You Know You've Studied Abroad In Spain When....

We all know the ins and outs of Spanish culture...Here is just a glimpse...

1. The mullet, made for men and women alike.
2. You know what a croqueta is.
3. You've eaten more fish and veal in one week than in your whole US life.
4. You've tasted ponche.
5. You have seen people in 50 degree weather in winter coats and scarves.
6. You've waken up to the sounds of Britney Spears, or your mom cleaning the water out of the radiator.
7. You have heard P.I.M.P. as a ring tone.
8. You have done shots with the bartenders in CanCan.
9. When you know how to the use the metro when the map is in Spanish.
10. It's taken you and hour to get to Madrid.
11. You have stolen internet.
12. You watch a dog take a crap on the side walk and the owner doesn't clean it up.
13. You have encountered numerous people haciendo un pis in the streets.
14. You have encountered tiny children wandering the streets.
15. You know what a ferret store is.
16. You know you can have a chipmunk as a pet.
17. You know what a doner is.
18. You got drunk off wine.
19. You are a huge fan of the Menú del Día.
20. You stayed in the Madrid til 6am because the Metro doesn´t start.
21. You´re life span has been shortened 5 years because of the second hand smoke.
22. You have seen a cigarette box that says ¨smoking can cause a slow and painful death¨
23. You have learned that deoderant is obviously not necessary.
24. You have seen a vending maching with thongs.
25. You have had a staring contest with a stranger in the streets.
26. You´ve watched Simpsons, the family guy, multiple multiple times.
27. You have trouble speaking both English and Spanish.
28. You´ve left the house to go out at 1am.
29. You know what a true dulce is.
30. You have never been to a store between 1430 and 1730.
31. You have fought with the lock on the door and have only won half the time.
32. You have gorged on scrambled eggs at the hotels.
33. You´ve had bread everday for every meal.
34. You have a lisp...
35. You know what Joder means.
36. You can take showers in a 2 ft box called a shower.
37. You jump when you hear the words Vamos A Comer
38. Your dinner time is about 2130.
39. You know what Corte Inglés is.
40. You have seen rainbow hair.
41. Fútbol is amazing.
42. You root on Barcelona or Madrid...
43. You know where the closest TGI Fridays is.
44. You know what Turron is.
45. You know Tortilla Francesa.
46. You have gotten Flan in a pudding Cup.
47. You know what the Chinos are, and when they are open...24-7
48. You have seen buildings that are older than our country.
49. You know who Velázquez is, and how to say it.
50. You have seen Pizza boys on Mopeds.
51. You´ve been suprised to see a ¨big¨car.
52. Calimocho, Sidra
53. Gazpacho, you know what it is...and ya like it.
54. You have seen old people out at 2 am
55. You know the differnce because tengo calor y estoy caliente.
56. You have been stopped at the plaza and asked if you speak english.
57. You have walked an hour to school
58. You have gotten funny looks when you have your lap top out in the school.
59. Vale, pues, venga
60. It´s not hasta luego, it´s hadalugo
61. You write on graph paper and not lined paper.
62. You have found the horrible truth that double spacing is not normal.
63. You have learned the true meaning of a cell phone bill.
64. Yelling is not yelling...it´s just excited chatter.
65. Personal space = 0cm.
66. You have seen pointy elf looking shoes.
67. You know fichas are a rare commodity.
68. You know what a puente is, and love it. (bridge weekend)
69. You know where to find cheap tickets.
70

La Salida de Bilbao con Mi Familia

Conchi drove John and I to the dove airport, white and architecturally designed after a dove, and parked the car at the drop off zone worrying about nothing, with her dog inside waiting patiently and faithfully, and walked us inside. On the ride over she was telling how “me muero” she would die if she traveled like I did. She would get lost and never be able to visit the states, although she wants to visit someday, because she does not know any English. I have taught her however some words: silly, cowboys and okay (it makes more sense in our context but there a couple words she knows). After checking in we went to the café for coffee and fresh donuts. Yet again Conchi feeds me a huge amount of amazing food! So we began to talk about the last three and a half months and how content she is with life and how she has learned a lot from me, like everyone who lives with someone else learns a lot. She started to tear up and said a couple of time ah I don’t want to cry. But sadly, I did not see any tears. She said I always have a place to stay when I come to Bilbao and that I should come next august maybe and I can stay with her and John too so he can learn Spanish.
This morning I met Nikki for a Napolitana (a chocolate croissant) in Casco Viejo where just pedestrians can go on the cobbled stone streets. We had pastries walked around, sent my final post cards and said goodbye after having a flashback of all out great times.

Four Fabulous Days in Paris

December in Paris
I spent four amazing days in Paris with my friend Nikki. I think this has been my favorite trip this semester. We had such great time all weekend and met such amazing people in the city. It is hard to believe that I am writing this when just 24 hours ago I was looking at the Eiffel tower. Every trip I have been on inspires me to learn their language- first Italian, then Portuguese and now French. That seventh grade French class at Hillview really payed off I must say! I was remembering all sorts of phrases and teaching them to Nikki just as she did in Portugal. I was also remembering all the words in English that we use that are French like: façade, rounde voux, mezzanine, voila, deja voux, armoire, hor d’hourves, tête-à-tête etc. It is funny because in the French language they use English words like weekend and snack in their vocabulary, so my French friend, Anthony, living in Bilbao told me. The phrases, “je nu se pas” and “je m'appelle Devon” really came in handy! I would really love to learn French though. I just have to practice my Spanish and become more fluent then I can move on.
So we started our trip at the bus station in Bilbao Wednesday afternoon and took a bus to Hendaye, which is in the south of France right at the Spanish border. They literally dropped us off after two hours and we had to walk across the border to France to catch the train, however we had missed our train out since the bus was late taking us there. So Nikki and I were thinking, okay how much are we willing to pay for anther train ticket since they most likely won’t reimburse us. I was thinking like 80 euro or something (which is what we had originally paid for our train fare), we both really wanted to go to Paris but tha is harder on a student’s budget. So we get there and wait in line at the ticket counter at the train station and are like crap how are we going to communicate, and so we started in Spanish and the man understood us and we told him our predicament with worried faces about ready to start crying if that is what it took, he was like okay, hmmmmmm, well and a few minutes of suspense he goes that will be four euros each. WHAT! Sweet, so we payed and looked at our tickets when he was explaining we had three minutes to change trains in Bordeoux. So if a train was late or early or one can’t read French signs, they are out of luck! So we arrive trying to ask where to go and finally figure it out and hop on the train with one minute to spare! Then we get into Paris around 12pm and luckily we were staying in a great area with some hosts who were generous enough to let us stay with them. Apparently it is very hard to get good hostels or apartments to stay in right in downtown Paris so we were in a great area with a metro very close. When we arrived it wasn’t raining either, which was very convenient since we had luggage (although every trip I am traveling lighter and lighter since it is so easy to have nothing).
There is certain elegance about Paris that I felt. It is seen in the cursive names of stores on every corner or the beautiful window presentations, it is a great city for window shopping, the perpetual amazing fresh smell in the streets from the bakeries and the warmth seen inside stores and restaurants is so comforting. It is just so lively and warm with Christmas decorations and lights of all kinds in every part of the city. Although it rained and at times poured on us all weekend long, it was great overall. In fact I think the rain added to the ambiance of the city and it was exactly how I imagined it with misty skies and drizzling rain coming down on all the different colors of the umbrellas. This was the perfect time to come, we saw everything under the Christmas spirit and lights and general French cheer.
So we started out on Thursday just below the river Seine walking around the cute shopping areas (which are everywhere in Paris) and made our way up to the Notre Dam on a little island between the two sides of the river, and at this point it had started raining. Oh how we would learn to love that rain! So we were ohhhing and aweing in front of the river and the cathedral and went inside to see a humongous cathedral, it took us maybe twenty minutes to see all the parts and walk all the way around the inside. I saw this great big plastic clear box on one od the sides of the two hallways where people where writing on little peices of paper and putting them into the slots. The small quarter sheets read "Message of Peace" and in French. Nikki and I wrote messages of peace. Little things like that make me feel good that so many other people from other countries are thinking about peace and working towards it. There were also lot of stations to light candles, the big ones where you take the lid off and put it on an alter or the little cheap ones that last maybe a couple hours, but they are all nice. I lit a candle for my mom and a few friends. The lighting was spectacular inside with the great stain glass windows and the candles everywhere. It is nice, whenever I see a bunch of candles together like that, I think of my mom. So then back out into the blustery wind, we continued walking along the river and found ourselves on a little alleyway and walked past an old restaurant decorated with red velvet and old utensils from the 19th century. We walked a little further and went into an opening that lead to a building and saw the same decorations in a little room full of kitschy (a word I picked up on this trip)decorations and a man with his art on the walls. We kind of peeked in and he said oh come in come in French then in English. Maybe about 60, he began to explain he lives in the south of France. He painted beautiful green landscapes and blue skies. He talked so enthusiastically with his British accent about his family and his art. He was so kind and warm it was very contagious. We then just started asking questions and talking about life. He asked us what we were studying and Nikki said English and creative writing, but oh I don’t know what I am going to do or what I am really learning. He told us that going to the university is really about concentration, learning to concentrate in life. How profound and though provoking this man was. Then we asked about what we had to go see and he told us all about the Musee d’orsay and the Louvre and a room near the louver with all of Monet’s water lilies (of course all about art!) He gave us directions and sent us on our way back across the river to the Latin Quarter where everywhere you turn is a fondue restaurant or an outdoor market, my new heaven (and who knew we would find about 20 more little charming markets)!

We walked around quite and bit after meeting this man and went to the Musee d'Orsay right by the river. Then we walked more, a common theme, doing our best to find a good looking restaurant. We were very particular about where we ate since we had to have the best because we only had a couple days there. Plus, I baked some banana bread from home and brought oranges, crackers and cheese. We ended up at a little pizza retaurant, why not try the french italian way of cooking pizza. We had our own personalized pizza and a very nice waiter who spoke english. They say Paris is one of th most expensive places to eat in Europe or the world I suppose, but it seemed just the same as bilbao- although the same is said of Bilbao. On our walk back to the metro station, we saw a whole gang of men in blue suits, obviously government police or something, standing outside their huge dark blue swat looking van pulled over off to the corner of a street. They were all just chatting and seemed casual...how odd. I have noticed that in Italy and other places there are many types of policemen.

Friday, the next morning we started out at the Louvre and that whole surrounding area with all the beautiful historical buildings. The three or four glass window pyramids surrounded by three sides of the long museum with I think four floors. The opening leads to the park and champs de'lesey (sorry I need to work on spelling). We headed in that direction through the wind and drizzle and rows and rows of leafless trees. We came to a fountain and a ferris wheel where you can see the whole city from the top I am sure. After the ferris wheel is a huge round about with a tall statue at the top, and this is all right near the river, but then the champs starts to veer away from it. The street leading up to where all the shops and cafes are is like an extension of the park we walked through after the louvre. It lines the road with bare black tall trees. When we got to the main road there were indoor malls, typical European brand stores like Zara and Mango, it began to poor and with the combination of the wind we were getting soaked and my hands sans gloves holding up our umbrella were freezing so we stopped for a coffee which seemed to be a very regular thing to do at anytime of the day or year. We freshened up and were ready to face the cold again.
there is so much more I have to write...but need to find the time...

I read Madeline to one of the girls I babysat the other day and really enjoyed it for the first time in a long time (I really think a huge amount of kids toys and books and shows are mostly made for parents and adults since we have to sit through and deal with them) because I actually recognized the places in the book where the girls in 2 lines actually go. They go to the Notre Dam, across the river Seine and all the other famous places in Paris. The art is really great in that book and I was excited to read it, and he Madeline in London book, since I am very familiar and fond of London. It is nice coming back to the US since we have such a mix of cultures, unlike Northern Spain (through the country is changing everyday) where it is really just Spanish food and culture and people. Not including Pais Vasco, but Spain has the highest growth of immigration in the last 10 years- it is amazing.

P.S. I am sorry this is so long, it is also so I remember everything too...don't feel obliged to read every word

The holidays in California

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I know everybody always says this but the time went by so fast, I feel it was just yesterday that It was sunny and warm, oh wait it is always sunny and warm in California! Actually my family and I went tot he beach about an hour south of us to a little campsite with really comfy cabins called Coastanoa. It was very nice, we stayed the night before Christmas eve and spent time with some family friends, 2 boys callans age, and played futball and walked along the beach adn watched the sunset and the rise of the full moon. The we left the next morning and spent Christmas eve at the Hohl's house, just like every year. We saw Santa (Josh and Ben Hohl's grandpa (my old next door neighbors and best friends growing up)). Callan had a ball and thought it was actually santa, this may be his last year believing!
Christmas Day was great too. John came home unexpectedly, a very nice surprise when I found out I had to go pick him up from the airport. So we all woke up around 7:30 and even before that Callan was opening his stocking with Pokemon inside. John made his way to our newly arranged living room, since the kitchen remodel last summer, with his comforter wrapped around himself only in his boxers, a tradition. We all got great presents- john got a bunch of socks this Christmas instead of a bunch of sweats like every year, I got shoes, a purse etc. and the callan received a WII from Santa!!! He was so excited and screamed of joy and glee when he saw it. So we all had a game of tennis hitting the ball with our controller racket and flinging our arms in the air. That night we had a family dinner with My dad parents and his sister and brother in law. They were excited to see me after five months since I left in August. MJ made a great lasagna with a sausage tofu thing for John and I since we are vegetarians. He just started a couple of months ago since all his roommates are and he says he actually wants to appreciate meat, like really kill an animal then eat it, who knows- weird!
Just waiting for New Years then the 8th or 9th I will head to Washington DC!

San Sebastian and my last day in Bilbao

After John took the train in from Paris (where I had just come from, he was too slow to get his act together and actually meet me under the Eiffel tower), Nikki, John and I took an hour bus ride to San Sebastian (Northeast of Bilbao) for the morning and afternoon. We walked form the bus station to the casco viejo and along the water. The beach was so beautiful. At this time, around the 15th of December, it was getting very cold, but it was a great sunny day out. So bought so many pastries at this one bakery. John wanted to eat well while he was here since he only spent several days in Spain and about a week abroad. We scarfed down muffins, chocolate croissants and amazing bread things we did not know the names of. After walking for sometime we wanted to sit down and get coffee. So with coffee we had some more pastries. I tried some sort of hand made candy called Polvoron. It was white and a mix between floury cookie dough and taffy. I am glad I tried it but will not get it again! The casco viejo, old quarter shopping area with mostly specialized stores and restaurants, opens up from the tall dark buildings to the open bright beach and it is amazing. We also ate Pinchos with all sorts of different things in them. Pinchos or pintxos are little appetizers, and they are usually set with a lot of other on the bar in the restaurant. They are very tasty, I mostly ate the ones with cheese on them! We had also tried to meet this guy who was studying in San Sebastian who we met on the train back from Paris, but we missed eachother.
Then we took the bus back and went straight to our closing ceremony with all the students and teachers back at the school. There was a performance put on by the theater class- they had been working on it all semester. We watched that and received our grades and graduation certificates and went to a bar called Crazy Horse after. Everyone went. Oh but before that, Conchi's sister was there watching the play, because she hosts students as well, and Feli (short for Felicidad) saw that I had written about Conchi in our magazine, all the students put together. She was laughing so hard and telling me how funny it was. I told her not to tell Conchi because I said some things like oh Conchi is wierd and has animal heads on her walls and sings while she cooks and wears this funny red frompy dress at home. It was classic!
So I played a game of pool with my partner Steve and we kicked butt! John got to meet everyone too. Then we said our goodbyes. We will all be in contact though...

I don't want to leave!

My friends Matt, from Seattle, John from San Diego and Nikki from Portland (who all go to USF with me)came over to try Conchi's amazing food and meet this mystery woman they hear me talk so much about. Mat and Nikki heard so much about her, he crazy songs she sings in the kitchen and he weird corks and they told me they started to think she did not exist. So after Tuesday night dinner with Conchi and friends I am so content and happy. We listening to all her stories, one about how she was at her niece boring wedding and got in front of everyone and had all the old and young people sing a kids song to liven them up, and to her telling us what a great life we have although I already knew it...traveling, taking siestas, learning, eating great food. Spain and especially Pais Vasco is known for their great food, stylish dress, wealth in culture, and lifestyle. I am so glad I came to Bilbao and it is so amazing to say that I have lived in Spain. I would love to come back. I could totally see myself living in Barcelona or another part of Spain like San Sebastian for a summer surrounded by the amazing Mediterranean lifestyle. I could take my dog and live in an apartment and visit all over Europe. Since John is pondering the idea of living in the Ukraine or back in Russia, maybe teaching English, writing and practicing his russian, we would be close...oh well it doesn't hurt to think about it!

typical food in Pais Vasco and with Conchi

Basque food is really great, it involved a lot of seafood, like cod fish and there is a really popular dish made in black ink from an octopus. They also use a lot of potatoes, I would say the main ingredient for many meals. Eggs are very popular and great quality I think. One of my favorite dishes is a tortilla de potata which is like a thick pancake with onions and potatoes inside an egg outside. I made it a couple times in spain after Conchi taught me how in her kitchen and it was a success, now it will be interesting to see if I can do it at home. Conchi made great soups, like garbanzo bean, bean, pumkin, and a good mixed vegetable soup. Now she is getting creative with macaroni pasta, she will put it with cream sauce or broccoli or cauliflower and tomato sauce. I think my favorite is her creesy sauce with pasta or the macaronis with tomato sauce. She buy it at the store but then adds onions adn olive oil to give it more flavor. Conchi made something called pan tostada for me that is a dessert but it is very similar to our french toast. She soaks break in milk then fries it in egg and put sugar and cinnimon (no matter how I spell that word it looks wrong) on it and it is sooo good!

Friday to Sunday the 25th

Nikki and I decided to make banana bread and do a little cooking. It was definitely an adventure to encounter baking soda and mushy bananas since I never really go to super markets cus Conchi takes care of cooking. So after a little while in Eroski and Ercocera we went back to my kitchen to cook since it is always clean and has all the necesities to cook and make anything! So that was fun and we smelled up the whole little apartment with the most amazing smell. Conchi loved our banana bread too, she was like it is bread with bananas and then decided it was not bread but a pastry or something to have for dessert since it was pretty sweet with all the sugar we put in it.
Friday Conchi invited me to her little pueblo near Burgos just southwest of Bilbao about an hour and half or so to attend her brother and sister in law's year memorial service. They died in a car accident. So Feli, her sister, Begona (a very common name because she is the patron saint of Bilbao) and about 70 other family and friends celebrated the lives of Conchi's brother who was a great politician, I was told. We arrived and it was the first day that I was really freezing in Spain, maybe about 6 or 7 degrees Celsius. So a few government officials and friends spoke about Costan Santidrian and then opened a curtain to reveal a plaque given to the family in his honor. It was a very nice ceremony and I really enjoyed talking to all the townspeople and hearing what they had to say about Conchi and her family. I am so honored that she wanted me to come and experience that with her. I remember her face when she asked me, it lit up with enthusiasm, "quieres venir?".
So then Conchi stayed the weekend and I returned with Feli, who also hosts students and is super present. She showed me around Burgos, where we had to go from the little town Nocedo where Conchi actually has her house. I saw the cathedral, huge and lot like la sagrada familia cathdral in Barcelona, and el camino de Cid, which was a famous path for travelers from Spain to the rest of Europe way back when. Feli (short for felicidad, an inordinary name)is great and talked my ear off, very enthusiastic and nice. When we walked it got worse, she tended to bang my arm or grab onto me to enforce what she was saying.
On Sunday I went to an Athletic Club game, and I went with a couple of friends, but ended up meeting pretty much everyone in our program inclusing our profesors there. Walking over the bridge to the stadium, since i live about ten minutes away, I was stuck behind a huge crowd singing athletic club songs and chants. We sat in the first section and so close to the players, we could almost touch them. Athletic colors are red and white (red is the oficial color the Basque country). Athletic club was winning the whole time, everyone was cheering so loud and had flags that were waving in the air in the stands the whole game, and then the other team scored a goal and then tied it two minutes before the end of the game, it was sooo disapointing. I really wanted athletic club to win. It was awesome to see the players and how they are in such great shape! Everyone went out together afterwards and when I got home from walking home in the freezing cold, I had a steaming cup of hot chocolate in my warm apartment and watched some spanish tv.

Christmas in Bilbao

The Christmas spirit has definitely kicked in. There are little train cars in the streets here with people cooking unas castanas- chestnuts for people to eat hot off the pot! There are lights with little figures like Christmas trees or little lit up houses high up on the streets. They have lit up tomatoes in the streets in Deusto, a part of Bilbao, because years ago Bilbainos were famous for cultivating the best tomatoes from the fertile land. The people here are nicknamed tomateros. There are names like that all over Spain, like the people in Burgos, where my host mom is from (just southwest of Bilbao), are called soperas- because they are famous for their soups. All the streets in Casco Viejo (the old quarter) are lit up with the figures at night hanging between the buildings and it is so nice. Then the river has lights all over at night that are very pretty as well.
Kids in El Pais Vasco celebrate Christmas twice as much as regular spanish kids. They have this basque man named "Olentzero" who comes down from the mountains every 26th of december to give kids presents. He is the papa noel of el Pais Vasco i suppose. He is told to have been a coal miner bringing eggs...a ver funny image no? Then they have Kings day where I guess kings bring them gifts as well.

Lisboa, Portugal

What an adventure! Friday morning Matt, Nikki, Ayra and I met at the San Mames bus station to hop on the bus to the airport. Matt and Ayra were definitely running for the bus and just made it... and this was the first morning it was really really cold in Bilbao. So we got on the flight and stopped over in Barcelona, where all the christmas decorations were up (unlike last time) and it was very pretty and cozy.
We ended up meeting this American our age named Steven who studies spanish near Bilbao in Santander, but he happened to be on our flight to Lisbon and we COULD NOT get rid of him! He talked non stop about anything random and his spanish accent...well that's another story.
So we got in to Lisbon and took the bus to the center of town, Baixo Chiado, where there is great shopping and an even better view of the ocean down the hill. A lot of people say it is like San Francisco because of the hills, wind, and big bridge connecting the two...wow I just lost my train of thought..I am watching Love Actually in spanish and it is the part where the portuguese cleaner woman has to jump in for the papers of a book that flew into the lake and then the man jumps in...I actually understood what she said it was awesome...I learned Obrigada- thank you and a lot of other vocab that is similar to spanish. It is amazing how much I understood and I would speak in spanish and someone could respond in portuguese..a great system!
So then from downtown we walked uphill with all our luggage through the busy streets with smell of cooked chesnuts on the street in little stands. We stayed at the Oasis Backpackers Manson Hostel, in this great old building down the hill from a beautiful lookout definitely equivalent to twin peaks in San Francisco or something similar. Oasis was like a San Franciscan apartment with many small floors and beautiful white walls and old windows, with a great new kitchen and a garden patio and window balconies in the rooms. I would love to live in a place like that! There was a great common room with comfy couches and free internet..the best hostel I have ever stayed in! There were also an uncommon amount of Australians staying there. They are everywhere! The staff at the front desk were amazing and all spoke english and spanish...very convenient. Rita was my favorite and she was telling me all about her best friend from San Francisco, CA, so I think she will have to come visit sometime!
So Friday we went out to walk around and ended up in this line for something that looked cool. Like an elevator that goes really high where you can see a great view of the city. So we went up an old elevator after giving our four euro to a grumpy old elevator operator. We went up in that stuffy box and what seemed like 40 minutes later with many bumps and jolts, we ended up at the top of this walkway/bridge with an amazing view of Lisboa. The sun was going down so we got to see all sorts of colors. At the top there was this little cafe with a man singing and playing the guitar in portuguese, so we jsut sat and took pictures and listened for a little while- it was so incredibly relaxing.
Then we walked around somemore and across different parts of town and came upon a residential section. All the streets were made of cobblestone and were so narrow. We were about to turn back when we came across a little hole in the wall restaurant. The mother hostess and cook and server loured us in by price and charm. It was around 8pm so we were the only ones in the 6 table place. It was very elegant and the cheese was maybe the best I have ever had. Cheese comes in small round form like you would imagine in the olden rural days.
Saturday we started early with toast and coffee in the kitchen and headed out to Sintra to see the palace and gardens. So we caught the metro to the train to the bus. All fun and easy with friends, especially Nikki who has studied portuguese.
We arrived and drove up this huge windy road to the top of the mountain where we then entered these gates and hiked up to the Palace. It was so beautiful and huge with a lot of moorish influence from the south. The colors on the outside of the building on the different levels were dark shades of yellos, red and orange like the surrounding trees. In the back of the building through a tunnel coridor place was a beautiful view of what seemed like all of Portugal. You could see all the red rooftops and the ocean.
After hiking around the grounds and seeing lakes, the Queen's stone chair with a view of her Palace and ston estructures and hours inside the palace, we walked back down to the little town to do some souvenier shopping. I guess Portugal is famous for their towels or something- like hand towels. So we saw a lot of those. Also, tiles are huge here on and in and around all the buildings. The Arab influence brought the tiles in the design and architecture.
After journeying back, we went to this little bar (seeking out a non toursity place) and had a refreshing drink, sat and talked and then headed to Bairro Alto, where a mass amount of bars are situated. With everyone in the street and everyone in the bars, so that was fun to experience.
The next day we ate amazing pastries called "Pasteles de Belem." They are like little pastries with flaky crusts and a sweet smooth inside like pumpkin pie but a hundred times better. I think it is the best pastry I have had yet! Belem, a little outside downtown, is a huge center for activities. It has a great monument of discoveries, museums and everything. Oh, I also stopped by a place called Jardin Zoologico, and me thinking it was a zoo or a park or something fun, it turned out to be a theme park for kids...hmm translating names can be decieving...but a nice trip overall!

La Accion de Gracias en Bilbao

After class on Thursday everyone in my program met at school to walk down the river to eat Thanksgiving lunch at this nice hotel together! All our professors and people who work in the office we there eating and gossiping together. I was initially not super excited for lunch since I was not with family or eating turkey, but it was so much better than I could have imagined. When we arrived we came in from outside in the rain to a warm open room with a bunch of tables with Kas soda (a very popular drink in Spain) waiting for us and fancy settings. I sat with Matt and Nikki, my own little family here in Spain. Right away they served us our first dish- pumpkin soup. It was so amazing and tasty and warm! Although I must say the pumpkin puree that Conchi makes is a little better. Oh and we had a couple peices of warm bread, since bread is eaten with everything here. Then everyone started getting their turkey with practically built in cranberry sauce and stuffing. Just when I started drooling over the smell, I got a full bowl/plate full of vegetable lasagna smothered in cheese! I was in heaven. I couldn't wait to try it, so chewing and burning my tongue at the same time was the end result! But it was the most amazing lasagna I have ever had. It was a decent sized portion too, so I was very happy. A very fitting food for vegetarians on Thanksgiving. Jared, a guy in my program made a toast in spanish then finished by saying gracias for becoming my friends, since he didn't know how to say it in Spanish and we all laughed. Then he said something like may God turn this water we have into wine. So my professor Isabel thought that was funny so she brought him a glass of wine in front of everyone. Then I said "you know Jared, God shared." We had a good laugh. Then came the pumpkin pie and apple ice cream. Yummy!
After lunch, most of us students and professors headed to a bar called Crazy Horse. The theme is American music from the 70's and 80's. So there were posters and instruments all over of famous people like Janis Joplin, the Beatles and other bands. Themed discotecas and bars are all the rage here. Especially dark themes, like dungeons and dragons...weird, but entertaining. So some people got drinks, but I headed straight for the pool table. Steve, my friend from Chicago, and I decided to play against another team. Usually a new team plays the winner, and Steve and I won. So then we played our second and third game against Guillermo and a student. Guillermo works in the CIDE office and also teaches he is maybe 23 years old. His English is good, but he kept saying "I am going to win you this time!" Funny little dark haired Spanish guy. He was a little upset when I finally hit the 8 ball in. Three great games.

Wine in La Rioja, Spain

Saturday November 10th
Four girls from my program and I decided to take a day trip an hour south of Bilbao inland to a famous area of Spain called Rioja. This area is comparable to Tuscany and very famous for their wines. We took the 10:30 bus to a town called Haro (in the middle of nothing) and somehow found a tourist office to find out more information about where to go wine tasting. Conveniently enough the woman there spoke English and new we were students, so she sent us to Bodega (wine cellar) Lopez de Heredia that had amazing wine called Viña Tondonia. They produce their wine the same way as the founder did 130 years ago. They don’t make their wine according to modern tastes, just in the traditional way whether it is good or bad. We tasted six wines- two white, three red and a vino rosado. We had a red wine from 1981- older than us by five or six years! The woman who gave us the wine to taste spoke great English as well and told us all about the history of the wines. I guess a hundred or so years ago, the upper class drank white wine and it was much more expensive than the red because of taxes for one thing. So wine producers would put something in the white wine to make it look red so it would not be taxed then fix it later to make it white again. But apparently the wine that is pinkish- the vino Rosado, is the product of that tradition. I have heard horror stories of people bringing back alcohol to the US from Europe. If you are under 21 I guess the US fines you more than a thousand dollars and if you don’t declare your items at the airport on the way home you are even more screwed, so I thought I had better not buy any wine to take home, although I wish I could have.
Then we took a 20 minute bus to Briones, a little further south, where there is this huge museum about Spanish wine. They has a magnificent entrance with Cyprus trees lining th road and red grape vines on each side with the distant outline of mountains in the distance- we could see for miles and miles! There were exhibits on corks, (who knew there were so many interesting corks from all over the world! They had some corks attached to walking sticks and weird objects) wine bottles / jars, ancient art dealing with wine, and all different videos of the old and modern processes of making wine barrels, making corks, blowing glass, and cutting down trees. A huge glass sliding door let up into this heavenly room with hundreds of barreled wine. The scent was unforgettable- so rich and sweet, but not stale or humid. I could live in a room like that! Then we got to taste their red wine and grape juice. The grape juice was so natural and pure, not like anything I have ever tasted! Upon our exit, and after buying postcards and silly trinkets, the sun was setting over the mountains- so beautiful! Then after an hour nap we were back in the city of Bilbao- always good to be home!

Sunday in Barcelona

We slept in a little and nikki and I were craving starbucks coffee, only because of the size, the coffee here is about the size of a shot, literally. So we sat and read and wrote in our journals for a little. Then we walked down the main street, las Ramblas to do a little shopping on our way to this great vegan juice bar we had passed the other day. We has great sandwiches and healthy food there and then met up with Matt, since he was with a spanaird chatting it up he met earlier. Not a lot is open in Spain on Sundays so we just walked around. The weather was fabulous, I was wearing sandals and it must have been about 17 degrees. It is wierd converting over to a different measuring system, but I am learning a lot and getting a hold of it. So then we wanted to go to this big indoor market but i had just closed so we headed to the Picasso Museum. There was a long line out the door of this great old building on a cobblestone narrow street. We entered through this small gate and then the building opened up to huge rooms with 3 stories, I never would have guessed that huge building was where it was based on what it looked like from the outside. I was thinking oh man, I don't want to wait, but it was sooo worth it because it was not only free (because it was the first sunday of the month) but it was amazing too. I love his earlier work, before his more famous works. The landscape where he lived in Spain was very influential to his work. He has beautiful sketches and paintings of the sea and normal everyday life way back when, when he was alive. I also got to see some of his vases and jars and there was this funny small room with drawings of people having sex. They were not very detailed but it was interesting is all I can say.
After a few hours in the museum, we wanted to take a bike ride around to see more and get a better feel for the city. So we rented these great old beach bikes which was so not fitting since we were in the middle of a big city with cobblestone streets. Then when we rode to the beach though it was great. The boardwalk was so nice, and by this time it was dark. And now I know what the mediterranean ocean feels like, like everyother ocean I have been in or seen! But it was beautiful.
Nikki and Matt were behind me the whole time since I have the best manuevering and navigating skills. I almost hit about five lazy slow walking pedestrians. (They tend to get lost! I hope they don't read this!) After only an hour of riding we were exhausted and wanted to see this light show on this famous fountain, but we just didn't have the energy to find it, so on our way to deciding not to go we ran into this little cafe restaurant called Milk. It was the perfect place that we happened to find. It is an Irish cafe with cute old decorations, with wall paper and a crystal chandalier- a great ambiance. We arrived just in time for happy hour so we tried their cocktails. I tried Cava, which is a famous champagne made in Catalunya, the region that Barcelona is in. Then Matt oddly enough ordered guiness stew. Nikki was leaving via train that night so we went back to the hostel and hung out a little then she left and at 5am Matt and I left. It was such a great trip and we made it back to our 9am class just in time! I think I am still catching up on sleep. I will definitely go back and if anyone needs a tour giude for any of the places I have been to, I would love to go back anytime!

Saturday in Barcelona

Saturday started out with beautiful fall sunny weather walking down Las Ramblas, the main street, to Plaza Pi where we found and had heard about "The Bagel Shop". I swear the only place in Spain that sells bagels. We saw this great huge menu with all different types of bagels and toppings and everything, then we go up to order and they completely tease us with only three types of bagels and a few toppings,but no matter, they are bagels! So I ordered a cheese bagel with feta cheese and pesto. An interesting combination I have never had before, but thought I would try it since I was craving cheese (they don't really cook with cheese here, they usually just eat really good pure and fresh cheese for dessert or something). It was the most amazing bagel I have had in a long time! We ate it at at little park next to a art market with a bunch of independent artists. Barcelona is a very happening place for artists.

So then we walked around and went into this store called Happy Pills (they are not all in english I promise we just happened to run into these stores). It was set up like a store that gives prescriptions out to people in little plastic clear bottles with labels, but instead of pills you put all sorts of different candy inside. They had labels in Spanish, English and Catalan (the local language) with funny sayings like "against the cost of living" or "against imaginary friends with no imagination". I think they are funnier in spanish, but the idea was very clever. A lot of the stores and restaurants, and bars actually are very small because of the old architecture and huge amount of them everywhere, so Happy Pills was like the size of a walk in closet.
Then we walked around some more and found this free art enxhibit, after going into the Dali Museum store and browsing around, that has local artists work. After shopping a little more and walking everywhere we were craving chocolate con churros. We went to the best place in Barcelona, which was absolutely packed.


Then, surprise surprise we walked around the gothic neighborhood more and stopped at a beautiful old gothic church with a great little local food market outside in the square. After walking around in the church, which had beautiful rows and rows of candles, we bought goat and sheep cheese, honey, wine and bread for dinner.


Contently eating out cheese and bread back at the hostel, and watching a soccer game (since no matter what team they are always playing) we meet a French guy from Paris who spoke english pretty well. That is one downside about Barcelona is that it is not a good place to practice spanish, since many people speak english or italian or french, but it is very cosmopolitan. So he gave us great tips for Paris sightseeing and we had a good conversation about politics, since that topic always seems to pop ip somehow. This is Matt talking to him about places to go in Paris, he is the guy with big hair and in the red:

So also ended up talking to an Argentinian young guy who worked at the hostel we stayed at for a while too, then eventually went out to some gay clubs, since Matt was sick of us girls by then. That was very interesting. I have never really had any experience at gay bars or clubs, but it was nice to go to a bar and not be checked out by every old guy in the place for once! It wa sa good night, and we ended up leaving Matt to get his groove on and walking around Las Ramblas. After walking for an hour or so trying to figure out what to do and see if any bars or cafes were open to hang out, we stopped two young people to ask if they knew of anything. They said no they were looking for a place too, so we ended up walking together and talking in spanish. We finally found a place to sit and talked for a couple hours, until about 5ish in the morning. This is completely normal for them, to stay up until daylight! This kinda describes the people in Spain and how open and friendly they are. It was a great day and I was surprisingly not as tired as you would think since we walked forever! okay next blog entry: Sunday...

Oh Free Time

I was just thinking how lucky I am to have so much free time in Spain to travel and ponder about life! I go to class, travel on the weekends, do a little bit of homework and just take in the culture! I don't have to cook, since Conchi is amazing and pretty much serves me every meal- although I do set the table and cook for myself on the weekends (when she does not leave me food!) or pay bills. This semester has been too perfect and relaxing...nothing better than living abroad with no time restrictions and having the freedom of choice all the time. There is really so much we take for granted, but I am so appreciative! This lifestyle is so laid back too with a siesta in the middle of the day everyday! Thanks MJ and Dad for making this possible and for supporting me...John too! I am not homesick but I miss talk to you. Although it is a nice break from America, I will be excited to come home! And thanks Jan and Mare for always writing to me with your words of love and support!! okay i will write next about the rest of my weekend in Barcelona...there is just so much to tell!!

My First Day in Barcelona

Nikki, Matt and I were in Barcelona this past weekend and it was so amazing! Matt and I flew on an hour flight and Nikki took a 7 hour bus ride! She is crazy but also saving money! So Matt and I met up with her Friday morning at 10am for a 10:30 free walking tour. We met at Plaza Reial and a woman from Maryland, who is a spanish citizen, showed us around Barrio Gotico- the gothic neighborhood/ quarter, and told us about all the best places in Barcelona. All the buildings are so old and tall on cobblestone pedestrian streets. We were so craving Mexican food, and our tour guide told us about a great burrito place, La Rosa Negra. It was so cool to talk to an American who was actually living in Spain as a citizen...makes me wonder if i could do it! So we had great guacamole and chips and yummy burritos!
Then we took the metro to Park Guell. Guadi worked on the park for 14 years and ended in the early 1920's and this guy Guell was his friend. We took about six escalators up this mountain to get to the top because it is so steep(the kind of escalators they have at malls), then hiked up a windy dirt road and had the most beautiful view of Barcelona facing eastward towards the Mediterranean. We saw the huge Gaudi building La Sagrada Familia, a dome crystal building and other tall sparatic buildings along the coast. We could see for miles and miles. Then, we climbed down the other side of the mountain to see more Guadi buildings and structures. There is this huge view point with long tiled benches designed by him and then when you walk downstairs there is an open area with columns and a colorful tiled ceiling. It is really spectacular, especially for him to design this in the early 20th century. After the park (it is more of a dry deserty landscape but still considered a park i suppose), we walked about 45 minutes to La Sadgrada Familia. It is this huge building with many different points on the top and has been under construction for years now and will not be dont until 2020. We just stood in front of it and stared for a good half an hour! The line was too long to go into too...tired from walking all say we headed back to the hostel to recover.
Craving american food seemed to be a strong theme throughout the weekend, and we we set off to find some pizza- which was not hard because a lot of Italian tourists come to Barcelona since it is so close and on the Mediterranean. We sat down to a nice dinner and had pizza and crepes for dessert! After dinner we walked off the pizza and went to have a drink at Plaza Reial, just a little square off of the main street of Las Ramblas. Nikki and Matt LOVE dancing so they dragged me to a discoteca in a mall of all places! It was on the top story and called Sunset. I am not crazy about dancing but it is fun with them, so we danced until oh maybe 4am. Desperate for water we left and bought water and headed home on the metro which begins to run at 5am everyday..so we waited a little!
Oh I forgot to mention the hostel. First of all it was mislabeled upon enterig. It has a sign for Hostel Windsor instead of Hostel Rambla y Catalunya, so that was fun tryign to find it. Then you walk in far to the back of the tall hall, kinda like you walking into a church or cave and look up and there are 6 floors with a staircase up above. The reception was a little hole in the wall in the very back..so we got our sheets and head up to the 1st floor, which is actually the second floor because the ground floors in Spain are 0. So we walk into our room and there are 3 bunkbeds and 2 triple bunk beds! I have definitely never seen one of those! We were supposed to be in a room with 10 people but a couple extra is fine. We got settled and then started seeing people walk through our room through doors on the opposite side, so we peeked in and there was another room of 10 people who had to walk through our room to get to theirs! So basically we are in a 22 person room. AND THEN some more people walk through more doors in our room that leads to another hostel room of 8 or so people. I am thinking, thank gosh i brought my earplugs. Then another door opens to my right and a couple comes out of a private room....crazy! But it was really fun meeting people and talking througout the weekend, but I have never had so many roommates! So that was our friday!

Halloween in Spain

Well, definitely not as big of a deal in the US, but there were some great costumes. I went out with a group of friends from my CIDE program around 12, since nothing gets started here until 1 or after, and we walked (like we do everywhere) down the river and past the Gugenhiem to a discoteca. Every thursday, or in this case wednesday night because thursday was all saints day here where people go to cemetaries to clean the tomb stones of loved ones, there is an Erasmus party. Erasmus is an international european group of students that can study abroad for a semester or a year anywhere they want basically. So it is really awesome because there are British, French, German, Italian and everyone all together communicating in spanish. So their program holds parties for them every week and anyone can go. My friend John from southern california dressed up as a beach bum with a sun hat and a flower lay and this other guy tom had a painted black and white face like a skeleton; it was very embarrassing walking down the street with them and having everyone stare! We got there and towards the back, where there was the most room, we squeezed are way through saying perdoname and con permiso the whole way. Some wierd spanairds where really dressed up as ugly zombies and it was a little over the top until we realized they were professional dancers. After a little bit of staring, they grabbed me and shoved me into this coffin on the wall and started posing next to me for the camera...I was definitely embarrassed! I wonder where that picture went..but then they did it to everyone else. There was also a man and a woman dressed up as devils with very little clothing on dacing on a higher and small stage the whole night, you can imaging how sweaty everyone was by that point! Anyways, it was a good night, and I would even say the same as many others at the discoteca but with costumes!

End of October

This week has been interesting...steph left, I got sick (and went to the doctor today and apparently have a throat infection of some sort, just a little painful), the clock went back an hour, and we are not celebrating Halloween! What a wierd month. Although I hear from home that my dog is going to be Yoda- not my first pick of costumes! So I also got reprimanded from Conchi today about why I did not go out this weekend...um hello sick! Since she gave me hot milk and honey I think she thinks I was cured, definitely not! Since she goes off to her mountain village every week it is a nice break for me and I get some quiet time without her crazy singing in a capella! I got to actually cook for myself this weekend too, who would have thoguht that I would have wanted to actually cook! No I lover her cooking but I was craving good scrambled eggs and grilled cheeses!
She makes great food though, like lentil soup, garbanzo bean soup (if that is even what it is), vegetable puree (I think is the name), yummy mixed veggies, rice with tomato sauce. And it is never alone...Conchi hates sad food she calls it. Like a salad with nothing in it is sad, so she put tomato and cucumber. Or soup alone is sad, she says "que triste", so we always have fresh bread, soup or something and salad and maybe something else! Definitely a good well rounded meal. The this afternoon when she came home for siesta and to cook lunch (which is definitely the biggest and most important meal of the day, in addition to dinner) she said you eat nothing, you don't eat fruit and I was like I had 4 oranges, 3 apples and a peach (with the help of my friends who come over and eat my food all the time since I can never eat all she leaves me on the weekends alone!) and she was like that is nothing! Crazy I tell ya.
But this weekend should be fun, Matt, Nikki and I are headed to Barcelona for four nights to explore...Matt and I decided to pay a little extra for an hour flight while Nikki is taking a seven hour train for half the price as our flights...I think I will pass!

Some photos!

The pictures are a little mixed up but with the help of mary, here they are:

Me in Southern France


This beach is Plenzia about 30 minutes north of Bilbao


This is form a group trip we took to Southern France, and you can see Spain off to the left


This is me and Matt and our good Italian friend Rossella from Rome, it is so cool to have a common language!


Me and Nikki at a discoteca called "Fever"- they were giving out masks!


This is the beach in France (and Matts head)


the Real Madrid stadium! We has a personal tour! so amazing


Plaza Mayor in Madrid


My bday pastries everyone got me!


Hyde Park, London


Palacio Royal in Madrid

A little Piece of Home from Denmark

Steph is here from Copenhagen, Denmark, staying with me and Conchi (who is amazing and is cooking for both of us and doing her laundry!) We went to the big park in Bilbao on Sunday and it was so sunny and warm, a very nice change. We just sat on a bench and read and enjoyed the crazy little Spanish kids running around and screaming by the fountain.
Then on Monday we walked to class at ten together and stopped by a pastelería to get a little sweet bread. Steph brought my computer to go into the Cafetería to go online while I had class for 2 hours. So I found the three Richmond guys, who go to Richmond University, the only English speaking table, and introduced her then left- since I did not want to be late for class. So I came back during break, and she was laughing and definitely making friends! We walked back a long the river and then Steph met Conchi. Wow is that language barrier hard! But we had a great lunch and steph was introduced to tortilla de patatas (which I learned how to make) - her new love! Then we met our friend from SF Matt and Stevie to walk across La Puente Colgante, the hanging bridge. It is about a 20 minute metro ride north by the beach. It is in the town of Areeta. So we walked to the bridge and took a moving enclosed car with passengers and cars on it across the river to the other side then took the elevator up to the top of the bridge and walked across. We saw all the red rooftops on both sides of the river and the Spanish northern coast and the beach town of Plenzia. Stevie has a little fear of heights but we made it to the end of the very high very windy bridge.
After that we walked to a bar (they are called bars here but they have pinchos, bocadillos and little foods like that in addition to serving alcohol, but a lot of people just go to hang out and sit down to talk or watch a soccer game- they are not exactly like the bars at home and the most popular times are in the mid morning and siesta, then after dinner on weekends) to have calimocho a drink typical of the basque country with wine and coca cola. It is an interesting mix but very good. So Steph and I are friends with John from home and so we went to see him and catch up, and she met his roommates the Italians- Rossella and María Teresa.
Then, on Wednesday night before steph left, she wanted to try sangria so we did and it is amazing as always. So she got the full Spanish experience! She is in Prague now and then will return back to school on Monday. Last winter I went to visit her in Jackson Hole Wyoming…what a great place for skiing! It is so great to see her in all different places!

Urdaibai and Gernika- Northern Spain

For our third and last excursion with our program, we went to the biosphere called Urdaibai in Northern Spain, not too far from the Basque country trip we took in the South of France a few weeks ago. The UNESCO named this place a biosphere reserve. It is mostly forests and wildlife, and a few very important little towns. We stoped in Gernika in the reserve, which is the historical capital of the basque country. The little town, Guernika was bombed the 26th of April in 1937, during the Spanish civil was from 1936-1939. The town was in complete destruction.

We got to go to the Peace museum in the middle of Gernika, which exibited photos and remains from the bombings. We saw videos of people who actually lived through it and retold the story recently. It was a great musuem, there was one exhibit on the meaning of peace and quotes from famous people.

This was one of my favorites: "No hay caminos para la paz, paz es el camino" meaning there aren't any roads to peace, peace is the road- by M. Ghandi

"If I thought the world was going to end tommorrow, I would still plant a tree today." - Martin Luther King

It was great to see Gernika the town and experience / understand a little bit more of the history. We went to the Casa de Juntas, like the political headquarters of the town and of the Basque country. Every four years the Basque country President comes to this place to be sworn in. It is amazing how small the area is, but how huge the historical significance is. Oak trees are very important here, representing strength, and life after the war. There is a preserved oak tree over 300 years old near the Casa de Juntas that has been very important throughout history. It is funny to think these crazy spanairds have this huge attachment to a tree, but the more I think about it, we silly Americans have the same wierd attachments and sayings.

When I was in Madrid, I went to the Reina Sofia Mueseum and actually saw "Guernica" by Picasso, painted in 1937. He was commissioned to paint it right after the bombing which caused even more commotion and drew much more attention to the attrocity.

So after lunch we took the bus through windy wooded roads (not ideal when you have to pee) and stopped at this beautiful lookout over the Spanish coast. I ran off the bus to pee in the bushes and luckily I had a buddy with me, cus when the whole group got off the bus they came my way...not good, but they stopped so I could pee. One of my friends who went pee too was like "this is the closest you can be to Spain or Spanish nature rather..." Funny! Then we all hiked down the mountain to the ocean and then up stairs to this church on a rock far out on the coast. So it was about an hour and half downhill then up about 300 rocky stairs uphill to this church. I was thinking, before I started the trek, oh the stairs on the USF campus at Lone Mountain are about 150 I can do twice that no problem, ohhh my gosh!!!! All I can say now is that my butt has never hurt this much! We made it to the top and it it was so beautiful, you could see the blue ocean along the coast for miles and miles. We were perched up next to this church looking at the mountains and ocean, with the wind in our hair, you can just imagine...

Then we hiked back up trying to catch rides up from the few cars and picking flowers and taking breaks and looking at slugs. So all in all it took us about 2 hours to get back up. We then headed back on the bus and less than an hour later we were back home. Very tired last night I just passed out, plus I think I am getting a cold. My body was so achey. I told Conchi, my host woman, and she was like oh well then you need to drink this hot milk with like 20 teaspoons of honey in it. It was so sweet, but according to her it with cure your cold and aches. So I drank it and I am still a little achey and sick but maybe it will kick in later. I tell ya wierd spanish traditions!

Well, this morning I woke up and took the metro to the bus station and the bus to the airport. I know what you are thinking, where could she be going now? No No No, I went to pick up my friend Stephanie coming in from London at the airport. She lives in Denmark and is studying there this semester and is here to visit me this week. It was very nice for a change to go to the airport and not go anywhere. Traveling is great, but taking a break everyother weekend is a must! So we took the bus back and rested a little and now we are going to go out tonight so she can meet all my friends and the basque boys. It will however, be interesting since Steph speaks no Spanish! We go to USF together and have lived on the same floor the last two years in the dorms. She is great and so energetic so this will be a great week!

Hasta pronto....

Wireless SF

How cool would it be to have wireless internet every where you go? How easy would that be? Well, since California leads the country in many ways, we should definitely be the first city and state to have wireless internet! check out www.wirelessSF.org!! You can vote for measure J for a wireless San Francisco and sign up online as a public suporter with just your name and email address!

Love in London

I spent Friday through Monday in London and LOVED IT! What a change from Spain. There is so much diversity in food and in culture! About 56 thousand Australians live in London, amazing! I wish I had met more...anyways

I met up with my friend Katey from high school who I haven't seen since and stayed with her Friday night. We caught up at her little flat in Kensington then went out to Notting Hill (where all the famous people apparently live- we saw a blond Victoria Secret model I think!) and to Portobello Road with cute shops and cafes and a market outside. It was so cute how a lot of the buildings are the same but different colors. It really reminded me of Haight Street, the market and stores I mean.

So then later we went out with her friends in the program from California to a pub. There is really such a difference between Americans and Europeans, in the way they dress and their manners! I saw these friends of Kateys wearing baseball hats, baggy jeans and sneakers and I was like oh they’re from California. Style is much more a priority here I would say! For the women too, everyone in Spain wears high heels and nice cloths out, similar to London.

So I woke up on Saturday and had quite an adventure getting to the hotel where my friend Maile was staying. A lot of the tube lines close on weekends so the main one I wanted, the circle line which took me directly to her wasn’t working…oh I had to take three lines to get to her but finally did. We went straight out for the day and must have walked 9 miles around London and definitely got great use out of our metro day passes. (mean while the whole weekend trying not to think about how everything is double the cost of the dollar, how depressing!) We went to St. Paul’s Cathedral, beautiful and huge! Then crossed the river to the Tate Modern Gallery, with great artwork and we learned a little about British artists. Then we headed over to Covent Gardens to do a little shopping and hit up this market near to walk around. We had amazing sugar waffles, warm and sweet! Deciding to explore some more we walked around into the Soho area and stopped for a beer, mmm Hosgarden (or however you spell it, it was refreshing and light!) We kept going, at this time we had been out for about six hours and it was maybe 5pm. We walked over along the park to Buckingham Palace, which Maile had to see! I have been to London about three times before but never for more than a weekend. She was taking pictures of the policemen and making them smile and we took pictures by the fountain like typical tourists! We just could not walk anymore so we taxied it back to the hotel.

*FYI Maile is studying at the beauty school of Paul Mitchell in San Francisco and came to London for a week to study hair stuff, so I stayed at her hotel saturday and Sunday, so that was the base camp!

At the hotel Maile cut my hair, since she is a pro by now and will be famous someday in the movie industry for hair and make up. So we took the tube, like always to East London to Fifteen. This is the restaurant where I met all the British boys in Italy working for the non profit event a few weeks ago. So I saw Dean a chef, and Paul the head wine guy, I forget the word but it is French like “Somelier” or something. I thought I would not need a reservation so I just showed up thinking they would have a table for us, but since it was their fifth anniversary it was a little crowded. However, Paul (the Australian) sent up a huge plate of appetizers and yummy bread, and we made friends with the chefs in the kitchen near us so they gave us great desserts- like crème brulee, canoli, and brownies. (Oh I am headed to Australia in Decmeber with John, I cannot wait!) Of course Maile is allergic to nuts which could possibly be in anything so I ate almost everything! Then we said our goodbyes and headed for some pubs on Portobello Road. Oddly enough on a Saturday night everything closes at 12:30 so we ended up taking a nice walk around then back along Hyde Park to the hotel.

Sunday, I went to the park and walked around observing and taking in the fall. All the leaves on the grass were orange and red. I sat down to write watching this center road in the park, more of a circle focal point where walking paths connect, and there was so much activity. It was so nice to see dogs, (I am missing mine so much, poor Bailey without me!) bikes, joggers, kids in strollers with adorable accents, and a soccer game with a bunch of yelling Brits- I debated several times whether or not to jump in, I miss playing soccer so much! It was great not to have any time limits, I had no watch or cell phone and I just enjoyed my time there. Then I walked around some more near Spring Street and Paddington Station and actually had dinner with Luke, another one of the guys who used to work at Fifteen. He is about 26 and works at a very prestigious restaurant in London and can now basically work at any restaurant in the world. He has traveled a lot, and makes me want to travel more. I am not satisfied! I want to see more…although I have had some great experiences!

I flew back home through Barcelona, and surprisingly all the airports so far I have been to in Spain have Wifi. I have not had my computer but that is awesome! So high tech! This weekend my friend Stephanie from USF, studying in Copenhagen, Denmark is coming to stay with me for a week. She has a lot of energy and is excited about life so it will be great to see her!

Devon in DC

I had a fabulous week of classes and still cannot believe it has been more than a month living in Spain!

Well, I was planning on studying abroad in Argentina next semester, but when I looked into the program more and the location, it was not what I wanted, so I was bummed since I can only go through USF sponsored programs. So I was like I will apply to this cool international studies program in DC at American University for the spring, it is still kinda like a study abroad- but domestic. So I did the easy application with an essay and attached my resume not expecting a lot because only five people get accepted every semester. But, I was looking at my inbox in gmail, and no new mail since I last checked. I paused then saw a new email from USF saying CONGRATS, you got into the program!!!

I am sooooo excited to study at American University next semester. I am going to be in this intense program with an internship with a non profit or in the government and take classes on foriegn policy, this is the program I want:

*International Law and Organizations—Explore the nature of international law in interstate relations by studying the activities, and performance of major global organizations in areas such as: security and terrorism, international trade and economic development, the environment, human rights, and humanitarian assistance. In addition to your time in Washington, you will spend three weeks visiting the United Nations in New York City, the International Court of Justice at The Hague, and NATO and the European Union in Brussels.

That sounds so amazing to me! So I told my host woman who I live with, Conchi, who is so great, and she was like oh how lucky. Then she was telling me how I am always welcome here in her place no matter when or with no notice! So that is such great news too, we are getting along very well, although she is still feeding me so much my stomache is always always full!

I am headed to London tomorrow morning, friday until monday, I am stoked! I am meeting a friend from high school who is studying there and will stay with her Friday night, then my friend Maile from SF who goes to Paul Mitchell Beauty school is in London learning so we are hanging out all day Saturday then I am staying with her and then on Sunday I am meeting the British boys from Italy to hang out and I am going to have coffee with Paul, the British guy I met when I was in Munich before comign to Spain in September. This is going to be quite a weekend!

Well check out the website for the semester in DC if you want to: www.washingtonsemester.com

France for a day

Who knew a silly little border between two countries could make such a difference. On Friday I went to the Pais Vasco in France with our University. We went to the same basque country that is in Spain but in Spain and the people are so different there and really look french with the little hats and all even thoguh they are both considered the same "country" in the south of France and the North of Spain. They each speak french and spanish in addition to Euskera, the native Basque language. The bus ride was about an hour long, again always an adventure putting 35 twenty and twenty one year olds on one bus!
We went to a little ocean side town that smelled of fish and fresh air called Saint Jean de Luz. We saw a church and the beach, where you can see spain far to the left. We also walked downtown on the cobblestone streets and I can honestly say I had the best croissant of my life! I went to this little bakery and 2 of the 20 french words I know are chocolat and croissant so it was perfect.
Since the north of Spain is hugely developed since the idustrial perios in the 90's the cities are very different. In France, they are much more pristine and white. We went to a ritzy beach town next called Biarritz. A lot of the building, house and hotels were white with white fences right on the beach. We went to an enclosed market with the best looking cheese and fresh fruit and pastries everywhere! Then we walked along the boardwalk to a natural pier. It was very windy and beautiful with a great coastline view. Everyone has their cameras, so you can imagine 20 people at one time taking the same pictures, so I tried not to take that many, it is a little embarrasing when everyone around you is starting and it is not like Americans have a good reputation with the French or with anyone internationally already! We also made a very long stop at a pastry shop known as one of the best in Europe according to one of my professors.
Next, we headed to to the Basilica de Loyola and la Casa Torre. This was the birth place of Saint Ignazio who founded the Jesuit order, and is a huge deal. Next to his house was the church where it all started in the 1500's. It was pretty amazing to see everything in the old condition in which he lived. I was rainning when we arrived and there was fog and mist inbetween the mountains, it was beautiful. I am one of those people who loves rain!
So I am not very religous, but it was so interesting to learn about the Jesuits since USF is Jesuit and has all of the names of the buildings named after Ignazio and Pedro Arrupe and important people like them. So I felt a close connection to my school and understood a lot more about the motives behind the order. I learned a lot about Ignazio and his religious life and it was actually pretty interesting for the first time.
Well then we were on our way back on the bus in the rain on the highway and I hear a POP! ohh crap, what is that...hmm well a flat tire! Ya so 35 people on this bus in the middle of the mountain in Northern Spain with no transportation and no one around! We had to wait for another bus to come get us of course from Bilbao, about an hour away. So we waited an hour, on the bus- we couldn't get off cus it was rainning, in the dark- since the bus wouldn't start, in the cold with no food. No but it was fun, we talked and hung out. Not too horrible but definitely unexpected! I definitely want to go back to France, maybe Paris, but with a translator! I have this friend Antoni, who is French and would be perfect for that job!

One month in and I have survived the Spanish

Well I am headed to the South of France on Friday just for the day with my program through school. The people taking us keep warning us to bring an empty stomach and lots of money for French chocolate and ice cream!! I am very excited! So I live in the Basque country in Spain and we are going to the Basque region in France! I am also working on posting more pictures…from Madrid and Italy so hold your horses! And please post comment and send me emails because I love to hear from everyone!!
Today marks the first month I have spent in Spain and it has gone soo quickly! I am so excited for the next month of crazy adventures!

San Patrignano in Rimini, Italy and the Cheese!

This last weekend I went to Bologna and Rimini, Italy with Roots of Peace. I volunteer for Roots of Peace, an organization based out of San Rafael, California who removes land mines from war torn countries and also do sustainable agricultural development in countries like Angola, Africa, Cambodia, Croatia and Iraq and Afghanistan. I started volunteering about a year ago and fell in love with the organization and everyone who works there and just kept going after my social justice volunteering program was over through USF. Anyways, RoP was asked to be a part of an annual event called Squisito, at the largest drug rehabilitation center in Europe called San Patrignano. The event had all humanitarian organizations dealing with food and somehow related to drugs there. For example, there were saffron products from Afghanistan there, that organization grew saffron instead of opium, and people from Myanmar selling their goods to support their economy, etc.
So I basically showed off the products RoP products from Afghanistan and explained what the organization is about, working my best Italian phrases. After the three days, I perfected my Italian vocab for fruits and nuts. I was working with another volunteer from the states, but who lives in Croatia now. Her name is Kathleen and she is so interesting, she just picked up from the bay area, after growing up in Colorado and moved to Croatia in part, protesting our government, globalization and identity loss. Her family is Croatian so she has deep roots there. I really enjoyed talking to her all weekend and she speak like 5 languages, which seems to be the common theme in Europe!
I was also with a woman who works for CNN as an independent journalist, named Flavia Taggiasco. She is American and Italian, and lives in Rome- but loves New York and is fluent in both languages. She was wonderful this weekend. She got Heidi Kuhn, the CEO/founder of RoP, a meeting with the Pope through her connections at the Vatican. I admire her so much, she has two kids, works at all hours for CNN and volunteers all the rest of her time for RoP. It is funny, in the last six months I have met up with Flavia three times even though we live on opposite ends of the world!
So everyone I met this weekend was extremely nice, a lot of people spoke English and I picked up some Italian too. I met Monica Luppi who graduated the three year drug rehab program and has the biggest heart. She actually went to Menlo High school, a mile away from mine, but we met in Rimini, Italy. How strange is that? Then there is this woman, Francesca from Santa Barbara who is amazing as well. I can’t imagine what it is like to have two homes in two different countries and to know them so differently at different stages in your life.
So the event was huge, I cannot tell you how much cheese and meat and wine there was, and how much more I ate! San Patrignano produces all these goods and supports themselves by selling their products and through private donations. About 800 people are in the program, I believe. So events were going on all weekend until 11pm. That is definitely something I can get used to in Europe- that everything ends later, I feel like there is more time in the day.
So we set up the booth, put up pictures of former mine fields and information in Italian and little trays with nuts and dried fruit on them. Across from our area were young guys volunteering from Fifteen, a restaurant in London that teaches reformed or, oh I don’t know, bad boys how to be excellent chefs and is a non profit as well, they donate to all humanitarian organizations. So those guys were hilarious and brought over little desserts and special plates for us over at our RoP booth. All I can say is it was amazing food and the head chef invited me back to eat with him when I am in London in two weeks! I am also staying in touch with some of the other guys who are very ridiculous and fun!
Monica had an extra ticket for a wine tasting on Friday, so I went with Paul, the Australian head wine guy at the restaurant Fifteen in London. So we walked over to another building and sat down at a nice white cloth table with about 8 huge red wine glasses and a black bucket. I look around the room, noticing I was the youngest there by 20 years, but even more exciting right?! So two intense wine people sit down in front of all the tables and the cameras, oh and yes we are being filmed. There was press everwhere and live filming going on. This was so much more intense than I thought. So I asked Paul what the black buckets were for and then found out when I saw people spitting into them after their fourth and fifth glass of wine. But this is not just a tasting, it is a mouth swishing, smelling and swirling I would say. People are very into their wine. The theme of this tasting, since I guess there are themes, was the same wine throughout the years. It is very interesting by the end how well I could tell the differences, also thanks to Paul, who has an adorable accent, and who explained just about everything to me. By the eighth glass and much spitting, and 2 hours later, I am going to wait a little while before my next wine “tasting.”
We also all went to a concert / wine tasting that was very interesting on Saturday night. There was a group of people in the program who sang beautiful songs, like Oh Happy Day and other English and Italian songs, and in between them we would taste a particular wine. Quite an interesting combination and very creative! The singers seemed so happy, like their lives have turned around and now they are so grateful, it was really beautiful to watch. That night I ended up going out with the British boys and the head chef…they are all very funny is all I can say!
So on Sunday, the princess of Afghanistan came to the event to see the Afghan products and meet with the RoP CEO/founder, Heidi Kuhn and other people. She is the granddaughter of the King of Afghanistan. When I first met her, I didn’t believe it because she looked afghani but spoke English and Italian perfectly and wore such normal cloths she blended right in. She was very down to earth and friendly. So then Heidi (CEO/founder of RoP) gave a speech to a bunch of people and I got to sit in on my first press conference with Heidi and the founder of San Patrignano and I got to take some pictures of course which was fun. Kyleigh, Heidi’s daughter who is my age and who goes to Berkeley, came with Heidi and we got to hang out on Sunday. So it was nice to be with someone my own age besides the British boys.
I am so happy I spent time getting to know more people from RoP, San Patrignano and from Italy. It was so much more rewarding than taking a weekend trip somewhere to be a tourist, which is although very important sometimes, I just enjoyed being around people with such a positive outlook on life. I am also so glad to have been the youngest one there working, since it gives me a chance to learn from others and their life experiences.

La Noche Blanca nunca terminara

After dinner at the hotel on Saurday night, we began to make plans out of this thick broshure with all the events going on that night. So during la noche blanca, there are museums, activities, movies, and tours free and open to the public from about 9pm to 7am. This night only happens once a year (also in other cities than Madrid). But millions of people come out to experience this from Spain and all over the world. So Nikki, Matt and I wanted to stick together since we have common interests and again it is waaay too difficult to go anywhere, especially in crowds, together with more than five or so people. So we got dressed for the night and started walking on the main street from the hotel to where everything was happening. We walked through a great little park with beautiful old ruins and a lake. Then we get to a round about in the road with a big statue of arches in the middle and it is foggy/misty at the bottom and rising- so sweet.
This is about the point were we start to see huge crowds. Looking uphill, we see the main road filled with people on both sides of the street like sardines in a can! We stopped at one of the plazas with the Banco de Espana building on one block and the city hall and a huge museum on the others. There were tv news crews, bright lights reflectin goff one tall ancient building with certain patterns, like a modern form of art, an outdoor movie playing in spanish and the roar of the people around us. Surprisingly it was not hard to move in the crowd unlike concerts or anything because people were calm and strolling along looking around.
We kept walking maybe ten blocks and there were still the same amount of people in the streets in all directions. And it was about that time that we saw drunk women riding their vespas and motorcycles around out of control! But we were safe the whole time! On the way to La Plaza del Sol (sun), there was a huge screen with a video playing and words underneath, I get closer and see a man singing the words. Karaoke!!! It was like a concert with the music video in the background, this guy was so good and at the end he got a huge round of applause! He must be famous by now.
After hanging out at the plaza del sol and meeting up with my friend John and his Italian roommates, I convinced Matt and Nikki, who are not huge soccer fans, to go to the Real Madrid stadium in San Bernabue. We took the metro around 2:00am at this point to the stadium which is in northern Madrid. There were not as many people here, but still people are out until at least 3 in the morning every weekend.
So we find the stadium a good walk away, at this point rainning a little (the only bad weather all weekend) and we get to the back of the line which is oh, let's say 4 blocks long- maybe the weather was trying to tell us something. And just as we find out place in line a man comes up to us and says they are cutting the line off before us! WHAT! I have waited my whole life to see this stadium and took the metro and a 5.5 hour bus ride to get here, you are kidding me!!! Not really but i was really bummed. So I grabbed Matt and Nikki and we went into the bar to go to the "bathroom" and when we went back out I just walked in line towards the front and some people noticed we cut but after a while they just went behind is! It is a free tour, what are they going to do tell on us? So we made it in and walked through the threshold to the opening of the green soccer feild with the letter "REAL MADRID" on the stands. How amazing...to see the ginormous empty stadium. I felt like I was the only one there. Then, as if it wasn't cool enough to see the stadium, we went through the teams' locker room and showers, they even have a jacuzzi!! It was so sweet. I could definitely picture myself next to Beckham on that bench tying my soccer shoes! Oh ya! Then after walking a full cirle around the field and taking a bagillion pictures and standing behind the goal, we sat in the seats of the players and coaches on the sidelines, and then went though the VIP trophy and history rooms. Great reading material I must say!
So two hours later and after a free night we took a taxi back to downtown since the metro did not run until 6am and walked around the younger district where literally it looked like riots were happening. There were teenagers running around all over crazy with beer bottles in every hand! An interesting site. We hung out at a park for a little bit waiting for our friends to meet us, but who ended up getting lost, so we left when the metro opened back up and went back to the hotel for breakfast at 7am!! Then two hours of sleep and off to our Sunday adventures!
So Sunday, nobody was lookin so hot! Breakfast was a blast, with coffee and hot chocolate everywhere! You could definitely tell who had slept some and who had not! I heard many angry stories of people getting lost and not having a good time, but it is all about planning, perserverance and having fun!
We headed straight out to the Museo Prado downtown in Madrid. It was a nice museum but very large. I kinda gave up walking around and looking after Velasquez and some of the most famous paintings. It did have some beautiful sculptures from the 16th century and onward. Then Nikki, Matt and I discovered this Thai restaurant, which I think was the best food I have had here in Spain, not to say the food I have had has not been great. I was definitely craving some diversity since I pretty much only eat vegetables, eggs and potatoes here, but no complaints. One thing I miss about San Francisco is the diversity of food. I am craving sushi and mexican food the most surprisingly. After a great lunch and a little touristy shopping, we went to the Reina Sophia museum with all contemporary art. It has Guernica de Pablo Picasso and a lot of his other famous works and sketches, as well as Miro and Dali. I could have spent all day there literally but we had to get back to take the bus home.
That 5.5 hour ride was not as bad as the first, since it always seems quicker on the road back. Again I sat next to smelly boys, but not by choice! A great ride to reflect and think of how great the weekend was and what I learned about Madrid and to watch a horrible movie in spanish, that does not translate well to me called "The Village" with Joaquin Phoenix...ya fun....
Anyways I came home to find out my host mom's brother, who was in the hospital for liver cancer and who was about to die (a prediction from Conchi) was doing significantly better. Apparently he woke up on day from being very sick and said, "give me a sandwhich, I want to read, why do all the letters look like H's? Tell me where I am..." Juan Carlos is a funny man with little teeth, I only had the pleasure of meeting him once and found out the hard way is is very good at Parcheesy. But things at the apartment have been definitely more pleasant and Conchi has started singing again...and dancing...not pretty...but entertaining.
So I have classes this week like normal and actually I found out, with much surprise, that the KING and QUEEN and the PRINCESS are coming to the University of Deusto tom., wednesday, for a visit to comence the official school year, since he attended the University. I didn't beleive anyone when I heard it was a prestigious school, because every school says that, but now I do beleive. Well, I will when I see the King. Be prepared for pictures!
ALso, I am headed to Rimini, Italy this weekend to work at an event called Squisto. I am working with Roots of Peace, the organization I volunteered for all last year through my social justice program. They remove landmines and replace them with sustainable agriculture or soccer fields or schools in war torn countries. They have worked in Cambodia, Croatia and Angola, Africa previously. I am really excited to meet up with Heidi Kuhn, the founder and CEO while I am there. She actually is having a private audience with the POPE, while in Italy, to talk about landmines, her organization and try to raise money/awareness. Their website is www.rootsofpeace.org!!!
wow enough for now...
By the way Mary Heffernan had her baby girl Francie, who I was thinking about all weekend..I am just bummed it was not on my Bday, but I had a close guess! Congrats Mare, I love you so much and am incredibly happy for you. You are so strong and brave!

Toledo and Men

Saturday was so great as well. We went to Toledo in the morning. Toledo is about 70 kilometers away from Madrid, and is known for being the cultural crossroads of Spain. Spanish and Arab influence are huge in the architecture and history of the city. We went to the fourth largest Cathedral in Europe, the Cathedral of Toledo (obviously). It was magnificent and somewhat hidden in the downtown close buildings on the top of this hill. Then you walk through a narrow pedestrian street and there is this huge pointy gothic building. We had a crazy tour guide, he as so funny, saying things like "hurry up! roaylty is here, the VIPs are coming through" referring to us in his broken English. And things like "wow and look at this it only took the painter 546 days to finish this one, and over here jesus is crying, you won't see those tears anywhere..." The paintings were very rare and i forget all the artists names, but apparently they are all very important. In the XV-XVII centuries they were all religious painting and the most famous ones were here. The guide would also say things like this is the only cathedral to have the (place any religous term here) and in my opinion it is the best and i have seen all the impotant cathedrals and even been on their roofs. Crazy man.
I saw a young man on the street with a booth who made wax string bracelets, and I stopped to talk to him and told him a lot of people in San Francisco make crafty things like this. So I bought a brilliant bracelet and he said he would have to pass through San Francisco sometime. He was obviously poor with a dog but very nice and I really enjoyed talking to him, I felt like I was in san franscico for a moment. I miss the city but it is so great to be here.
So after being huge tourists and stopping at the one main tourist spot with the huge group and bus and million cameras and being embarrassed as people drove by we left to go back to Madrid for la noche blanca.