long as I am having fun. I love the music that we dance to though. I want to get a cd of it because it is that great. When I get back home, I want to find a place where I can continue dancing salsa. Does anyone want to go with me?

Mid-term exams are this next week. Out of my four classes, I only have two exams. One of them is this coming Tuesday. It is my political systems of the European Union class. He told us yesterday that it is a pass/fail exam so I sure hope that I pass. I am going to study all this weekend with Karen. My second exam is for my translation class and that is on Monday the 19th. I am nervous about this one because we only have an hour and a half to translate two articles and usually it take me that amount of time just to do one. I really hope I pass that one. We shall see though.

Word of the day: Examen - exam
Pasar - to pass
Suspender - to fail

Hello Muddah, hello Faddah

Hello Muddah, hello Faddah,
Here I am at Camp Granada.
Spain is very entertaining,
And we’ll all have more fun when we
can stop complaining.

“No hot water for our showers.”
“Dumb T.V. shows that last three
hours.”
“Our señoras all pinch the euros.”
And “You can’t fit more than three in
elevators.”

All the hams here still have feet on,
But the toilets have no seat on.
You remember Betsy Weibels?
She got sick from eating food with limbs and eyeballs.

Now I don’t want you to worry,
But the drivers always hurry,
Drive no handed, and chat on the mobile,
Once I nearly got myself run o-ber!

Fly me home! Oh Muddah, Faddah,
Fly me home! I hate Granada!
Don’t leave me in the Correos line,
Still waiting ‘til the end of time!
Fly me home! I promise I will study more,
And never ever slam the door!
Oh, please don’t make me stay!
I’ve been here ONE...WHOLE...DAY!

Dearest Faddah, Darling Muddah,
How’s my brilliant little bruddah?
Let me come home, grant my wishes.
I will gladly mow the lawn and wash the dishes.

Wait a minute...folks are joking,
Speaking clearly, and not smoking.
Keeping dogs leashed, gee that’s better.
Muddah, Faddah, please just throw away this letter.

Every week we get an AIFS newsletter and this was included in it this past week. It was written by and AIFS student many years ago and when I read it I knew immediately that I had to post it. It is so funny and so true at the same time. It also reminds me of when Meg went to camp and everyone was singing that. Ah, the memories. Well I hope you all enjoyed and got a good chuckle.

Dance the night away

Last night was an eventful night for me. AIFS team 2 had a volleyball game last night. It was the semi-final game so decided to go and watch but I brought my game cloths just in case there were not enough people. It is a good thing that I did because only 5 people from the actual team 2 were there. Jenny and I played with them even though we are on team 1 just so that they would not have to forfeit. It was sad because we ended up losing but oh well. It was fun while it lasted. Last night was the last night for volleyball anyway because right after the semi-final game was the final. After the game, I went with Maria to an internet cafe just to pass the time until salsa dancing! That is right, last night I went salsa dancing. It was me, Maria, Jenny, Karen, and Ashley. It was at this bar that does salsa on Monday and Wednesday nights for free and it was really cool. It is laid-back and informal where everyone just dances for about 15 minutes and then the instructor brings us all together for one song and he just teaches steps as everyone follows along. In my case, it was more like trying to follow along, but it was fun anyway. By the end of the night I had danced some salsa, merengue, and bachata. I can't wait to go back and lucky for me there is another place that we found where they have free salsa on Tuesday and Thursday nights so I think we are going there tonight. Fun, fun! I will be dancing every night of the week.

When I got home after dancing, I went into the apartment (I did not walk into anything if that is what you are thinking) and got to my room to find out that the lights were not working. I didn't know what to do and Maribel was already asleep so I couldn't tell her about it. I had to turn on my laptop so I could use the light from it to change. I couldn't go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, or wash my face because I couldn't see a thing. I just got into bed and went to sleep. In the morning, I told Maribel about it and she said that sometimes the circuit breaker randomly turns itself off so she showed me how to turn it back on in case it happens again. I hope it doesn't though because knowing me, it will happen at night when I can't see anything and I will break my glasses even more.

Word of the day: Bailar - to dance

By the way, I added another album where all the pictures have me in them because someone was complaining that there were not enough pictures of my smiling face. I won't mention who it was but I am pretty sure you can all guess. Enjoy!

A tribute to...

No, not Meg again. This tribute is for Travis because as many of you know, he goes to Iraq today. I am sure that he will be in constant communication with people in the U.S. and also Spain so it won't be terribly awful, but I felt it necessary to make a blog entry just for him. Like before with the other tribute, I am just going to list off a few things that always remind me of Travis and that I have encountered in Spain.

- Running (very infrequent for me but I did go for a quick run this morning)
- "Brown Eyed Girl"
- Waffles
- Chocolate chip cookies (when they can be found)
- My green shirt that I wore to the photo shoot
- Alcohol (we are obviously both drunkards)
- "Superman" (theme song from Scrubs)
- Pretty much all the music on my ipod
- Travy McTravums
- Anyone in a uniform
- Camouflage clothing
- Snickers
- Cold hands and feet

Well, that is all I can think of for now but I will add more as they come to me. I sure hate encountering these things day after day because they make me miss him more but I guess that is a good thing.

Phrase of the day: Echar de menos a - to miss

Jumping

Here are three pictures that I just had to post because I find them very humorous. They are not in my album of pictures because they were not taken with my camera. My friends finally put the pictures on facebook so I was able to copy them and then display them for all to see. We tried three times to all jump together in Seville because we had tried in Segovia but failed miserably to all be in the air at the same time. As you can see, these weren't much better. Jumping is Jenny, Ashley, Maria, Charisse, and me.