Is pretty much what I´m feeling right now.
I have soooo much to tell!! I was definately feeling the bottom of my "U" in October, but I could tell November was going to be AMAZING and its proved itself to me. Haha!
Reasons why November was freaking awesome!!
#1) I MOVED OUT of my crappy living sitch!! And in to the best possible situation for me too! I love my new house and all my new roommates... meaning the family I live with. There´s AnaOla who goes to school at the Compultense too and is 18, her sister Aurora who´s 15, their parents Jose (AKA Pepe) and Ana and their somewhere between 55 and 50, then there´s the grandparents, Salvador and I keep forgetting the grandma´s name... but she loves repeating her story as to why she´s not educated bc during the Civil war her dad didn´t want her going to school with boys. Haha! And then there´s Tommi who´s a Monday-Friday maid and she is sooo awesome! I like waking up to her and coming home from school to her to chat with. She doesn´t clean my room, but she´s really helpful if I have any dudas.
#2) OBAMA won! ... but thats a given. Great way to start my month off right there.
#3) We had our excursion to Sevilla the weekend after elections.
... and in Sevilla me and my friend Darlene hung out with a couple of friends that we know from Madrid, but are from Sevilla and they showed us a good time. And Sevilla is SO beautiful and the weather is SO perfect! I didn´t want to leave! The cool thing is we want to go back for their festivals in February I think... or April? Hahah... there´s some in Cadiz too that we want to go to, but for sure Sevilla´s in we can. Anyways, me and Dar might be joingin our Sevillan friends for New Years in a house they usually rent as a group... which means I get a mini-vacay during my winter break since I´m too poor to go to the UK with Sarah after all. I hope it all works out... here are some pics of Sevilla... none are from me though. I wasn´t in a picture taking mood while I was there. I just wanted to embrass it all!
#4) The following weekend my very good guy friends from Gilroy, Gibbs and Neil, paid for a flight for me to go to Amsterdam!!! I love them soooo much for that!! I flew out Saturday morning and was greeted by 3 of the most beautiful faces in my life! Sarah met us at the airport too and they made a cute little sign so I could find them! Haha...
Neil´s brother was kind enough to recomend a hotel we should stay at... little did we know this hotel was in the damn boondocks of Amsterdam. Haha! It was about a 20 min bus ride to the airport, where we then had to take a train to Amsterdam Centraal. Still fun though.
We checked in then made our way to the center on Saturday night. Walked around a lot... we hit up the Redlight District a little too early and only got to see a few not so pretty hookers. We found a bar we were really comfortable in and somehow the last 6 hours of our night flew by! We made a new friend and had some issues figuring out how to get back to the hotel from the airport... Eventually (around 6am) we made it. And napped until 2...
We showered and got ready and headed back to the airport for lunch at the BK lounge and after that the lovely Ms. Sarah left me and the boys. :-( We went back to the center and attempted to get to the Heinekin Brewery on time to take a tour, but failed and insteaded went to the bar next door for a few drinks. Went back towards the center and walked around the Redlight District A LOT in search of a certain alley where supposedly the best hookers are... After we found it we went to the same bar as the night before. They were closing at about 1, so we decided to make it an early night since the guys had to leave around 4 the next day, so we headed home. Or tried too. What ended up happening was the fastest train to the airport was first going to Utrecht (where Sarah lives and also about 40 mins the opposite direction from where we needed to be). Haha... So we napped for a while, and eventually got back to our hotel.
The next morning we packed up and headed to the center. We finally made it to the Heinekin Brewery and took a tour! You get 2 free drinks with admission! Haha... after that we grabbed a bite to eat and the boys went on their way. So I wandered for a while by myself... I had wanted to visit either the VanGough Museum or the Anne Frank House. But, I didn´t think I´d have enough time for either and I couldn´t quite understand how to get there. All in all the trip was awesome and seeing some of my best friends from home really helped me cope with my "U" issue.
#5) This past weekend was full of fun... Some of Emma´s friends from Barcelona came down and I spent most of Friday with them until nighttime came and they were heading of to Capital, a huge 7 story club that costs a lot and I wasn´t down to go to. So I went with Dar to meet up with our Sevillan friends in Sol. Funny little thing to mention... I´m kind of seeing one of our Sevillan friends. His name is Carlos, he´s 30 and has a bald spot on the back of his head. Haha... he´s really cool and fun to talk to. Yes, we talk to eachother in Spanish and he as well as the rest of my spanish friends agree that my Spanish has improved greatly. We communicate a lot better now than we did back when we met at La Noche en Blanco. Anyways... just thought I´d throw that in there.
On Saturday night however, a big group of us went to a party called Sensation White and it was AMAZING! It was a techno concert that started at 8:30 and ended at 3... sooooo FUN!!! My body was really sore after dancing for that long, but it was definately worth it. Definately.
#6) And lastly... I´M DONE WITH MIDTERMS!!!!
Haha... yeah, so they say spanish students don´t have to take them, but us americans do. Screw that... but whatev... THEIR DONE!!!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Huelga
Sooo... There is definately a strike happening right now in my facultad. And my roommat is involved. Haha!
There´s this thing called Bologna thats trying to be passed that would change the standards of all the universities in the European Union. Basically it would take a degree you get from an Ivy League school and make it the equivalent to getting a degree at CSU. ¿Entiendes?
So, as would be expected most of the students here at the Compultence are not down for the change. There have been several strikes on campus about it and there are always new signs up denouncing it, but today is different. Since Monday there have been students locked in the building over night in protest of Boloña and they are all on full strike along with more (my roomie included). When my friend Janel and I were getting off the bus this morning in front of my facultad AnaOla was right there. Haha... with face paint making a human chain and telling all the students getting off the bus not to go to their classes. I said hi and we kept walking towards the doors where it looked like we weren´t going to be able to enter. There were a lot more students there with a huge banner covering the door saying something about Boloña and the strike and a couple guys were on megaphones. We had to walk under the banner to get through the doors and as soon as you duck you start to get gently hit and taunted by even more students in the foyer with newspaper pom-poms calling you a name that we didn´t quite understand and telling you not to go to class. They had newspaper strips hanging from the ceiling like streamers with signs about stopping Boloña all over. Then on the stairway that goes to the bottom floor they had blocked one off by wrapping toilet paper around the rails so you really couldn´t walk through. Luckily the other side was clear. There are ridiculous amounts of signs everywhere... much more than usual. And very few people are actually in the building. Normally you can barely walk, but today it seems semi-ghost town.
Thankfully my teacher did show up for class, he was lucky enough to not be hit. I´m guessing they would get in a lot of trouble for hitting a teacher, but the rest of my classmates had been. We all kind of feel ashamed for coming to our classes since this is such an important thing to the students here. I wouldn´t want a change like this in the U.S. I understand why its been proposed, but higher education to me shouldn´t be dumbed down to help the masses. Anyhooter... I´m gonna get going soon and I´m kind of nervous to walk outside the building. I´m also wondering how long my roommate is going to be here, I wonder if she´s going to spend the night again?
There´s this thing called Bologna thats trying to be passed that would change the standards of all the universities in the European Union. Basically it would take a degree you get from an Ivy League school and make it the equivalent to getting a degree at CSU. ¿Entiendes?
So, as would be expected most of the students here at the Compultence are not down for the change. There have been several strikes on campus about it and there are always new signs up denouncing it, but today is different. Since Monday there have been students locked in the building over night in protest of Boloña and they are all on full strike along with more (my roomie included). When my friend Janel and I were getting off the bus this morning in front of my facultad AnaOla was right there. Haha... with face paint making a human chain and telling all the students getting off the bus not to go to their classes. I said hi and we kept walking towards the doors where it looked like we weren´t going to be able to enter. There were a lot more students there with a huge banner covering the door saying something about Boloña and the strike and a couple guys were on megaphones. We had to walk under the banner to get through the doors and as soon as you duck you start to get gently hit and taunted by even more students in the foyer with newspaper pom-poms calling you a name that we didn´t quite understand and telling you not to go to class. They had newspaper strips hanging from the ceiling like streamers with signs about stopping Boloña all over. Then on the stairway that goes to the bottom floor they had blocked one off by wrapping toilet paper around the rails so you really couldn´t walk through. Luckily the other side was clear. There are ridiculous amounts of signs everywhere... much more than usual. And very few people are actually in the building. Normally you can barely walk, but today it seems semi-ghost town.
Thankfully my teacher did show up for class, he was lucky enough to not be hit. I´m guessing they would get in a lot of trouble for hitting a teacher, but the rest of my classmates had been. We all kind of feel ashamed for coming to our classes since this is such an important thing to the students here. I wouldn´t want a change like this in the U.S. I understand why its been proposed, but higher education to me shouldn´t be dumbed down to help the masses. Anyhooter... I´m gonna get going soon and I´m kind of nervous to walk outside the building. I´m also wondering how long my roommate is going to be here, I wonder if she´s going to spend the night again?
Thursday, November 6, 2008
I´ve never been more proud
to be an American.
I feel like my words cannot do my thoughts and feelings justice. I was so nervous for election day even though it seemed like the whole world was on my side. But being outside the United States for an event like this gave me an entirely new perspective on life back at home. The U.S. has gained respect again from the world, and not just because we are more powerful, but because we are finally using our brains again and making the right decision.
Every person that realizes I am an American immediately asks if you are for Obama and is more than glad to explain to you that they are and are excited for the elections as well. We went out to bars to watch the states turn and instantly had a bar full of non-americans explaining their perspectives to us and their hopes that the Republicans would not win.
This man wanted to know everything he could about our election process as it was going on. With every state that turned we would cheer and I would have to explain more about the electoral college to him. Haha!
When the screen flashed Obama´s name announcing him as the winner EVERYONE in the bar was extatic! I am not normally an emotional person, but my eyes watered up and tears almost streamed when I saw the results. I honestly had my doubts. Prefering to be pesimistic and not wanting to get my hopes up I continued to tell myself that the Bible-belt of America was going to pull through again and screw us over. But it didn´t happen. I am so glad to have been abroud and see what the rest of the world thinks of us during this time of change.
I have never denounced being an American, but I have felt very disappointed in my fellow Americans for quite some time. Especially those that were able to vote 4 years ago. Since Wednesday morning I have not been able to keep a smile off my face. The whole thing seems too surreal to me. I keep feeling like I am going to wake up and realize that this monumentous event didn´t actually happen. But it did. And I am so proud of America and especially the American citizens that finally put forth their views and opinions and got out there and voted.
I do feel that many might have just been swayed by the excitement around the country to go vote for the president and not all the issues. I am very disappointed in my fellow Californians for passing Proposition 8. Who has the right to tell anyone how to live their life. I do believe in our high school government classes we learn that there is a separation of church and state clause in our constitution, but that somehow seems to have been overlooked this year. I apologize to those in the gay and lesbian community for allowing your rights as a U.S. citizen to be taken away. I hope that within the next few years we are able to pull ourselves back together and overturn the decision. We have 4 years of progress to make up for 8 years of bad decisions and I have faith that it will get done. I don´t doubt that there will still be hard times coming, but the big outcome will be worth the struggle.
Have a wonderful day America and I cannot wait to return next summer!
I feel like my words cannot do my thoughts and feelings justice. I was so nervous for election day even though it seemed like the whole world was on my side. But being outside the United States for an event like this gave me an entirely new perspective on life back at home. The U.S. has gained respect again from the world, and not just because we are more powerful, but because we are finally using our brains again and making the right decision.
Every person that realizes I am an American immediately asks if you are for Obama and is more than glad to explain to you that they are and are excited for the elections as well. We went out to bars to watch the states turn and instantly had a bar full of non-americans explaining their perspectives to us and their hopes that the Republicans would not win.
This man wanted to know everything he could about our election process as it was going on. With every state that turned we would cheer and I would have to explain more about the electoral college to him. Haha!When the screen flashed Obama´s name announcing him as the winner EVERYONE in the bar was extatic! I am not normally an emotional person, but my eyes watered up and tears almost streamed when I saw the results. I honestly had my doubts. Prefering to be pesimistic and not wanting to get my hopes up I continued to tell myself that the Bible-belt of America was going to pull through again and screw us over. But it didn´t happen. I am so glad to have been abroud and see what the rest of the world thinks of us during this time of change.
I have never denounced being an American, but I have felt very disappointed in my fellow Americans for quite some time. Especially those that were able to vote 4 years ago. Since Wednesday morning I have not been able to keep a smile off my face. The whole thing seems too surreal to me. I keep feeling like I am going to wake up and realize that this monumentous event didn´t actually happen. But it did. And I am so proud of America and especially the American citizens that finally put forth their views and opinions and got out there and voted.
I do feel that many might have just been swayed by the excitement around the country to go vote for the president and not all the issues. I am very disappointed in my fellow Californians for passing Proposition 8. Who has the right to tell anyone how to live their life. I do believe in our high school government classes we learn that there is a separation of church and state clause in our constitution, but that somehow seems to have been overlooked this year. I apologize to those in the gay and lesbian community for allowing your rights as a U.S. citizen to be taken away. I hope that within the next few years we are able to pull ourselves back together and overturn the decision. We have 4 years of progress to make up for 8 years of bad decisions and I have faith that it will get done. I don´t doubt that there will still be hard times coming, but the big outcome will be worth the struggle.
Have a wonderful day America and I cannot wait to return next summer!
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