Bits and Pieces

I know I'm guilty of not writing for quite a long time but...here it is!

Since I last checked in a lot has happened- classes (finally) started, I started volunteering, I got a job, and tomorrow I leave for Amsterdam! In terms of school, I only have class from 8am-4pm twice a week...so I am basically in high school again and playing hooky every other day. The days are long and tedious, but I can't really complain. The only problem is that all my classes are in Spanish, so it's like I'm playing the star role of Lost in Translation half the time. The strange thing is that I literally have no done an ounce of homework, which is both awesome and worrisome...

A friend of mine who studied abroad in Madrid last semester put me in contact with an organization called T-Oigo. This organization works to bring equal opportunities and awareness to the deaf community. My Tuesday nights are thus spent with the sweetest little girl named Marina. Although the goal is to teach her english (which she already knows extremely well), we mainly play Disney Princesses and draw together. Last Sunday I went to see a play with her at a kid's theater about half an hour from my apartment. It's actually so refreshing to escape the party scene and hectic school day and spend some time with an innocent child. Monday and Wednesday nights I tutor another girl named Lucia, teaching her english through games and play. Although I get paid for this, there is nothing too laborious about playing Hello Kitty for an hour.

In terms of daily life here, things are busy and going way too fast. Today marks my 1 month anniversary of arriving in Spain. Every time I start to be nostalgic for BC and home, I realize that very soon I will be back home and wishing I had more time here. I go running every day in Parque de Retiro and it really makes me appreciate the beauty of the city and the people who live here. Last weekend we took a day trip to Toledo to study what we were learning in class about the reconquest of Spain. The city is so beautiful and rich in history. Tomorrow I am off to meet up with one of my best friends in Amsterdam. I am quite honestly praying I come back alive.

Getting wild in Toledo. 

Our knight in shining armor. 

Toledo. 

My homestay is going quite well, and I appreciate every day the fact that I am no longer in the residencia...Our lunches with our host mom are always entertaining. Last week she told us she had a novio (ow owwww) and actually invited him over for drinks that night. I awkwardly had not let to go out yet and felt like I was hurting her game. She also lectured us on not eating so much fruit because it is not healthy. She said we should have chocolate milk and bread for breakfast instead. She knows how to live.

Anyways, I'm off to pack and make paper dolls for Lucia. Look forward to plenty of pictures and stories about Amsterdam next week! Until next time, keep me in mind.

                                          The Town, Macklemore 

Manisfestaciones y Huelgas

Ever since my move to an apartment in the heart of Madrid, I have become ever more aware of the political turmoil in Spain. Each day as I walk back to my homestay, I pass several demonstrations in Puerta del Sol. Police vans line the streets and often the policeman themselves stand in a blockade. The demonstrations vary from very small and centralized to a mass of people flocking the streets. It is also a mixture of young students and older working people.


My host mother and I watch the news together during lunch and she fills me in on all the current political problems that are arising. When I asked about whether the protests and demonstrations are getting any better, she said that they are just as bad as they have been for the past year or so. I later saw in her office a big collection of different signs and posters from past strikes. She sure is a feisty one!

On my way to my university this week, I received a text from a friend alerting me that everyone was locked out of the school. At first I chuckled to myself a bit but then realized that a strike was actually taking place. After finally being let in, several professors decided to just cancel class. My Cervantes professor explained to us that many teachers at the university are being paid enough by the government and therefore often engage in protests. We'll have to see how much class I actually end up having this semester...

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This past weekend my friends and I took a day trip to Salamanca to explore a bit and see the beautiful city! We spent hours walking through the little streets and visiting the cathedral and university. Below are some pictures from my trip!

Until next time, keep me in mind.

Yo Te Esperaré, Cali y El Dandee

Mercados y Comida

Good news- we are escaping the orphanage on Thursday!! I know that sounds dramatic but if you saw our dinner tonight you would see where I'm coming from. I think they may have poisoned me so like this may be my last post...

Anyways. My roommate Kristen is moving into a homestay and our friend Marina and I are going to stay with a family in Sol. I have never been so excited for a homecooked meal and hot water. We received a bio about the family and they seem so sweet! The mother is an architect and spends a lot of time working from home while her two grown daughters are there on occasion. Quite honestly, I would live with anyone at this point if it means I can get out of here. 

Besides binge drinking at a 7 story club, bar hopping for 1 euro shots, and chugging boxed wine on the metro, I have been doing some very classy, cultural activities! Saturday night a few girls and I visited the Mercado de San Miguel for dinner. This market is really unique as it is a permanent building enclosing tons of different little food stands. Almost like musical chairs with tapas. Our first stop was to a flirtatious Italian man who called us pretty and gave us free cheese so that was cool. He made the most delicious whipped mozzarella that he topped with prosciutto and fig and spread across toast. Out of this world. We then explored some more and found organic empanadas, ceviche, smoked salmon tapas, dried fruit, gelato, and churros. Not too shabby. 

                                                                           Delicious.  

The very next morning, we ate more churros. I need an intervention by Jenny Craig at this point. A famous chocolateria called Sin Gines was where we stopped for a "light" breakfast. Fried dough and thick melted chocolate made to drink is probably not light but who even cares. The Spanish know how to live. From here we ventured through a local market that sold everything from batteries to lingerie to paintings. It reminded me of the little markets in Mexico that my dad and I would spend hours at. 

The next 2 hours of my day were spent getting lost. My friend Marina and I decided to pretend we were spontaneous and adventurous for a second and got on a random bus. Then we realized it was packed full of 80 year olds and was probably headed to an old person's home. We tried to transfer but ended up going the wrong direction on the Circular 2 bus and got a free tour of the city. 

        Marina lost as hell.

I'm off to go buy candy from Dulce King because our dinner was inedible. I hope I don't see the cute Spanish boy because I will be double fisting bags of candy for my roommate and wearing sweats. Until next time, keep me in mind. 

(This song has absolutely nothing to do with anything but it's been stuck in my head all day)

                                         Cruise, Florida Georgia Line

La Vida Esta Loca

The first full week of my Spanish adventure has come and gone- and honestly I'm lucky to be alive.
Day one, I was mugged coming home at night on the Metro and now I am phoneless. The Spaniards don't appreciate an American girl crying her eyes out on the train for future reference to anyone traveling to Madrid in the near future. Day five, I was mugged again at the night club Kapital and lost all the euro I had on me. People are telling me it's my purse- I think I'm just naive and need to get my shit together.

Besides losing all my possessions, I think the people running this dorm I am in are trying to kill us. We have no hot water and no heat and we get a death glare at every corner. And not to be dramatic, but the food they serve of for meals is probably sub par to cat food. There's a possibility they may try to poison it at some point. "Toni" is the man working here and I literally think he is running a drug cartel in the basement. So this weekend we are escaping this orphanage we live in to move to a homestay. Unfortunately, our teacher already told the people here, so now they really do have reason to hate us.

                                                Our beautiful residencia- welcome to hell. 

All that aside, the vida here truly is loca. I have never ben so sleep deprived in my life. Over the past two nights I have had 5 hours of sleep total. The night life here is not like anything I have ever experienced. You cannot get to a club before midnight and because the trains don't run between 1:30 and 5:30, you are stuck there till 6 unless you want to break the bank and take a cab.

    Our after school activity of going to Dulce King for candy has made us the         

most loyal customers. Hopefully our discount starts soon.

To move on to classier and more cultural conversation....We have had an intensive spanish language class all this week to prepare us for the classes we are about to start. I am taking four classes in spanish and an econ class in english. After sitting through a history and an art class though, it really doesn't seem too bad in terms of understanding the language in a classroom context.

Today my friends and I are going to tour Chueca, a hip little neighborhood of Madrid known for it's gay community. I actually went there two days ago to do research for a project I am doing on it and it reminded me of the village in NYC. Everything is organic and earthy and there are gay pride flags everywhere. I love it. Tomorrow we are all going for churros as a class activity and then touring the markets. I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday.

                               El Tigre is a small bar in Chueca where you can get a drink and free  
                                tapas for 6 euro. The owner's name is Juan; we're friends now. 

Everything here is so beautiful. Running through the park yesterday under the willow trees and around the little ponds, I realized how lucky I am to be here this semester and how I must take advantage of every opportunity. I can already see how the months are going to fly by and soon I will be having to tear myself away from this place. Although I have already managed to acquire a 24 year old novio named Ricardo. So perhaps I will marry him and stay. Until next time, keep me in mind.

                                          Manos Al Aire, Nelly Furtado

Spaynish

After having my laptop break 3 hours before leaving for the airport, being hit by a truck and our car being totaled, and losing my iPhone the first night here, I am finally in Madrid to stay. So yes I have the worst luck in the entire world but at lest I made it! Upon landing in Spain, I was picked up by a Liam Neeson-esque man in all black who whisked me and two other girls into a black van. Speeding across the highway we spoke in broken Spanish to him and said "Oh si, si" in response to almost everything he said. Arriving at my dorm around 9am, all the students and staff were asleep so this man and I had some bonding time waiting on the curb. Once we eventually squeezed into the tiny elevator and reached my room, I was greeted by a half naked man. While meeting my new roommate for the semester and speaking with the dormitory "mother" Esperanza, a guy in super tight boxers, a flannel, and sporting a large beard walked into our room to introduce himself. Guess there's no shame here.

      Some great artwork someone so kindly left for us in our dorm room.

 Notice the nice ecstasy pill on the stoner's tongue. 

My roommate Kristen and I decided step one on this Spanish adventure was sleep. After a long nap we decided to join up with Marina, the other BC student in our dorm, for lunch. It's quite cute how they do meals here. Since the dorm consists of about 20-30 students, each meal is cooked individually and is served at small dinning tables. Over a meal of rice and fried eggs, we met Fernando and Andres, two students at the university. Fernando is 29 and still studying here so not exactly sure what his deal is...but  they seem nice! Besides their interest in a wet t-shirt contest after lunch and the extended invitation to a heavy metal concert, I think we can be friends.

That afternoon we went on a beautiful tour of the city before a group dinner of tapas and sangria. From grilled peppers to tortilla espanola, the food was amazing and the atmosphere in the little packed restaurant was so fun. Adventuring into the Spanish night life made for an interesting first night. Seeing as we are in Spain, the obvious choice for bar number 1 was O'Connells, the most Irish bar in city. After a pint of Heineken and a tequila shot, we migrated to a Reggae bar...I'm not exactly sure where the Spanish culture is coming in here but we shall see! Instead of the planned 3am churros, I was mugged and my iPhone now belongs to the city of Madrid.

All in all, I love Madrid. The city is a mixture of quaint apartments and quit streets combined with a wild nightlife scene and thousands of different cuisines and types of people. Despite some minor panic attacks yesterday, I think I will do just fine here. Running in the drizzling rain though Parque del Oeste, I truly realized that I need to make the most out of every minute I am here. It really is a once in a life time opportunity.

Until next time, keep me in mind.

                                          Loca Sak Noel 

Restless

Rest.Less 

I leave for Spain in like... 20 hours. And all I am doing is sitting in bed updating my iTunes library. I haven't even started packing and just realized that I bought the wrong adapter for my computer. Oops. But for some reason I really don't care. I'm the type of person who worries about everything. Give me something and I will find a way to stress about it. Freshman year of high school I did a home stay in Spain and cried for a week before. Now, I am nowhere near to getting my shit together and I can't seem to get myself to move into gear. I don't know if its actually fear keeping me frozen in place or the sad fact that maybe I have lost all motivation by age 20, but it's something. Anyways, this post is pretty useless. Tomorrow I will be in Madrid and have plenty of photos and news to share! Until then...

Here's a song I have stuck in my head- check out the real video by Maroon 5; it's pretty amazing.

                                          Daylight, Maroon 5

The Price of Innocence

ko jugu ye mogo karamogo ye

-We Learn From Hardship-

This Bambara proverb resonates me in the wake of the recent tragedies hitting homes acros the globe. From Hurricane Sandy, to the Sandy Hook shooting, to the drone killings in Iraq and the disarray in Mali, our world has become a sad place. It seems one cannot escape it. Every time I turn on the news or computer some new atrocity has left another city in shambles. 

I spoke to a friend today who lives with his family in the northern city of Gao. As you all know, this rebel-held region of Mali is currently experiencing a French offensive against Islamist insurgents. He tells me that they are doing okay so far, and that as of today: "the terrorists are leaving- we hope for forever".  I can only pray that this man and his beautiful children (pictured below) find peace again soon. 

                                                   

Back in 2009, I visited Mali under the auspices of BuildOn, an organization dedicated to brining education to third world countries. For just under a month, I lived in the little village of N'Gola with a group of other American students. I won't get all preachy here about what the trip taught me- instead, I want to just simply say that I am thinking of them. I know that it has been years since I last spoke with my host family and the villagers, but they still touched my life. The most beautiful little girl named Genevieve would sit with me every night as we shucked peanuts with her mother. We didn't really say much of anything- the language barrier was incredible. But the sweetness of the people there and the life in their eyes makes my heart hurt when I think of the danger they are in. There is nothing worse than the death of an innocent child. 

As I left the gym the other night, a little girl ran out in front of me. She threw her arms up at the sky and screamed,"Look at the MOON!"It's amazing what innocence can do to the heart. I just wish every child had the chance to be innocent. Life can be mean and hard and hurtful- but at age 5 it shouldn't have to be. Regardless of one's politics, thoughts on war, or opinions on gun control, let us learn from the hardships- let us not forget who the real enemy is. Until next time, keep me in mind. 

                                          World, Five for Fighting 

Let's Get Away From it All

Peru

I thought I would start the lead up to my departure by reflecting on some past trips I have taken. I realize it's been quite a while since I have traveled on my own. My dad and I spent a month in Peru and Ecuador together last summer, traveling to Quito, Machu Pichu, Lima, and Guayacil. Between bathing in the hot springs with naked old men, eating grilled corn from the bustling markets, and attempting to kidnap a llama, it was a trip to remember. 

 I have a great skill of falling asleep almost anywhere. Some may call it narcolepsy, I call it talent.

                                     

A view from above. 

These cobbled streets gave the busy city of Quito a homey feel.

The mural below stretched along the wall that wrapped it's arms around the lively market in the city center. Tiny hand painted dolls delicately tucked into red cloth dresses were lined up like soldiers on the makeshift tables as young boys eagerly raised their eyes to the soccer jerseys hung above.

                                              

              

                                                                  

The Virgin Mary of Quito statue overlooks the people inhabiting the city.

Despite the exquisite architecture and natural beauty of the land, it was the people who I met along the way that awed me the most. The children of Peru have a gorgeous spirit that is unparalleled by anything I have witnessed before.There is a sweetness about the Peruvian people that I cannot quite explain. It is as though life is truly a gift to them, one in which they will not waste a minute tainted with bitterness. The smile of the little girl below will always stay with me.

Peru is truly a magical place. The warm natured people and the love emanating from the land can make any old curmudgeon smile. And so I leave you with this- until next time, keep me in mind. 

                                         Brand New Day Joshua Radin

Like a Butterfly

"I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free." Charles Dickens

I absolutely adore this quote. My friend snapped a picture of a storefront adorned with these very words while studying in London, England. While spending a typical Sunday afternoon ravaging my Facebook newsfeed, I came across this photo of hers. And it got me thinking. Lately I've been having a bit of a quarter life crisis (at least I hope it's quarter). My older sister just graduated from Sarah Lawrence and obviously therefore is as artsy as they come. Which is great. She can give me a free tour of any museum you step into. Only problem with that, is that she will most likely never find a job. And so her cries to above every evening have slightly gotten to me. Majoring in Art History these days leads to a bit of a challenging career path in my opinion. "But hey, if it makes you happy!" they say. But what really is the key to happiness? I feel as though this is man's eternal quest, the answer to this quandary. I have absolutely no idea what the key is- if I did I probably wouldn't be writing a Blog about it. What I do want to keep in mind though, is this:

Storefront London, England 

Butterflies are a mysterious creature, spending a large part of their life in darkness, tied in a straight jacket, and yet so delicate and simple once free. So free. Free from that darkness, free from mankind. Think about the last time you had a real encounter with a butterfly- no matter how hard you try, you cannot seem to catch one in the palm of your hand.

Next week I leave for a five months in Spain. I have absolutely no idea what is to come- and frankly, that terrifies me. Unfortunately, I am not one to greet change with open arms. I tend to over think almost everything, and usually end up creating problems that did not exist in the first place. So this is what I propose- pull a jail break and leave behind my own cocoon. Forget the structure I have set up at home in Boston and just be free. Five whole months of me. Because life truly is too short to plan each step you take and to over analyze each decision you make. So heres to siestas at noon and sangria at midnight. 

And so I leave you with- until next time, keep me in mind.