Can you say, undescribable (good, cause i can barely spell it)

New Years eve dinner:with the group at the hostel.  Mexican burittos, and chips.  yum.

New Years eve attire:  I wore a fabulous red dress accomapanied by sparkling bedazzled, 10 inch silver/gold shoes, and kept cozy under a diva-esq cheetah fur coat.  kisses with my red lips.  my friends of course looked fabulous.  Stephen with a black tailored suit and a crisp white button down and skinny tie.  Zuania with a gorgeous blue and black dress, garnished with a bow, and accompanied by stellar black pumps.  Liz in a figure hugging cream dress and cream boots, kisses with her red lips, and loca carnival mask.  Lisa in a soft pink baby doll dress, and curls that bounced around beautifully, kisses with her pink lips.  Christina, with a sparkling silver black dress that fit perfectly and made her shine.  Allison in sheak black, looking darling as usual.  Zach, with a crisp button down. And matt.. looking like matt..   And the other people we hung with looked great as well

New Years Pre game: hosted by Zachs super cool friend who lives in Spain, at his crib in the heart of the city, a 2 minute walk from Plaza de Sol.  Drinks, pictures and kisses.

New Years Countdown:  Crammed into the crowded Plaza de sol, but miraculously staying together, we yelled and laughed and sang.  You would think we had known eachother our whole lives.  Stuffing 12 white grapes into our mouth, signifying good luck for the next 12 months ahead.  its tougher than it sounds.  Singing ¨Esta Noche, somos jovenes, prendamos fuego el mundo, y poder brillar, mas que sol¨..¨Llavame a casa esta noche¨.. jaja  that came true

New Years :  ahhhhhh,  party in Plaza de sol.  undescribable.

New Years day:  no time to sleep.  Say goodbye to beautiful Lisa.  Off to Amsterdam!!

My life is an adventure.  spent the Christmas holidays in the SOuth of Spain.  talk about dreamy!  me encantas.  I travelled with my two fave girls, Lisa and Liz.  It was a special trip because it was our last time with Lisa, as she is returning to Italy on the 1st of January.  Bitter sweet it was. 

Dec 23rd

first stop, Malaga.  In the southern part of Spain, where the christmas spirit was in the air, lingering over the 100 foot tall Christmas tree in the Plaza, and the merry Christmas decorations decking the streets with dancing lights.  It was a very nice time.  We stayed in a cool hostel, Bomb.com.  State of the art, with great facilities.  We settled in, after arriving late on the 23rd, and set out to the fiesta.  it was a party alright, beautiful people, great music, and dancing.  #out all night. 

Dec 24th

The next day, sightseeing.  I met an awesome guy who offered to show m the city on his motorcycle.  uh YEAH!  he took me alongside the entire beach , 17km.  We then went to his fave spot in the city, the top most point where we were able to see the entire city.  breathtaking.  Then he showed me the 2 landmarks of the city, a cathedral, and a ancient ruin.  such a dreamy day. 

 I reunited with the girls later that day, Christmas eve to be exact, and we decided to go out for dinner.  On the way, we bumped into two fabulous girls, and we al decided to go out together and spend christmas eve with friends, new and old.  We happended upon a antique Lebanese resteraunt, and decided to dine there.  Delicious!  I got vegetable couscous, YUM!  the other girls got delicious meals as well.  we washed it down with a free drink at a neighboring club, sangria.  We stayed out for a little that night.  everyone was dressed beautiful.  all that was missing was snow, and it would have been a perfect Christmas Eve. 

Dec 25th

Off to Granada.  Now i heard so many great things about Granana, and now it was my time to see for myself.  We arrived at our super funky hostel, where a jam session was taking place in the basement, and we were welcomed with a perfectly blended glass of Sangria.  Way to start of the trip.  Our room was perfect.  we had it all to ourself, with a private bathroom and kitchen.  BOMB.com.  it was quite brisk there, as the snow sloped mountains overlloked the beautiful town of Granada.  That night we went out dancing, and ran into 3 other traveliing auxiliiares.  Cool!  we decided to hit a bar with them, and they were really fun. 

Dec 26th

Next day, we went sightseeing.  The Arabic influence on the architecture was amazing.  it was definitely a city worth exploring duirng the day and at night, as magical things happen later in the gypsy town.  we walked through the main plazas, up and down the windy hilly neighborhoods, peaked over a highpoint o the city where we could see everything, and ate delicious crepes and tea until our tummies sang. 

Dec 27th

All day, eat, eat, walk some and eat.  MMM the falafel there was super yummy.  not to mention the grande size tapas you recieve with the purchase of 1 drink.  we were able to eat dinner with just 2 drinks each.  eating good on a budget!  we decided to walk the calles and visit some beautiful Arab shops, where they were selling goods from immaculately designed lamps to gypsy pants.  it was a ligth show.  whenever i go shopping i always wish i had my own home to begin decorating, beaucse there are so many beautiful ornate objects that would make any home well traveled.  Oh well, guess i will have to travel the world again!  no big deal

Dec 28th

Nothing is more delightful than music and dance.  We went to an authentic Flamenco show, a traditional song and dance home to natives of Andalucia.  It was such a miraculous showing.  As the man sang straight from his heart to the beat of the melodic guitar, strumming ever so control yet free.  And the beautful Flaminco dancer, snapping her hips and swinging her arms while tapping her feet on the floor of the dimly lit tunnel. 

after the show, we had a chance to talk with some of the men who are a part of the sow.  One guy was really intriguing, and being a guitar lover, i was so interested in learning Flamenco.  We heade out to a bar with some other gypsys, (Estoy Gitana) where we shared nice conversation (in Spanish) over an ice cold cana.  he said he would teach me how to pay flamenco on the guitar (Gratis)  my fav.  Now i just have to live in Granada, and I can take him up for that offer.

Our moment.  you know when you have a moment, and in that moment, you are like, dang, this is about to be a memory forreal.  well we had that this night.  chilin in the hostel, me the two girls, and a friend we picked up along the way (lol) all sitting sipping on wine ad talking.  it was like a poetry cipher, the way we communicated.  tears where winding down cheeks, beautiful things were said.  I love them,  i really do.  so happy we shared such a beautiful time together. 

He said my eyes where from a different lifetime.  how deep is that.  i think im going to paint eyes.  afterall, they are the window to the soul. 

29th

off to madrid!

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio .

“To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.
It is the most requested column I’ve ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good..
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will.  Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15.. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words :’In five years, will this matter?’
27. Always choose life..
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does..
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come…
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.”

My first thanksgiving away from home.  I loooovvveee thanksgiving, so this was a bit strange for me not to be celebrating with my family.  But, oh what Spain has done.  the people here are so my family too.  We decided to all get together and celebrate thanksgiving! so the Sunday following thanksgiving, we decided to gather and give thanks!

It was a potluck so everyone vrought a dish, or beverage.  It was an array of beautiful colors and flavors.  i brought macaroni and cheese.  I was a little nervous about it, because they dont have the same cheeses in Spain that they do in the U.S, and there are no measuring cups…  but, can you say bomb.com.  It was great.  my roomie Christina brought a green bean casserole.. mmm veges, and my otha roomie Stephanie brought some sweet potatoe soufflee.. yum.  My roomie Sabine , whos from Germny and never celebrated Thanksgiving before, prepared yum yum for your tum garlic bread! 

The potluck was being held at an auxilliares house name Zack, since his crib his grande!  when we arrived, a majority of the guest were already there.  To complement the dishes my roomies and I prepared, there was mashed potatoes, garlicky corn and spinach (Bomb), deviled eggs, rice, scalloped potatoes, slow roasted mouth watering turkey.  And to wash it down, we had some classy wine.

To commence the evening, i proposed we gather in a circle, and go around saying what we were thankful for.  To my suprise, no one else really did this with their family.  It was a nice moment for all of us! 

Then we ate until our tummys couldnt take anymore.  Everything was soooo delicious!  we ate, talked, sang, played games, but mostly laughed.  It was one of those moments that one could never forget.  #memory.  Thank you to my family and friends, and to Spain and my family abroad.  I love you all more than you know!   : )

So i must fill you in.  Portugal was beautiful.  to sum it up in one sentence, its a colorfully gothic stone masterpiece of beautiful art and delicious wine.  it was fuuuun! so i went with my 3 roomies, Christina, Sephanie and Sabine, along with 4 other amazing chicas, Liz, Zuania, Allison, and Lisa.  Girl trip. 

Of course we brought the sunshine, a wave of perfect weather swept us off our feet as we explored the hidden treasures of Porto.  Our first day there, we discovered a local mom n pops resteraunt, that had amazing food and wine.  I literally had a home cooked meal and a glass of wine for 5 euros!  hello, we r there, All day, everyday!  then we went exploring the magical land of porto.  We stumbled across the Harry Potter library, the library used in the movies.  It looked like it to.  Fun Fact, JK Rowling was inspired much for her Harry Potter series, by the historic architecture and gothic yet magically culture of Porto.  the university students actually wore all black, with long black capes around porto.  they looked just ike students out of Harry Potter.  I swear i saw Harry walking with Hermoine and Ron.  Any ways, after that we stumbled upon, a market of street vendors selling awesome hand made crafts.  Although I wanted everything, I was good and only bought 3 pairs of earrings, my fave accessory! 

so we were staying in a hostel, which was really fun actually.  we all got to stay in the same room, of 8 bunkbeds.  Slumber party!  we met an amzing guy from Brazil, Elder ( best friend), and he hung out with us the duration of our trip.  later that night, we socialized with some cools cats from South America (hott).  they were playing guitar, and ofcourse Liz threw me out there and forced me to play.  lol  fun times.  i wooed them with my guitar skills.  that night, we hit the town..like BAM!

next day the group went down to the Port of Portugal.. Kewwl.  really nice and beautiful.  the vendors were there again, and they had more super cool craafts, from dreamcatcher earrings, to sushi neckalaces, to stringy scarves.  all soo tempting.  continuing our adventure, we crossed the bridge, and proceeded to the Port winery tour and tasting.  so cool.  wine is a serious process, and art.  FUn Fact, wine is suppose to taste different with every sip, because each time Oxygen hits the wine, it ignites deeper flavors.  Only wine scientist can really tast the difference, but its still cool.  Now Port wine, is different from regular wine, because the fermenation process is stopped after 2 years, by adding brandy to the batch.  This not only ensures the super sweetness of the wine, but makes it much stronger..  20% alc to be exact.  BAM.  but its a wine you drink either before dinner, or after, as a dessert.  Liz and i capped the night with a romantic dinner by the water.  it was soo good, and beaufitul.  we spent like 3 hours there, just relaxing and enjoying the NOW! we realized that back in the US, you are soo rushed all the time.  You never have time to just sit and be in the Now.  We ate a delicious meal of Codfish (a famous Porto dish) and seafood rice.  Our whistles were dampened with a few glasses of tinto verde wine (another signature Porto item).  and topped it off with a delicious Latte.  Yum.  we decided to go home and take a nap before going out for the night.  Can you say out like a Energizer bunny with no batteries. 

Next day, we were refreshed and ready to hit the ground running, or riding shall i say.  we got tickets for the Porto bus tour around the city.  It was really cool.  beautiful things to see.  The beach was amazing.  talk about 20 feet waves.  it started rainging this day, so after our tour we escaped into a classy resteraunt for hot chocolate.  Ok so the hot chocolate here is bomb.  its literally liquid chocolate, like they melted a candy bar and whisked in warm milk.  YUM.  we went out that night.  all i can say is  Crazy.

Our last day, we went to our fave little mom and pops resteraunt.  Talk about bomb diggity, the menu changes everyday.  later We finished our tour of the city.  Ahhh i lost my ticket however.  Having to rely on a beautiful smile and charm can be hard work… unless the bus driver is super dreamy, and totally smitten by exotic me. hehe  He let us get on the bus, and gave us the platinum hook up and called his ‘boys’ (other bus drivers) to allow me on the bus without a ticket.  soo sweet. 

Our last few moments were spent in Swanky McDonalds as we waited for our bus back to Spain.  fun.  Cant wait for our next adventures to Barcelona, Madrid, Morroco, Italy, Canary Islands, Germany…. uh the list goes on!

chao for now!

Soo

hey guys!

SO far soo grand.  I just found about about a gym, where i can take classes all day… yay, needed because all i seem to be eating here is bread! 

its starting raining, sadly.  but its not that cold outside.  let me repeat, outside.  in my piso, im freezing.  luckily we just pulled out the space heaters, so BAM!  lol, whats also funny is that we have to provide our own gas for the house.  Gas provides heat, and fire for cooking.  we ran out on Monday.   eeek  thank goodness they are bringing one by today.  shoot, i wanna make my shrimp and brocolli alfredo pasta (from scratch)! 

I just started taking a spanish class.  yesterday was my first day.  the teacher only speaks spanish, and if you dont understand, she explains in spanish.  no talking slow here!   but i enjoy the class, its going to challenge in the perfect sense of the word.

soo super excited for this weekend for two reasons.  Octoberfest is in Pontevedra this weekend, and its supposedly alot of fun.  woohoo, cant wait to drink some cerveza.  plus, its a long weekend, so a group of us are going to Portugal!  yep, that beautiful country just south of Galicia.  SO excited!  it should be interesting seeing as none of us speak portugese, but im sure we will manage thanks to universal sign language. 

oooh, just remembered that today is our roomie dinner day..  mmmm

so i was thinking for holloween I would be a sour pacth kid. lol so funny.  first their sour then their sweet!  i would play tricks on all the people around me, then be nice.. hehee-  but i think only the americans will get it.. so maybe ill just be a jellybean!

I just finished my first week of school.  Little children are awesome.  Im working with ninos agaes 2 - 11.  awwww  So im an assistant teacher, we only work 12 hours a week!..  let me repeat, 12 hours a week.  I worked 2 hours today.  BAM!!  plus you cant really call it work, because its fun. 

The little kids, infantil, are adorable.  They love to dance lol.  Whenever a song is playing, they all get up and start jumping around.  The older kids too.  they bop their head to the beat.  Im not gonna lie, I do too!!  lol  The proferssors that im working with are awesome!  I really like work. 

Today, I talked to the children about different foods Americans eat.  I drew items on the board, and they loved guessing the food.  some drawings were a little, ambiguous.  Like how do you draw grits? or mashed potatos.   hehe  but it was all good, thanks to my miming skils.  Now im about to work on my lesson for next week, American Culture!

The school is only a 15 minute walk from my Piso.  Muy Facil.  I have finally gotten over the initial shock and home sickness, and becoming more and more comfortable every day.  Salud!

La fiesta International!  I heart Estados Unidos

Vigo!!

SO this weekend, a group of us decided to head to Vigo, a neighboring city just 30 mins from Pontevedra. We decided to go for the day, and party all night. Seemed like a doable idea when you woke from a refreshing slumber and are wide awake and excited to be in SPain! You see, the train stops running to Vigo at 10 pm, and starts aain at 7:30 am. So the plan was to party all night until the wee hours of the morning and just hop on the train.

WHy did I think I could do this. Only 1 week in spain, and my body is still adjusting to the time change of 6 hours! mind you its 6 hours forward, which means i have to train my body to go to sleep earlier. I felt it shouldnt be a problem since 7:30 am SPain time is 1:30 am Georgia time.

SO we arrive in Vigo, which is the biggest city in Galicia. It reminded me alot of a NY carved out of stone! We had a fun bike ride across town, dodging the millions of people in the streets. my golly it was crowded. But i got to work on my bike driving skills. Plus it was a motorized bike, which is really weird the first time, because it propels you forward after a few pedals. that helpe for the ridiculous mountain-esq hills. then we went to a bar to watch the football game.

Now here, they take football super serious. like payers and fans getting killed type serious. So im not sure if im ready to claim a team (madrid or barcelona) especially since my spanglish wont get me out of a “blindly angry Spaniard”.

anyway, back to Vigo. So then we went to the pregame, which was hosted at an auxilliares piso in spain. Super tiny, but cozy. There was like 15 of us there, but it felt like 50! lol shoulder to shoulder! but they made some delicious finger foods. i was killing the guacamole. and omg.. a Spanish tortilla is bomb. i dunno what it is but its good! We played waterfalls, which is my fave game to pregame with.

another side note. the wine here is really good, and really cheap. they have bottles for only .65 euros. I decided to be classy and get the more expensive bottle.. .99 euros! hehe. the wineries are super close so your actually getting a bang for your buck.

THen we went out dancing. Now the scene wasnt as poppin as i was expecting, but the people I was with were.. so that was awesome! we danced and danced and danced. and soon it was like 5 am. and thats when the sleep monster hit me.. like bam over the head with an iron pot. i totally took a nap in the club. and the next one too. dang, ima have to get with the party scene here is spain. They dont stop until its like 7 or 8 in the morning.

we finished the night with a delicious falafel. it like melted in my mouth, but it could have been do to the fact that we were all super hungry. and we mounted our heavy bodies on the train back to pontevedra only to be awoken by the ticket collector on the train. grr, but just like that, i was fast asleep again. The walk home seemed a little longer. It could have been do to the fact that we were cold, sleepy, cold and sleepy. But we made it home safely.

We all concluded that we will not do an all nighter in another town again. couch surfer time!

Im no longer homeless!  That’s right, I found a piso (apartment)!  So the first place I looked was very nice, and conveniently located right across from my school.  The plus side was the fact that in the winter I could literaaly leave  my house and be in the school in less than 1 minute.  The negative was that my roommate would be an older women.  Don’t get me wrong, I like old people, but they just cant party to the wee hours.  Hehe.  So on Tuesday, when I met all the people who were auxilliares, I met to American firls, who said they had a room available.  The only awkward thing was that a Mexican man was …uh… sleeping in the room.  Lol.  But that doesn’t stop me.

So this Thursday, I bravely checked out of my hostel,  not knowing where I was going.  I did have a couple of people offer their coach.  No one is too good for a coach.!  So I arrange for my teacher to speak with the girls’ landlord, and habla in that espanol!  He set it up so we could go see it today!  Buena.  So I came by, and it ws super cute!  All the rooms were painted with poka dots.. aawwww.  My exact words were “Yo quiero porque me gusta!  Lol I moved in later that day.. an hour to be exact.  I was ready!

The piso is really cute and homey.  I live with 2 girls from America, and one girl from Germany.  Keewwl.  My Spanglish will be on point! 

Did I mention, Pontevedra welcomed me with beautiful weather.  Im talking sandles and dress weather.   So as I wondered the streets the next morning looking for some food, I bumped into n auxilliare.  Its great recognizing faces in an unfamiliar town!  Totally found about about the internet hot spot, right above burger king!  (so happy mcdonalds didn’t make it here to)  such an eye sore!  Ouch! 

Jamon (ham) is huge is espana.. like their specialty.   Its in and on everything.  Ruffle chips with jamon…  eeek!  So I got a sandwhich, but had them hold the jamon.  Funny how a vegetable sandwhich would have jamon in the first place.. but like I said, it’s a big thing here.    Delicioso!  Lettuce y eggs y tomato y cheese y mayo on some freshly toasted bread.  My first local meal!  Got it to go though, cuz a sista needed a nap.  # grrr jet lag! 

Later I was invited to go to the beach.   Talk about great beach weather.  The sun was out, the sky was clear, the breeze was warm.  Of course on my way to the train station I bumped into another international student from Ireland.  It took all of me to not mimic the Irish ascent.  Its just so… jolly!  She too was looking for a place to live.  As we were chatting away in English, a young guy stopped to talk… in English.  What a small town to literally bump into all the auxilliares in Pontevedra in my first 3 days!  He was from NY, and decided to accompany me to the beach.  We missed the first group, so traveled by bus to Miran, a small town right outside of pontevedra to the beach.  We met the others there and soaked in the warm Galician sun.  good times